"HOW-TO" Questions and Answers
This is where we'll try to give you the information you need by providing a list of links to useful posts organized by topic (the subject line for each post). There may be more than one link related to the given topic.
This list will grow, so come back often!
Not just related to OBA but information for Newbies just starting out online as well
Hope you find this helpful
How to: Utilize tracking
Tracking where your hits are coming from (and why) can be crucial to maximizing your advertising efforts.1) How to use a tracking URL:
--There are a number of tracking sites out there. Choose the one that best suits your needs (for me, there is a very good tracking utility included with the program in Ad Space #2 and that is what I am utilizing).
--What you want to track is the redirect URL on whatever page(s) you are advertising in the TEs or whatever ad(s) you are sending out to safelists. (This is the link that the person looking at or reading the ad will click).
--Simply change the redirect URL on your splash page or the link in your safelist ad to a tracking URL, provided to you by the tracking utility. The tracking utility will redirect the user for you and in such a split-second manner that the user on the other end of the ad won't even be aware of the delay.
--Now, it is important to have a different tracking URL for each ad you use, even if they are redirecting to the same place (more on that in a bit). If you are using a rotator on the TEs (also a very good idea, and there are many free ones available), the rotator will tell you how many times your ads are being shown. If you have an ad that has been shown 100 times and been clicked through five times, that's not too bad. If you have an ad that's been shown 1,000 times and been clicked through once, you might want to think about replacing the ad. Tracking can help you make this determination.
--The other element of tracking is to give you an idea of your conversion rate. If you have three e-book sales and the various tracking links have been clicked 25 times, that would be a 12 percent conversion rate. (3 sales divided by 25 clicks). NOTE: I am not saying a 12 percent conversion rate is the standard, goal or anything else -- this is simply an example of how to figure a conversion rate).
A few tips to keep in mind:
--A new ad means the need for a new tracking URL.
--If your rotator doesn't allow you to reset your numbers, then set up a notebook page or a spreadsheet to calculate your weekly stats. I have found that weekly calculations are best because (a) they are easy to fit into a weekly schedule and (b) you have a large enough sample size in a week to truly determine whether an ad is effective or not.
Tracking is something that can be off-putting at first, because it's new, or we don't understand it or what was my old standby for a long time: "I'm doing fine without tracking, why do I need to do it?" The answer, of course, is that I WAS doing fine without tracking. But I am doing BETTER with it. And my guess is that you will, too.
Net Lessons
By: Annette Landry
Getting Started on your Computer
and On the Internet
Loaded with lots of Great information for those just starting out online even for those that have some experience
Net Lessons
and On the Internet
Loaded with lots of Great information for those just starting out online even for those that have some experience
Net Lessons
How to use OBA Splash page templates
Dear OBA Friends and Partners,
Here's the update/reminder on the situation with hosting our OBA Affiliate pages, splash pages, banners, etc.
If you have your own hosting account with any free or paid web hosting service, and you know how to save and upload those pages to your own web space, please do so.
If you don't know how to go about uploading files, but you are willing to learn, so you could host your OBA Affiliate pages and splash pages yourself, a good idea would be to study the Help guide for your web host (all of them should provide the information on how to upload files to their servers!) and ask questions in the OBC. There is also a great step-by-step tutorial on using FreeHostia just for that purpose. (Option 2 in the hosting section in our OBA Back Office).
If all of the above is totally "Greek to you" and you just want to get started and learn all these things about hosting and uploading files "some day" in the future, there's Option 3 for you in our Back Office - you will find the links for your OBA Affiliate pages and some of our "official" splash pages hosted on OBA servers there.
Read Rest of Article Here
Here's the update/reminder on the situation with hosting our OBA Affiliate pages, splash pages, banners, etc.
If you have your own hosting account with any free or paid web hosting service, and you know how to save and upload those pages to your own web space, please do so.
If you don't know how to go about uploading files, but you are willing to learn, so you could host your OBA Affiliate pages and splash pages yourself, a good idea would be to study the Help guide for your web host (all of them should provide the information on how to upload files to their servers!) and ask questions in the OBC. There is also a great step-by-step tutorial on using FreeHostia just for that purpose. (Option 2 in the hosting section in our OBA Back Office).
If all of the above is totally "Greek to you" and you just want to get started and learn all these things about hosting and uploading files "some day" in the future, there's Option 3 for you in our Back Office - you will find the links for your OBA Affiliate pages and some of our "official" splash pages hosted on OBA servers there.
Read Rest of Article Here
HOW TO make your own personalized banners in Paint
Hello, Friends and Partners,
I've figured out a way of making your own personalized banners in "Paint" - a simple image editing program that is present in every computer!
"Paint" allows you to open and edit only one image at a time.... but I've just found a way around it!
To find and launch "Paint":
1) Click on "Start" (a taskbar button, usually in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen)
2) Click on "All Programs"
3) Click on "Accessories" (at the very top of the list)
4) Click on "Paint". (You can also right-click on "Paint" and select "Pin to start menu" so you don't have to look for it in this round-about way again. After you "pin" it to the Start menu, when you click on "Start" you will see your "Paint" program right there among the few selected others.)
Read Rest of Article Here
I've figured out a way of making your own personalized banners in "Paint" - a simple image editing program that is present in every computer!
"Paint" allows you to open and edit only one image at a time.... but I've just found a way around it!
To find and launch "Paint":
1) Click on "Start" (a taskbar button, usually in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen)
2) Click on "All Programs"
3) Click on "Accessories" (at the very top of the list)
4) Click on "Paint". (You can also right-click on "Paint" and select "Pin to start menu" so you don't have to look for it in this round-about way again. After you "pin" it to the Start menu, when you click on "Start" you will see your "Paint" program right there among the few selected others.)
Read Rest of Article Here
HOW TO add your photo to your OBC Avatar
Here's how to use your standard 80x80 pix. splash-a-thon photo as the OBC Avatar (...if we have your photo hosted there, that is!
If you have it hosted on some other server, enter your own URL. If you don't have it hosted anywhere at all, send a PM to PhilWatson or successhelper and we'll take care of ya! ):
- Click on the "Profile" link on top of the screen
- Scroll down until you see "Avatar control panel" (it's on the bottom of the page)
- In the field next to the words: "Link to off-site Avatar: Enter the URL of the location containing the Avatar image you wish to link to" enter your Splash-A-Thon hosted image. No more confusion with [img] and [/img] tags! Just enter your photo URL "as is":
Read Rest of Article Here
If you have it hosted on some other server, enter your own URL. If you don't have it hosted anywhere at all, send a PM to PhilWatson or successhelper and we'll take care of ya! ):
- Click on the "Profile" link on top of the screen
- Scroll down until you see "Avatar control panel" (it's on the bottom of the page)
- In the field next to the words: "Link to off-site Avatar: Enter the URL of the location containing the Avatar image you wish to link to" enter your Splash-A-Thon hosted image. No more confusion with [img] and [/img] tags! Just enter your photo URL "as is":
Read Rest of Article Here
HOW TO "Quote", use colored text, add images, etc.
HOW TO make the words or sentences in your text different color, different size, bold, italic or underlined, (or all of the above! )...
HOW TO quote other people
Quote:
like this
HOW TO add images to your posts ...
HOW TO make a list
with
bullets
like
this...
Here's HOW:
Enjoy expressing yourself!!
HOW TO quote other people
Quote:
like this
HOW TO add images to your posts ...
HOW TO make a list
with
bullets
like
this...
Here's HOW:
Enjoy expressing yourself!!
HOW TO Use the New OBA URL Rotator
How to use banners
In traffic exchanges and similar advertising sites where you can submit a banner to, they usually ask you for TWO URLs:
1) Banner location URL - this is where the banner image is stored on the server. In our case, you will find this URL listed under each banner in this thread:
http://onlinebusinessalliance.com/asc/viewtopic.php?t=592
Or it is your personalized banner image:
http://splash-a-thon.com/SBAV/banners/Username.jpg
This URL does not "go" anywhere! Or, rather, the only place it "goes" to is your banner picture.
2) Destination URL or Target URL - this is where you want people to be redirected when they click on your banner. In our case, it can be your SBAV sales page, or your personalized splash page, or any other splash page that you are using.
Just enter these two URLs where they are asked for, and the traffic exchange will automatically link your banner to the right site when it appears in the surf bar of that exchange.
1) Banner location URL - this is where the banner image is stored on the server. In our case, you will find this URL listed under each banner in this thread:
http://onlinebusinessalliance.com/asc/viewtopic.php?t=592
Or it is your personalized banner image:
http://splash-a-thon.com/SBAV/banners/Username.jpg
This URL does not "go" anywhere! Or, rather, the only place it "goes" to is your banner picture.
2) Destination URL or Target URL - this is where you want people to be redirected when they click on your banner. In our case, it can be your SBAV sales page, or your personalized splash page, or any other splash page that you are using.
Just enter these two URLs where they are asked for, and the traffic exchange will automatically link your banner to the right site when it appears in the surf bar of that exchange.
Awaiting Eagerly for Comments and Suggestions
If there is anything you think I missed from OBA or just want to say howdy by all means feel free
Eva
Gail
Agatha
Jude
