In any advertising program, professionals will tell you it takes a least five to seven exposures before someone may act on your ad. Does that mean that people will automatically buy your product if they see your ad seven times? Not hardly.

First, your ad must be in the proper vehicle for the audience you are trying to attract. In other words, you must target your market. If you are advertising your product or service in the wrong media, you are wasting your advertising dollars. A classified ad for tobacco products may not produce many results (assuming it was accepted in the first place) in a publication geared toward the medical community.

So let's assume you have attempted to target your market and you are not getting any responses. Does that mean you have picked the wrong vehicle? Not necessarily. How many times have you run the ad? One-time ads seldom produce many results -- remember the Rule of Seven. Since we are marketing on the Internet, we should discuss one of the more powerful methods: advertising in E-zines or newsletters.

Picking the correct newsletter, even if there are many that target your market, is of prime importance. Why do people subscribe to the newsletter? Most do so because they are interested in its content. If the newsletter is a thinly veiled advertising vehicle with minimum content and maximum advertising, the odds of your ad being read are slim.

Before placing an ad, subscribe to the newsletter you are considering and see what kind of ads are there. Next, check the frequency of the ads. Ads that appear in the same Newsletter week after week are a good indicator they are having success.

How long has the newsletter been published? Many newsletters are permanently archived on the web. A quick check at their website will reveal this information. A newsletter that has only been around a short time and claims a huge number of subscribers might be suspect. And don't forget if the newsletters are archived on the web, your advertising dollars are doing double duty. First, you get the exposure when the newsletter is published. Second, you get an ongoing exposure whenever someone visits their website.

One closing thought on the value of archives: Many people do not have ready access to an Internet Service Provider. These people have to pay long distance charges to access their ISP, and as a matter of course reject any mail that exceeds a certain size. In some foreign countries, the ISP is operated by the government, and because of bandwidth restrictions, they automatically reject mail over a certain size. In Bermuda it costs almost $100 per month to access the web.

These people do not want the spam that fills our mailboxes daily. Many of them simply don't accept E-mail over a certain size. I had a person from the Philippines contact me recently with this exact problem who wanted to read our newsletter. He goes to the web once a week and downloads the newsletters in a few minutes.

While I'm not suggesting that a newsletter that is not archived is not a legitimate choice, it is an extra bonus for your advertising expenditure. Don't forget the Rule of Seven -- the more places your ad is available to be seen, the greater your chance at making that sale

Bob publishes the "Your Business" email newsletter and offers a wide range of business support services including web design and hosting, telemarketing, and valuable advertising options.
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