What is Froogle?


Keeping in touch with other sites like Amazon.com, Buy.com and Yahoo.com, Google created a new shopping search tool called "Froogle". It has been called one of the most innovative price conscious tools on the Internet. Using the same technologies of Google.com, Froogle employs direct data received from merchants and through web crawls alone. Depending on the successes of the beta testing phase will provide adequate information as to whether Google continues with Froogle.

Housing over 15 different products and categories ranging anywhere from electronics, computers, food and gourmet, health care products, books, music and video, sports & outdoor equipment as well as toys and games, the list will only continue to grow in the coming months. Its searching capabilities mirror its mother page; it can be found at froogle.google.com and items can be found either in their product categories or by a dynamic keyword search. The results published are limited to one item per store. Every item appears with a thumbnail attached as well as a detailed product description, which includes price. Google doesn't bias any website and often you will find products that exist on Amazon and Yahoo. This approach mirrors the Google philosophy of less details, more products.

The remaining products are crawled throughout the Internet as most other keywords are sought. Currently merchants can setup their accounts and sell on Froogle right away! There is no cost or cost per click through associated with adding your products to Froogle. Merchants can sign up for free and monitor how Froogle displays their product. This technology is open to the public at no initial cost or commissions.

Depending on how many items your company may want to sell on Froogle; you have to create a data feed file, which can be done with any spreadsheet software or by a text file. The opportunity to get involved with Froogle is incredible; chances are if you are selling a product and are optimized on the Internet for Google, your product may already exist.

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

How Important are Back Links?


When setting up your website for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on Google there are several factors you need to look at in order to obtain a high rank on their search engine. Of course your content and meta tags must be inline with positive density percentages and reciprocal links.  Google then takes your website and performs a mathematic equation and places a numeric value on your website depending on one of the most important features, reciprocal or back links.

A back link and reciprocal link are identical. They both say the same thing to the Google engine, that your site should be ranked higher in the order because other people find value in what your website has to offer, thus they provide a link to your site.  In turn, you keep a closed loop by reciprocating the favor to the other website by extending the same courtesy of a back link.  Thus creating a solid network connection.  Google likes to see interconnectivity and will reward your website well for planning it this way.

There are drawbacks to the equation. As things change a website that you are affiliated with may drop a hyperlink or a page may get accidentally deleted.  When the Google robot goes through your website and finds a dead link it notes that you aren't keeping good care of your website and punishes your web rank by reducing its point value.  If you wish to know what your sites current point value is download The Google Toolbar and search for your website www.yourwebsitename.com in the box and perform a Google web search. Upon reading the full URL, Google will go directly to your site first thus pulling up your home page. There on the toolbar will be a page rank for your website between 1 and 10. 1 being a less visited and noted website and 10 a site that screams traffic 24/7.

Some of the individuals you share reciprocal links with may in fact scan all their links for continuity, should they receive a bounce back for a broken link on your website you can be assured you will receive an email from them. Keeping your website in balance with other sites you share links with will keep the Google engine happy. If you go off and add a company that is not Google friendly, meaning they have no back links you may also lose points.

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

The Link Swapping Trap


If you want to make money on the web, you must get traffic
to your website. If you want to get traffic to your website,
you must have a high rank in google's search results. Google
ranks websites based upon the number of links that point to
the site.

Many novice webmasters believe they can trick Google into
giving their website a high rank by swapping links with
other webmasters. One reason they believe this, is because
"wanna-be" web marketing "experts" keep spouting that trash.

It's only partially true that Google ranks websites based
upon the number of links that point to the site. Google
uses a highly sophisticated page ranking formula that keeps
changing and evolving all the time. Google caught onto the
link swapping trick years ago.

Novice webmasters put all their link swaps on one
gigantically long page referred to as a "link farm". When
Google's robot finds a link farm, their ranking formula
penalizes the websites listed in the link farm. If Google
finds the same site listed in many link farms, they remove
that site from their search engine.

Just about every week I get an email message saying
"I placed a link to your website on my website. Please put
a link to my website on your website. Here's where you can
find your link on my website" ... followed by a link to a
single webpage containing hundreds of links ... a link farm.

I usually reply to such a message with a request to remove
the link to my website from their webpage. The novice
webmaster often responds with a message of pure astonishment.
Link swap requests have become so common lately that I have
been responding by clicking on the "Delete" button.

Every webmaster that wants to swap links has a website
with zero traffic. Even if Google didn't penalize websites
for being listed in a link farm, why would I want to send
traffic away from my website to a website that can't return
any traffic?

Not only are these novice webmasters not experienced in the
way of the web, they seem inexperienced in the way of the
world. The first rule of the universe is "you never get a
free lunch". If you want your website to rank high in Google,
you have to pay them. If you can't afford to pay them, you
have to do the work.

It's hard work to get traffic to your website. There is
only one method I know that works: put valuable, original
content on your website. Other websites, blogs, and forums
will post links to the valuable content on your website,
not with a link swap, but as a resource to their audience.

When someone places a legitimate link to valuable content
on their webpage, the webpage has low link density.
Google's page ranking formula gives the page a high score.
If a link to your webpage is found on a high scoring
webpage, that raises the rank of your webpage.

On the other hand, a page with a high link density, with
hundreds of links and little other content, gets a negative
score from Google. If a link to your webpage is found on a
webpage with a negative score, that lowers the rank of your
webpage.

Don't try to scam Google by swapping links, and don't
cooperate with foolish webmasters who think there is a
"free lunch". If you want to get a higher ranking in Google,
resulting in more traffic to your website, there is only
one way - good old fashion hard work.

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Donuts Anyone?


When we ran the contest back in 1998 we had a idea there would be a few visitors but we got a big surprise. We had up to 1000 people per hour from the local area sitting on the web site waiting for the cop to come in the drive thru. We ran the contest for 2 months and it was the best advertising we had ever done. It produced more then 500 new customers per month and caused a bunch of people to get involved in a contest we felt was going to be middle of the road. As I met with a marketing guru 2 months ago we had sat and chatted about advertising that worked and the Donut shop cop came back to life.

We had been looking for a way to bring customers to our new products that we had been offering on the net  www.nostingkypits.com  & www.growumgreen.com these products needed to get out to the public and get know we felt this could be accomplished with donutshopcop.com. as we had a list of emails that I had collected from jokes friends and family had sent me I sent out a email inviting them to have a look and see if they wanted to join and play the game.

After I sent out a total of 1500 emails personally addressed we got a whopping 85000 hits. It may have to do with the fact of offering win your weight in donuts. Also the fact is when the friend who you referred wins you also get the same prize. This month we are doing some test advertising for a company in Cambridge. It seems to be going ok and people are hitting the site just fine.

Some of the equipment we are using for this can be bought off the shelf if you have the desire to set this up. We used a ATI all in wonder pro for capture. For the camera we used a Samsung video cam on a video cable back into the card. The computer is a old p3 500 with 128 megs ram on Windows XP. The cam software is Webcam32 it is a breeze to setup. It pushes a still back to the server every 60 seconds. It all sits on a cable connection for a local business. There are from 3 to 9 cop cars in the donut shop each day and your chances of winning are high.

For the first win we give them a Tee shirt and some product samples with all names going into the draw for the monthly prize. We plan to offer bigger and better things as we go along. Internet access (1 year DSL connection), lease on a car for a year, boats , bikes and other products as we get rolling all it takes is a little imagination and the sky is the limit.

On our next venture we are going to setup other cams in fast food places and it may be a cop or who knows !!!!

The cam is setup on the Tim Horton's in Waterloo Ontario Canada.

Looking for help or more info you can contact me directly

Richard Willis owns and operates Donutshopcop.com he also owns and operates Puterdudes a full computer service company. he has been in the computer business for the last 17 years involved with different companys and projects.

Build Your Own Online Network


Many online business owners and marketers use a variety of tools to make their business successful. Good strategies include maintaining a web site, publishing an ezine, joining affiliate programs, advertising on other people's ezines, and much, much more. As any good Internet "guru" will tell you, getting your name and product "out there" is the most important part of your success. So, the general rule is: Use as many strategies as possible.

What I suggest is that you take this rule one step farther. What I think works best is combining as many of the strategies together, as possible. In other words, when you can, build your own network, using the tools you already have in place. And I'm using the word network, as it relates to networking your online systems -- not in the sense of a prospect or client network, though I have some tips on that, near the end of this article.

So, let's break down this concept. Suppose you have a web site that promotes a product or service. You probably have a sales letter, some testimonials and a merchant account, so people can buy your product. Now, what I would suggest next, if you don't already have it, is your own ezine (online magazine, operated by an e-mail autoresponder). You get visitors to subscribe to your ezine, using a pop-up or another type of FREE subscription form on your web site. Again, this may not be new to most people, but here's another spin on it. In addition to your pop-up or basic sign-up form on your site, why not add a page to your site, with a link on your home page, that does nothing but promote your ezine.

You see, many people pass up your subscription form, because they are afraid of SPAM, or they don't know enough about your ezine. Will it interest them? Or, will it just bombard them with more advertising?

A separate page can explain exactly what the ezine does, promote articles that you have in it, even give a sample issue, so prospects can see what they are getting. Be sure to have several subscription forms on this page between sections of your text, so people have plenty of opportunity to subscribe. Also, be sure that visitors are linked back to your home page, once they've subscribed, so they get back to looking at your product. Any good autoresponder will have this feature, which is crucial, because although you desperately want people signing up for your ezine, you also want them to read your sales letter and, hopefully, buy your product.

Make sure your ezine articles always link back to your web site, so you are constantly promoting yourself. After all, this is really what ezines are for.

Another part of good online networking is to set up affiliate programming, in a similar fashion to the aforementioned ezine promotion. That is, instead of just offering your own product as an affiliate program, set up a separate page on your web site for affiliate programs you use. So, you might have a link on your home/sales page called "Other Great Products." Obviously, you can use your own creativity for this title.

This link will take visitors to a site that promotes other products, for which you gain a commission as an affiliate. If you are unfamiliar with affiliate programs, visit ClickBank, the largest free affiliate program on the Internet. Most Internet marketers only offer their own product to people, who want to join affiliate programs, or they may offer just one other related product, with a link on their home page.

Plus, don't forget any other web sites of your own. Always be sure to link to them on all of your URLs and in your ezine articles. The key to building your own online network is to be sure you have promotional pages for all of your products and affiliates on your web sites and to link everything together. Remember, you want every visitor on your e-mail list, and you always want them landing back on your promotional pages.

One final thought. Promoting your business network offline is also critical to your success. Some basic techniques I use are:

? URL on return address stickers

? Business cards with ezine address and web site

? Fliers at community businesses and public places (be sure your community knows you above all others)

? Free seminars in regional communities, discussing my topic (remember, you don't need to make money here ? all you want is to get your name out there and to get e-mail addresses, so you can add them to your ezine list)

? Teach a class at a community college (get more e-mail addresses)

? Give free information away at community festivals, like Home Days

? Advertise in your local Money Saver magazines. It's cheap, and it reaches tens of thousands of people, who love cheap or free stuff.

? Anything else you can think of that get people to your site and to your ezine

Stay positive. Building a network takes time and hard work, but it's well worth it in the end.

Mark Barnes is author of Winning the Mortgage Game and several other finance books. He is also publisher of Biz Sense Online and Let's Talk Sports, weekly business and entertainment ezines. See Mark's work at www.winningthemortgagegame.com and www.bizsenseonline.com. To get Biz Sense Online, send a blank e-mail to [email protected]

To get Let's Talk Sports, send a blank e-mail to [email protected]

Is Your Websites Link Directory Even Worth Having?


Let's face it, getting (and keeping) a good Google page rank is no easy task and requires constant attention. Not just in getting reciprocal links, but honing your Meta tags, and keeping your content fresh. But we are here to discuss only one part of the pagerank dilemma. In fact this article will focus more on other, and in some cases, more important benefits of a proper links directory.

 

 

Directory Structure

 

    * Categorize your directory well- Meaning the more categories you have the better organized your directory is. More categories means your visitors can locate particular links a lot faster.
    * Minimize the depth of your categories- You should not make your directory more than three category levels deep, for instance if you are a travel site and have a category for Jamaica, then the structure example would be Travel>>Caribbean>>Jamaica. Easy navigation for your site visitors is the main reason for this.
    * Reason two for minimizing your directory depth- Search engines will spider each page of your website, they will determine the pagerank of each page based on its content, and distance away from your homepage. Use this as a rule of thumb; each level down from your homepage will cost that page "one" pagerank point. Using the example above, this is what is meant here, Travel>>Caribbean>>Jamaica: the Travel" page would have the highest pagerank being closest to your homepage, let's say it has been give a Google rank of 4, the next level "Caribbean" in all likelihood would have a rank of 3, and so on.
    * No more than 20 links per page- There is not a link partner in the world that wants his/her site to be on your link page as link number 100. I would rather be link number 3 on page number three than link number 100 on page one. This is clutter, and useless to all involved, you, your link partner and especially your site visitor. Keep this in mind as well, when the search engines spider your site they will also notice more pages on your site thus determining that you offer more content. Your link partners will also appreciate it.

 

Relevant Links

 

    * Do your visitors really care if you own a travel site and have links to recipe sites? Of course not. Although locating good quality link partners for your site will take more time, it will be well worth it in the long run. If you have a travel site, seek out rental cars, vacation spots, travel accessories, and the like. Your visitors are on your site because they (at that moment in time) are interested in what your site has to offer, do not change the visitor's train of thought into anything other than what you want them to think about, in this example, traveling and things associated with traveling.

 

 

Make Money from your links?

 

    * Of course! Reciprocal linking is a great way to help your website's search engine ranking, but making immediate cash from your links is a whole level up from that.
    * Join affiliate programs like Commission Junction and add some affiliate links to your directory. For our travel site example, you can get offers like travel accessories, rental cars and the like.
    * Have a good mix of links to other sites and affiliate links- You do not want a directory full of affiliate links, this is a major turn-off to your visitors. As a matter of fact, you should have at least a 10 to 1 ratio of regular links vs affiliate links.

 

Advertise in your directory

 

    * Since you now have a well organized directory with an excellent structure, limited to 20 links per page, and a lot of pages with good advertising space, it's time to place some banners.
    * You can advertise some of those good sites that you are affiliated with and place a banner or two on every page.
    * Keep it neat- You should have quality space on the left or right side of your directory add a Skyscraper banner to either side (only one per page though), it is well known that the bigger the banner the more clicks on that banner you should receive. A skyscraper is usually 120 x 600 in size. Add a single banner at the top center of each page as well; make it a different ad, offer something different than your skyscraper. This is the most valuable banner location on any page, use it for banners.
    * Sell banner spots- Now that you have a well categorized directory, you can sell ad space to vendors whose products or services appeal to that particular category. You can even offer the top spot on a particular page for sale or as a trade for the same kind of link for your site in someone else's directory.

 

 

 

Exceptions to the rule

 

 

There are those sites that do not fit into any category of your site that have that HUGE Google page rank, and you want them to link with your site. Here is a tip for you to keep those sites happy and get that top rank. In addition to you're regular links directory, create a separate smaller reciprocal links directory. This may be only 1-3 pages in size. This directory must have a direct link from your homepage (most top rank sites require that), and title it something like "Special Link Partners" or "Recommended Links". Add only page ranks of say 6-7 or higher to this special directory. This will ensure your most important link partners that you will not be burying their link inside your link directory.

 

We have quite a large selection of software in our downloads directory at http://www.bullmarketer.com that can help you automate the process of managing your own links directory. One program in particular is Arelis by Axandra.  This software is not only VERY user friendly but offers tons of features. There is a free lite version available for download.

 

 

Derek Arnold

Derek Arnold is the President of BullMarketer.com, a webmaster resource site offering many tools for webmasters, marketers, and designers. Also has over 18 years of experience in the marketing and advertising fields. Homepage: http://www.bullmarketer.com 

Ten Unobvious Ideas To Pull Visitors to Your Real Estate Agent Web Site


The number one key to getting business in the real estate
home sales market is to be people's first contact.  The
National Association of Realtor's last three surveys between
1999 to 2003 said 66% of buyers stayed with the first real
estate agent they contacted yet only 6% of this number came
from web sites.  This number is rising as people become more
comfortable finding their information on the Internet.
There are three ways to show your uniqueness on the
Internet:  words, pictures, and interactive activities.

What is pulling prospects to visit your web site?  You have
the obvious -- strategic alliances with lenders, title reps,
home inspectors, appraisers and attorneys.  Here are ten
ideas that aren't obvious.

1.  Use balloons besides at the open house.  Print an action
slogan on the balloon along with your URL -- web site
address.  An action slogan is very important, otherwise
people will not know what the URL is for.  When attending an
outdoor event, like a fair, carry them, place them on your
children's arm so you can find them, and hand them out.
Take the balloons to the kids baseball games or other
sports.  If traveling with balloons is difficult, call the
show's event office and find out if there is going to be
someone there with the equipment for balloon blowing.  When
you get there, give them a few dollars to blow a few up for
you.  You can order all sizes and balloon shapes:
http://www.gopromos.com/store/category.asp?CL=101A1276A1292

2.  On brochures add an action request, such as "Search all
area homes for sale anytime."  Or change "anytime" to
"24/7".  If you don't have this on your brochures, go to an
office supply store and pick up some colorful Avery labels,
or maybe you have some hanging around the office, and create
them yourself.  Also add your URL to that action request.
Go ahead and use the stickers for a lock box action request,
"If this house doesn't fit your needs, visit [URL] for a
complete search of other homes in this area".

3.  Home-For-Sale Signage.  Does your for sale front lawn or
directional signs for the open house have your web site
address on them?  If not, add them with along with an action
request for all those not quite ready that are driving by,
or for those that don't have the time to stop at that
particular time.

4.  Community bulletin boards.  Grocery stores, libraries,
community centers.  Post your business cards at minimum.
Create tear off tabs small flyers that fit within their
requirements with an action request and your URL.

5.  "Honk, if you want to sell your home" can be a bumper
sticker or a clear sign for the side or rear top portion of
the back window.

6.  Glow in the dark banners, stickers and auto stickers.
Home signage like:  Visit [URL] for complete information on
this property.  Make it a glow in the dark for night time
visual effectiveness.

7.  What about the times that you don't have office duty?
What about setting up a table for 3-4 hours outside the
grocery stores.  Add a nice table cloth, the balloons, and a
large sign, "Ask me anything about buying a home."  Or, "Ask
us anything about selling a home."  Switch approaches every
few hours to see which one fits best.  I don't suggest place
both out there unless there are two of you.  Create tee-
shirts with the same action request along with the URL.  Use
a table covering that is the same color as the tee-shirt to
help support your message and attractiveness.

8.  Transit ads.  What type of transportation is available
in the areas you focus in?  Is there massive transit like
buses or metro?  Don't forget taxi cabs, inside and out, as
well as the taxi stands.  Find out where their direct phone
lines are.  Sometimes, yet rare, you can place an Avery
sticker next to.  One sign works with well if you have this
ability on your web site:  "Take a virtual tour of our
latest properties ."9.  This one is something I dreamed up and it really works.Rig a button that people can press on the side of your carwindow that gives off a recording of the latest houses youavailable for sale.  Then park in obvious places for peopleto see the button.  Add a sign on the inside of the windowgiving them permission to press the button.  Caution, thisdoesn't work with some car alarm systems.10.  Merchants.  Where do you get your dry cleaning done?Hair cuts, massages, or other frequented stores.  Do youhave some favorite restaurants?  Can you stock a businesscard holder by the cash register?  As a previous owner ofrestaurants, the one I like best is when the real estateagent paid for part of or the whole cost of the menus.  Inexchange we allowed them to create some marketinginformation on the menus.Testing is always important when trying new things.  Inselling real estate, uniqueness is the key.  As said in thelatest National Association of Realtors 2003 survey, mostpeople perceive all real estate agents as being the same.But you know you aren't.  Yet, how are you showing it?  Becomfortable with being uncomfortable.  Create play and funand stretch with your marketing.  Let it be as unique as youare and then smile all the way to the bank. Catherine Franz, business coach.  Previously a realestate agent and exec with National Association of Realtors.Additional articles and ideas about marketing to attract business: [url]http://www.abundancecenter.com
Blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

Converting Web Site Home Buyers to First Contacts


According the National Association of Realtors(R) ("NAR") surveys completed between 1999 and 2003, 66 percent of all home buyers stick with the first real estate agent they contact.  The number one reason stated was that buyers perceive all real estate agents to be the same.  This means that two out of every three contacts that you receive when you are the first contact, you are most likely to get the business.

There are two major items that get in the way of this not happening.  First, if you don't show them how you are different from the other realtors and if you don't have a formalized conversion system.

The NAR news is good news if you are the first contact.  But what do you do if you aren't?  What can you do is a more accurately way of asking? Agents know there is a wide difference between experience and competence.  This doesn't really matter though, agents main target isn't selling to other agents.

The key is to create a marketing process that pushes you in front of the line of other realtors.

The 2003 NAR report stated that 71 percent of buyers use the Internet to gather information on buying a home yet only 6 percent use the Internet to find an agent.  This means that 65 percent of the people visiting realty-type web sites and just there for information.  The 2003 numbers are an increase from 41 percent and 3 percent in 2002.  Keeping at this same growth rate, the 2004 prediction would be 91 percent and 9 percent.

The Internet is the fifth method to find agents.  The first four are:  referrals, repeat business, met agent at open house or office walk-in.  The fifth with  the Internet were yard signs.  The least effective at 1% were advertising trinkets and direct mail.

What type of Internet presence do you need in order to be first contact -- or part of the nine percent in 2004?  With the Internet ever evolving trying to keep up creates a throw-up-the-arms frustration at times if you're not techie savvy or paying for someone else handing the site.

There are four major keys for staying present and being in the this nine percent:

1.  Automatic database system
2.  An informative, interacting, and evolving web site
3.  Technology support for leveraging time
4.  Newsletters, printed or e-delivered.

I don't need to remind you that buyers are getting savvier every year with the Internet and with home buying.  And due to this they will test your knowledge level during your first contact to see if you have what it takes to save them money, time and headaches.  The latter, headaches, being
number one.

Just recently I called four real estate agent companies and asked them one question out of the yellow pages and it was amazing what I discovered and the way I was treated.  One agent took my name and number, promised to call back, and never returned my call until the next day with kids and dogs
screaming in the background.  It took me seven more tries to find an agent that could answer the one question correctly (the way NAR said it needs to be answered).  Out of 12, 8 answered incorrectly, and four of them you could tell were "winging" the answer.

What are you doing to make yourself different? Communication skills need to be a big consideration.  There are three major Internet communication items that make the determination of whether they are going to contact you or
pass you up for another web site.

1.  Clear communication and instructions on the web site. This happens most of the time through linking.  You ask visitors to click here but all they have is an underline on the word.  Say "click here for."  The other item is that
what are they going to get or find if they click there?  Is it perfectly clear.  Where are they going to go if they click there?  Is the link taking them to another site, another page?  The why, why do they need to go there, why do you want them to go there.  What is their benefit for clicking there.

2.  Ease of use.  Is the navigational system of the site easy to use for visitors.  Some people are very visual and by giving them an overall view of what they can find -- either in words or in a diagram eases their comfort level.

The more comfortable they feel at the web site, the more comfortable they are going to be taking the call to actions you have designed on the site.  Create Step 1, 2, and 3s to handhold them through a process.

3.  Provide details.  Again, something similar to what I said in #1.  Be clear, give details on what will happen if, where they will go next, or what they can expect to get or know by this.  Remove the scariness of unknown quantities
and expectations.  Lead visitors through your site.  Give them a handshake and don't let their hand go and walk them through all the processes they came to accomplish.  How are you different than other agents -- spell it out with details.

Catherine Franz, business coach.  Previously a real estate agent and exec with National Association of Realtors.  Additional articles and ideas about marketing to attract business:  http://www.abundancecenter.com

Instantly Increase Your Sales and Conversions by Adding New Hover Ad Technology to Your Websites


First Generation - The Popup

Popups, if you're somehow, strangely, not familiar with the term, are those little windows that open when you visit certain sites.

Popups are secondary browser windows that are opened up using JavaScript code. The properties of this new browser window are set in such a fashion that the new window does not have a address bar, status bar or the menu.

Until about a few years ago  the popup was considered to be the biggest breakthrough in advertising on the web.

When they were first introduced they were a great success and click-through rates went through the roof.

Exit the banner ad - enter the popup.

Web marketers could interrupt whatever a visitor was viewing, by launching a secondary window on top of the first  to draw attention to his advertisement or opt-in list or any other item that he wished to get the attention to.

After a while like most good marketing tools, popups started getting abused. Popups would open secondary popups and eventually by just visiting page that has a single popup in it, you would end up with a barrage of say about 15-20 popups. This was exploited by unscrupulous marketers to the fullest, especially those hawking porn sites.

Of course, webmasters who were in tune with the sentiment of visitors, soon began to use cookies to track if the popup was already shown and ensure it was not shown more than once per visitor.

Frustrated visitors soon began complaining about popups.
Popups are your problem? - Get a popup blocker.

Looking at the need of website visitors, software companies soon came up with popup blocking software. These applications read all the code that's going to the browser and if they find any JavaScript in the page code that's trying to open a window, BAM, it deletes that part of code. So Bye Bye popup!
Generation Two - The PopUnder

Not to be left behind, web marketers came up with another version, the popunder, which still launched a secondary window but placed it below the primary window. In most cases, the visitor didn't even notice this popunder until they closed the primary window.

Of course this was less intrusive, but a pain nonetheless and you don't get an award for guessing what happened next.

Yes you guessed right, the popup blockers soon started blocking popunders as well.
Generation Next - Enter Hover Ads

What the beejeezus are Hover Ads? They are floating ads that popup blockers can't stop.

The technology that creates Hover Ads is not new. In fact, it's been available to web designers for at least 2 years now as DHTML (that's Dynamic HTML to those who don't know).

These ads cannot be seen by older browsers like Internet Explorer 3.0. But since most netizens are using browsers (IE 4.0 and above) that are capable of displaying this code this type of advertising has started enjoying a rise in usage.

Hover Ads are DHTML layers which can be selectively moved and displayed over the primary page that's being displayed. The basic code is still JavaScript, but since a new window is not being opened, the popup blockers can't figure out that an advertisement is being displayed.

These layers can be animated, moved around, made to appear once per session, shown after a delay, etc.
So that makes you ask "Why should I switch from regular popups to Hover Ads?"

The one and only compelling reason. Popups can be blocked! Hover Ads can't.

So the bottom line is, if you use popups as a part of your online marketing strategy you're losing out on a lot of potential revenue, coz what they can't cant see they can't buy!

Some statistics that make Hover Ads a compelling technology to use:

    * The Alexa Toolbar can now block pop ups (10,000,000 Users not seeing your AD).
    * The Netscape 7.0 Browser has a built in popup blocker( almost 52 million users never seeing your popup ad).
    * Earthlink provides its users with a popup blocker( prospects who cant see your ad:5,000,000.
    * AOL released version 8.0 with Popup Blocking capabilities. (Total Subscribers: 35,000,000).

Bottom line: 40 million customers never see your advertisement!

Hover Ads, on the other hand cannot be stopped by blocking software. Their technology is regular JavaScript that runs well in all modern environments, so they are relatively safe to deploy on your site.
"So how can I add Hover Ads On my Website?"

If you are looking for a free way of doing this then there are freely available JavaScript snippets that you can put to use on your site today without buying any fancy software.

A sample of code can be obtained from CodeLifter.com

The drawback here is that you would need in depth knowledge of JavaScript coding, which not many people know about.

Another approach is to use high end HTML editors like Dreamweaver which have DHTML scripts included under the "Layers" menu. Then again, Dreamweaver is an expensive software.
Any other easier option you ask?

One software that quickly automates the creation of Hover Ads, using a simple 3 step interface is the Hover Ad generator.

The Hover Ads created using this software can be fully customized and are very professional looking.

I especially like the opt-in style Hover Ads which lets your prospects sign up for your opt-in list by simply clicking a button. You subsequently receive a mail with their name and email-id.

I'll let you look up the other four styles on your own.
Summary

If you use popups on your website, chances are pretty good that they are being screened away by some software or another. Perhaps even by your visitor's ISP - without any active attempts on your visitor's part to block them. You'll need to do something about this situation  and soon.
"So, what choices do I have?"

1. Do nothing. Pray that your content is good enough to attract visitors.

2. Visit CodeLifter to get your FREE layer generator script. You will be stuck with one style, though, if you just cut paste. If you know JavaScript you can modify it as per your liking.

3. Use Dreamweaver or your HTML editor, if it has layers support.

4. Check out Hover Ad Generator . They offer a FREE trial.

Satyajeet Hattangadi is the Owner of Novasoft Inc, a software solutions provider, who specialize is affordable customized software solutions.

Increasing Link Popularity WITHOUT Exchanging Links


Yes, it can be done. Here are 7 ways that a site can acheive
increased link popularity without having to exchange links:

Directory Submissions - Submit to the Open Directory and other
sites like JoeAnt and Gimpsy. These are all human reviewed
directories, therefore search engines will consider that your
site must be of pretty good quality to be listed in them. Submission
to these sites is free, but there can be quite a wait to get
reviewed, since editors are unpaid volunteers. In addition to
a link popularity boost, a listing in Open Directory will get
your site listed in the other Open Directory powered sites
like Google's web Directory, AOL's web directory and many others.

Tips For Directory Submissions:

Editor Check - Is there an editor for your desired category?
If not, consider applying. For Open Directory, this can
give you the power to add your site much more quickly.

Link Title - Don't try any tricks to get keywords in your title
if they are not in your company name. This will get your listing
edited if the listing is approved or rejected outright. The
title must be your official website or company name.

Description - Again, don't try to insert extra keywords here,
it could backfire and your description will be edited or your
listing rejected. The description should be short and concise.
Just tell what your website offers and give some product or
service examples if appropriate. Again, keep it short!

Be patient! - It may take weeks or months to be reviewed. If
you've submitted before and are still not listed, try writing
a polite note to the editor of the category to see if there
was a problem.

Paid Submissions - Paid submissions to quality directories
and portals is also a good idea. It is well known that a
listing in the Yahoo directory area will give you a good
Google PageRank boost. Listing in the Yahoo directory area
is $299, so skip this option if your budget is limited.

Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Submissions - Google lists the
results of many smaller pay-per-click search engines. This
can help link popularity if your site is listed in these
results for your important keywords and phrases. There are
hundreds of these smaller PPC engines that offer a free
advertising credit just for signing up. Take a jaunt on
over to PayPerClickSearchEngines.com for a good list of them.
Submit listings under all your important keywords and phrases
and include keywords in your title.

Affiliate Program - Having an affiliate program can boost your
overall sales by letting other sites do the advertising for you,
but did you know that this can also help link popularity? For
some affiliate program services like Commission Junction or
LinkShare, they use a special link to track clicks and sales,
so these may not be effective since they do not contain your
actual domain name. The kind of affiliate program I am talking
about is the type that uses your domain name in the tracking URL
you give affiliates to use. Something like:
http://www.yourcompanyname.com/aff?64340
As long as your affiliate program uses this type of link, then
your site should see an increase in link popularity. Just make
sure you offer a good incentive for affiliates so that they will
add your link to their site. Even better, you can approve only
related sites or sites with a good Google PageRank or Alexa
traffic ranking into your program!

Specialized Submissions - What type of site do you have? What do you
sell? Chances are there is a directory that specializes in just
sites like yours. Have a casino or gambling site? There are many
gambling portals and search engines. Submit to all of them.
Have a site that sells antique fishing tackle? Yep, there are
directories relating to fishing, but you can also submit to the
many antique and collectible directories as well! Sell wedding
dresses in New York? Submit to the many wedding and bridal directories
and the New York search engines too. Whatever your niche, chances are
that there is a specialized directory or search engine for that area.
Find them and submit! You'll benefit from the targeted traffic they
send but also increased link popularity.

Create Your Own Directory - Set up your own specialized search engine,
directory or portal catering to your target audience. Your site can
be a featured or showcase site on the main page and other pages!
To attract users, add interactive content such as forums, have chats,
offer contests, the possibilities are endless.

Expired Domain Names - Maybe a site in your industry has gone out of
business? You may be able to pick up their domain name and with it
all their incoming links and traffic. Increase your link popularity
by adding your link to the site prominently, then go ahead and
re-direct the user to your site after a few seconds. Don't re-direct
quickly or you may not reap any link popularity benefits.

That's it! 7 ways to increase your website's link popularity without
maintaining a links page and without sending your visitors to competitors!
Kacey Donston - Submit-URL.net has been promoting online businesses since 1998.
Offering search engine optimization, positioning services, pay per
click campaigns, ranking checks, resubmissions, evaluations and more.
We offer comprehensive packages for home business owners, small businesses
and corporate customers. http://www.submit-url.net

3 Reasons Your Website Might Fail To Attract Enough Customers


Virtually all website owners concentrate their efforts and energy into getting more visitors. With business owners this effort is spent on getting more and more new customers. What many people forget - with both their website and their business - is that getting new customers (or visitors) is only a small part of the equation for success.

Reason For Failure No. 1 - The 'I am God'-Syndrome

God got his name from being able to do anything and everything and be everywhere at once. Despite what we are taught from an early age many people still insist on believing they themselves are God. Ever found yourself answering the phone, making a sale, running a sales meeting, welcoming customers and doing your company's accounts all in one day? Sure you have. You're trying to be God and do everything and be in more than one place at one time. You will fail. People do this with their website too.

Rather than just stopping at providing content (which is where you should stop and hand everything else over to the professionals) some people think that despite no professional training or education in the subject they are experts in web design, website marketing, graphic design and business consultancy. Remember - stick to what you know, leave everything else to the experts. Your job is to run your business - not to run around like a headless chicken trying to create a website, market a website, do the books, answer the phones and make the tea.

Reason For Failure No. 2 - 'Build It And They Will Come'

Ah yes. The halcyon days of the early 1990s when anything seemed possible and merely owning a domain name or funky web address meant certain success and riches beyond your wildest dreams. "Build it and they will come" is what they said. They were wrong.

Disaster after high profile disaster came crashing down into a pile of dotcom carnage as the millions poured into the idea pit were consumed by fast-spending entrepreneurs who possessed more pairs of trainers than they did explanations for where the profit was going to come from. Just remember - there are more web pages in the world than there are people so if you really think that just building a website is enough it's time for a serious re-think. You've spent the money on graphic design, content, domain names, hosting, web design and testing and your site has just gone live. Congratulations - you have just completed step 1 of 1000,001 in having a site that generates business for you.

You now need to market the site - just as you need to market your business when it first starts - advertising, fliers, yellow pages, referrals, networking, cold calls, direct marketing, mail shots, radio slots, events, conventions, product launches, press coverage etc. A website is exactly the same. Don't forget the new statement for the new age of new technology:

Build it and they will say - 'I can't find it!'

Reason For Failure No. 3 - You Choose The Wrong Website Marketing Company

It's difficult isn't it? There are so many to choose from how do you know where to start? Well word of mouth recommendation is always a good indication. Failing that you can look at the key areas that are likely to indicate the quality of their service. For example, ask these questions;

- Do they offer guarantees of any kind on their results?
- Do they proudly display testimonials from satisfied customers on their website?
- What is their profile on the web like, can you find them easily?
- Do they have detailed case studies explaining how they have helped other businesses?
- Do they have a long-standing track record in the industry and wide client-base?
- There is no real way to avoid making the wrong decision but if you keep learning more and more about website marketing you will be arming yourself with enough information to at least reduce the risk of choosing the wrong company.

Mike Cheney

You can get hundreds more proven, practical and painless internet marketing tips and tricks plus a Free Special Report "How To Turn Your Website Into A Customer Magnet" - worth £47 ($85) here: http://www.magnet4web.com/

Not Common But Effective Free Marketing


We all know the many "free" traffic producing avenues. We all know about free classified ads, traffic exchanges, web site submitters, banner exchanges, link exchanges, but how many of you have ever thought of this FREE traffic avenue! In the past I have tried, I think, every free method of advertising, and have also had some success with the variety of free advertising resources. I have also tried different paid advertising sources. They have been very effective in building my business, but many times have proven to costly,especially when you are just starting out in a new business. So I was always on a quest to find new and better ways to advertise. Then I met a person on line with the secret!!

Now, your probably wondering what I could possibly be referring to when I claim to have a source of free advertising that is not commonly practiced. What could I possibly be doing to bring traffic to my website that many other marketers are not prating. What do I know that most of you don't know. Well, I am going to give you the secret right now!
 
Some time ago, I met a person who was pretty effective in online advertising. After many email correspondences, and being told of all the free ways to advertise, he confided in me. He told me one of the most effective, and FREE, ways to advertise your business  is to write articles. At that time I thought he was crazy!! Writing articles? How on earth can writing articles promote my business? After I corresponded with this person, I discovered the "how" in my question. He gave me alot of incite into this method of adverting. Now I will share this knowledge with you!
 
Here is the hidden source of traffic in writing an article. When  I have completed the article, I write a few sentences about myself and include my website address or email address. (Please see bottom of this article for an example.) Ok, what do I do after I write an article? There are many ezine owners that would love to print your article. Search out ezines that would fit the category in which your article would be of interest to the readers. Contact the owner. Or you can find places that you can submit your article to which is like a data base for ezine owners to go to when looking for content for their newsletter.

Secondly, there are webmasters who would love to put your article on their site. By using your article, they don't have to do all the "pencil pushing" work, and they get good content for the web site. If the have a good web site, with alot of good info then they will get more visitors, and happy visitors at that! Meanwhile these people will read your article and some of them will visit your web site. In this way, you are giving something to someone and getting something in return....FREE traffic. Placing these articles in as many places as you can find will  increase the number of visitors to your site.

What can you write about? Anything!!  Write about anything you can. Maybe you have some good cooking tips. Write an article about your tips. Find appropriate web sites, newsletters, and ezines to submit the article to. Or maybe you are a mechanic, and can give some do it yourself tips. Write out your tips, and again find appropriate places to submit your article to. Maybe you don't feel like you have anything to write about. How about the vacation spot you visited last summer? Write a review! You see there is so much information on the web. There are so many sites looking for content about such a variety of topics, you can write about anything and find places to submit your article.
 
Now stop and think about it! If you know anything about ezines, you will know some of them have 1,000's and 10's of thousands of readers. Some may only have hundreds of readers, but multiple that by 5 or 10 and the number of folks being exposed to your web site is quite alot! Now maybe your are starting to see why writing articles are such a good source of free traffic! So Get Started!

Gather your thoughts

Write out notes

Check your spelling and grammar

Write using details and descriptive word.
 
Search for editors and webmasters wanting your article
 
Submit you article to the databases
 
Place the article on your own web page and advertise the free info!
 
Be creative
 
I hope this information has been helpful to you. I hope you will put this information to work for you. I hope you will discover for yourself the wonderful marketing tool writing articles can be for you. Above all I hope you can look back one day and say like I do, "Boy am I glad that guy shared this information with me!" I am so thankful for that person taking the time to teach me about writing articles. He spent time and effort teaching me. Now I hope with the time and effort I have taken to write this, I have taught you something you will appreciate.

Please keep in mind, the keep to be a success in any business you need patience! A business takes time to grow.You must be willing to stick with it. Begin your business with giving it at least 1 year. One full year of dedicated commitment. Work and Patience will pay off! If I can be of any help to you in your online marketing endeavors, drop me an email  [email protected]

All Success to you + God Bless,
Tracy Finney


 

***********************************************************
Tracy Finney has been learning the do's and don'ts of online marketing since the year 2000. She is a Stay at Home Mom, and successful Marketer. Check out her web site http://www.fig-alg.com/a1299
*********************************************************** 

Grassroots Marketing Campaign


Many people, in a rush to spike sales through the roof, think too big and end up completely missing out on one of the best free marketing opportunities on the net: discussion forums. Instead of focusing on individual sales, they go immediately for ads that promise thousands of visitors, pay-per-click search engines that could potentially expose them to thousands, and even sloppily-produced and sometimes fraudulent spam submission programs.

Even though it is essential to increase your rating with search engines, to purchase pay-per-clicks, and to participate in link exchanges and banner exchanges, discussion forums can often provide an extra, non-conventional sales medium to your campaign that allows you to quickly pull in customers with personal contact and conversational presentations of your product.

You can find these boards by searching for the specific product you sell and then adding the word "messageboard" or "forum" or "discussion forum" after it in quotations. For instance, I sell marketing tools and online business-builders on one of my websites, so when I look for forums to market my products in, I go to google or overture and type in "business messageboard" or "marketing forum." Find as many of these highly-trafficked forums as you can and sign-up. Some of them will require you to confirm it through your email address.

Before you begin actually posting on the boards, you need to lay down some general rules of approach. I would suggest the following methods, but you can decide for yourself what you think is appropriate for your business and situation.

These are my rules:

When I market on discussion forums, I always try to provide more for the board than I take away from it in potential sales. Not only is it ethical, but it's also good business. When people ask questions, I use the expertise I've gained from Internet business-building and marketing to legitimately answer their questions. If I signed up for every board I could find, and then slapped a boilerplate marketing pitch on every site, I'd just get ignored or banned.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to legitimately get involved with the forum community. It is definitely a goldmine for highly-targeted customers and it is possibly the fastest marketing medium on the Internet, but it is also very important to respect that it doesn't primarily serve as an ad host. If you stay low-key and helpful, people will respect your opinion more and will want to see what you have to offer. This is where your signature comes in...

When you create your account for most boards, they will give you the option of creating a signature, which they will attach to the bottom of every post you make. This is the best way to pull customers from messageboards--by alluring them with your signature. Write something catchy or intriguing and then slap a link to your site or email address on it. Remember: the more helpful you are (the more times you post advice/hints), the more times your signature appears... and the more potential hits you'll get to your site.

Next, you'll want to decide when it's appropriate to market outside of your signature. I personally only market in three situations outside of my signature in forum discussions. If a person asks a question about a specific product or service I market, then I'll respond because I'm qualified to do so and because I truly believe they should use my products to achieve the best possible results. If there's a discussion thread where everyone is marketing products and it is generally accepted, I will market my product if a) it is related and b) I have already posted several times on the messageboard. Also, I will market my product whenever there is a forum solely dedicated to marketing your products.

Last, you'll want to decide how much original content you want to post and how much you want to be boilerplate. You'll want to find a healthy combination of the two to avoid being called a spammer or wasting too much time marketing on forums. I personally have several boilerplate ads that I have saved for signature files, ad-only forums, and personal product marketing discussions. I keep them all saved on a word file and I pull them up to copy-and-paste when I'm spending a night of advertising on messageboards.

Discussion forums can drive buying customers to your site faster than any other marketing medium. Do not abuse them, establish a reputation in your forums, streamline the process. . . and your work will come back to you quickly in profit.

Isaiah Hull publishes Work At Home Right Now, a fresh and informative newsletter about making money on the internet and using proven methods to increase your site's traffic and profitability. If you're looking for time-saving and money-saving tools, as well as honest business advice, come by and subscribe at http://www.workathomerightnow.net

5 Successful Tips For Marketing Your Website


This could be the most amazing article to ever be released
as you read this please keep in mind that the tips I am
about to share with you are from my experience with my own
successful website HaileysComet Weekly Ezine.

(1)List Building: One of the most POWERFUL ways to promote
any website is to have your own list to promote with. This is something that you have heard many times and it is the
first thing you should be doing to start your way down the
road to success. Building a list is not something that is
hard nor is it costly. There are many ways that you can do
this one would be to start your own newsletter or safelist.
This is something that is easy to do and it is very very
profitable.

(2)Ezine Advertising: Still the most powerful advertising
that you can get on the internet. Ezine's have subscribers
that are looking for ways to make money or increase their
incomes. Solo Ads are the best! They are sent to the
publishers data base by their self with no other adverts,
Also TopSponsor Ads are a great source of advertising
because it is the first thing the readers will see when
they start reading the Newsletter Issue for that day.

(3)SearchEngine Advertising: Now with Affiliate programs
you do not have much control over the way that the webpage
is built. So in order to get your affiliate program ranked
in searchengines is to use a Frames Page Template. This is
a text template that can be put in HTML to mirror your
affilate page with your affiliate link. This way you can
add your own meta tags that will help you get a higher page
rank.

(4)Leads And Traffic: This can be very responsive
advertising because you can target your market of buyers,
Alot of time these lead companys are using FFA and
Classified Ads lead pages to get email addresses of people
that are looking for ways to make a income. Good Lead
companys use a Double Optin Process to capture leads of
people that are looking for ways to get advertising or
affiliate programs to join. You can do a search for Leads
and Traffic sites through your searchengines like google
and excite.

(5)PPC (Pay-Per-Click): PPC advertising can be some of the best ways to advertise any business on the internet. There are many of PPC's that you can place your advertising with. Just do a search with google and excite and you will find that they are many of them to pick from. These PPC's can drive all types of targeted traffic to your website or affiliate program for pennys on the dollar. You can also own your own PayPerClick system and send traffic to your site and at the same time use it to build your own targeted list!

The above information is what has pushed HaileysComet Weekly Ezine to the success that it has become and it will work for you as well. 90% of all people that are successful in marketing and advertising have the above or started out with the tools that it takes to make a living online. If you are wanting to jump start your success there is one tool out there that you can use that is proven to pull in loads of cash and help you build a business with the profit you make.

The product is called The Total Resale Package. It has every tool that you need to start,run, and succeed with your very own business. You can pick up a copy of the Total Resale Package here. http://www.haileyscometweekly.com/total-resale/

This is just one of the tools that will put you in the life that you want. It works for me and so many others that are just starting out and I share it with everyone. You can learn more about minisites and the above information with out any cost by coming to my site at the link below and signup for our weekly newsletter. It is packed with some of the most helpful hints and tips to get you started and keep you going in your venture to freedom!

Good Luck In Your Quest!

About The Author,
Damon Smith is the publisher of one of the most sought after newsletters on the internet today. He is also the marketing director of ISORegister which is the internets #1 Resource Center for marketing and advertising. Come by and signup for his newsletter and you will receive all the tools and information you need to succeed online. Signup today at
http://www.haileyscometweekly.com