Where should I advertise my Business?
Answer:
Advertising is one of the most effective ways to attract
new customers and add additional sales to your business.  The answer to the question of where you should advertise your business depends on who your primary customer is.  You need to advertise your business where prospective customers are likely to see your message.

Many people immediately think of broadcast advertising in the form of television and radio commercials when they think about advertising options.  Television can be a very appropriate advertising medium in situations where you need to reach a large audience with a visual message.  While television advertising allows you to reach a large number of people, it can be an expensive advertising medium, particularly for a small or start-up business.  Television is also difficult to measure the effectiveness of a campaign or better yet a return on investment.  Still, if you run a local, retail type or consumer service oriented company then Television is still a good option. Check out SpotRunner.com as they provide a quick, user friendly commercial opportunity for small business owners. Radio can be an effective medium for building frequency of message exposure but again it's difficult to measure the effectiveness of the campaign.  Radio spots can be very affordable but you'll spend a decent amount on a voiceover depending of course on who you hire.  Check out Voices.com for an affordable and cool Voiceover solution.
 
Now that I mentioned TV and Radio I'd recommend you don't try these mediums first.  There are more affordable, easier advertising solutions.  TV and Radio is a great vehicle if you have an established product and you know your margins.  A start up company or small business just getting into advertising may want to consider a local news paper ad or perhaps Internet Advertising.

Internet advertising is becoming an increasingly popular medium for business owners.  In today’s business environment, having a website has become a necessity for most businesses.  Having a high-quality online presence lends credibility to new businesses, and provides a resource for customers who are seeking services like the ones your business provides.  Money invested in creating an attractive, appealing, search engine optimized website is money well spent for virtually every business. Click here to read our "How do I create a website and get my Business Online? " topic. 

Once you have your own website, you may want to consider using the internet to advertise your business to web surfers in your target audience.  Online pay-per-click advertising programs, such as Google AdWords , Yahoo! Search Marketing and MSN AdCenter , allow you to target messages to customers in specific geographic areas who are actively searching the Internet for services just like the ones you provide.  You only pay when a user clicks through the ad to your website.  This can be a very inexpensive means of generating pre-qualified website traffic.  I would recommend staying away from the smaller Pay Per Click Search Engines as they usually have very little click fraud software in place so your conversions and traffic quality is very low.  Additional opportunities for online advertising include listing your company in online directories and placing advertisements in e-zine publications that reach your target market.  Perhaps find a local website that isn't utilizing their ad space effectively.  Contact them and see if the would like to advertise your website for a monthly fee.  Be sure to ask for traffic information before negotiating on price. If a site gets 1,000 unique visitors per day and is a Page Rank 6 then it may make sense to purchase a $200/month text link or banner link to attract some customers.  Try it for a month and move on if it doesn't convert.  You'll want to convert your Internet traffic into customers so no matter what your product or service offerings are be sure to have some form of contact or communication available on your site.  An 800 number or perhaps an online lead form is the best way to collect visitor information and potentially turn the visitor into a long term client.  Affiliate Marketing is another effective way to market your products or services online.  Affiliate Networks such as Commission Junction or Affiliate Fuel have relationships with numerous publishers that are willing to display your advertisement in exchange for a percentage of the sale.  Such online campaigns are known as CPA campaigns or pay-for-performance ad campaigns in which the Advertiser benefits in that they only pay for a sale or lead.

There are also many options for print advertising.  A local Newspaper can be an excellent advertising choice when your customers are adults who reside in a specific geographic location.  Many daily newspapers have affordable options for zoned advertising, so you can place you advertising so that it will reach readers within a certain radius of your business.  This can be cost effective option for companies that do not target customers across the entire metropolitan area reached by sometimes costly full-circulation newspaper advertising.    

Additionally, you can select specific sections of the newspaper that appeal to your target customer.  For example, if you own a restaurant, it makes sense to place your newspaper advertisements in the entertainment section of the paper.  If your business specializes in sports memorabilia, it makes sense to place you ads in the sports section.  Additional print advertising options include outdoor, magazines, newsletters, and special interest publications.  If your primary customer base is a specific group, such as nurses in Alabama, there is probably a special interest publication that reaches them. 

Search the Gebbie Press media directory for a complete list of media outlets and trade publications that reach your target audience.  Your local chamber of commerce is also likely to publish a directory of local media outlets and contacts.

Finally, consider a press release.  A press release can be professionally written about a website launch, product or service launch, service modification or just about anything you want to publish.  The more interesting the release the more likely it will be picked up by news sources.  The more sources your message is displayed in the more internet traffic you get.  Try PRWeb for attractive press release options.

Keep in mind that you must consider reach and frequency when making decisions about where to place your advertising messages.  You have to reach the right people with your message an appropriate number of times.  People don’t make purchasing decisions the first time they see an advertisement.  They generally have to be exposed to your message between 3 and 5 times before deciding to take action.
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written by ni2008 , February 10, 2009

Great information. I have an online business and I have been submitting my website to a whole bunch of directories online. One of which is giving me much more hits than others. www.servprousa.com sign up is free, it's working well for me so far smilies/wink.gif


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