The $1,000 Secret To Free Advertising

By Lisa Reddell
Posted Monday, August 9, 2004

There are a few publisher's out there who call me the "Contest Queen." Why? Because I enter a lot of contests. You're probably thinking "Yeah, so what?" Let me explain.

Ten years ago I was expecting my third child. I wanted more than anything to stay home with my children. I searched the want ads in the newspaper, visited with many District Attorneys and the Better Business Bureau (to check for consumer complaints). I'm sure the BBB was tired of me calling. I was told the same thing across the board. "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is." And of course, "Keep looking, there are legitimate work from home business opportunities out there, you just have to FIND them". Sheer determination fueled my fire and desire to work from home. Eventually, I discovered the Internet. I found an online "work from home" opportunity and decided to try it. I was led to classified ad sites. Heck, there were hundreds of
these sites and I could use them for free!

A while further down the road, I found Ezines and, HEY!, I could advertise for nothing there too! Oh Happy Days! I wanted to be able to pay for these solo ads and top sponsor ads they talked about. But I had no cash flow - none - for advertising or anything else for that matter. I noticed that many ezines had contests and the prize was, yep, you guessed it - Free Ads!

I started entering contests in a number of ezines and I began to win....a lot.

Now, understand this - utilizing contests for free advertising is a ton of work. No, seriously, it is. It is very time consuming, but I can tell you from first hand experience, it is well worth it. I enter contests daily and am a very active participant in many ezines.

I did a survey of about 40 Publishers a while back. One of the subjects I was interested in was contests. What I found out really surprised me. The majority of the Publishers said the same thing about the contests they run. Overall, only 4 to 5 percent of their subscribers entered the contests. What does that mean to you? It means that the odds of winning are GREAT, so you could can be a Contest Queen (or King!) too!

Author's Note: Another Excellent reason for entering contests, is it "brands" your name. The publisher's know who I am because I always enter their contests. Now I have an Ezine of my own, but I am still entering contests. I still don't have an advertising budget, but I am making huge accomplishments towards my goal of finally being able to purchase paid advertising. It has taken a long time, but I am almost there. Besides, good things come to those who wait:) I am only estimating, because I don't keep track of my winnings, but I would guess that last year (2002), I probably won $1000+ worth of free advertising. Now tell me the contests aren't worth entering:)

About the Author
Lisa A. Reddell is a Freelance writer, a domestic engineer, a busy mother of three, a partner in LOGON's Galleria of E-Publisher's and Co-op Owners and publishes the weekly Ezine, The Left Handed Times. Lisa has started achieving dreams of online success & YOU can too! Visit Lisa's Site (http://www.lisareddell.com) OR Email Lisa:
mailto:lisa@lisareddell.com