Thanks to Google and Overture, my companies have finally hit 6 figures in monthly gross revenues. I would HIGHLY recommend the combination of Google Adwords + Overture. I would like to hear some success stories with different types of marketing.

also try kanoodle.com...they also have services that will add your link to say msnbc.com site when you see it says sponsored links and such. I have generated over 10 clicks and i just signed up TODAY! I also have adwords, but they seem to always say my service is slowed, and you get penalized for that...And then of course we have placed our banner on numerous sites (including this one :-) THANKS MATT!) I would say we have spent in the $300-400 for advertising for our business, and its hitting pretty good.

Thought I would add...With Kanoodle they have to approve your listing, well since mine got approved TODAY! yes 09-29-04 the same day i'm posting, we have had over 180 clicks from this search site! WHOA! Only downfall I have found....it adds up! we have spent $25 for the 180 clicks and still no buyers...In our eyes, it gets our name out for now, hopefully they will come back. But don't put your money into them unless your willing to wait a month or so to really see a sale from them... Its kinda diappointing to see, but thats how advertising goes i guess.....

Congrats to you both on your PPC/google/kanoodle successes. I investigated google adwords to promote my business, but got overwhelmed at the process. Networking works very well for me, but the most dramatic success I've had is with direct mail. Last year, I decided I wanted to see if I could grab some subcontracts from ad agencies, graphic design, and marketing firms. I spent almost two days carefully researching companies within a 1-hour drive from me and compiled a list with the right names. Then I sent a really catchy jumbo postcard. Of the 63 people I sent it to, I snagged 8 phone calls, 7 meetings, and 6 new clients. Response rate = 12%. Average direct mail response rate = 1 to 2%.

Well...I've got to say VERY disappointed now with kanoodle! It just may be the business we run, but not sure. I added another $50 to my account, and its gone :-( We spent $100 in one day! Not one sale! (thanks to a member here and our banner, we got one) but nothing at all from our kanoodle experince! Biggest waste of $100 I think i have ever spent. We got over 460 hits from them, and not one sale! In my head i think they are just bots hitting our link, either from them to steal the money or from someone else. But I don't find it worth the investment now. :-(

wfwh, if you're bidding on webhosting and shooting for the number one spot, it's an extremely competitive business.

You may get much better ROI if you bid on less competitive terms that don't cost as much to be near the top. That is what I do with telecom services, mostly wireless and satellite systems because the ROI is easier to figure out than LD.

You also have to be very careful with PPCSEs, as there are several that have used incentivized clicks in the past. I don't know if that could be the case with Kanoodle or not.

Sorry you had a rough PPC day. Just consider it an advertising lesson.

Oh yeah, Congratulations Brian.

sorry to hear about your bad experience with kanoodle.
We had the same problem with them - lots of clicks but not a single sale.

We've had very good results with Google's adwords; SearchFeed was ok but we gave up on them. As for Overture, it never worked for us. The keyphrases we target are way to expensive on their network.

We are running adwords already, thought we would expand our search options, guess it worked, but just not in the direction we had hoped for.

As for my hosting company, I really don't expect much back with any type of advertising. The market for hosting is too flooded. I've noticed that every kid and their dog has their own hosting company. What I've found out was that businesses really don't like to host with secondary hosting companies who have a server colocated at another hosting company. They want hosting companies with 24/7 telephone support, custom web-based account management system (not plesk or ensim), and reliability. So in my marketing campaign or my sales pitch, I always mention to them we are facilities based (have our own datacenter) + we have live support 24/7 and promise them that they will have a support agent 3 rings or less or their month free. 90 percent of my clients are referrals or just clients that signed with me while subscribing to my telecom services.

I have two side businesses and the biggets success that I have found is when I finally understood the difference between passive and active styles of marketing. This made a HUGE difference for me. So much so that both businesses have doubled my income this year alone just from new marketing concepts that i use now on a daily basis. Instead of waiting for the prospects to call me from an ad, I actively go after them and i am in total control of the sales and marketing process at all times.

This style of thinking has changed so much for me and anyone can learn to do it. I was so clueless about this a year and a half ago but now I use the tips and techniques and ideas and make it work for me.

It certainly has made me see a huge success so far this year.