What is The Cost of FREE Advertising?
By Debbie Solomon

How much does it cost for Free Advertising?
If your answer is NOTHING, then think AGAIN.
NOTHING is for FREE!

Believe it or not Quality Paid Advertising 
is less expensive then FREE Advertising. 
Are you just a bit confused? Lets just 
take a look at the difference and weigh out 
the profit and losses pertaining to 
both kinds of advertising.

What do you think your time is worth? 
Let's say you are working at a job 
for an hourly wage, 
what would you normally be making? 
We will take an average rate of $12.00 per hour. 
(Now, for all the big professionals out there, 
I know this wage sounds like peanuts, 
but in all honesty this is the average wage for workers).

I am no mathematician, but we are going to crunch just
a few numbers to give you an example of what
FREE Advertising really Costs you.

FREE ADVERTISING:
Most free advertising is at message boards, 
free classified ad sites, and FFA Links. 
To post to the thousands and thousands 
of sites that are available, 
you would need to put in at least 
4 hours a day just posting to these sites. 
In all honesty you need to put a lot more than 
that in per day just for free advertising, 
but we are looking at the average. 
That is $48 per day, based on the 
$12.00 per hour work wage. And if you do this 
5 days a week, that is $240 per week you are 
spending on Free Advertising.

The BIG QUESTION of the day is;
"How much do you profit from FREE Advertising?" 

I can almost guarantee you make close to $0.00. 
If you are making at least $240 per week 
from Free Advertising, then it is worth your time, 
and keep at it. At least you are breaking even.

QUALITY PAID ADVERTISING
What do I mean by Quality Paid Advertising? 
More so, what I DON'T mean:
is paying for services that post to millions of directories, 
ffa links, and free classified ad sites. 
I call this "lazy advertising". 

Quality Advertising is placing a paid ad 
where your target market can see it. 
The most effective and most popular targeted 
advertising is in Ezines and Newsletters. 
Try to find an ezine that has been in circulation 
at least a year. This shows more credibility. 
And of course the higher the circulation, 
the more people will see your ad. However, 
it is also more expensive. 
So you have to weigh it out:

If you buy an ad spot in an ezine 
with 20,000 subscribers at a cost of $50, 
that is 400 subscribers per $1. If you buy 
an ad spot in an ezine with 5,000 subscribers for $20, 
then that is 250 subscribers per $1. 
(These are average rates of ads that I am specifying). 

Each ezine is different.
You can even pay for an ad to 1,000 subscribers 
for only $5, but that comes out to 
200 subscribers per $1. According to your budget 
and what you think will be more effective 
for your business, this is your decision.

Lets take a little look on the actual cost of 
Quality Paid Advertising. You probably would 
spend about an hour a day researching ezines 
for advertising rates, etc... That is $12 a day. 
Then you spend another $30 per day in advertising. 
(This is an average rate). Budget yourself to that. 
You may get an AD in an ezine for $50 one day, 
then another ad for $20, then other ads for 
various amounts. But if you average the $30 budget, 
per day to total out to $150 a week, based on a
5 day work week, you will be able to track your profits better. 
So, in a weeks time, you spend a total of $42 per day, 
and $210 per week. 

WOW! That is less than FREE Advertising! 
But that is NOT the kicker here. The Kicker is 
the Profits you make from Quality Paid Advertising. 
With QPA, you have a much greater chance of 
profiting for your business. You are not spending 
any more money using QPA, however, you have 
a much greater chance of making sales 
and getting your business noticed. 

Now that we have broken down the 2 types 
of advertising you can choose from 
It is your decision, which one is right 
for you and your business. Just a word of advice;

"Successful Online businesses do NOT use FREE Advertising.
They know it costs more in the long run. 
If you want a successful online business, 
Quality Paid Advertising is a wise 
and profitable decision and you have 
a much better chance of making a success of your business."

===========================
Written by: Debbie Solomon
Editor of the Award winning OnLine Exchange Ezine.
Debbie has co-authored 2 business e-books, and runs
a successful online marketing business. Please visit
Debbie at http://www.marketingtrendz.com
And gain some REAL business knowledge.
editor@marketingtrendz.com