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Internet Marketing on a Shoestring Budget
By Tiffany | March 12, 2007
If you’re running a business online, then you understand the importance of marketing. It’s a strategy to get your product or service known to a target audience. It’s done in an effort to increase sales and generate revenue.
But many entrepreneurs get caught in a catch-22. They don’t have money to advertise and market their business, but without it, their business will flounder. Consumers can’t purchase products and services that they don’t know about.
Luckily, you don’t have to have a big budget to make the most of online advertising. The focus should be on the quality of the advertising rather than the cost. While having little to no funds for marketing can be intimidating, you can still make it work if you use free resources that are available to the entire online community.
Set up a website, which is relatively easy and quick to complete. This is a great place to start advertising your business with very little investment – just the $6 or so for the domain, and a few dollars per month for hosting.
Create an electronic newsletter to share information with former, current, and prospective customers. Create a free blog, and post on it daily. Write articles about your business and post them online in article directories like EzineArticle.com or GoArticles.com. Make sure you optimize your bio box with links back to your website.
Make sure you have an email account set up for those who want more information on your product or have particular questions. This email needs to be checked several times a day. Potential customers may lose interest in your product if they don’t get a prompt reply to their email.
Word of mouth is also a great marketing method. While it doesn’t reach as many people as quickly as other advertising methods, it costs you absolutely nothing. Low budgeting for marketing doesn’t have to mean low impact if you’re able to reach the target audience.
If possible, consider bartering your way to success. No money will be exchanged, but instead, you offer your skills in exchange for someone else’s. I can’t count the number of times I’ve written articles for graphic designers in exchange for banner ads, headers, and Minisite templates.
Be sure to network as much as possible. If you go to seminars in your area, print up some homemade business cards to hand out and be social to make sure people remember your name. It could result in increased sales or joint venture opportunities.
Marketing doesn’t have to break the bank. With web 2.0 taking root, it’s just as important to utilize the free peer-to-peer options you have at your disposal.
Tiff 
PS - If you haven’t yet signed up for the March 16th Squidoo Challenge, stop by the blog at http://www.socialmarketing101.com/blog and sign up to participate free. This time we have little to no rules and lots of prizes!
Topics: Internet Marketing |