Well, how have you advertised yourself around the internet?

I mean your average person will just have the odd 468x60 banner stuck on some techforum.

I would be quite interested to hear about some more interesting and original advertising ideas that you have thought up!

So shoot!

Banners on WHT..( though I haven't advertised with them as I doubt whether it converts well or not but good for branding your domain.)

These are some of the questions I like answering :). I'm glad your not asking for ideas all around, as you already have your plan and your looking for other ideas.

Although about 75% of our clients come from our local area, we have done a variety of advertiseing over the internet. Too start, of course we have had banner ads on a few websites related to web hosting or the internet. Secondly, we have done general forum advertising (In the Offers & Requests section). Thirdly, you could always submit to free directories as we have. They may not drive a ton of clients too you, but it's always good to have your company name out there on the web somewhere. We may have done other things as far as marketing over the internet is concerned, however I can't think of them right off hand.

As I said, a lot of our clients come from our local area. Local clients actually look for a more professional means of advertisements and communication. Locally, we have simply handed out business cards. Along with that, we have made a few cold-calls as well as sent direct mail (postal mail) to some businesses. We found that way to be most effective, as you can personalize the material you are sending them and include a 10% off coupon or something of that nature, to grab their attention more.

You could not guess which advertisement idea can click to a good conversion, just go on testing some method you will get an idea.

I would not recommend Google Adwords.. Instead, from personal experience, I think advertising on web hosting related websites with a banner has more of a success.

Malcom, try purchasing a sticky on these forums. Many people view the hosting offers section @ WHT, it definetely makes you stand out when your offer is shown on top of (page wise) the rest.

i think banners probably work better than most PPC search engine campaigns for hosting, however finding a niche of people that need hosting and meeting their specific needs can make advertising a whole lot easier.

good luck to all!