The $1,000 Secret To Free Advertising
by Lisa Reddell
Copyright (c) 2003 - 2005
There are a few publisher's out there who call me the "Contest
Queen." Why? Because I enter a lot of contests. You're probably
thinking "Yeah, so what?" Let me explain.
Twelve years ago I was expecting my third child. I wanted more
than anything to stay home with my children. I searched the want
ads in the newspaper, visited with many District Attorneys and the
Better Business Bureau (to check for consumer complaints). I'm
sure the BBB was tired of me calling. I was told the same thing
across the board. "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is."
And of course, "Keep looking, there are legitimate work from home
business opportunities out there, you just have to FIND them". Sheer
determination fueled my fire and desire to work from home. Eventually,
I discovered the Internet. I found an online "work from home" opportunity
and decided to try it. I was led to classified ad sites. Heck, there were
hundreds of these sites and I could use them for free!
A while further down the road, I found Ezines and, HEY!, I could
advertise for nothing there too! Oh Happy Days! I wanted to be able
to pay for these solo ads and top sponsor ads they talked about. But
I had no cash flow - none - for advertising or anything else for that
matter. I noticed that many ezines had contests and the prize was,
yep, you guessed it - Free Ads!
I started entering contests in a number of ezines and I began to win... a lot.
Now, understand this - utilizing contests for free advertising is a ton
of work. No, seriously, it is. It is very time consuming, but I can tell
you from first hand experience, it is well worth it. I enter contests
daily and am a very active participant in many ezines.
I did a survey of about 40 Publishers a while back. One of the
subjects I was interested in was contests. What I found out really
surprised me. The majority of the Publishers said the same thing
about the contests they run. Overall, only 4 to 5 percent of their
subscribers entered the contests. What does that mean to you? It
means that the odds of winning are GREAT, so you could can be
a Contest Queen (or King!) too!
Author's Note: Another Excellent reason for entering contests, is it
"brands" your name. The publisher's know who I am because I always
enter their contests. I still enter contests, even though I now have an
Ezine of my own. I still don't have an advertising budget, but I am
making huge accomplishments towards my goal of finally being able
to purchase paid advertising. It has taken a long time, but I am almost
there. Besides, good things come to those who wait:) I am only estimating,
because I don't keep track of my winnings, but I would guess that in the
last few years, I've probably won $3000+ worth of free advertising.
Now tell me the contests aren't worth entering:)
*****************About the Author***************
Lisa A. Reddell is a Freelance writer, a domestic
engineer, a busy mother of three, owner of Reddell
Marketing and publishes the weekly Ezine, The Left
Handed Times. Lisa has started achieving dreams
of online success & YOU can too! Visit Lisa's Site
Read the current edition of Lisa's ezine and sign up today!
http://www.lisareddell.com/current.htm
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