Where to Advertise

It is important to advertise your business. If people do not know that you are involved in the business they cannot join you. So you must get the word out.

You can advertise your web site anywhere where you can squeeze in an ad.

Free Ad web sites

There are various free ad web sites on the Internet. Below are links to some of them. You can also go to www.google.co.za or www.ananzi.co.za and search for "free online ads" or "free classifieds". Both these sites will give you South African results.

Each of these web site work in a different way. I cannot write instruction one the use of each of them. You will register on the web site, then log in and place your ad.

Pay per click ads

You might have seen on some web site are these small Google Ads on the pages. You place these ads using Google's Adwords service. You can register for Adwords at http://www.in2im.com/adwords/

When you setup a new campaign make sure you choose "South Africa" only. You will be paying each time somebody clicks your ad and you will not benefit at all if somebody in India or Russia clicks your ad. Also put a daily limit on the account according to what you can afford. Never run an Adwords campaign without a daily limit.

In South Africa you can also use Peppor.com , click here . With Peppor.com you will target South African traffic. You can choose between Pay per click, Pay per lead or Pay per sale if you are selling something.

Forums and Communities

There are discussions forums for just about any topic you can think off. You do not have to register specifically for "work from home" or "marketing" forums. I find them ineffective anyway since everybody is busy with his own product. Rather look for new blood. The idea is to build credibility with your prospects. Do not just jump in for the kill. First get to know them, make friends and only then present them with the opportunity.

Again your signature will work extremely good. It is a very subtle way to make people aware of what you do. If you regularly post information on a forum, people will be curious to see what you do. I always use my web site URL as signature.

Find a forum related to your hobby or something you are an expert in. If you post good valuable contributions to the forum people start to see you as a reliable knowledgeable person and will trust you recommendations.

Just search www.google.co.za for "your topic forum". I am a 4x4 enthusiast. SO I will search for "off-road forum" or "hilux forum". Use your own topic.

My Favorite community web site is http://www.mygenius.com/ If you would like to join just email me at pieter (at) earnextra.co.za and I will send you an invite. Another South African community is
http://www.buzzfuse.com/ . I find this one a bit confusing, but perhaps you have more Internet savvy than me. Both these are South African sites and are a great place to meet like minded people.

WARNING

If you spend money on online ads. Be very careful for sites that offers you to buy "hits" from them. Most of these are useless. You will see increased number of hits to your site but very little increase in results. They either have software generating the hits or the wrong audience.