Instant Flash Banner Creator

A lot of folk are promoting something called “Instant Banner Creator” right now. It let’s you create flash banners, with ease.

However - I’m going to use this wildy offered software in an experiment. I’m going to show you the alternatives… Other software and services you can find for free just by using the search engines. You see, Google is your friend. Always check the market!

Perhaps unsurprisingly I found a lot of variation in the market for banners.

Here’s one that looks really promising:

Instant Flash Banner

Simply choose a template, enter your text, and embed in your site. However, you pay for each flash banner you create. They are amazingly professional, though. Just be aware you can pay over $20 per flash banner - but it does at least include large rectangles and other sizes. Here’s an idea: Why not sell custom, pre-made flash banners? You could just use this service to create them.

But the next one could be even better. It doesn’t create flash banners, but it does make:

• Banners
• Headers / Footers
• Buttons
• Peel Away Ads
• … and more!

You can join this site for free, but the are less templates for free users. However, there’s more than enough to get you going. The site is Instant Banner Creator.

The next site allows you to create all kinds of banners - and it is FREE. The only downside is this takes a DIY approach, where you add your own images and text, but being flash based it does allow you to select various transitions and effects. If you take your time with this online tool you could build some professional looking banners with only a little work.

The site I talk about is Banner Snack.

Other options include:

Banner Generator (free online service - creates flash banners)

Banner Maker Pro (not free, but you can download a 15 day trial)

Flash Banner Creator (free trial)

Finally - for those who like to download software to keep on their computer - and even use them in a bundle, to resell, or use as bonuses I’ve added the following to your free members site:

• Banner Buddy
• Easy Flash Banners
• 125 Flashy Banners
• 114 banners/intros “Flashy Designs In A Box”

If you’re not a member it’s easy to get the username and password required to get in. Just sign up to us, using the form in the sidebar or by clicking “Join Us!”.

If you are already a member, just go to MembersSite.net and log in. If you’re on our list and forgotten the entry details, just look back through our old e-mails in your inbox (or deleted…). The downloads will be on the “Tools” page.

But wait… let’s get back to basics. Even with all these free tools and downloads, are banners worthwhile?

The answer is both yes and no. Banners are not as effective as they used to be. Many web users will filter them out - either mentally, or through software, and will not click. But the success of Adwords - essentially Google’s own image-and-text banner system, seems to disprove this.

By now you should realise that is never a straight answer in these matters and only your own testing will show if it works for you. For example, banners on your site linking to internal pages or other sites you own can work if your visitors are used to seeing them. And banners that mimic system/error alerts also work - but I wouldn’t recommend those, since they smack of adware. Text banners also vary in their effectiveness.

I can only give you my own experience. Banners that attract the eye and are placed prominently continue to get clicked. And if you run an affiliate program or want to offer people a way to link to your site banners are a great way to do it. People like to put them on their pages - to good or bad effect!

Finally, there are many exchange programs that accept banners, gathering you traffic. These vary from full banners to 125 x 125 buttons, but the end result is real… more visitors.

Banners are in some ways a throwback to the early days of the web and marketing but their presence is still felt. If you do go ahead and use them be sure to test how they perform. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

This post is (C) Stuart J Reid of Netpreneur News Internet Marketing Blog. All rights reserved. Contact details at this link.

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