Web sites are flat. (I wanted to point this out in case you did not notice...) When I say flat, I mean they, like paper, are flat squares of content and images that attempt to communicate something to the surfer.

With regard to Marketing web-sites, not only are most marketing sites flat, but many are what I call "Tabloid". That is to say they present a tabloid sales letter, a single long letter in a narrow band that is centered with perhaps some background image repeating the name of the product over and over, and the basic Copy-written headline information that is seen on thousands of similar web-sites that sell wares. The problem is this, most folks consider tabloids to be a joke, and that same sentiment is now beginning to target web-based marketing.

Is there a way we can reduce the "flatness" and the "Tabloidness" of our marketing web-sites? Can we market our products and services in such a manner that they seem a bit less like "late night television infomercials?" Boy I hope so!

I believe the answer lies in the prudent use of so called "Non-Blockable" Pop-Ups. These are the pop up "sub-windows" created using php scripts or java scripts, usually the kind I call "squirted scripts". Squirted scripts are coded as arrays of numbers and a couple of simple scripts that are copied into your web-site's HTML. They look like this:

-- var f = '102'117'110'99'116'105'111'110..... {on and on for several pages} -- var s = f.split("'"); -- d=""; -- for (i=0;i -- d += String.fromCharCode(s[i]); -- } -- document.write("script tags"+d+"script tags");"

Those numbers are then translated into the "real" script that does the actual work of creating a pop-up.

Now the pop-ups that people hate the most are the ones that open new windows, and the ones people REALLY HATE, are the ones that open large quantities of new windows and move the user focus (current), or that open a new window every time the user attempts to shut one.

If you are an internet marketer, don't do this. Ever. People will hate you and you will deserve it. People rarely buy stuff from marketers they hate.

So, enter non-blockable pop-ups that stay in the window and are off to the side, small, and can be quickly closed. I submit that people do not hate these (or as much) and can actually be made to love them under the right conditions. As a marketer it is your job to foster these "right" conditions, here's how:

1.) Consider your pop-ups as CONTENT, because it IS content. A pop-up is a lot like the person at the front desk of your web page. It is on top, it is meant to be seen first, and it WILL CREATE A FIRST IMPERSSION! Make it a good impression.

2.) Consider your pop-ups as a layer within your web-site. Layering is a very useful approach to marketing a sterile "long-copy" letter type web-site. You can make it appear to be a "snazzy" fully functional, up-to-date, web content system without loosing the "long copy" appeal of a properly written sales letter.

3.) Pop-ups can be created with mouse-overs on specific linked targets: Like "tool-tips" (which are just really small simple pop-ups) you can create any kind of pop up to give more information or to provide links, opt-ins, etc. Strategy is the key in using pop-ups properly.

4.) Never use pop-ups that do not add value! - Self explanatory.

5.) Make your pop-ups unique: Most pop-ups you see now are BORING and similar. There is an awesome pop-up creation program called "Impact PopUp" by Gary Ambrose, but unfortunately it only comes with 10 basic sticky note type pop-ups and everyone is using that. While you can upgrade this program there are other cheaper solutions. One is PopAdder by Celtic Cross Engineering (http://www.celticcrosseng.com) that creates albums of images for the basic Impact PopUp, and it comes with a free "Impact PopUp" as well as dozens of pop-up images. Another is Robert Planks Pop-up creator that creates java-script based square window pop-ups that you can put your html in (http://www.jumpx.com). There are others out there, but the bottom line is: Create unique pop-ups with images and words that are specific to the content you are trying to impress upon your prospects! So many do not do this!

6.) Consider an entire web-site built entirely of pop-ups. What's that?!?!? Yes, a web site that is nothing more than layers of pop-ups that appear as a unified whole, each pop-up coming into existence, and then going away at the appropriate time, bringing the prospect to a buying position by using the pop-ups as a dynamic web-funnel. The same principles of good copy-writing apply, but pop-ups are used to layer the content into a living sales letter. Split testing in this case would be a series of experiments that would change the ordering and layering of pop-ups as well as having some that appear, and others that do not, but this philosophy could also be applied to the user experience as the site learns the preferences of users.

It is my contention that pop-ups, or as I now like to refer to them, as "layered content particles" are the future of marketing web-sites that want to keep and gather more customers and get away from looking like every other "long form copy sales letter" on the web.