1.Classified Ads



The first you want to do is start small! Place 2-4 classified ads in the online newsletters/ezines... and wait for the results. How were they?

Good Results:

See which of the ads gave you good results and make a note of it. What you can do next is continue to place more ads in the newsletters/ezines that were profitable... or go to the next level and try out a sponsor ad (if it is offered). If a classified ad is profitable in a particular newsletter/ezine, chances are a sponsor ad will make you even MORE money!

Bad Results:

If one (or all) of your ads were not profitable, then it's time to evaluate the situation. Did your ad even go through properly (sometimes, the publisher forgets to place your ad and it never gets sent out)?. Did you place the correct URL link in the ad (I've misspelled my own URL on numerous occasions!)?.If you've done your "damage-control" checks, and everything in the ad was fine, then chances are that the newsletter/ezine you placed your ad in was either NOT targeted well, or it just sucked!

Now, you have two options - The first is to do a sponsor ad (if it is offered) because even though a classified ad may fail, a sponsor ad may turn out to be profitable. If you do decide to test out a sponsor ad in the ezine, just do ONE test to see if it really is the fact that the newsletter is bad or if it's just something else.The second step is to make a note of the "poor" results and to NEVER advertise in that newsletter/ezine again.

2.Sponsor Ads

After you've done the above step one, you can start experimenting with sponsor ads. If you recall, sponsor ads are similar to classifieds, except that they are all by themselves, usually at the very top of the ezine so they don't get lost with all the other classified ads.Because they get the "spot" light, they are a more effective form of advertising... but they are also more costly. So, once you've tried and experimented with the above classified advertising tactic, and you are more comfortable, more confident and have made some of your investment back, proceed to sponsor advertising.

Test small only 1-3 sponsor ads, wait for the results and depending on if the results were good or bad, you'll know if you have a winner or loser on your hands.Follow the same steps as I mentioned above for the classified advertising tactics.

3.Solo Mailings

One last tactic you can use is to have the editor/publisher of an ezine, send out a special "solo" mailing to all of his current subscribers. This is by far the most effective tactic... but with everything else, it also costs a lot more money.

Don't even consider solo mailings until you've done both classified and sponsorship advertising (or at least one of them and you've received good results). You can make and definitely lose a lot of money if the solo mailing does badly. There is a lot more risk involved, so proceed with caution!

Not all ezine publishers offer solo mailings. In fact, most don't. So, chances are after you've done all of your research and testing, you'll probably need to contact the publisher directly and ask them if they do offer such a service.

Most of the time, if they do at all, it needs to be reserved in advance. If your solo mailing turns out to be profitable, wait about 3-6 weeks before sending out another solo mailing to the same list.

NOTE: With classified ads... or even sponsor ads, repeated advertising bring in MORE sales. Usually, the potential customer needs to see your classified/sponsor ad a few times before they order. But, with solo mailings, one shot is all you need. Sending out too many, too often is counter productive.

Send out a solo mailing, wait for the results... use other promotional tactics... wait some more then you may want to try another solo mailing 3-6 weeks later.

As always, TEST... TEST... TEST!