Monday, July 10, 2006

Cross Promoting Techniques that Work

Cross Promoting Techniques that Work
By Loot Gous

Copyright © Dr Loot Gous
http://www.HomeWorkRiches.com

Cross promotions are not a new idea. They have been
used by businesses for a very long time. For example,
a real-estate company may promote a certain lawyer to
close a sale, as the lawyer will promote that agency
in his firm. The system is somewhat similar to the
primitive barter system, where people traded items
rather than using money. How can anything primitive
fit into the online world of Internet marketing? Very
easily. Cross promotions are, simply stated, a trade
of advertising space. Instead of paying for
advertising space on a site, you would place their ad
on your page and yours on theirs. There are many ways
to use cross promotions in your internet business that
can be an effective and cost efficient way to
advertise.

One way is to use link exchanges. This is very
effective when doing cross promotions with a company
that is similar to yours, however you should be sure
and never link to a page that is in direct competition
with yours. One of the best things about link
exchanges is that some search engines are factoring in
hits from the sites that are linked to your page to
when determining the ranking. Therefore linking to a
more popular site, can not only increase your
advertising, and traffic, but also increase your
search engine ranking.

When customers or potential customers subscribe to
your Ezine you can use this as an opportunity to use
cross promotions. On the same page that the customer
subscribes to your Ezine, make available the
opportunity to subscribe to another company's Ezine.
You can even exchange ad space in Ezines, and provide
recommendations for those whom you cross promote with.
You might even want to exchange column space in one
another's Ezines.

Writing free articles that inform customers or
potential customers with information that is useful
and accurate can create a reputation for you and your
business. Soon readers will come to know you as an
expert on the subject. In these articles the author
uses a byline to help promote his site. Bylines can
be a way to use cross promotions as well. You can use
part of the space in your byline to recommend
another's product.

If you have been considering writing an eBook, a joint
venture could mean increased profits for you and the
person you are partnering with. Cross promotions
through eBooks are an excellent way to allow for a
wider topic and to promote both your business and your
partner’s business. The eBook should contain
information that will benefit both businesses and
still be helpful to the reader. A good example of
using cross promotions through an eBook is to a site
selling used video games partnering with a site
selling gaming devices. These are two subjects that
would interest the same reader and most likely lead
the reader to both sites.

You should keep in mind that the recommendations that
you make are a direct reflection of you, so choose
your cross promotional businesses carefully. Also
keep in mind that it would be nice as a shopper to be
able to link from one site to another as a way to
"shop around." Since this is usually not beneficial
to you, never link or recommend a site that is in
direct competition with you. Instead, recommend those
who are similar, such as health and life insurance.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HomeWorkRiches.com
-------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Designing A Website That Sells

Designing A Website That Sells
By Loot Gous

Copyright © Dr Loot Gous
http://www.HomeWorkRiches.com

Would you buy meat from a grocery store that left the
bad meat in with the good meat or wasn't clean? Would
you buy a car from a sales lot that had totaled
automobiles on the front lot? I wouldn't and neither
would you. Your website is your grocery store; your
car lot. You must have an atmosphere that is pleasing
to buyers. One that tells that buyer that you are not
an amateur, but instead a trained, seasoned
professional. Your site is a direct reflection of
your product and that is why that having a well
designed website can make or break your sales.

The first thing to keep in mind when designing your
website, is "surfability". Take a few minutes a look
around at several web pages. What makes them
appealing? Were there some that you closed out of
immediately? Why? Take notes and do your research.
Keep in mind that when a person visits your site they
have a goal in mind. They are either seeking
information or shopping for a product. Give the
person what they want without having to search for it.
Be sure that all the information on your site is
relevant to your product. Make the buyer think that
they need your product to solve their problem.

Your main page serves a very specific purpose. It
should be an avenue by which the customer can shop
your site. It should be easy to view and load very
quickly. This is your first impression and we all
know that first impressions can either close the deal
or loose the deal. Make it simple. It is best to
have links that are easily viewable by the reader that
will navigate them to where they want to be. Tables
are often a great choice when deciding on a way to
design the main page of your site. Your main page
should load very quickly, chances are if it takes the
page more than ten seconds to load even on a 56k
modem, the customer will click away to save time,
hoping to find the information or product elsewhere.
To increase the loading speed of your main page you
should avoid large graphics or excessive graphics. To
many banners or special effects can cause a page to
load slowly as well.

To make your web site more appealing to the eyes, you
should stick to mild colors. If your site is a
content site where the user will be doing a lot of
reading, it is best to stick to black and white.
Color can be added when using tables, as a way to
brighten up the page, but remember to keep the overall
look of the page professional and appealing to the
audience that will be visiting most often. Since
screen resolutions vary among monitors, it is a good
idea to set the pixels to a standard 800x600. You may
also choose to set the tables in your web page to span
a percentage of the page rather than a set number of
inches. This will be sure to accommodate all screen
sizes. You should remember that a lot of Internet
users will not use the same browser as you, and
therefore you should be sure that your site looks as
good on other browsers as it does your own. You can
do this by downloading several browsers through which
to look at your page.

Be aware of the fact that the overall look of your
website is a way to make money. The appearance of the
site, if designed properly, can be an excellent
marketing strategy for your product or service.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HomeWorkRiches.com
-------------------------------------------------------