Now comes the fun part as I begin adding “money makers” to Project: Pic Post. While this site will grow to offer further content and features, it is primarily an “amateur” Pic Post, and as such it is a “free” site.Now comes the fun part as I begin adding “money makers” to Project: Pic Post. While this site will grow to offer further content and features, it is primarily an “amateur” Pic Post, and as such it is a “free” site. This means that I won’t be able to charge admission (even through an AVS), which leaves sponsor programs as the only viable source of income.
To that end, I signed up with several “amateur” sponsors whose products I felt would appeal to my visitors. I chose a range of programs to provide me with partnership, per signup, and per click revenue. When choosing sponsors I looked for those with fresh marketing materials, free content, and reputations for being helpful and honest. Having sponsors that you trust, and who are willing to work with you is very important.
Advertising Strategy & Layout
With most free sites you want to get the surfer off of your page and over to your sponsor as quickly as possible. With a Pic Post, TGP, link list, or other site where someone else provides (and pays for) the bulk of your content, you can set up your advertising to have several shots at the prospect. I do this by encouraging bookmarks and by popping new browser windows for my sponsors [some sponsors don’t allow this, so check their terms and conditions page first].
I studied my sponsor’s websites, read all of their FAQ’s and marketing materials, then contacted them, asking for advice. I wanted to know which ads pulled the best, which programs would convert my traffic the best, and then I had them look at my site and offer suggestions. All of my sponsors were very helpful.
Because I wanted webmasters who submitted to my Pic Post to get return traffic, I decided not to put any advertising on their “image” pages. Their banner and link would appear there alone. I did however place a banner at the top and bottom of the main “listing” page, and will add several banners promoting webmaster programs on the “submission” pages. Finally I added an exit console to round out my strategy.
This is the basic advertising layout of Project: Pic Post – but it doesn’t stop here! Watch for further enhancements and profit opportunities later this week!
