Without question the number one hurdle that plagues every agent with a website today is how do they generate qualified visitor traffic once their website is functioning. With no more than 10 organic positions typically available for relevant search engine results, screen real estate now comes at a premium. There simply is not enough room on the first few result pages for the large number of agents that seek to be visible here. A recent search on Google resulted in over 478 million matches to a health insurance query and of course every agent wants to be in the top 20.

Consider the Alternatives

So what constitutes a good marketing strategy utilizing the Internet as a delivery medium for the health plans you represent? Too many agents are putting all of their marketing dollars into a single basket while ignoring proven mediums. You must have a marketing program to succeed in today's competitive environment. Consider these options:

1. Traditional Forms of Marketing: Many agents have simply stopped advertising all together. But here are some ideas for proven forms of traditional advertising that can still work and in fact should always be part of your marketing plan:
   1. Phone Books
   2. Direct Mail
   3. New Paper Inserts
   4. Display Advertising
   5. Strategic Cold Calling
2. Purchase Web Leads: This is an interesting model that in the beginning showed real promise but today many are finding these types of leads can be an act in futility. The leads that are generated by many lead generation companies are sold multiple times and the quality of the lead is questionable. The methods of how the information is gathered is generally not disclosed and considered proprietary. The race by those agent who purchase shared leads is always an uphill one. Most of the prospects have no idea their personal information is being sold to multiple buyers let alone being sold to one. However, this remains a popular choice by agents. Some companies do a better job than others so if you are going to buy your leads, shop it.
3. Create your Own Bid for Placement Model: Get your check book out and set aside enough time to make this option work. This is probably the single most viable way for an agent to drive measurable traffic to their website. However, managing an effective bid for placement model is expensive, time consuming, requires a clear understanding of how to compete for placement and can quickly eat up your advertising dollars with few results. Companies like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Looksmart and many smaller Internet Portals offer this service. But being focused enough to drive the right kind of traffic to your website is not a task that is to be taken lightly.
4. Targeted Traffic Models: Companies that have specialty markets or have microclimates that operate in the specific areas that you specialize in are worth serious consideration. There are many companies that offer some form of online advertising and some are really good at providing their customers with the right kind of shoppers. Our website Individualhealth.com is one of these websites that fit in the microclimate of selling health insurance. Although advertising on our website is a sensible way to invest your advertising dollar it should not be the only method you use to drive additional traffic to your website. Spend your dollars wisely.

Why do we offer this service?

For more than 4 years Teton Marketing Technologies has worked with insurance agents all over the United States. With the recent invention of generating Internet leads and selling them to agents we decided hold back and closely examine this option for more than two years. We decided that that there are too many compelling reasons not to sell information gathered from our website forms to others without their prior approval so we have not been nor will we be a source for these types of leads.

We do believe that a visitor to a website should have some expectation that they can view site information without the threat of some web form gathering their personal information and then selling it multiple times without their knowledge or approval. In stead we allow visitors to our website to navigate freely with the option to connect via our proprietary software or through displayed ads to an agent of choice should they desire. Then if they contact you directly you have a truly qualified prospect.

Is Internet Traffic the same thing Lead Generation?

Generating Internet Traffic should not be confused with traditional Lead Generation models. Internet Traffic does not always equate to a LEAD unless the site visitor calls you, emails you, completes an online request form or completes an application. Traffic that is generated from our company's website, www. individualhealth.com, generally comes after the site visitor has found us via a specific internet query. That visitor then navigates our site looking for information based on their specific needs. They can view all carrier supported plan information with no requirement from them to provide personal information.

It is important to note that there are no guarantees that visitors that visit your website via the Agent Locator or from a displayed ad will result in nothing more than just that - a visit. Much will depend on the quality of your site and your sites content. But for a reasonable fee the Agent Locator or a display ad can help fill a gap in your need for additional qualified visitor traffic. Its not about the quantity of visitor clicks, its about the quality of the visitor making them.

Teton Marketing Advertising Programs

Teton Marketing for the first time is opening up screen real estate for the sole purpose of placed advertisements. We own and operate the website www.IndividualHealth.com which is basically on online agency selling primarily individual and family health plans both domestic and internationally. IndividualHealth.com has been on the Internet since 1994 and generates all of the visitor traffic primarily through Organic Search Engine traffic and direct links through other advertising means.

We do not sell leads!

We have chosen not to be in the lead selling business as we do not want to sell peoples information without their knowledge. What we have done is open up selected pages throughout our vast insurance website where we allow approved ads to run. These ads currently are placed on a page by page basis and they will remain in their static positions until the ad time has completed or they are removed because you no longer want to advertise with us.

Advertising Options

We offer two advertising options. The first option is to have a pre-designed static advertisement that links to your agency website. These ads can appear on any one of our available web pages throughout IndividualHealth.com.

In order to advertise with Teton Marketing Technologies on IndividualHealth.com you must be a current subscriber to our TOUCH Lead Manager software. Non TMT users will not be permitted to advertise on our site.

The second option is to advertise on www.tetonmarketing.com which is the site you are on now. All ads must be pre-approved by our advertising department.

Display Advertising

We offer you the option to place your image based ad on either one of our company's websites. Displaying your ad on either Individualhealth.com and tetonmarketing.com is easy and quick to do. You choose the page or pages that your ad will display and it will remain in place in 30 day blocks. In order to advertise on IndividualHealth.com you must be a current Teton Marketing TOUCH customer. If you are not a current user of our TOUCH software you will not be able to place ads on this website.

Types of Advertisements Accepted

IndividualHealth.com is a website that is primarily dedicated to selling individual health insurance plans, domestic and international. Currently we accept advertisements that meet the following categories.

• Health Insurance
• Auto Insurance
• Homeowners Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Long Term Care Insurance
• Small Group Insurance
• Health Related Products or Services

Display Ad Sizes

We have developed a portfolio of acceptable ad sizes that are offered at different price points. Currently we offer five ad sizes that are displayed on any given page. We offer four horizontal ad sizes and one vertical ad size. Below are samples of the ad display size. The ad sizes below are actual sizes.

Small Ad (125px x 35px) - this size ad is generally located on the lower right column of the web page. These size ads are usually grouped together under the banner "RESOURCE GUIDE"

Medium Ad (170px 50px) - This size ad is generally located across the top of the webpage. They are grouped in a horizontal row with five ads of same size being displayed at a time.

Large Ad (200px x 70px) - This size ad is generally located across the bottom of the webpage. These ads are grouped four ads across and because they sit at the bottom of the page they are larger in design than ads displayed at the top of a webpage. Even though this ad size is larger the cost is slightly lower than the Medium Ad size. This is because the Medium Ad size is more visible to site visitor. Ads that sit across the top of the page are the first thing they see.

Extra Large Ad (280px x 100px) - This size ad also displays across the bottom of the page. Like the 200px x 70px ad it will depend on the number of ad placement positions that have been selected for any given page. The price for this ad is slightly higher than the Large Size ad because of the increased screen real estate that it takes up.

Vertical Ad (120px x 300px) This is our most popular ad size. The vertical ads appear in the right hand column of the page. Each page is evaluated for the optimal number of ads that are to be displayed. This largely is determined by the amount of copy that is written to properly describe the product being sold.

The Vertical Ad can be what ever you want it to be. It can be an photo, or combination of several image elements to create the ad look you are seeking. All vertical ads have a onetime non-refundable setup fee for the creation of the ad. If you are able to provide us with a complete advertisement in either a .jpg or .gif ready to post we will wave this setup fee.

Horizontal Ad Within Page Content - For those who want their ad to be viewed within the web pages content that describes the plan information we offer a large horizontal ad that is 675px x 200px. This large ad provides pleanty of room to get your message seen by the site visitor.

Display Ad Costs

Contact sales@tetonmarketing.com or call us for more information. Display ad cost currently range from as low as $49.00 per month per page up to $250.00 per ad per page. There is a two month minimum display period. Discounts are available for longer terms and/or multiple page placements. There is a minimum onetime setup fee per ad of $59.00 up to $99.00 which is to create the original ad image. There are no additional charges for multiple page placements.

All Vertical Ads that appear on the home page of Individualhealth.com start at $650.00 base rate per ad per month. There is a three month minimum for all home page ads. All display ads must be approved prior to advertising and all ads must be paid for the first month at the time of display. Teton Marketing will set up your account for monthly automatic monthly billing to your credit card for the next months ad period. You may cancel your advertisement at any time after the minimum set period with no penalties.

Website Traffic

Currently IndividualHealth.com generates a significant amount of organic traffic from many of the major search engines. In a typical month we have over 20,000+ unique site visitors and we deliver 100,000+ page views. The average site visitor will navigate to more than 5+ pages in the site. This is truly qualified visitor traffic. Your display ads will be seen as they remain in a static position. Currently most pages are available for advertising.