jackofalltrades - 3:48 pm on Jan 6, 2003 (gmt 0)

I dont think adwords can increase your PR.

Your time can be a lot more valuable than any amount of money if you use it well.

When you say you want to promote your site, but you also say that your subscription is to scare away casual browsers, what do you mean? What is it you want to achieve?

I am assuming its not about the money, or the quantity of visitors.

Therefore, you are looking to find more suitable members to subscribe, therefore increasing the input and content for all members, yes?

$100 aint gonna cut it for that.

You can spend thousands and still not achieve that.

Or you can take your time and gradually build your member base up for free.

A first step would be to ask your existing members to encourage colleagues or friends to subscribe (people who are likely to want to subscribe).

The rest of the campaign really depends on what route you want to take.

My advice would be to keep the $100 - buy some CDs or beer or food or something. Then sit down and start contacting people directly - offer stuff for free - articles to be republished, etc - raise the awareness of your site.

Frankly, given the theme or your site, I dont think you really need to put any emphasis of SEO or conventional marketing at all - most of your quality visitors will come through contacts and word of mouth.

Best of luck! :)

JOAT