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Friday, September 01, 2006

Untapped Advertising Hot Spots

Online advertising is exploding. By 2007, online advertising spending is expected to reach over 20 billion. With such growth, a multitude of opportunities have opened up for the online marketer. Unfortunately, not all of these are worth your time or your ínvestment. That's why I would like to show you some of the untapped advertising hot spots that are currently available to you.
As an online entrepreneur, it's not enough to have a great website with quality information. You must also position yourself in front of a qualified audience of people who are hungry for what you have to offer.

So, let's explore 4 of the most lucrative online advertising spots that are currently available to you. They include CPA programs, blog ads, comparison shopping engines, and the ISEDN.

CPA Programs

Cost per action is an online advertising model that is highly undervalued. In this model, you only pay when a qualified visitor converts to a sale, registration, or other action. Because of this, CPA (cost per action) is often much less risky and often more profitable (in terms of ROI) than cost-per-clíck.

To begin your own CPA marketing campaign, you can choose from a variety of companies. AzoogleAds is the top CPA network. Within their network, you can advertise on sites like True.com, Stamps, NetFlix, BlockBuster, and a number of Fortune 500 companies.

You may also choose ClickBooth. Within the ClickBooth network, you will have access to over 25,000 of the biggest publishers in the industry.

Hydra Network, another leading advertising network, reaches over 100 million Internet users. Find out how you can tap into this traffíc at HydraMedia.com.

Each one of these companies can help you devise a successful CPA campaign that only requires you to pay when you acquire a new customer.

BlogAds

In recent years the popular belief has been that most blog readers are comprised of nerdy teenagers who live in their parent's basement.

However, this simply isn't true. Blog readers have quite a lot of buying power. In fact, according to the 2006 blogger reader surveys from BlogAds, 75% of blog readers make more than $45,000 per year. Blog readers are journalists, opinion makers, and powerful online citizens.

The blogosphere is becoming very influential on the Internet. This demographic is a hot spot online that many advertisers are missing out on.

So, how do you tap into this kind of audience? Well, there are a number of options.

One of the most popular blog advertising agencies is BlogAds. With BlogAds, you can sign up to advertise on sites like SearchEngineJournal.com, Lockergnome.com, PFBlog.com, and BlogShares.com.

Another great source of blogger advertising is the Creative Weblogging network of blogs. They power 70+ blog sites in categories ranging from personal finance and social entrepreneurship to social networking and Web 2.0. In fact, they have recently joined forces with the Washington Post, which links to some of their blogs on the homepage.

The Creative Weblogging network delivers 5 million page views per month. To find out more about their different advertising options, go to Creative Weblogging.

Wherever you choose to advertise, please keep blogs in mind. Through blog advertising, you can tap into a very targeted group of individuals.

Comparison Shopping Engines

If you're selling products online, then one of your main advertising sources should be the comparison shopping engines. Unfortunately, many online sellers do not take advantage of this potential goldmine.

Yahoo! Shopping, Google's Froogle, Bizrate.com, Become.com and other comparison sites make it much easier for you to get the online exposure you need to be successful in a very crowded online marketplace. These sites allow you to get listed by all the big names like Best Buy and Circuit City.

One of the biggest benefits of this advertising option is that visitors from comparison shopping engines are buyers. They are there for a reason. They are looking to compare prices, evaluate different companies, and buy their desired products. Because of this, the return on ínvestment from this type of traffíc is much higher; a stark contrast from the general search engines which can send you visitors who aren't truly interested in your products.

Much like traditional search engines, comparison shopping engines position your product based on a number of factors. Some of these include bid price, product price, user rating, relevance, and CTR (clíck-through rate). Each of the shopping engines has a different ranking algorithm and uses different factors to position your products.

If you would like to start experimenting with this advertising medium, I would suggest you start with Froogle, which is free. However, don't underestimate Froogle's power. Just because it's free doesn't mean that it can't send you lots of qualified visitors when used correctly.

I urge you to start taking advantage of these lucrative advertising spots for your own website. Remember, comparison shopping engines send you buyers, not browsers.

You only pay for perförmance.

ISEDN

Another untapped marketing hotspot is the ISEDN. This paid inclusion program is a cross between the older paid inclusion models and the current pay-per-clíck model.

Purchased ads are displayed in a similar manner to the PPC ads shown by Google, but advertisers are charged on a flat fee basis, not on a per clíck basis. You can buy top 10 exposure across the network for $3 to $4 per month. Your ad will then be shown across a network of 230+ members.

Through the power of the collective community, ISEDN paid inclusion ads are displayed over 150 million times per month. This equates to 150 million potential advertisng opportunities.

For more information on this advertising model visit ISEDN founding member ExactSeek.com.

About The Author
Kim Roach is a staff writer and editor for the SiteProNews and SEO-News newsletters. You can also find additional tips and news on webmaster and SEO topics by Kim at the SiteProNews blog. Kim's email is: kim @ seo-news.com

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posted by admin @ 11:37 PM 1 comments

Google Launches Enterprise Software Solution

Google launched a frëe packaged business solution for enterprises today including online chat, email, calendars, and hostíng. Called "Gmail for Your Domain " (a ghastly name that is only slightly better referred to as "Google Apps" within the actual admin area) this application package will allow a business owner or administrator to create a separate account per employee.
Each Google Apps account comes complete with the following Google applications:

Gmail: Google's email program is the central offering of this set of applications; it acts as the main portal where the Talk and Calendar functions are provided. Each user has 2 gigabytes of email storage complete with some robust email management tools that allow automatic email filtering, POP email access, SP@M management, and contact management.

Required Setup Procedure: Requires that you shift all email protocol from your domain (i.e. www.stepforth.com) to Google so that email can be sent and received using your domain (so that your email correctly displays it came from your domain

Google Calendar: Probably the most feature rich application within this entire package, Google Calendar provides users with the ability to share appointments or entire calendars. It also has a basic event management option that allows you to manage RSVP lists and invite associates to meetings. Chëck out the full Google Calendar feature list here.
Required Setup Procedure for Google Calendar and Google Talk: The only requirement is that you prove you are the legitímate owner of the domain you setup your account with. The activation process is simple; just upload a specific html file to your website for Google to verify and voila, both Calendar and Talk are enabled.
Google Talk: An ínstant messaging and voice chat application, Google Talk automatically allows access to the contact list within Gmail making connections to business associates and employees simpler. Here is the official description on Talk from Google: "a downloadable Windows application from Google that enables Gmail users to quickly and easily talk or IM with their friends for frëe. Google is focused on developing innovative technologies that enhance people's lives, and Google Talk encourages and simplifies ínstant communication across the web." Google Web Publishing: This is a frëe hostíng and page creation system (Page Creator) that allows you to create and publish your enterprise site. The site is hosted on Google servers and can only be a maximum of 100 pages in size.
Required Setup Procedure: You must add a CNAME to your domain management configuration (usually by asking your hostíng provider) which will setup a subdomain (i.e. http://site.yoursite.com) that you can upload and administer through Google Apps.

Account Administration
The account administrator using a central online Dashboard can administer all Google accounts. Within the Dashboard, the administrator can do the following:
setup domain aliases,
setup email catch-all addresses,
create internal email lists (i.e. staff@yoursite.com would go to... list all in-house recipients)
make minor cosmetic (color) customizations to the company sign in page,
customize your Google Apps system with your company logo,
enable or disable contact sharing; which when enabled provides a central contact list that all users will have access to.,
create and update multiple user accounts at once by uploading a spreadsheet with username and password information,
centrally configure individual user privileges, alternate email addresses and passwörds,
view access, and email quota statistics for each user.
My Take on Google Apps
I setup an account to see how this new offering works and I think it has some real potential as long as the needs of an organization are basic. I say this because the majority of companies that I know of would not be comfortable switching their vital communication and scheduling systems to an online model that is not under their control. After all, I do not expect there will be anyone to bark at if Google Apps experiences problems; one of the significant minuses of using a frëe system (never mind one in beta).

Additionally, a couple of the applications are definitely in their infancy. For example, Google Calendar does not offer any synchronization capabilities for handhelds or PC's, so if you make the switch there is no way (currently) to update your handheld with your Google Calendar schedule. This chink alone is enough to keep me from making the switch. Oh and I must not forget Google Page Creator and the frëe hostíng service; it is, well, pointless in its current state. After all, there is no way to upload a website other than using Page Creator, which is a website-publishing tool in its extreme infancy. I can only assume that the web-publishing facet of Google Apps was included as a frill.

Will Websites Hosted on Google Have an Advantage?
Perhaps but the advantage is minimal; Google states in the Google Apps help area that new sites within their system can expect to be indexed within "a few hours of publication"; an impressive turnaround. Hostíng on Google will also likely lead to faster indexing of updated content. After all, faster updating would be a considerable tease if (make that 'when') Google wants to make a bolder step into the web hostíng industry and provide more advanced hostíng packages. It is truly a brilliant plan, I mean, how could other search engines compete with a rival search engine that merely has to look to its own network to index a sizable portion of the Internet. At any rate, this basic hosted solution has been around for a while so I don't want to waste your time with information you may already know (here is more info on Page Creator).

How Long Will Google Apps Be Free?
If you signup during the Beta test of this program you will get use of Google Apps for frëe indefinitely according to the Google Apps Terms & Conditions but after the Beta Period you "may not" get the benefit of newly added technologies without paying. The following is relevant snippet from the T&C:

No Fees. Provided that Google continues to offer the Google Hosted Services to Customer, Google will provide a version of the Google Hosted Services (with substantially the same services as those provided as of the Effective Date) frëe of charge to Customer indefinitely; provided that such commitment (i) applies only to End User Accounts created during the period \ when the Google Hosted Services are considered a beta service (the "Beta Period") by Google (such Beta Period determination at Google's sole discretion) and (ii) may not apply to new opt-ín services added by Google to the Google Hosted Services in the future.
Will There Be a More Advanced Version Soon?
"For sake of clarity, Google reserves the right to offer a premium version of the Google Hosted Services for a fee." (Excerpt from Google Apps Terms & Conditions). In fact, the answer appears to be a resounding yes since Google wants you to notify them if you are interested in a premium version so that they can let you know when it comes available.
What Else May Be Coming to Google Apps?
I fully expect that following apps will be included in the near future, just clíck on them to see their formal description at Google:

Google Notepad (more info)
Share important notes with your staff and allow them to search notes company-wide.
Personalized Home Page
Okay, I cheated here, Google has already posted that this will be coming and they even have a help menu setup for this already. Essentially this option will allow you to customize the home search page for your employees to a limited degree locking certain areas of their Google start page.
Google Reader (more info)
This is a frëe RSS viewer that allows you to subscribe to and label RSS feeds such as The SEO Blog. I believe this application will be added to Google Apps, or at least should, so that Administrators can keep their employees up to date on their own company's blog as well as their competitors'. In addition, RSS feeds are a great venue for continued education for anyone in a company; I constantly use them to keep up to date on the latest website analytics tutorials and upcoming web technologies. Ultimately, it would be great to enforce the viewing of certain RSS feeds for employees; much like locking areas of their personalized Google home page.
Google Spreadsheets (more info)
Create your spreadsheets online and share them across your enterprise.
Google's Writely (more info)
Create documents online, share them and publish them to your website.
So You Have More Questíons About Google Apps? Well!
I tried to cover a lot in this article but I likely missed something so here is a direct link to Google's help/FAQ area for this new service.

About The Author
Ross Dunn is the founder and CEO of StepForth Search Engine Placement Inc. Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, StepForth has provided professional search engine placement and management services since 1997. Ross is a search engine optimization and placement expert with over 9 years of marketing experience and is a Certified Internet Marketing and Business Strategist (CIMBS). Blending his experience in the art of web design and search engine optimization, Ross offers a unique and informed perspective on obtaining top search engine placements. Ross can be reached at ross@stepforth.com.

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posted by admin @ 11:33 PM 0 comments