As a result of a recent deal with a software developer (hopefully the deal will be finalized tomorrow and I can post about the freebie) I came to realize one way I could “give back” to the people who have helped build this great site by supporting dotTech the whole way: dotTechies. What is that way you ask? It is what I like to call dotTech’s (new) Free Advertising Initiative.

dotTech’s Free Advertising Initiative is a platform created to help facilitate the promotion of commercial software – as freebies – so dotTechies can enjoy them while offering a little somethin’ somethin’ to developers who decide to participate. (I admit, I didn’t come up with the original idea… just modified it to fit our needs.)

Specifically, dotTech’s Free Advertising Initiative is the following: developers who promote their commercial software/web service/etc. on dotTech by offering it for free to dotTechies will receive a free 300×100 ad spot on dotTech. This ad spot can be used to advertise whatever the developer wants, as long as the subject matter falls within dotTech’s ethical boundaries. The details of the promotion (me and the developers negotiate the details – there is no set standard as of yet), will determine how long the ad developer receives the ad spot for free (it can be for a week, two weeks, one month, etc.)

So, how can you get involved? Here is more information:

For Developers

If you are interested in participating in dotTech’s Free Advertising Initiative, contact me and let me know. Please be sure to put something along the lines of “I want to participate in dotTech’s Free Advertising Initiative” in the subject line so I pay close attention to your e-mail (I have a short attention span =P). Also, include the details of your proposal, like what you want to give away, and how you want to do it. I will contact you back with either a refusal, acceptance, or counter-proposal.

Since there are limited number of spots (only 6 ad spots available at a time, so only 6 developers can participate at a time) and the spots are bound to be in high demand, here are a few tips on how to make your proposal successful:

• Have a good product. I don’t care if you offer to give away your software for free for life with free updates. If it is not a good product, your proposal will be rejected.
• A permanent giveaway (i.e. dotTechies can download and install the software for free whenever they want) is more likely to be accepted than a time limited or limited licenses giveaway.
• A time limited but unlimited license (i.e. anyone can download and install the software for free, but the promotion will only be available for a set amount of time) is more likely to be accepted than a limited license giveaway.
• If you do decide to propose a limited license giveaway, the greater amount of licenses you offer for free, the more likely the proposal will be accepted. Chances are offering a giveaway of a low number of licenses like 15 or 30 will be rejected. (However, never be afraid to ask even if you can only offer a low number of licenses. Worst I can do is say no; best I can do is accept!)
• Developers are allowed to make offer older versions of their software as part of the giveaway. However offering the latest version is a plus and is more likely to get your proposal accepted.
• Offering free updates to everyone that participates in the giveaway (regardless of if it is a permanent, time limited, or license limited giveaway) is a plus and is more likely to get your proposal accepted.
• Making the giveaway 100% “dotTech Exclusive” (i.e. no other website has the same promotion) is a plus and is more likely to get your proposal accepted.
• Promising to not point and laugh at me when you become millionaires – because of the high quality traffic you received from dotTech – while I am a struggling grad student searching for the meaning of life… is greatly appreciated but not necessary.

NOTE: As per site-wide policy, no formal review is ever written explicitly for a promotion because that would be a conflict of interest; only reviews that were conducted prior to the promotion – i.e. with no chance of conflict of interest – can be mentioned in giveaway posts. (Reviews conducted prior to the promotion can be updated to reflect the latest version of your software, if you wish.)

You are welcome to ask for a review in association with your giveaway, but I will always politely decline.

For dotTechies/non-developers

Spread the word! Let your favorite software developers know about dotTech’s Free Advertising Initiative. (Simply providing a link to this article with a friendly “Hey check this out – you can get free advertising” will often do the trick.) The more developers that know about this, the better freebies dotTech can offer.

As I said, this is a new thing I just started. Lets hope this is a success inshAllah.

Number of spots currently open for dotTech’s Free Advertising Initiative: 4/6

Note: As I am sure everyone has noticed, there are 3 physical ad spots, but 6 opening for developers to participate. This means that the 3 ad spots will be rotating ads. In other words, when there are 3 or more developers participating at a time, ads will rotate in and out randomly.