Smaller focussed websites can be important places to place your advertisement dollars
Many bricks-and-mortar small business owners have websites but they don't know what it takes to take it to the next level and get additional customers. One way to do this is to pay for online advertisements placed on other websites. Large corporate networks, such as google.com, charge on a 'click-through' basis so you first establish an account with them, deposit money into the account, and drawn down the account at a certain rate as users click your advertisement. Smaller websites run by independants typically have a more local (or topic-specific) focus and often charge a flat monthly rate for advertisements (some also charge on a 'click-through' basis). For the small business owner, you may find that these smaller websites may be a better place to put your advertisement dollars.
Although you may be attracted by the 'global' nature of the large advertising networks, the reality is unless you are selling one-of-a kind or purely online products or services, the vast majority of small businesses would benefit more by advertising with the smaller, focussed websites. For instance, if you are a local grocery store in Vancouver, Canada you would naturally want to advertise in a popular local website such as www.virtualvancouver.com as opposed to a generic website such as Yahoo.com. Eventhough the larger networks might have SOME 'targeted ad traffic', the local website has virtually ALL targeted local traffic. Advertising rates for smaller sites can be as little as $200/mo. Of course, you can get the best of both worlds by advertising on the large networks and the smaller websites too.
So when spreading the word about your business, don't forget about popular local or targeted websites who may be more beneficial to your business.
