9) One key to advertising is this, go with big guys! If you know a big reputable company is advertising at a certain place, you can be assured they have utilized their resources and researched that advertising company thoroughly, and hay, they are successful for a reason, so advertise where they do! Lets take Microsoft for example, if they advertise in paid classifieds at Yahoo, then I say, "Go for it!" That is one thing I always do. I first look for logos or businesses that are familiar to me when I come to a site, if I do not see any, I leave.

10) Best of all to be successful you must remember this, there are millions of people on line advertising their business. Many of them are advertising same type of business that you are advertising. Go far away from them and advertise in a place that is not being used for that purpose by other people in that same field.

All of those FFA link pages, people do not read links there, they place links there, that is why they are there, to advertise not to buy. One last thought, if you want to know where not to advertise follow this rule, when you see a link or a banner that says you can advertise on their site for free, than you go there and are bombarded by advertisements, do you read them? No you don't, neither will anyone else. Be smart.

* Collect customer info - name, address, and birthday. A few weeks before each person's birthday, send a postcard offering a free birthday dinner. Most customers who come for free dinner will bring friends or relatives (who will pay full price for their own meals).

* Promote clearance or used-equipment sales.

* Invite prospects to order your product by faxing back postcard.

* Mail postcards to announce a contest.

* Send The World's Smallest Newsletter on a postcard. (A great example of this postcard is in Allen's Instant Postcard Marketing ToolBox.)

* Give customers your new address when you move.

* Promote your Web site or fax-on-demand system.

* Announce new staff. Example: "George Model has joined The Clip Joint. Call him today to make your appointment."

* Mail help-wanted postcards to local residents when you need to increase your staff ... everyone likes to work close to home.

* Send a postcard about an upcoming trade show ... one lucky winner receives a valuable prize.

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AmazingMail makes it super easy to send direct mail postcards. Just visit their Web site, pick a template (or submit your own design), and your custom-printed, full- color postcard is in mail (First Class) in just a few days. And best part is, there's no minimum. Send just one postcard or 500,000 postcards, for less than doing all work yourself.

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If you're looking to grow your business fast at a low cost, now's time to use post office's best- kept secret. Postcards will relieve any anxiety about opening a strange envelope and can be read quickly by today's busy consumer.