The goal of commercials is to inform the public about particular products and persuade them to buy these products. Advertising on traditional media is prohibitively expensive, and only large businesses can afford it. TV commercials are still pricey, depending on the time slot (prime time vs. others) and network. Radio commercials are less expensive, but still unaffordable for most businesses. Print ads are cheap if you advertise in local newspapers and niche magazines. However, the downside to print ads is that they do not reach a wide audience.

One of the cheapest ways to spread the word is using the Internet. Besides being cheap, ads on the Internet can reach a wider audience than many newspaper or magazine ads. The biggest advantage of online advertising is that it reaches a highly targeted audience with higher conversion rates than print, television, or radio advertisements.

Until recently, most businesses that advertised online used click ads and inserted banners in relevant web pages but in the last two years, the trend of video ads online has grown many times over. Posting videos online is easy, and in many cases, you are not charged anything for uploading your video. Even posting a video CV online is a method of advertising yourself for the benefit of potential employers.

To be able to leverage the many advantages of online commercials in your favor, you need to understand a few basics.

*Cost - It is a myth that all video ads are expensive to create. Professionals can produce a creative, effective video for as little as $60. Simple ads, with few graphics and a voiceover, can cost as less as $20. For an extra charge, you can script the voiceover yourself and have a logo added to the video. This will make the ad look as if it "belongs" rather than appear like some online commercial.

*Similarity To TV Commercials - These ads are created by people who understand online market dynamics. They are different from TV commercials because they are meant for a highly targeted and impatient audience. If the ad cannot deliver the message in 15 seconds, people will move to another website or webpage.

*Bandwidth Requirements - The commercials will be hosted on an independent site if your website does not have the required bandwidth capacity. If the file is large, or you need more bandwidth, you will be charged extra.

*Production Time - Good internet commercials can be created in 24-48 hours. You can also order a ready ad from websites that sell online advertising capsules. If you want a customized ad, you can place an order for it at the same website.

*Onsite Ad Production - A customer might want the video shot on their premises to showcase their products and services. This might be more expensive. However, it might be a good idea as an informative and will attract a high number of visitors.

Internet videos are the perfect promotional tool for small businesses that do not have a huge advertising budget, yet aim to reach relevant audience through commercials.