ADVERTISING ONLINE MEANS ADVERTISING FOR A LONG TIME by Kathy Burns-Millyard
Many newcomers to the Internet don't realize it -- but once
information is made available online, it tends to stay around for a
very long time. This can be both bad and good for a small Internet
business owner.
If you write and distribute an article today for instance, chances are
that article will still be alive somewhere on the web ten years from
now. This is great, because it provides continuous advertising for you
without any additional effort or expense on your part.
If that article points to a website that you no longer own in ten
years though, that's traffic - and potential sales - that you'll be
losing.
Now, on the flipside let's say you get into a heated argument with
someone on a public discussion board. Once it's all said and done, you
may feel silly or wish you could erase everything you said. Chances
are though, that the discussion was recorded somewhere else on the
web... and everything you wish you hadn't said can come back to haunt
you for many years to come.
I personally love the long-lasting effect of distributing information
on the web. Whether via discussion group postings or article
distribution - I'm thrilled to see these items still in place, and
still generating traffic, years later.
I ran into this phenomena just this past weekend. You see, back when I
started my business in 1997, I offered web design and programming. As
part of my learning and growth, I created and enhanced a few minor
scripts that I used frequently for client sites. Since I saw these as
minor tools, and a way to generate traffic to my websites, I made the
scripts freely available to anyone who wanted them.
I quickly forgot about these scripts as my business grew and evolved
away from the design and programming services. Imagine my surprise and
delight this weekend though, when I just happened to glace at the
website traffic stats of my oldest, and very first, domain name. There
were visits to my site from these really old scripts!
Upon further inspection, I discovered more. Not only were these old
scripts sending traffic to my site... articles, poetry and discussion
board posts from 1997 & 1998 were bringing me traffic too.
Things that took me less than an hour to create each, are still paying
off 6 years later. If that's not return on investment, I don't know
what is :)
So, keep this in mind when you advertise online. Whether you advertise
by creating articles, giving something away free, or simply joining in
on public discussion lists... that advertising can follow you for many
years to come.
Make sure it's good!
(C) 2003, Kathy Burns-Millyard. All Rights Reserved.
Kathy creates expert articles and custom sales copy that generates
loyal subscribers... and sales. Find her latest articles at:
http://www.GuruGazette.com
And impressive sales copy samples at:
http://www.ElectronicPerceptions.com
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Advertising Online Means Advertising For a Long Time
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