Volunteer!

So, you’ve taken a lot of time to get to where you are. You’ve had to learn a lot, along the way becoming proficient at this or that? Well, it’s time to put some of that knowledge to work for you, helping to generate traffic at your site, and here’s how: VOLUNTEER!!

There are a growing number of sites that are turning to human experts to guide their visitor experiences. The theory is that if you read about or email with someone who has first-hand knowledge of your needs, you’re much more likely to act than you would if you were just reading static copy or text. Think of it as the Internet’s answer to “word-of-mouth.”

One of the originators of this kind of program is About.com, whose “guides” are volunteers with some financial incentives as well. Check out their “Be A Guide” section.

Some newer players to the game are Open Directory, which claims to be building the “largest human-edited directory on the Web,” and BizProLink, both of which seek “editors” for their communities/channels. These are unpaid - undertake these positions for the sheer exposure and possibility of bringing you traffic or qualified business.

All Experts.com is another volunteer vehicle whereby you can position yourself for better exposure. Here, you are not an “editor” but a live-body participant. If you are accepted into their directory, you will be expected to respond to emailed questions from site visitors looking for help. Your knowledge and speed of response will be rated and ranked by feedback the site receives from its users. The upside is that you get far more “play” on this site than you do on some others.

Finally, not to be outdone, some major players like Amazon and soon-to-be-launched Epinions.com will be relying on the word-of-mouth philosophy to help educate users and ultimately sell product. Check in with these two sites for their “recommendation” efforts.

Maybe some day in the near future, we’ll be hearing it from your proverbial horse’s mouth!

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