I Have An Idea!!! PLEASE READ!

[bigjoesaddle]

Is there a person hear at FR that could send e-mails to people, inviting them to come to FR and check it out?

What we could do is ask FReepers to send this person the e-mail addresses of friends we know that we think would like Free Republic. I have three or four. They said they couldn't figure it out, they couldn't find their state site, blah blah blah, and didn't get what the big deal was.

They are strong Conservitives that aren't "hooked" yet.

I thought if someone would send a formal e-mail saying, "Your friend so and so thought you would like to visit Free Republic. Free Republic is...blah blah blah.

Then tell them EXACTLY what to do, links to click, threads to visit. Make it SUPER user friendly so people understand what FR is.

Of course, insure them their e-mail address is not on any list and they will recieve NO more e-mails from us, unless someone puts them on the list again.

If someine could do this, we could boost FR participation. Bigtime!

I would do this, but my time is limited and I know squat about computers.

I started comming to FReerepublic when Rush challenged us to find the Charelton Heston Speech at Harvard on our own, when he was frustrated with callers asking where they could find the speech.

If he didn't do that, I may never have found FR.

[bigjoesaddle]

Tell me what you think. Is this already being done in some form? I know there are welcome threads, but this is a little different.

Thanks,
bjs

[Maceman]

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

[bigjoesaddle]

And no, I do NOT have stupid friends. They are a little older and easily intimidated by computers.

[bigjoesaddle]

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

Official copout.

[gaijin]

On the first FR splash page that people encounter when logging on for the first time, the "enter forum here" icon needs to be bigger.

It needs to be made so that it can't be missed.

We probably lose lots of folks cuz they come to FR, but manage to miss the FORUM portion of the site, which is, as we all well know, the stickiest by far.

[bigjoesaddle]

I understand what your saying, but this would be very easy to do. Do we want to get bigger or not? If not, fine. But don't pretend to want to want to grow and then rely on pure luck to do it. It's like wanting to be rich and waiting for a bag of money to drop on your head.

[dixie sass]

The front page of the forum gives the reader everything they would need to know about FR.

Then there are the posters...

What can I say a swell bunch of people. We all help each other through the beginning phases of lurking or freeping and then bingo - the light comes on and then...

You are hooked.

IMHO, I don't think we need to send out things like that - sounds to much like the tacky sites on the net.

[Orual]

Let's put on a show.

[Bob J]

A couple of times I've suggested a "Friends and Family" program where you could list you're potential FReeper contacts, and when you see an article that is good reading, click a button and that article would be forwarded to everyone on your list...with the link back to FR and a note "If you would like to see the commentary and analysis on this article from your friends and neighbors, click here!"

The volume might be high so the server would need to be programmed to send them bulk at say, 2am.

[Khepera]

While reading free republic press the mail button in the toolbar of your browser and choose send page from the drop down list. This will let you send the page you are reading to them with all the links etc in tact. Just keep sending them articles.

[Yardstick]

On the first FR splash page that people encounter when logging on for the first time, the "enter forum here" icon needs to be bigger.

Yeah, I think you're right. It could be more obvious. Right now it's just a little link ("...jump right in...") in the middle of a sentence IIRC.

[HAL9000]

A lot of people found FR from the old link on drudgereport.com - but Matt removed it because he felt it was too competitive against his site.

I just had a thought - someone could purchase the ad space at the top of his page and insert a banner to promote and link to FR.

[dixie sass]

FR has grown by leaps and bounds since it's inception. I can't give you the figures, but I believe that it is the most widely read and visited site on the net. OPH might be able to tell you the figures. I think it is or was at 60,000 and keeps on growing daily. Jim and John don't need to resort to anything other than what they are already doing, it works so don't try and fix it!!!!!!

[BADJOE]

This is a great idea. I have often sent just the link to a story that I think they maybe interested in.

Maybe we should send them the link to the latest articles page and say hit control D to put it in your favorites, should you like to come back.

[ChadGore]

Friends, don't let friends spam friends.

[TADSLOS]

I rather enjoyed the journey on my own through all the other sites to find FR. Looking back, it makes me appreciate the self discovery more.

[Registered]

I just had a thought - someone could purchase the ad space at the top of his page and insert a banner to promote and link to FR.

Great idea! Let the fundraising begin!

[TomGuy]

FR isn't very user-friendly. Too many features seem to be known only to those who have been on a long while. The problem with that is--most new people won't spend a lot of time hunting and clicking (exploring).

For example, the bump-list is only referenced in threads. There used to be an images file (old format), but there is no reference to it.

Threads seem too dependent on how they are accessed without much explanation. For example, latest thread and most frequent (I think that's what it is called) are both related to News/Activism, but accessing them is still somewhat of a mystery, as is the "threads" "messages" clickable.

[dixie sass]

Oops, forgot to mention this. If you click on your little, bitty mail icon, there is drop down menu where you can send a link - just click and the message format comes up and the link to the article is there!!! All you have to do afterwards is type in whatever message you want!!!