Advertising Information

Using The Popularity of Celebrities and Currrent Events to Promote Your Business


In this article, we want to explore the idea of using the popularity of celebrities and current event (news) topics to help market any internet business.

The Idea

Celebrities and news events are not only popular topics, they are also popular "keywords" in the major search engines. Thousands upon thousands of users everyday search the engines to find the latest info.

The idea is to build mini sites that target this market.

We call these "pop surfer" sites.

It sounds a bit far fetched at first, but with a little strategy, these "pop surfers" can help sell our products - NO MATTER WHAT WE SELL, or at least generate a decent amount of qualified traffic.

To get an idea of the type of traffic, have a look at these sites:

http://buzz.yahoo.com

http://50.lycos.com

http://www.wordtracker.com

http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html

Look at the terms in these lists. I'm sure you recognize most of them, as they are an indication of what and who is "happening" right now. Also, keep in mind these sites (Yahoo, Google, Lycos, etc.) are among the most visited sites on the net.

The "Pop Surfer" Mini Site

The first step is to develop a "pop surfer" mini site (or sites - the more the better). It doesn't have to be the greatest or prettiest site ever created. Don't put as much work into it as you would your primary site. The key to these sites is to get the popular names and terms on the page so the search engines can find and spider them.

When developing your "pop surfer" page, keep in mind that you want a page that will 1) get into the search engines, and 2) grab the pop surfers' attention while they are searching for their favorite artist, news story, etc.

The Strategy

After we have our "pop surfer" mini site(s) built and listed in the engines, how do we use it get customers to our businesses?

There are two models that we will call the Indirect model and the Direct model. Each approach has it's own advantages and uses. In one model we "indirectly" target the "pop surfers", and in the other model we "directly" target them.

The Indirect Model

This model gives us the most qualified visitors. In this model, we utilize the power of traffic "exchanges". After we start getting our share of "pop surfer" traffic, we use the exposure ratio from these "exchanges" to drive qualified, targeted visitors to our primary business site.

This works because exchanges allow us to target our visitors. When signing up for an exchange you are usually asked what category you want exposure in. They often give you a list with such categories as Health and fitness or Business Opportunities. This gives us control over where we want our primary sites' information viewed.

Some exchanges have a 1:1 ratio where one exposure on your page is worth one exposure on someone else's page. Others use different ratios such as 2:1 which gives two exposures on your page for one exposure on someone else's.

There are several types of exchanges. The more popular ones are:

Banner Exchanges, which gives banner exposures in exchange for placing other banners on our site.

Exit Exchanges display your whole website, usually as a pop under window when a visitor leaves your site, in exchange for your site being displayed (as an exit pop under window) on someone else's site.

The most powerful, however, are:

Opt In list exchanges. These are special, because in every marketing circle, the number one rule for promoting your online business is to obtain an opt in list of subscribers. Opt in exchanges deliver the most targeted, and qualified visitors we can get with the exchange model.

How they work is when someone enters or leaves your site, a list of newsletter, or business opportunity sign up forms are generated in a small unobtrusive window. When that happens, your newsletter or biz-opportunity is listed on someone else's website - IN THE TARGETED CATEGORY THAT YOU CHOSE when you signed up.

Put the exchange code(s) on your "pop surfer" sites, and take advantage of the traffic.

The Direct Model

The direct model is more of an indirect approach in that we may not necessarily use the "pop surfers" for our primary business but we can still profit from them.

How?

One way is by utilizing Pay Per Click. Not pay per click in the sense that we bid for our sites' exposure in a search engine, but Pay Per Click in the sense that we place listings on OUR sites and GET PAID for having them there. Every time someone clicks a result in your page, you get a percentage of the bidding amount for that click. If you use pay per click strategically, it can be very profitable.

Merchant affiliate programs work well also. Amazon.com, for example, sells books, music, toys, and more. They let you place their products on your website, and you get a percentage when someone buys from you.

Several other merchants work the same way. Do a search for merchants who sell CDs, books, video, toys, or clothing, and have an affiliate program. There are many out there.

Finally, you don't only have to look for affiliate programs. If you have a business or product that you think might cater to popular culture, target the "pop surfers" directly!! For instance, if you print T-shirts, you could probably sell some with hottest stars' faces on them.

Do your research for your pop surfer page topic. You can bet that if a celebrity or topic has recently made news, the traffic is sure to follow.

Rony Perry is an internet marketer with a B.S. In Computer Science. He maintains websites on various popular topics. http://www.fasbnet.com/celeb/


MORE RESOURCES:
Google

Boston Globe

The New York Times Company Reports 2008 Second-Quarter Results
MarketWatch - 14 hours ago
"Print advertising continued to soften during the quarter, particularly in the classified areas. At the same time, circulation revenues rose 2.5 percent to ...
Boston Globe hit hard by ad revenue slide Bizjournals.com
NY Times misses Wall Street revenue forecast The Associated Press
New York Times Profit Sinks Wall Street Journal
Seeking Alpha - MarketWatch
all 195 news articles



1010 Wins

We are not alone: Other Times hits skids with rollerskates on
Los Angeles Times, CA - 2 hours ago
The June performance followed an 11.9 per cent decline in May advertising revenues, and suggested that an already deep erosion in newspaper advertising ...
Ad sales tumble 16% at NY Times Financial Times
New York Times to raise newsstand price to $1.50 The Associated Press
New York Times: All the bad news fit to print MarketWatch
Conde Nast Portfolio
all 127 news articles


3 Advertising, ABQ The Mag become roommates
Bizjournals.com, NC - 6 hours ago
Albuquerque The Magazine and 3 Advertising have joined forces to turn the second floor of the Albuquerque building that houses the outdoor recreation store ...


The World of 'Green Advertising'
Adweek, NY - 12 hours ago
As a result, companies -- and more specifically their advertising -- are touting the environmental value of their business and products more than ever ...
It's not easy being green CNN International
all 3 news articles


TV Envy

Saving TV advertising the TiVo way
BBC News, UK - 17 hours ago
And of course it gladdens the hearts of all those companies who had been paying out top dollar for TV advertising only to have viewers completely ignore ...
TiVo's Radical Shift in Strategy: Advertising eFluxMedia
TiVo and Amazon kick advertising and purchase power up a notch TECH.BLORGE.com
TiVo Embraces Ads for Amazon InternetNews.com
TMCnet - New York Times
all 150 news articles


PR Web (press release)

AOL integrates widget tech to boost social-net ads
The Associated Press - 5 hours ago
Advertisers can buy ads for pet care and other services on AOL's Widgnet advertising network, and they will run on certain applications for the online ...
AOL plugs Goowy widget ads into ad network CNET News
AOL?s Platform-A Integrates Goowy into Widget Ad Offering Business Wire (press release)
Goowy Gets New Push From AOL The Inquisitr
Social Media Portal
all 64 news articles


Telegraph.co.uk

No stomach for a blitz on junk food
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 13 hours ago
The inquiry was established during the term of the previous government which opposed a ban on junk food advertising during children's viewing hours. ...
We must throw our weight behind fitness drive Telegraph.co.uk
all 129 news articles


Obama camp advertising in Germany?
MSNBC - 6 hours ago
PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. ...


RussiaToday

Russian internet advertising market hots up with Google's Begun buy
RussiaToday, Russia - 8 hours ago
Global Internet search engine Google is buying one of Russia's leading Internet advertising service - Begun - from portal Rambler for $140 million dollars. ...
Rambler Media H1 sales soar on ad market growth Reuters India
Rambler figures boosted by Russian advertising market SmallCapNews.co.uk
Rambler Signs Advertising Agreement With Google Hit Search
ITProPortal - The Moscow Times
all 114 news articles

Advertising - Google News

home | site map
© 2007