Did you ever do that? Give a party and nobody showed up? I hope not. I must admit I never have either.

But, I'll tell you what I have done and it's just about as bad, maybe worse. I've placed ads and nobody answered them. Now, that really hurts - not only your ego, but your bank account.

Maybe that's why so many people are afraid to place ads. I hear them say - "yeah, but what if I put in ads and they do not get a response? Then what?" Well, my answer to that is - you lost money.

So, why do ads not pull a decent response? How can you avoid losing money when placing ads? The answer - there is no guarantee. But, you can almost assure a decent response to an ad by doing several things right.

When I first started in business I was going gung-ho. I spent money left and right placing ads, thinking that's all there was to it - just place ad and watch money roll in. Well, money rolled alright, but it went wrong way - *out*, not in.

However, I did profit from those first dud ads. I profited by experience. I sat down and tried to analyze what went wrong. I read some books on subject. I talked to some people who were successful in business. Boy, talk about going about it backward, that's what I should have done to start with.

Here's what I learned and followed successfully since:

1. The first thing you need to do - is target your ad. Place your ad where right people will see it. People who have a need for what you are selling. You don't want to target nudist camps if you are selling clothes and shoes. So make sure your message is going to right places.

But that's only where it begins. Once your website is getting traffic, it's next job is to convert visitors into paying customers. From there, your job is to try to turn customers into repeat buyers or into a source of referrals. Here are four major types of marketing to incorporate into your marketing plan:

__1. TARGETED MARKETING

Who is your target audience, what do they want, and how do you reach them? Understanding your audience is first step to a successful marketing campaign. There are many ways to reach your target audience on Internet, including search engines, links, ezine advertising, joint ventures, and more.

Don't neglect to research your 'offline' market as well -- many people still prefer to be contacted in 'real world', rather than through cyberspace! For more information on offline marketing methods, visit http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/articles/checklist3.html

__2. PERMISSION MARKETING

'Spam' -- unsolicited email -- can cause varied reactions from minor irritation to outright rage. You don't have to spam in order to get business; people acknowledge that there are products and services about which they're willing to receive information. The Internet has proved this to be true: how many times have you willingly signed up to receive a newsletter?

Some methods of permission marketing include publishing a newsletter; offering product or service announcements or updates; and using an autoresponder to distribute reports, articles, stories, etc. Subscription forms can be placed on your site so that visitors can indicate their interest.