Web Site Promoting 101

Web Site Promoting 101
By Bill Daugherty

This article is in response to the scores of emails
I continue to receive from new web entrepreneurs.
The common theme is: They are new to Internet
marketing. They either have a new business of
their own or they have signed on as an affiliate
for some wonderful new product or service, but
they're not getting anywhere. And they want me to
tell them what they can do to get things going.

My first inclination is to send them the following
three words of advice: advertise, advertise, advertise.
I know that answer is too trite for most people's taste,
but it's great advice. However I'm sure such an answer
would spur many more emails with questions such as:
Where? How? How often? When? Really? So, I give
them a more detailed answer that I have come to call
my Web Site Promoting 101 Reply which goes
something like this:

Dear Frustrated,

Several years ago, the founder of Wrigley Chewing
Gum was on a flight from New York to his home in
Chicago. The passenger in the next seat recognized
the chewing gum tycoon and asked him a question.
"Mr. Wrigley, I know your company enjoys over 90%
of the chewing gum market. Yet, last week I read
where you are increasing your advertising budget by
over 30%. With such a large share of the market, why
do you continue to spend so much on advertising?
Why not save that money or use it for something
else?"

Mr. Wrigley replied, "how fast do you think this
airplane is flying?" The man answered,"oh, I guess
about 600 miles per hour." Mr. Wrigley responded.
"I think that's fast enough, don't you?" The man
agreed that indeed, it was fast enough. "Well then,"
asked Mr. Wrigley, "why doesn't the pilot turn off
the engines and save all that expensive jet fuel?"

The reason I started my reply to your question about
how to promote your web site with this little story, is
to illustrate just how vital a consistent flow of
advertising is to any business. It doesn't matter if
that business is online or offline. It doesn't matter
if that business is a small one-person operated web
site like yours or a giant like Mr. Wrigley's. To be
successful all businesses must advertise, advertise,
advertise. If the advertising is weak, in either quality
or quantity, the company's revenue will be weak.
You must have well written ads and you must get
your message in front of a lot of people. Selling
is a numbers game.

The Internet offers a wide array of advertising venues:
ezine ads, classified ads, FFA (Free For All) ads, email
ads, banner ads and links on other web sites. Many
of these venues are free and those that are not, are
very inexpensive compared to the cost of offline
advertising. By the way, offline advertising for your
online business can be very effective, but it is
very expensive.

In summation, I leave you with my mantra: Advertise,
Advertise, Advertise and then advertise some more!

--------------------------------------------------

Bill Daugherty is the editor and publisher of the
marketing and free advertising ezine "E-Power
Marketing." You can subscribe free at:
http://www.adsgalore.bizland.com
While you're there, submit your ad to over
1 Million sites FREE.

To contact Bill mailto:bill@epower.zzn.com