How to use the new BannerSnack & PhotoSnack for free?
Follow these simple steps:
1. Go to dev.bannersnack.net, dev.photosnack.net or dev.snacktools.net
2. “Buy” SnackTools points. You don’t have to actually pay for anything, but you have to click “Buy points”
3. Select any amount you wish. You can get as many points as you wish, for free. However, when the in-development phase will end, your account associated with it will be deleted.
4. Insert your full discount coupon – TEST – and hit “Check”
Click “Check” to verify your coupon.
Confirm
5. Post your order
6. Ready! You have your points now, so you can download or embed your banners/slideshows without watermark.
Let’s see what you can find in the new BannerSnack app:
1. Subscription NOT needed for premium services; you can pay per banner now
Some months ago we launched a poll asking you to choose a pricing model for the future BannerSnack (and consequently for all SnackTools apps). The results looked like this:
As we can see, the pay per banner option is the most popular, so we had to find a way to make it available for our users. The answer was SnackTools points, a currency you can use to pay for the premium features in all of the SnackTools apps. Click here to learn more about the SnackTools points.
2. NO storage limit per user account
In BannerSnack Beta 3 there won’t be any storage limits per user account, therefore you can upload as many assets as you wish and you can create as many banners as you need.
3. NO more banner size restrictions & NO font restrictions
All BannerSnack users can benefit from all features inside the application, including the custom size feature or the “premium” fonts, which until now, were only available along with a subscription.
4. Dramatically improved transition effects
The way you can browse through the large array of transition effects that you can find in BannerSnack has been improved dramatically. Instead of drop-down lists, you can view animated thumbnails representing the effects. Moreover, each effect category contains lots of presets, that can be used as they are, or they can be customized or created from scratch. All the basic and advanced options regarding the transition effects in BannerSnack are now available for all uses, for free.
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We’ve just launched an alternative, testing version of the SnackTools apps containing numerous major updates. Click on the thumbs below for a quick preview.
These versions are still in development but we decided to make them public for testing and for getting feedback from you. You can try them at the following URLs:
http://dev.bannersnack.net/
http://dev.photosnack.net/
http://dev.snacktools.net/
Important notes:
- If you want to test the premium publishing options within the DEV apps, you can use the following full-discount coupon: TEST
- You can use this coupon as many times as you wish, for any package you wish.
- Please use the Feedback widgets to send us your feedback.
- When the in-development stage ends, all the accounts created on dev.snacktools.net will be deleted without notice.
Happy testing!
BannerSnack is getting better!
We’ve listened to you and taken many requests into consideration for the past 6 months. That was easy, because we feel we speak the same language. What wasn’t that easy instead was to decide what features should we implement first. And, of course, actually implementing the features we agreed on…
What are those new features? I can’t tell you that right now. But you’ll be able to see them sometime next week.
Anyway, the new application is more powerful than ever and simpler to use. I can’t wait to see your feedback on it!
How could I monetize my blog?
This is a question many bloggers ask themselves when their “careers” reach a certain point. The truth is, it’s not easy. Except for the case your blog has a skyrocketing success and advertisers imminently hear about you… But most blogs aren’t like that. And don’t have to. Most blogs “grow” slowly and steadily and many successful ones treat a certain subject, or niche.
So how do they manage to sell some advertising space?
Well, they can resort to AdSense and other third parties, or they can sell their space directly. On the latter I’ve found a great article on SmartBloggerz. I’ll quote some of it:
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A very good way to engage internet users with your message is to insert mini-games in your banners. See the example below:
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Roll over.
Clearly above the average creative execution. It stirs up your curiosity…
Let’s view this chart:
Source: Eyeblaster Research Global Benchmark Report 2009
What does it tell us? Well, besides that Rich Media banners perform better that the classic static ones, pretty nothing. Sure, the full banner format 234x60px and the rectangle 180x150px are a bit of a surprise given their small dimensions.
But does that mean you should go for these formats? Not necessarily. What if you need to integrate a video for instance? Would a 180x150px help? I doubt that.
I tell you what. Format is the last thing you need to think of before starting a banner advertising campaign. Instead think of:
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They fail to give you a recipe for success.
You know why? Because there isn’t such thing.
So why do we read them? Why do we spend so much time reading All Marketers Are Liars, Predictably Irrational, The Irresistible Offer, Buyology or even Buzzmarketing? The answer is: because we love stories. All these books contain dozens of stories about successful brands, interesting people and smart advertising. That’s the primary reason we buy them.
But why do we love stories and what do we learn from them? Well, stories give us inspiration. Stories make us find the right attitude. And, most importantly, stories help us shape our own story.
So there’s pretty much an abstract benefit of reading marketing books; they won’t tell you exactly what to do next. If you feel they do, then you’d better not read them at all, because most likely the “recipes” you find in them aren’t right for your business.
