[thelist] re: spam?

[Robert Hanson]

I don't think this is spam at all.  If you, in the goodness of your heart,
want to direct traffic away from your site to somone else's site, they
should appreciate that.  But, I think the approach you're taking needs some
work.  What you're really trying to do is to get someone to put a link on
their site to yours.  You're thinking that if you deliver enough visitors,
that should be "payment" enough to have them do this.  That might be right;
but expecting a webmaster to determine where visitors are being referred
from, and adding a link back to you just because of the increased traffic,
will not happen.  You need a strong sales pitch:

(What I want you to do) (Why you should do it) (What will happen if you
dont) (Call to action).

Clean this up a little, make it more friendly, etc; and use accurate
numbers.  Then you'll have a good chance of getting linked.

I have added a link on my site to your site, and over the past 3 weeks have
directed 13,000 unique visitors to your site.  If you appreciate the
additional traffic, please put a link on your site back to mine.  If you
do, I'll make sure the link to your site remains prominently placed on my
site's home page.  If you decide not to, I'll be forced to remove the link,
and you will lose the additional 6,000 visitors a week that I have been
providing.  Please let me know the url of the page with my link by Friday.