What’s your thinking about classified ads? Are you one of those people who think that classified ads are only for job hunting, real estate, selling used cars, garage sales and the like? Well, think again!

Millions of dollars are being made through the use of classified ad advertising. There are companies whose net incomes run into the millions every year and whose only mode of advertising is classified advertising.

These companies have been advertising in newspapers and magazines for years and they never contract to buy a full page, or ½, ¼, or 1/8 page display ad! Their entire business was built, and continues to run, on classified ads. Many of these companies are now advertising on the Internet. There they can use more words and pay fewer dollars then they do for their offline advertising.

Although this is an Internet marketing manual, offline classified ad advertising should not be neglected. It is still a very strong and viable marketing tool for any marketing program. I repeat, thousands of companies still generate their entire income through their classified ad program.

These companies run on low advertising budgets. The ads they place are usually 10 word ads that include their company name and address. Sound impossible to do? Flip through the backs of various magazines and browse through the pages of classified ads. Count the number of words used and surprise yourself.

Instead of using their full company name in the ad, they use initials or a condensation of their name. In the address they write, "Box 40" instead of
"P.O. Box 40".

Why the magic number of 10 words? Because you pay by the word in magazine and newspaper advertising and you want to maintain as low an advertising to sales dollar ratio as possible. Copywriters have proven that you can create enormous demand for your product or service with classified ads containing no more than 10 words. (More on that later in the chapter.)

On the Internet, classified ads costs are calculated by the line. Line width is usually about two and a half newspaper columns wide. In offline advertising the length of your ad is only limited by the amount of money you wish to spend for an ad. On the Internet you are limited by the amount of space the advertising medium wishes to allot you. That could run anywhere from 4 to 12 lines of copy with the average running 5 to 6 lines.

Can you become as successful with classified advertising? Yes you can, if you follow the simple rules of marketing we have been discussing and those we present next.

If you do not have a product or service to sell, then first do your market research to find out what the public is buying. Find the voids in the market place. We’ve talked about how to do that earlier in Chapter Three.

Look for magazines and periodicals that feature the products or services in which you’re interested. If you have a product or service to sell you'll need to find those magazines and newspapers that offer products or services that are similar to yours. Why? Because that is where your future customer will be.

Study the classified ad sections. See what’s for sale.

Now buy, or research at the library, back issues of these same magazines dating back 18 months to 2 years. Look for the identical ads that are in the current issue. When you find the ads that have constantly been repeated, copy them for style, verbiage, and possibly product. The companies who have been running these ads for years do so because these ads work. They have been making their companies money for years. Remember, don't invent mediocrity, copy genus.

The companies who have placed these classified ads you see constantly repeated, usually spend months testing one ad against the other until they find the ad that works.

It doesn't take a large advertising budget to test their ads as classified ads are the cheapest form of advertising. These highly profitable mail order companies have proven that the use of strong benefit oriented headlines in a short classified ad can be far more effective, and profitable, than expensive display ads.

Many of these companies now realize the shift that is taking place in their customer's buying habits and are now moving into the Internet. They recognize that for the continued success and growth of their businesses, they need to be in both places.

When advertising offline, it is important for you to understand that it is far better and more profitable to place 10 attention getting classified ads of 10 words each then one ad containing 100 words.

The same holds true for Internet advertising. You want to reach as many people in your targeted market as you can. You want to reach vast numbers of people as often as you can. In this chapter we will tell you where to place your classified ads at a reasonable cost and where you can place ads at no cost.

If you are concerned about how you’re going to sell anything by placing an ad containing only 10 words, let me tell you, that is not what you are intending to do. Never try to sell anything in your classified ad. The sole purpose of your ad is to generate leads for your sales letter or leads for your Network Marketing businesses to build your downline.

Your headline containing a strong benefit for your prospective customer, will do this for you effectively.

Your Internet classified ad should not be posted with opt-in lists, e-zines, newsgroups, or any other advertising medium whose list is mostly generic. These are people that mostly have no interest in your product or service. Only a small percentage of those people, if any, will respond to your ad. Place your classified ads with those opt-in list suppliers who's subscriber lists are more targeted to your specific market.

Targeted ads will bring fewer responses but a higher ratio of buyers as these people have an interest in what you are offering. These are the types of people you are looking for.

The headline of your classified ad should always reveal the strongest benefit your prospect will receive---the end result. What you are offering is a solution to a want, an answer to a need, a solution to a problem.

Your prospect cares little or nothing about your product or service. Your prospect is only interested in buying an end result.

As an example: When you buy a dishwasher, is the dishwasher what you really want? No. You want clean dishes! Do you really care about the dishwasher? If there was a better way to clean dishes, would you buy that? You bet you would.

You went to the hardware store and bought an electric drill. Did you really need the drill? No. You needed the hole that the drill will make for you. If there was a better way to make a hole, would you buy the drill? No you would not! So what were you really buying? You where buying the end result. In this case, it was a hole.

People buy end results. They could care less about the product.

You buy a bottle of shampoo. Do you care about the shampoo? No. You care about what the shampoo does for your hair and how good it makes you look! The end result.

Every time you write a classified ad, this is what you must think about: "What end result am I providing for my prospect?" and when you come to that conclusion, put it right up front in your headline.

Now that we have established the key element of the classified ad, we will tell you that the only reason you advertise is to create sales. Ads are not there to satisfy your ego by telling people how great you are (people don’t care). They are not for lending aid to your sales people in making sales (If they are good at their job, they don't need a classified ad to help them), and they are not for bragging about your company (Only you care). Your classified ad must stand on its own merits and pay for itself by creating sales! That's its primary objective. There is no free lunch.

If your classified ad doesn’t generate leads that result in sales, it's a bad ad, change it.

Sometimes just reversing words or changing one or two words in the headline will be all that is needed to create an ad that pulls. Every dollar you spend on classified ads must generate multiple dollars in return. Test, test, test.

Mail order pros have long favored classified ads as they represent the most cost effective way to reach millions of people.

To help you get started, the following is a list of 229 magazines that were chosen out of thousands as the most effective for classified advertising. The first 27 are mail order pros’ favorites. They will always out pull other magazines for opportunity offers.

The second group that offers classified ads are the least expensive in terms of word cost/circulation ratio. That means, what it will cost you per word per reader in that magazine.

For example, the National Enquirer charges $8.95 per word. Divide that into the 3,500,000 people in their circulation and your cost is $.023 for each 1000 persons who buy the National Enquirer. In this example, a 10 word ad would cost you $89.50 to reach 3,500,000 people.

Hounds and Hunting magazine, by comparison, only charges 22 cents per word. A whole lot cheaper then National Enquirer. Good deal? Not really. If you do the math you will find that the ad will cost you $.227 per 1000 people. That’s 10 times more expensive then the National Enquirer.

However, if your products or services lend themselves to hunting, then by all mean place your ad with Hounds and Hunting, it's your target market!

Before placing an ad you should e-mail, fax, or write to the magazine and request their rate card and discounts for classified ads. In addition to the rate card request a copy of their magazine. It will come to you free of charge. Remember that rates do change from time to time.

MAGAZINE NAME CIRCULATION

1. Globe Group 3,000,000 Weekly P.O. Box 21Rouses Point, NY 12979-0021

2. The Star 2,900,000 Weekly P.O. Box 1510 Clearwater, FL 34617

3. National Enquirer 3,500,000 Weekly P.O. Box 10178 Clearwater, FL 34617

4. Grier’s Almanac 3,011,680 Annually P.O. Box 888281 Atlanta, GA 30356

5. Field & Stream 2,000,000 Monthly Two Park Ave New York, NY 10016-5695

6. Classified, Inc. 25,000,000+ Monthly 100 E. Ohio Street, Suite 632 Chicago, IL 60611

7. Grit 330,496 10 times/yr Stauffer’s Magazine Group 1503 S.W. 42^nd St. Topeka, KS 66609-1265

8. Capper’s 353,422 26 times/yr Stauffer’s Magazine Group 1503 S.W. 42^nd St. Topeka, KS 66609-1265

9. Popular Science 1,861,155 Monthly 2 Park Ave. New York, NY 10016

10. Popular Mechanics 1,633,210 Monthly 224 West 57^th Street New York, NY 10019

11. The Workbasket 2,726,000 6 times/yr 700 West 47^th St., Suite 310 Kansas City, MO 64112

12. Home Mechanix 1,003,244 Monthly 2 Park Ave. New York, NY 10016

13. Crafts N Things 287,828 8 times/yr 701 Lee St. #1000 Des Plaines, IL 60016

14. The Family Handyman 1,000,000 10 times/yr 28 W. 23^rd Street New York, NY 10010

15. Workbench 1,025,000 6 times/yr 700 West 47^th St., Suite 310 Kansas City, MO 64112

16. Crafts Magazine 1,000,000 Monthly P.O. Box 1790 Peoria, IL 61656

17. Money Making Opportunities 222,000 8 times/yr 11071 Ventura Blvd. Studio City, CA 91604

18. Spare Time Magazine 301,000 9 times/yr 5810 W. Oklahoma Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53219

19. INC. Magazine 647,211 Monthly 38 Commercial Wharf Boston, MA 02110-3883

20. Fate 200,000 Monthly Llewellyn Publications Box 64383 St. Paul, MN 55164

21. Income Opportunities 400,000 Monthly 1500 Broadway, Suite 600 New York, NY 10019

22. Success 1,200,000 10 times/yr PO Box 570 Clearwater, FL 34617-0570

23. Book Business Mart 50,000 3 times/yr Premier Publishers P.O. Box 330309 Fort Worth, TX 76163-0309

24. Opportunity & Income Plus 250,000 Monthly 73 Spring Street #303 New York, NY 10012

25. Entrepreneur 1,700,000 Monthly P.O. Box 570 Clearwater, FL 34617-0570

26. Black Enterprise 240,000 Monthly 130 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10011

27. Mail Profits 15,000 6 times/yr P.O. Box 4785 Lincoln, NE 68504

28. Hemmings Motor News 261,551 Monthly P.O. Box 256 Rt 9 West Blvd Bennington, VT 05201

29. The Old Farmers Almanac 4,400,000 Annually PO Box 520/Main Street Dublin, NH 03444

30. The Ladies Birthday Alman 3,803,450 Annually 1715 W. 38^th St. Chattanooga, TN 37409

31. Cat Fancy 237,528 Monthly 2401 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90057

32. The Antique Trader Weekly 190,000 Weekly P.O. Box 1050 Dubuque, IA 52001

33. Cars and Parts 106,111 Monthly PO Box 482 911 Vandermark Rd. Sidney, OH 45365

34. The American Rifleman 1,372,371 Monthly 470 Spring Park Place Herndon, VA 22070

35. The American Hunter 1,359,643 Monthly 470 Spring Park Place Herndon, VA 22070

36. Railfan and Railroad 144,216 Monthly Carsten’s Publications, Inc. P.O. Box 700 Newton, NJ 07860

37. Bird Talk 123,134 Monthly PO Box 57900 2401 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90057-0900

38. Model Railroader 181,683 Monthly 1027 N. 7^th St. Milwaukee, WI 53233

39. Sports Collectors Digest 43,361 Weekly 700 East State St. Iola, WI 54990

40. Muscle Car Review 71,235 10 times/yr Dobbs Publishing Group, Inc. 3816 Industry Boulevard Lakeland, FL 33811

41. The American Legion Magazine 3,004,913 Monthly PO Box 1055 Indianapolis, IN 46206

42. Crochet World 72,300 6 times/yr House of White Birches 306 East Parr Rd Berne, IN 46711

43. Gun Week 20,000+ Weekly Box 488 Station C Buffalo, NY 14209

44. Quiltworld 71,000 6 times/yr House of White Birches 306 East Parr Rd. Berne, IN 46711

45. Woodman of the World Mag. 466,625 Monthly 1700 Farnam St. Omaha, NE 68102

46. California Senior Citizens 69,000 monthly 4805 Alta Canyada Road La Canada, CA 91011

47. Sew News 235,000 Monthly P.O. Box 1790 - News Plaza Peoria, IL 61656

48. American Motorcyclist 176,169 Monthly 33 Collegeview Road Westerville, OH 43081

49. American Collector’s Journal 50,926 Bi-Monthly P.O. Box 407 Kewanee, Il 61443

50. Shooting Times 196,441 Monthly News Plaza PO Box 1790 Peoria, IL 61656

51. 58 Dog Fancy 135,320 Monthly 240lq Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90057

52. Guns Magazine 205,619 Monthly Publisher’s Development 591 Camino de la Reina, Ste. 200 San Diego, CA 92108

53. National History 511,463 Monthly 488 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10022

54. Baseball Digest 297,490 Monthly Trump Card Marketing 222 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666

55. Farm Journal 730,145 13 times/yr 230 W. Washington Sq. Philadelphia, PA 19106-3599

56. The Farmer 118,459 21 times/yr 1999 Shepard Rd. St. Paul, MN 55116

57. Finescale Modelier 77,748 Bimonthly 1027 N. 7^th St. Milwaukee, WI 53233

58. Trains 91,749 Monthly 1027 N. 7^th St. Milwaukee, WI 53233

59. Good Old Days 72,500 Monthly House of White Birches 306 East Parr Rd. Berne, IN 46711

60. Dune Buggies & Hot VW’s 107,302 Monthly 2950-A7 Airway Ave. Costa Mesa, CA 92626

61. American Handgunner Magazine 179,751 6 times/yr Publishers Development 591 Camino de la Reina, Ste. 200 San Diego, CA 92108

62. Fur-Fish-Fame 172,847 Monthly 2878 E. Main Street Columbus, OH 43209

63. Changing Times 1,372,867 Monthly 1729 H St., N.W. Washington, DC 20006

64. B’NAI B’RITH JEWISH MONTHLY 171,457 Monthly 823 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017

65. QST 161,442 Monthly 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111

66. Railroad Model Craftsman 72,315 Monthly Carsten’s Publications, Inc. P.O. Box 700 Newton, NJ 07860

67. Power Boat 83,224 11 times/yr 15917 Strathern St. Van Nuys, CA 91406

68. Saturday Evening Post 500,000 6 times/yr 1100 Waterway Blvd. Indianapolis, IN 46202

69. Successful Farming 575,686 14 times/yr Locust at 17^th Des Moines, IA 50336

70. Hunting 311,715 Monthly 8490 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90069

71. Michigan-Out-Of-Doors 101,066 Monthly 2101 wood St. Lansing, MI 48912

72. The Rotarian 510,000 Monthly 1560 Sherman Ave. Evanston, IL 60201

73. Car and Driver 900,691 Monthly 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036

74. Organic Gardening 1,188,335 Monthly 33 E. Minor St. Emmanus, PA 18098

75. Country music City News 500,000 Monthly 50 Music Square West, 6^th Floor Nashville, TN 37203-3246

76. Bowling 131,351 6 times/yr 5301 South 76^th Street Greendale, WI 53129-0500

77. Motor Trend 738,964 Monthly 8490 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90069

78. Soldiers of Fortune 105,000 Monthly P.O. Box 693 Boulder, CO 80306

79. W.C. - Cross Stitch 72,851 Bimonthly 306 East Parr Rd Berne, IN 46711

80. Equus 138,011 Monthly 656 Quince Orchard Rd. Gaithersburg, MD 20878

81. Our Sunday Visitor 115,000 Weekly 200 Noll Plaza Huntington, IN 46750

82. W.C.- Home Cooking 68,265 Monthly 306 East Parr Road Berne, IN 46711

83. Flower and Garden 4,171,000 6 times/yr 700 West 47^th. St., Suite 310 Kansas City, MO 64112

84. Full Cry 33,955 Monthly Gault Publications P.O. Box 10 Boody, IL 62514

85. American Cage-Bird Mag. 40,000 Monthly One Glamore Court Smithtown, NY 11787

86. Prorodeo 26,567 Bi-weekly 101 Prorodeo Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80919

87. Football Digest 203,182 10 times/yr Trump Card Marketing 222 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666

88. Guns & Amo 21,638 Monthly 8490 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90063

89. Modern Photography 650,386 Monthly 825 Seventh Ave. New York, NY 10019

90. Family Motor Coach Association 98,000 Monthly 8291 Clough Pike Cincinnati, OH 45244

91. The Highlander 38,000 7 times /yr P.O. Box 397 Barrington, IL 60011

92. Craft Art Needlework Digest 101,189 Bimonthly P.O. Box 584 Lake Forest, IL 60045

93. Yankee 2,900,000 Monthly Yankee Publishing, Inc. 4850 Gaidrew Road Alpharetta, GA 30201

94. National Speed Sport News 75,000 Weekly P.O. Box 608 79 Chestnut Street Ridgewood, NJ 07451-0608

95. National Review 240,000 25 times/yr 150 E. 35 Street New York, NY 10016

96. Collectors Mart 86,623 6 times/yr P.O. Box 12830 Wichita, KS 67277

97. Lapidary Journal 35,982 Monthly P.O. Box 80937 San Diego, CA 92138

98. Easyriders 356,590 Monthly 28210 Dorothy Dr. Agoura Hills, CA 91301

99. Video Review 450,001 Monthly 902 Broadway New York, NY 10010

100. Basketball Digest 104,238 8 times/yr Trump Card Marketing 222 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666

101. Winning! Newsletter 100,000 Monthly 5300 City Plex Tower Jenks, OK 74037-5300

102. Teddy Bear and Friends 60,743 6 times/yr 900 Fredrick Street Cumberland, MD 21502

103. Women’s Circle 49,100 6 times/yr House of White Birches 306 East Parr Road Berne, IN 46711

104. Shutterbug 90,000 Monthly PO Box F Titusville, FL 32781

105. High Fidelity 300,172 Monthly 825 7^th Ave. New York, NY 10019

106. Skiing 440,370 7times/yr 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036

107. Soundings 105,606 Monthly 33 Pratt St. Essex, CT 06426

108. Motorcyclist 209,757 Monthly 8490 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90069

109. Horoscope 104,200 Monthly 245 Park Ave. New York, NY 10167

110. Practical Homeowner 708,504 9 times/yr 33 E. Minor St. Emmaus, PA 18048

111. Bassmaster 530,757 Monthly One Bell Rd. Montgomery, AL 36117

112. Antique Monthly 66,243 Monthly P.O. Drw. 2 Tuscaloosa, AL 35402

113. Pipe Smoker 25,000 Monthly P.O. Box 22085 Chattanooga, TN 37422

114. Banana Republic Trips Mag. 300,000 Monthly One Harrison St. San Francisco, CA 94105

115. Camping & RV Magazine 20,000 Monthly P.O. Box 337 Iola, WI 54945

116. Women’s Household 39,200 Quarterly House of White Birches 306 East Parr Road Berne, IN 46711

117. Body, Mind & Spirit 152,000 Monthly P.O. Box 701Providence, RI 02401

118. Cycle 373,398 Monthly 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036

119. Today’s Chicago Woman 125,000 Monthly 200-West Superior, #400 Chicago, IL 60610

120. Lottery Player’s Magazine 180,127 Monthly 321 New Albany Rd. Moorestown, NJ 08057

121. Video 407,050 Monthly 460 W. 34^th St New York, NY 10001

122. Archery 113,023 Monthly 319 Barry Ave. Suite 101 Wayzata, MN 55391

123. The Quarter Horse Journal 67,664 Monthly 2701 I-40 East P.O. Box 200 Amarillo, TX 79168

124. W.C. - Country Needlecraft 44,508 Monthly 306 East Parr Rd. Berne, IN 46711

125. Modern Drummer 78,400 Monthly 870 Pomton Ave. Cedar Grove, NJ 07009

126. International Travel News 26,109 Monthly 2120 28^th St. Sacramento, CA 95818

127. Worldradio 25,833 Monthly 2120 28^th St. Sacramento, CA 95818

128. Kiwanis 279,249 Monthly 3636 Woodview Trace Indianapolis, IN 46268

129. Power and Motoryacht 13,531 Monthly 1234 Summer St. Stamford, CT 06905

130. Modern Electronics 75,241 Monthly 76 N. Broadway Hicksville, NY 11801

131. Sail 175,212 Monthly 100 First Ave Charlestown, MA 02129

132. The Lutheran 1,083,181 Monthly 426 S. Fifth Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55448

133. Americana 325,186 Monthly 29 W. 38^th St. New York, NY 10018

134. The Horse Trader 28,370 Monthly P.O. Box 728 Middlefield, OH 44062

135. Passenger Train Journal 16,151 Monthly P.O. Box 6128 Glendale, CA 91205

136. Runner’s World 451,512 Monthly 33 E. Minor St. Emmaus, PA 18049

137. The Log 46,960 Monthly P.O. Box 89309 San Diego, CA 92318

138. Harvard Magazine 186,677 Monthly 7 Ware St. Cambridge, MA 02138

139 Horse Illustrated 135,609 Monthly 25025 I-45 North, Suite 390 Spring, TX 77380

140. Trailer Boats 72,501 Monthly 20700 Belshaw Ave. Carson, CA 90746

141. Skip 35,400 Monthly P.O. Box 404 Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004

142. Trailblazer 94,572 Monthly 15375 S.E. 30^th Place Bellevue, WA 98007

143. Saltwater Sportsman 128,521 Monthly 186 Lincoln St. Boston, MA 02111

144. Midwest Outdoors 37,773 Monthly 111 Shore Dr. Burr Ridge, IL 60521

145. Golf 912,157 Monthly 380 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10017

146. Southern Outdoors 288,963 Monthly P.O. Box 17915 Montgomery, AL 36141

147. Cats Magazine 129,332 Monthly 445 Merrimac Dr. Port Orange, FL 32019

148. The Western Horseman 162.369 Monthly 3850 N. Nevada Ave. Colorado Springs, Co 80933

149. Guitar World 128,823 Monthly 1115 Broadway New York, NY 10010

150. Mother Jones 183,864 Monthly 1633 Misson St. San Francisco, CA 94103

151. Flying Models 27,073 Monthly Box 700 Newtown, NJ 07860

152. Golf Digest 1,239,100 Monthly 5520 Park Ave. Trumbull, CT 06611

153. Fishing World 341,215 6 times/yr 700 West 47^th St., Suite 310 Kansas City, MO 64112

154. The Christian Herald 142,376 Monthly 40 Overlook Dr. Chappaqua, NY 10514

155. UCIA Monthly 186,000 Monthly 1633 Westwood Blvd., Ste 110 Los Angeles, CA 90024

156. Video Marketplace 140,000 Monthly 990 Grove St. Evanston, IL 60201

157. The Owner Builder 66,150 Monthly 1516 Fifth St. Berkeley, CA 94710

158. Pennsylvania Sportsman 65,490 Monthly P.O. Box 5196 Harrisburg, PA 17110

159. Woodenboat 103,180 Monthly P.O. Box 78 Brooklyn, ME 04616

160. The Ensign 54,534 Monthly P.O. Box 31664 Raleigh, NC 27622

161. Small Boat Journal 57,103 Monthly Box 400 Bennington, VT 05201

162. Women’s Sports and Fitness 300,708 Monthly 809 S. Orlando Ave., Ste H Winter Park, FL 32789

163. Dirt Bike 131,930 Monthly 10600 Sepulveda Blvd. Mission Hills, CA 91345

164. True West 32,939 Monthly P.O. Box 2107 Stillwater, OK 74076

165. Jazz Times 49,237 Monthly 8055 13^th St., Suite 301 Silver Springs, MD 20910

166. Tours & Resorts 194,716 Monthly 990 Grove St. Evanston, IL 60201

167. Hockey Digest 103,506 Monthly Trump Card Marketing 222 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666

168. Canoe 64,060 Monthly P.O. Box 3146 Kirkland, WA 98083

169. The Nation 79,978 Monthly 72 5^th Ave New York, NY 10011

170. World Tennis 383,059 Monthly 3 Park Ave. New York, NY 10016

171. The BackStretch 25,380 Monthly 19363 James Couzens Hwy. Detroit, MI 48235

172. Motor Boating and Sailing 141,463 Monthly 224 W. 57^th St. New York, NY 10019

173. Car Collector/Car Classics 31,318 Monthly P.O. Box 28571 Atlants, GA 30328

174. Circus 281,842 Monthly 3 West 18^th St. New York, NY 10011

175. National Lampoon 250,002 Monthly 155 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10013

176. Total Health 71,010 Monthly 6001 Topanga Canyon Rd. Woodland Hills, CA 91367

177. Bestways 161,815 Monthly P.O. Box 2028 Carson City, NV 89702

178. Writer’s Digest 220,196 Monthly 1507 Dana Ave. Cincinnati,OH 45207

179 Boating 188,057 Monthly 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036

180.Horticulture 178,508 Monthly 20 Park Plaza, Suite 1220 Boston, MA 02116

181. New Age 151,730 Monthly 342 Western Ave. Brighton, MA 02135

182. N.J. Hunting and Fishing 15,000 Monthly P.O. Box 100 Somerdale, NJ 08083

183. Dog World 64,732 Monthly 29 North Wacker Dr. Chicago, IL 60606

184. Outdoor America 43,422 Monthly 1701 N. Ft. Meyer Dr. Arlington, VA 22209

185. Sport Fishing 109,384 Monthly 409 South Orlando Ave. Winter Park, FL 32789

186. Old West 28,385 Monthly P.O. Box 2107 Stillwater, OK 74076

187. Treasure 22,679 Monthly 6745 Adobe Rd. 29 Palms, CA 92277

188. Petersen’s Photo Magazine 283,010 Monthly 8490 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90069

189. Fine Woodworking 296,773 Monthly P.O. Box 355 Newtown, CT 06470

190. Old House Journal 97,948 6 times/yr 69^th & Seventh Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11217

191. Snowmobile 419,478 Monthly 319 Barry Ave.S., Suite 101Wayzata, MN 55391

192. Lost Treasure 41,423 Monthly P.O. Box 937 Bixby, OK 74008

193. Cycle News 60,700 Monthly 2201 Cherry Ave. Long Beach, CA 90806

194. Yachting 136,028 Monthly 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036

195. The N.Y. Review of Books 114,234 Monthly 250 E. 57^th St. New York, NY 10107

196. American Film 133,230 Monthly 3. E. 54^th St. New York, NY 10022

197. Pure-Bred Dogs Amer. Kennel 53,950 Monthly 51 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10010

198. Knitting Digest 25,600 6times/yr House of White Birches 306 East Parr Rd. Berne, IN 46711

199. American Photographer 254,107 Monthly 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036

200. Saturday Review 200,000 Monthly 214 Massachusetts Ave. N.E. Washington, DC 20002

201. Human Events 36,695 Monthly 422 lst St. S.E. Washington, DC 20037

202.American Business 104,772 Monthly 1775 Broadway New York, NY 10019

203. Classic Toy Trains 10,000 Monthly 11027 North Seventh St. Milwaukee, WI 53233

204. Auto Racing Digest 44,124 Monthly Trump Card Marketing 222 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666 

205. Soccer Digest 27,929 Monthly Trump Card Marketing 222 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666

206. High Technology Business 203,678 Monthly 214 Lewis Wharf Boston, MA 02110

207. The Western Boatman 23,961 Monthly 20700 Belshaw Ave. Carson, CA 90746

208. Archaeology 105,146 Monthly 15 Park Row New York, NY 10038

209. Motorcross Action 92,257 Monthly 10600 Sepulveda Blvd. Mission Hills, CA 91345

210. Threads 125,913 Monthly P.O. Box 355/63 S. Main St. Newtown, CT 06470

211. UTNE Reader 67,449 Monthly 2732 West 43^rd St. Minneapolis, MN 55410

212. Yoga Journal 44,819 Monthly 2054 University Ave. Berkley, CA 94704

213. Practical Horseman 55,752 Monthly Gum Tree Corner Unionville, PA 19375

214. Dirt Wheels 88,632 Monthly 10600 Sepulveda Blvd. Mission Hills, CA 91345

215. Hounds and Hunting 9,697 Monthly Box 372 Bradford, PA 16701

216. Backpacker 172,111 Monthly 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036

217. Bowling Digest 104,159 Monthly Trump Card Marketing 222 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666

218. Darkroom Photography 70,508 8 times/yr 9021 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90069

219. Miniature Collector 23,602 Quarterly 170 5^th Ave. New York, NY 10010

220. Gun Dog 62,973 Bimonthly 1901 Bell Ave., Suite 4 Des Moines, IA 50315

221. BLUMS FARMERS ALMANAC 100,000 Annually 3301 Healy Dr. S.W. Winston-Salem, NC 27103

222 The Magazine Antiques 60,578 Monthly 980 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10021

223. Hispanic Business 107,875 Monthly 360 S. Hope Ave., Suite C. Santa Barbara, CA 93105

224. Linn’s Stamp News 74,082 Weekly P.O. Box 29 Sidney, OH 45365

225. Selling 100,000 Quarterly PO Box 570 Clearwater, FL 34617-9862

226. Mustang Monthly Monthly Dobbs Publishing Group, Inc. 3816 Industry Boulevard Lakeland, FL 33611

227. Super Ford Monthly Dobbs Publishing Group, Inc. 3816 Industry Boulevard Lakeland, FL 33811

228. Corvette Fever Monthly Dobbs Publishing Group, Inc. 3816 Industry Boulevard Lakeland, FL 33811

229. Mopar Muscle 6 times/yr Dobbs Publishing Group, Inc. 3816 Industry Boulevard Lakeland, FL 33811

For those of you who wish to advertise in newspapers nationwide (we do recommend you try small town newspapers).

A more convenient way to post classified ads is to use the same service we use:

Wolf Advertising, 104 Cassidy Court, Cary, NC 27511
Phone: 919-481-2126. Fax: 919-380-8013

Carol Wolf, is very helpful with regard to the verbiage in your ad and the placement of your ads. She will also get you the best discounts.

Now let’s talk about classified advertising on the Internet.

We have talked earlier about placing classified ads on Compuserve and America Online. You can also place ads with the various search engines and directories such as Yahoo!.

Go into the search engines and type in the search box, "free classified ads". You will find hundreds of sites where you can place a free ad. You want to look for those sites that display ads similar or complimentary to your product or service.

Do a search by typing in, "paid classified ads" and check what comes up.

There are other services you can use to get your classified ads posted to hundreds, if not thousands, of sites at no cost to you.

Here are two services that will post your ads free:

http://www.promosoftware.com/

http://www.becanada.com/

Instead of going to each individual free classified site, you may want to try Classified 98, a software program that will place your ad in minutes to hundreds of classified websites.

http://www.classify98.com

Many web sites will require payment to place your ad. Before using these sites, test your ad in AOL and CompuServe and in a number of the free sites.

Make sure your headline is a strong attention getter. Generate curiosity. Offer a great benefit in the headline. Give something away free. People love free things that are useful. Make your headline stand out because you will be competing with a lot of other ads.

Cost for placing your ad is not expensive and will vary from company to company. For example: America Online charges you a flat rate of $12.95 (This rate is as of today) for two weeks.

Classifieds 2000 charges $19.95 for an eight week contract. If your ad is not pulling to your satisfaction, Classifieds 2000 allows you to change your headline or ad copy during that 8 week period.

CompuServe in now offering to place ads on Classifieds 2000 (you do this yourself) as well as offering their own classified ad listing. CompuServe charges $1 per line and limits you to 12 lines.

The number of lines and the number of characters per line varies from classified ad site to classified ad site. Follow each ones instructions individually and read their terms and conditions.

It has been our experience that a more effective place to run classified ads is in e-zines. These are on-line electronic magazines that are e-mailed only to people who subscribe to them.

There are thousands of e-zines covering almost any subject you can think of, and most are sent to you free. Those who subscribe to these e-zines become a captive audience. Ads cost $10 to $110 on average depending upon the popularity of the e-zine and their number of subscribers. Most ads will run about $35.

E-zines are a great source of information no matter what your field and I encourage you to subscribe to as many as you feel comfortable dealing with.

Not all e-zines accept classified ads. Of those that do, some will allow you to place a free classified ad while others will charge you a nominal fee as previously discussed.

Each e-zine has its own restrictions regarding the size of the classified you are permitted to post, the day of the month you can be listed, etc.

Some e-zines are here today and will be gone tomorrow. With others, the terms and conditions may change from time to time. Most, fortunately are solid and continue to grow in size.

Here are two e-zine list companies we highly recommend. The first one is free and the second one charges $39.95 for one full year and is well worth the price:

http://yoken.com/freeezinelist.htm

Yoken just lists the names of almost 700 e-zines in alphabetical order. The list is interactive and all you need to do click on their links to subscribe to any one of them.

On the other hand, the second list, which was developed by Ruth Townsand, is the best and most useful list of e-zines we have ever seen. Ruth has put in a tremendous amount of work, time and effort in developing her list. Each e-zine lists the publisher, the number of subscribers, the main topics covered in the e-zine, advertising rates and much more. The list has a gold mine of information for anyone wanting to do classified advertising. New e-zines with all their vital statistics are added continually. At the ridiculously low price of only $39.95 for a years subscription, her list of over 770 e-zines is a virtual pot of gold for you. The list will save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in research time. Within minutes you will be able to locate your target market among all the e-zines. Everyone who wants to market on the Internet should subscribe to her list:

http://directoryofezones.com

When you start checking the individual e-zines, you will find that their subscriber list can vary widely in number from a few hundred to over a million subscribers. Do not be unduly influenced by the size of the subscriber list. A subscriber list of 5000 may be far more effective for you than a list of 300,000. Reason? The smaller list may be targeted to your specific market and the subscribers on the larger list are not and couldn't care less.

At least briefly read each e-zine before placing an ad. You'll need to make sure the subjects covered are in keeping with what you are offering in your ad.

E-zines, otherwise known as newsletters are probably one the most essential components to achieving success on the Internet. There is no better place to put your classified ads. In addition to being a great source of leads for your products and services, newsletters provide you with a wealth of incredibly useful information that will assist you in building and running your on-line marketing business. Knowledge is power and nowhere is this fact more true than on the Internet.

Paid for or free, place as many ads as you can after satisfying yourself of the success of your test program.

To save you some time, we have isolated an additional list of places you can go to place classified ads for free.

http://classifieds.cashinsite.com

http://fotoads.net

http://members.tripod.com/~lagir/freead

http://www.weeklymmr.com/class.htm

http://www.webovation.com/ads.htm

http://www.classifiedtoday.com/

http://www.powerwash.net/classifi.htm

http://www.reelends.com/classifieds.html

Now that we have discussed everyone else's newsletters (e-zine) let's move on to the second part of this chapter which is publishing your own newsletter.

	Newsletters Write Your Own Newsletter---It Pays.

Why newsletters (e-zines)? Because newsletters are quick and easy to produce and often go to huge numbers of subscribers. Most newsletters are free and therefore easy to get subscribers for if the content is interesting and has value to the subscriber. Newsletters, if you write them yourself, cost nothing to produce except your time. There is no postage cost or printing cost incurred in order to deliver the newsletter to your subscribers. Delivery is free via e-mail. All it takes is the push of a button, your newsletter is delivered seconds or minutes to each subscriber's e-mail box.

Look through the lists of e-zines and subscribe to those that are appropriate for your business. Check the statistics in Ruth Townsand's list of e-zines to choose those e-zine best related to your business that have been around a while and have a subscriber list of 5000 and above. With those e-zines, you will learn first hand what constitutes a successful newsletter and be able to pattern your own.

If you have any kind of specialty or are particularly knowledgeable in your field, you can create your own e-zine and put it online. Writing your own is a great way to promote your business and build a large opt-in list of prospects. You get subscribers by placing free ads on classified sites and ads with appropriate newsgroups. (We’ll cover newsgroups in Chapter Twelve.) A newsletter doesn't have to be pages and pages of content. Two or three articles or reports of meaningful content are sufficient to turn your newsletter into one that subscribers are anxious to receive every month. Some newsletters are written bi-weekly, and some weekly.

On start-up, don't attempt to do a newsletter more then once a month. With the experience and assistance that you will acquire along the way, later you may decide to increase the frequency of your newsletter. It's an important and time consuming commitment.

If writing is not your forte or you just plain do not have the time to write and you still want to publish a newsletter, try a ghostwriter. You can probably find one that will write a three or four page newsletter for you for about $100 to $200. You can also work to create alliances with several experts in your field who'd like to get recognition for their talents. Ask them to become a regular contributor to your e-zine. Always give full credit to the source of your articles if you are not writing the articles yourself.

Seek out anyone who has any expertise in your field from any source and ask for contributions. Post a notice at your local library. Post an ad in a trade journal or newsletter. Look at web sites related to your product and e-mail the webmasters asking if they would like to contribute. Check out books, post a request in related newsgroups (Chapter Twelve). Request contributions from your subscribers. People love to contribute and want to be heard. You will have no problem finding contributors.

Here are some online resources to help you research articles, promote your e-zine, find writers and other information related to improving the content of your e-zine:

http://certificate.net/wwio/

http://www.icopyright.com

http://WebDevelopersJournal.com/

http://www.homeincome.com/writers-connection/

http://www.ezineseek.com/

Newsletters have a specific format that almost everyone follows and you should too. Below is a sample template of an e-zine format:

=====================================================

Name of E-zine: Issue Number and/or Subscription Date

=====================================================

If you enjoy the "e-zine name", please forward it to a friend. [Insert name] is an opt-in, monthly e-zine available by subscription only. We neither use nor endorse the use of spam. If you would like to subscribe, please send e-mail to subscribe@domain.com Unsubscribe information is located at the bottom of this e-zine. Thank you!

=====================================================

Name of Sponsor: Sponsor Info or Url, etc., can go here

=====================================================

A brief word or blatant ad by your sponsor goes here...

=====================================================

Contents: (customize the "content" to suit your needs)

=====================================================

1) Quote of the month

2) Editorial (Editor's Name)

3) Feature Article: Title and/or author's name

4) Widget (or whatever) Tips

5) Feature Article: Title and/or author's name

6) New feature on our site!

7) Sponsors or Classified Ads

7) General & Unsubscribe Info

==================

Quote of the month

==================

Or quip, tip, etc..

==================

Editorial (Editor's Name)

==================

*fill in with new content for each issue*

====================================================

Feature Article: Title and/or author's name

====================================================

*fill in with new content for each issue*

==================

Widget (or whatever) Tips

==================

*fill in with new content for each issue*

====================================================

Feature Article: Title and/or author's name

====================================================

*fill in with new content for each issue*

====================================================

New feature on our site (or featured product, etc!)

====================================================

*fill in with new content for each issue*

==================

Sponsors or Classified Ads

==================

*fill in with new content for each issue*

==================

General & Unsubscribe Info

==================

Disclaimer:

[E-zine name] is copyright [your name], 1999 except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. Reprint only with permission from copyright holder(s). All trademarks are property of their respective owners. All contents provided as is. No express or implied income claims made herein, your business success is always dependent on many factors, including your own abilities. Advertisers are solely responsible for ad contents.

This e-zine may be accessed online at;

[url to your e-zine page]

To contact us with feedback, questions or kudos, e-mail

[e-mail address to a person not a subscribe address]

To subscribe, please e-mail [subscribe address]

subject line: [if needed] (or body command)

Please feel free to use exerpts from this newsletter as long as you give credit with a link to our page:

[url to your website or e-zine page]

====================================================

Your sig file, including name, e-mail address and url.

If you enjoyed this issue, please forward it to a friend! Thanks.

1-------10--------20--------30--------40--------50--------60----5

(This is the 65 character space guide. Delete it before sending!)

In Chapter Six we taught you how to set up your filter program to segregate specific e-mail from the rest of your mail. Before placing your first ad for subscribers to your e-zine, you need to:

1. set up a filter program with "Subscribe" in your subject line.
2. create a new mailbox.
3. create a new address book titled "Subscribers".
4. manually move your "Subscriber" e-mail addresses to your new address book.
5. place your e-zine in a "Stationary File". Click Here to go back to that section in Chapter Six.
6. Set up your MailKing program to personalize the mailing of your e-zine. Click Here.

Now that your "Subscriber" filter program is set up, you are ready to advertise and take whatever steps needed to build your Subscriber list. One of the first things you should be doing is to get listed with firms that specialize in keeping track of the various e-zine lists. These listings are free and are available to anyone looking for e-zines that are related to their interests:

http://www.liszt.com

then go to:

http://www.lsoft.com/catalist.html

This site is run by L.Soft International and when I looked at it at the time of this writing, they had 27,734 public lists listed in their data base. Spend a little time at the site. Check out the FAQ’s and get yourself listed.

Send a description of your newsletter to:

gapach97@aol.com

for inclusion on the "Yoken" list.

If you have a web site, be sure that there is a place on your web site where people can enter their e-mail address and subscribe to your e-zine. (This is another way of building your opt-in list.)

Your e-zine does not have to be large. Two or three good articles are quite enough. In the beginning, give away free advertising space. You should continue doing this while building your base of subscribers. When you have created a good following, you can start charging for ad placement and build a residual income from classified ad sales.

When your subscriber base reaches 5000 or more, you can find sponsors who will gladly pay you to be your sponsor. Sponsors are people who pay a premium (extra money) for their ads to help the e-zine publisher defray his/her costs. As a reward, the Sponsors is listed in the e-zine as a Sponsor and the publisher will ask their subscribers to patronize the Sponsor's business. The Sponsor's ad is prominently placed at the top of the e-zine where no one can miss it. Sponsor fees usually run $60 to $500 per week per publication depending upon the size of the publication's list of subscribers.

As your Subscriber base grows, you will find yourself spending more and more time just managing the list. It's time to start thinking of transferring your Subscriber list to a list manager. One such company is:

http://www.databack.com

They will manage your subscriber base and send out your weekly or monthly newsletter for a very nominal fee. With Databack your subscriber database will be secure and protected. They also have other services in which you may be interested. Check them out. It’s worth your time.

NOTE: We use InfoGeneratorPRO to publish our Newsletter - you can also schedulae your newsletters to go out automatically. InfoGeneratorPRO really makes it easy to send out your e-zine newsletter.

Free mailing list services:

EGROUPS (http://www.egroups.com)

TOPICA (http://www.topica.com)

LISTBOT (http://www.listbot.com)

The above four companies will manage your mailing list at no charge. Your list will be kept in a secure database and your newsletter e-mailed to your list according to the schedule you set up.

If it's free, how do they support the service? By attaching someone else's paid for classified ad to your newsletter. Give a little---get a little. All of these service companies offer additional services that you can use. Go through them all and see which offer services that are best fitted to your needs.

An Internet mailing list does not contain addresses and telephone numbers for you to use in an offline direct mail campaign. It is designed for e-mail direct mail campaigns only. On the Internet, Mailing Lists fall into four main categories:

Running an e-zine can be time consuming. If you don’t want to write an e-zine or hire a ghostwriter, but you do want your presence felt out in the cyberworld, become a contributor instead. You can get a lot of traffic to your site by writing articles and signing them with your signature file. E-zine publishers are always looking for good articles to include in their publications.

Choose one or two e-zines that have relevance to your business and write articles for them. This will give you an opportunity to get your signature file out there and get free advertising for your business. How do you do this? By closing your article with your signature file. (A complete explanation is in Chapter Six. You will find it in the section covering Eudora Pro 4.2 e-mail software.)

Make sure your signature file contains your e-mail address, web site address, and a benefit line about your product or service using no more than six lines. Add your phone number if there is space. It gives your prospect another way of reaching you and will add to your personal credibility.

When you start contributing articles on a regular basis, you will find that your opt-in list of prospects will fatten up.

As an aside, think about the wonders of an electronic magazine. No trucks delivering stacks of magazines. No fuel to burn polluting the atmosphere. No sitting and waiting to receive your copy while it sits around some post office somewhere. No need to figure out where to stack yet another pile of magazines! The day the electronic magazine is published, it is delivered to you.

Computer and Internet technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that we are going to be the most privileged of societies living through this technological revolution. Some day they are going to implant a tiny little plug-in receptacle in our heads. I'm kidding, I think!

When we want to absorb information, we will plug in a cable from our computer, turn on the set, pull up the information we want, then press a button and transfer the information to our brain.

What a way to go! Instant intelligence! How Sci Fi!

I digress. Back to your article. Keep it short. One to two pages at the most. Use your signature file. Publishers don’t mind your putting in a plug for yourself. After all, they are not paying you for the article.

Another plus. You will probably get a flood of inquiries out of displaying your signature file at the end of your article. Everyone wants to talk to the expert.

Writing articles for e-zines is not the beginning and end all in establishing a good solid opt-in list that you can convert to customers. You need to use every means at your disposal and post your classified ads in as many places as possible, paying particular attention to the headlines we have talked about over and over.

Headlines are the most important part of the process of getting and keeping your prospect's attention. If you can’t get people past your headline, you might as well not bother.

The second most important part of the process is the text that is the body copy of your ad. The body copy needs to support your headline with additional benefits, not features. Save the features for your sales letter.

Your body copy must build curiosity, create desire for the benefits you offer, and/or imply a solution to a problem. The entire thrust of the ad must speak benefits, benefits, benefits received when they buy your product.

You need to use words similar to your headline in your body copy - words that will continue to keep the prospect interested enough to take the next step to request more information.

To put it simply:

• You must get their Attention
• Then develop their Interest
• Next build their Desire
• And then get them to take Action!

If you accomplish these four steps you will be flooded with orders and develop a nice fat bank account.

Write or print out these 4 steps on heavy paper. Tack it up over your desk so that it reminds you how you need to write ALL your sales ads and correspondence.

Everything you write must also sound as if you are talking directly to that one prospect. It doesn’t matter how many see it. It needs to sound as if you wrote it just for them.

Also, write like you speak. Do not use fancy words. Most people will not appreciate your sounding like you’re talking down to them. Do salespeople speak as if they were making an oral presentation for an English language competition or do they talk to you in plain English in their natural voice? Do you get annoyed at people who talk to you like you're 5 years old?

The answer is obvious. Your ad is your salesperson and should speak the same way a an effective salesperson speaks. Do not create a special style of writing that is different from the way you speak. Be natural. Your prospect will sense it.

The last part of the process is free reports. Free reports are a wonderful way to increase the perceived value of the product you are selling. Everybody loves to receive something for nothing especially when its useful to them and has a high perceived value.

In the next chapter we will cover how to write reports. We will also cover how to write a sales letter that creates sales. Make use of the free reports as part of your sales offer.

The sales letter will be sent in response to requests for more information coming from your classified ads and e-mail ad programs.

In summing up this chapter your Unique Selling Proposition, headlines that grab attention, and motivating body copy are the powerful tools you must work with to build a successful business.

I must assume, since you purchased this manual, that you are ready to make money...lots of it.

I also assume, since you purchased this manual, that you understand that creating a successful business will cost you some money—but it doesn’t have to cost you a lot.

Now that you are ready to fulfill your dreams and realize your goals, you will find that the use of classified ads, on and off the Internet plays a major part in building your success.

Classified ads are the best dollar-for-dollar return in advertising. You can earn a high profit on your investment.

Classified ads are the easiest to write, the easiest to place, and they cost the least. They require a simple follow-up and bring in thousands of dollars in sales.

A well placed classified ad will bring in hundreds, even thousands of replies month after month, year after year.

You don’t have to have a special background to make money with mail order classifieds. Any beginner can realize a steady second income or develop a stable full time business through classified ads.

Now that I’ve told you this, if you think you are going to place one ad and the world will open up for you, guess again.

You need to follow the steps, one by one. You need to be persistent and never give up. You need to believe you can never be defeated

Mix all these ingredients together, absorb them fully, and no you can stop you from climbing to the top of the ladder of success!

Live with integrity - Live with a dream.
Believe in your success - And so it will be.

Return To The Top Of The Page: Chapter Nine