Beginner Internet Marketing Center

Advertising

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There are a multitude of ways to advertise on the internet. Some are free and some are not (obviously). Take advantage of the free advertising that is offered. It is your choice but I prefer to advertise for free. Personally I don't see that free advertising has any disadvantages over paying for advertising, except that maybe you will have to work a little harder to get your website, blog or whatever you are working on out there for the public to see.

Some of the ways of advertising are:

* Safelists. If you use Safelists, be prepared for tons of email, so it is suggested that you do not use your main email account for advertising on Safelists.

* Traffic Exchanges are a good way to get your site or blog in the public eye but the downside to Traffic Exchanges are that you have to surf other websites and blogs to earn points, just as they have to look at yours to earn their points. It is a very well known fact that Traffic Exchanges can be a waste of time just for that fact. You may receive a visitor or a buyer to your site from time to time but it is not an effective way of advertising. I do use them from time to time and have seen results but not on a consistent basis.

* Forums. Joining and posting on forums is an excellent way of getting your name in the public eye. Make sure you use a link to your site or blog under your name as your signature. Most forums will allow this but check the terms before doing this. Make yourself an active member of the forum. Don't just join and start posting ads. First of all it is rude and if it is obvious you joined just to post your ad, either no one is going to pay attention or you will be banned from the forum. To learn more in depth information about forums, click on this link; "Forums and Social Sites"

* Article Marketing and writing. Article writing and marketing is a proven way of getting traffic to your site or blog. Writing articles is not as hard as you might think. Once you get started and you follow the guidelines, it is really very easy. Again, I have more information on Article Marketing and Writing on another page.

* Videos. Videos, videos and more videos are the advertising medium of choice these days to gain exposure to you and your site. Let people see who you are and give yourself credibility. People like to see who they are considering doing business with. If your funds are limited and you do not have a video camera, there are other options such as Windows Movie Maker which is a free download. Check and see, it may already be on your computer. There are lots of videos on YouTube to instruct you in how to use Windows Movie Maker. Another option is to use Xtranormal.com which uses cartoon-like characters to transform text to movies. You can sign up for a free account but your choices are limited in scenes, characters and movements. It is best and as soon as possible to make a video with at least your voice narrating and ultimately a video to let people see you speaking to them directly so they can get to know you and who you are. I have never made a live video before and I will admit I am very intimidated by the idea of doing one, but I am working up the courage to do this.

* Email. Is the most commonly used form of advertising. Make sure to put a link to your website or blog below your signature. Remember you CANNOT email people you do not know without their permission. In order to do this you have to have a sign up page for a newsletter. See List Building.

* Comments. Posting comments on blogs, videos, answering questions for people and helping people goes a long way to also letting people know who you are and that you want to help them and not just looking out for yourself.

* Yahoo Groups, MSN Groups and other discussion groups are other sources of advertising. Again read the Terms of Service as to whether you can advertise or put your links in your signature line.