Niche Dating Traffic From Yahoo Groups

Online groups (yahoo, google, msn) are a huge source of free, long-term, niche traffic for your dating promotions. I began using Yahoo Groups a few years ago. Though I don’t actively promote them anymore, I’m still receiving income every day of the week. The trick - as per usual - is not to spam. You need to participate (if only for 20 minutes a day) and contribute quality material in the form of articles, intelligent replies and, of course, your own groups and newsletters.

Setting Up Your Own Group

You need to go to groups.yahoo.com and click the Start a Group link. Browse through the sections until you find the niche you wish to target. I’m selecting the BBW Dating niche by way of explanation.

When you click Place my group here, you’ll be asked to give your group a name, an email address and a description. Use relevant keywords for your niche. Just like choosing a domain name this is certainly a factor in receiving organic traffic. I’ve chosen the name BBW Dating Group and filled my description with a smattering of keywords (bbws, bbw-lovers, bbw-admirers, big beautiful women).

You now have a group address and email and can choose to invite friends or customize.

When you click on the customize option you’ll be presented with 3 steps. I’m going to give you the best settings to use:

• Yes, list the group.
• Anyone can join immediately.
• Only group members. (Private discussion group)
• Yes, messages require my approval.
• All group members.
• Yes, I want to use the group’s web features.
• All members can view archives.
• Access to all web features is for members only.

Those are pretty much default settings anyway but I’ve included them just in case yahoo change defaults. Your aim for the settings is to encourage people to become members. That way you have more interested prospects for your newsletter.

What remains is simply to dress up your group with a good color-scheme, enticing image and text. All you need to do is consider your target audience. I would recommend using no visible advertising in the early stages of your group. What you want to do is encourage relevant enthusiasts to join your group and populate an ever-increasing list of newsletter subscribers. Once you have a 1000 members or more you might consider some unobtrusive promotional links but do not throw up banners - these will put off 99% of your target audience, trust me.

Creating Content For Your Dating Group

At all times, consider the wants and needs of your target audience. In the case of the BBW Dating Group I know my audience would like information on free bbw dating services, good paid sites, news about promotions and so on.

Populate your group with some quick articles that establish yourself as an authority figure. Into each article place a link to your affiliate sponsor.

Be honest with your readers. Let them know that you promote dating sites. You can write from the point-of-view of someone very knowledgeable on the subject. Your readers will appreciate your honesty. This is only my approach, so obviously try several until you find what works best for you.

Promoting Your Group

The best proactive means of promoting your new dating group is simply to participate - not spam - in the Yahoo! Groups community.

Browse through the sections and bookmark a relevant selection of groups in your niche. I like Firefox because I can create folders and click the wheel of my mouse to open them. Start out by responding to other posts. Group users are very quick to stamp out anything they consider spam, so adopt a subtle approach.

Once you’ve established trust you can post small articles. A simple paragraph or two to relevant groups is the best approach. Ask people to comment on them and ensure that you reply.

Encourage Subscribers

The more informational and helpful you are, and the less spammy, the more you’ll encourage readers to subscribe. The beauty of such a readership if they’re enthusiastic about your topic. When you make posts which will automatically go to your subscribers, ensure that you always have a legitimate reason for posting. If you post the same thing each time your messages become subliminal in the inbox.

Groups, as a means of promoting dating sites, can become a full-time occupation. I’ve only ever used them as a 20 minute a day exercise but even that has yielded fantastic results. Some of you may be wondering if this breaks any TOS. The short answer is no. As long as you do not spam and approach groups as laid out here you wont be breaking the TOS of Yahoo! or any sponsor program. Used properly groups give you another means of getting targeted dating traffic and of course they’re absolutely free.

An Afterthought (including this an hour after publishing article)

I should mention that a fantastic way to monetize this traffic system is to use an affiliate program that pays on profiles / email leads. Basically, you get paid the moment someone creates a free profile on a dating site. Now my recommended sponsor for this is unquestionably Dating Gold who pay up to $4 per profile. I’m averaging a few hundred bucks a month from groups I haven’t touched in ages. I think you can see how much potential there is here if you work it hard each day and stick to it. This is easy money. People have a free email account (yahoo in this case) and they’ve already signed up once to your group. They’re interested in dating so all you’re asking them to do is sign up again with that free email account. Doesn’t get easier than that. When you join DG, hit up your rep and have a chat. You’ll be surprised how many traffic tips you get.