All home businesses strive to get the maximum amount of exposure and traffic to their business, particularly free sources of traffic.The expectation is that a percentage will convert into sales and contribute to profits. The same applies whether it is an online home internet business or any other type of home business. Advertising is the key to success and a profitable enterprise.
One way to generate free traffic is to advertise on one of the numerous classified ad sites on the internet. They are free to join, simple to use and provide a free way of promoting your business or product.
Most allow free ads to be placed subject to limitations which vary from one classified ad site to another. Generally a free ad may be placed for a limited time, say 30 days to 6 months after which time the ad has to be reposted (which is often done at the click of a link) or there may be limits on the number of ads that can be run at the same time.
Ads are generally placed in categories and can be targeted at a particular country or region within a country.You can sometimes add pictures or images and add your profile for publicity purposes. Some like Adland have their own traffic exchanges and forum and most have affiliate programs you can join free to promote the ad services to others and earn a little extra income.
If you want to take your advertising to the next level you can generally buy an upgrade membership for premium services which allow more ads to be placed and additional features to display them to make them more eye catching such as being featured,add additional pictures,hyperlinks or coloured headings etc.
Place your free ads on as many different free ad sites as you can manage.You cant loose anything as they are free. Monitor the stats they provide on number of visitors to your ad and weed out the non performing ads or try changing the ad description to a more eye grabbing one.
Www.1st-opportunity.co.uk uses free classified ads regularly as part of its advertising and marketing plan.Go to this site to see their favorite free classified ad sites and advertising ideas.
Other blogs in this series include:-
Traffic exchanges- continue to read the next blog on this site
Traffic generators
Monday, 28 December 2009
Sunday, 6 December 2009
TRAFFIC EXCHANGES - A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS?
Home Internet Businesses are often started on a shoestring budget and owners are naturally looking for cost-free ways of promoting their new business. Traffic Exchanges provide an opportunity to advertise in their networks for free on the basis that 'if you look at someones website (ie surf) someone else will look at yours'.Credits are earned by 'surfing' other businesses ads, usually for about 10 seconds or so, which are then used to display your ads.
There are a large number of exchanges on the internet and most are free to join. Most have some form of paid upgrade option which allows members additional credits, bonuses or privileges. Thus if you want to get traffic to your site faster you can upgrade or buy a batch of credits from the special offers they all seem to have.Some have introductory free credits which allow you to get a flying start to your advertising. Some sites offer full screen ads others are more restrictive for example short text header ads unless you upgrade.
My advice is to select 5 or 6 traffic exchanges with plenty of visitors viewing their ads ( most show their stats on their site) and include those offering free promotional introductory credits.
In this way you can try and test each one ,comparing results of your ads, using the free credits before you need to decide whether to upgrade or buy more credits. When you stumble upon a new interesting exchange to try out you can then drop the poorest performer and still keep the number of sites you surf manageable.
In addition to earning credits for surfing other peoples ads you can also earn credits (and sometimes cash) by referring new members and from the surfing of new members.
What strategy are you going to use for traffic exchanges?. You can use them purely as a means of advertising your business by surfing and earning free credits to advertise and/or use them as a business opportunity in themselves by advertising the individual traffic exchanges and gaining commission income and free credits from new members who pay to upgrade. Surfing in itself can be tedious and boring so the latter approach is worth serious consideration.
Whatever strategy you decide if you are going to advertise on traffic exchanges you have to be aware that your ad is likely only to be seen for about 10 seconds on each view. It is essential that your ad stand out from the crowd as an attention grabber and loads rapidly otherwise you will not get your message across. I personally have seen examples when i,ve been surfing when a web page has loaded right at the end of the 10 seconds and by then i am waiting to go to my next ad so don't even read the ad. For this reason you will find that traffic exchange members invariably use preformatted splash pages which load rapidly and give maximum chance of exposure.
New users of traffic exchanges need to be conscious of the way others use exchanges. It is said that most users seem to be frantically surfing ads to gain their credits and they are not really in a buying frame of mind.Maybe something new and exceptional can disturb them from their main purpose but it is recommended that advertisers dont use a strategy on traffic exchanges to direct sell but more use the ads as a way of building their opt in email list which gives further opportunities at a more appropriate time. Therefore most users adopt the strategy of offering something free such as a report for an email address to generate further leads rather than to direct sell. You will notice that businesses who adopt this approach use a variation on a splash page called a squeeze page which includes an email capturing facility.
To conclude traffic exchanges can be fun and interesting ways to start your advertising campaign and they are easy to join and surf. I use them to promote my website and my favourite traffic exchanges are given for you at the end of this blog together with a site which offers you the opportunity to create your own splash and squeeze pages for free from ready made templates.
Good luck with you venture i hope it is a great success.
Ps. I also use traffic generators to advertise for free and to view my blog on this and favourite traffic generator sites please visit http://www1st-opportunitycouk.blogspot.com/2009/11/traffic-generators-pros-and-cons.html
About the Author:
Mal Metcalfe is the owner of http://www.1st-opportunity.co.uk/ and reviews popular home business ideas and opportunities.At this site you can get your own money-making website setup in 24 hours, join free affiliate programs! And get loads of free business information and a free e-book on the science of making money online
Favourite Traffic Exchanges..
Free Traffic Bar
( this is a great downline builder as well as a traffic exchange.)
Traffic Splash
Traffic Witch
Advertising Know How
Hit Safari
Dragon Surf
Vinefire - a traffic exchange with a difference
Adlands Pro
Splash Pages and Squeeze Pages
Instant Squeeze Page Generator
For a free report on traffic exchanges send an email to support@1st-opportunity.net
and insert' tx report' in subject field
There are a large number of exchanges on the internet and most are free to join. Most have some form of paid upgrade option which allows members additional credits, bonuses or privileges. Thus if you want to get traffic to your site faster you can upgrade or buy a batch of credits from the special offers they all seem to have.Some have introductory free credits which allow you to get a flying start to your advertising. Some sites offer full screen ads others are more restrictive for example short text header ads unless you upgrade.
My advice is to select 5 or 6 traffic exchanges with plenty of visitors viewing their ads ( most show their stats on their site) and include those offering free promotional introductory credits.
In this way you can try and test each one ,comparing results of your ads, using the free credits before you need to decide whether to upgrade or buy more credits. When you stumble upon a new interesting exchange to try out you can then drop the poorest performer and still keep the number of sites you surf manageable.
In addition to earning credits for surfing other peoples ads you can also earn credits (and sometimes cash) by referring new members and from the surfing of new members.
What strategy are you going to use for traffic exchanges?. You can use them purely as a means of advertising your business by surfing and earning free credits to advertise and/or use them as a business opportunity in themselves by advertising the individual traffic exchanges and gaining commission income and free credits from new members who pay to upgrade. Surfing in itself can be tedious and boring so the latter approach is worth serious consideration.
Whatever strategy you decide if you are going to advertise on traffic exchanges you have to be aware that your ad is likely only to be seen for about 10 seconds on each view. It is essential that your ad stand out from the crowd as an attention grabber and loads rapidly otherwise you will not get your message across. I personally have seen examples when i,ve been surfing when a web page has loaded right at the end of the 10 seconds and by then i am waiting to go to my next ad so don't even read the ad. For this reason you will find that traffic exchange members invariably use preformatted splash pages which load rapidly and give maximum chance of exposure.
New users of traffic exchanges need to be conscious of the way others use exchanges. It is said that most users seem to be frantically surfing ads to gain their credits and they are not really in a buying frame of mind.Maybe something new and exceptional can disturb them from their main purpose but it is recommended that advertisers dont use a strategy on traffic exchanges to direct sell but more use the ads as a way of building their opt in email list which gives further opportunities at a more appropriate time. Therefore most users adopt the strategy of offering something free such as a report for an email address to generate further leads rather than to direct sell. You will notice that businesses who adopt this approach use a variation on a splash page called a squeeze page which includes an email capturing facility.
To conclude traffic exchanges can be fun and interesting ways to start your advertising campaign and they are easy to join and surf. I use them to promote my website and my favourite traffic exchanges are given for you at the end of this blog together with a site which offers you the opportunity to create your own splash and squeeze pages for free from ready made templates.
Good luck with you venture i hope it is a great success.
Ps. I also use traffic generators to advertise for free and to view my blog on this and favourite traffic generator sites please visit http://www1st-opportunitycouk.blogspot.com/2009/11/traffic-generators-pros-and-cons.html
About the Author:
Mal Metcalfe is the owner of http://www.1st-opportunity.co.uk/ and reviews popular home business ideas and opportunities.At this site you can get your own money-making website setup in 24 hours, join free affiliate programs! And get loads of free business information and a free e-book on the science of making money online
Favourite Traffic Exchanges..
Free Traffic Bar
( this is a great downline builder as well as a traffic exchange.)
Traffic Splash
Traffic Witch
Advertising Know How
Hit Safari
Dragon Surf
Vinefire - a traffic exchange with a difference
Adlands Pro
Splash Pages and Squeeze Pages
Instant Squeeze Page Generator
For a free report on traffic exchanges send an email to support@1st-opportunity.net
and insert' tx report' in subject field
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
FISHING HOLIDAY ON EAST COAST OF YORKSHIRE
ANGLERS PARADISE
For the last 2 years we have had a ball holidaying on the east coast of Yorkshire about 4 miles from Bridlington.Based in a static caravan near the cliffs has given us a perfect base to pursue a wide range of activities from golfing,fishing,bird-watching and walking as well as just lazing about sunbathing and reading.The caravan site is an ideal base as it is walking distance from the cliffs,small beaches,local shops and entertainment facilities. A short car ride or local bus from the caravan site leads you to the fabulous resort of Bridlington with its superb beach and shopping centre.Although there are other large caravan parks along this coast you are far enough away from them to feel unique.
For the keen angler there are numerous opportunities nearby. The closest is in Flamborough on the caravan site.There is a well stocked freshwater lake on the site and a few hundred yards there is the cliffs where many anglers are seen perched high, although i have to say for me too high as i would rather remain on safe ground at the lake.Many fishermen go down to the small beach at North Landing and either fish from there or go on one of the boat trips specially laid on there for fishermen.Others prefer to do a bit of sea fishing at the South Landing or 4 miles away at Bridlington from the harbour.
If this appeals to you and you want more information about the site and its facilities you can visit the link at the end of this article. You can even hire a static caravan through this site and experience the pleasures yourself. The British weather of course cannot be guaranteed but if you like this kind of lifestyle you can be guaranteed a great time with plenty to do through the day and evening.
Be warned though you may like it that much you might be tempted to return regularly and even buy your own caravan like we did. Don't worry though there is no one trying to sell you anything
If your fed up with the hassle of foreign holidays,ie long drives to and from airports,long waits for flights i recommend you give this a go.
This area is a fabulous place for a holiday and the locals are very friendly and welcoming.
PS when you catch the lingering smell of bacon and eggs drifting around the neighbours caravans you cant resist joining in.Get up early and enjoy the day.
Further information at http://www.1st-opportunity.co.uk/page14.html
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