Online Advertising Methods
By Trina L.C. Schiller
When marketing a product, or service off line, it seems that your advertising options are pretty straight forward. You can use newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, business cards, direct mail, radio and even television, if your budget allows. None of these options are difficult to understand, or implement. But when it comes to marketing online, it”s a whole new ball game, isn”t it?
There are so many more advertising options online, and every venue claims to be the best; so where does one start? What options really are the best? Let”s start by looking at what is available.
safe lists
traffic exchanges: start page programs, exit programs, etc..
link exchanges
banner ads
classifieds
FFAs (free for alls) link farms
bulletin boards
bulk mailing
ezine ads
RSS advertising
article publication
press releases
ad swapping
paid to read, paid to click, paid to surf…
The list could go on, but I am going to focus on these methods, being the most popular and well known options. For the sake of thoroughness, and space, this article is the first in a series, examining all of these methods of advertising, starting with email advertising.
The options that fall into the category of email marketing are: safe lists, ezines, bulk mailing, and article submissions.
Safe lists are an option bywhich you sign up to be a part of the list you are going to send mail to. Most have different membership levels, which dictate when you can send, how many you can send to and how much mail you will receive in return. As a free member to a safe list, you are going to receive a lot of mail, all ads from other members of the list.
Since free members do get a virtual ton of mail, most free members don”t bother reading much, if any of it. Therefore, it is preferrable to purchase paid memberships to these lists. Paid members usually receive mail from other paid members only, reducing the amount of mail received, and increasing the chances of getting your ad read.
Using safe lists requires stamina. In order to use them effectively, other than purchasing a membership, one must mail to them each and every day, without fail. You must use attention getting headlines, and your copy must be in top form, because the competition is fierce.
Ezine ads come in a few of different forms. There are classified ads, sponsorship ads and solo ads, as well as article submissions.
Classified ads are typically grouped together, just as they are in print publications, while sponsorship ads occur throughout the actual copy of the ezine. Price is dictated by the position of the ad within the copy. Top sponsor ads costing more than ads placed in the middle, or near the end. Alternately, you can purchase a solo ad, which is mailed separately from the actual ezine, without other advertisements.
Article submissions are a great way to get free advertising within ezines, because publishers are always looking for quality content to give their readers. Just be sure that what you are submitting is an article and not a solo ad, and you”ll do fine.
Ezine advertising has been, and still continues to be, the most popular and affordable method of email advertising. Basically, you are renting the publisher”s list, which is much easier than trying to establish your own list to mail to. However, because of bulk mailing, all email advertising, ezine advertising as well, has become less effective than it once was. The competition here, is in the number of emails in the inbox of another. Again, you must have an attention grabber for a headline, and good, solid copy to go with it.
Bulk mailing was popular until the CAN-SPAM ACT came along. Actually, the CAN-SPAM Act is the direct result of over zealous bulk mailers. It is not a marketing method I recommend. It is expensive, risky, and the liklihood of getting your ad read is slim to none, even if you do manage to get through the filters, managing the inboxes of the net.
These are the basic email marketing options available. However, you can always create and publish your own ezine, and take a stab at building your own list.
The Trii-Zine Ezine
www.ezines1.com
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