Saturday, November 29, 2008

Getting Your Name Out-the Best Online Advertising

By Don Bethune

Everyone can have a website these days, but it takes talent to get a lot of traffic without spending a lot of money. It is not all about traffic, but the right kind of traffic. It all starts with a well thought out marketing strategy.

There are numerous ways to increase your website traffic successfully, however, if you are limited on the amount of time and money that you can spend advertising your start up, there are some very specific steps that you need to take in order to maximize your time and your budget.

When you first tackle advertising, it may seem that putting your name anywhere and everywhere is a good idea. However, quantity is not nearly as important as quality. Instead of putting your name everywhere, put it where your potential customers are more likely to be.

Don't spend your precious time trying to sell your home-made beef jerky to vegetarians. While they may applaud your enthusiasm and original use of spices, they are not too likely to purchase from you. Similarly, you wouldn't want to advertise to traffic on office supply sites; its just too random for some people. Knowing your audience will save you time and money, and that is the goal.

Now that you have thought about the type of people you want to advertise to you need to find them. One possibility is hooking up with one of the hundreds of websites that generate lists of people, organized by their expressed interests. Those lists will enable you to focus your advertising and increase traffic.

These websites are much easier to find than you might initially think, and are usually very affordable. Reputable mailing list merchants will have email lists that are readily available categorized based on past purchases and major life events, and a variety of other variables obtained from surveys or public data. Many of these lists will come with a guarantee if the address information is incorrect so you arenat wasting your advertising dollars on a mailbox no longer in use.

Even though email lists are a very cheap and effective way to increase traffic, but some precautions are also needed. In order to conform with the spam laws you must include a unsubscribe link near the bottom of the message. That simple link will keep your messages legal! Usually, however, your list will contain more potential buyers than unsubscribers.

Mailing lists have proven themselves to be the quickest marketing technique to effectively increase website traffic. Advertising this way is the top method to get your name and brand to a large, specific group. It is also gives the best return on your investment. - 15478

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