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Home >> Articles >> Promoting and Marketing >> Advertising Methods - Where to start Advertising
Author: BJ
Added: November 8, 2005
Views: 3,097
Rating: 7/10
Where to start Advertising
Every day we have to deal with continued intrusion by governments and law makers who want to protect the public from those who want to share their product or service. Like me, I am sure you are very proud of your product and do everything possible to make sure it is worthy of public interest.
The flip side is the multitude who don't care about a product or service, but want to find a way to get into your business. They use phishing (pretending to be authentic and asking for user names, passwords and account numbers) and auto downloads that transmit your computer history and information. Some transmit your every key stroke. The only goal is to make a fast buck by robbing you, your customers and anyone else.
The legitimate online business is trapped somewhere between these two extremes. How can we get our products and services out there to prospective customers?
There are legal, effective, efficient, and inexpensive ways to share our products and services over the net without concern of spamming, theft or tight budgets.
Newsletters: These are informative, topic oriented emails sent to those who requested them. Usually newsletters have an opt-in feature. Newsletter publishers must have a way to finance their operation, so our advertising is how they can do just that.
Safe Lists: These are listings of email addresses to a member base. The members agree to view our products and services, if we will agree to take a look at theirs. It is only fair. These can be time consuming if you read every email sent from the list, but you can determine pretty quickly if the product or service is something you are interested in from the subject line. I would recommend you set up a separate email account for this option.
Traffic Exchanges: These allow the members to view web sites for a specified period of time, usually 20 to 30 seconds. Those members interested in your product can bookmark it or transact business when the site comes up in the rotation. If time is a challenge for you, most traffic exchanges allow you to purchase unique visitors. Many Traffic Exchanges are finding ways to target traffic to specific countries, income range, or interests. You must be aware of your bandwidth for this option, and if limited, I would recommend you try one traffic exchange at a time.
Banner Exchanges: Work very much like the Traffic Exchanges, except the owners of this advertising option will locate publishers to set up their banner where other advertisers banners and yours will be shown. This option gives you a very diverse and broad range of prospects.
PPC: Pay per click search programs are growing in number and spreading like wild fire all over the net. Look for the ones that advertise your type of product or service because they tend to cater to that audience. These search programs will pay the viewer to look at your advertising or web site. You have the option to spend as much or as little as your budget will allow. You decide how much you will pay the search program, and the program owner determines how much to pay the viewer. PPC search programs usually allow you to put their search box on your site, which can reduce or eliminate any cost. The more you are willing to pay per click, the higher on the list you will be when one of your key words is selected.
PTR: Paid to read programs have a double opt-in member base. Members agree to review products and services through email and other options. Each advertiser link is viewed for a specific time based on the amount paid to the member. This email advertising option can be targeted by country or interest.
PTC: Paid to click programs pay the opt-in members to view your site for a specific time after clicking on your banner or brief comment. This type of advertising can be targeted by country or interest. Many Banner Exchange and PTR programs also offer PTC.
PTP: Paid to promote programs are an inexpensive means to advertise. These usually are seen for a very brief period by the prospect. The jury is still out regarding the effectiveness of this advertising option. Many PTR and some Traffic Exchanges offer PTP to their members. Members of the programs are paid from 40 – 75 cents per 1000 views to the PTP page.
Pop Up, Pop Under and slide in: These advertising options are the most effective and most annoying means we have to reach the public. As effective as these are at being seen, they are very difficult to target. Also, new programs are being created every day to block these options. The only one that has not yet been effectively blocked is the slide in. I have found the slide in a great option if you want to make a statement to your viewer.
Auctions: Guess what! EBay is not the only place you can auction your service or product. There are a number of auction places with no fees to put your product or service up for auction or Buy Now. Therefore, no cost until the product is sold. Some auction programs have no fees, but you are required to utilize their net or pay service.
Forum and Message Boards: Just about any topic you can think of will have a forum or message board. Find those your product would be a good match for. Sign up, log in and set up your signature with your program link or banner. Post a hello or respond to another post and you have free advertising.
I hope this brief description of some advertising options will help you to find the best way to get your product or service to be seen. I will provide additional information regarding each of the advertising options in the near future.
Remember, the more traffic to your program, the greater the probability of a sale. I use a number of these advertising methods for my program. Happy Advertising and prosperity to all.
Author info: B. J. Gross has a BBA and has been involved in net advertising and
marketing since 2001. She currently owns and operates LoneStarClicks.com and will soon launch MyDeals.biz
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