Paid Promotions - Do They Work?

[John Oberon]

My pointer is not to waste money on advertising.

Hmmm...I wonder why all these very rich and successful companies waste so much money on advertising?

[Rogue Mutt]

Hmmm...I wonder why all these very rich and successful companies waste so much money on advertising?

They have budgets of millions of dollars. You don't.

[John Oberon]

Sorry...No business would do it if they thought it was a waste, regardless of whether it's hundreds, thousands, or millions, and they'd be much LESS likely to do it if it cost millions. The fact is, you can't sell ANYthing without some kind of advertising.

[Rogue Mutt]

Sorry...No business would do it if they thought it was a waste, regardless of whether it's hundreds, thousands, or millions, and they'd be much LESS likely to do it if it cost millions. The fact is, you can't sell ANYthing without some kind of advertising.

You do know how much ads for the Super Bowl and other high profile events are right? Or naming rights for stadiums? Tell me again how they're less likely to advertise if it costs millions. Lol

[John Oberon]

Exactly my point. It isn't a waste, which is why they're willing to pay that much. They know it works.

[Wickett]

Unfortunately, advertisements sell products. It's a byproduct of the weak-minded and uneducated society that we live in. Over half of today's technology would not sell if their ad wasn't very good. Why do you think Microsoft spent millions of dollars wrapping the subway stations with Windows 8 banners? This is where you get into trouble. All of your resources go into selling the product instead of making the product better and selling itself. Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, we all know the list goes on and on.

EDIT: And to help prove my point, "Windows 8" pops up as an info link.

[Rogue Mutt]

The point is you're not Microsoft or Apple or Ford. You don't have their financial resources. Penny ante sites aren't going to do much. My best-selling books don't have any advertising except occasional mentions on my blog.

[John Oberon]

I suppose it just depends on whether you think you have a product worth advertising.

[Rogue Mutt]

I suppose it just depends on whether you think you have a product worth advertising.

Hardly. Using Wickett's example, they advertised Windows 8 everywhere and it was garbage. So bad they had to release an update to essentially change it back to Windows 7.

There are thousands of websites out there that will gladly take your money while promising to help you sell books. Amazon recently joined in with a service where you can bid on ad space. I haven't tried it because I don't feel like gambling a bunch of money for something that may or may not work. The point is there are so many places big and small because the Internet is a huge place. You can throw around money here and there and it's still just tossing pebbles into the ocean. And it's especially useless when you have smart people like me who use adblocking apps in their browser so as not to see that annoying ad you spent hundreds of dollars on.

You're better off trying to build a following on social media (which is free) or in your local community.

[Rogue Mutt]

Here's a good reason to beware when paying for advertising.