Fool-Proof Advertising Tactics to Save You Time AND Money
| Category: E-zines: Advertising | Date: 2003-06-05 |
There are several ways in which F.A.T. can save you time and money. What? No, I dont mean the cellulite on the backs of your thighs, I mean "Foolproof Advertising Techniques" -- in ezines.
Whatever youre trying to promote online, ezine advertising is *definitely* one of the most effective ways to do it. But, you have to make sure that youre doing it right, or itll flop ... just like any other poorly executed advertising campaign. But, before we get down to the nitty-gritty of ezine advertising, lets answer two of the most common questions
1. Why advertise in ezines?
Ezines are one of the best forms of advertising because of your ability to target who YOU want to read your ad. You dont have to hunt your prospects down -- all you have to do is make sure you target your market correctly. When I say "target," I mean to make sure that the people that youre showing your ad to have a DEFINITE interest in whatever youre advertising.
For example, advertising your website design service in a Web design ezine is *good.* You know that Webmasters reading that ezine are looking for ways to clean up their website, or their design skills. However, advertising your website design service in a business opportunity ezine is *bad.* Sure, some of the opportunity-seekers MIGHT have a website, and they MIGHT be looking for someone to design it for them ... but why take the chance?
Ezine advertising is also one of the FASTEST ways to get results. Within minutes of subscribers reading your ad, you can be making more sales, getting more traffic to your website, or getting new subscribers to YOUR ezine. Whatever your goal is by placing your ad, it can be accomplished almost instantly.
2. What kind of advertising budget do you need to advertise in ezines?
This varies. An ezine ad can cost as much as $275 an issue .. or as little as nothing. There are a lot of ways to get free ads in ezines -- youve just got to be a bit creative. But, for best results, DONT expect much from advertising in ezines that offer free ads! Why? Because, these dont usually work! This means that the ezine publisher is either:
(a) Trying to build their subscriber database, which means that your ad wont get a lot of exposure anyway;
(b) Sending their ezine to a bunch of people that dont want it, like advertisers that posted to their FFA page; or
(c) Crazy! Why else would a publisher waste a chance to make a few honest dollars from selling their ad space?
So, now that you know the basics of advertising in ezines, lets go over *how* to pull it off!. The most important rule to follow to be sure that your ad campaign is a success is...
-> TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT EZINE!
If you skip this step, theres no point in advertising at all. This is the single most important aspect of ezine advertising, aside from targeting your market well and, (of course), writing a quality ad. To choose a quality ezine, youll need to take all of the following into account:
(a) How many ads run in each issue?
If your ad is going to be competing with 20 or 30 others, its not worth your time or your money. Your advertising dollars will get lost in the sea of advertisements -- just like your ad will. 10 to 15 ads should be the ABSOLUTE maximum number of ads youre willing to compete with, or you wont get any exposure.
(b) Where are the ads located?
If all of the ads are stuck at the very end of the ezine after all of the useful information, forget it. I know that this is the standard place for ezine ads, but its also the most overlooked. If the ads are at the end of the ezine, make sure theres a reason for the subscriber to scroll down that far. Is there advertising info, a contest announcement, etc.? If theres nothing there but the copyright info and disclaimer, youre in trouble!
(c) How good is the actual ezine?
Before you advertise in a specific publication, request a sample issue. This is your last chance to make sure that youre targeting your prospects right, and to find out if the ezine is even worth the advertising dollars. If the ezine doesnt have any useful or interesting content, chances are, the subscriber wont be too eager to read it. And, theyll most likely skip right over your ad.
(d) How many subscribers do they have?
This one isnt as important as the others, but you still need to consider it. If the first three rules are followed, this one wont make or break your ad campaign -- but, be cautious! If the ezine has 650 subscribers, excellent content, features three ads per issue, and puts the ads close to the top, more than likely, its going to be a good investment. Just make sure that ad space is reasonably priced. Likewise, if an ezine has 10,000 subscribers, features 40 ads an issue, theyre all at the bottom, and the content leaves more than a little to be desired, your ad results probably will, too!
(e) Are there usually high-quality ads featured in the ezine?
If the editor of the ezine doesnt edit out things like spelling and grammatical errors, hype, and known scams, their subscribers probably skip right over the ad section. Careless errors make both the advertiser AND the publisher look bad, and readers may get annoyed by this carelessness, thus conditioning themselves to ignore those ads.
On the other hand, if subscribers have had positive experiences with the ads in a publication, and arent given the impression that theyre just a bunch of hype and scams, theyre likely to continue to pay attention to them. This type of ezine is your BEST advertising choice.
(f) How can you get FREE ezine advertising?
The easiest and most common way to get free ads in ezines is to run ad swaps with other publishers. This is when you and another ezine publisher both offer to run each others ad in your respective ezines at no cost. BUT, if you dont have an ezine, this method could create a problem. :-) In this situation, you would simply barter for a free ad.
You can offer the publisher a service or product of equal or *greater* value in exchange for his or her ad. For example, if you run a submission service that usually costs $45, and you barter with an ezine publisher that charges $35 per ad, theyll likely take you up on the offer. You may want to offer them thats a little more valuable than what youre asking of them. This makes your proposal more attractive, thus making them more likely to accept it.
If you follow these "Foolproof Advertising Techniques" for choosing a quality ezine, your ezine advertising campaign should ALWAYS be a success. Of course, it takes trial and error when writing an effective ad and choosing the most suitable ezine to run your ad in. But, as with every important skill -- practice makes perfect. And, in this case, "practice" will definitely help pay the bills. ;-)
About the Author
Harmony Major is the author of Yahoo! Secrets, where she reveals how YOU can drive HUNDREDS more visitors to your site each day, by getting a #1 listing on Yahoo. Dont just settle for "getting listed." Use her instantly-effective tactics to boost your site traffic with a TOP Yahoo listing!
Harmony Major
Harmony@ExpertOnEbiz.com
URL
http://YahooSecrets.com
Harmony@ExpertOnEbiz.com
http://YahooSecrets.com
Whatever youre trying to promote online, ezine advertising is *definitely* one of the most effective ways to do it. But, you have to make sure that youre doing it right, or itll flop ... just like any other poorly executed advertising campaign. But, before we get down to the nitty-gritty of ezine advertising, lets answer two of the most common questions
1. Why advertise in ezines?
Ezines are one of the best forms of advertising because of your ability to target who YOU want to read your ad. You dont have to hunt your prospects down -- all you have to do is make sure you target your market correctly. When I say "target," I mean to make sure that the people that youre showing your ad to have a DEFINITE interest in whatever youre advertising.
For example, advertising your website design service in a Web design ezine is *good.* You know that Webmasters reading that ezine are looking for ways to clean up their website, or their design skills. However, advertising your website design service in a business opportunity ezine is *bad.* Sure, some of the opportunity-seekers MIGHT have a website, and they MIGHT be looking for someone to design it for them ... but why take the chance?
Ezine advertising is also one of the FASTEST ways to get results. Within minutes of subscribers reading your ad, you can be making more sales, getting more traffic to your website, or getting new subscribers to YOUR ezine. Whatever your goal is by placing your ad, it can be accomplished almost instantly.
2. What kind of advertising budget do you need to advertise in ezines?
This varies. An ezine ad can cost as much as $275 an issue .. or as little as nothing. There are a lot of ways to get free ads in ezines -- youve just got to be a bit creative. But, for best results, DONT expect much from advertising in ezines that offer free ads! Why? Because, these dont usually work! This means that the ezine publisher is either:
(a) Trying to build their subscriber database, which means that your ad wont get a lot of exposure anyway;
(b) Sending their ezine to a bunch of people that dont want it, like advertisers that posted to their FFA page; or
(c) Crazy! Why else would a publisher waste a chance to make a few honest dollars from selling their ad space?
So, now that you know the basics of advertising in ezines, lets go over *how* to pull it off!. The most important rule to follow to be sure that your ad campaign is a success is...
-> TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT EZINE!
If you skip this step, theres no point in advertising at all. This is the single most important aspect of ezine advertising, aside from targeting your market well and, (of course), writing a quality ad. To choose a quality ezine, youll need to take all of the following into account:
(a) How many ads run in each issue?
If your ad is going to be competing with 20 or 30 others, its not worth your time or your money. Your advertising dollars will get lost in the sea of advertisements -- just like your ad will. 10 to 15 ads should be the ABSOLUTE maximum number of ads youre willing to compete with, or you wont get any exposure.
(b) Where are the ads located?
If all of the ads are stuck at the very end of the ezine after all of the useful information, forget it. I know that this is the standard place for ezine ads, but its also the most overlooked. If the ads are at the end of the ezine, make sure theres a reason for the subscriber to scroll down that far. Is there advertising info, a contest announcement, etc.? If theres nothing there but the copyright info and disclaimer, youre in trouble!
(c) How good is the actual ezine?
Before you advertise in a specific publication, request a sample issue. This is your last chance to make sure that youre targeting your prospects right, and to find out if the ezine is even worth the advertising dollars. If the ezine doesnt have any useful or interesting content, chances are, the subscriber wont be too eager to read it. And, theyll most likely skip right over your ad.
(d) How many subscribers do they have?
This one isnt as important as the others, but you still need to consider it. If the first three rules are followed, this one wont make or break your ad campaign -- but, be cautious! If the ezine has 650 subscribers, excellent content, features three ads per issue, and puts the ads close to the top, more than likely, its going to be a good investment. Just make sure that ad space is reasonably priced. Likewise, if an ezine has 10,000 subscribers, features 40 ads an issue, theyre all at the bottom, and the content leaves more than a little to be desired, your ad results probably will, too!
(e) Are there usually high-quality ads featured in the ezine?
If the editor of the ezine doesnt edit out things like spelling and grammatical errors, hype, and known scams, their subscribers probably skip right over the ad section. Careless errors make both the advertiser AND the publisher look bad, and readers may get annoyed by this carelessness, thus conditioning themselves to ignore those ads.
On the other hand, if subscribers have had positive experiences with the ads in a publication, and arent given the impression that theyre just a bunch of hype and scams, theyre likely to continue to pay attention to them. This type of ezine is your BEST advertising choice.
(f) How can you get FREE ezine advertising?
The easiest and most common way to get free ads in ezines is to run ad swaps with other publishers. This is when you and another ezine publisher both offer to run each others ad in your respective ezines at no cost. BUT, if you dont have an ezine, this method could create a problem. :-) In this situation, you would simply barter for a free ad.
You can offer the publisher a service or product of equal or *greater* value in exchange for his or her ad. For example, if you run a submission service that usually costs $45, and you barter with an ezine publisher that charges $35 per ad, theyll likely take you up on the offer. You may want to offer them thats a little more valuable than what youre asking of them. This makes your proposal more attractive, thus making them more likely to accept it.
If you follow these "Foolproof Advertising Techniques" for choosing a quality ezine, your ezine advertising campaign should ALWAYS be a success. Of course, it takes trial and error when writing an effective ad and choosing the most suitable ezine to run your ad in. But, as with every important skill -- practice makes perfect. And, in this case, "practice" will definitely help pay the bills. ;-)
About the Author
Harmony Major is the author of Yahoo! Secrets, where she reveals how YOU can drive HUNDREDS more visitors to your site each day, by getting a #1 listing on Yahoo. Dont just settle for "getting listed." Use her instantly-effective tactics to boost your site traffic with a TOP Yahoo listing!
Harmony Major
Harmony@ExpertOnEbiz.com
URL
http://YahooSecrets.com
Harmony@ExpertOnEbiz.com
http://YahooSecrets.com
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