I was thinking, very cynically, that using the lure of charity would be a good way to spread the news about my blog and gather some good links. I am sure people are more likely to link to charitable causes. So what I want to do is this: 1. Find a good cause that most will approve of/tug at heart strings. 2. Announce on my blog that I am going to start raising money for this charity through donations from site visitors, and that when I raise, say $1000 (not sure about the amount) I will do some kind of terrible/funny forfeit, that I will get photographed and post up on the blog. 3. Hope that many blogs in my field will link to me if I ask them (and without asking too!) to help with the charity money raising - i mean, how mean will they have to be to say no? 4. Put a press release out, contact targeted news sources related to the charity and my blog field, hoping that I can drum up some extra buzz and links about the site. 5. Raise the money. Do the stupid forfeit. Lots of links and new visitors in the bag. And most of all ( ) lots of money raised for a good cause...everyone's happy! Where I mainly need help is this...what stupid/terrible/funny forfeit can I do that will capture people's imaginations? I was thinking of something like walking around the city center for a while in a thong, but that isn't too creative and not something I really want to do (although to be honest, I would if it was worth my while, and I don't have much self consciousness or respect...so way out suggestions are fine...be creative...) Suggestions please?
I don't believe that people will just donate. If they would want to donate money they would give it to charity organizations.
Hey, thanks for the feedback. The thing is, sponsored parachute jumps or walks etc for charity seem to work pretty well, so I thought this would be ok along the same lines. They will be donating directly to the charity, who I will ask to track how much is raised through my campaign. I would just be giving them that push/motivation. In an ideal world people would just give it directly to charity, but we don't live in an ideal world (and I am trying to exploit that to my own gain, to an extent, but also to the gain of the charity). Any ideas for the forfeit?
I think that within my niche it definitely could generate some buzz (not that I'm mentioning the niche, for now). Please, does anyone have any suggestions for the crazy/horrible forfeit/stunt I would have to do in public if and when I raise the target amount of money for charity? This is the main thing I am struggling to come up with ideas for.
I agree, even if I am not successful in raising much money, at least it is the kind of thing people are likely to link to, to try and help out. Also, at the moment my site is not commercial in any way. Only content (I will monetize in the future). so people have no reason to suspect I have ulterior motives. Sorry if I am being a little cynical with all of this.
it has nothing to do with business but i also recommend you to place some charity /cancer support /social work links on your website ....... because you are going to get help of such things to promote your website and its your social responsibility to give them back ( in form of traffic or money) .. Good luck with your launch , i am sure it will be successful
It's not bad idea acctualy. But problem is that people don't like to give money. So maybe (maybe not, just suggestion) it would be better to say that when you recieve 1000 votes to 'do it' (you put a script which allow each unique visitor to vote 'do it') you will do this crazy thing. Or maybe you could replace votes with diggs. So you do the thing if you get 1000diggs. And thing must be really crazy.
Another really good idea. I might do both at different times - one for charity, one for votes/diggs. So now I need two crazy things to do! Seriously though, I think the charity part is important, because even if few people are willing to give money, there are a lot of personal blogs in this niche that I am sure will link to me to help out the chance of raising money for charity. The link is nothing to them (they are not really aware of SEO), and they will want to help a good cause, I think. I just need that good idea for a crazy stunt still....
I think the biggest barrier you'll have to overcome is trust, I dont know what your site is but I think getting people to believe that you'll actually donate will be the tough part
I was hoping to find a charity that they will donate directly to (not through me), where the charity will track the amount of money that has been raised through me. There must be charities out there that do that? (I haven't checked yet)
Of course, any charity I raise money for, and maybe some related charities to the cause, will get a link from me. I will also GIVE the first donation at the start of my campaign, to show the way...