Stands for Free For All link exchange boards. FFA and classified boards have been around since mid- to late 1990’s. People are able to post their links free in exchange for agreeing to receive email from the board. Although boards of this nature have rather fallen out of favor over the past couple years they a key element in your marketing plan and a viable means of advertising. Why?
They are links back to your site!
The more links you have going back to your sites - the higher your search engine rank! Experts all agree that the more links you have on the net going back to your site, the higher your search engine ranking. So, routine posting to these sites DO one very important thing for you: They boost your Search engine ranking!
The key is to posting to as many boards as possibleand this usually means through submitters, marketing sites offering a network of boards and etc. As a free poster you must provide a “real” email address. This is because the owners of the sites and the upgraded (usually Pro) members have permission to email you their ads in return for your post. So, when using this type of resource, you need to have set up an email account to handle the email you will receive. Some sites require confirmation you posted, so you want to follow up every post with a look see at your email.
The flip side of free posting is to get a pro account at an ffa site, or host/own one of your own. Prices vary. Primarily you are looking for being able to send your ads out to the posters (ie leads). Many good sites include auto responders so your pre-written message is automatically sent whenever a person makes a post. This is the most effective way of managing a pro/host ffa situation.
Massive Safelist is a great example of a site which hosts not only an FFA network for posting your links but also a free Pro FFA page that gives you hundreds of leads daily AND the auto responder to use to follow up on replies.You can get Massive for ½ off subscription and lifetime memberships when you join http://www.xtreamsurf.com
For this article, we will deal with just managing a free posting campaign using ffa/classified/etc sites.
Basic needs: unique urls, email address to support ffa messages, attention getting subject lines, short text body designed to get reader to click on your ad.
Expectations: long term
A typical site allows you to have a subject line, limited description text of a couple hundred characters (not words), and your link.
Every element is crucial; attractive subject line and text to entice that reader to click on your ad.Do not believe those who tell you “no one” reads ffa/classified posts. They do. If nothing else because, like you, you had to verify your own ad and, hello you check to see if it is really there and guess what - you “see” other peoples’ ads. Personally, I scan ffa sites/links looking for value added links and offers to add to my own marketing sites. I do the same with email advertising.
Strategies:
1. Dedicated internet line: if you have one of these, you can do a lot with ffa submissions. I use The Adblaster which I obtained free early 2004. You can still get the download free at WorldWideAdvertiser and MarketingKit. Get this free when you join http://www.xtreamsurf.com . Once you join tWWA, look in the MarketingKit area. You should find the download there. Download it to your pc. Very easy download and set up.
Then, set up your ads. When writing your ad text you need to remember two things:
1. short effective subject lines
2. top-to-bottom writing for the text.
Adblaster recommends you submit your sites 3 times daily. You can do this easily if you are on a dedicated server. To set up ad one you need your site url and an email address. Most sites will fit easily into 3 different categories. So, I take my site
http://www.xtreamsurf.comand make 3 ads. Ad xts1b is for business category, xts1c is for computer, xts1m is for misc. I use one email for this set of ads XtreamSurf.com
I now set up ANOTHER ad using a slightly different url but still marketing my XtreamSurf site. I have set up some “mini” marketing sites using ecomplanet free web services which promote my traffic sites. I set up xts2b-m using one of these links (example: http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/XTMG3085/) and A COMPLETELY SEPARATE EMAIL! I learned early on that a lot of sites will reject your submission if you use duplicate sites and/or emails.
You repeat this process until I have a number of ads setup.
You are now ready to submit your ads. Depending on your computer and internet connection the time it takes to broadcast an ad will vary. On mine they take less then 10 minutes each. So, I set mine up in varying 10 minute intervals and change the times to submit every hour. For example: I start broadcasting at 12 noon. I start with a business category ad, followed by computer cat ad at 12:10, then an entertainment ad/educational or whatever in the next 10 minute section up until 12:50 pm. At 1:01 I load an add for the next category to run.
By alternating ads and categories and times, you increase your exposure and the effectiveness of your campaign.You don’t end up “competing” with yourself over ad space yet ensure your site is there to be seen somewhere on the list.
In this manner I load my ads and let them broadcast 24/7. The results? Slow but steady. A sign up here, another there. In my opinion these resources are for the long term and the long haul. The real benefit is, as mentioned previously, is the link back to your site/s.
2. Non-dedicated lines: you basically do the above but in whatever time you have allotted online. So, you may only blast out a few ads daily. That is ok. Marketing is a process and involves patience, perseverance and what ever time you have to devote to your business. My advise is to spend at least 20 minutes a day marketing your sites/opportunities.
There are so many other ffa submitters out there besides The Adblaster. I only use this as an example on setting up a campaign. Whether you use this particular resource or others, the same principles are going to apply:
you need unique urls and email addys to run your campaign.
FFA/Classified Resources:
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1. Online Megaresponse (free): http://megaresponse.com/cgi-bin/show?210196
2. Desktop Blastomatic : included in your WorldWideAdvertiser and MarketingKit membership. Get WWA free when you join http://www.xtreamsurf.com
3. Online 3Millionblast: free to use when you join http://www.xtreamsurf.com
4. Online Easy FFA (free): http://www.easyffa.com/index.asp?id=xts2004
5. Online Massive FFA – included in your paid account at Massive Safelist. Get ½ off subscription and lifetime memberships when you join http://www.xtreamsurf.com
6. Online FFA Net: http://www.ffanet.com/links/xtsffa.htm
7. Online Emass Blast FFA submitter - included in your membership at WorldWideAdvertiser and Marketing Kit. Free accounts when you join http://www.xtreamsurf.com
8. Online AdSaturation;
9. Online Classifieds Usead (formerly Links2U): http://www.usead.com/?4101471
10. FFA Farm (free) http://depots.ffafarm/com
11. Online Emass Blast Classified Ad submitter - included in your membership at WorldWideAdvertiser and Marketing Kit. Free accounts when you join http://www.xtreamsurf.com
12. Online USAFREE Classifieds: http://www.usfreeads.com/14614_refer.html
13. Online Free online FFA submitter: http://www.websquash.com/
14. Online FFA submitter http://www.thegunnersgallery.com/links/ffalinks.html
15. Onlinehttp://www.leadclub.net/ffa2/page.php?id=admin
16. Onlinehttp://www.oneclickffa.com/ffa/pro/admin/index.html
17. Online http://monster-traffic.com/members/links.cgi?Bigred
18. Online http://www.mgaweb.com/submit/yourname/mgacat.asp
19. World Wide Promotor (paid) FFA submitter: (paid subscription required) http://www.worldwidepromoter.com/?xts2004
Terms:
Dedicated internet server: cable, DSL, separate phone line for your internet experience
Submitters: services which “submit” to or allow you to post to many ffa/classified/search engine or other boards. Most require a membership fee. Some you can find free through various offers.
FFA: stands for Free for all. A type of ad board. Can be local, regional, country, worldwide. Most are worldwide these days.
Classified Adboard: rather like your local newspaper only on cyberspace. Can be local, regional, country, worldwide. A lot of classified ad boards pride themselves as being regional or “country specific”.
Top to bottom ad copy: this is a technique used by “hard” news writers. Lead with the most important fact, supporting facts follow, then explanations. This lends itself to the “cutting room” floor where someone you do not even know will butcher your story. So, you make it easy for cuts. Same principle applies to limited ad space.
You must put main point first, then supporting facts, finally implantation. Goes against every story tellers grain, but a must be.Readers will scan and have limited time to get the point. Help them get it every way you can by being brief, to the point, interesting and intriguing.
Post a comment! Be sure Add your favorite FFA and Classified Board links.
