Help - my traffic has increased

our FREE offer has exploded - now what?

[TheBomb]

Okay friends,
I never thought I'd be writing a post to ask for advice because I had too much traffic. But the good news is that visits to my site exploded yesterday. We've been open for business for 12 weeks and have had our free item offer on our pages since we started. Yesterday someone who requested one of our products and was satisfied with how quickly we got the item to him/her posted our offer on a freebie board and we have gone from a history of 2-3 requests per week to 3100 requests in the last 30 hours. Since I hadn't anticipated this much traffic, I'm in shock and looking to the net for info and advice. There are a lot of sites that promise me this much traffic, but I can't find any that tell me what exactly I need to do now. I hate to sound stupid but are there free item guidelines anywhere? I have "limited quantities" available posted on the page, does that cover me - at this rate I'm overbudget already..... If I can't deliver all the items to everyone should I prepare for being slammed? What sort of credibility is there from leads for free offers? Anybody got some info they could share? I would great appreciate your help!

TIA. P.S. If you want a freebie log-on, everybody else has!! BG

[toolman]

>>>>satisfied with how quickly we got the item to him/her posted our offer on a freebie board

I would definitely track backwards and see what the post that is creating the traffic actually says. Then determine the validity of the "explosion". Is there a way to convert them into buyers?

[rcjordan]

>at this rate I'm overbudget already..... If I can't deliver all the items to everyone should I prepare for being slammed?

First, I'd make a change on your website that puts the free offer on hold to newcomers. You should explain your circumstances just as you've done here. You'll be slammed, but at least you'll maintain your credibility. And, with credibility intact, you can recoup. I'd also post the "too much of a good thing" on the freebie board, thanking them for their enthusiastic and overwhelming response. Ask for their help so you can come back again when you're better prepared.

[Marcia]

What surprises me is that "so many" responded, since there is information requested in order to partake of the free offer, and yet, there is no privacy policy listed on the site.

In other words, no reassurance is given that names collected will not be sold, leased, result in unsolicited mail, whatever.

This might be slightly off-topic, but as professional webmasters we need to examine privacy policies, and as surfers, we need to have more awareness than we do.

You might want to consider adding something to your policy page, just to reassure people like myself.

>>TIA. P.S. If you want a freebie log-on, everybody else has!! BG

Some kind of promo, TheBomb. Surprised you've still got more to give away. Congratulations on the clever marketing, good job of it!