An Easy Promotion Tool with Big Rewards

If you operate or own a website, then you know that you have to promote both on and off the web. You have to incorporate these two factors in order to be fully successful with an E-commerce business. I have talked with a few large Internet retailers that gave me an insight into their marketing on the web. When I was told, it all made sense and I had to implement it with my clients.

We all know that Ebay is the number one auction market place on the Internet today. Millions of dollars are spent each week on this web portal and it continues to grow each day! I am not going to tell you to open up a store and start selling your whole product line to Ebay buyers because that would be costly with little to no profit.

What I am going to tell you is to put a few top sellers in an auction, either fixed or auction type. This is to gain a large amount of viewers since the product is “hot” and they will want to purchase it. The key to this ploy is to put links on your auction site that direct viewers to your site that carries your whole product line. When this happens correctly your traffic will Explode and with all targeted viewers. You might not be making much money with the Ebay items that sell, but if you do it correctly the profit you make from these targeted viewers will far outweight the small profit margins. Give it a try because their is nothing to lose and you will be happy with the results.

Grayson is the current owner and operator of Overdrive Electronics and is certified for SE Optimization and online marketing techniques.

Branding With Banners

You might have heard that banner advertising is dead. Nothing
could be further from the truth! If you can find a banner
exchange that gives you a decent ratio you can begin branding of
your site, and branding may be the one thing you MUST do to get
and keep business.

Banner ads and banner exchanges are great tools for branding your
site. Even better, most banner ads can be shown for free through
banner swaps. It isn’t necessary to purchase ads to have a
successful branding campaign.

You must however, remember the most important part about using
banners for branding –The Brand! Never create a banner, button,
or other graphic to submit to any exchange be it banner ads,
reciprocal links, etc., that does not have your name, logo, or
tag line (Slogan) on it.

Try to get two of the three on it if you can, and always have a
call to action on the banner; such as, “Click here!”, “Sign up
today!”, or “Limited Time!” to get the viewer to click on the
link and visit your site.

Whether they purchase or not is not important - well, not the
main thing — getting your brand (Site, name, product, etc.) in
front of the potential customer is the goal for a first time
viewer of your banner.

The whole idea behind branding is getting your name or face out
there over and over again so people who are surfing see you
everywhere they go!

Are you more likely to purchase a product from someone you have
never heard of or someone you know has been around a long time
because you remember their name, logo or tag line? “Surely they
must be legit, or I would not see them advertised everywhere!” is
what you want people to think whenever they see your ad or are at
your site and getting ready to make a purchase.

The biggest mistake people make is expecting a huge click through
rate on a banner the very first time it is put out there and then
quitting when that does not happen. Don’t think of banner ads as
a one-time thing. People rarely click on a banner the first,
second or even third time they see it.

Think of a banner ad as your big golden arches. The first time
you see it you ask, “What is it?”

The second time you see it, you remember, “Oh yes that’s that
hamburger place.”

And maybe the third time you see it you say, “Hey, I think I will
try one of those hamburgers!”

Hopefully, by the third, fourth or fifth time someone sees your
name or logo on a banner ad they will “Try your burger” too!

Here are some resources to give you a start:

Banner Exchanges:
—————-
This list updated 4/16/05

The one I recommend is BannersGoMLM.
(http://www.bannersgomlm.com)
They give you a 1 to 1 ratio and you can earn banner exposures
based on the credits earned by people who sign up through you.

Some others you can try out are:

BannerSwap (http://www.bannerswap.com)

Offers a 1:2 ratio and supports following banner dimensions:
468×60; 500×350; 160×600; 88×31; 468×60 Flash Banners

Exchange-it (http://www.exchange-it.com)

Offers a 2:1 ratio; 468×60 banners

WorldBE ( http://www.worldbe.com)

Offers the top 50% performing members an exchange ratio of 1:1.
The next-best performing 25% of members receive a 4:3 exchange
ratio while the last 25% receive a 2:1 exchange ratio.

123Banners: (http://www.123banners.com)
Offers a 2:1 ratio; 468×60 banners

Link Buddies: (http://linkbuddies.com)
Established in 1997!

Click Through Ratio* Exchange Rate
Top 1% of all LinkBuddies Members 1:1
Top 10% of all LinkBuddies Members 4:3
Top 25% of all LinkBuddies Members 3:2
Top 75% of all LinkBuddies Members 2:1
Top 90% of all LinkBuddies Members 5:2
Bottom 10% of all LinkBuddies Members 10:1

All LinkBuddies member needs to achieve 100 impressions within
two weeks to be eligible for sliding exchange rates.

Provides you an easy-to-use three step wizard to create up to ten
banners. 468×60 banners

Online Banner Creation Sites:
—————————-

Free:
—-

Here are some places you can create banners (and buttons and
other linked graphics) “on the fly” so to speak. The ones I have
listed here are free, there are tons more that have annual fees.
Some of the ones below also offer a “for fee” version. Be sure to
read all of their rules for using their services and finished
banners - usually called “Terms of Service”.

Creative Connectivity: (http://www.crecon.com/banners.html)

The original one I have used for years until I got the nifty
little software program from Xara.

Banner Creator: http://www.bannercreator.nu/ main page the
banner generator is here:
http://www.bannercreator.nu/banner-maker.html

Banner Forge http://bannerforge.com All the standard sizes plus a
120×240 vertical size.

Fee:
—

These sites charge an annual or per banner fee, but you usually
get a larger choice of graphics and a better customization
service. Some are do-it-yourself and others are professional
services that have graphic artists create your banner for you.

Be sure to read all of their rules for using their services and
finished banners - usually called “Terms of Service”.

http://www.quickbanner.com Nice looking banners of all sizes.
Flash and other advanced banners starting at $14.95. You can
still get some .GIF banners (468×60) and buttons (88×33) for
free.

Cool Banners: (http://coolbanners.com): Fees range from $50 for
smaller button-type banners to $300 dollars for interactive html
banners.

Strategic Solutions: (http://www.ss-banners.com/ ) Standard size
banners (486×60) as static, html, animated or flash. Prices range
from $75 - $300 plus a “rush fee” of $200 for 24 hour turnaround.

Where to Place Your Banners:
—————————-

You know where to start, now you have to decide where to put
those banners you are swapping. It is better to link to a sub
page than your homepage so target the offers on your banners (Not
leaving off your logo or name though!) to specific pages on your
site.

Do you offer a newsletter?

Great! Put that information on a banner and link it to your sign up page.

Do you sell software?

Put that on a banner and link it to your software description / order page. And so on until you have people coming in from all over.

If you have created your site correctly with links to all the
other pages easily accessible on every page, then visitors will
find your other content even though they did not come in from the
“front door”.

—-NOTE—-
Don’t forget to put a sign up form on every page for your news-
letter and a link for swapping links or classified ads. If you do
not know how to do this or don’t have a newsletter or swap links
page set up find the tutorials you need to set them up at
http://treefreepublishing.com/articles/
—-NOTE—-

Once you have your banners out there, don’t slack off! Go back to
the exchanges you joined and see how the banners are doing. If
you have one that is doing nothing and it has been up for awhile
(giving it a chance to be seen several times by surfers) pull it
and put up another one instead.

Try animated against non-animated, bright colors against flashy fonts, etc., until you find that perfect set of three or four banners that work well for you consistently.

Once you have your select banners, rotate them amongst the
different exchange services. A banner that isn’t new on Banner
Exchange A can be swapped to banner Exchange B and start out new
again! After that, move it to Banner Exchange C, until you rotate
it back to where you started- and guess what? Enough time has
passed that you can use it in Banner Exchange A again and it is
fresh all over again.

Ok, now that you are all ready to brand yourself- get out there
and start submitting your banner!

“Techie” Teri Mramer is the busy web master at TreeFree
Publishing, your home for all electronic publishing services and do-it-yourself publishing resources. http://TreeFreePublishing.com and… The Editor of Epublishing Express- The only ezine
that teaches ebook and ezine publishing with screenshots and multimedia how-to videos! http://Epublishing-Express.com and… Also author of “Easy Web Site Audio!” The Easy Web Site Audio
tutorial! e-Manual comes with 15 how-to videos. Add audio to your
web site in about an hour! http://easy-web-site-audio.com

Mediterraneo by Marc Antoine: Smooth Jazz CD Review

The very talented Spanish guitar playing Marc Antoine has once again created some of the worlds most beautiful music with the release of his latest CD, Mediterraneo.

Antoine, now clearly on a roll, has developed himself into one of those rare musicians who upon hearing them gives you the impression that he is in total command of his instrument. Causing it to perform in a way that no one else can, or would dare try to duplicate.

I have myself been a big Marc Antoine fan for a few years now but this is by far the most awesome, creative and inspiring work he has produced.

It is an excellent smooth jazz CD and just about the only thing playing in my CD player these days. Listening to it over and over again, I’m finding there’s always something I failed to hear the first, second, third… tenth time.

Mediterraneo is a gem of a CD in that there are literally no wasted tracks. Each one is a masterpiece.

There is just something about GOOD Spanish guitar that engages your imagination and transports you to new and exotic locations. Not to mention the grand smile that it produces. I guess what I’m saying is it generates happy music.

Overall Mediterraneo is smile producing stuff. What I call, must have music. I give it two thumbs up.

Even the casual smooth jazz fan will appreciate and enjoy Antoine’s very nice chord changes, and good mix of styles.

The standout tunes are Funky Picante [track 2], Mediterraneo [track 3], and Senor Groove [track 7]. My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore […as in “Stuck On REpeat”] is track 9, Lady. Very nice!

Release Notes:

This CD was originally released September 23, 2003 on the Rendezvous record label.

CD track list follows:

1. Cuba Nova
2. Funky Picante
3. Mediterraneo
4. Preludio
5. Castellana Hood
6. Afromenco
7. Senor Groove
8. Gotham
9. Lady
10. Gringo
11. Alejandro’s Lullaby

To hear samples of each song on this CD go to Marc Antoine CD - Mediterraneo [ www.smoothlee.com/music-samples/marc-antoine-mediterraneo.htm ]

Clyde Lee Dennis, a.k.a. “SmoothLee” has been bumping around on the web since 1999 and is a self described “Web Head, and Life long AVID music fan”. Smooth Jazz Music in particular. In addition to writing CD Reviews for I Love Smooth Jazz.com he is also the Program Director, and can be heard during his daily radio show which airs on one of the internets most listened to smooth jazz radio stations, Smooth Jazz 24/7

Gift Baskets - Bringing Joy On Special Occasions

Whenever you are stumped for ideas for a suitable gift for your friend or family, gift baskets are always a good choice, as gift baskets are a great way to show off your creative flair and thoughtfulness. The great thing about gift baskets is that almost any kind of gift items can be bundled together in the gift basket which otherwise would not be convenient giving as separate gifts.

There are many types of gift baskets you can choose from, such as the gourmet gift basket, holiday gift basket, baby gift basket, corporate gift basket, birthday gift basket and many more. You name an occasion and there is usually a gift basket available to fit that special occasion.

Gift baskets can be designed to suit anyone’s needs and styles, Take the example of a gourmet gift basket - this is a unique way to present a friend or a loved one with a delicious assortment of gourmet chocolates and nuts, coffee, tea and sweet drinks. Gourmet gift basket is not only a fun but also an affordable alternative to purchasing those individual gift items ready-made. Of course it is also quite easy designing and preparing your own gourmet gift basket. You need to give some thought to what kind of items the recipients would like and appreciate, what type of coffee, chocolates or nuts to include in the gourmet gift basket and how many of each.

Ready made gourmet gift baskets nowadays usually cater to all tastes, such as gift baskets with white, red or dessert wine along with yummy cookies, crackers, and chocolates and other mouth-watering items. Of course, gourmet gift baskets are not limited in just offering the above; gourmet gift baskets can also offer such favorites as chips, smoked salmon, gourmet sausages, cheese, jelly, savory breads etc. whatever you can think of. You can even offer a ready-made meal in a surprise gourmet wine gift offering, with grilled or cooked meats, salads, casseroles, fondues, pies, pastas, desserts accompanied with wine can instantly light up your evening.

You can also go for a baby gift basket, which undoubtedly will be well received by mothers or mom-to-be’s. These popular baby gift baskets come with baby clothing, towels, blankets, soap and shampoo for the new baby. Of course there are many kinds of baby toys that you can also include in your baby gift basket.

On special occasions such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or any other traditional holidays, you can delight your loved ones with wonderful holiday gift baskets. A holiday gift basket carries gift items that convey your best holiday wishes in the spirit of the special occasion. A gift basket of fresh flowers or sweet-smelling fruits will also be well received on any holiday by any person. Celebrate with a holiday gift basket no matter what the holiday is!

5 Tips to Pay-Per-Clicking

Hi, my name is Darryl Power and I have been using the internet for about 3 years. I used every way possible to generate traffic. But it was not until May 2003 when I found overture did my success really take off. But I am not here to tell you about my success, I’m here to give you some helpful tips with Pay-Per Click advertising which I learned over the past year. The following 5 Tips will help you target your specific audience, and help reach over 85% of internet users in a fast and effective way.

1. Bid on low cost relevant words

When you do your research you need to find words that not only define you website or services but are low cost and have little competition. You will also want to build a wide base of keywords, about a 30 or so to gain the maximum click through rate.

2. Qualify your Title and description

This one is simple; remember the 30 keywords you got; now you make up 6 to 7 ads with 3 to 4 keywords in them. By using the keywords in your title and description it is a fact that you can increase your click through rate by almost 40%.

3. Use unique landing pages

Now if you are promoting an affiliate product or a matter of fact any product you need to us unique landing pages. You should strive to create landing pages that have a review of the product you are selling. Reviews can increase your sales by 50% or more.

4. Use a professional URL

There is nothing more that will turn a buyer off from buying a product then having a URL that looks like an affiliate link. When you pick a domain name make sure it is keyword rich, descriptive and related to the product you are selling.

5. Finally, STICK TO YOUR BUDGET

Do not diverge from your budget. Calculate how much you will make per sale? What percentage of your visitors will buy? How much you are paying per click? Set a base limit on your cost per click around .08 to .10 cents. Remember you are only looking to make a profit.

Overall you will need to keep tweaking your ads in order to get the best Click through rates. Oh yea, start of with one or two products and build you campaigns around them, then repeat the process. Remember if you spend $200 in advertising and you make $1000 from you product, you just made $800.

Darryl Power over 3 years in online marketing, 1 year in Pay-Per-Click advertising and 7 years of business management.

http://www.home-grownventures.com

Keep a look out for my new website, Home-Grown Ventures coming in mid January 2005.

Best Rated Gas Grills Under $300

The first of the best rated gas grills under $300 is the Brinkman Pro Series 2210. A very basic grill, it offers a 636 total square inch area for cooking, which is very large in comparison to most in this price range. Its 12000 btu burning capacity is not that powerful, but it does offer three burners.

While the cart on this gas bbq is not as sturdy as it could be the burners are made of cast iron and should last a very long time. This grill was designed to be very large and quite inexpensive. It succeeds on both counts.

The next on our group of top rated gas grills under $300 is another Brinkman Pro Series, model 4400. This grill is found at Wal-Mart. Designed to look like a knockoff of a Weber grill, it has some stainless steel construction and good cast iron burners. The heat output on this grill is good.

This member of the best gas barbecues under $300 family has four burners, giving off 15,000 btus of power each, 630 square inches of grill area, a 12,000 btu side burner made of brass, and a cast coated in porcelain.

Brinkman again earns another grill listing as one of the best rated gas grills under $300 with its Charmglow grill. Sold only at Home Depot, this grill is made completely of stainless steel. It is heavy and durable, the primary reason it is one of the top gas bbqs under $300, with 45,000 btus and 456 square inches of cooking area.

Judy Simpson makes it quick and easy to find the best gas grills. Read expert information here.

How to Survive and Thrive Your Business Online

Success in a company is not about having the best technology or being the smartest or even about having the best customer service (although none of these could hurt). More than ever, success is now measured in speed. Today it is about thriving in an ever-evolving world where everything changes so rapidly - and that applies to any business. Today is a world surrounded by buyers who want it now, want perfection and impeccable service.

In order to succeed online, your business needs to be organized and able to handle the increased business your web site is going to generate. Here are some guidelines for running a business of speed and complete service.

1. Run your business of speed.
It’s a new phenomenon called Internet time; it’s a 24/7 kind of world today. This means if you’re business is not moving ahead 24 hours a day 7 days a week, your business is falling deeply behind. Internet time means not only doing business quickly but doing it anytime the customer wants and for as long as the customer wants it done. This I what the customers demand, and what every company doing business online needs to offer. The end result is a business that is always working, always aware of potential business, one that is always one call, email or fax away from their clients.

2. Having effective meetings means having short meetings.
Meetings are the annoyance of many employees workplace. They involve too little discussion, take up too much time, little gets accomplished, people ramble on too much, and respect and open discussion are often not granted. Meetings though are imperative, but the way in which they are run can definitely be changed for the better. Because the Internet world moves so fast, companies doing business online cannot afford to have unproductive meetings.

First set some genuine detail-oriented goals for the meeting. Let people have the option of attending, especially if the issues discussed have nothing to do with them. Post the meeting summary in a place commonly seen by employees, such as the break room. Start and end your meetings on time, and stay within thirty minutes to one hour. Have two or three shorter meetings through the day, with short goals to be accomplished by the next meeting. Also, don’t bore people with anything not on the agenda. Lastly, make the meetings enjoyable; use skits, slideshows, charts, even puppets to get your point across. These moments will likely stick in employee’s heads over the long, drawn-out boring ones.

3. Email several times a day.
In the Internet world, CEOs and employees alike uses technology to supercharge productivity. With all of the pagers, cell phones, laptops, personal organizers and more, email is definitely the most valuable tool. Set up email power sessions with employees; it allows for communication with many employees at the same time and resolves any issues fast. With an email message, you are ensured your message gets delivered to all the right people exactly how you wanted to say it, without the hassle of applying phone tag with employees or risk miscommunication and misunderstanding. Throughout the work day, make blocks of time strictly to email (sending and receiving) at least three to four times a day too.

4. Brand matters on the Internet.
If your business is going to succeed in the Internet world, you will not only need to capture the market share, but also work on improving customer relationships. Whenever your potential or current customers need your products or services, where will they go online? Which Web site will they choose first? Will it be yours? Some tips to increase your business brand online include discovering a way to position yourself as being unique from your competitors. Create the right image, and be sure you continue to reinforce that brand image in everything your company does online and offline. Increase the number of online visitors to your Web site through a variety of Internet marketing strategies. Even if your business only sells locally, do not be afraid to think and market yourself internationally on the Internet. Advertise, advertise, advertise. Remember the importance of earning your customers trust too.

5. The power of feedback.
Ask your customers for feedback, through emails, surveyed phone calls, feedback forms on your Web site, case studies and letters. Ask for feedback often, whenever you are testing out a new product, reviewing sales on an existing product or service, or simply because you want to know how your customers feel about your company. Don’t neglect receiving feedback from your employees too; they know your business too because they work with you.

6. Most importantly, have fun!
Create a working environment where your employees feel free to mix a little fun into their daily routines and express themselves comfortably. After all, a happy employee is a productive one. Let your employees know they are appreciated and needed too, and they will be proud to come to work with you.

The Internet world is about building a better business environment through increased communication, greater convenience, personal enjoyment and greater access to information. How does your business measure up online?

Wendy Suto is president of Search Circus, a Website marketing firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. She keeps pace with the latest optimization, link building and article submission tactics. Before becoming an SEO consultant, Wendy was a computer instructor for a wide range of businesses, including Gateway Computers. As a certified SEO consultant, she teaches SEO training classes in Cleveland, Ohio.
wendy@searchcircus.com

Reciprocal and Non-Reciprocal Links-What’s the Difference?

Once your website is up and raring to go, it is important to start formulating a marketing strategy. The obvious goal is to attract as many visitors as you can. One of the best ways to do this is through a “Linking Campaign”.

In order to begin your campaign, you must first understand the difference between reciprocal and non-reciprocal links. A reciprocal link simply means that two websites are linking to each other. Both sites generate traffic for each other simultaneously. This follows the philosophy of, “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” A non-reciprocal link refers to a website that links one-way. A good linking strategy is to create as many inbound non-reciprocal links as possible, with some strategically chosen reciprocal links as well.

Nowadays, search engines are incredibly smart. The positioning of your site depends a great deal upon how many people link to your site. A lot of non-reciprocal inbound links tells a search engine that your site contains valuable information. After all, who’s going to recommend your site without reciprocation unless they believe it will benefit their readers?

On the other hand, a website with a bunch of reciprocal links could indicate that the webmaster solicits links. This means topics and information may or may not be connected, and the probability that it’s a valuable site diminishes. To determine this, search engines then look for key word connections between reciprocal links to determine if the sites are in fact benefiting each other.

The key is: choose your reciprocal links wisely. Connect only to websites that contain related information that readers will enjoy. Spend your time cultivating valuable information on your site, and then tell everyone you can! If you end up having more non-reciprocal links than reciprocal links, search engines will rate your site much higher than those that don’t.

Then the question becomes, how do you generate non-reciprocal links? The first step is to create a site packed with valuable information. Make your site full of interesting details that similar sites’ readers can’t live without. If webmasters see the benefit to linking to your site, your Marketing Campaign becomes a snap.

When you begin, try emailing other webmasters. Tell them why your site will be important to their readers, and make it easy for them to say yes by including a ready-made link. You’d be surprised at how many people agree to help!

You can also try writing a nice review of a few sites on your webpage. Email the sites’ webmasters and let them know about your testimonials. It’s likely that the sites will want to advertise your nice comments to their readers by posting a link to your review.

Finally, submit your website to as many relevant web directories as you can. This is one of the fastest, most powerful ways to make your website known. If you search for “web directory” on Yahoo!, it returns over 1 million results. You can pick and choose the ones you’d like to submit to. Unfortunately, this can be very time consuming. Plus, with over a million results, how do you know which directories are the best choice?

When I realized how tedious the process can be, I decided to create a product that would make the job easier. Master Programmer Paul Martin and I have compiled 280+ of the best directories on the web. Visit Directory Submitter to find out how to instantaneously submit your website to popular, relevant directories without the hassle.

Tom Dahne and Paul Martin
Are the creators of the very popular Directory Submitter Software found at http://www.directorysubmitter.com

Choosing the Best Flower Shop

When choosing a flower shop, you first want to look at the quality of the flowers on sale. Make sure they are fresh. When a shop has a garden nearby, this is a good sign, because its flowers will be freshly picked.

Some flower shops even sell roses and other kinds of flowers that are still planted. The best florists will then pick and cut whatever flowers you choose.

If are planning for a flower delivery, make sure the shop delivers fresh flowers on time! Ask about how long the time period is between when the flowers are picked and when they are finally delivered. Even ask about the type of vehicle the florists use.

If you don’t’ know what kind of flowers to buy, browse the colorful shop. There should be tulips, roses, daffodils and everything else you can imagine. And then of course, certain occasions call for certain flowers.

To really find the best flower shop in town, ask friends who have frequently bought flowers in the past (maybe they are in a leadership position and often decorate for special events). You can even scout out a flower plantation to make sure the plants are bred and fertilized well.

Not only are the actual types of flowers important, but so are the arrangements. You will need to find a flower shop that employs clever designers who create elegant, presentable bouquets for any occasion.

You can even research different flower shops online! Many shops can be partially, or wholly, based on the web and they don’t operate much differently than normal markets except that the payment and transaction process is of course markedly different (and more convenient). However, it is best to check up on a shop personally, rather than with the Internet, as your eyes and nose can truly detect the freshness and health of a shop’s flowers.

Another good thing to ask a flower shop employee is if the store offers refunds for damaged flowers. This way, if you receive flowers upon delivery that simply aren’t fresh, you can refuse to pay for them.

After you have looked into the different flower shops, choose your favorite!

Hannah Roberts has an interest in Shopping & Retail related topics. To access more information on florists or on flower delivery, please click on the links.

Winning Strategies for Pay-Per-Click Advertising

When you think of your pay-per-click ads appearing in the search engines, it is natural to assume being listed in the top position is the best placement for success. Think again!

This is one of those areas of life where what would seem to best in reality is not. It seems people often click on the ads in the middle or towards the bottom.

This is great news for you because it means you can save a ton of money on your bids.

You don’t need to be listed first in Google! There is often a significant gap between the first and second or third position bids for Google pay-per-click ads. This is where you save. Let others pay the top dollar to be listed first…or even second or third. By stretching you advertising dollar this way you will not only save money on your pay-per-click bill but you may very well get better traffic to your website by being further down the list of Google ads in the search engine. Go figure!

Use the Google tools in your Adwords account to figure out the top bids for the keywords you are using. The fastest way is to start with a bid of $50 and you will then see the first bid under that which is actually the current highest bid for that keyword. Keep entering the next lowest bid to see how much you must bid to be fifth or sixth on the list. Then bid this amount. You’ll save a lot of money this way.

Another thing that will help you get better results with your Google Adwords campaigns is to study your competition. If you are using pay-per-click to advertise an affiliate program and someone else is competing with you, study their landing pages. If they are running their ad on a regular basis, it means what they are doing is working…so you should study what they are doing.

Do they send people to a pre-sell page or directly to the program they are advertising? This is where you usually can separate the amateurs from the pros. Affiliate marketers who stay in the game have learned to use squeeze pages to capture contact information to build the all-important list.

Hardly anyone will buy a product the first time they go to the website. Follow-up is vital to converting your pay-per-click traffic. If you don’t capture contact information, you cannot follow up with benefit-laden emails that convert your prospects to buyers. If you send people directly to the product page, you are losing hundreds and probably thousands of dollars every year. Capturing contact information is not difficult and can make the difference between success and failure of your overall Internet business.

Ali is an expert at Pay Per Click Marketing and has reviewed the best keyword research software, which he uses every day, at his website: http://www.i4unow.com/keywords/a.asp