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..

I have done some due diligence and some soul searching of myself and have figured out a few key elements that let me know that I had found The Best Online Home Based Business.1. Training
2. Leadership
3. Growth
4. Personal DevelopmentTraining is only one key to SuccessTraining was a huge deciding factor on what I decided was The Best Online Home Based Business. I have found a community that provides daily leadership calls, almost nightly webinars or conference calls from top earners that use the tools on a daily basis. All calls and webinars are recorded which allows me to go back and reference the material as many times as I would like, which is good for some material as different material is at different difficulty levels. This Best Online Home Based Business also replaces previous training material as new updated or cutting edge information comes to light, in turn provides me and my team members the marketing edge in our industry.Leadership and the Mindset of LeadersThe Best Online Home Based Business is normally linked with great leadership, someone who can be your Mentor or Sponsor, someone you can call on no matter how weird the question. With the Best Online Home Based Business I have joined everyone has a sponsor, but you gain so much more, you gain a community; a community of leaders, that inspire you, keep you on track, and give you the tools to succeed and give you road maps towards your goals.Substantial Growth and Maintaining the GrowthThe Best Online Home Based Business will have growth, it’s inevitable but it will need to maintain its current leaders while building a stronger platform. While growing in numbers are not only a sign of growth, there are other signs like materials and guidance for fresh entrepreneurs. You must have growth in any industry to become successful, to grow your business you must grow and harvest your mind. If you continue to do the same thing over and over again you can normally expect the same results.Personal Development is one of the final piecesPersonal Development in The Best Online Home Based Business starts with you, are you willing to break free of the “chains” holding you back from obtaining your dreams? Are you willing to do something you have never done before, are you willing to learn a new trade, change your mindset? All the books in the world can make you smarter but you have to initiate the actions. The Best Online Home Based Business will provide you with the tools and leadership but you have got to do the work.The Personal Development I had completed up until becoming a Mentor or Coach for new or seasoned online business owners had got me with the same large retailer working 70+ hours a week. I was missing my wife and family as I slaved away for someone else, working long hours on the weekends, missing holiday celebrations during the busy holiday season and being miserable. I also got to watching my supervisor and how she worked almost 24/7; for what, a gold watch in a few more years that would tarnish in a year’s time?So I did something about it, I joined what I feel is The Best Online Home Based Business after two months of investigating and critiquing, and I have not looked back since. I have had such phenomenal personal developments from now knowing how to build websites, how to market anything online, how to understand how the internet works in a depth that many will never know. My confidence is sky high now, I know have learned so many skills that I feel there is nothing that I cannot do or learn; I have also gained the freedom to work when I want to on my business. Its 11:39 at night and I had this crazy idea for a article so here I am, this experience also has made my wives and I relationship even more powerful, she is proud of what I have become, a leader, a coach and mentor to so many people and my drive to help others obtain what we have.So to answer your question “How do you know you have found The Best Online Home Based Business?” you will know, just by how you feel about what you do and how it makes you feel and how you touch others lives.

I want you to think about the term “Fundraising Auction”.

A “Fundraising Auction” is an event where items of value are gathered, and then sold in a competitive bidding situation, either in a Silent Auction format, or in a Live Auction format by a Live Auctioneer. And since typically the best items are saved for the Live Auction, arguably it is the Live Auction that should generate a significant portion of the proceeds in any Fundraising Auction.

So why do so many non-profit groups consider the Fundraising Auctioneer to be the least valuable component in a Fundraising Auction?

The Hosting Facility gets paid.
The Printer gets paid.
The Caterer gets paid.
The Liquor Store gets paid.
The DJ gets paid.
The Florist gets paid.
But the Auctioneer … the individual who is expected to raise the lion’s share of the event’s proceeds… is expected to work for Free. And is usually under-appreciated for the professional services he/she provides.

I’m not trying to underscore the value of the invitations & programs, food, booze, music, and decorations. All are important in their own way. But each of these are “Expenses”. It is the Auctioneer who is going to bring “Revenue”… and thus, the “Profits”… into any event. Which is the ultimate objective of any Fundraising Auction.

Here is a real-life example of how under-appreciated the Auctioneer can be. In two comparable events we worked last year, during the dinner portion of the event one non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) at a table with the DJ, the Interns, the Volunteer Staff, and other event “Help”. The 2nd non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) directly next to the CEO of their organization, where we chatted about how important the pending revenue would be to their organization. Which group do you think valued the services of the Fundraising Auctioneer more?

Don’t ever under-estimate the value that a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can bring to your event. The Auctioneer adds value as a pre-event consultant. And the Auctioneer can change an event from a moderate to a huge success.

A Case Study Once I was scheduled to call an Auction for a major local non-profit group. They represented a very good cause and they had a strong and dedicated following. Their event was sold out, quality Live & Silent Auction items had been solicited, and the Special Pledge Appeal had been choreographed and was ready to go. The facility was first class, the appropriate caterer was booked, and the food was ready to cook.

But quite unexpectedly, some unseasonably inclement weather forced the event’s cancellation. Despite all of the committee’s hard work, cancelling the event was the proper decision considering the circumstances.

So the Event Committee scrambled to re-schedule the event for the following weekend.

They confirmed with the Hosting Facility.
They confirmed with the Caterer.
They confirmed with the Liquor Store.
They confirmed with the DJ.
They confirmed with the Florist.
Since they already had the Mailing List of those scheduled to attend, no new invitations had to be printed as all were contacted by email or telephone. So with everything in place, the group went ahead and re-scheduled the event for the following weekend.

But guess who they failed to confirm? You got it… the Professional Auctioneer. They thought so little of the Auctioneer’s contribution that they “assumed” that the Auctioneer would be available and at their beck and call.

But the Auctioneer already had another Fundraising Auction booked for that date with another non-profit group. It was only hour away from the re-scheduled event, and things could have been easily worked out. All Group #1 had to do was start their event one hour earlier, or one hour later, than the Group #2, and the Auctioneer could have helped both groups on the same day.

But because Group #1 failed to anticipate a possible Auctioneer conflict, because they failed to confirm with the Auctioneer before re-scheduling their event, their preferred Auctioneer had to bow out and they had to scramble to locate substitute “Volunteer” Auctioneer only days before their event.

And it cost them.

Learning Points

The Live Auction is usually where the profits are made at any Fundraising Auction.
A Professional Fundraising Auctioneer can be vital to the success of any Fundraising Auction.
The better Fundraising Auctioneers usually get booked quickly.
You need to recognize the important contributions that a good Auctioneer can make to your event.
Michael Ivankovich is a Bucks County Fundraising Auctioneer based in Doylestown PA, and serves the Great Philadelphia PA area. He has been a professionally licensed and bonded Auctioneer in Pennsylvania for nearly 20 years, has been named Pennsylvania’s Auctioneer of the Year, and has considerable experience in conducting Fundraising Auctions. Michael loves helping groups raise needed funds for good causes and one of his specialties is the “Special Pledge Appeal” or “Fund-A-Cause Appeal” which usually enables clients to double their revenue in a single evening.