trn: How to advertise on Usenet

Ah, to go where angels fear to tread. Advertising is a very tricky and emotional subject on Usenet. Be extremely careful and err on the side of caution, the last thing you need for your business is negative publicity. Angry people do not buy.

But if you really want to advertise:

1. Seriously look into advertising on your own World Wide Web page. Many companies do it, it looks professional, you can add nifty graphics, and no one complains. And you can always post a pointer to Usenet as appropriate.
2. Check the charter of the various newsgroups. There are only a few that allow advertising. Most groups that allow advertising are in misc.forsale.
3. Avoid hype. Usenet readers typically will ignore hype but appreciate facts.
4. Never spam. Spamming is the practice of posting an ad to many, many newsgroups at once. Some Usenet readers take this rather personally and will go out of their way to punish spammers. Spammers have lost their accounts, have been email-bombed, have had their faxes jammed, and have had their personal lives turned into a personal hell.
5. Be cautious and be polite. Don't hurt your business by ignorance or by rudeness.

Last updated: 1995/12/19 18:47:56 UT
URL: http://www.nmt.edu/tcc/help/news/ad.html