Powerful, Affordable Advertising...

[Norri]

Used properly, these advertising resources can REALLY help a small business or entrepreneur catapult an idea into mass-acceptance / -usage.

Of course, used improperly, they'll just be expensive

1. Google AdWords - This one almost doesn't count anymore. It's very expensive for a "beginner" and you're likely to lose a coupla R1,000 here before you figure out the right keywords, right ad, the right offer, etc. But this is the grandaddy of "Powerful, Affordable Advertising". These dudes were the first guys to make it possible for a small business to advertise for R100-R500 a month and ACTUALLY make some sales / money. I love Google but I won't play here until I've figured out an ad, keywords and offer that already works.

(Realistically, upward of R2 per visitor)

2. Facebook CPM Advertising - Awesome if you have an idea of what demographics you want to market to. Their CPC turns out to be a tad expensive so, unless you have a product and sales-process that works well, I wouldn't experiment there. Once you do, it could turn out much cheaper than CPM. Depends on your industry, product, etc.

(As little as $0.10 per 1,000 ad-views)

3. StumbleUpon - You fund your account, you pay for visits. That's it. If your site turns out to be popular (many thumbs-up, good reviews, etc), then the viral aspect of this baby kicks in and then you KAK yourself :P Most sales-sites won't work well here but forums, image galleries, article sites, etc can do quite well. CAPTURE the visitor by offering a newsletter / RSS feed to keep 'em coming back!

($0.05 per visitor. Period.)

Definitions

CPC - Cost per click. Someone clicks on your ad, you pay.
CPM - Cost per 1,000 views. 1,000 people view your ad, you pay. Clicks or no clicks.
Daily Budget - Self explanatory but CRUCIAL to succeeding in online advertising without breaking the bank

Add your suggestions / definitions / experiences below!

PS: Complain about bad advertising experiences in a separate thread!