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"Marketing Freebies from a Newbie!"
by Chris Conlee

So I guess you've probably noticed, the internet literally crawls with marketing geniuses, people who will sell you the next great way to make a million -- and all for just $29.95 -- whether you need it or not!

I'm not one of those people; in fact I'm so new to this whole online marketing game that I didn't have to wear green on St. Patrick's day. I'm just a simple guy with a website and I'd like to get some visitors without spending a fortune. Sound familiar? Is this possible?

Well, using the following techniques, sort of... On a limited scale... But at least it's fun! And it's free.

The typical notion of freebie internet advertising often involves "banner exchanges" or some variant. The only problem is, like many people, I've been coerced into joining an affiliate program or two and they won't let me put code on their pages.

What's a guy like myself to do? Isn't there a site that'll let me promote myself for FREE?

As a matter of fact, in the first part of the 21st century there are two camps providing just such a service:

  1. Those trading clickviews
  2. Those trading exposures

Clickview Exchanges:

Typically with a service of this type, and there are several that I've found, you will register for an account and upload a banner promoting your site or service. Then, you will be given a URL such as: http://www.ezclickthru.net/?ref=glblcom which you will have to visit each day.

When you visit these sites, they will present you with a list of banners which you need to visit, and in exchange your banner will be shown to others on the "network."

The rate of exchange, that is the number of sites you have to visit in order to receive a visit in return, is typically listed on the homepage. And most of these sites will also "pay" you a certain number of visits based on the clickviews of affiliates that you refer to the network.

Obviously, to make this work the best, you want to tell your other website-owning friends about this method of marketing their sites and leverage your efforts a little bit. With just a little bit of "word of mouth" you can have several friends and acquaintances signed up doing the same banner-clicking. After all, everybody needs more visitors, right?

I have generated several hundred visitors per week to my site using this technique. While it can certainly be argued that the traffic is "junky" I would have to counter and say that if the content of my site is compelling, I have a better chance of grabbing the visitor's attention than if he never showed up at all.

And, I actually find an interesting site once in a while as an added bonus!

Exposure Trades:

These services, at first blush, seem to be a variant of the ol' chain letter theme that mom used to get in the mail. But, believe it or not, if you find a good one they actually work, and for one good reason -- they eliminate cheating.

The basic idea goes something like this: You'll register for the service and receive a URL such as: http://www.ultimatetrafficsystem.com/?1770 Then you'll submit a text ad promoting your service and it will go at the top of a list of ads, moving all the others on the list down one notch (and bumping the ad at the bottom off the list).

This happens automatically with the best services, so there's no way to cheat the system. And you don't have to worry about doing any kind of crazy programming.

The little detail that actually makes these systems useful is that you will have to visit all the sites on the list before being allowed to ad your own. It's this mechanism that guarantees visitors to the members' sites. And as we already discussed, if your content is compelling you have a better than even chance of nabbing the visitors' attention. Certainly you have a better chance than if the guy never even saw your site at all!

Once again, these types of services work best if you can find website-owning friends to also take advantage of them, because their visitors then become your visitors.

In Conclusion: As I said, you're not likely to set the world on fire with these types of techniques. But if these are the early days of your online marketing efforts, why not give it a whirl? After all, freebies are nice.

And they've worked for this newbie.

April 19, 2001

Contact: Chris Conlee