New marketers often come online, hoping to make their fortune, but the success rate is slim. According to Ken McArthur at AffiliateShowcase.com, it's only 5%. The reasons for that difference between the successful and the unsuccessful are myriad, but one reason is that folks don't advertise enough or in the right ways. Did you know that there are some great free ways to get all the visitors you need?

The best free advertising online today comes from three distinct practices:

* Writing a blog

* Writing articles

* Using traffic exchanges

Let's look at these three methods a bit closer.

Writing a blog is simple and anyone can do it. “Web logs,” or as we've come to call them—blogs, can be about anything, but I'd advise you to write about something you know well. What's your passion or hobby? Do you have some specialized knowledge that you can rely on to write a blog that others will subscribe to and enjoy? Those are good places to start. But whatever the subject may be, you can capitalize by advertising the site you want to promote in a sidebar to the blog, where space is provided for you to enter links and text ads. Or, you can include information about a product that complements what you're writing about from another source. For instance, if you're writing a blog about fly fishing, use it to advertise books about fly fishing that are available at Amazon.com with an affiliate link.

The second avenue to great free advertising is article writing. Again, you'll want to write about things you know. For instance, if you're the head of the PTA, you may have some great ideas about fund-raising. Or, if you're a banker, you may want to write about different types of investment opportunities. Whatever you write about should be accurate and concise for two reasons: you want the article to be accepted by distribution sites and you want people to enjoy your writing. This may prompt them to find other articles that you have written online and allow you to build a following. Once you have a regular reader core and have branded yourself as an author, people are more willing to join your program or pay for your product. Plus, once distributed, your article may sit on dozens of sites, rather than just one, giving you much broader exposure. Use a “resource box,” which is article-jargon for “signature file,” to advertise your opportunity because unlike blogs, you can't write whatever you want. Articles should never be blatant advertisements.

When it comes to attracting visitors, traffic exchanges have a similar effect, though the results are more immediate. The premise of a traffic exchange is that you view other advertisers' sites so that they will view yours. This is accomplished via many different means from clicking on words, numbers, or symbols to move to the next ad, or with some, by clicking text ads. Other than “pro” traffic exchanges, which charge for memberships, most traffic exchanges are free to join. The amount of advertising you receive is only limited by the amount of time you want to “surf” others' sites. It's a fast, easy way to get the job done.

Because each method of advertising has a unique way of attracting visitors, spending time cultivating all three options is advisable. Yet, if you want to be taken seriously, it's best to learn how to write cogently before plunging in headlong. A negative first impression can color a reader's opinion of you forever. Make that first encounter a good one. Since traffic exchanges take no time and little consideration to produce results, start there and expand to the other avenues of traffic as your writing ability grows. Next thing you know, you'll need more bandwidth to accommodate all the visitors clamoring to support you!