Free equals a new member. It’s not a new idea, but it is hardly being used as far as I am concerned. Why? I have no idea. I am actually working on a free guide based on my popular Basic Usability and Design Analysis. Why give a free guide? To get visitors to subscribe to my RSS by email. Why not give it for free to begin with on the site? Because I worked hard on it, and I value my time.
Looking at this bike repair site, Bloom Bike Shop, you will see a great example of how they are offering a free e-book. In exchange, they get you to sign up for their weekly newsletter. You can always unsubscribe to their newsletter afterward, but if the content is good, you probably won’t. You are the target audience after all. To slam dunk this up-sell they have positioned the offer in the top left corner.
I refer to this as an up-sell because that is what it really is. A visitor goes to your site expecting to find some tips about biking. They find some, but being the great sales rep that you are, you up-sell them by getting them an even greater list of tips. The cost? Their email, but then they get even more tips. How hard of a sale is that? You are doing a greater service to the visitor, and your membership count increases. It’s a win win.
Imagine how effective their campaign would be on this site if the offer was located on the bottom of the left menu. Think they would get many new sign ups? Maybe 1/10th at best.
If you work on an intranet site for a company, please read-me: Your Intranet Guideline