How to promote your website with no money involved

[kappa84]

Here are a few easy and quick steps for a good advertising campaign that involves no money.

1. Forums:

Search forums related to your industry, add comments, ask questions, be visible. Not only those niche-related are best, all kind of forums can become a great marketing tool for your business. Do not jump in spamming those with links to your website, be wise and patient.Cost free!

2. Social bookmarking:

Simplest shortcut for bookmarking is a tool named AddThis Share. It allows you to use over 200 social networks for your website.

3. Website indexing:

Take some steps and learn more about website/articles indexing on major search engines.You can also use a free website submission service.

4. Emails

Start an email campaing with your buddies, family and collegues. Insert an opt-in box on your homepage. Create email lists and start finding some prospects for your website.

5. Link exchange

You can find hundreds and thousands of companies related to your industry that would join a "link exchange" campaign. Is a win-win situation for both exchangers, for free.

[FishBowl]

I think this is quite an interesting idea to discuss, especially when considering marketing a new business. It may also be of use to Marcela, who features in reality website inafishbowl dot com, and who wrote this blog post about marketing her Mexican food business: inafishbowl dot com, then go to Fishbowl 2's post "trying to up my marketing game".

I can certainly see benefits in forms of marketing which are paid for. However, I think that a lot of businesses, particularly at start up stage, may lack the funds to pay for a full marketing campaign. And even if you can afford to pay for an advert, how do you decide which publications/media to place it in? Can anyone answer this for me?

With regard to free publicity, I believe a lot can be achieved with minimal outgoings.

Take PR activity as the main example of this. Of course, working your way to using a PR agent or company may bring better results, but starting out, PR can be done by you, the business owner. In my experience, PR is all about getting the word out there, letting me know what you're all about and what you're up to. Saying that, a press release that simply says you're starting a business may not be interesting to a journalist/publication, so try to find the "hook" for the story - something on which the whole story rides, which is an interesting element in itself.

So, finding your USP (unique selling point) could be a good place to start. Write your press release about this unique selling point - what it is, how it's unique. Make the reader think it's the most awesome idea ever, then go on to tell them more about the business as a whole and, obviously, always include a link to your website or some kind of contact details.

Alternatively, create a PR event which you can let people know about through press releases. This could be a launch party or promo event - see here for some tips from an entrepreneur: go to inafishbowl dot com then see Fishbowl 3's post "lessons learned from promo event". Or perhaps a fashion show of your children's clothing line to give people the opportunity to see and feel the items they will potentially continue to buy online.

Aside from these things are social media like Twitter and Facebook. Perhaps you guys could tell me your thoughts on these, but personally, I think they're good, cheap ways of getting your name out there whilst also creating a brand personality.

Take Twitter, as an example. I currently use Fishbowlhq to tweet about things happening with my website, www dot inafishbowl dot com. If the Fishbowlers upload a new blog, I tweet about it. If they tweet, I retweet it. If there's anything we're upto that I think is interesting, I tweet it. I'll also tweet about the awful snow conditions, or how much I'm enjoying my i-Phone etc - little things that create a person behind the brand.

On top of this, I follow other interesting people, and if they say something which I think will be interesting to my followers or is related to the website I run, I'll retweet that too (this has the added benefit of people showing their gratitude for your retweet by retweeting you, therefore getting your name out to even more people).

I think my last tip would be to use Google Analytics if you're running a website. It's free, but comprehensive enough for you to track where your traffic is coming from an how.

Has anyone got any comments or anything to add on this subject? I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts.

Kappa - can you explain social bookmarking and website indexing for me a bit more?

Don't forget you can learn from the experiences of other entrepreneurs at inafishbowl dot com.

[Peter Parker]

Actively participating in social media discussion places, Q & A sites, writing articles on blog/article sites you can easily promote your business. Email marketing is good thing but it could raise red flags if done wrongly. You can also use flicker, you-tube, online business directories, online yellow pages and business professional’s sites like ebay[.[com or servana[.]com to increase your sales.

[kappa84]

FishBowl, here are some few tips for advertising on social networks:

1. Do not jump into social networking without a plan. What do you want to accomplish: increase number of sales, brand building, online presence ? Create a strategy for what your target is and stick to it.

2. Find social networks related to your business. Of course, Google is you friend here, of course you MUST be found on LinkedIn, FaceBook, Tweeter, Youtube etc, but find also websites related to what you represent.

3. Expand your network with old acquintances. Former job colleagues, highschool buddies, even ex-girlfriends, why not?

4. Share a quality content with those networks. Be available, interact a lot. Yadda yadda yadda is not for business advertising.

5. Work work work! Always add fresh content, create new rumours, share interesting facts etc. That's translated to WORK!

[desogw]

Organic SEO

1. post on related forums
2. get backlinks from important pages, comment on blogs that have relevant topic with your nature of business
3. submit original articles to article submission sites
4. make affiliate programs
5. make blogs that promotes your business/website
6. submit your URL to free directory sites
7. make press releases and submit to PR sites
8. use social bookmarking sites and social networking sites
9. join to related groups

[infotaxsquare]

Thanks for sharing this information!!

[FishBowl]

Hi all,

Some really useful information there, thanks.

I have been thinking a lot about Facebook recently, and wondered if anyone might have any thoughts on Facebook, especially when compared to LinkedIn.

Is it outdated now to think of Facebook as a forum for your 'personal stuff' and LinkedIn as a professional profile? Do businesses appearing on Facebook suffer as a consequence of not being taken as seriously as a LinkedIn based company?

[Forty]

@Fishbowl
A recent Harvard study said that Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter were the most popular and suggested that a good strategy would be to focus on them instead of spreading resources thin on the "hundreds of others."