Free Internet advertising is the best (and cheapest) way to get any product or service you are offering, known to the public. Every day hundreds of thousands of people across the world are using the Internet for the first time and so the potential market is growing rapidly.

This new expanding audience is exposed to online advertising services on practically every page they are likely to visit during that first experience. Small businesses and individuals alike are turning to free Internet advertising especially in light of the present economic climate, and this method of presenting their products and services to the world comes in many different guises, including free banner advertising, writing articles and press releases, email campaigns as well as the free online advertising websites like Craigslist and USFreeAds. So let’s look closely at how these entirely different online advertising services work and how they can help you to sell the unwanted items cluttering up your garage or help grow your online business.

Free Online Advertising Services

Free Internet advertising sites like Craigslist and USFreeAds offer mainly classified ads like you would expect to see in the classified section of your local newspaper. The main difference other than the fact that local newspaper ads are not free, is that with the online advertising companies you are able to include photographs with your ad and create them in your own time, from the comfort of your armchair at home. You are able to choose a category and metropolitan area to place your ad and you can almost guarantee that it will be available to as wide an audience as it would in print. Also the audience would be targeted and actually looking for what you are selling. Free Internet advertising sites can be appealing to those individuals selling on-off items as well as the small online or offline business owner.

Banner Advertising

Banner advertising is available in both the paid and free formats although this form of advertising is typically used by those wanting to promote their website and it’s products and services. That works generally on a an exchange basis whereby other websites will display your banners on their site as long as you display their banners on your site. Whilst this helps get your website noticed, the disadvantage with free banner advertising is that you are unable to choose where your ads are shown, and they may be displayed on websites that are not relevant to your own, so it’s a little hit and miss as to whether you will receive targeted visitors. If you want to choose a category for your banners you will need to go paid.

Article and Press Release Writing

Again this form of free Internet advertising is more useful to the online businessman or those who own a website and are looking for targeted visitors. There are a plethora of article directories who are always on the lookout for fresh new content, and articles can be written to promote a subject or methodology which in turn can not only bring visitors to your website but any author links added at the end of the article can be very useful in promoting a website to the search engines. Press release submissions can have a similar effect except that they need to be more newsworthy to have the desired effect. However, the search engines do love press releases.

Email Advertising

Email advertising campaigns are usually organized by those website owners who have collected a large list of email addresses from previous visitors to their site, and who have agreed to receive promotional content in their in-boxes. Email advertising is not as popular as it was a few years ago, as people have become tired of spammers and don’t open a lot of the mail sent to them.

So free Internet advertising comes in many formats and you should try them all, at least before you pay for advertising of any kind. In fact, it is noticeable that Facebook has become a great way to dispose of unwanted ‘stuff’, or find a company to repair your refrigerator especially if you have a lot of friends..

Ah, the old-fashioned country auction! The idea of a country auction conjures up certain images for people. The image of a fast-talking auctioneer offering up an antique table or chair is a popular example.

People who are buying household goods or collectibles are looking to get their items at the lowest price possible. However, the people who are selling their items at auction are hoping for the highest price!

Unless a person is in the business of buying and selling antiques or other items, not a lot of thought goes into how goods are prepared for sale via the auction process. However, if you are one of the growing number of people using auction venues to sell your collectibles or other inventory, there are a few things to learn first about how to sell at auction before you bring a truckload of stuff over to the next event.

Tip 1: Make sure the things you want to sell are a good “fit” for the auction house you’ll be using.

Never bring a load to an auction house without actually having been to one of the previous auctions. It’s important to get a feel for the type of goods that the house sells. For example, at one very rural country auction it was common for the owners to sell live chickens, pots and pans, car parts, and farm equipment.

After close investigation, this would not be the right venue for selling your daughter’s “Hello Kitty” collection. On the other hand, the spare John Deere parts that you bought at last week’s yard sale might be just the right thing for the buying crowd at this auction.

Tip 2: Be sure you clearly understand the terms and policies of the auction house.

Visit with the auctioneer ahead of time. Call to find out what the best days and times are to visit. One of the worst possible times to drop in for an informational visit with an auctioneer is the day of the auction. Call ahead and ask. While you’re at it, find out what are the best days and times to drop your stuff off.

Once you have a little time with the auctioneer, you’ll be able to find out what type of commission he or she takes from consigners (which is you), and what type of paperwork might be needed. Some auction houses send out Form 1099 tax forms at the end of the year. An auctioneer may need to see your identification and have you fill out a W-9. Be prepared.

Find out what happens to your items if they don’t sell. For example, some auctioneers may have a minimum starting bid. If, for some reason, one of your items does not sell, it may be grouped with another one of your pieces. Know the auctioneer’s strategy beforehand so that you aren’t surprised on pay day.

Tip 3: Make sure the auctioneer knows what you’re selling.

It might be perfectly obvious to you that the signed print you are consigning is a rare and valuable piece of art. However, the auctioneer may not know this particular artist. Make a note of anything particularly special about your items, and leave the note with the piece. Be sure to tell the auctioneer about it as well. He or she might determine that this is something to highlight on the company website or in the newspaper listing.

Tip 4: Present your items neatly.

No one likes to have to dig through a box full of grimy and greasy car parts to see what treasures might be in there. Separate the parts and lay them out on a flat, or use more than one box to de-clutter the lot.

There is no need to buy fancy display boxes. It’s easy enough to go to the local convenience store or supermarket and ask if you can have the emptied boxes or flats that they are discarding.

While it’s good to present clean items, take care not to ruin the value of anything by over cleaning. For example, if you find some old cast iron cookware, clean the obvious dirt and grime, but don’t scrub it to its original finish. For many people, this ruins the value of the item. So, clean and tidy and organized is the key here.

Tip 5: Don’t complain to the auctioneer if your stuff doesn’t sell for as much as you’d like.

The phrase to remember here is, “You win some; you lose some.” That’s just the way it is. There are some days where an auction house is loaded with people who all seem to want what you’re selling. There will be other days where the crowd is sparse, and the bidding is simply not competitive.

Remember that it’s in the auctioneer’s best interest to sell your things for the highest possible hammer price. But sometimes, it’s just not going to be a stellar sale. The auctioneer is only human, and is also disappointed if a sale doesn’t go as well as planned.

If you notice that every time you bring a bunch of goods to sell that you’re not realizing as much as you think you honestly should, try another auction venue and compare apples to apples. That is, bring the same types of items to the new auctioneer and compare the results.

Unless the auctioneer is particularly disagreeable or inconsiderate to you or buyers, there is no reason to confront him or her about a sale. If you find you just don’t care for an auctioneer’s style or methods, find another one. Believe me, there are plenty of them out there!

The primary thing to remember as you learn how to sell at auction is that the business is unpredictable at best. You will have good days, some not-so-good days, some great days. The more you sell, the more experience you will gain, and the more enjoyable the business will be.

Easy home based business advertisements are everywhere these days. Our business is easy to make money with, or so they say. In order to determine if an easy home based business is real, we need to define easy. It isn’t a simple answer because easy means something different to different people. It is a matter of one’s perspective or expectation of what is easy. Even though you might think the definition of easy is pretty simple, the differences in understanding for people is more complex. When you look up the word easy, you’ll find more than seventeen explanations.

What may be easy for one person may not be so easy for someone else. What we should really be asking is what are individuals truly seeking in their search for an easy home based business? We should then ask what is actually being promoted when someone posts an ad about an easy home based business?

What Individuals Really Want With An Easy Home Based Business

Again, this is a difficult question to answer, as it may have several meanings. Are people looking for a get rich quick scheme or more for a simple way to generate an extra income? One group of people might want an opportunity that won’t require a ton of work. Some might want a business that allows them to stay in their comfort zone. Yet, others might need an easy home based business that can be implemented in a few easy steps. Whereas, having a highly sought after service, or a wide demographic, might be the definition of easy for someone else. The point being made is there is no one size fits all answer.

The Easy Home Based Business Advertising Trick

What is the real promotion in an easy home based business advertisement? Personally, I believe they are promoting a basic idea or a concept. The promotion itself leads people to believe they can make money easily from home. They’ll use some kind of pitch regarding the simplicity of their program, or how it’s so easy that anybody with a computer could do it. The infamous claim that it requires very little time at all usually follows. You can do it in just a few hours each week. You determine how little or how much effort you want to put into it. Finally the prospect of the potential income you can generate, working as little as possible, is dangled in front of your face. The idea of easy is basically an idea.

In order to know if it’s really that easy, you first need to find out what easy means to the person promoting the opportunity. Reality is, if you are looking for a legitimate opportunity, the word easy is usually not attached to it. You see, the majority of opportunities that return real measurable results are not being promoted as an easy home based business. Sure, if you want to make a few extra bucks to have some play money around the house, you might be able to find an easy home based business. The truth in most of these cases, is you usually trade blocks of time, doing a basic activity, for blocks of money. This can be a frustrating avenue however, because in my research of easy ways to make money at home, the income you produce isn’t worth the time and effort. A venture such as this hardly allows you to work smart, since you end up working more for less pay. In my book this is classified as a job, not really fitting into the category of business.

Is There Really An Easy Home Based Business?

The answer really relates to exactly what it is that you want. My personal thought is that if you want a career level income or to be able to replace your job, then I would have to say no. However, finding the right opportunity and being successful with a home business does not need to be super challenging either. It can actually be quite simple when you know what you are doing. Keep in mind, simple does not equate to easy.

If you’re looking for a solid home business, you might not want to focus your search on an easy home based business. You can find plenty of legitimate opportunities that provide training for basic systems. No matter how basic the plan, you should still have proper expectations, because learning something new can take time. Instead, you should focus on finding something that you can get passionate about. Nothing will destroy a business venture as swiftly as choosing something you are lukewarm about. I advise you to steer clear of the easy home based business claims. You will have a much better chance at accomplishing your goals if you learn how to find the best home based business for you, first.