Fool-Proof Advertising
Tactics to Save You Time AND Money
©1999,
by Harmony Major
There
are several ways in which F.A.T. can save you time and money. What?
No, I don't mean the cellulite on the backs of your thighs, I mean
"Foolproof
Advertising Techniques" -- in ezines.
Whatever
you're trying to promote online, ezine advertising is *definitely*
one
of the most effective ways to do it. But, you have to make sure
that you're
doing it right, or it'll flop ... just like any other poorly executed
advertising
campaign. But, before we get down to the nitty-gritty of ezine advertising,
let's 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 don't 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 you're
showing
your ad to have a DEFINITE interest in whatever you're 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 -- you've
just got to
be a bit creative. But, for best results, DON'T expect much from
advertising in
ezines that offer free ads! Why? Because, these don't usually work!
This means
that the ezine publisher is either:
(a)
Trying to build their subscriber database, which means that your
ad won't
get a lot of exposure anyway;
(b)
Sending their ezine to a bunch of people that don't 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, let's
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, there's 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, you'll
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, it's 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 you're willing to compete
with, or you
won't 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 it's also the most overlooked. If the ads
are at the end of
the ezine, make sure there's a reason for the subscriber to scroll
down that far.
Is there advertising info, a contest announcement, etc.? If there's
nothing there
but the copyright info and disclaimer, you're 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
you're targeting
your prospects right, and to find out if the ezine is even worth
the advertising
dollars. If the ezine doesn't have any useful or interesting content,
chances are,
the subscriber won't be too eager to read it. And, they'll most
likely skip right over
your ad.
(d) How many subscribers do they have? This one isn't as important
as the others,
but you still need to consider it. If the first three rules are
followed, this one won't
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, it's 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, they're 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
doesn't 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 aren't given the impression that they're just a
bunch of hype and
scams, they're 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 other's ad in your
respective ezines
at no cost. BUT, if you don't 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, they'll
likely take you up on the offer. You may want to offer them that's
a little more
valuable than what you're 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. Don't just settle for "getting listed."
Use her instantlyeffective
tactics to boost your site traffic with a TOP Yahoo listing! Visit:
http://YahooSecrets.com
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