| Maximize Your Online Advertising Dollars (part 1) | | | | of beer, from viewing an ad on a traffic exchange, or |
| How much do you spend advertising your online | | | | a classified. These companies purchase targeted |
| business? How much money are you making from | | | | advertising because it works! |
| your online business? The two are directly related. | | | | So what about free advertising? |
| The adage, "You have to spend money to make | | | | 1. Free advertising isn't really free. It takes a great deal |
| money..." is an undeniable truth. You can't very well sell | | | | of time to post free advertisements all over the net. |
| products if people don't know about them, and the | | | | Most people who rely on free ad sites spend hours |
| way to tell people about what you've got, is to | | | | and hours, each day, to post their ads. |
| advertise. | | | | So what's your time worth, $10, $15, $20 per hour? |
| ADVERTISING COSTS MONEY. | | | | Let's say that you spend 20 hours per week, posting |
| Big corporations spend millions of dollars to advertise | | | | to free ad sites. At $15 per hour, you've just spent |
| their products. Now, they wouldn't spend all of this | | | | $300! That's right, $300 in just one week. |
| money on advertising if it didn't generate more in | | | | How many sales have you made? |
| revenue than they originally spent. The key here is to | | | | 2. Free advertising online does nothing to target your |
| put your advertising dollars where they will be the | | | | audience. In most cases, free advertising venues are |
| most effective. You must target your audience. | | | | actually counterproductive. You are promoting your |
| Think about this: | | | | products to sellers, not those who are looking to buy |
| Why do you always see cereal and toy commercials | | | | your stuff. This is about as effective as running an ad |
| during Saturday morning cartoons, but you never see | | | | for a diaper service in, 'Hot Rod Magazine,' or classic |
| beer commercials in the same time slot? Because | | | | car parts in, 'Ladies Home Journal.' |
| Saturday morning TV viewers are children. Kids eat | | | | Free advertising, for the most part, is expensive and |
| cereal and play with toys. They don't drink beer. | | | | wasteful. In this case, you've spent $300 worth of your |
| The commercials are targeting the children because | | | | time promoting to the wrong people. Again, how many |
| they are selling children's products. Once a kid has it | | | | sales have you made? |
| set in his mind that he has to have that cereal, or toy, | | | | If you want to make money, you've got to spend it. |
| the advertiser's job is done. The child then goes to his | | | | And what's more, you've got to spend it in the right |
| parents and creates his own sales pitch to Mom and | | | | place. |
| Dad. And we all know how persuasive children can be | | | | Target your market, and sell to buyers. The best way |
| when they want something. | | | | to do this is to first establish who your market is, and |
| Beer commercials, on the other hand, are slotted for | | | | then get yourself into the search engine results for that |
| prime time TV, because that is when adults are | | | | market, based on the keywords they are using in their |
| watching. | | | | searches. |
| Maximize your advertising dollars by targeting your | | | | Consumers do not sign up to traffic exchanges to find |
| audience. Sell to those who are looking to buy what | | | | what they are looking for. That would be an incredible |
| you have to offer. | | | | waste of their time, surfing sites for hours on end, |
| Why spend money on advertising, when there are so | | | | hoping to find what they need. They do go to search |
| many free advertising options available? Before I | | | | engines to locate what they're after. So, it just makes |
| answer that question, let me ask another... | | | | sense to spend some of your advertising dollars, |
| Do you ever see advertisements for Miller High Life, or | | | | getting yourself in front of your market through search |
| Coors on a traffic exchange? No. The marketing | | | | engine placement. |
| executives for these companies know where their | | | | Take that $300 of your time and convert it into cash. |
| market is; not in front of a computer screen, but in | | | | Spend it on a targeted advertising campaign, and |
| front of a television. They spend millions of dollars for a | | | | make money selling your product to those who are |
| Super Bowl ad, because they know that a large | | | | indeed looking for it. You are sure to yield a better |
| portion of Super Bowl viewers are also beer drinkers. | | | | return on your investment, and it will cost you less, in |
| That investment generates tens of millions of dollars in | | | | the long run, than spending hours plugging away at |
| sales. I doubt anyone would be moved to buy a case | | | | posting free ads everywhere, or surfing for traffic. |