How should I announce that I'm changing my website from pay-per-download to a completely free model?

My site is a pay-per-download offering proprietary math games and activities in PDF format. Currently the site also offers to sell the individual publications from which the games are taken. Our strategy shift to the free download model is the result of a desire to give something back to teachers and parents. Ultimately, these downloaded PDFs will offer an interesting adverting opportunity to companies.

Steve Adams answered August 25, 2009|

Comment

There seem to be two audiences that you're trying to reach:

* Those that value the content.
* Those that might want to advertise.

Since you talk about "giving back" it isn't clear if you're really trying to make money doing this, or if the free download is a tactic to generate more advertising revenues.

To reach the users of your content, some good steps would be:

* Contact previous visitors (i.e. Those that paid to download, those that inquired but didn't purchase, or abandoned the download).

* Tie into educational forums and websites that provide homework advice, etc.

* Reach out to associations (school boards, teacher sites, etc.).

* Find influencers (bloggers and writers) that might find the content of interest.

Some press releases (web oriented) using a service like PRweb could really help raise visibility and attract the interest of influencers that follow your space.

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Steve Adams

Steve Adams is vice president of marketing for Protus, a provider of Web-based services for small- to medium-size businesses. He is a seasoned industry speaker having spoken at a variety of telecommunication trade shows and conferences. He is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and the Ivey School of Business.