Thursday, December 4, 2008

How To Decide Between Free Or Paid Online Advertising

By Kylon Trower

The fact that you are wondering which type of advertising is better leads me to believe that you understand marketing is clearly the life blood of your online business. The large majority of your time should be spent advertising and promoting in some form or another. Let's talk about which is better between paid vs free marketing methods.

Just so that we are clear, I don't believe in free advertising. It's not that you can't advertise your business without pulling out your credit card but you can't advertise without paying a price. It's either time or money and ultimately both have a price you'll have to pay.

Now that you are clear that either way there is a cost involved you must decide how to proceed. Determining how much you time is worth or how much time you have to dedicate to your marketing efforts is the first place to start. Then you must determine your personal ability to carry out certain tasks as well.

There are some pros and cons to each from each type of advertising but I think the concept that you must keep in mind is effectiveness. If something is free and it doesn't work very well then that is of no benefit to you. Compare that to a paid ad that works and I'll take the paid ad every time.

First, let's look at free methods of advertising and how you can benefit there. This method gives you a level of "in the trenches" experience that will go a long way if you decide to use paid methods in the future. The hands on aspect of it gives you an understanding of the marketplace and how it responds to certain messages which is invaluable.

With paid advertising on the other hand, there are also some strong arguments as well. Typically with a paid advertising you can consult with vendors to determine the expected outcome based on their experience. It is leveraged so it saves you time that can be used building your business in other ways.

Now regardless which way you decide to go I recommend you set up tracking systems so you can test your results. Not knowing what's working and why it's working is one of the worst positions you can be in as a marketer. When you understand the source of your results you can make wiser decisions with both your time and money.

Your time and budget will ultimately determine which advertising methods are best for you. I suggest trying a few methods that interest you and use them until you feel comfortable and somewhat proficient. Don't try to do a little bit of everything as this does not work. Pick something, stick to it and then move to another method while tracking your results throughout. - 15634

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