As
an Internet entrepreneur for 12 years, you would think I would have
mastered every way there is to advertise my businesses. Unfortunately,
this has not been the case. I searched with no organized plan for free
sites and tried a few during these years. One limitation I’ve had was
available funds to buy ads. Many people have been successful with free
classifieds, but this is a lot of trouble; first you have to find
suitable sites, and second, it requires a lot of time to repetitiously
post to these sites. This was not for me, so I tried a little
pay-per-click, not staying with it long enough to learn how to do it, or
to see any results. Finally, it became clear that a detailed plan of
search needs to be in place, and any decisions based on the results must
be applied on a continuous basis, whether paid ads or free.With this new knowledge, I remembered that somewhere on the SFI Website there is a lot of information about using classified ads, so I found most of these references and decided this should be the base for finding adequate advertising for my businesses. This article shares my findings with you in the hope it will save you a lot of research time. All searches were limited to two Google pages, about 20 listings.
Alexa is used extensively to exclude all sites for which the viewership ranks over the 20,000 threshold, because higher numbers mean less traffic. The highest traffic site on Alexa is Google, traffic rank number 1. Alexa gives several traffic rank numbers�the idea with the classified sites is more traffic to the main site has to mean greater traffic to the advertisements as well. The other feature we used was the “Sites Linking in” data. Some Websites have thousands of other URLs linked to them; I chose the high traffic links in the first 20 for each advertising site; there usually were not a lot of links allowing ads, and a few of these were eliminated because they cost over $500 USD (a limit I set), or they do not accept the kinds of ads most Internet entrepreneurs will use. You will soon realize the need for a personal domain to get around some restrictions imposed by a few of the better sites�this could be the subject of another article, but we will not mention it further here; just be aware.
A very popular advertising site is Google’s AdWords. We are not discussing it in this article, because it is thoroughly discussed on the Google site. It is very popular, and I suggest you take a look for yourself; there is an involved learning curve required to effectively use the system. Many users say AdWords is very effective, though it has not produced much for me in the two months I’ve been using it. Try it�you can always quit.
The first place I looked was the SFI Forum where there is a post by Seraphin 8398877 under board index “R - Referring TripleClicks Customers” where he lists three ad sites he says have very few SFI ads. This is a very good idea, because it means those who view your SFI ads will have little competition from similar advertisers. The bad thing is none of those qualify for my 20,000 Alexa traffic rank cut off. However, the low competition factor is significant, and the person suggesting this is an SFI affiliate trying to do the same thing we are, so let’s discuss them.
The Australia site, AUFreeAds.com, has no...
USA ranking at all; users are located in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. They allow ads covering multiple categories and across several regions. This means your ads could be found by prospects in the US and Canada even though this site has no ranking in these places. Regular classifieds are free; just click “Post a Classified.” Keep your ad at the top by frequent updating.
The USA site, USNetAds.com, is ranked by Alexa USA at 83,000. Almost the first thing you will see in the top left corner of the Webpage is “Click Here to Post Ad.” Click and you’re on your way to a free classified, no registration or anything. You can keep your ad at the top of the list by editing it and simply clicking the “Update” button.
The UK site, UKFreeADS, is ranked by Alexa USA at 526,041. It’s simple to post a classified; just click “Click Here to Post Ads” at the top left of home page. There is no registration or other action required. All you must do is post your ad. You can keep your ad at the top of the list just by updating.
It is not really a good practice to reveal good advertising sites to others, like the affiliate did on the Forum, because it just dilutes the worth of those sites by attracting many competing ads. Makes sense, but it is natural to help people in the same situation you are; there are many experts who say giving always gets more than you gave. You must make up your mind about this. In this case, you may decide to avoid the three sites suggested in the Forum because of their very low traffic.
Everyone advises that searching for “free classified ads” shows sites that offer free advertising, so only prospects looking for free advertising will go to them. What you need to do is search for terms that represent what you and others would look for in an Internet business. This, too has some problems when using very common terms everyone might use, like "home-based business," "work at home," "work from home." So Mr. Little suggests very creative terms like "affiliate program," or "reseller," or "partner program." In this article we used common terms everyone uses, the creative terms Mr. Little suggests, the free classified sites, and the links associated with those sites. You have a real variety, and you can use those you feel will help you based on traffic rank and other features of the various sites. You need to track your ads for some period of time to see which URLs are bringing you prospects. Advertising is a continuing process, not something you can try once and forget.
Using the search term "affiliate program" there was one result:
Bidvertiser..com, with an Alexa rank of 4,303.
This is a cost-per-click bidding system that allows you to advertise text ads on sites of your choice. Simply create your text ad, choose the categories to advertise in, set the maximum price-per-click you are willing to pay and your ads will instantly start appearing. There is no minimum spending limit or time commitment. After opening an advertiser account you can add to your account any amount of funds that suits your budget.
Using the search term "reseller" there was one result:
Web Host Directory has an Alexa traffic rank of 8,165.
This site offers free listings that are spread over a wide variety of Websites in three categories, including Social Bookmarks like del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, or Digg, Social Marketing sites such as Twitter, Facebook, or FriendFeed, and Social News with Google News or Yahoo! News. More advertising is available with various fees (you must contact them for quotes in these areas) in these categories:
- Spotlight Listings, a targeted method directed specifically at prospects most likely to use your offering.
- Banner Advertising with various prominent positions on the Website.
- Pay Per Click allows you to control you costs.
- Homepage Sponsorship gets you a prominent listing on homepages throughout the system.
- Text Ads are available in prominent positions on homepages.
- There is a Lead Generation program where this company will generate targeted leads for you. Depending on your budget, his could be a very useful Website.
The term “part time business” found these Websites:
BusinessNation.com has an Alexa traffic rank of 16,465. For Classified rates go here. There is a $29 setup fee, then $9.95 per month. There is another page showing Other Business Opportunities.
PowerHomeBiz.com has an Alexa traffic rank of 12,983. The Website says, “PowerHomeBiz.com is the premier destination for home-based entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals. We present advertisers with an effective media tool to:
- Reach small business owners, start-up entrepreneurs and web site owners in the small office, home office (SOHO) market.
- Reach audiences who actively participate with our
content—they seek information, look for answers to their business
problems, and generally stay longer than the normal Web user.
- Deliver messages in a focused, uncluttered environment.
- Develop long-term personal relationship with the target market.
The term “Internet business” showed no advertising sites with suitable traffic.
The term “make money online” found John Chow.com with an Alexa traffic rank of 4,001. The site claims over 300,000 page views per month from some 200,000 unique visitors. They say they are targeted to Internet entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers. Ads start at $200 per month on a month to month basis, automatically renewing through PayPal until cancellation. There are many ad options including a special Premium Ad Sponsorship; rates must be requested.
An interesting aspect of JohnChow.com is it won the 2007 Performancing Blog Award for Most Controversial Blog. This shows how diverse the various interests on this blog are. Among other things, you can find many articles on how to make money on the Internet, especially from blogs.
The term “home business” found ShoeMoney.com with an Alexa traffic rank of 2,316. The site offers free classifieds; you must register free to use the classified Marketplace. There is also an Advertising area where you must contact ShoeMoney for rates and other details. This blog has been listed in Technorati’s top 100 most read blogs for the past five years. The blog has a readership of more than 35,000 unique visitors every day. In addition to advertising, there are several attractive money-making ideas on the site.
One way to use this article is to sort advertising sites according to Alexa ranking. This will tell you the most likely places to attract prospects according to the traffic they have. Then you can separate those that have fees from the free ones and try a few of the ones that appear best for you. If your budget allows, you would do well to try one or two that charge because the simple fact of a fee will scare off much of your competition.
There is not enough room here to discuss the sites found under the free search terms, so they will be covered in another article entitled “MORE MOSTLY FREE CLASSIFIED AD SITES.” There are quite a few of them, so be sure to read this next article when it becomes available.
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