Have you ever had trouble trying to "give away" money?

I would have to know more details

Is your list normally responsive?

I'm sure you would get a lot of takers here at warrior forum

Oh - it's totally unrelated to the 'make money online' thing.

It's strange - I paid for search engine ads to direct them to my opt-in form, just doing a small test (about 300, cost me about $100 to get). Just testing out different strategies/headlines/etc - but I find it really really peculiar that it seems so hard to get a response out of someone.

I see the opens via aweber (so about a 10% open rate)... but just seems totally apathetic.

(At the moment I don't want to specify 'what' the niche is - but what I can say is that they are mostly female, 40-60 years old, actually do use the computer a fair amount/somewhat savvy - and actually do view a lot of ads on a regular basis. Figured offering them a chance to win some $ for reviewing a specific video (not a sales video, just a regular video) would be good - but seems to be no takers...)

I just don't get that.

at first, my cash prize contest didn't attract enough people until i got the word out to other bloggers in my space.

give them a deadline and make it stupid simple for them to enter.

-Ike Paz

@InternetSuccess001;
Probably because money is no more a primary reason why people visit or show interest it has to be more than that.

Emotions, trending topics, gossip, very attractive unique contents etc...

It sounds to me that it could be a) the list is not targeted b) people didn't really get the message what you want them to do c) They are not interested or thought it is a scam.

If it is a targeted list in your niche, try improving it by making your message simple such as Step 1,2,3,...remember to add call to action as well. Also, add some social proof later (once you get real testimonial from those who already get paid by giving feedback after watching the video)

Hmm...

Well, it is true I am making them "work" for it - I.e., I actually really want them to give me feedback on a video I put together. (It's not selling anything, it's simply an informative video and I want feedback).... But ye..... maybe the work aspect is it. Maybe I should try more $$$, see if that works.

@virtualglobalphone - are you suggestion more of a "prize" as opposed to cash? I am assuming you are female - what might you find 'attractive' as a (potential) prize just to simply provide feedback on a video?

In the original post I get the impression you want to pay people to review your video. But, then in post #3 it is a "Chance to win" I figure most people do not want to enter a contest because usually when you try to enter an online contest you have to jump through a bunch of hoops.

Also, I would look into laws governing this type of contest. I have a golf ecommerce site and we wanted to have contests giving away some golf clubs but the legalities from state to state became a real nightmare so we just gave up on the idea

al

Hi AL -

THanks - actually I have all the rules in place (you are correct, you do need to have a lot of rules even it is a simple contest. And so I do have those set up/listed). As an aside - I am surprised you would have had issues - for state to state legalities - usually only there are a couple (I think its NYC, and florida of the top of my head) - so you can simply exclude those residents from entering.

But actually - strangely enough - if I asked people simply to "review" it (no contest at all) - while my open rate significantly dropped (like 0.1%) - the people who opened it actually did watch the video and one person provided feedback.

Very peculiar. I thought by 'incentivizing' it, I'd actually get more feedback - but by doing that - it seems to have had the opposite effect. People will open the e-mail, but just not watch it.

Those are visitors who don't expect something for nothing, have learned not give out too much personal info online, to whom $5-10 is not a big deal.

They don't know you - they don't trust you - they don't care what you want them to do and they don't trust something in your email or request. They don't feel obligated to you or have a need to please you. That sounds negative and it is - but that's what you are up against with that demographic.

If you had a mailing list you had connected with for years....response would be quite different. If your mailing list were young adult in low income countries, same there.

Problem you have now may be you've tested this list so much they won't open future emails.

I agree with Al the "chance to win" changes your question....did you use that phrase?

Hi Kay -

Actually, before I invest too much money in a list - I just did a simple ad buy, got about 300-400 subscribers, and I'm just testing various headlines/e-mails/etc to see what gets the best response.

I guess perhaps then I'm not quite sure how to develop that 'rapport' with this group. I actually thought offering something for free (i.e., cash) would be a good start. You might be right about the $5/$10 amount - I might try higher amounts and see if that elicits a response. (Of course - I forgot - although I am honest - there are many people who 'promise' the world and could make a claim they'd pay out say $1000 without actually doing so just to be a bit scammy... So I suppose maybe I am up against that a bit...)... So somehow I need to actually 'show' that I am legit/do pay out for a contest/etc, when chances are they've run up against people who do nothing...

As Kay indicated the 40-60 crowd has been around and in fact $5 probably doesn't even float their boat (maybe not even $10) but the other side of it is there are too many variables we don't know (and I understand entirely why you don't share everything and shouldn't).

besides the niche whats your page like? how good is the video in terms of production quality?

this all goes to credibility. There are sites for example in your sig that I just automatically do a reverse and if you promised me $40 I probably would just think scam ,watch a little out of curiosity and then go bye bye. I'm not being mean but giving you feedback.

the 40-60 crowd has seen enough scams they don't instantly go "oooh free $5" like a younger crowd would. what works on a younger crowd can often be a huge turn off for them. They look for more signs of credibility in design and message or they take ANYTHING including a free offer of money with a grain of salt.

Yeah, maybe the $10 doesn't excite them enough to go through all of the steps you've laid out for them to do. Either raise the cash prize, or offer a non-cash prize (like a gadget, toy, etc.) to make it seem more valuable.

@Mike - thanks. Actually totally unrelated to the 'make money' niche, etc. (So nothing to do with the affiliateinabox.com website). Video is extremely high production quality (studio level actually - I have had people outside of my list look at it, and they want to know how much I paid for the video production). Website page is also good quality, designed along the lines of a woman's magazine.

I think you might be right about the 'proof' aspect. Maybe I'll just have to start with a larger promotion (say $20-$50), "pay" that - people see it works - then I can try the lower $5-$10 amounts.

@edwin, thanks - yes, I may try a gadget/toy instead... See how that pans out.

Make sure it is not only about the money but the offer itself is interesting/compelling for them. If you think you already have an offer that sounds good, try tweaking the words and see if that changes anything.

From experience, throwing money at some groups don't work. You have to put some thought into how you are offering it.