Which is Better for Increased Website Traffic Pop ups vs Banner Advertising

There is not one person who uses the internet that does not know that if you use the internet you will be presented with advertisement.  All types of companies and products are advertised on the internet.  Advertisements on the internet, no matter how annoying, has become accepted as a necessary evil.  The acceptance of web advertising has led to the creation of millions of pop-ups and banner ads on the internet.  Both pop-ups and banner ads have their place in internet marketing.  However some wonder which creates more website traffic.  Consumers have given a clue by use of statistics of effectiveness.

Pop ups Are Annoying

Most people view pop-ups as annoying advertisements.  Pop-ups that include blinking lights can be dangerous for users with certain medical conditions.  Pop-ups have ranked as the most hated form of advertisement.  Taking note of how annoying pop-ups are do you wonder why they are still used?  The fact is that even though pop-ups are annoying they are very effective.  Millions of people actually respond to pop-ups when they appear on their screen.  One of the reasons that people participate with the pop-ups is because many pop-ups are used as a medium to offer free services to site visitors.  The operators of these pop-ups will merely state that in order to offer the site for free they must use pop-up advertisements.  Users who want to use the site without paying will often accept this excuse without further ado.

Pop-up ads have their difficulty.  Many programs, these days, will not allow pop-ups through.  This simply means that when a pop-up is meant to appear a pop-up blocker program does not allow the pop-up to happen.  It effectively blocks the pop-up ad from reaching the online visitor.  Pop-up blockers are very effective and ultimately costs the advertiser plenty of money when the advertisement does not reach its intended viewer.  Technology has changed a lot and now advertisers  can use newly programmed pop-ups that can bypass “blockers” delivering the ads to your screen whether you want to see them or not.

Banner Ads Advertising

Advertisers began offering banner ads because of the annoyance site visitors felt with the pop-ups.  Advertisers had hoped that in offering a less bothersome form of advertisements the results would be better.  Webmasters began to stick banner ads in every available spot on their site.  Site owners quickly found out that even though pop-ups are more annoying they are far more effective than banner ads.   People do not interact with the banner ads as frequently as they interact with pop-ups.  One reason is that banner ads are not thrust into the site visitor’s face like pop-ups are.  They are usually set off on the side margin.  Most of the people who come into contact with banner ads are probably struck with inattentional blindness.  This means that their eyes are so focused on the content of the page that they fail to notice the banner ads in the margins of the page.

Many users prefer banner ads.  The reason is that banner ads are easier on the eye and are unnoticeable.  This is a good thing for the user but not the advertiser.  Advertisers want their ads to be noticeable.  They would prefer to annoy the site visitor instead of having their ads go unnoticed.  Many sites have discontinued using banner ads because of their ineffectiveness.  In fact some say that banner ads are dead.

Conclusion

The answer to the question which is better pop-up ads or banner ads will vary with whoever is doing the answering.  The consumer will most likely say that banner ads are much better than the annoying pop-ups.  Advertisers will most likely tell you the opposite.  Both have their own distinct place on the internet.  The truth be told, is that unless users dramatically begin to boycott pop-ups, they will continue to replace banner ads.  Right now, the advertisers are the ones that get to choose which is shown more often.  Since this is the case, pop-ups will probably continue to replace banner ads for years to come.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

Tax Deductions for Internet Marketers

Wednesday’s Wisdom:  It is a wonderful thing to be able to write off your business expenses.  However employ deductions cautiously.  Make the extra effort to consult with a tax professional before trying a new deduction.  The IRS offers free tax advice.  It is more cost effective to seek advice than to have to hire an attorney.

Tax deductions for business expenses are not just for large corporations.  If you are an internet marketer or online entrepreneur you can also take advantage of business tax write offs.  So, it is important for you to know which ways you can save money on your taxes.

There are two groups of people that are new to business taxes.  One group thinks that they are too small and therefore would not qualify for any tax write offs.  The second group thinks that everything that they touch while doing business can be written off.  Both extremes can cost you money.  The group that thinks that they are too small will lose money on possible write offs.  The second group could lose money in IRS fines.

The kinds of things that can be written off are things that deal with the ongoing operation of your company. 

Can You Get a Tax Deductions for Equipment?

Equipment is one thing that can be written off.  An example would be a new laptop.  If it is used more than 50% of the time for business then it is a candidate to be written off.  Make sure that you assess the expected lifetime of the equipment.  If it is expected to last more than one year then you may need to contact a tax professional to determine if a depreciation schedule is needed.

Can Advertising be Written off?

You can write off your advertising expenses.  All types of advertisement qualifies.  That would be everything from banner advertisement to print advertisement.  If you feel that you are not very good at developing your own advertisement and you hire a professional to help you design and create marketing materials the cost for this service would be deductible.

Can the Cost of Hiring a Professional Be Written Off?

Costs for hiring a professional to help you with your business may be deductible.  Let’s say that you need help writing content for your e-commerce site and you hire a professional copywriter to write content for this site.  The cost of hiring that professional may be tax deductible.  Other examples of when hiring a professional to help you with your business may be tax deductible include hiring an attorney to help with business legal aspects or a bookkeeper to prepare tax returns, etc.

Can a Mortgage Be Written Off?  What About Rent?

Working from home has tax benefits.   A portion of your rent, mortgage, insurance and utilities may be deductible.  There are specific guidelines that you have to follow in order to take advantage of these deductions.  Make sure you consult a tax professional.  Google tax advice and the IRS because the IRS gives free tax advise.

Can a Car Be Written Off On Taxes?

If you use your personal vehicle for business purposes you may be able to write off the repair costs.  Contact a tax professional to find out the details of what percentage of the time you need to use your vehicle for business in order to deduct these expenses.

Conclusion

Take advantage of tax deductions.  Doing so is a very good way to minimize the money that streams out of your business.  I encourage you to take advantage of every deductions that you qualify for.  I caution you, however, to consult with a tax professional before taking a deduction just to make sure that that your deductions are legal.  

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

Common Internet Marketing Myths Debunked

We spend a lot of time sharing internet marketing success tips.  It is always helpful to find out ways to do things better.  Well, in all of the communications of how to do things better we sometimes come across information that misses the mark.  Today we are going to share some of these myths and debunk them.

We Will Build Your Downline

Let there be a red flag that immediately rises and waves any time a program or a person promises to “build a downline” for you.  What usually happens is most of the people that are placed under you are mere place holders, just numbers and names placed under you that don’t actually contribute to you receiving commissions.  You can find this out beforehand if you read the fine print.  There is also the scam of the one big downline.  This scam follows the same concept as the one that promises to build a downline for you.

Overnight Online Success

It does not matter which program you become a part of, there will not be any overnight success where you start a program one day and can quit your job that following week.  Overnight Success hype is misleading and dangerous.  I say dangerous because it leads people to believe that they are a failure at internet marketing when day two and three through seven comes along and they are not yet millionaires.  Trust that the consistent big bucks do come but they come after hard work and persistence.

The Money Is In The List

It is true that you could find marketing success if you market to a list.  However, this cannot be any list.  For instance, if you have purchased a list of harvested emails or a list that is full of other marketers you won’t find much success.  “That is unless you are marketing shovels instead of gold.”

Affiliate Program + Email List of 1 Million + Email Blast = Millions!

Be careful when buying email lists to market to.  Often times the list is not as targeted as you would hope.  Blasting a sales message to thousands of email addresses that are not targeted and who’s owners are not expecting an email from you could very well get you cut off by your internet service provider.  It could also cause you to lose your position in any reputable affiliate programs.  Just think of the times that you have received spam emails about Viagra or cheap software.  This is how your email blast will probably be received.  If you expect to profit from email marketing then you should use reputable sources.  Sources that you are sure are providing you with a targeted list.  It may seem to cost more in the beginning to be more particular about your email list provider but in it will be worth it.

Modern, Flashy, Techno-Geek Sites are Better

 There are still people who do not have a high speed internet connection.  Bells and whistles are fine but if your site takes too long to load then your visitor will go to another site.  Become a very good word smith making your point with words and very little graphics.

Conclusion

Can money be made online?  Sure it can.  People are doing it every day.  Don’t get way laid by the myths and fall onto the beaten yet unprofitable paths.  Make your decision to be an online marketer and jump in with both feet positioning yourself for the long haul.  With effort, patience and persistence you will eventually see a profit that will make all of your diligence well worth it.  Take care and good luck with your online marketing efforts.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

Article Submission Is Your Key to Free Traffic to Your Website

Monday’s Tip for the Week:  Before spending oodles of dollars on marketing ploys to generate traffic try the free methods.  Article marketing is a good place to start.

Internet marketers try desperately each day to find new, cost effective and innovative ways to drive traffic to a website.  The most commonly used methods include search engine optimization (SEO), directory submissions, purchased links and pay per click (PPC).  Common companies used for pay per click campaigns include Overture and Google Adwords.

Generating Traffic to Your Site Can Be Expensive

Generating online traffic can be expensive yet it has become an accepted cost of doing business online for some.  So much so that there are internet marketers who have spent their last dollar trying to generate traffic.  Many of those who unfortunately spent their last dollar on marketing to get traffic would have rather had gotten the following information before taking the path that they took. 

Generating Traffic to Your Site Can Be Free

Generating traffic is easy and often free.  SEO is free and very effective but you also need to get organic backlinks.  This means to have others include in their website or blog a link back to your site.  You want the link back to your site to be relevant.  Relevant backlinks are what search engines now value over purchased links and general links.  I can almost hear your mind asking “How do you accumulate relevant backlinks?”

How to Get Back Links for Free

You have two options to generate relevant backlinks.  One way is to solicit other site owners that own sites in your niche and ask them to place a link onto their site that leads back to yours.  Another way is to have those site owners come to you and ask permission to place your link on their site for free.  This means without a fee or the requirement that a reciprocal link be put on your site.  One way links are far more valuable than reciprocal links.

I’m going to step out on a limb here and say that you would much rather have other site owners come to you.  To get this done you should use a good article submission program.  The one that I suggest is EzineArticles.com.  A good article submission program will allow your article, which would contain a link back to your site in the bio box, to be submitted to general and specific knowledge website article database directories. 

What This Means for You

How this works to your benefit is that other webmasters, who are in need of new content for their websites, go to article directories and use new content submitted by people like yourself.  When they publish your article it is part of the publishing agreement of most article directories, including EzineArticles, that the link back to your site stays intact.  Not only will others who go to their websites have the chance to click on your link and arrive at your site, you would have generated a much valued organic backlink to your site.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

Introducing 7 Tips to Help Promote Your Company with a Free Press Release

If you own an online business and you wish to promote your business for free then online press releases might be your ticket to free advertising.

Press releases are official statements giving information on a particular matter that are issued to media companies. You could use this free medium to your advantage.  Press releases are one of the best ways to promote your company. 

Don’t worry about finding material to use in your press release.  Just about any new occurrence with your company could be news worthy.  A new product release, sales contest winner, company picnic details and more could qualify as newsworthy.

 

Coming up with a format for your press release should be very easy.  If you Google search the words “free template” with the words “press release” you will get pages of search results that offer free press release templates.  Use one of these templates or use your own coupled with the following seven tips meant to help you write a compelling news release.

Have a Strong Beginning

Your title and entry sentences in a news article should be concise and direct.  They should include the five Ws, (who, what, when, where, why) and one H (how) of news writing.   The information that follows the title and lead sentences should include supporting data.

Make it Media Friendly

Take the time to edit your work.  This will make it easier for the media company to add your entry to their publication with little or no editing or alterations.  Taking the time to edit your news release will make it easier to add it to publications even if it is only included in part.

Wear the Reader’s Shoes

Think like your reader.  Make the press release interesting to read.  Think would you use your valuable time to read what you have written.

Think Relevance

Consider if your message is something that would be of benefit to the reader.  If it will benefit the reader then specifically point out how.  Also, if you want to hold the attention of most readers of press releases the information has to be news worthy.

Use Real Facts

Use real facts in your press release.  Don’t use fabricated data even if it sounds good.  Facts give credence to the press release.  If you have done research and are using data from other sources be sure to cite them properly.  Try very diligently to not use a lot of filler words and add-ons. 

Don’t Forget Your Company Info

At the conclusion of your press release include a short description of your company.  The description should include the location of your home office, a list of your products and services and a brief history of your company.  Include a description for each of your companies that the press release includes.  Offer a phone number and an email address for the contact person for each company.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

Why People Don’t Buy From You

You can’t figure out why people won’t buy from you?  You have found a perfect product line to sell.  You are sure that the product line will resonate with others as well as it resonates with you.  You have done your homework on your product line and have become a bit of an expert on what you have to offer.  You have a fantastic product line but no buyers.  Why won’t people buy from you?  The answer could be in how you think.  Consider the following.

Do Great Products Sell Themselves?

You might ask yourself can a product sell itself.  Well, I am here to tell you to give up the notion that your product line is so good that it will sell itself.  No matter what you are promoting you have to sell people on buying your product.  This would even include if you are trying to get a promotion.  You would have to sell yourself to your manager.

Even though there are some people who will buy whatever you are selling because they are automatically drawn to you, this would most often not be the case.  Most people are not going to believe that your product is as good as you think it is without a little extra help from you. 

There is no getting around it.  You have to SELL people on your product. 

Your Prospects Are Unique, However…

Each one of your prospects has their own set of problems and successes.  They are indeed unique in their own way.  They are automatically going to think that their situations are unique and that you could not possibly have something that will tailor to their particular needs.  You have to convince people that what you have will not only work for other people it will also work for them as well.  Come up with examples that shows your prospect that what you have to offer also applies to them.

Are You Pushy?  Really?

You have to try more than one attempt to sell your product.  This might seem pushy to you but it’s not.  It is actually necessary.  In fact, the well-known marketing adage, The Rule of 7, states that a prospect has to see your offer at least 7 times before they buy.  

  

Keeping in mind The Rule of 7, don’t let the need for more than one attempt to sell confuse you into thinking that quantity of attempts alone will get your product sold.  Quality of attempts is also important.  You have to fight tooth and nail on each attempt to get your prospects attention and to direct them to buy your product.  When I say fight tooth and nail, it is not meant to say that you should badger your prospect.  It simply means that you have to use all of the marketing techniques possible that you have learned each and every time you go for the sale.

Conclusion

Figuring out why people won’t buy from you does not have to be very difficult. Reexamine how you think.  Do you expect your product to sell itself?  Have you taken the time to come up with examples that show that your product will fit the needs of the prospect?  Have you let go of the “I’m scared to be pushy” notion?  Change how you think and you should see changes in the amount of people that buy from you.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

Introducing What May be the Easiest Way to Go Viral for Marketers

Do you have a website?  How is the traffic generation coming along?  I bet that sometimes you wish that you could just sit back and relax and let someone else generate income generating traffic for you.  Well if that is your wish than a way for your wish to come true exists.  It exists and it can happen for you for free.  This is not advertising that we are talking about.  What we are talking about far outperforms paid advertising and it won’t cost anything.  What we are talking about is free article submission sites.

Article Submission is Easy

Article submission can generate traffic for you if you are a seasoned online marketer or are new to online marketing.  It is very easy to do.  You simply write an article that is relevant and helpful to your target market and add a resource box at the end of the article that contains information about you as well as a link back to your website or blog.  Most article submission sites have the resource box already in place for you.  You need only to add your personal information and a link to your site.  Once you have submitted your article with your resource box filled in you only need to wait.  Others that see your article and find it useful will be the medium that drives your article viral.

Article Fate

You might be questioning about what happens to your article once you post it to an article directory.  Well, I will tell you.  Your article would get posted to the directories website.  Website owners surf through the articles on these websites in search for content for their own sites.  If they choose your article they would publish your article on their site with the resource box, your personal information and the link back to your site, intact.  Your information and link to your site will become viewable by the visitors that visit this website.  The website that now houses your article and resource box will be doing the advertising for you.  Your job would be done.

Not a Good Writer?

Don’t worry if you think that you are not a very good writer.  You don’t have to be a good writer to get started.  It’s not as if you are trying to write an award winning novel.  You only need to write something that you think will be helpful to others.  There could never be too much helpful information.  As long as the information is helpful there will be people who would want to read it.  Don’t sit around mulling it over, just get started.  You will become better at it with time and practice.

Article Submission Wins

Do I really think that article submission is better than paid advertising?  I think that it is.  For one reason it is free and it does not get too much better than free.  Another reason is it goes viral.  Consider the following.  Let’s say that you post your article and 10 people decide to use it.  If each of these people have an audience of 2000 your article with a link to your site would then be put in front of 20,000 people.  What if 100 people decided to use your article in their newsletters and each of that 100 has an audience of 2000 or more?  Do the math.  Article marketing can be pretty powerful.  A third reason is that article marketing establishes you as an expert in the field.  People will buy from you more easily once they have had the chance to know you, trust you and like you based on the information that you supply through your articles.  A fourth reason is that once you have written many articles you can begin to compile them together into an ebook that you can give away as an incentive on your website to join your email list or that you can sell.  Paid advertising does not come close to offering the benefits that you get from when you submit articles for free.  So don’t hesitate?  Start writing articles now.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.