Promotion Basics
by Stuart Reid
Promotion.
There are only really two types of traffic, targeted and untargeted. Targeted visitors wanted to be where they are. Untargeted visitors got there by accident.
So, quite obviously, you want lots and lots of targeted visitors. Most free traffic sources will give you untargeted visitors, such as start or exit exchanges. However, a combination of many differing programs will give you a steady stream of traffic and some of it is bound to `stick`.
Your first step is the search engines. These will drive targeted traffic but it is getting very difficult to get good listings, unless you pay for them. If you are willing to fork out the cash then pay-per-click engines are probably the best bang for your buck out there. Overture is still king, but Google's AdWords are quite good too.
Your second source of targeted traffic is Advertising. This will probably take up the bulk of your promotion activities.
E-Zine advertising is good but you really need solo ads or at the least sponsorship ads to get noticed. Also you need to put your ad in popular, high quality e-zine which invariably costs more. Free ads in e-zines hardly ever get read as they are buried in a mass of others or even worse sent out separately in an ad-sheet. Beware lots of the cheap ad co-ops, you are really paying for free ads as the e-zines that take your ads are on a ads-for-subscribers deal. Solo Ads to a good list is the goal here.
The best way to get a good presence in an E-Zine is the FREE way! Write an article, and put your details at the bottom.
You can also use safelists or buy opt-in lists to send your ads. This usually means you receive ads as well as send them, but judicious use of secondary e-mail addresses will keep the hassle to a minimum. Unfortunately, many of the ads you send will go to these useless addresses as well - but no-one expects a 100% response ;-)
Try EzineBlaze (a new advanced paying safelist) at http://www.ezineblaze.com/compensation-plan.php?21379
Website advertising usually means banner ads, but some places will take text ads or even sponsorship programs but you are talking big money here. Banner ads can be cheap and effective but ensure your banner is eye-catching and uses the recent tricks of mimicking the look and feel of windows drop-boxes, buttons, flashing cursors or other system lookalikes.
You can sometimes get good banner exposure from MLM type banner exchanges or banner co-op / cycling programs where your banner is put into rotation and placed on other peoples banner pages. Most of these are free, so it's worth a go.
Try BannerMatrix at http://www.bannermatrix.com/?5S++4bp83g Try BannersGoMLM (top-rated banner exchange) at http://bannersgomlm.com/cgi-bin/ref/index.cgi?dist=essjayar
Offline advertising is still effective for websites. Just make sure you've got a short, easy to remember URL! Place your ad in newspapers, magazines, shop windows or perhaps even radio or TV if you're rich enough. Put it on business cards and leave them places. Put it on posters. Stick them on stickers. You can do a lot here. Be imaginative!
Getting a good flow of web traffic is usually a combination of many things. The percent of that traffic that actually sticks around or buys something is down to your page and how targeted that original traffic is. By utilising exit-pages, ad exchanges and the like you can turn a moderate flow into a large one with little effort. Traffic begets traffic!
Try ExitExchange (the original!) http://www.exitexchange.com/affiliates/1112481 Try ExitBlaze (the young upstart :-) ) at http://www.exitblaze.com/cgi-bin/intro_track.pl?b=51465&c=xbad1
Happy Advertising!
There is more information on Promotion at http://www.netpreneurnow.com/members/promotion.shtml
There are some resources for advertising at http://www.netpreneurnow.com/advertising.shtml
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Stuart Reid is the publisher of Netpreneur News and webmaster of Netpreneur Now! Visit us for weekly tips, reviews, recommendations and more. Free ad and 30 Top E-Books to new subscribers! mailto:signup@netpreneurnow.com http://www.netpreneurnow.com/ --------------------
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