Thursday, May 1, 2008

12 Cheap Ways to Advertise Your Internet Business

By Jason Pearson

New online business owners are usually either completely at a loss or overwhelmed with their advertising options. While it is an important part of your budget and business plan, it is not as challenging as it seems. With a smart combination of both online and offline marketing, you can run a more focused and effective marketing campaign.

Keeping your prospects in mind is always the first step in shaping your advertising. Rest assured that whatever your niche, you need to formulate an aggressive internet marketing plan, even if you cater to residents only in your locality. Choose from the following list of possible online marketing ventures.

1. Use pay-per-click ads.

2. E-zines

3. Forums

4. Exchange ads with affiliated businesses.

5. Join forums and post entries for free.

6. Sign up for ezine ads.

7. Promotional articles

Don't forget to consider traditional advertising options to include alongside your online efforts. For very little investment they can reach a large number of people who may or may not be qualified buyers in your area. Since you can reuse information and graphics that were originally designed for your website or online marketing campaign you also save a little money in that regard.

1. Local Shopper or Pennysaver newspapers

2. Local cable network

3. Participate in local direct mail coupon packs.

4. Get your promotional materials included in a direct mail package in your area.

5. Press releases

6. Newspaper and magazine ads in your region may cost the most, but reach a certain desirable demographic as well.

Reassess the effectiveness of each of your advertising efforts often. This way you can dial down to only the methods that are producing the most sales. This means you must include a way of tracking how customers found your business with each type of ad.

While all these methods can be very effective, you should not underestimate the power of offering a pleasant and rewarding shopping experience. Each happy customer will pass along the news to others. This kind of advertising is free but means you must emphasize excellent customer service.

People looking to buy things online want easy answers within minutes. For this reason, your website is an essential part of a successful business. It is not the only part, however. In addition to having a fully functional and visually appealing web page, you must explore a variety of advertising to keep customers coming your way.

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