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10 ways to advertise online (and where to get started)
Posted by randy on: 2005-10-24 07:55:24
10 ways to advertise online (and where to get started)
Deanna Mascle
Most business owners fully understand that not advertising is
the surest way to kill your business.
However they are also bombarded by so much information and so
many choices they quickly lose track of what options are
available to them.
There are a number of cheap and easy online advertising options
available to you.
1. Ezine Advertising Ezine advertising is one of the
best ways to reach your future customers because it is often
inexpensive and flexible as well as offering you the option to
match the ezine audience with your product and ad. It also often
offers a double benefit--your initial ad plus longevity in the
ezine archives.
2. Text Links This simple tool is often overlooked by
many. It is simply one of the least expensive and yet most
powerful advertising option available. You can often buy text
links for under $10 and the link will not only promote the
specific site or page you choose but also connect it with the
specific key words that will benefit you the most.
Text links also provide a double bonus. You can attract
immediate traffic from the host site as well as achieve better
search engine ranking which will further increase traffic.
3. Pay per click advertising Just like it sounds pay per
click advertising is simply paying for specifically targeted
traffic. You can monitor and control these advertising programs
very closely and tweak your ad copy and the key words that you
are sponsoring. This can be a very expensive option but doesn't
have to be if you plan carefully and watch closely. 4. Email
marketing Despite ever-increasing vigilant attempts to stop
spam, we all know that email marketing is still alive and well.
While it is foolish in the extreme to risk your business, web
host, or internet connection, by sending out spam you can still
use email marketing as a way to reach out and touch your
customers and your future customers.
You just need to make sure that no one receives mail except the
people who ask for it. People are still willing to sign up for
mailing lists--especially if you have something to offer them in
return for sharing their email address. Sponsor a contest; give
away an article, ebook, or tutorial; or offer a discount and you
will have people sign up willingly.
Then if you don't abuse the mailing list you will have the
opportunity to reach them again and again!
5. Banner Ads Banner ads have a bad reputation. In part
because of the proliferation of banner farms that killed all the
banner swap programs (or at least made them completely
ineffectual). Also we all have memories of those hideous banners
flashing across the top of so many web sites.
Banners have come along way since then and a cleverly designed
banner can be a real asset to any advertising campaign. Also
don't forget that you don't have to use one of those big giant
banners that span the width of the screen. You can use smaller
simple ads that can fit easily into the sidebar or special box
on a web site so they can suit the design and work more
effectively.
It is also important that you pay close attention to what sites
you will choose for displaying your banner. IE. A site about web
development for your web hosting service ad or a site about
parenting for your ad promoting your potty training book.
Many text link and pay per click advertising vendors also offer
the option of banner ads. Similarly many ezine and newsletter
publishers sell space on their sites.
~~ Sell Your Knowledge ~~
These next five advertising methods are all free or relatively
inexpensive because you are trading something of value -- your
knowledge and expertise -- in return for advertising.
6. Publish a Newsletter Creating your own regular
newsletter or ezine offers you all the advantages of ezine
advertising and email marketing offered above.
7. Publish a Blog and RSS Feed
While publishing a newsletter or ezine isn't that difficult it
is much easier to create a blog and make its content available
via RSS feed. This can offer you the benefits of regularly
updated material for your web site which will be attractive to
visitors and search engines alike. It will also help establish
you as an expert in your field.
I personally like using WordPress on your own site but many web
hosts now offer blogging services and there are many free
blogging sites around where you can create a blog on their site.
8. Write Articles Take some of the material you have
generated for your newsletter and/or blog and share it with
others. Make it available in one of the many free content
directories available on the web. This not only helps to
establish your credibility but the contact info you provide in
your resource box (which will run every time someone else
publishes your material) will bring in both direct traffic as
well as search engine attention.
9. Create an Ebook Once you have enough material
generated from your newsletter and blog then you can package it
into a convenient Ebook and give it away. Make sure to collect
names and email addresses and offer a coupon or discount to
bring people back to your site!
10. Post in Forums If you have the time you should start
your own forum but even if you only have a few minutes a week to
spare for this effort then it can be well worth the effort.
Don't offer blatant spam posts but find a forum where you have
something to offer. Make sure that you include an appropriate
url and description for your forum signature and you will
attract the double benefit of traffic and search engine
attention!
No successful advertising campaign embraces one single method of
advertising and no single method of advertising works for
everyone. Advertising cannot be treated as a one-size-fits all
proposition. However you know what your business needs and can
offer--mix and match methods and make sure to track your
results--to optimize your choices.
About the author:
You can learn more about online advertising and our recommended
sources for ezine advertising at href="http://www.establishyourepresence.com/blog/?p=8">Establish
Your Epresence. You can receive free ads as well as
discounts by joining our href="http://renaissancewomanonline.com/adclub.php">Ad Club.
We also offer href="http://advertise.ezinesbydawggone.com">Ezine
Advertising.
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