There are several ways to advertise and get the word out about your business online and the best of them include f-ree search engines, pay per click search engines, writing articles, utilizing press releases, doing joint ventures/ad co-ops, and posting to message boards and forums related to your target market.
But one advertising method that's neglected by most online marketers is off-line advertising.
There are several low/no cost ways to advertise off-line and I want to share 3 of them with you.
1) Business Cards
If you are serious about your business you must have business cards. They are cheap and are a great way to attract potential prospects or customers. Simply hand them out to people who you feel may be interested in your business.
Also, whenever I visit a restaraunt, bar, or club, I'll leave my business cards in all of the bathroom stalls. (Just make sure nobody is in there of course... lol!)
And don't laugh at this! It really works. When I visit the bathroom an hour or two later, I'll find that all of my business cards are gone and I'll have a fresh new set of sales the very next day.
You can get f-ree professional looking business cards at VistaPrint.com, all you have to pay is shipping and handling:
2) Flyers
With today's technology, flyers are very easy to make. You can simply design a flyer online and just print it out and make copies. Then you can post them in area businesses where you feel your potential customers may hang out. (Just make sure you ask permission from the business owner.)
Or simply hand out your flyers to people you meet on the street. Many bars and clubs don't have a problem with posting flyers in their establishments either, especially if you are a patron.
And don't forget about supermarkets! Many have bulletin boards, at least here in New Jersey where I live, and you can post your flyer there. There are hundreds of people walking into supermarkets everyday and they are in a buying mentality. Take advantage of it and post your flyers often.
Here's a site that lets you create and print flyers or brochures online for f-ree:
3) Automobile Advertising
What... ? Yes you read that right! Your car is not only a driving vehicle but a great advertising vehicle as well. You can stick magnetic signs or plates on your car with your company name and/or domain name for all to see.
Your business can be exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of people everyday whether your car is parked, you are driving, or even when you are stuck in traffic. It's fairly inexpensive and a great way to "drive" home your message.
Here are a couple of sites to check out for this very sort of thing:
by: Al Martinovic
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
How can we make our Advertising as Effective as Possible.
The answer is to test. Test again. And then test some more. If ad "A" receives a two percent response rate, and ad "B" receives three percent, then we can deduce that ad "B" will continue to outperform ad "A" on a larger scale.
Testing takes time, however, and can be expensive if not kept in check. Therefore, it's ideal to start with some proven tested known ideas and work from there.
For example, if testing has shown for decades or more that targeted advertising significantly outperforms untargeted advertising (and it does), then we can start with that assumption and go from there.
If we know based on test results that crafting an ad that speaks directly to an individual performs better than addressing the masses (again, it does), then it makes little sense to start testing with the assumption that it does not. This is common sense.
So it stands to reason that knowing some basic rules or techniques about writing effective copy is in order. Test results will always trump everything, but it's better to have a starting point before you test.
Sometimes a little tweak here or there is all that is needed to increase response rates dramatically. When a prospect reads your ad, letter, brochure, etc., the one thing he will be wondering from the start is: "what's in it for me?"
And if your copy doesn't tell him, it'll land in the trash faster than he can read the headline or lead.
A lot of advertisers make this mistake. They focus on them as a company. How long they've been in business, who their biggest customers are, how they've spent ten years of research and millions of dollars on developing this product, blah, blah.
Actually, those points are important. But they should be expressed in a way that matters to your potential customer. Remember, once he's thrown it in the garbage, the sale is lost!
by sas_autotech234
Testing takes time, however, and can be expensive if not kept in check. Therefore, it's ideal to start with some proven tested known ideas and work from there.
For example, if testing has shown for decades or more that targeted advertising significantly outperforms untargeted advertising (and it does), then we can start with that assumption and go from there.
If we know based on test results that crafting an ad that speaks directly to an individual performs better than addressing the masses (again, it does), then it makes little sense to start testing with the assumption that it does not. This is common sense.
So it stands to reason that knowing some basic rules or techniques about writing effective copy is in order. Test results will always trump everything, but it's better to have a starting point before you test.
Sometimes a little tweak here or there is all that is needed to increase response rates dramatically. When a prospect reads your ad, letter, brochure, etc., the one thing he will be wondering from the start is: "what's in it for me?"
And if your copy doesn't tell him, it'll land in the trash faster than he can read the headline or lead.
A lot of advertisers make this mistake. They focus on them as a company. How long they've been in business, who their biggest customers are, how they've spent ten years of research and millions of dollars on developing this product, blah, blah.
Actually, those points are important. But they should be expressed in a way that matters to your potential customer. Remember, once he's thrown it in the garbage, the sale is lost!
by sas_autotech234
5 Essentials For A New Home Based Online Marketing Business Owner
Don't be terrified by the following statistics: 1. 95% of network marketers never make it past the 1st year. 2. 3 out of 4 distributors quit within their first 90 days. This high percentage of failure applies to every aspect of human life - no more than 5% of human beings could achieve real success. The majority of the online business owners fail because they ignore or forget to lay a solid foundation. A house build on sand can never stand long.
It is true that online business offers many advantages. There is no inventory expense, no worry about management and employee relationship, no hassle with payroll, refunds or product returns and no headache over 9 to 5 routine and work burnout. You are your own boss and you work at your favorite pace in the comfort of your own home. You can make a fortune over a shorter period of time once you are in the right track.
However, as long as it's defined as business, home based online marketing business can not go far beyond the basic requirements for a business. There is no shortcut in building up any business. How many beginners, blinded by the "get-rich-fast" schemes, were misled by the little work and 5 or 6 digit income promise that floods the internet business world? Just look at the fast-changing internet marketing business world, what are left behind are those products or services that sustains the basic demands of the market while the crazy money making Hypes vanish soon like bubbles. The following are 5 essential components to lay solid foundation and achieve success in your home business.
1. Do Your Homework.
Before you plunge into any online business, do research on the programs and products available on the internet markets. Choose your niche market and product. Exam your attitude, availability and capability. Find something that you are really interested in, which will inspire you later when you feel discouraged. This mind-set period is extremely important, which is the first cornerstone to build your mansion of business. Your ability is what you are capable of doing, your motivation determines what you do and your attitude or your mind-set determines how well you do it.
2. Create Your Business Plan
It would be much easier for any business to be on the right track with the guideline or roadmap of a business plan. Your business plan defines your target audience, your budget and advertising, the ways to reach your prospects and build up your opt-in lists and strategies to turn your prospects into customers. It guides you to attain your short and long term goals. Give yourself at least 3 to 6 months to learn the basics of your business.
3. Select Carefully Your Sponsor and Program
Like any business, online marketing business has its unique marketing tools and strategies. As a beginner, you must learn how to use these tools and where to find the marketing strategies. Finding the sponsor/program that can teach you these secrets makes the difference between success and failure. Choose the business model with proven records of success and the one who can provide you with detailed and systematical training after you sign up. "Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor." The value of a right program and guiding sponsor is priceless, which means half success of your future business.
4. Duplicate What You Have Learned
Once you find the sponsor/program that works for you, follow orders and repeat what your sponsor has done to make his/her business successful. Apply the principles and rules you are taught. Nothing but action brings your business to a new stage. After you have commended these strategies and mastered the secret weapons, you can start your own program or other programs by duplicating what you have learned during this apprenticeship. You business grow s in the process of your learning and taking actions.
5. Be Persistent
No one can run before learning to walk. The above four essentials are the basic steps to build up your business. As far as your final success is concerned, perseverance counts. Always remember: "Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison. Focus and patience help you win the race.
by Patience Hai Yan Wang
It is true that online business offers many advantages. There is no inventory expense, no worry about management and employee relationship, no hassle with payroll, refunds or product returns and no headache over 9 to 5 routine and work burnout. You are your own boss and you work at your favorite pace in the comfort of your own home. You can make a fortune over a shorter period of time once you are in the right track.
However, as long as it's defined as business, home based online marketing business can not go far beyond the basic requirements for a business. There is no shortcut in building up any business. How many beginners, blinded by the "get-rich-fast" schemes, were misled by the little work and 5 or 6 digit income promise that floods the internet business world? Just look at the fast-changing internet marketing business world, what are left behind are those products or services that sustains the basic demands of the market while the crazy money making Hypes vanish soon like bubbles. The following are 5 essential components to lay solid foundation and achieve success in your home business.
1. Do Your Homework.
Before you plunge into any online business, do research on the programs and products available on the internet markets. Choose your niche market and product. Exam your attitude, availability and capability. Find something that you are really interested in, which will inspire you later when you feel discouraged. This mind-set period is extremely important, which is the first cornerstone to build your mansion of business. Your ability is what you are capable of doing, your motivation determines what you do and your attitude or your mind-set determines how well you do it.
2. Create Your Business Plan
It would be much easier for any business to be on the right track with the guideline or roadmap of a business plan. Your business plan defines your target audience, your budget and advertising, the ways to reach your prospects and build up your opt-in lists and strategies to turn your prospects into customers. It guides you to attain your short and long term goals. Give yourself at least 3 to 6 months to learn the basics of your business.
3. Select Carefully Your Sponsor and Program
Like any business, online marketing business has its unique marketing tools and strategies. As a beginner, you must learn how to use these tools and where to find the marketing strategies. Finding the sponsor/program that can teach you these secrets makes the difference between success and failure. Choose the business model with proven records of success and the one who can provide you with detailed and systematical training after you sign up. "Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor." The value of a right program and guiding sponsor is priceless, which means half success of your future business.
4. Duplicate What You Have Learned
Once you find the sponsor/program that works for you, follow orders and repeat what your sponsor has done to make his/her business successful. Apply the principles and rules you are taught. Nothing but action brings your business to a new stage. After you have commended these strategies and mastered the secret weapons, you can start your own program or other programs by duplicating what you have learned during this apprenticeship. You business grow s in the process of your learning and taking actions.
5. Be Persistent
No one can run before learning to walk. The above four essentials are the basic steps to build up your business. As far as your final success is concerned, perseverance counts. Always remember: "Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison. Focus and patience help you win the race.
by Patience Hai Yan Wang
Home Based Internet Business Resources - Basics
This begins another series of articles covering the basics of how to start your home based internet business. We'll cover all the bases in this first article and explore each base in depth later.
The first thing you need to do when you start your home based internet business is decide on your domain name. You should choose a name that is easy to remember and type. It is best to avoid any weird characters or dashes in the domain address. For example you would not want "your-bu$iness.com" but you would want "yourbusiness.com". From the very beginning you need to think about making it easy for prospective customers or affiliates to type and remember your site. There are tons of free searches out there to see if your chosen domain name is already taken. One is http://instantdomainsearch.com but you can find literally thousands out there. Play around with your ideal domain name and search until you find a combination that is available. That is all there is to it.
Once you have decided on a domain name, you need to research what keywords will bring the most potential customers to your site. Key words are extremely important. Keywords are one component that drives search engine results for Google, Yahoo, MSN and all of the other top engines out there. If you wanted to start a pet business online, you might research the following key words and phrases: pet business, online pet business, pets, online business, dogs online, cats online, etc. We'll discuss ways to choose your keywords in later articles but I would suggest downloading Good Keywords from http://softnik.com. The program is free and easy to use. Good Keywords will show you how many times a given word or phrase was searched on the internet in the past 30 days. The trick is to find keywords that are in the middle of the search pack. You don't want to compete with keywords that generate 10 million hits a month when you can compete with keywords that fit your business and generate 10 thousand hits a month. More on this in later articles.
OK, you've got a domain name and a good list of keywords. Now you need a solid "Host" for your website. I do not recommend free hosting. You truly get what you pay for when it comes to hosts and this is one area you do not want to scrimp on. Paid hosting sites provide quick response support. If you were like I was, knowing very little about how all of this works, support is one of the key ingredients to building a successful home based internet business.
Next I would highly recommend setting up a free email account with Gmail, Yahoo, MSN or whomever you are comfortable with or maybe already using. This email account would be used exclusively for your online business. Experience tells me it is much easier and more effective managing your business email separately from your personal email. Your online business will generate and receive a large volume of email and it is essential to be able to access and manage that email easily.
So far, so good. We've chosen our domain name, researched and chosen our keywords, decided on a host for our site and set up a dedicated business email address. It's time to take a look at email auto-responders. Very simply, email auto-responders send out an "opt in" email to individuals (leads) who have expressed an interest in owning a home based internet businesses. This is not spam! In fact, all of the auto-responders I use are 100% spam free and, believe me, they monitor it exhaustively. If the person(lead) expressing interest in internet business receives the opt in email and clicks on the confirmation link in the email, it triggers a group of follow up emails that you can write yourself or you can join a program that provides that service. The person can also "opt out" of receiving any more emails by clicking the appropriate link in the email. You can find programs that will write and install your entire email follow up campaign for free. I like that word "free".
Once you get your auto-responder working for you, you can allow your campaign to build a list of "opted in" subscribers that might eventually become customers or affiliates. Keep in mind that we're talking about sending thousands of emails to prospective home based internet business owners each week. Take a look at the number of emails you receive each week. Multiply that by several hundred thousand. It takes time to build a list of prospective customers. The key is in the follow up.
The most interesting aspect of running an online business for me is the hosts, auto-responders, lead companies, etc. that I use will also allow me to make money by advertising their services on my site. This is called "affiliate marketing" and it is huge. So, you are not only a customer of these services that are essential to online business, you now also "sell" their services on your site, even if your site has nothing to do with home based internet business resources. The cool thing is that you can be confident in promoting the performance of the services you are using because you have personal experience with them. Nothing speaks as boldly as personal experience.
This is the basic formula for virtually every online business I have researched and I have digging for legitimate opportunities for 5 years. Don't forget to look for my follow up articles which will explore in depth each of the areas we've covered in this article.
Remember, "Nothing Happens Until You Swing".
by Joe Roberts
The first thing you need to do when you start your home based internet business is decide on your domain name. You should choose a name that is easy to remember and type. It is best to avoid any weird characters or dashes in the domain address. For example you would not want "your-bu$iness.com" but you would want "yourbusiness.com". From the very beginning you need to think about making it easy for prospective customers or affiliates to type and remember your site. There are tons of free searches out there to see if your chosen domain name is already taken. One is http://instantdomainsearch.com but you can find literally thousands out there. Play around with your ideal domain name and search until you find a combination that is available. That is all there is to it.
Once you have decided on a domain name, you need to research what keywords will bring the most potential customers to your site. Key words are extremely important. Keywords are one component that drives search engine results for Google, Yahoo, MSN and all of the other top engines out there. If you wanted to start a pet business online, you might research the following key words and phrases: pet business, online pet business, pets, online business, dogs online, cats online, etc. We'll discuss ways to choose your keywords in later articles but I would suggest downloading Good Keywords from http://softnik.com. The program is free and easy to use. Good Keywords will show you how many times a given word or phrase was searched on the internet in the past 30 days. The trick is to find keywords that are in the middle of the search pack. You don't want to compete with keywords that generate 10 million hits a month when you can compete with keywords that fit your business and generate 10 thousand hits a month. More on this in later articles.
OK, you've got a domain name and a good list of keywords. Now you need a solid "Host" for your website. I do not recommend free hosting. You truly get what you pay for when it comes to hosts and this is one area you do not want to scrimp on. Paid hosting sites provide quick response support. If you were like I was, knowing very little about how all of this works, support is one of the key ingredients to building a successful home based internet business.
Next I would highly recommend setting up a free email account with Gmail, Yahoo, MSN or whomever you are comfortable with or maybe already using. This email account would be used exclusively for your online business. Experience tells me it is much easier and more effective managing your business email separately from your personal email. Your online business will generate and receive a large volume of email and it is essential to be able to access and manage that email easily.
So far, so good. We've chosen our domain name, researched and chosen our keywords, decided on a host for our site and set up a dedicated business email address. It's time to take a look at email auto-responders. Very simply, email auto-responders send out an "opt in" email to individuals (leads) who have expressed an interest in owning a home based internet businesses. This is not spam! In fact, all of the auto-responders I use are 100% spam free and, believe me, they monitor it exhaustively. If the person(lead) expressing interest in internet business receives the opt in email and clicks on the confirmation link in the email, it triggers a group of follow up emails that you can write yourself or you can join a program that provides that service. The person can also "opt out" of receiving any more emails by clicking the appropriate link in the email. You can find programs that will write and install your entire email follow up campaign for free. I like that word "free".
Once you get your auto-responder working for you, you can allow your campaign to build a list of "opted in" subscribers that might eventually become customers or affiliates. Keep in mind that we're talking about sending thousands of emails to prospective home based internet business owners each week. Take a look at the number of emails you receive each week. Multiply that by several hundred thousand. It takes time to build a list of prospective customers. The key is in the follow up.
The most interesting aspect of running an online business for me is the hosts, auto-responders, lead companies, etc. that I use will also allow me to make money by advertising their services on my site. This is called "affiliate marketing" and it is huge. So, you are not only a customer of these services that are essential to online business, you now also "sell" their services on your site, even if your site has nothing to do with home based internet business resources. The cool thing is that you can be confident in promoting the performance of the services you are using because you have personal experience with them. Nothing speaks as boldly as personal experience.
This is the basic formula for virtually every online business I have researched and I have digging for legitimate opportunities for 5 years. Don't forget to look for my follow up articles which will explore in depth each of the areas we've covered in this article.
Remember, "Nothing Happens Until You Swing".
by Joe Roberts
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