Placing Classified Ads
by Audrey Okaneko

You have finally decided you want to take the plunge and place a classified ad, but where do you begin? What do you say and in which paper do you place your ad?

Let's start with writing your ad. Think first about to whom you are targeting this ad. If you use the phrase "easy work" you will find folks who want a paycheck without putting in the time.

If you use a phrase like "earn 1000's daily" you will attract people who after not earning thousands their first few days or even first few weeks will quit. While it has been said, that the word FREE is a big attention grabber, I can not tell you how many calls I've gotten where the person only wanted their freebie. They had no interest in my product or business.

I am a firm believer in writing ads to attract those who you feel will benefit your business. If you can, use either a company name or a description of the company. Let folks decide before they call if this is the ad for them.

Most folks will only read one or two lines, so keep your ads short. Have you ever picked up a classified section and looked at the ads with 10-20 lines of text. I know for me, I just skip right past those. I never even read the first line seeing that the entire text is so long.

Now that you've written your ad, where do you place it. There are several resources available online to help you find names, addresses and phone numbers of newspaper both locally and across the nation.

US Newspapers: Paperboy USA Edition 
MediaINFO Links - Search Page -- US and Canada 
United States Newspaper List (N-NET) 
NewsDirectory: Newspapers: British Columbia
Magazines A-Z .com magazines online, find! your favorite magazine online using Search A-Z .com's directory 

Track your ads. Test different headlines. When you do get a response, don't be afraid to ask why they called and where they saw your ad. I often say "tell me what about the appealed to you". This lets me know what's working.

Be consistent with your ad. Even after all these years, you still can find McDonalds commercials on television. That is because the consumer needs to consistently see what you have to offer. They want to know you will be here both tomorrow and next year.

Audrey Okaneko has been in network marketing for 17 years. She can be visited at http://www.shining-stars.com. You can write to her at IHavSnoopy@aol.com.