Do you sign up for stuff online?
The online world gives you an amazing opportunity to learn, and even more opportunity to get bombarded with all kinds if rubbish.
Giving out your email address whether for actually buying something, or signing up for a newsletter or mini-course is something that requires some thought. Many people are using different email addresses for different online functions. One for shopping, one for general sign ups and one as a throwaway address for getting one time access for something.
I have 2 questions for you.
Firstly, what do you sign up for online (and why??). The golden rule is that if you give someone your email address (this is usually what is given when you sign up for a newsletter / course / access to a white paper), you expect value / information / benefit in return. You also expect respect. You don’t want to be bombarded with rubbish, and there is that mutual understanding that if you do start getting irrelevant, uninteresting and useless communication, you are one click away from saying, goodbye and unsubscribing, or even worse, clicking that spam button.
Personally, I sign up for content that is going to increase my online marketing knowledge or provide me with access to something I am interested in. So, what about you?? What do you do?
The second question is around the sign up mechanism. This is something that has recently cropped up with client, and also got me thinking with this site here >> please have a look. I really like the way he has done this (you won’t know what I’m talking about unless you have a look!). It’s different, captures your attention and engages. I’ve tried to do this here on one of my sites, and used something called a hover box. This can be very irritating to some people but has been shown to give some excellent increases in sign up rates.
I’m interested to know whether innovative sign up mechanisms work for you or you prefer something fairly simple and not too pushy? I would be very grateful for some feedback here as I will be be able to use it in the near future. So, if you are reading this post, reading this blog, and usually don’t comment. STOP. Please take a couple of minutes and make your first comment now! Thanks! 
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9 Responses to “Do you sign up for stuff online?”
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Do you sign up for stuff online and what engages you?? http://tinyurl.com/5hv5gp
Do you sign up for stuff online and what engages you?? http://tinyurl.com/5hv5gp
Essay posted
In short:
1) I have two accounts I will tend to use, and it depends on what its for. Signature sensitivity more important.
2) Anything that talks to me, floats, wiggles, shimmies, moves, sites with music that dont need it… get-me-out-of-here-fast, trust level drops like a stone. Bye!
*So I am like .5%er I guess; I am the guy who chooses the plain text option and knows what a tracking ID in an URL looks like. Tin Foil Hats all round. But why do *you* ask
example:
Your feedback form, was I going to leave something, yes, did I want to leave my details with a flash app and not a wp module – did I hell. Bye!
…and there you have it from me, realising only after cancelling.
I’ll only sign up for something if I truly believe I’m going to gain something from it. I also have several levels of protection from spam in place and it rarely fails me.
My general rule is that if a site asks for too much information relative to the gain, I’ll just put false information in. For example, if I’m signing up for an online service and it wants my address, they’re going to get 10 Downing Street. If it’s online, then there’s no need for anything other than my email address.
I’m also with @nthony in that any site that auto plays audio or video, or does anything out of the ordinary, will get closed straight away.
I wouldnt be surprised if you get a lot a registrations on that type of page. But you wouldnt get me, so I guess it depends on the target audience.
I somehow get a feeling it will work great in US
Guys, thanks for the great comments and feedback!
Very useful indeed. Anthony – received the essay and will be reading later today (looks like I will be learning from you again!). Which feedback form do you mean? The one on the left hand of the page? I think this works rather well and is linked to getsatisfaction which is a VERY well know and well thought of site.
Simon – very useful info, especially around the movement or audio. I’m guessing that we are all advanced users and so are a lot more savvy to what is going on with sign up processes. I’m with you in regards to addresses – email only for a start, and address ONLY if it is reputable site and they really need it.
David – welcome to the humble blog and thanks for your first comment! Target audience will be a big factor in sign up technique and design.
I’m asking this as I’m working on a sign up campaign for a client, and so wanted to get the experts (you guys) to give me your take on it!
Just testing the new Intense Debate commenting system!