An Introduction To The World Of PPC Advertising
PPC or pay per click is another form of advertising which can be done on search engines, ad networks, and websites or blogs. Pay per click is when an advertiser only pays for clicks to his or her website. Once the advertiser finds the site she wants to advertise on, they then bid on search terms or keywords that they think people will search for on search engines. Example, if you have a website about food, or offer food products such as cook books, wine, food items, kitchen gadgets etc, then you would bid on keywords relevant to those words, or make those words your exact keywords.
A good example of this would be google adsense. Publishers can earn money by putting ads on their sites, and you the advertiser have a chance of your ad being put on the ads. Only when a user clicks these ads will the advertiser have to pay, which is why its called pay per click. Minimum prices per click depends on the site you decide to advertise with. Usually the lowest bid allowed is $0.01. The site where the advertiser would buy the bids would be on Adwords.
There are also other pay per programs that may be better suited for you. These pay per programs include Pay Per Call, Pay Per Delivery, Pay Per Action, Pay Per Lead, and even Pay Per Listen. You can use any or all of these advertising programs to get more visitors to your site, visitors that are looking specifically for whatever it is your promoting or selling. Your best bet is to do a search on “PPC Advertising” and before you pick a site do some research, find some reviews. Ask about them in the forums you goto. See what types of sites get the best bids, the best results, etc.
There are tons of sites out there that will be happy for you to register as an advertiser or a publisher. Some are legit, some are not. Choose carefully. Another small tip I can give you from personal experience, is if and when you find a PPC site or ANY pay per site, and its your first time using the site, use a small amount of money before you get into really LARGE campaigns. This way you can safely test the site out with out really losing too much money in the process.
Here are examples of some legit sites where you can buy bids as an advertiser, some of these are better suited for PPC others are better suited for Pay Per Lead or Pay Per Action. Google AdWords, Bidvertiser, Adbrite, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft Adcenter, LookSmart, Amazon. Other good sites to try to advertise on are Social Networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Xanga, Moli, etc.
Usually Social Networking sites are a huge cost though but you can be sure it will be worth it. Myspace alone has over 200 million members, thats a lot of eyes just waiting to view your ads! Good luck with your bidding, I hope you all found that this article gave you some good ideas on what PPC is and how to go about it when searching for sites to put your ads on.
This author is the proud owner of http://www.searchenginemarketingpro.biz. Feel free to distribute this article in any way or form as long as you include this resource box.
What Is The Right Advertising Medium For Your Business
For any business around the globe, Advertising is the lifeline. Without proper Advertising your business can never achieve its full potential. In this mode of communication you speak to your audience or prospective clients in order to display the USP of your products. In short you are telling them why should they buy your product or hire your services.
Advertising can be done through many mediums. It can be via television, radio, newspapers, billboards and banners, magazines, posters, pamphlets or lately via the internet. All of these though are somewhat different; the basic aim remains the same. Many people also make use of a lot of innovative mediums for promotion. You may have seen buses or cars driving around with huge banners or small stickers promoting a brand or a service. You may also have seen huge mascots outside of supermarkets or various public places attracting your attention to a brand. Most recently you may even noticed movies being the platforms for advertisements of certain brands. Be it a famous designer who dressed the actors for free to promote himself or the car company who supplied all cars in a movie to get noticed. All this is an attempt to persuade clients and customers and to show them you are better than your competitors.
Tag line is one of the main parts of an advertisement. With a great tag line things can never go wrong. Be it Wal-Mart saying save money, live better or McDonalds saying I’m loving it, the tag lines become a way of associating with these brands.
The internet is the most recent addition in this list of mediums of Advertising. With the internet your site is just a click away. You can advertise on the millions of websites and just a click will lead the customer to your site. A website can be a helpful way of talking to the client and giving all necessary and relevant details. You can use small banners as well as keywords which can be the path to your site.
Advertising through the internet is very easy and can be significantly inexpensive compared to that on the television, radio or newspapers. Also you can reach a huge number of audiences every day without having to move a muscle. You can also have auto responders in your websites that will send a predefined response to all those who contact you through your site. This will make sure no mail or query is unanswered and later you can reply in a detailed manner at your own time. Another method of advertising is sending e-mails to a huge number of people telling them about your products and services. This way the customer does not have to come to you, but you go to them.
Along with that you can also make money through Advertising. If you have a website, you can rent small spaces to companies for advertisements. Or you can also be a subscriber to Google AdSense and earn some extra cash.
Advertising surely is one industry that has its roots everywhere and is growing by the minute.
This article was written for Find This Online an online resource guide that offers a variety of articles written on different subjects. Visit us at Here for more articles on advertising information.
Will Email Marketing Campaigns Work for You?
When you talk to most business owners or entrepreneurs about email marketing campaigns, they will probably tell you that email simply won’t work. In fact, many experienced marketers will agree.
And, I must admit that if you are using email campaigns incorrectly, they will prove to be ineffective - a large waste of time and effort. Indeed, if used improperly, they can even scare off potential customers.
But, what if you use them the right way?
Email advertising can definitely be a highly effective and cost-efficient way to generate new leads as well as stay in contact with previous customers. For example, my business focuses on owner builder construction loans. Therefore, my office not only needs to use email to generate new business, but we also need to stay in touch with previous owner builders who will want to build again - not to mention refer friends and associates our way.
Our owner builder financing is a nationwide service that we provide, so the bulk of our marketing revolves around the internet and emails. Online advertising through email marketing campaigns can be a very effective way to bring quality traffic to your web site if you do it properly.
Email marketing can only be effective if you build a quality list of potential customers. There’s a pretty common saying among marketers: “The money is in the list.”
So, the first step is to realize that SPAM is not the way to go. As frequent recipients of SPAM, we don’t like it, so we shouldn’t expect potential clients to like it either.
If you send out unsolicited emails to people who have no interest in receiving your message, then your email marketing campaign is doomed for failure. You will waste a lot of time and money, as people simply delete your emails without ever glancing at them.
Or, worse, your company will quickly build a poor reputation within your specific industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling owner builder construction loans or the latest organic fruit juice. You don’t want your company to be known throughout your industry as being SPAM happy.
So, what are you supposed to do to make your email campaigns effective? First, just like any strong direct marketing, you need to email your message to a focused, targeted audience.
You need to have a list of people who have agreed to receive information on your type of products or services. This means running a lead generation ad of some sort, whether it’s online or not. For example, for our owner builder loans, new leads find us on the internet and request that we send them some free information or a free report of some sort. At this point, they have identified themselves as potential owner builders who have raised their hands, asking for more information. They have essentially given us permission to email them.
And, you must build your email campaigns so that you obtain maximum exposure for your marketing dollars.
Building your list does not have to be difficult. There are a variety of ways to get people to opt in to your list. What are opt-in subscribers? They are people who have agreed to subscribe/receive information on your product or service. These people themselves have chosen to receive information by way of emails.
One of the easiest ways to get prospects to opt in is to bribe them with something of value if they provide their information. Free reports, free books, or other toolkits of some kind - anything that is specific to your target audience - are effective ways of doing this.
If you don’t want to build a list, or want one even faster, you can always purchase lists of “opted in” prospects. This method is not as effective as building your own list, but it can get you jump-started while you work on your own list building techniques.
But, either way you decide to do it, understand that a targeted list is the key to success.
Now that you have your list, you can send emails. Leave all of the hype out of email advertisements. Focus on telling your potential clients the really important message:
o How your product will benefit them.
o Why they need your product or service. Or, better yet, why the WANT your product or service.
o Why they should choose you over your competitors - what makes your product unique.
The main reason why email advertising/marketing does not work for many marketers is because most of their campaigns are sent out to untargeted subscribers who consider their ad to be spam. In our case, if a person hasn’t told us they are considering being an owner builder and want more information, then our emails would just be a waste. It will work the same for any industry, not just owner builder loans.
In order for your email advertising campaign to work you must ensure that you are specifically targeting those individuals who have agreed to receive information that pertains to what you are offering through your website.
If you don’t do it correctly, email campaigns will be a huge waste of time. But, if you remember that the money is in the list, you will be well ahead of the game. You will build a strong list of focused, targeted leads who wish to hear what you have to say. At this point, email campaigns become a cheap, effective way to get your message to them.
Chris Esposito provides owner-builder construction financing nationwide through his Owner Builder 101 program. Visit www.OwnerBuilder101.com to get all the information you need to be a successful owner-builder, saving tens of thousands on your next home. Or call Owner Builder 101 at (877) 876-3688.
How to Promote Your Website Using Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Business owners have a common goal when it comes to Internet marketing. They want to get the most website hits for the least amount of money. Increasing income without spending a fortune on advertising can be accomplished with the right marketing strategy. Pay-per-click advertising is one way to achieve that goal.
Cost-Effective Advertising
Pay-per-click ads can serve as part of a profitable advertising campaign. Pay-per-click ads work well because, rather than paying a flat fee, you only pay to reach people who are actually interested in your product or service. This type of advertising is an effective way to promote your website. It helps keep costs down while directing only targeted traffic to your site.
It takes a little knowledge and skill to build an effective ad campaign. A poorly devised pay-per-click ad can cost a lot of money and still be ineffective at increasing sales. It is imperative to have a solid marketing plan. Start with these simple steps:
1. Carefully choose your keywords. Keywords are the backbone of a successful pay-per-click ad campaign. Use the right set of keywords to reach targeted traffic and build your revenue. Many keyword tools are available to help you sort through popular choices. Remember that search engine optimization is the way to get website hits from search engines. The higher your site ranks, the better the click-through rate you can expect.
2. Use captivating writing. An effectively written and carefully worded ad is your best bet for success. Each pay-per-click ad must captivate and intrigue the reader enough to make him click on it. A poorly written ad has the opposite effect and will not only lead to disappointment and lost revenue, but possibly to the removal of your ad.
3. Include a call to action. Asking potential customers to opt in to your mailing list or to make a purchase is essential for building your business. Use simple lines that clearly tell the reader what to do. Tell them to act right away, offer them a free bonus for signing up, or lure them in with information that’s not generally available.
4. Develop a solid landing page. No pay-per-click ad campaign is effective if it fails to direct potential customers to a quality landing page. Make sure your landing page is informative, neat and creative. Be sure it is search engine optimized to bring in more traffic. Remember that the homepage on your website is not necessarily the best landing page for new customers. Create a distinct page that gives customers what they want upfront.
5. Devise a new ad campaign. An effective Internet marketing campaign includes a variety of advertising methods. To attract more attention, switch up your advertising methods and create new pay-per-click ads for different sets of keywords.
Pay-Per-Click Programs
Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft AdCenter are three major pay-per-click programs. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks. The only way to tell if these programs can drive traffic to your website is to test them and use their tracking features to see what is working. Regardless of which pay-per-click program you decide to go with, keyword research and market analysis are essential to your overall success. Do your homework, be prepared and create a pay-per-click ad campaign that will boost your revenue without breaking the bank.
Katy Mutlow is the author of “How to Promote Your Website Using Pay-Per-Click Advertising” and recommends that you visit: http://www.free-google-pay-per-click.com for more information
What is A Lead Capture Page?
If your new to online marketing chances are you are probably wondering what is a lead capture page, and why do you hear so many people talking about them. Well you are in luck, because today I would like to explain to you what a lead capture page is and why it is so important to have one.
Lead capture page A lead capture page is designed to tease someone and only show important facts and leaving the reading wanting to find out more information. This is when the person reading the lead capture page can then enter in his or her name and email address into the small form on the page.
Once the person enters his or her name and email address into the form you now have what is called a lead. This person has taken the time to view your lead page and is interested in learning more.
Lead capture pages can come in all sizes and shapes, but the best performing lead pages are the ones that are short and get right to the point. Most people will only stay on a website for a few seconds so its important your page jumps out and makes the person reading it request more information.
So why is it so important to use a lead capture page?
I am sure by now you heard that the money is in the list, and people are not lying when they say that. You must build an email list if you wish to make a good deal of money online.
The quickest and easiest way to do this is to build a lead capture page and have people enter in their name and email address requesting more information. This works, because those who fill out your lead page form are called targeted leads, and have a very good chance of joining or buying something from you.
One other important thing you will need to go along with your lead capture page is called an auto responder. This will allow you to easily follow up with the people who fill out their names and emails on your lead page.
Aweber.com is a company that has been around for years, and offers great support and video tutorials that walk you through the setup process. They are extremely user friendly and have a great support staffing you can call if you need help.
So now the next time you hear someone talking about lead capture pages, and why they are so good you will know exactly what they are talking about. Remember the money is in the list!
To learn more about working at home and making money online using proven business systems visit Safelist Submitter
Promotional Products Brings Many Advertising Benefits
At this year’s Promotional Products Association tradeshow, more than 95 percent of business professionals surveyed reported using custom promotional products at their tradeshows and events. Roughly 72 percent of respondents state that promo items are either “extremely effective” or “effective” in accomplishing their goals.
There are many reasons to use imprinted merchandise and promotional product advertising, including: to increase name recognition, to increase booth traffic flow, to generate goodwill, to attract new customers and to generate interest in products.
The Incentive Performance Central completed a 2006 study that found custom promotional products could be used as a stand-alone advertising medium, coming second in “information value” only to television advertising. They continued by stating that imprinted merchandise was a very effective supplementary advertising device, to reinforce positive brand image, alongside tv and print mediums.
The promo products helped to create at-home reminders, enhanced impressions of the brand/product and contributed to a consumer’s intent to buy. Respondents to the survey stated that a custom promotional product was their second favorite source of information, after television.
Promotional Products Association International said that they found businesses that had a corporate gift program were twice as likely to be contacted by customers, as compared to those who did not give gifts. So, the real question is not whether you’ll use promo products, but rather which promotional merchandise you’ll choose!
Nearly 31% of all promotional products orders are for corporate apparel, meaning t-shirts, hats, hoodies, vests, gloves, scarves, etc. In 2006, General Motors ran promotional advertising campaigns with local baseball teams, like the Rochester Redwings. On the front of the shirt was the baseball team’s logo and the back of the shirt had the General Motors logo.
People went wild and filled out surveys by the thousands for the shirts! Cross-promotional branding is an amazing way to create logo products that can be worn and appreciated for years, especially because these items can’t be purchased in stores. You can use the popularity of another brand to boost your own popularity, in the same way a testimonial or referral would, and consumers are more willing to trust you with their business.
For a multi-million-dollar industry, the sad fact is that people generally don’t really like advertising. Most consumers are fast-forwarding through commercials with TiVo if they can, trying not to read the billboards on the way to work and deleting all the spam emails in their inbox.
People like information when they’re ready for it. They like information that they can use. They like a brand image that they can adopt, that somehow makes them a better person by being associated with it. That is why advertising with promotional products is one of the most effective ways to market your business!
Educate yourself further about promotional products from Mike Selvon articles portal. Your feedback is valued and appreciated at our promotional marketing blog where a free audio gift awaits you.
Dare to Be Different
My office provides owner builder construction loans. Never heard of them? That’s okay, because owner builder loans are a very small niche within the construction financing industry. Basically, they are loans for people who want to build their homes without using a general contractor.
But, that’s not really the point. The key is that our office works in a small niche in a large industry. In order to be recognized and get the word our there about our services, we never shy away from an opportunity to do something a bit off the wall, if not down-right crazy.
We dare to be different! And you should, too.
One of the simplest ways to be different than all of your competitors is by celebrating odd-ball holidays with your customers and potential customers.
Personally, I love National Pancake Day, National Jelly Bean Day, National Yo-Yo Day and many other weird-o holidays that no one else even knows exist.
Why? Because no one else even knows they exist.
And that gives me a simple, inexpensive opportunity to stand out. I use these holidays as excuses to reach out to past owner builder clients, new leads, and even referral sources.
Imagine your customers’ reactions when they get some random, off-the-wall mail piece with Jelly Beans for National Jelly Bean Day. It’s guaranteed to be more memorable than a Happy Holidays card around Christmas time. The costs are low, as far as mailings are concerned.
And, if you put a small item in your mail piece, the postage won’t go up. But, the customer will be much more prone to open it. In other words, if the customer receives a letter from you, having a small bit of bulkiness to the mailing will drastically increase your opening rates. It doesn’t matter if the bulky item is a jelly bean, a guitar pick, or a plastic army figure. All that matters is that the bulky mail will get opened a lot more regularly than a boring, regular, flat envelope.
And, once the mail piece gets opened, the different, random, wacky holiday will help get your message read and remembered!
For example, did you know that the third weekend in May is the annual Calaveras County Jumpin’ Frog festival and competition? The same one Mark Twain wrote about in 1865? I know it. And I actually send my customers their very own frog to enter (no, not a real one - a cheap plastic one), along with a re-print of Twain’s poem and a somewhat interesting letter from me. It’s unique, it gets opened, and it puts a smile on their face.
And, it costs my small, owner builder office all of sixty cents, including postage, to do all of that!
Don’t have any money at all for marketing? Can’t afford to send cheap mailings? These odd-ball holidays are still a great excuse to send an email to your clients. It’s an excuse to keep in touch with your clients, and it will still be so different from your boring competitors that you’ll be remembered.
Everyone knows that October 31 is Halloween, but good marketers are not like everyone else. Who cares about Halloween when we know that October 4th is “National Golf Day” and October 25th is “World Pasta Day.” I’ll bet anyone reading this can come up with some fun and inexpensive theme cards to send for one of these days.
Go online and find a sampling of oddball holidays you can use to stay in touch and set yourself apart from your competition. Imagine what you can do all year round. Be creative. Do not be afraid to take a chance on being a madcap marketer!
Dare to be different and stand out in your customers’ eyes. Customers will only buy from the people whom they remember!
Chris Esposito provides owner-builder construction financing nationwide through his Owner Builder 101 program. Visit www.OwnerBuilder101.com to get all the information you need to be a successful owner-builder, saving tens of thousands on your next home. Or call Owner Builder 101 at (877) 876-3688.
How To Advertise Effectively Online For Increased Profits
As an internet marketer, the one main key to making profits online is by advertising.
You can advertise several things at once even, including:
- Your own program, service or products…
- Other people’s programs, services or products as an affiliate.
:: How Can You Stay IN Profit?
The way to ensure that you remain in profit each month is to promote the products, programs and services that cost you money each month. By doing this, your outgoings will be self-liquidated by incomings from affiliate commissions.
Typically, if you own your own products, then you’re making pure profits by promoting your own products — and THAT makes good business sense if it’s possible.
But many people, especially those who are new to internet marketing, aren’t completely sure about the available sources of getting new prospects to their web sites.
This article is going to give you 12 different ways to attract site visitors to your site to view your offer. It will also give you a new marketing tool that you can utilise in your every day marketing to save you tonnes of time and effort. You’ll love it!
:: What Advertising Methods Can You Utilise?
There are many advertising methods that you can utilise, but for the sake of this article, we’re going to stick with free methods mainly — the reason being that most people starting out don’t have the funds required to continually use paid promotion methods.
Here are some good suggestions for free marketing that you can easily utilise:
- Banner advertising - Don’t believe the hype you hear about it being useless. On the contrary, banner advertising can be a great passive method of attracting new prospects, as long as your banner is professionally made and compels viewers to click it.
- Ezine advertising - You just can’t go wrong with this method, because for one — the audience is warm. They’re people just like you who subscribe twice, in most cases, to receive quality information. Your offer will fit into that niche right?
- Text advertising - These are great little eye-catchers, as long as you take the time out to construct your ad like a google ad… to literally attract attention by using keyword-laden, eye-catching text in the subject line and content. It’s definitely worthwhile to research your subject topic before creating ads, and use copy that attracts attention and change it to suit your personal offer.
- Link Exchanges - There’s absolutely no doubt that exchanging links increases your Page Rank and Popularity ratings with major search engines. It just makes good business sense to have as many incoming and outgoing links to your web sites as possible!
- Co-Registration Joint Ventures - Did you know you can build your list so easily by participating with other like-minded businesses online to build your credibility and exposure? These can be time-consuming, but it definitely depends on the link exchange system that you’re utilsing to conduct the link exchanges in the first place. [That means, forget about the manual email way and utilise a good online link exchange system script instead! Save HOURS of work and effort.]
- Traffic Exchanges - These are a great way to increase the hits to your web site and to get people viewing your web pages. Usually it’s a good idea to utilise splash pages, or lead capture pages in traffic exchanges. The reason for that is that you need to capture the viewer’s attention quickly and it’s easier to do that with a splash page that stands out. There are different types of traffic exchanges online including physically surfing and clicking the next button to progress to the next web page, or autosurf exchanges that automatically move onto the next web page. They’re a good way to keep abreast of the latest programs that are available online as well.
- Classified advertising - I don’t know about you, but I often read classified ads in ezines, just to keep abreast of what’s going on, what’s new and the latest offerings online. And which ones do I click on? The ones with the eye-catching headline and the teasing copy that compels me to click through to the advertised link… (tracked of course - then you know you’re dealing with a professional). How about you? Think about what YOU do and copy that click-attracting method. It simply works.
- Articles - Can you write articles? Well in this day and age, it doesn’t matter if you can or not. There are so many guidelines you can follow and software applications to practically do it for you… or download from libraries… If you’re lucky enough to have the ‘gift of the gab’, simply say what comes from the heart and soul and you’ll have written a winning article. But of course, you DO know that apart from giving very good information in the article, you need to have a killer resource box right? Because when someone enjoys your article, the next natural step to take is to read the resource box and click through to your recommended web site. TIP: Make your resource box brief, informative and like the best classified ad you’ve ever written. 
- Blog advertising - Essentially one of the quickest ways to be listed online through Google, using their blog system (or many others) is a wonderful way to turn up highly ranked in search engines and to have your web site linked to in many ways. If you don’t have your own blog yet, checkout the search engines for blogs and start your own ASAP!
- Search engine listing - Well need I say that if you aren’t in any of the major search engines, then no one will find you. Period! It’s a must-have requirement to be listed in the major search engines. Just ensure your main web page is search engine optimised to include a good title, description (like a google ad) and includes relevant keyword metatags.
- Solo ads - Well these are the BEST way to advertise online, because you capture the reader’s undivided attention. The only thing they’re seeing is your ad. Did you use a must-read headline and extra good solo ad copy? If so, then you’ll have success. Please don’t think you can send out crap in a solo ad and expect a conversion rate of any kind. It just WON’T happen. People are very busy out there. Just remember that and write appealing copy.
- Web 2.0 - Have you made the move to Web 2.0 yet? It’s an incredible happening and something that we’ll cover in another article. But you’d better bet your bottom dollar that you can’t ignore it or forget the absolute power that audio, video and social networking holds for your business. Just ensure you find out more about it and utilise it in your marketing strategies for 2008 and beyond, and you’ll make out just fine.
These are just a few examples of the mainly free methods that you can utilise to promote your business, but know in advance that having a marketing plan in place helps you to keep on top of what needs to be carried out and when. Organisation is the key to optimum promotion.
Not only that, but it does take time and effort — just little money — to perform these must-do marketing tasks. But if you want to save time and effort, you can always pay for good quality services to carry out the tasks for you. One replaces the other… Just search the internet and listen to recommendations from online associates for good services that can help you to promote your business effectively.
As long as you can promote consistently and play the ‘numbers game’, which always includes tracking, testing and tweaking to get your offer through the number of interested prospects, then you simply can’t go wrong.
I wish you all the very best with your future marketing and hope that you can take the initiative to look up some of the methods that I’ve mentioned in this article, and put them to good use for your increased business profits!
Imagine how good it would be to had everything mentioned above ALL done for you… well almost… for every month of the year? If you’ve been online for any length of time now and realise just how much time, effort and funds are required to REALLY promote your business, then you should try automating your advertising as much as possible.
Eva Browne-Paterson lives on Keswick Island in the Great Barrier Reef, and is the editor of EvieB’s New-Z at http://www.EvieB.com, an ezine dedicated to free marketing. She also runs http://www.Autopilot-Advertising.com, a membership site for busy marketers.
How Freebies Generate Leads for Websites
You’d have a hard time finding anyone who doesn’t like getting something for nothing. We all like the sound of the word “free”. This has long been something used by businesses to get people in their doors. This technique translates to the online world too. You can use freebies to get more web traffic and to generate leads.
Of course, not each and every visitor to a website is necessarily ready or willing to make a purchase. A lot of people like too go from site to site comparing what each business has to offer before making a decision.
They may even go back and forth between a few sites many times before deciding. Remember your website has two purposes, both important. One is to be the place where customers make purchases, the other is to serve as a method of generating leads for future marketing efforts.
A newsletter is a very common giveaway item. People must opt in to your mailing list in order to receive this; and with every newsletter or ezine subscription, you have garnered a new lead. Eventually you will build a very large list of prospects. Besides this, you can email your leads announcements about new products. This is an ideal situation, these are people already interested in your business.
To increase the number of people signing up for their freebies, site owners will often use additional incentives such as an ebook. This adds another incentive for your visitors and can make the difference between a sale down the road or no sale at all. If you make this extra giveaway a limited time offer, it will increase the odds of prospects opting in to your list right away rather than waiting (and as likely as not, forgetting).
Also not to be forgotten is the information on your target market that a giveaway can yield. Don’t get it? It’s simple if you have a large response to a giveaway, you then know that this item is something which is in demand among your target market. This information can be very useful when working out new products.
The only downside to offering these sorts of freebies is that there will be those who are drawn by the giveaway alone, but have no intention of making a purchase now or later. You can of course cut down on this by tying the giveaway to an action you want your prospective clients to take. This will keep the freebie attractive to those whom you can make a sale to, but not so compelling to those who merely want something for nothing.
One thing done by many internet based marketers is to build an online community, with a giveaway being free membership in this community. You can restrict parts of the site to members, allow members to post profiles and so on. You can require information such as name and email to join.
Marketing professionals will tell you that freebies on average triple the response rate which keeps your costs per lead much lower. The freebie can make your campaign cost a little more, but the higher volume of leads, as well as the higher quality of leads will more than make up for this cost.
Robert Paul Williams is the Editor of Work At Home Business Website. Stay Informed with the Latest Home Business News, Success Tips & Strategies.
Fonts Are Like Spandex - One Size Won’t Fit All
Let me start by saying (in my best Jack Nicholson-esque voice) that if you can’t “handle the truth,” you may well be offended by this article. Consider it a disclaimer. Feel free to disagree…your mileage may vary.
Still here? Good. Let’s get to it then, shall we?
Yes, I am a Fontaholic
They say that admission is the first step.
I doubt that there are many computer users who have more fonts installed on their computer than I do. There is something uniquely brilliant about every font, and I can appreciate them from an artistic standpoint. However, when it comes to creating a website, promotional piece, or advertisement, less is definitely more.
Over the past few years, the trend in advertising seems to have gone the way of sans-serif fonts. An easy way to remember this is that sans-serif fonts do not have “tails;” whereas serif fonts do. Sans-serif fonts are much easier to read, and are often chosen for websites for this reason.
Think of it this way…fonts are a lot like Spandex(R). Just because you can wear it, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. They are not one size fits all, folks. Think of me as your trusted friend waiting outside the dressing room door that gives it to you straight, “yes, I’m afraid that does make your butt look big.”
Grievous Font Faux Pas
You know you have a great product, your sales copy is impeccable, and you’ve nailed the keywords - yet, your conversions are still in the crapper.
Hmm…what do you suppose Joan Rivers would say? Now might be a good time to reconsider that flashing headline graphic, or the “adorable” trailing cursor effect you recently installed.
Remember the swan dress that Bjork wore to the 2001 Oscars(R)? Your “swan” may just be the albatross around your neck - and believe me, it is weighing you down. Save the cute and the kitschy for your MySpace(R) page. They have no business in your business.
The “less is more” principle governs more than just fonts - it applies to your message, and the ratio of text to graphics as well. Give considerable thought to the target of your message…will they find your font selections difficult to read, busy, or dated? Your appearance is your brand, so choose carefully. Similarly, once you’ve committed to a selection, stick with it. Doing so will not only increase your brand equity, but it will also reinforce trust with your customers. Falling prey to the “font of the month” will only serve to dilute your brand, and confuse your customers.
Can’t Get Enough Fonts?
Sometimes you just need a new font to help give your creativity a boost. If that sounds familiar, you will no doubt enjoy this list:
What the Font - myfonts.com/
An incredible selection awaits you at this site. I have found two features of this site to be superior: first, the search tool - which will allow you to sort by a specific time period, or style; and second, the “What the Font” tool. This tool allows you to upload an image of a particular font that you like, and the kinds folks of this font community will endeavor to help you identify it. This can be particularly helpful when you see a font you really like, but have no idea where to source it from. The community members in the What the Font area are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful.
1001 Free Fonts - 1001freefonts.com
Great database of free fonts - the only downside is that they are not classified by type.
Like all good things, fonts are best when used in moderation. It’s always a good idea to run your selections by a trusted friend or colleague before you go “live.” While a design may seem intoxicating in the moment, things may look totally different in the morning…so font responsibly.
Traci Hayner Vanover, The Promo Diva(R), is the publisher of Create the Dream magazine, http://www.createthedream.com, and the president of Market Outside the Box Trade Association, http://www.marketoutsidethebox.com. She also works with private clients as a publicist, copywriter and consultant.
