So you have an online business. Have you checked out the competition lately - whew! In order to compete you need to be savvy with your advertising. You will need to do both online advertising and off line advertising in order to have a well rounded program. What are some of the advertising methods popular today? Let's go over a few right now.



Consider this scenario: In your hometown you want to open an art supply store. In that same town there are thousands of art supply stores. In order for your business to be successful, it will have to stand out in some way from the others. You didn't expect to not need to advertise - did you? You didn't think that your customers would magically appear - did you?

Ezine advertising is popular. Ezines are the magazines of the internet. Most of them cover a particular subject matter and people subscribe to them as they would a magazine that comes to the door. Therefore, ezine readers are already potential customers and advertising your site in ezines that are related to your business is almost guaranteed to help drive traffic to your site and increase sales for your product. You should be sure when advertising in ezines that you are not advertising along side

competitors. Ask the ezine producer if there is a policy concerning posting competing ads. It is also a good idea to subscribe to the ezine before making a decision about whether or not to advertise in it. An ezine that runs fewer ads is a better choice than one that runs many ads. You can look at the online Directory of Ezines to find publications that are relevant to your company.

Pay-per-click programs are an excellent way to advertise your business without taking a risk that you have advertised in the wrong place. With pay-per-click, you can advertise you site and only pay for those who click the link and go to your site. Another popular pay-per program is the pay-per-lead program that allows you to only pay for leads. Usually this means that you pay for only those who download a trail, fill out a form or enter a sweepstakes, whatever you choose. These can be great but they must contain the right information and keywords and can be tricky to understand and use.

Opt-In email is a great way to advertise your business, however it is expensive and it can be

misused very easily. Using opt-in emails, you would submit your sales copy to the company that will in turn email it to those on their mailing list. You should be very careful since some of the companies that advertise their mailing lists as opt-in email service is sometimes really SPAM. You must find a reputible company for this service. You can use an autoresponder program to put a preloaded amount of information in the form of articles, newsletters, training, etc. and program the autoresponder to send one out every couple of days. The good thing about this is that your first mailing should include yet another way for your lead to confirm that they are indeed interested in you product. Once they say yes - you can begin sending them the information. In this way you are not Spamming.

Reputable 'fresh' opt-in or the now popular double opt-in leads are expensive but you are paying for quality and for customers that are basically ready to buy so it can be a very valuable tool. Without and effective sales copy your money and time have been wasted.

Always put a sig file attachment to any mail you sent out to anyone or anytime you post in a forum. This sig file is a bit like leaving your business card behind. It should contain a quick sentence about your site and the address. Hey - it's free advertising! So is writing articles, posting in forums and making your own blog!

You can submit ads to ad directories, online newspapers, and companies that will distribute your ad to hundreds of thousands of customers. Just remember - your ad must be different than the competition and you will need to play with it at first to get the response you are looking for.

How about offline advertising? Well there are tons of options there too. If your funds are limited simply print up business cards and flyers and post them wherever you go. Get some bumper stickers made up and put them on your car. I made my own on my computer with magnetic paper found at the office supply store. Have some pens or a give away item made up to keep your name in front of the customer. Advertise in local newspapers, college papers, penny savers, any where you can think of!

Remember to treat your business and your customers professionally. Advertise professionally and you will gain a positive reputation and your products will also be seen as positive so more people will buy from you - that is your goal - isn't it? Good luck.

Kathy Wozniak is a successful internet marketer, She has published many articles on home based businesses and internet marketing.