Many people, especially newbies are often confused about effecive ways to promote their products or affiliated products. The fastest but potentially most expensive way for the inexperienced is the pay per click (PPC) way. However, it is not always the most effective way. Writing articles and submitting them to articles directories are just as effective.

Let's look at 6 other ways that you can try to get prospective buyers even if you are a newbie and have little or no experience in making money online. The online ways that I have listed below are free and some are actually quite fun to do as you will get to interact with different types of people that may someday join venture with you to promote each other's products.

It's important to remember that selecting a niche market that is close to your heart will give you better success than to sell products that every Tom, Dick and Harry is promoting as well. A saturated market will leave you in the dust with a hole in your pocket and have you walk away with your tail between your legs.

1. Blogs
I cannot stress enough on the value of blogs or weblogs in promoting just about anything, or just to speak your mind on your favorite topic. One of my favorites blogs is Hupages. They have provided capsules to add external links, videos, pictures and RSS feeds. They even rate you and your site on the originality of your content, how active you are in your participation in their community. I notice that Hubpages blogs can dominate the 1st page of Google on any topic with the right keywords and relevant links back to your site. Other great blogs are Blogger and Wordpress but they are not as interactive as Hubpages. It is easy to generate traffic to bring prospective buyers to your sites by writing blogs, similar to article submission. The only difference is you have more freedom in including links in your content instead of just in the resource box.

2. Forums
Forums are meeting places for people with similar ideas and issues. They are a great place to search for answers and to introduce your products to. One of the best forums which bring together internet marketers is Warriorforum. You can learn a lot of different techniques on marketing from the experts, perhaps find a joint venture partner or find a ghost writer for your articles. Many of the writers in this forum are passionate about making money online. Some are experts but many are newbies. This is a valuable site to check out.

3. Yahoo.Answers
This is an interesting site created by Yahoo where visitors can log in and answer questions posed by people on practically any topic. You get rated for your participation and you can put your links as much as you please. A great way to promote yourself as an expert in your chosen topic.

4. Social Networking Websites
I have found community sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Squidoo valuable in garnering "friends & fans" that visit my site often to see what I have recently updated in terms of pictures, comments or links. It is usually easier to get supports from your own list than to get a total stranger to trust your products. Many of my prospective buyers come from this community.

5. Visit related sites
If you google a keyword specific to your product (say "get six pack abs" if you are promoting a book relating to abdominal exercises), you can run through the 1st 2 to 3 pages of google's search results and look for sites that allow you to make comments as a guest and leave your website link (which is link-friendly of course). These sites may be forums, sites selling products or blogs. You'll be surprise that even a one line comment can get you listed on Google if your link is there or your keyword is relevant! Make sure these sites have high traffic that you can ride on. Many newbies are not taught this technique to promote their products and it should be a staple diet, so to speak.

6. Offline promotion
When we focus totally on the cyber world, we sometimes forget that people live in the real world. These people have regular jobs and participate in tangible activities. If you are in charge of marketing a product in the real world, where would you advertise? Here are a few options:
a) Newspapers (paid and free);
b) Related magazines & publications;
c) Name card
d) Banners
e) Seminars
f) Brochures
g) Word of mouth

If you can think of 10 more ways to get traffic to your site, write an article about it or put it on your blog. We can always learn new ways to generate traffic, get prospective buyers to visit our site and make money online. You can get a lot of mileage as well as it is a hot topic that marketers can never get enough of!