3 YEARS OF WEB MARKETING IN 60 SECONDS
by Joe Bellshaw

I have now been marketing on the net for almost three years. Previously I had been a successful import/export entrepreneur for the last 12 years.

Last year I sold my old business, sold all our manufacturing equipment, leased out our 10,000 sq. foot warehouse and devoted my new full time career to marketing on the internet. ( Hmmm that sounded way too easy ) It was a major change in my life, and a new path that is now proving to be more profitable and rewarding than all of my previous careers.

When I first started out, all I wanted from the internet was to use the free resources that were so readily available. Who doesn't love the word "free"? I sure did, and judging from the top 10 keyword searches produced by most of the major search engines, a lot of other people seemed to like that word too. I did everything I could for free. i.e.: bulk email, newsgroup postings, free classified ads, free for all links, etc.

In fact, I even built an extensive web site, which focused on utilizing those free resources. I experimented with everything. I placed classified ads, I bought all the latest "promotion promising" software, I tried bulk email (which was more hassle than it's worth), I joined every known banner exchange, you name it, I tried it.

To make a long story short, the four key aspects to successful Web marketing I've learned over the years are:

1) You get what you pay for (in most cases)
2) You must offer something that relates to the masses,
or at least a sizable niche market.
3) Target, Target , Target your advertising to your audience
4) The best things in life are not always free

In my opinion, these keys to success all point to one direction,
NEWSLETTER ADVERTISING. It's cheap, it's fast, it works!

The biggest obstacle I faced when trying this new marketing medium, was the fact that it wasn't free. I simply could not get over the fact that I had to pay for advertising.

Boy was I a cheap, dumb, newbie.

I wish to God I had this information sooner. I'm sure it was out there - somewhere, I just never knew how effective it really was. Honestly, I wouldn't have even believed it had I not experienced the results for myself. (Sound familiar ?)

So I pulled out the 'ol visa card and placed my first newsletter ad. It was something like $16.00 and was mailed to about 4000 subscribers. I received a confirmation from the editor that my ad was scheduled to run in about 10 days. I basically forgot about it, and carried on with my daily routine.

About a week went by, and as usual, I checked my morning mail. I'm watching the mail come down... it says 1 of 42 messages.
What ? Did some bozo send me a mail bomb ?

After peeking through the first few messages, I then realized my newsletter ad ran. To my disbelief, I had dozens of orders and inquiries from here to New Zealand. The phone started ringing, and our server logs actually had something to log. I was completely freaked out.

The bottom line was that the $16.00 investment turned into $700 in immediate orders, plus another $200-300 that trickled in over the next few days.

Was this a some kind of magical newsletter ? I had to find out. I then went on to advertise in a different one. 10 days later, the same thing happened. I continued again, and again. Each time the results kept getting better and better. I then realized I had a winning product. I just needed it to be seen by the right customer.

I bumped up my ad budget and started securing ads in most every newsletter I could find. It didn't seem to matter which newsletter I was in, as long as the targeted audience was right.

The good thing for you, is that there are now newsletters about everything. From apples to zebra's. There's a market out there for just about anyone or anything.
A few of the requirements are:

1) a good product or service that people want
2) the ability to accept and process orders efficiently
3) at least $16 in your advertising budget
4) a targeted audience
5) honesty and integrity

Mind you there are quite a few more, but if you possess these, you're well on your way.

As much as I would like to tell you where to advertise, or which newsletter is right for you, this will solely depend on the type of product or service that you sell. They key here is finding a newsletter that reports (or writes about) the interests of your product, and maintains a targeted subscriber base.

The fastest way to find this is to run the search phrase
" newsletters " on most any search engine. You might also try
" newsletter + the type of your product/service".
 

© 2000 The Classified Club tm all rights reserved.
Publishers are given permission to re-publish this article as long as it is done so in it's entirety with no changes whatsoever, and the publisher gives appropriate credit to the author, and his web site at: http://www.classifiedclub.com