Requiring Users to invite a friend.

[adamnichols45]

I have had an idea for a new site we are developing.

Am In two minds on how to charge OR make this a free service with adsense and require users who use the service to have to enter a friends email address which we can then send them a friendly personal email.

The service will be saving people money and anybody would not want to see it with out sounding big headed!

Any views are most welcome - We do not want to spam but offering a free service we need some plan to attract new users.

[stapel]

Sending people unrequested commercial e-mails is called "spamming". And I wouldn't think that requiring users to help you spam people would be likely to attract legitimate business. (If you're advertising, even for something "free", then it's "commercial" mail.)

Just my opinion, of course. I could be wrong....

Eliz.

[jomaxx]

You're clearly talking about spam. Thankfully most people will just make up a bogus address anyway.

[adamnichols45]

We dont want todo it in a spammy way! This really is a service that everyone will use and Iknow for one if I got the email in the inbox I would be pleased.

Can anybody suggest another way of doing this?

[kevinpate]

wow, no offense meant, but consider what you're
asking. To use your site, I'm supposed to give up someone else's email so you can write them.

Ok, so either I'm a sludge and I slap down someone's email sans permission to (hopefully) gain something for my own benefit, or else I have to open a new window, kick them a note asking if it is ok, wait on a response, find out it's not ok, and now I owe a beverage to ease the ill feeling as well, then kick a note to another friend, wait on a response, nah, not happening.

If you need to advertise, then do so in a non-spam way, but you really oughta consider not taking a route that's all but certain to create chinks in the armor of other folks friendships.

[jomaxx]

Instead of requiring people to provide names, how about rewarding them for referring more members? In other words, let THEM send the emails (or whatever) and make the recommendation in their own words. In some ways this is just a semantic distinction, but it seems much more 2.0 then forcing users to rat out their friends.

Keep in mind that the more valuable the reward is, the more you'll have to ride herd over the people acting on your behalf, like affiliate programs have to.

[adamnichols45]

Thanks - some interesting feedback. Im actually convinced that people will pass this on to friends and family alike so I will put this field in but it will be OPTIONAL.

There is another route I could take as suggest and offer a rewards program but then I would need for all visitors to sign up.

MMMM some interesting thoughts for me to sleep on.

Any other ideas feel free to chuck them in.

Thanks...