The Value of FREE in Internet Business
by Cathy Wagner

DO YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR?
I have heard the saying "You get what you pay for," but I don't think that theory applies to Internet Marketing. Yes, there is tons of free advertising available on the net and there are millions of people using free advertising to promote their businesses, but is it effective? I think when you try to judge the effectiveness of Free Online Advertising, you have to take into consideration all that you can get for free.

PLACING FREE ADS
· For one thing, placing free ads will help you learn whether or not marketing online is for you at all; if you hate placing ads, find other work.
· Placing free ads can teach you about writing ad copy; if you can't write copy that gets someone's attention on a free site, you definitely should not pay for ads.
· Free advertising also teaches you to read the terms of service before you sign up for a service; most of us have unknowingly agreed to receive mail from thousands of FFA network members everyday.

FREE RESOURCES
You can, in fact, get a crash course in a whole new career with very little out of pocket expenses. The key here is using every free resource available to you and paying very close attention to your results.
· You will need web site statistics, this is your best way to know if your ad is effective. If you don't get statistics with your free web site, you can still get free statistics- by following simple instructions to insert a bit of code onto your site.
· Ad tracking statistics are another great free value, especially if you have an affiliate site that does not offer web site statistics. You can use these to test different ads at the same location, different types of ads (like a banner versus an email ad), as well as the same ad at several locations. They can even provide different URL's to help you place your ad more than once on an ad site that only lets you post your URL once.
· Use all of the free advertising tools available to you. Most people do not realize that there is more to free ads than FFA links and Classified ads. Today it is possible to use banner advertising, email advertising and viral marketing totally free. Always start with free before you invest in paid advertising.

BEGIN WITH WHAT YOU HAVE
It is possible to begin to build a business on the Internet with no or very low investment. There are many free tools and resources available on the Internet, the hard part is taking the time to find them. Don't even think about spending a lot of your hard earned money until after you have learned to get some visitors to your site. Until then, do and learn as much as you can for FREE!

About the Author - Cathy Wagner, owner of ONE STOP Internet Business Services, is a writer/author, webmaster, and online business expert. Her articles and business advice have been published all over the Internet. She personally helps a wide variety of online business people sell their products and services more effectively and she's earned an excellent reputation as an honest and knowledgeable expert in her field who is truly committed to helping others.
More articles by Cathy Wagner

Published in the April 5, 2002 issue of Your Community and Commentary
Published on April 13, 2002 at Marketing-Seek.com
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This article is freely available for reprint provided the full resource box is included. For a plain text version of this article, please send an email request. For a complete list and links to all of Cathy Wagner's articles, please send an email here.