After establishing your company or website, your next step is to spread the word. Paid advertising may yield strong results, but can be a risky endeavor. It may be in the best interest of your budget to consider some cheap or even free advertising ideas. Here are some various ways to spread the word on a budget.
0 AdWords Coupon - Take advantage of the huge network of Google AdWords. When you sign up for hosting with HostGator, you will receive a 0 Google AdWords coupon. Enter the promo code "hgpennymonth" (without quotes) and your first month of hosting is only one cent. HostGator is very beginner-friendly and offers the most popular tools for blogging, commerce and more - for free.
Hostgator
Ask friends for help - Consider if you have any friends who come into contact with many people daily. Maybe they work at a grocery store or gas station. You can ask them to hand out flyers or business cards for you.
Blogging - Create a network of blogs that contain content relevant to your website. Place links to your main website on these blogs.
Business Cards - Create cheap business cards and hand them out everywhere you go. Hang them on bulletin boards.
Buy ads in a college newspaper - College ads are generally less expensive than regular newspapers.
Classified ads - Place a classified ad in your local paper. These ads are typically very affordable.
Cross promote - If you run many blogs or websites, cross-promote them with links.
Link exchange - Find other bloggers or webmasters who want to exchange links.
Make flyers - Create a catchy flyer and place it everywhere. Cars, doors, bulletin boards, etc.
Offer incentives - While advertising, offer a prize or incentive to new visitors/customers. Have a giveaway or offer a gift with each new purchase. Keep your budget in mind when deciding on what to give.
Post on Forums - Make sure the message board allows promotional links. If they allow links in signatures, create a link with descriptive text leading to your site. If the forum does not allow links, don't do it.
Place ads in your email signature - Place a small unobtrusive ad at the end of each of your outgoing emails.
Social Bookmarking - Bookmark your site on places like StumbleUpon, Digg, and del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, or Digg. Add social bookmarking buttons to your website so visitors can bookmark them if they so desire.
Twitter - Build a list of followers and tweet sparingly. Be sure to only tweet interesting information - No one wants to read blatant ads.
YouTube - Create YouTube videos relevant to your business or website, and incorporate your link into the videos and video descriptions.
15 Cheap or Free Advertising Ideas
No comments:
Post a Comment