Tim Bossie.com

Advertising an affiliate website is all about what you can offer that is different from your competition.

Actually you could that this is true of any website that you want sustainable traffic for. Uniqueness, or being a little bit different, is going to be a determining factor as to whether or not you will be a long term internet marketer or a flash in the pan, never heard from again, drop out.

One definition of unique I rather like. Dicitonary.com lists “existing as the only one or as the sole example” as the first definition for the word unique. I love that. In the realm of advertising, especially online, you have to set yourself apart from everyone else. To do that you must exist as the only… the sole example. Or at least leave that perception.

Being Unique In Your Advertising

In talking with my clients during our beginning phase of working together I run down through a list of reasons why we need to be thinking “unique” rather than “follow the leader”. In short they are…

1. You show potential customers you plan on staying around.
2. You benefit from being able to be more creative in your advertising.
3. You build a strong foundation of word of mouth advertising.
4. You become newsworthy in press releases.
5. You can tie together several different advertising tactics around the same theme.

Of course, there are more (can’t let all my secrets out ) but what’s more important is the “how” of being unique in advertising your website. Here’s five of the things I’ve done, and continue to do, in creating successful marketing plans.

Be culturally relevant instead of using marketing hype. One of the things that really sets you apart from every other ad, or marketing piece, in circulation today, whether it be online or offline, is to be immersed in what’s going on in the world. A lot of ads are just “Make more money in 24 hours with HOT new opportunity!”. And they go nowhere.

But, when you build your marketing around something happening today (a few examples would be; oil prices, new movie releases, popular past times and products, etc.) your response goes up drastically. What you’re doing is bringing some sort of comfort to the table. You’re just talking not trying to sell.

Use Video But With Flavor. I’m already tired of the usual screenshot, or Camtasia, type of video. It’s boring. It’s ok for teaching someone how to do something. Just not so hot for advertising your website… or more to the point, your brand.

Two people that are doing video in a different way are Mark at 45n5.com and Lynn at ClickNewz.com. Mark has been using video for sometime and Lynn is a recent convert who came kicking and screaming. They both have different approaches but they are both effective. They aren’t following, they are leading. They are being unique. And people talk about them.

Always be experimenting. One of the ways to continually be unique is to never be predictable. A major key to advertising success is to catch people off guard. Do something that they are not expecting. By continually experimenting with different ad techniques, blogging styles, videos, or whatever you intend to use, you are keeping people off balance. This is good. This gets people talking about you.

Be extreme in your offers. It doesn’t matter what it is you’re offering, go overboard. Do something completely out of the blue. I once did an offer where I would write a complete advertising package (articles, autoresponder series, solo ads, marketing plan) in one day for just $100. That got some word of mouth juice and I was swamped. So swamped I actually hired a part time writer to help.

Another way to be extreme is in contests. An example of this the current contest at Bloggin-Ads.com. Mike is giving a way 2 MacBook Airs + $1,000 in other prizes for readers of his blog reviews website. Extreme.

And people are talking about it. Linking to it. Participating for it.

Tweak or completely change your design. I know that all the branding experts are screaming that once you have an identity that you shouldn’t change it. I’m not talking about your logo or even website design. I’m talking about landing pages, blogs, article pages, stuff like that.

Change them up. Be different in your design. Don’t do the typical landing page format. Experiment with different designs, wording, headings, and video placements. Mix your blog up a little bit and introduce a new design once in a while. Design your article pages around the topic of the article and be a little bit different.

Being Unique Means You’re Not Scared To Take Risks

Playing it safe in business has never equaled success. Risks are behind every successful internet marketer. Take some today and be unique.