You understand that advertising is the key to building a successful online business so you are light years ahead of many of your competitors. Most of your time should be spent (I’d say up to seventy percent) promoting and marketing your business. In the paragraphs that follow, we’ll be looking at which type of advertising is better for you.

Before we move forward and for the record, I don’t believe free advertising exists. There is always a cost associated with advertising. It will either be cold hard cash paid upfront or your time. Neither of these is free and the reality is you need to determine what price are you willing to pay.

Now that you are clear that either way there is a cost involved you must decide how to proceed. Determining how much you time is worth or how much time you have to dedicate to your marketing efforts is the first place to start. Then you must determine your personal ability to carry out certain tasks as well.

There are some pros and cons to each from each type of advertising but I think the concept that you must keep in mind is effectiveness. If something is free and it doesn’t work very well then that is of no benefit to you. Compare that to a paid ad that works and I’ll take the paid ad every time.

First, let’s look at free methods of advertising and how you can benefit there. This method gives you a level of “in the trenches” experience that will go a long way if you decide to use paid methods in the future. The hands on aspect of it gives you an understanding of the marketplace and how it responds to certain messages which is invaluable.

With paid advertising on the other hand, there are also some strong arguments as well. Typically with a paid advertising you can consult with vendors to determine the expected outcome based on their experience. It is leveraged so it saves you time that can be used building your business in other ways.

Whether paid or free the ideal solution for determining which methods to use is to track your results. Using an online tracking system will allow you to monitor your results which will save you time and money in the short and long run. Knowing which ads are working and which aren’t allows you to make quick decisions when it comes to how you’ll expend your resources.

Your time and budget will ultimately determine which advertising methods are best for you. I suggest trying a few methods that interest you and use them until you feel comfortable and somewhat proficient. Don’t try to do a little bit of everything as this does not work. Pick something, stick to it and then move to another method while tracking your results throughout.

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