As all guerrillas know, name of game in marketing is creating relationships. It’s tough to accomplish this with an ad. It’s pretty easy with a website, which initiates dialogue by inviting it, by making it as easy as clicking a mouse.

Advertising has always been a method designed to change human behavior by getting people to purchase your product or service. The internet has changed that. Now, advertising merely has to deflect human behavior, to divert curiosity from an ad or commercial to a website.

There is little question that online fire burns brightly. There is no question that advertising fuels online flame.

During telecast of Super Bowl played in l999, I was fairly amazed to see four commercials for dotcom companies. Today, I am even more amazed when I watch a sporting event telecast that does not have a whole gaggle of dotcom commercials.

The big and small players online are learning from hard experience that they are invisible when they are online. Sure, their site might come up from a search engine or a link from a cooperating company, but majority of people get their information offline -- and that’s where guerrillas marketing their sites. Offline and regularly.

It’s true that standard media advertising is interruption marketing, interrupting people in their perusing of newspaper or magazine, in their viewing of a TV show or listening to radio. Interruption marketing is crucial, however, as first step in gaining permission from people to receive your marketing materials. And it is equally crucial in luring them to your website.

The top five products that internet users actually prefer to buy online differ from men to women. The top five to men are computer software, computer hardware, pornography, books and music. The top five to women are computer software, greeting cards, music, books and computer hardware. As Adweek magazine says, women are from Hallmark; men are from Bob’s Digital House of Porn.

Many so-called experts believe that growth of internet signals demise of advertising. This particular expert believes just opposite. Advertising now can loom as important as ever, as necessary as ever, and more mandatory for a proper marketing mix than at any time in history.

The larger internet grows, more important role of advertising and greater its power. Advertisers must no longer have to move a person from total apathy to purchase readiness with their advertising. Now, all they have to do is move a person from total apathy to mild curiosity. From that point, moving that person to purchase readiness is job of website. ==========================

Jay Conrad Levinson is probably most respected marketer in world. He is inventor of "Guerrilla Marketing" and is responsible for some of most outrageous marketing campaigns in history -- including "Marlboro Man" -- most successful ad campaign in history. In his latest book, "Put Your Internet Marketing on Steroids" Jay reveals how you can use marketing steroids legally to make your business insanely profitable.

http://www.roibot.com k_mos.cgi?mosyg1

Don't camoflague your banners =============================

Many banners co-exist in harmony with design of site they are displayed on. While this makes site look better, it also prevents anyone from noticing what poor advertiser is trying to say. Instead of allowing your banners to fade into background, do everything possible so that they will stand out. Make it clear that your banner is something that should be clicked, not merely stared at.

In practice, this goal can be achieved by utilizing Windows-style navigational elements, notes instructing users to "click here" and colors that contrast with those used on site. The result won't look like something you'd want to frame and hang on your wall, but it will be effective.

Easy with graphics ======================

Pictures of attractive persons or tropical islands may be nice to look at, but they also increase time it takes for your banner to load. If your banner is placed near top of page and doesn't appear instantly, audience will scroll down page and never see it. Images also take up quite a bit of space and may force you to limit amount or size of text used in banner.

A good rule of thumb is that unless picture is somehow essential in convincing user to click, drop it. When advertising a sweepstakes, adding a picture of a pile of cash can feel like a good idea. However, in many cases a text screaming "WIN $10.000" would be just as effective and would load up much, much faster.

Cut to chase ================

Banners are not TV commercials. You'll have to continuously fight to get attention of your audience and you'll also need to fight to retain it. Long-winded advertisements that take ten seconds before even mentioning what is being advertised may work on TV, but not on Internet.

Following these instructions, which essentially tell you to create banners that look simple and perhaps even a bit unprofessional might seem foolish. But simple, straight-forward banners that stand out get clicked on.

Banner advertising is not a beauty contest. It's a selling contest. At end of day, what matters is whether your banners helped you make a profit, not how cool they looked.