How to Throw Away Money . . .

How to Throw Away Money . . . By: Rich Brunelle Does your web site make you money? Or, does it run prospective customers away? Many web sites are very high quality sites with marketable product, that are spending more energy on sending customers running away as fast as they can click their mouse. It is impossible to sell a product if your customer cannot browse your product line because "pop-up" windows keep popping up every time you try to read about a product. Let me further explain my position on this topic . . . I just spent an hour trying to find a specific graphic image that I need for a project. I happened upon a "graphics" site that offered free graphics and premium graphics. I want a specific graphic, which I will probably not locate in a free clip-art pile. So, I would be willing to pay a few hundred bucks for the right graphic. But, the site I was at kept feeding me pop-up pages. I am serious! Every time I started to read anything of interest to me, or that seemed to lead me in the right direction, a "pop-up" stopped me in my tracks by its interruption alone. After about ten "pop-up's" I "popped-out." All I have to say is: "Webmaster, I hope you are getting a hell of a lot of money from those "pop-up" ads that nobody reads, because you just lost my purchase!" This brings us to another topic . . . Advertisers? Are you so stupid that you believe you are spending your advertising dollars wisely by putting your ads on sites that force "pop-up" windows at site visitors? If you believe the consumer appreciates your advertisement popping up in front of everything every time they try to go to or leave a page, you are misinformed. These annoying "pop-up" pages are as disliked as SPAM. What you need ask yourself is: "What if everyone who found "pop-up" pages annoying, boycotted my product?" Why? Because, if the rest of the world is like me, they don't remember the site serving the annoyance nearly as much as the advertisement. And, while the intention of your ad may be to stick in a consumer mind, I do not believe the desire is to have it adversely affect your consumer audience. I have yet to meet anyone that finds "pop-up" pages less than annoying. Have you? Do all of us a favor. Restrict how your ads are presented. Specify no "pop-up" pages. You are wasting your advertising dollars if you spend them using "pop-up's." Let me tell you why . . . I believe myself to be of normal intelligence and of sound mind. But, I cannot tell you when I last read a "pop-up" page advertisement. Seriously! If I am fed a "pop-up" page, I usually say a four letter word as I click the "X" in the top right hand corner of my window. I do not bother with reading the advertisement. I simply click the page closed. And, if your become persistent with your ad "popping" into my life without my invitation, I become offended. And then, I don't spend my money with you. But, my point is . . . nobody reads those annoying "pop-up" page ads.