Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

If you have tried free advertising you know that it's difficult to make any progress. You ads rarely get seen and when they do they are largely ignored.

Ask yourself, if you had a service to sell and a business to sell it would you give it away? You might use a free whatever as a hook to draw in paid customers, but you can't run a viable business for free. We all need to make a profit to be in business at all.

Paid advertising is not without its faults either. You can spend a hefty amount and get little results. Most direct mail advertising gets perhaps a 1% response rate and those are not sales.

Yet, without some form of advertising a business won't last long. It's where you spend your money and what your Return on Investment ROI measures to be. Would you send $100 to advertise and get no signups? Yet many spend countless hours doing just that. Time is money.

A paid program in my opinion will work better in general, but the question is what paid program should you use. This is where some reseach comes in. Asking other affiliates about their successes and failures and learning from others mistakes as well as good choices.

Why frustrate yourself paying for advertising that fails and is not getting the audience you hoped for.

In my opinion, the S-Builder Coop is one of the best choices you can make. This advertising is targeted and successful. Sometimes the amount of signups vary, but if you set up a standing order, you will get consistent returns overall.

There is one free form of advertising that is always at the ready. You! Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising you can tap. Question is can you do it? If your timid, don't believe in your business customers will smell it like a dog smells a steak.

So, you need to develop some skills that you may not have. It takes time, effort and work. But, you didn't expect it was free did you?

Those who truly think they can sign up for any business opportunity and not work at it are just plain lazy. We all know the results that brings. But if you can use your own skills, spend a little for some help and work at it, you will succeed.

Just be smart about where you spend that advertising dollar and learn from your mistakes.


less

If you have tried free advertising you know that it's difficult to make any progress. You ads rarely get seen and when they do they are largely ignored.

Ask yourself, if you had a service to sell and a business to sell it would you give it away? You might use a free whatever as a hook to draw in paid customers, but you can't run a viable business for free. We all need to make a profit to be in business at all.

Paid advertising is not without its faults either. You can spend
...more

Affiliate since: 03/27/2013, Power Rank: 5 | Read Stefan's 93 other Ask SC answers

This is an easy question to answer for those whom have budget to invest in their
SFI marketing to build their business.

Both free and paid advertising are good methods and both that should be part
of your marketing system. However, if you want the best advertising, and have
the marketing budget, paid advertising is the BEST method of advertising that
will provide you the best results.

The caveat to this is you need to be sure you are doing it correctly or paid advertising
becomes a cash drain that will put you in negative cash flow very fast and then it is not
BEST but the opposite.

The key to why paid advertising is best if done correctly, is that it allows you to access
a very targeted demographic group of hungry buyers or takers that are already looking
for what you are promoting. This is the key. It's not quantity buy quality of your leads that
will convert to sales. What I mean is that the more correctly targeted demographically you
promote your advertising campaign to, the higher the conversions rates will be to sales or
affiliates in this case.

Paid = targeted quality list or groups of people interested in what you are advertising and,
thus, to get this high quality targeted, demographically rich group to promote to, you have
pay for it.

In free advertising, typically, you are dealing with a more numbers game and the trick there
is you spend more time advertising to as many as you can to get to the same conversions
which is much simpler and less time consuming when you promote using paid advertising.

The more targeted rich your group is usually the more costly but also the highest converting.
This is why paid is best if you can budget for it.

Hope this clarifies things a bit for you.
less

This is an easy question to answer for those whom have budget to invest in their
SFI marketing to build their business.

Both free and paid advertising are good methods and both that should be part
of your marketing system. However, if you want the best advertising, and have
the marketing budget, paid advertising is the BEST method of advertising that
will provide you the best results.

The caveat to this is you need to be sure you are doing it correctly
...more

Affiliate since: 11/13/2001, Power Rank: 16 | Read Jeannette's 241 other Ask SC answers

I believe that it depends on your ability and your level of expertise and your time and money you are able to invest. However, here's my answer that applies to me.

For free advertising I just simply tell others about the business, whether talking to people on the phone or talking to people on the street or anywhere else. Face-to-face contacts can be really great!

For paid advertising, my best has been the advertising co-ops made available by SFI. I use S-Builder and also co-ops that other affiliates have created. I create my own co-ops, using the Co-Op Manager, and use the Key Codes for S-Builder or the Co-Ops to which I belong. That way, I can gain new affiliates and also reward my hard workers with shares.

Another way I use paid advertising is the gift cards. This is really a combo of paid and free advertising. It's free to walk the streets. You pay to get the gift cards. You also pay at restaurants or other places where you use services and you give out these cards. The real beauty of this is that you can tell people about TripleClicks and PriceBenders and about SFI with such excitement that they will want to join. I even mail gift cards to friends or family members (so, of course, this is a form of paid advertising).

Again, it's all in what you are able to invest in time and money and what your skills and your abilities are as to which direction you go with this. Be imaginative and run with whatever you choose. There's always room to move and change as you work and see if something works or not.

I hope this answer proves to be helpful in your quest to heights in SFI.
less

I believe that it depends on your ability and your level of expertise and your time and money you are able to invest. However, here's my answer that applies to me.

For free advertising I just simply tell others about the business, whether talking to people on the phone or talking to people on the street or anywhere else. Face-to-face contacts can be really great!

For paid advertising, my best has been the advertising co-ops made available by SFI. I use S-Builder and also
...more

Affiliate since: 04/08/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Robert's 47 other Ask SC answers

Dear Svetlana,

Many people will say that paid advertising is better because it produces better results. This is true. There are, however, two things to take into account while choosing between free and paid advertising: your experience and your budget.

As in everything, there is a learning curve concerning advertising, too, and although I'd advocate paid advertising, I'd also suggest to learn with free forms of it.

Why? Simply because you must know what is bringing results and what is not, you must learn how to structure your ad to draw people's attention, you must learn how to track your ads, and a few things more. With free advertising you can experiment as much as you wish without risking your money.

The key word here is tracking - if you learn how to track your ads, you're good to go, because you'll know the results of each campaign as it goes. If you don't know how to track your results, going straight to paid advertising can end up in a disaster - poor results and money lost.

Therefore, even if you have a large budget for advertising, start with free forms of it and solid tracking: learn what ads get clicked, learn how many clicks convert into target result - a person becoming SFI affiliate, learn how many of these become and remain active, and last but not least - project it upon your expected spendings on paid advertising to see how much you'll have to pay for a single productive affiliate.

Once you have this knowledge, you may go up to paid advertising. Let me warn you here, however, that if you are thinking about PPC (pay per click) ads, all keywords relating to earning money online are extremely expensive now, and if your budget is low, it can get consumed by just one click.

Again, however, there is a learning curve here, where the terms to learn are: cost per click, ROI, conversions, keyword, and long-tail keyword, for example. And of course a solid tracking is a must. You don't want your money get washed down the drain, right?

If you however decide on paid advertising, please do at least one thing: set your daily/weekly/monthly budget and follow it strictly. Also test, edit, change your ads to maximize your results. If you see that something does not work, stop it as soon as possible. Watch your results and watch your money.

One final remark: there are many PPC advertising companies out there, but - frankly speaking - only to of them are the real players: Google (AdWords) and Yahoo (Bing). The other small fishes may offer you lower prices, but they also produce much lower results measured in clicks and conversions.

Summing up, I'd rather suggest starting with free advertising, treat it as a test field and switch to paid advertising as soon as you are familiar and comfortable with setting up advertising campaigns and results tracking.


less

Dear Svetlana,

Many people will say that paid advertising is better because it produces better results. This is true. There are, however, two things to take into account while choosing between free and paid advertising: your experience and your budget.

As in everything, there is a learning curve concerning advertising, too, and although I'd advocate paid advertising, I'd also suggest to learn with free forms of it.

Why? Simply because you must know what is bringing
...more

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Richard's 36 other Ask SC answers

Paid.

Solo ads that you pay for are nearly always your best choice for getting real people who have a real interest, and will give you their real email address.

Free can be great when you are just starting out and have no money, for it will give you the most bang for your (not spent) dollar. However, you'll get a ton of junk signups that will waste your time, and can actually retard your growth.

Once you get into paid advertising, the quality takes a drastic leap for the better. Your signups are more likely to be real people, who are looking for a real solution to their issues.

Solo ads are by far the best choice for paid ads. You will need to do some serious research, but reckon on paying around $8-10 per real lead. If you're paying much less than that, the quality is poor, or worse.

Think about it... if you pay $10 per real sign up, and that person works the business, then you should be able to make more than a dollar a month off of them, on average. That is better than a 12% per annum yield...

Its a numbers game. If you aren't prepared to put the numbers up front, then don't expect good numbers out the back.
less

Paid.

Solo ads that you pay for are nearly always your best choice for getting real people who have a real interest, and will give you their real email address.

Free can be great when you are just starting out and have no money, for it will give you the most bang for your (not spent) dollar. However, you'll get a ton of junk signups that will waste your time, and can actually retard your growth.

Once you get into paid advertising, the quality takes a drastic leap
...more

Affiliate since: 06/11/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Paul's 57 other Ask SC answers

I use as much free advertising as I can. I do a little paid ads. I also use S-builder coop and have it on a standing order which provides new PSA members and VP.

Free places that I like are:
Craigslist - (http://craigslist.org)
BackPage - (http://www.backpage.com/)
Blast For Traffic - Send Emails - (http://www.blast4traffic.com/)
Free Classified Ads - (http://www.freeads.org/)

These free places also offer ways to boost your ads by paying
a small fee. Joining is very simple and posting ads is not
too complicated. For new people a good source for what to say in your ads
can be found in SFI Marketing Tab at your Home Page.

Text ads for sponsoring new PSA members can be found here:
https://www.sfimg.com/Resources/OppTextAds
Text ads for Trople Clicks Sales can be found here:
https://www.sfimg.com/Resources/RefTextAds

These ads are ok to use just as they are but I suggest taking the ideas
in the ads and rewrite them in your own words. Create your titles which you will need to post your ads.

The best ads are truthful and from your heart related to your personal success
and personal feeling about your business. Make your ads stand out from the rest.

Also remember that the Marketing Tab on your SFI Home Page will provide a wealth
of ideas on promoting and marketing both on the internet and in your local area
offline. Hope something here helps.

less

I use as much free advertising as I can. I do a little paid ads. I also use S-builder coop and have it on a standing order which provides new PSA members and VP.

Free places that I like are:
Craigslist - (http://craigslist.org)
BackPage - (http://www.backpage.com/)
Blast For Traffic - Send Emails - (http://www.blast4traffic.com/)
Free Classified Ads - (http://www.freeads.org/)

These free places also offer ways to boost your ads by paying
a small fee. Joining
...more

Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

Good question. It's really a matter of what you can afford. If you have an ad budget, PPC advertising might be a viable option. But careful! Google will kill your bank account if you do not have a minimum of $500 dollar budget. Facebook ads are popular, but I'm not sure of their effectiveness. You could spend a lot of money "branding" yourself.

Safelists, Text Ad Exchanges, Solo Ad Exchanges are a great source for free advertising. But with so many others posting free ads, visibility can be a problem. Your ad writing talents must be put to work here. Getting your ads to stand out can be a challenge.

Classified ads are great! Once again, you have to make your ads stand out from the rest.Good headlines and good ad copy are essential.

Which is better? That's a difficult question because it depends upon you and what resources you have available. Free advertising requires a bit more work, paid ads can be very effective but can also put your finances at risk. Personally, I'll stick to free.
less

Good question. It's really a matter of what you can afford. If you have an ad budget, PPC advertising might be a viable option. But careful! Google will kill your bank account if you do not have a minimum of $500 dollar budget. Facebook ads are popular, but I'm not sure of their effectiveness. You could spend a lot of money "branding" yourself.

Safelists, Text Ad Exchanges, Solo Ad Exchanges are a great source for free advertising. But with so many others posting free ads, visibility
...more

Affiliate since: 06/11/2013, Power Rank: 220 | Read Maree's 55 other Ask SC answers

What ever you can afford is the answer. Start free then use down line earnings to purchase advertising at proven and trusting sites.
Ask your up line sponsor where they promote.

You need to do a lot of duplication with promoting to get results. I belong to at least 30 different traffic exchanges that I only use for promoting SFI. I surf in rotation daily at least 4 sites, then I assign credits to my SFI link.

I also belong to at least 20 Safe lists. I keep record of when I can send my emails. Some are every day. Others weekly etc.

I am upgraded at all these sites and use half my down line earnings for upgrades and promoting.
I watch and grab life time upgrades when offered on special. This is the key to promoting SFI. Reinvesting some of your earnings.

The beauty is with being upgraded I receive random referral at all these sites.
I send them a welcome email, informing them of SFI as my Number one site I promote daily.
By promoting only SFI I am building down lines at over 40 different sites.
less

What ever you can afford is the answer. Start free then use down line earnings to purchase advertising at proven and trusting sites.
Ask your up line sponsor where they promote.

You need to do a lot of duplication with promoting to get results. I belong to at least 30 different traffic exchanges that I only use for promoting SFI. I surf in rotation daily at least 4 sites, then I assign credits to my SFI link.

I also belong to at least 20 Safe lists. I keep record of
...more

Affiliate since: 02/04/2013, Power Rank: 99999999 | Read Bryan's 47 other Ask SC answers

For short term success, paid is better. You'll get sales and leads faster with paid advertising.
For long term success, I believe optimizing your website (assuming you have one) for organic searches will be better. If you don't have a website, I strongly recommend you get one.
This does have costs associated with it and there really is no such thing as free advertising. Search engine optimization is A LOT cheaper, but not free. You'll be able to drive highly targeted prospects to your website at a fraction of the cost of paid advertising.
SEO will take more time initially before you see any success, but once you start getting traffic to your website, it will last much, much longer than paid ads. I've seen examples of articles that stay on the first page of Google for years. Every time you get a prospect to your site with organic search, your cost per prospect continues to drop. This is the opposite of paid searches. The more popular a search term is, the more expensive it becomes.
I think the best strategy is a combination of both. Paid ads at first to get your business off the ground, while simultaneously optimizing your website for organic searches.
less

For short term success, paid is better. You'll get sales and leads faster with paid advertising.
For long term success, I believe optimizing your website (assuming you have one) for organic searches will be better. If you don't have a website, I strongly recommend you get one.
This does have costs associated with it and there really is no such thing as free advertising. Search engine optimization is A LOT cheaper, but not free. You'll be able to drive highly targeted prospects to your
...more

Affiliate since: 08/06/2012, Power Rank: 254 | Read Ronilo's 408 other Ask SC answers

I would like to put this simply.

Paid ads is best for those who have financial resources because they can build their affiliates early and faster. As we all know that affiliates are the foundation of our SFI business.

Paid ads however must be done carefully, Do research first before you start your paid ads. Ask your up-lines, a2a friends and read forums how and where to put your paid ads.

Free ads on the other hand is best for those who don't have financial resources. This means, you will spend more time in putting your links to different free ads websites.

The best of the best of course is when you do both. This is exactly what I am doing. Part of my earnings I spent in finding affiliates through paid ads but I never stop posting in Face book and in many other forums and free ads site.


less

I would like to put this simply.

Paid ads is best for those who have financial resources because they can build their affiliates early and faster. As we all know that affiliates are the foundation of our SFI business.

Paid ads however must be done carefully, Do research first before you start your paid ads. Ask your up-lines, a2a friends and read forums how and where to put your paid ads.

Free ads on the other hand is best for those who don't have financial resources.
...more