Ten simple and inexpensive marketing solutions Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Regardless of what’s happening in Wall Street today—who can keep track—the entrepreneurs I know and love are carrying on with business. One trap you never want to fall into is to stop or slow down your marketing. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive and it’s always important to keep business streaming in.
What’s great is that there are a lot of simple and inexpensive marketing solutions.
1. Article Marketing - Write informative articles and post them on article directories. According to Charlie Page, the owner of the Directory of Ezines, there are over 300,000 ezines out there and an estimated 90% of them use free articles in their ezines.
2. Press Releases - Get some free publicity—what small business owner doesn’t want that? As an extra bonus using an internet distribution service will give your website a traffic boost since these sites rank high on search engines.
3. Amazon - Amazon provides terrific opportunities to promote yourself and your website.
4. Signature Line - Another easy tip is to include a call to action following your signature line in every email you send out - visit my blog, sign-up for my newsletter, take a look at my new e-book.
5. Testimonials - We all love getting testimonials but it’s also a great idea to give testimonials. It’s a simple way to market yourself as an expert in your field and include a link back to your website.
6. Flyers - If you have clients that come to your place of business make sure you have marketing materials visible. For example, you can post a flyer announcing a special promotion or have current newsletters available for them to pick up. If your only interaction is a monthly invoice, take advantage of the opportunity to slip in some marketing material like a newsletter or flyer.
7. Ezines - One of the best and most inexpensive ways to communicate with clients is email. There are inexpensive programs that will allow you to automate the process and send your clients regular email newsletters.
8. Blog - Regular blogging will increase the frequency with which search engine “spiders” visit your site. A blog also helps you position yourself as an expert in your field.
9. Squidoo - There’s no charge to set-up your own page on Squidoo. I know SEO experts who rely heavily on Squidoo to generate website traffic.
10. Social Networking - Facebook and LinkedIn are two of the most popular sites out there. Social networking is not just for teenagers anymore. The biggest marketing experts are on there and you should be too!
It’s easy to put marketing on the back burner, especially if that’s not your “thing”. Instead of getting overwhelmed try picking out a couple of the solutions—that will work best for you and your business—and then schedule some time to put them into action. Get some momentum going and you’ll generate results.
I thought it was time to write a little more about myself. I’m used to extolling the virtues of my clients but it’s more challenging to write about myself. I have a home office I work out of in Medford, Oregon. It’s actually the nicest office I’ve ever had. We’re up on Roxy Ann and I have a beautiful view of the Valley out my window.
