Is Your Business Getting Exposure?

By Debbie Solomon
Posted Sunday, August 22, 2004

The funniest thing I see when I surf the net, are the Home Business Opportunity Ads that say it is totally FREE. Yes, there are many businesses that require NO initial investment, BUT, you still have to invest. How will you get your business noticed? Do you really think FFA Links and Free Classified Ads are the key? Or do you think that submitting your site to search engines will do the trick? Though Search engines are important, it is not the bread and butter of exposure.

Lets just open our eyes and look at the truth. NOTHING is totally for FREE. You may get a product or website for FREE, in order to start your business, however, you will need to invest time, energy, and YES< Money. In order to make money you have to spend money. Many many people are starting businesses on the internet everyday. When you first start a business, there is no income, so how are you to invest part of your profits when you don't have any yet? To make it simple for you.... don't start a business without any savings put aside. You do not need thousands of dollars. But I do suggest you have a couple hundred dollars put aside to kick start your advertising campaign for your business. This is the first step of DOING IT RIGHT.

So WHEN do you start investing in your business?
TODAY!
We are not rich, but in order for you to become successful, advertising is the KEY. REAL ADVERTISING does cost money. Believe it or not, Internet Advertising is fairly cheap. You can work your way up to larger advertising campaigns. But you do need to start off some where.

THE KEY:
Is your email and your website. That is what is going to sell your business. AN AD is just an invitation. Make it short, to the point, and include the benefits people will receive just by looking at your site and emailing you for more information. Your AD copy is a crucial part of your advertising campaign. It is a formal invitation, so make it good. Forget about bogus headlines, like; $$$MAKE ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN YOUR FIRST WEEK$$$
It just does not work. People are NOT fooled by that headline anymore.

Here are some forms of advertising that is very important and very inexpensive:

**The hottest form of advertising is in newsletters and ezines.
They have targetted markets with maximum exposure. If you would like to know where to find these ezines and newsletters, here are a few directories:

(http://www.netmastersolutions.com/search.htm)
(http://www.list-city.com/ezines.htm)
(http://www.homeincome.com/search-it/ezine/)
(http://www.e-zinez.com/cgi-bin/hyperseek/hyperseek.cgi)

You may want to subscribe to quite a few of them before you purchase anything. Check out there format. Research their publication frequency and their subscriber base. Even though the ezines and newsletters with the higher subscriber base is the way to go; personally I tested some of my ad copies out on the smaller ones cause the cost of an AD is so much cheaper. When I found one that went over well, I purchase space in an ezine or newsletter with an larger subscriber base.

**Joint Ventures
Believe it or not, this is also great advertising, and it costs nothing. I research sites that have products or services that will enhance my product.
When I find one that I feel is successful and content rich, I email the person and offer a joint venture. Basically all you want to do is exchange banners
and links to increase traffic to each others site.

**Newsgroups and Message Boards
This is more of a networking strategy, but it works. Pick a few newsgroups and message boards that you can relate to. Get to know the people. Let them get to know you. Everytime you leave a message, make sure you have
a SIG FILE is at the bottom. If people like what you wrote, then they see the SIG FILE and check out your site. You can work your way in about your business. It is all part of the game.

**Banners
This is a sticky situation. Banners are not what they used to be. There are so many out there that it does not bring the recognition that it used to. But it still helps immensely to a certain point. In my experience, Banner Exchanges do not necessarily work. But buying banner impressions work alot better. It can get very costly though, so beware.

**Article Publication
Write articles about your knowledge and field of expertise. Email newsletters and ezines with your article. Make sure it is within your target market. It is imperative that you have your reference box at the bottom that links to your site. You can find publishers at the above web addresses for
advertising in ezines and newsletters. This is FREE exposure. And it puts trust of knowledge into your potential customers.

These are just some of the ways to advertise on the internet. They are productive and low cost for the exposure you get. Once you become more familiar with the way the internet works, you will find what best works for you.

Just keep trying and testing and never give up. NOT all ADs and ALL forms of advertising is going to work for you. Some people LOVE doing just BANNER Ads. Some people love doing just EZINE and NEWSLETTER ADs. See what is best for you and your business. These suggestions will get you on your way to some successful exposure for your business. It will make you some profits so you will not have to dip into savings for expenses. It will Give You That LEADING EDGE!

About the Author
Debbie Solomon
Debbie is the Creator of The HomeSource Arena, which is The Leading Source in Certified Home Employment, and owner of The Online Exchange Ezine, a Top Rated, world renowned Ezine. The only Ezine that will give you
FREE Access into an Exclusive Members Only Club, just for subscribing for FREE to The OnLine Exchange Ezine. Please visit her site at:
(http://www.marketingtrendz.com) mailto:mtrendz@cs.com