12/15/07

Yahoo Groups, A Source Of Income? PART I





This is a multi part reference to how I generate income through Yahoo
Groups.

I just wanted to touch on a subject that hardly ever comes up in conversation when talking about traffic. I am the moderator of 3 Yahoo Advertising Groups. Believe it or not these groups generate a significant income. If you haven’t been involved with Yahoo Groups you just may be interested in what I have to report about this subject.

Let’s start with setting the stage.


Here are some statistics to give you an idea of what I am working with.

First group Members: 1136

Second group Members: 165

Third group Members: 2222

This gives me a total of 3523 members to date.

Here is how it works:

The groups are based on free advertising as that brings in the most
revolving traffic. The concept is, (You scratch my back and I’ll scratch
yours). There are a lot of people looking for a place to give their sales
pitch. I am offering them a place with significant traffic flow. I don’t
even advertise the groups. Yes they are listed as public with Yahoo group listings but that’s as far as it goes. People search for a place to advertise without being accused of spamming. This is the perfect environment for that.

The rules are simple, here is a copy of the email reminder that is sent
to the group upon joining and re-sent every two weeks after that.

To All Members,

This is a reminder to the group on the rules of membership. This is
an advertising group. What that means is that most, if not all post there opportunities on this site. If you want to be a part of this group you must follow the rules of membership.

We try to be fair as to how and why we set the rules for this group
so everyone has a chance to get there opportunity noticed. For those of you that have no regard for following rules, you do not have to and will not be a member of this group.








Here are the rules laid out for you so you have a clear understanding of how things work in this group.

1. Individual or Digest settings only:

The whole point behind an advertising group is to post ads for others to read. The cost for posting that ad is allowing others to show you there opportunity as well. Only in this way your ad is not SPAM and the community becomes stronger. If you can’t accept this rule and change your settings, you will be deleted from this group. If you are a repeat offender you will be banned from the group.

2. You must have a Yahoo profile to be a member of this group:

If you are found listed with no yahoo profile you will be deleted. I
find that most people listed without a yahoo profile have had there account closed for whatever reason. They are not a part of yahoo anymore and results are they are not a part of this group.

3. Please one profile:

None of this (iamhere1, iamhere2 stuff). What is that about anyway? People will read your ad with one profile. I am not going to pretend to understand this concept so if we find this you will be automatically banned from this group

4. Bouncing E-mails:

If your e-mail bounces you will be sent a re-activation request. If
you go into a hard bounce we will assume your e-mail account is no longer active and your membership will be deleted.

5. Please don't send the same ad 50 times in a row:

We are only going to look at it once. I don't know why some people want to send the same ad like that. How many times have you opened your group e-mail in digest and found the same ad listed all the way to the bottom. HERE IS THE RULE!!! Don't Do It. You will be banned.

NOTES:

These are the rules. They are simple to follow and fair. We try to maintain a fruitful group and if we can maintain order we will all prosper from our efforts. If you have any question or comment about the group or the rules please contact the group owner at:



Ok, it sounds a bit harsh but if you don’t want a complete out of control mess then I suggest you set strong rules and enforce them. You may be thinking that you won’t be getting many subscribers being so strict but you will be surprised at how many people sign up as you grow. My largest group grows on an average of 25 new members a week. Mind you, about half the amount dropped out or have been deleted for one reason or another. Still 12 people a day is still fantastic.

Coming up in part II

Next time I will be telling you about how I setup my front page in my
groups, also many other tips and tricks on how I have optimized all the tools yahoo gives you to run your group.