How to successfully advertise online

Before I get started with revealing some methods for successfully advertising your business, product or service online, in the interest of fairness, let me first also relay to you how to *unsuccessfully* advertise online. And, that is through the numerous FREE classified advertising sites with even more numerous free, in fact a virtual sea of, ads.

Aside from being a significant waste of time by merely
posting ads at these sites, free ads are always being
pushed farther to the bottom of the page, often before
you finish typing the ad, as new ads are continuously
stacked atop it. So, that is the ultimate unsuccessful way
of online advertising. Therefore, onward to more pleasant
and, more importantly, profitable ways which I have used successfully with tremendous results.

Several methods considered to be outstanding by some
of the top Internet marketers include:

1. Email ezine and newsletter advertising

2. Email publication ad swaps

3. Opt-in advertising

In fact, in respect to advertising online, there are
currently no better methods for effectively targeting your
intended market, no matter what that market is. So, let's
get started.

<> Online Email/Ezine Newsletter Advertising

Several major advantages to consider with this particular method include:

1. There are thousands of online newsletters/ezines, many
of which have thousands of subscribers in every category imaginable.

2. Many newsletters are published and written by experts
in any given field or area.

3. With email newsletter advertising, you can target the
exact customer for your business, product or service
directly.

4. Email newsletter advertising costs are embarrassingly inexpensive compared to their offline counterparts and other media to reach the same target market, i.e., television and radio.

5. Email newsletters are archived and filed much easier
than print publications that either get tossed after
reading, or where your ad is buried among other numerous ads.

Many online newsletters are published as dailies or
weeklies, thus, getting your ad to its market much sooner
than with the 2-3-month lead time experienced with offline print media. And, to further add to the support of online newsletter advertising, a business should also strongly consider "sponsor" advertising in such online publications.

Sponsorships are ads that are placed separately from the newsletter's regular classified advertising section, which gives the sponsor ad even higher visibility. Although sponsor ads are more expensive, the increased expense is reciprocated with the allowance of more space for text in order to better convey the message to the prospective buyer, as well as its isolation for grabbing the attention of more readers that might overlook it within the classified section. Now, where can we find all these wonderful advertising vehicles?

One such web site location is at:

http://www.interniche.net/partner/sales/ezinedirectories.htm

In these directories, you will immediately discover an avalanche of newsletters for reaching *your* hungry, paying audience. Again, ezine/newsletter advertising is, by far, one of the most cost effective, profit-generating tools for successful online advertising.

One final thought on placing online advertising within
ezines and newsletters...

Vital questions that should be asked of each publisher regarding advertising should include:

1. What is the amount of your "open" rate? Open rates
are rates charged for advertising only once, or one time, within a publication. Multiple placements are, generally, less expensive. I suggest that when placing ads in daily or weekly online newsletters, you consider placing at least two ads the first time, preferably three. This will enable you to better gauge your ad response and results.

2. What is your discount rate for "multiple" ad placements?

3. How many people currently subscribe to your newsletter?

4. What are your deadlines for ad placement?

5. How often do you publish your newsletter?

6. How long have you been publishing this newsletter?

7. What are acceptable ad payment methods?

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<> Online Ad Swaps:

Ad swaps are the exchange of ads between ezine or
newsletter publishers promoting their respective ezines. Through such directories as above, publishers locate similar ezines/newsletters to their own, then request an exchange of ads promoting their publications. The intent is that, through doing so, each publisher can attract new subscribers from and to each other's publication.

A point of note is that, in general, publishers with a large number of subscribers prefer to swap with publishers with similar size publications, which is often a caveat for the smaller ezine publisher, or the new publisher. And, if a smaller publisher is able to convince a larger publisher to swap, the larger publisher will often demand many more ad placements in the interest of "evening up" ad views.

As expected, this can create a "tracking" nightmare for the smaller publisher, especially if the smaller publisher manages to exchange ads with several larger publishers. Overall, the best bet for the smaller publisher is to swap with similar size lists, then grow the newsletter accordingly.

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<> Opt-In Online Advertising

Although an outstanding result-oriented method of advertising, I have presented this as the last method because it requires a significantly larger, albeit effective, investment.

First of all, to "opt-in" means to volunteer your contact information, usually, your Email address in order to receive specialized information and news of interest. Opt-in is the highly preferred method to un-targeted bulk-emailing, often referred to as "spamming."

Successful opt-in advertising involves renting particular lists of people described above from a 3rd-party database resource, which allows you to target specific markets while eliminating the possibility of reaching people who have no interest in your offer, which when done, often results in backlash.

As the advertiser, you create a sales letter, then visit the database web site, select the lists you need for your offer, and pay accordingly, usually a few cents per list name. Rates are usually posted with the lists, and there is normally a minimum order required. The opt-in service then
forwards your sales letter to the recipient list(s) you have selected, with response being almost immediate.

Some "Opt-In" database list sources include:

http://www.postmasterdirect.com

http://www.bulletmail.com

http://www.targ-it.com

http://www.htmail.com/customer.html

One point of note: I highly suggest that prior to sending out your sales letter, you also set up an auto responder with additional information and an FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions) area within your auto responder's sales message for additional questions your prospects may have. The auto responder should also contain information that is viewed as
an extension of the sales message, adding additional points not previously covered.

Also, instead of your own email address, include the auto responder email address as the initial point of contact. This highly informative device will dramatically decrease your own personal efforts in providing repetitive information to interested prospects.

Note: Auto responders are automatic email systems that, when accessed, return information that has been previously input in them to the requestor. They appear as a normal email address. One such site that provides free auto responders is at http://www.getresponse.com. It provides complete easy instructions for quickly setting up your own auto responder.

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