How to Promote Your eHow Article with Free Ads

Member

By Chris Young
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating:

(8 Ratings)

Promoting yourself online -- whether it is your own eHow article, blog or other web site -- can be hard. Even if you have amazing material, there's no guarantee it will get the attention it deserves unless you are willing to work at promoting it. Here is one more tool for your promotion toolbox. Place free ads that will draw people directly to your page, using Project Wonderful.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Computer
Photo/Design software
Internet connection

Step 1

First, sign up for a Project Wonderful account at http://projectwonderful.com

It's free to sign up and then you can start placing free ads on other people's web sites.
Step 2

Once you have an account, you'll need to create ads. Project Wonderful ads are available in 7 different sizes:

Button 117 x 30 pixels
Square 125 x 125 pixels
Half Banner 234 x 125 pixels
Banner 468 x 60 pixils
Rectangle 300 x 250 pixels
Leaderboard 728 x 90 pixels
Skyscraper 160 x 600 pixels

(The first measurement is the width and second is the height.)

You can see examples of the sizes here:
https://www.projectwonderful.com/adtemplates.php

Ads must be saved in JPG, GIF or PNG format. Animated GIFs are allowed.

You have the option of creating a text ad on the Project Wonderful site, but I strongly recommend making a graphical ad. It will look better and the chances that someone will follow the link are much greater.
Step 3

Follow the instructions on Project Wonderful to upload ads and designate the URL that each ad will go to.
Step 4

Now you are ready to place some free ads!

On the Project Wonderful site, follow the link to "Place a New Bid."
Select the size of the ad you are placing and which category of sites you want your ad to be placed on.

Select "all" categories if you are trying to place as many free ads as you possibly can -- but keep in mind that it can be time-consuming. It may be better to place ads only on sites with content similar to what your eHow article (or other site you are trying to promote) is about.
Step 5

Under "Search Criteria," click on "Bidding" and put zeros in all the fields.

It should read "Your results will only include sites with a current bid between: $0 and $0 and sites with a minimum bid between: $0 and $0"
Step 6

Now you have list of sites that have ads with average bids of $0.

Find a site that looks good to you and click on "Place an Bid."

(I recommend opening it in a new tab so it will be easier to go back to the list after you've placed your bid.)
Step 7

Now you will see a list of ads that are available on that site. Some of the ads may have bid amounts above $0. And others will be at $0, meaning someone else has already bid $0 on that spot.

But what you are looking for are spaces that say "none." That means you can place a bid of $0 and your ad will be placed immediately. (Unless the person who owns the site wants to approve all ads. In that case you'll have to wait a while.)

It is ok to place a bid of $0 on ad spaces that already have bids too. If the current bidder's bid expires and nobody else places a higher bid then you'll get that spot.
Step 8

Select the ad space you want (or select "all. That way you're ad has a chance to get bumped to a different spot instead of completely off the page if someone outbids you.)

Type in "0" for the maximum bid.

Select "2 days" for when you want the ad to expire. (Unfortunately that is the maximum length of time for free ads.)

Then click "Place Bid."
Step 9

Review the details of your ad to make sure everything is ok, and click "Place Bid" again.

Then, hopefully, you will get a message that says, "Your bid was confirmed. You are the high bidder."

If you bid $0 on an ad that already had bidders then you could get a message that says that your bid has been placed, but you have been outbid. Your ad will get placed if the previous bidder withdraws his or her ad or it expires.

Or you could get a message saying that you are the high bidder but you have to wait for the owner of the site to approve your ad.
Step 10

Now go back and place some more ads the same way.

You can view the performance of your ads later by clicking on "My Bids."