How To Promote Your Business -
A 10 Step Guide For Beginners
By Trent Brownrigg
©2004 All rights reserved
Often times when people start an internet business they don't have a clue how to go about
their marketing campaign. They end up posting ads aimlessly to places that do nothing but send
them sp@m and waste time and money. Then, after a couple weeks without results, they give up.
It almost happened to me and I know it happens to others everyday. So, in order to help the
newbies, I decided to give a quick overview of some of the widely used techniques for marketing
your business. When used correctly these marketing techniques will dramatically increase traffic
and sales without emptying your bank account.
Here they are, in no particular order:
1. PPC's (Pay-Per-Click)
These are a very widely used method of getting traffic to your website. Pretty
much everyone uses PPC's at one time or another. The concept is really simple...
you bid a certain amount on keywords related to your product or service. Then
when someone searches for those keywords they find your ad (assuming you bid
high enough). Finally, they click on your ad and you pay the amount you bid.
This is great because you only pay for traffic that actually goes to your site
and all the traffic is targeted.
PPC's may sound intimidating because of the word "pay" but you can
usually find keywords to bid on for a very low amount. The highest bid I have on
a PPC currently is 25 cents per click which is actually considered high for some.
You can also frequently find deals where you get money put into your account just
for signing up. Then the traffic you get doesn't cost you anything. Send an email
to webmaster1@gmail.com
and I will send you a list of some PPC's that do this.
For a list of the top PPC's go to
PayPerClickSearchEngines.com.
Note: Google Adwords is not listed in their top 10 but it should be. Overture and Google
are widely considered to be the two best. You can find Google Adwords at:
http://www.google.com/ads/programs.html.
2. Co-ops
This one is also really simple. You just pay a certain amount for guaranteed
prospects. Usually someone that generates very high amounts of prospects, due to their
marketing efforts, will allow you to participate in the coop for a small fee. They are
also a super time saver because you don't have to do anything to get the prospects,
except pay a little. Co-ops are a really great deal when you are new because you
typically aren't real great at getting your own quality prospects without spending
a lot of money or tons of time.
3. Article writing
Writing articles is another great way to generate a lot of quality traffic as
well as make a name for yourself on the internet. All you do is write on a topic you know
about and submit it to places that accept article submissions. This one scares people at
first because they don't think they can write.
Trust me it's not as hard as you may think to find a topic you know something about.
Then just write a couple pages about it. For example: I didn't used to think I could write
articles, but you're reading this one today, aren't you?
4. Forum submissions
Basically all you do with this one is go to internet business forums and post
answers to people's questions. This one is more for making a solid reputation for yourself
as a knowledgeable and trustworthy individual.
I have already written an article on this so I won't go into much detail here. The article
will give you a lot more info, you can find it at: Work-At-Home-Jobs-Iowa.com. It tells a
lot about what to do and not do in the forums as well as provide you with some good forums
to get started in.
Note: Do not post ads in the forums. The only way this technique is effective is to offer
answers and advice to people. This is also a really great way to learn a lot from the masters
just by reading the posts.
5. Link exchanges (for search engines)
This technique is only effective if you have your own website. You search for sites
related to yours (such as "work at home") and then you place a link to the website into the links
page of your website. Then you ask the webmaster to return the favor by placing a link to your
site on theirs.
Link exchanges are great for getting your website ranked highly in search engines such as Google.
Then when people search for your keywords they find your site. This takes a lot of time and work but
is great for a huge amount of targeted traffic in the end.
6. Ezines
Ezines are one of the best sources of information on the web. They can make a
huge impact on your marketing success if used correctly. Most ezines offer ad
space that you can buy for fairly cheap. Some even accept ads for frëe. You can
also write articles (explained above) and submit them to Ezines to get free
exposure.
The Directory of Ezines
(DOE) is well-known as the premier resource for the best Ezines.
To help ensure you find quality ezines to advertise in you should check to see how many
subscribers they have. The more the better but make sure their list is 100% opt-in because
some will try and make themselves look more popular than they really are. Also, make sure
there aren't too many ads to compete with. Some ezines will accept virtually unlimited ads.
Your ad will probably never be seen in an Ezine that allows this. I really like the DOE
(link above) because they have already checked the ezines for quality to make it much
easier on you.
7. Word-of-mouth
Well, this one's easy. Tell everyone you know or meet about your business and tell them
to tell everyone they know about it too.
A great article about this topic can be found at:
http://www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com/300rule.html
8. Flyers
Post flyers in places where a lot of people go. Supermarkets, sign poles, under
windshield wipers in large parking lots (you might want to ask the owner of the
lot before doing that), universities, anywhere else you can think of... you get
the picture. You can also just hand them out to people at large events.
9. Ads on high-ranking sites
Similar to classifieds... there are many websites that offer space for people to
place ads. You can usually get an ad for a very good price. Just search for
websites on your topic and if they offer ad space then ask them about it. If
they are in the top 10 on the search engines for the keywords you type in then
there is a good chance they get a lot of traffic. Your ad could be seen by
thousands of people every month.
10. Classifieds
There are many classified ad directories on the internet. How popular the site
is will usually determine how much you pay for an ad. Most places offer pretty
fair prices. There are also plenty of places to post classified ads offline such
as newspapers.
There are tons of classified sites so it's very easy to get confused or
overwhelmed when trying to figure out which ones to use. You should definitely
do some research on the site before you spend money to advertise there. A few
things to look for are: number of visitors to the site (the more the merrier),
make sure your ad will stay visible without being pushed off the page by other
ads, and make sure the site offers value to visitors, meaning it isn't just full
of ads and nothing else.
What NOT to do when promoting your business
Do not send out unsolicited (sp@m) emails to people. All that will do is get you in trouble and
won't produce very good results anyway. Don't post to FFA (free-for-all) sites.
All you will get back from them is a bunch of junk in your inbox so it's not
worth your time. Also, don't use unethical business practices of any kind. If
you are not sure about something, then ask someone. Always use your better
judgment.
Well, that's all I have for the moment. There are many more marketing
techniques that you can use so don't assume that this is an all-inclusive list.
The promotion methods above are just some of the more commonly used ways to get
traffic/customers for your business. I didn't go into detail on any of the
techniques because this article would have turned out to be a book. If you need
any more information or help with anything send me an email and I will answer
your questions or direct you to someone that can.
Finally, please remember that any business online or offline takes hard work
and time to build. Do not expect to be making a lot of money in a short amount
of time. Put in the effort and you will be greatly rewarded in the long run.
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