Tom Miller International

Banner ads are the pioneers of internet marketing. The first banner ad appeared on http://www.hotwired.com (now http://www.wired.com) back in October 27th, 1994 in the form of an ad for AT&T. Since that time banner ads have taken over the internet in a variety of forms.

A banner ad is a graphical promotion used on websites as a form of advertisement. Banner ads can come in any size you want, however the accepted standard is 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels high. Due to the widespread acceptance of this size, the same banner ad can be used on most websites without having to reconfigure the size and layout. Although banner ads can be used to advertise your phone number, address, or anything else you like, the real purpose behind banner ads is to get someone to click on it and jump to your website.

There is a great deal of controversy about the effectiveness of banners. Some people swear by them, others swear at them, saying they don’t work worth a darn. Although click-through rates have gone consistently downward, the same can be said of banner ad prices. The average click-through rate hovers somewhere around 0.5% range for banner ads. But, with a good banner design and placement it is still possible to achieve a good return on investment, by combining below-average ad rates and above-average response rates.

Banner ads are sold in any one of three ways: cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM), pay per click (PPC), or pay per action (PPA).

Buying a PPC banner is usually more expensive than the CPM basis, but can be much more effective because people actually take some kind of action by clicking though to your site. One of the drawbacks to PPC banner advertising is that one person may click on an ad more than once and you get charged for each click. However some ad providers track IP address, and only charge one click per computer per day. Most places though don’t do this for the simple reason that it means less money in their pocket.

The effectiveness of cost per impression banners can vary quite a bit, depending upon their placement on the webpage and you typically (not always) pay the same whether the banner is displayed prominently at the top of the page, or hidden in a bottom corner. Most CPM banner sites rotate the banners throughout the site (Run of Site – ROS) and throughout the page. Banner ads to reach general audiences are typically priced at $1 to $10 CPM, while targeted sites may get CPM rates of $30 – $50 or more. Even though it may not seem like much, banner ads can be quite expensive. Do the math with me:

If you’re paying $10 CPM and the click-through rate is an industry average of 0.5%, then it costs you $10 to get 5 people to your site, or $2 per person. If 2% of the visitors to your site make a purchase, then your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is $100, ($2 / 2%). That means for every transaction you do you need to pay out $100 in advertising fees. Some websites don’t even manage to convert 2% of visitors into customers, especially when they originate from a banner ad.

In order for banner ads to be effective, you need to combine above average click-through rates, with below average banner prices and sell either a high-ticket product, a product with a high markup (like an info product) or have a strong back-end in place so you make money on the second, third, fourth and even twentieth sale.

Pay per action banners are usually the most expensive, since you pay only for a desired action. This can be a product sale, having someone sign up for an email list or any other action you want. PPA banners can be very similar to an affiliate program and use the same type of tracking.

Banner Exchanges

Just like link swapping, some companies have banner swapping programs. Most banner swapping programs are free and some might require you to pay a monthly administration fee so they can cover their costs.

Many of the free companies make money by the in-proportionate ratio of banners you display on your site, vs. your banners being displayed on other sites. Let’s say you need to place a certain banner on your site for a total 10,000 impressions, but you only get 8,000 impressions of your banner on someone else’s site in return. This is how these sites fund themselves. They sell the extra 2,000 impressions you lose, for a profit.

Some banner exchanges are pure and simple; I’ll put your banner on my site, if you put mine on yours. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this if both sites are of a similar interest and get comparatively the same amount of traffic.

Some sites will track your stats and some will allow you to upload multiple banners so they can be rotated throughout the sites where are placed. This way you can determine what works best if you’re paying per impression. It’s also always a good idea to use your own ad tracker so you can follow the click-throughs to your site and see how many actually lead to a sale.

Some banner exchange companies will actually design the banner for you as part of their program. Although I suggest you design, (or have designed) your own banners. If you are going to let the banner exchange company design it for you, make sure it is on target. Some of these companies use software that automatically creates your banner untouched by human hands and unseen by human eyes, until it gets to yours. As with any type of advertising, the design, wording and call to action of your banner is quite important.

Since the purpose of a banner is to stop, interrupt really, the surfer’s train of thought, clicking on a banner is an impulse decision. People need a reason to make an impulse decision so you need to give them one. The following are some tips to help generate the highest click-through rate possible:

- Have a call to action. Always say “click here” on your banner, or some variation thereof. I know this sounds overly simple, but it is often overlooked and can easily double your click-through rates.

- Add a button. Placing the words “click here” into an actual or obvious button on your banner improves response.

- There’s no room for subtlety in banners. Your banner should scream your message.

- Try posing questions: “Want to save 15% on your car insurance in 15 minutes?” Questions work better than statements, particularly when they’re used to tease your audience. Studies have shown that by changing a statement to a question you can raise your click-through rate by 16%.

- If appropriate use humor. Make sure it’s actually funny and get some others opinions first. Quite often something that might be funny to you, other people may not get.

- Use bright primary colors. Brighter colors attract visitor’s eyes. Blue, green, and yellow elicit the most click-throughs. Stay away from transparent colors either in the foreground or background – they tend to get lost among the colors of most websites so stick with solids.

- Use simple animation. Moving images and blinking animation attract visitors to your banner. Strategic use of movement grabs attention more effectively than static banners. Don’t make them too wild or complicated so the message gets lost, the senses are overloaded and/or the file size is too large.

- Offer a reward or free gift when someone clicks on your banner. It will help motivate people to click. Contests also work well, especially if you’re giving away money. Money is the biggest motivator.

- Run a series of banners. It may take more than one message to tell your story or to go after a particular market. Run a series of banners and vary your message. Keep you message consistent and catchy to make your visitors want to read further. After the fourth impression of the same banner, most people tend to subconsciously block it out in their mind.

- Keep the copy short. Think billboard advertising – the average person spends six seconds looking at a billboard and you have less than a third of that time on the web. Write compelling copy. Use action words that motivate.

- Use italics if you can. Although they don’t have a huge impact, they can increase click-through rates by a few percentage points when compared with standard typefaces.

- Create curiosity. A large number of those who click on ads do so because they are curious. Studies show that curious clickers very widely by demographic and other characteristics, so targeting based on curiosity can be very effective when you have a general interest product or service.

- Use wide banners or tall skyscraper banners. They’re clicked on significantly more than smaller, skinnier, or square banners.

- Make your banner file size is small, so it loads quickly; 10-30kb is typical for a 468 by 60 pixel banner.

Some Tips on Implementing Banner Ad Campaigns

First, determine if you think it would be worth it to participate in a banner ad campaign. Consider the banner costs, compared to an average click-through rate of half a percent, your sites’ conversion rate, profit margins and customer’s LOV (lifetime of value).

Determine where and on what sites you want to consider placing your banner ads, taking into consideration the cost, banner placement, payment types (PPC, CPM, PPA) and if it’s a targeted site or not. Find some websites that complement yours.

Contact the site on which you wish to place your ad and ask if they have a rate card and get info on their payment options. You can also see if they offer any specials or discounts if you purchase in bulk, or even simply ask for a better deal. A lot of the time they will give you one simply because you asked.

Read the submission guidelines. This usually covers things like:

- Maximum file size

- File types accepted (commonly .gif, .jpg and flash – .swf) – Accepted banner sizes – Deadlines for submission and review – How many banners can you submit for rotating campaigns? How often do they rotate the banners? – How do they determine where your banner is placed on each page? – Do you pay for placement or is it random?

Keep track of all your banner statistics. Even though the company you are advertising with may do this for you, it’s also a good idea to track it yourself. This way you can track and determine results like your conversion rate, ROI, CPC (cost per click) and click-through rate for each banner.

All in all, banner advertising can be a key part of your online marketing campaign. Depending on all of the key factors mentioned above, it may or may not be a financially feasible part of your marketing campaign, if it can make you a profit. If it can’t, don’t sweat it, there’s tons of other ways to cost effectively market your business online.

Justin Michie is a well respected Internet Marketer and author of the most up to date and comprehensive Internet Marketing Book available: Street Smart Internet Marketing. For more information on Online Advertising, check out his brand new Internet Marketing Book at www.InternetMarketingBook.com — it’s the best investment under $20 you could ever make for your online business. Order now and for a limited time only receive hundreds in free bonuses!

The dream job, affiliate marketing on the internet! All you need is a laptop and internet connection – so from the beaches of the Maldives to the Towers of London you can be carving your very own business. Amazing, all the control without any of the hassles of a boss, employees (you can out-source everything when you’re earning) and hours to suit. Fancy a 3 month holiday, why not. Affiliate marketing on the internet is as good as it gets.

We’re all human and like any other career there is a learning curve. When you read a page that sells you the dream, stop for a moment. Then say “that’s great copywriting” and it has done everything it should have done and hit your emotional buttons. The reality is that you need to jump the first hurdle, your first sale and then multiply it enough to give up the day job.

In reality we all need some help when it comes to affiliate marketing on the internet. My first step is to help you, then point you to what I consider the finest resource online. Value for money and no rubbish.

The First Step
The first step to affiliate marketing on the internet is testing. Testing a niche but also testing the strategy and proving to yourself that internet marketing works. It took my first few sales and making friends that do pull down full time incomes to prove to me that affiliate marketing on the internet works.

Build a Business
Start a thread on any internet marketing forum about ‘bum marketing’ or ‘article marketing’ and you’ll find a couple of thousand reads and tens of replies. That’s where the money is (if you’re selling those readers eBooks). Create a thread on a business model (ie. worthy of a super affiliate), it will go over peoples heads and unnoticed. Their loss but you’re reading this so you know better.

Now look beyond the free methods and start to build a business, stop ‘threading water’ and build an asset, some online real estate. Your goal with affiliate marketing on the internet should be create an asset that you can sell. Build a website (or series of websites) that pull down a full time income and could be sold to fund a new project or (even better) retire young!

Help is at hand
You can afford to think big with affiliate marketing on the internet because any dream can come true, if you take action. One of the resources instrumental to the turn around in my career that has made part-time to full-time a real goal that I can achieve is called the ‘Conduit Method’.

It is a simple strategy that builds a profitable business and quick, a no non-sense blueprint during which I have seen the author go from taking sense to talking sense and a six figure income. And it’s ridiculously cheap (should I really be telling you?!)

Learning affiliate marketing on the internet has never been so clear, so easy (deciding what to do – rather than effort) and so doable.

To find out more how you can super-charge your efforts and join the ranks of the super affiliate marketing on the internet check out what I believe the best resource money can buy (and not a lot of money either!)
Visit:- http://easilythebestaffiliatemarketingebook.blogspot.com

If you have a real passion and hunger towards learning affiliate marketing you’ll have been through the initial ups (when you buy into the instant cash dream), hit the lows as you struggle to make your first dollar and then fight the urge to ’spin too many plates’ and try too many different ideas without having success at any. Classic problems and what I’m going to share with you today will (without doubt) help and more importantly work.

Learning affiliate marketing will start to reap the rewards and once your clickbank or paypal (or both) start to see sales, you’ve jumped that first hurdle so many fall at.

Yawn… Finding a profitable niche in seconds
How to find a profitable niche is instrumental in learning affiliate marketing. You may have found this an initial stumbling block because many of the profitable niche are already inundated with affiliates you’ve got to battle with for that Google ranking. Pick a popular product and yes you’ve got a seller, if you can get traffic to it.

So how do you overcome the competition, how to you fight the super-affilates and carve your niche or rather micro-niche? Answer? You don’t have to… A profitable niche is accompanied by a ton of traffic and not all that traffic goes to the first 10 ranks on Google. Have you ever (genuinely) been searching for information on the internet and skipped through several pages to find the title or site that answers your question? I have.

In a profitable marketing you have the volume of traffic to provide the spill over to get traffic, regardless of your ranking once you create the correct style of website with a good layout.

Boring… Keyword Research
If you really want to fight those super-affiliates and your serious about learning affiliate marketing you need to understand that ‘affiliate marketing’ is ‘keyword marketing’. The two are one and the same and you have to dominate your niche for that keyword. Then expand (ie. into an authority site).

Lets use a brand new, controversial keyword research tool.. You’re imagination. Now I don’t know the exact figures but I know a man who does. It can be shown that there are a ridiculous amount of long tail keywords that are unique. You can prove this by thinking back to your own research. How many times have you abandoned a keyword because there was insufficient or no result? I have but that doesn’t mean you can win ALL those random keywords. This is learning affiliate marketing the super clever way!

Go to the search engines, put on your ‘customer hat’ and think about what someone might type it. Give it a go and start thinking, brand name, product name, ingredients, versions, misspellings. Now create content that has it all. If you don’t believe me, keep on reading and you will sold on this idea!

Just do it..
This isn’t just tat, non-sense and I certainly haven’t simply dreamt it up. I’ve used this in learning affiliate marketing and having made all the mistakes, I’m now getting somewhere (finally).

The brains behind this ‘controversy’ is a fellow (and super-affiliate) called Chris Rempel, he’s making headlines, reaching cult status and you can tap into his unique approach to learning affiliate marketing easy. The man over delivers and if you want to make some bucks (think his six figure income at 24 years of age) then get your butt in gear and check him out.

Stop trying so hard now that learning affiliate marketing has never been ‘clearer’.

Don’t deny your paypal and clickbank their food and you’re fun! Check out this LINK and start learning affiliate marketing the lazy way. Forget what NWA said and ‘do believe the hype’.
http://easilythebestaffiliatemarketingebook.blogspot.com – I’ve never said a truer word

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A little while ago I was interviewed by
the one and only Mark Anastasi.

If your truly serious about changing your life
for the better & making a serious & substantial income online
then go listen to this valuable Interview right now,
its packed full of real VALUE & content that in my
opinion is worth many thousands of pounds.

I reveal everything about how I got started, to
how to market & how & why I make more now
in the Recession than I ever did before.

You can find out more infomation about Mark at:

http://www.speedcashseminar.com/

HOW MANY OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU WORK?

Are you involved with more than one network marketing opportunity?

I recently saw a post online that read:

“… I just recently bailed on 2 opportunities that I feel were not producing results. I am still a member of others, but I am looking for another.”

What caught my eye wasn’t the fact that he just “bailed” on TWO opportunities, it was the phrase:

“I am still a member of OTHERS.”

Now I didn’t read the whole thread, and he looked like a sharp guy so he may well be very successful in this industry, but it did cause me to reflect on how many opportunities people are joining/working out there, and why. As a trainer, I often see people involved with so many things that they can hardly keep them straight, let alone excel in any of them. Their strategy seems to be to keep trying things until they find something that’s going to “work.” I feel this approach is based on a false assumption:

“That the “RIGHT” opportunity is out there (somewhere) and if one keeps searching long enough and trying enough things, they’ll eventually find it and hit it big.”

The reality is there are many good opportunities out there, and sure, some are better than other but there are no “perfect ones.”

Usually, your success in an opportunity has a lot more to do with “you” and how you approach your business, and the team you assemble, than the opportunity you join. (Assuming you’ve joined a decent one).

To maximize your success, work on “YOU.” In my own downline I’ve watched some people make hundreds of dollars, some fail, and others make six figures or more.

Why?

Experience, skillset, mindset, persistance, resolve… Who you are (or are becoming) can be a big determiner of your success, more so than what company you join. I’ve observed people join companies that are “older” and slower growing and go on to make six and seven figures. Could they have done “better” in a different company – perhaps. But… I’ve also watched people join fast moving start-ups and fail while others go on to succeed wildly right along side them.

I think this illustrates that if you acquire the right skillset and mindset, success will chase you regardless of where you go. I share the tactics (and mindset) that changed things for me in my personal coaching classes.

So… how many opportunities should you be working? The argument for working ONE is compelling:

FOCUS FOCUS on ONE thing, and do it extremely well, and create undiluted success that catapults you into the stratosphere. If you’ve joined an opportunity that’s good, and it’s not working for you – the temptation is to go find one that will. (It’s always easier to change our opportunity, than change ourselves).

But more often than not, it’s “US” who needs to change. I know it was for me when I first started out. A good argument also exists for working more than one:

DIVERSIFICATION

There are people who join multiple opportunities and build some very profitable income streams. What’s right MAY depend on your reason. Are you chasing after that elusive “something” that’s going to work and be your “magic bullet?”

If so, STOP. That’s not the best reason to work multiple opportunities. If you’re building a traditional opportunity it’s smarter to work ONE.

The FOCUS you model to your team will encourage THEM to focus which ultimately can build huge organiziations. If you’re working 3-5 things, what’s that saying to your downline? Odds are, they’ll do the same and it may not be the same 3-5 things you’re working… thus everyone’s efforts are dilluted.

On the other hand, if you’re opportunity is more of a short-term venture OR, is more of an online build that’s closer to an affiliate model, then diversification is a smart play and you’ll want to assemble a portfolio of income streams. Do you agree or disagree? If you’re someone who has “tried” multiple things and that’s lead you to “the one” that’s really paid off, what was it that “it” had the others didn’t? If you ever have to pick another winner some day, do you think you can or do you think it’ll be more trial and error?

What’s YOUR approach and how’s it working out for you?  Submit Your Application and you can have a coaching call with either me or one of my business coaches to see if your approach is a winner.

Untill Next Time,

Tom

Surprising to most, yet well known and utilized by the “all time” greats, there is one almost never spoken of, hidden ingredient to accomplishment that gets completely missed by the masses.

Any wonder why “the masses” are accomplishing no where near the results they’d like? Know what it is?

Imagination.

Imagination? But that’s for kids. “Use your imagination” we were taught in school, right? Sadly, it stopped there for most of us.

Did you know that we all take action or fail to take action because of imagination, not because of will power or discipline? It’s true.

“Human beings always act and feel and perform in accordance with what they imagine to be true about themselves and their environment” says Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of “The New Psycho-Cybernetics.”

He goes onto to say: “you cannot long escape or outperform that picture.” Not ever.

The good news is, you can completely control your own imagination. As quickly as you imagine failing, not making it, quitting, or falling short, you can just as quickly imagine exactly the opposite – Success, achievement, accomplishment, and making it. You can And literally “steer” yourself towards your goal or target.

It won’t happen overnight, but what does?

It’s a simple (not easy) mind shift. An “image” shift, if you will.

“Through the faculty of creative imagination, the finite mind of man had direct communication with Infinite Intelligence. It is the faculty through which ‘hunches’ and ‘inspirations’ are received. It is by this faculty that all basic, or new ideas are handed over to man. It is through this faculty that individuals may “tune in,” or communicate with the subconscious mind of other men” says Napoleon Hill, author of the famous book “Think and Grow Rich.”

“Imagination” is actually the “Fifth Step” to riches in Think And Grow Rich. Napoleon Hill calls Imagination “the workshop of the mind.”

The Home Business Owner and Entrepreneur who starts to exercise his or her imagination, will notice many more opportunities and many more ways to create value for the marketplace which equals more income and wealth.

I challenge you to dig down deep and explore your own imagination and the teachings within these two blockbuster, best selling Personal Development books that, combined have sold in the tens of millions of copies.

Don’t neglect this all important force you have within you.

“To carry on a successful business a man must have imagination. He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing” says Charles M. Schwab.

It’s “dream building” – And this is exactly what we teach
people how to do in Magnetic Sponsoring.

I’ve seen a marketing tactic being used more and more often.

It may appear to be effective on the surface, but in the end, I find it disturbing, harmful, and short-sighted.

You may or may not agree, but here’s my two-cents on the subject…

Go into Google and do a search for your company.

What do you find in the sponsored ads at the top and right side of the page?

There’s a very good chance that most will read something like this…

W—– M—– Review

Why —– wasn’t for me. Easier way

you can make 6-figures this year!

www.——-.com

Why I Passed on ——
Automated Travel Sales. Earn 1K-9K
per sale and Talk to No One.Turnkey
www.——-.com

An —– Alternative
Free Income Success Secrets w/ Top
Earners! $25K/ mo. without Selling.
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C—-l, L—, E—- etc
 No. No. No! You Will Be Squashed 
See What Is Taking The Net By Storm
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Alternative to ——
Grow Real Wealth and Keep It 
Immediate Business Overview
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Got G—-, X—-? Get V—-
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Compare Before Joining
All 3 in One – $125,000 in 6 Months 
Superior Product, Pay Plan, Systems
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Why I Didn’t Join.  The untold story. 
Real facts they don’t want you to know.
www.—–.com

You probably get my point.

Negativity. Company bashing.

Pay Per Click advertising is glutted with people playing the “mine is better than yours” game.

And here’s what must be considered…

Yes. Negative ads that elicit questions and warnings will get the highest click-through-rates because they tap into a primal human instinct…

Fear.

No one wants to make a mistake. No one wants to look like a fool, and so they’ll click and they’ll read. Doubt will be shoved down their throats, and the person who owns the site will undoubtedly offer to show them the “true” path, and save them from making a “big mistake” with that other company…

But is this really smart? Is this responsible? Is this truly serving people and this industry, or is it creating a mess of confusion, mistrust, and petty cannibalism?

Are these people truly serving themselves and the prosperity of their business?

In the short-run, yes… These tactics will lead to new distributors and more sales, but in the long-run, no because this continued cannibalism will only lead to a business that resembles a revolving door.

Furthermore, I personally think pursing personal gain at the expense of others (company bashing by name), shows a lack of respect, fear of loss, maturity, and the complete absence of an abundance mentality.

If you truly have value to offer a prospect, then sell your merits and the merits of your company. Do not give yourself the perception of value by placing others beneath you.

If what you’re selling is truly beneficial, then sell that. Sell what makes you and your company great and that alone.

No I’m not saying that you can’t have an opinion. If you like one business model better than the other, great.

If you like one business building method better than another, great.

You can have an opinion. I definitely have one.

But trying to steal distributors away by planting doubts, fear, and calling each other names is another thing.

We are all in this industry, and if you live in abundance then you know there’s more than enough people to go around.

Place yourself above the fray. Your prospects will respect you more. They’ll join you for the RIGHT reasons, instead of the fears and doubts you placed in their minds, and they will stay with you longer.

You’ll attract a higher-caliber of person and more of them as people learn of your rare professionalism.

Sell yourself and what you have to offer. Sell prosperity. Don’t prey on the fears and lack of experience of those who are joining this industry.

Be a leader who can stand on his/her own value alone without putting others down.

You’ll be glad you did in the long run, and the benefits will definitely out-weigh your inflated click-through-rates.

Best wishes,

Tom Miller