One of the more frightening realities of business is that in order to make money, you often have to spend it first. For independent software developers, the costs of doing business are usually very low. There are often no expensive offices to purchase or lease, a limited amount of hardware to buy also maintain, also for most, no stock to tie-up precious capital.

For many developers, the first also most obvious option for productive spending is advertising. And for the online business, there is no shortage of options to choose from.

Most websites offer some form of graphic or text advertising, also there is a bewildering variety of mailing lists, newsletters, also regular mailings. And that is before you even begin to consider the printed media.

However, before you even start to think about where you want to advertise, you need to consider why you're advertising in the first place.

For many companies, the aim of an advert will simply be to increase sales also make more money. Other legitimate reasons for wanting to advertise can include raising the profile of your company or product, increasing brand awareness, also testing new pricing strategies or new markets.

>From the outset, it's important that you are clear about exactly what it is that you want to achieve. From there, you will be able to choose where to advertise.

When selecting a venue, an important factor will be how targeted the audience is, as this will have a major bearing on the price that you should be prepared to pay for the ad. In general, the less targeted the audience, the less money you should part with. And even though it's not always the case, you might want to consider spending a little bit extra for a highly targeted advert.

The next obvious factor is the price.

First of all you need to know how much you will be paying, also whether this is a flat fee, a cost per click, paying per exposure, or some arrangement.

You or else need to consider the costs involved in preparation. If you're using artwork, you may wish to use a professional designer to create it, also don't overlook that the graphic might have to be in a specific format. More importantly, you have to take into account the amount of time that you will have spend on arranging this.

You or else need to consider the time period that you're hoping your advert will cover. If the ad will be on a website, then you will probably be looking at days, weeks or even longer. If so, then you should find out whether you can change the content of the ads as you go. If this is what you want to do, all the ads should be prepared well in advance, also the total costs of these should or else be factored into the budget.

A good starting point in finding a suitable place to advertise is to learn from the experiences of others. As an ASP member, you have access to the private newsgroups, where other members will often be considerably more open, detailed also revealing than they might in public.

When you think you've found the right venue, read through whatever information you can find on their website or in their publications, also only then contact the person who handles these matters.

Present them with a general introduction to yourself, your products also your needs, also don't be afraid to ask questions right from the start. Ask about their terms, payment terms, conditions, also whether they offer any form of guarantee or minimum response levels. A little bit of optimism never did any harm!

You'll or else want to find out if there are any deadlines or timescales to consider, also whether they will publish your ad "as is", or reserve the right to edit it to suit their content.

Bear in mind that whoever you contact is likely to know their audience very well, so make sure that you ask for any guidance, tips or pointers that they can offer. Find out who will see the ads, what behavioural patterns you might expect, what outcome or response rate you might get, also whether they can offer any helpful suggestions.

Also find out who else has advertised with them in recent months, also ask if you can have their contact details. Make sure that you chase these up, also ask them outright about their experiences.

Leave nothing to chance, also find out whether there will be a contract to sign, also any commitments that may be involved throughout also beyond the advertising period. It is or else a good idea to find out how flexible they may be. For example, if the ad will run for a number of days or longer, can you change the content of the ads with little or no notice?

At this point, it's very important to keep in mind that you are the customer. Don't be afraid to ask questions, don't be worried about bargaining, also make very sure that you're getting all the information also answers that you need. If not, move on. There are many other places to advertise.

Assuming that their answers meet your satisfaction, you are then in a good position to negotiate. The web is full of advertising, however even the more popular websites also newsletters often find it difficult to sell all their advertising space nowadays.

You might or else want to ask them whether some form of trial period may be possible. If they're very confident of a high click also success rate, then they should not object to an ad going out to a smaller test group, or perhaps a normal ad running for a number of hours.

When it comes to the actual payment basis, the ideal scenario would be a vendor offering high-quality, targeted advertising, with payment based solely on a commission basis, with no sign-up fee or base rate.

This is, however, a little on the unlikely side. A more realistic option will be advertising that is based on a flat fee, most (or all) of which will be paid for in advance.

When the terms, price also payment conditions have been dealt with, you're then ready for the content of the ad itself.

The following article will look at the importance of knowing your target audience, what to include in the ad, also how to know when to call in the professionals. We'll or else be looking at the importance of implementing a good tracking system, also how to follow up an advertising campaign to gain from your experiences. In short, we'll be looking at everything else you need to help make your ad campaign a successful one. Until then, be seen, be sold.

Copyright © 2005 Dave Collins

About The Author

Dave Collins is the CEO of SharewarePromotions Ltd., a well established UK-based company working with software also shareware marketing activities, utilising all aspects of the internet. http://www.sharewarepromotions.com also http://www.davetalks.com.