Saturday, 17 May 2008
Looking for Free advertising, here it is!
There are lots of ways to advertise for free but they are time consuming so I guess technically, they are not free because your time is worth something! But if you have the time and not the money this is for you.I posed the question of “free advertising” to a few forums and they all can back the same, but with new links to check out. It’s basically what I already knew, but it’s nice to try and find new ways of doing things. For this article that has helpful links in it, Please go to my Website and click on Free Advertising.Link Popularity:This is the most important thing and in doing any or all of the below things, you will gain link popularity. Links to your Website, wither you link back or not, gets you ranked good with search engines ( the best free advertising of all) and you will get visitors from other sites that are “targeted visitors” that are interested in what you have to offer, and that my friend is your “MAIN GOAL”So here is what I know about free advertising and what I have recently learned in no particular order:Articles: Writing articles and submitting them to different Website will get you the exposure you need and also build your credibility. It’s not so difficult to do this, just give good advise on a subject you know a-lot about, hopefully it is somehow connected to the product/service you are selling on your Website. Make sure in your signature that you have your URL or a way to contact you. When you go to submit your article, they usually give you a step-by-step way to do this. You can always go to one of the site first to get an idea of what you will need to write and publish your article. You can also go to my Website and see how I have written them.You can go to Google or Yahoo and search on “Submit your article for free”.Classified Ads: Classified Ads are another way of getting free advertising for your business. In this you can highlight the benefits of your site and/or offer a special to get people to come to your site. These have limited space, so you need to make it short-n-sweet, and to the point to get them to your site. The key is to have a headline that sells, I can’t give you my source because I buy a program to get this kind of info., but you can do a search on Google or Yahoo for “Headlines that Sell” and it will give you some resources. If you would like to know what program I received my sources from e-mail me and I will give you the link.Again, you can search on “Free Classified ad submission” to find places to place your ads.Forums:Forums are not only away for free advertising but you can also ask questions from people that have different way of looking at things or just plain have the answer to your questions. You can also answer question for other; it builds your credibility up and gets you exposure for your business. The way to find forums that relation to your Website is to do a search for “______ forums”, example: it could be video games forums, cb radios forums, Internet business forums, etc… Press releases:Sounds so professional, but you can do it, I have faith! A press release simply tells the World about your company and that you are ready to do business. Most sites you go to will have a temple you can go by to do this, I will be providing that soon, maybe by the time you read this. It’s pretty straightforward and anyone that can type can do this. You can do a search on “ Free Press release submission”Link exchange:Link exchange is a good way to get free advertising and looks good for the search engines. You can do this in a couple of ways but you need to do what is right for you! There are link exchange programs out there that are for free and some you pay for. Stay away for ones that you cannot pick and choose which sites you want to link with. Link farm are very bad for your site and can go against you with the search engines. Link farms are from companies that upload, let’s say 100 links to your site and those same links will be on all the other sites as well. It’s like a generic links pages, way not good. It defeats the purpose of links and shuts you out of search engines.Paid vs free, Paid everything is done for you, all you have to do is accept links from other sites or go out and request a link exchange with another site with basically a touch of a button. The free link exchange you have to go out and request individual link exchanges manually. Then manually add their links to your site and there is not guarantee they will link back after doing so. It all depends on how much time you want to put into this. Good Luck
Five Characteristics of Highly Effective Advertising
Have you ever spent a small fortune on advertising that generated disappointment rather than sales?
Many small business owners have been down the road of flat advertising results and are at a loss when it comes to developing new ideas to improve the response to their ads.
Whether you run ads in your local newspaper, your industry’s top periodical or on-line, you need your investment in advertising to pay for itself, and then some, in order to justify its cost.
If your ads aren’t generating the interest you want in your products and services they may be suffering from one of the five common mistakes small business owners and professional service providers make when developing and delivering their advertising.
Here is a list of five qualities common to successful small business advertising campaigns.Zero in on Your Best ProspectsMany small business owners make the mistake of thinking bigger is better when they choose a medium in which to run their ads and opt to spend their advertising dollars to reach a larger but less focused market.
For example, if your company specializes in helping law firms reduce the cost of long, ongoing cases and you choose to run a series of full page ads in the New York Times instead of the New York Law Journal you will likely be disappointed by the response to your campaign. Despite reaching the considerably larger audience of the New York Times your would be missing the focused attention of the legal minded readership of the New York Law Journal.
Be sure to zero in on your market. You will increase the likelihood that the readers who see your ad will actually have a need for your service. Set Yourself Apart from the CrowdUnless your business sells a product or service that is completely unique and faces no competition your ads need to set your products or services apart from the crowd of your competitors.
If you are the owner of a pet supply company and your ads simply say, “We Sell Pet Supplies” they will be passed over along with every other bland advertisement for Fido’s food.
On the other hand, your ads will stand out and attract much more attention to your shop if you state that you sell, “King Sized Bones and Bowls for the Royalty in Your Family.” By focusing your ads on the owners of large breed dogs you distinguish yourself from the crowd of pet shops that simply sell pet supplies and make it clear to the owners of large dogs that you sell what they need.
Be sure the copy of your ads has the effect of making what you offer unique. Your highly targeted prospects will reward you by noticing the difference in your ads and buying from you.
Demonstrate ValueAnother property of a highly effective advertisement is that it demonstrates the value your products and services provide. By demonstrating value in your advertisements you give your prospects a clear idea of the benefits you provide and a clear reason to buy from you. Demonstrating value can also help you set yourself apart from you competitors.
How can you change your ads to demonstrate the value you provide? What special offers can you make to set yourself apart from the pack?
Focus on client problemsConsumers buy products and services because they fill a need or solve a problem. If your ad copy does not address your prospects’ problems they will never know that you provide the solution they need.
If you are recovering from knee surgery and need to work with a physical therapist to regain your full range of motion, would you be more likely to choose a therapist who advertises his new and modern equipment or the one who advertises that she will have your knee working and feeling like new again in just three weeks?
Be sure to focus your ads on your clients’ problems. You will win more business as more and more prospects come to see you as the solution to their problem.
Require ActionThe final aspect of a highly effective ad is a call to action. If you’ve done your job up until this point, your prospect has read your ad. If your ad does not finish the job and inspire your prospect to contact you for more information or visit your store or your web site, it is not worth the money you spent to have it published.
Don’t assume that your prospects know what they should do next. You need to tell them to be sure they know.
If you’ve gotten their attention, demonstrated your value and shown them that you are the solution to their problem, don’t waste your good work by neglecting to instruct them to take the next step and contact you.
If all this seems like a lot to accomplish in one advertisement, you need not worry. A well-written marketing message will take care of most of the details of writing a highly effective ad.
Do you have a marketing message you can use to consistently deliver effective ads and position your business as the solution to your client’s problems? You should.
The author, Jeremy Cohen, helps small business owners and professional service providers attract more clients, grow their business and be more successful with his marketing and web site enhancement coaching service and his marketing guides. Get his free guide: Jumpstart Marketing:More Profits, Clients and Success at: http://www.bettermarketingresults.com/marketing-services.asp
Many small business owners have been down the road of flat advertising results and are at a loss when it comes to developing new ideas to improve the response to their ads.
Whether you run ads in your local newspaper, your industry’s top periodical or on-line, you need your investment in advertising to pay for itself, and then some, in order to justify its cost.
If your ads aren’t generating the interest you want in your products and services they may be suffering from one of the five common mistakes small business owners and professional service providers make when developing and delivering their advertising.
Here is a list of five qualities common to successful small business advertising campaigns.Zero in on Your Best ProspectsMany small business owners make the mistake of thinking bigger is better when they choose a medium in which to run their ads and opt to spend their advertising dollars to reach a larger but less focused market.
For example, if your company specializes in helping law firms reduce the cost of long, ongoing cases and you choose to run a series of full page ads in the New York Times instead of the New York Law Journal you will likely be disappointed by the response to your campaign. Despite reaching the considerably larger audience of the New York Times your would be missing the focused attention of the legal minded readership of the New York Law Journal.
Be sure to zero in on your market. You will increase the likelihood that the readers who see your ad will actually have a need for your service. Set Yourself Apart from the CrowdUnless your business sells a product or service that is completely unique and faces no competition your ads need to set your products or services apart from the crowd of your competitors.
If you are the owner of a pet supply company and your ads simply say, “We Sell Pet Supplies” they will be passed over along with every other bland advertisement for Fido’s food.
On the other hand, your ads will stand out and attract much more attention to your shop if you state that you sell, “King Sized Bones and Bowls for the Royalty in Your Family.” By focusing your ads on the owners of large breed dogs you distinguish yourself from the crowd of pet shops that simply sell pet supplies and make it clear to the owners of large dogs that you sell what they need.
Be sure the copy of your ads has the effect of making what you offer unique. Your highly targeted prospects will reward you by noticing the difference in your ads and buying from you.
Demonstrate ValueAnother property of a highly effective advertisement is that it demonstrates the value your products and services provide. By demonstrating value in your advertisements you give your prospects a clear idea of the benefits you provide and a clear reason to buy from you. Demonstrating value can also help you set yourself apart from you competitors.
How can you change your ads to demonstrate the value you provide? What special offers can you make to set yourself apart from the pack?
Focus on client problemsConsumers buy products and services because they fill a need or solve a problem. If your ad copy does not address your prospects’ problems they will never know that you provide the solution they need.
If you are recovering from knee surgery and need to work with a physical therapist to regain your full range of motion, would you be more likely to choose a therapist who advertises his new and modern equipment or the one who advertises that she will have your knee working and feeling like new again in just three weeks?
Be sure to focus your ads on your clients’ problems. You will win more business as more and more prospects come to see you as the solution to their problem.
Require ActionThe final aspect of a highly effective ad is a call to action. If you’ve done your job up until this point, your prospect has read your ad. If your ad does not finish the job and inspire your prospect to contact you for more information or visit your store or your web site, it is not worth the money you spent to have it published.
Don’t assume that your prospects know what they should do next. You need to tell them to be sure they know.
If you’ve gotten their attention, demonstrated your value and shown them that you are the solution to their problem, don’t waste your good work by neglecting to instruct them to take the next step and contact you.
If all this seems like a lot to accomplish in one advertisement, you need not worry. A well-written marketing message will take care of most of the details of writing a highly effective ad.
Do you have a marketing message you can use to consistently deliver effective ads and position your business as the solution to your client’s problems? You should.
The author, Jeremy Cohen, helps small business owners and professional service providers attract more clients, grow their business and be more successful with his marketing and web site enhancement coaching service and his marketing guides. Get his free guide: Jumpstart Marketing:More Profits, Clients and Success at: http://www.bettermarketingresults.com/marketing-services.asp
Ezines Are Effective In Advertising Your Online Business?
'Ezines are the most cost effective way to advertise your business opportunity'. I'm sure you’ve heard that phrase many times if you’ve been marketing on the internet for a while. But is that a myth or a fact?
An Internet Marketer once advertised that he can guarantee $1,000 profit for the user within weeks if he used the techniques outlined in his ebook.
And the secret of the ebook - advertise in Ezines using $2,000 and you are guaranteed success unless your product is useless. Well I didn't try it at the time because I couldn't find $2,000 lying about in the house or in my bank account. However, it does show the belief people have with Ezines.
There are 3 types of ads in Ezines:
Classified Ads
These are small ads which you can find at the bottom of newsletters. There is limited space in these ads therefore your ads have to be eye-catching. Classified Ads in ezines are cheap and sometimes free due to its limited space and location which is at the end of the ezine.
Sponsor Ads
These ads are placed at the top of the newsletter and sometimes in the middle. Some ezines have more than one sponsor ads. Sponsor ads are more expensive than Classified ads and can contain more words so your ad can be more descriptive. Sponsor ads are more effective than Classified Ads as their position in the newsletter is better.
Solo Ads
Solo ads is the most effective way out of the three type of ads for generating response.
Solo ads fills up a whole email which only contains your advertisement. The newsletter is sent on your behalf to its subscribers. Thus your ad will have the biggest exposure. Solo ads are more expensive than Sponsor ads but more effective.
'Great. Super. Fantastic. So what's your advice Alan?' My advice is advertising in Ezines do work. And they work very well. Some people don't think so because after placing some ads and seeing very little or no response they think they have proven that Ezine advertising is a lie used by Ezines Publishers.
Well I can tell you now that they are getting poor responses because they have not followed the rules for advertising successfully in Ezines.
Rules in Advertising in Ezines Successfully
1. If you can, save money and advertise using Solo ads. They have the best chances of being read by the subscribers and they have no other ads distracting or competing against.
2. Work on your subject line. Even with Solo Ads, people will not open your email if the subject is of no interest to them. Subjects which promises massive fortunes in a few days will get deleted with second thoughts.
3. Work on your Content. After the subscribers open your email, your next task is to try and get them to read the content. So make damn sure your content is interesting and enticing enough for them to take some action. Believe the saying “Content is King”.
4. When you’re advertising other peoples’ products using affiliate programs do not send the visitors to the product’s website. I think people are crazy when they do this. The reason is that you are sending traffic to other peoples websites and if they won’t buy you’ve lost that lead for good.
Therefore the aim of you ad is to capture their email address so that you can advertise to them again and again. If they don’t buy product A then you can advertise Product B to them. Now don’t you think that makes more sense?
5. Advertise in well known Ezines and which are related to the topic you are advertising. Advertising stock recommendations to Golf enthusiasts will surely give you a terrible response rate.
6. For Classified ads, make sure you are advertising in large numbers such as 100,000. Not many people read Classified ads and you will be listed among other ads as well. However, you might get lucky if your headline is attractive enough.
To end this article I’m going to share a secret with you on what I think is the best and cheapest way to advertise in Ezines. That is to write your own articles and ask the Ezine Publishers if they are interested in sending out your articles in an issue of their newsletter.
Now let’s think about this for a moment. Your own article is published in ezines and placed on their websites. People who write articles are given more respect and are trusted more. Plus your articles will stay on some websites for years which also means that it will generate traffic for years. The traffic is generated with a resource box you can put at the bottom of your article. You can put your URL here and also write a little bit of background about yourself.
You are creating a name for yourself on the internet scene and you are also generating leads which you can email your recommendations to. There is no cost for you when Publishers decide to include your article so the only cost coming out of you is the time needed to write the article.
In my opinion, writing articles for ezines is the most effective way to advertise using ezines. Not to mention it’s cheap and will generate traffic even after many months.
If you want to know which ezines to advertise in, the cost, number of subscribers and what services are available that can help you in publish your articles, please send an email to my autoresponder at mailto:ezineart@onlinemoneymachine.com
Alan Cheng, is the owner of http://www.onlinemoneymachine.com/ the membership site to help beginners setup a profit generating online business. With all the right tools to setup your website and advertise effectively. You can contact Alan at mailto:alan@onlinemoneymachine.com.
An Internet Marketer once advertised that he can guarantee $1,000 profit for the user within weeks if he used the techniques outlined in his ebook.
And the secret of the ebook - advertise in Ezines using $2,000 and you are guaranteed success unless your product is useless. Well I didn't try it at the time because I couldn't find $2,000 lying about in the house or in my bank account. However, it does show the belief people have with Ezines.
There are 3 types of ads in Ezines:
Classified Ads
These are small ads which you can find at the bottom of newsletters. There is limited space in these ads therefore your ads have to be eye-catching. Classified Ads in ezines are cheap and sometimes free due to its limited space and location which is at the end of the ezine.
Sponsor Ads
These ads are placed at the top of the newsletter and sometimes in the middle. Some ezines have more than one sponsor ads. Sponsor ads are more expensive than Classified ads and can contain more words so your ad can be more descriptive. Sponsor ads are more effective than Classified Ads as their position in the newsletter is better.
Solo Ads
Solo ads is the most effective way out of the three type of ads for generating response.
Solo ads fills up a whole email which only contains your advertisement. The newsletter is sent on your behalf to its subscribers. Thus your ad will have the biggest exposure. Solo ads are more expensive than Sponsor ads but more effective.
'Great. Super. Fantastic. So what's your advice Alan?' My advice is advertising in Ezines do work. And they work very well. Some people don't think so because after placing some ads and seeing very little or no response they think they have proven that Ezine advertising is a lie used by Ezines Publishers.
Well I can tell you now that they are getting poor responses because they have not followed the rules for advertising successfully in Ezines.
Rules in Advertising in Ezines Successfully
1. If you can, save money and advertise using Solo ads. They have the best chances of being read by the subscribers and they have no other ads distracting or competing against.
2. Work on your subject line. Even with Solo Ads, people will not open your email if the subject is of no interest to them. Subjects which promises massive fortunes in a few days will get deleted with second thoughts.
3. Work on your Content. After the subscribers open your email, your next task is to try and get them to read the content. So make damn sure your content is interesting and enticing enough for them to take some action. Believe the saying “Content is King”.
4. When you’re advertising other peoples’ products using affiliate programs do not send the visitors to the product’s website. I think people are crazy when they do this. The reason is that you are sending traffic to other peoples websites and if they won’t buy you’ve lost that lead for good.
Therefore the aim of you ad is to capture their email address so that you can advertise to them again and again. If they don’t buy product A then you can advertise Product B to them. Now don’t you think that makes more sense?
5. Advertise in well known Ezines and which are related to the topic you are advertising. Advertising stock recommendations to Golf enthusiasts will surely give you a terrible response rate.
6. For Classified ads, make sure you are advertising in large numbers such as 100,000. Not many people read Classified ads and you will be listed among other ads as well. However, you might get lucky if your headline is attractive enough.
To end this article I’m going to share a secret with you on what I think is the best and cheapest way to advertise in Ezines. That is to write your own articles and ask the Ezine Publishers if they are interested in sending out your articles in an issue of their newsletter.
Now let’s think about this for a moment. Your own article is published in ezines and placed on their websites. People who write articles are given more respect and are trusted more. Plus your articles will stay on some websites for years which also means that it will generate traffic for years. The traffic is generated with a resource box you can put at the bottom of your article. You can put your URL here and also write a little bit of background about yourself.
You are creating a name for yourself on the internet scene and you are also generating leads which you can email your recommendations to. There is no cost for you when Publishers decide to include your article so the only cost coming out of you is the time needed to write the article.
In my opinion, writing articles for ezines is the most effective way to advertise using ezines. Not to mention it’s cheap and will generate traffic even after many months.
If you want to know which ezines to advertise in, the cost, number of subscribers and what services are available that can help you in publish your articles, please send an email to my autoresponder at mailto:ezineart@onlinemoneymachine.com
Alan Cheng, is the owner of http://www.onlinemoneymachine.com/ the membership site to help beginners setup a profit generating online business. With all the right tools to setup your website and advertise effectively. You can contact Alan at mailto:alan@onlinemoneymachine.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
