Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi all,

I thought you may be interested in a new concept that I launched last week, known as The Publicity Wheel.

The idea is that users work collaboratively to promote one website per category at a time. The more you help promote others, the more "publicity points" you earn, which in turn gives you a better chance of being featured at the next "spin".

It is similar to a banner/link exchange, however it doesn`t comprise of ratios, etc, and it`s designed as a kind of fun experience for website promotion. If you do become featured, you`ll likely generate a huge influx of traffic to your site, rather than the trickle you may experience with traditional banner/link exchange programs.

As it`s still very young, i`d be fantastic if you checked it out and sent me any comments or feedback. It`s still in beta at the moment so i`m hoping to test the system as much as possible now.

Thanks

The website is easy to navigate and I get what you are trying to do, I think.

"Earn Points" waves a red flag to me.  You don`t explain in non-technical terms how does this benefit me?  You say that earning points gets me, what?  I`m not sure.  Greater exposure?  Popular sites have more opportunity to earn more points, so what hope does the low volume site owner have?  Then to confuse me even more, you say that higher point count doesn`t translate to more ad placement.  In that case, we`re full-circle here.  What is the point of points?

Next, if I have *no* control over the types of sites "featured" on my site - I am simply not interested.

Spell-check your text.





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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

It`s a really interesting concept but seems problematic.  I can see how quality and relevance would be issues.  I mean it makes no sense for a model plane enthusiast blog to talk about an apparel website or vice versa.  Companies that help promote each other need to have some similarities in their audience for it to be effective and it looks like your system doesn`t really take the relevancy issue into account.

I also think that if you select a "winner" that a lot of your members have no interest in talking about it`s going to be pointless to appoint that site the winner, right?  The winner might have an ugly site design or terrible content and that`s going to make other site owners not want to promote that site. 

I am all for cross-promotion, I just think it`s going to be more effective when companies choose their own partners.





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Thanks for the comments. 

@Videography
Earning points allows you to have a greater chance of being selected at the next round (or "spin").  Perhaps it`s not clear enough and i`ll look into clarifying that.

Popular sites do indeed have a better chance of being featured, but that`s true of all banner/link exchange programs (i.e. the more impressions you give out, the more you receive).  However, the key difference here is that there is still a chance of being selected even with less publicity points.  To use an example, you have a better chance of winning the lottery with multiple tickets, but many people still win with only one.  Additionally, sites that become featured have their points reset to zero, so over time the smaller sites can build their points and have the same chance.  I hope that makes sense, again i`ll try to clarify this on the About or FAQ pages.  I`m not sure what spelling mistakes you`re referring to, would you be able to point them out to me?

@exgeek
You make a good point regarding relevancy.  This in fact has been considered through the use of categories.  When signing up, you select a category from a list and then choose to only promote sites that fall within the same category. Choosing to promote individual sites is another idea but may be moving off the core concept too much.

Your second point is also a good one, and something I have considered for future versions.  In keeping with the "publicity points" selection process, the idea I had in mind was to allow users the chance to give other sites publicity points if they wish for them to win.  I can`t stray too far from the "random" selection process but this should allow the community to drive the wheel (so to speak) a little more.

I hope that answers your questions, thanks again for your feedback.  I`d love to discuss this further if you`d like.

I still don`t get the points, even after your explanation.   I still read, more points=more exposure and more points does not mean more exposure.  Both can`t be true.  If more points doesn`t mean more exposure, then why do I care about points?

Spell check: there ain`t no such word as "earnt".  I suspect that you mean "earned".





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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

Let me see if I understand this.

Let`s say I am Website "A".  Another site is Website "B".

Website "A" receives 1,000 visitors a day.
Website "B" receives 10,000 visitors a day.

As an example, there is a click through rate for the banner at 5%. So, "A" receives 50 points, and "B" receives 500 points.

When you select the next banner to display, "B" has a ten times better chance of being selected for the banner display than "A".

So either "A" has to increase his traffic ten times to have an even chance with "B", or "B" has to be selected and start his points from zero for "A" to have a better chance due to more points, although that won`t last long.

Either way, it doesn`t sound like "A" gets much of a chance, and more than likely will just be advertising for sites that already get more traffic. And if less visited sites have a lesser chance of being selected, which will probably hold true, how long would they keep taking part in something that in the end probably won`t benefit them?





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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

@Videography
Basically having more points gives you a better chance of being featured.  If you have less points, you have a smaller chance, but still a chance.  Whoever becomes featured will gain the same amount of traffic/exposure boost as anyone else who could have become featured at that time.  In other words, points don`t equal exposure, they equate to a chance at selection.

@Webline
Your example is correct, and is a good reflection on how the site works.  I should point out though that we`re talking about probability and hard numbers, and in the end these outcomes won`t always hold true.  Additionally, having points reset to zero for winners allows users with less traffic to increase their chances over time, even if it takes them a little longer.

To compare this with a traditional banner/link exchange, obviously sites with higher traffic will have a greater benefit once again, so as much as it seems like the low-traffic sites miss out, it really isn`t any worse than other traffic services.  In fact, i`d argue that this system gives low-traffic sites a better opportunity for traffic/exposure than others.

Ultimately, it`s up to website owners to make the choice between having a slow trickle of hits through a traditional banner/link exchange, or having the chance of a huge boost in traffic (but risk having nothing for some time) through the Publicity Wheel.  It`s certainly not for everyone.

What`s the difference??

You seem to be missing a key feature of submitting your site to your peers on StartupNation.  Don`t explain things to us - understand that if *we* don`t `get it`, then your prospective customers/users/clients probably won`t either.

When we ask a question about something in your website, don`t try to explain it to us.  You should try to answer the question in your web site for those viewers who won`t ask the same questions.  They will just go somewhere else.



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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

I absolutely understand that, which is why I stated in my original reply that I would work on clarifying it on the Publicity Wheel website.  However, that takes time, and I see no benefit in not answering your questions here. 

What`s the difference?  Exposure will be the same for anyone who wins each round.  Points are just a way of determining who is selected.  One week, a user with 100 points could win selection; the next, a user with 10 points could win.  The exposure is the same but the points vary.  I feel that makes sense but perhaps this needs clarification on the site.

Hi all, it`s been a while since I last posted here, but Publicity Wheel has been significantly upgraded and should be much clearer.  I`d greatly appreciate any comments you may have.