Starting a business online has become increasingly popular for a variety of reasons – one of them being advertising. With billions of people searching the internet, it only makes sense for business owners to tap into the community for potential customers. Just as with print advertising, online advertising can become expensive depending on the placement and type of advertisement, however, the world of online advertising opportunities is far more welcoming than the print world. Consider the following 8 ways to advertise online for free if you’re seeking inexpensive advertising opportunities.
1. Add Your Business to Directories
The first way you should tap into the online community of customers is to submit your business information to as many yellow page companies and business directories possible. By doing so, you’re enabling the community of people searching the yellow pages and business directories to find you. You can get started by adding your business to dapeem.com – it’s free!
As it’s better to add your business to a few directories, we recommend you also add your business to these yellow page companies:
MagicYellow.com & YellowUSA.com
2. Start a website
Obviously, to effectively tap into the online community and expose your company name, you’ll need a website where you can direct potential customers. It’s a common misconception that creating a strong website is just as important as creating a strong business card – it’s so much more important than that. Again, there are billions of people searching the internet … think of the internet as a super-mall – creating a strong website is closer to the importance of creating a strong store within that super-mall.
While you’ll have to purchase the actual hosting for the website, you won’t need to pay to advertise your products, services, or news on the site – with your own website, you have absolute power! The goal is to catch the eye of that customer browsing the super-mall directory … which is sometimes called Google.
3. Start a blog
This is one of the best ways to promote your company name. By creating a central place for the articles you write, potential customers will be able to follow your work, subscribe to your blog, and interact with the company – all of which increase the chance that reader will convert into a customer.
However, the requirements for a successful blog include a considerable amount of time and effort devotion, so it’s imperative that you’re able to maintain your blog once you create it and people start reading it. If your website is a store within the super-mall, consider your blog your free giveaways, promotional flyers, and company announcements – in essence, your blog is what attracts potential customers to your website through the use of each individual article. The more articles you write, whether they’re offering tips, company news, or what ever else you think people might be interested in, the better chance you will increase the traffic to your website, and the more potential customers will view you as an authority in your niche. Once you get going, you can start practicing linkbaiting – arguably one of the best ways to optimize your website and draw more page rank.
Remember, if you fail to keep your site updated frequently (at least once a week), your blog will grow stale, readers will stop visiting, and your company reputation might decline as an authority.
4. Write blog comments
First of all, let’s go over what this feature is exactly. Blog comments are a way for blog readers to post their thoughts regarding the article they just read. This allows readers to connect and interact with bloggers – and most importantly, continue the discussion unfolding within the article while providing a non-obtrusive link back to their website.
This is one of the single most effective ways to attract positive attention online as an authority in your niche, because you’re not advertising – you’re simply chiming in with the rest of the community interested in what ever the topic of discussion. If we were to visit that super-mall once again, the blog comments would be the equivalent of you visiting each store in your niche and casually engaging with the owners and visitors regarding your niche interests.
So how does this all help advertise my company? As mentioned, when ever you leave a comment on a blog, you’re given the option to fill out your name and website address, which marry when published. This points readers to your site! After reading your helpful comment, readers will click your name to learn who you are and realize that you’re the owner of a small business offering relevant services or products. That reader might convert into a customer at this moment, or they might find another one of your comments helpful and decide to start following your blog. The more useful your comments, the more authoritative you seem to readers. The more reputable the blog you comment on, the more attention you will receive.
5. Forums
Like blogs, forums can be a place where visitors can participate and create a presence in their professional niche by offering reliable information and advice. Forums tend to be great repositories for information as well, so they make great places to post information about your trade, answer questions from other visitors, and get involved with the ongoing conversations. Just remember, you’ll need to register for a membership name when participating in forums, so you should consider the branding factor – how do you want others to see you, what do you want them to call you, and how will you stand out from the others?
6. Article Marketing
This option can be best described as “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” With so many people online, it’s no wonder why there are so many websites; and there are so many websites, it’s no wonder there’s so much demand for content. Article marketing is focused on the value of fresh content … fresh information. By writing an article related to your niche and giving it to a website interested in your niche in exchange for a link to your website, you accomplish two major things when it comes to creating an online presence: authority and links. The more authority you have, the more people will trust your advice or service; the more links you have, the more traffic your site will receive.
Another great feature about article marketing it simply the ability to spread your name across the internet – the more websites you collaborate with, the bigger your marketing net becomes. But perhaps the best feature about this form of free marketing is the probability that you’re article will be found on that directory. The amount of people searching Google for information is staggering, so if you have three strong articles posted on a few websites about how to raise turtles, chances are someone searching Google for ‘how to raise turtles’ will find your article, read your advice, and see you as an authority. If you’re lucky, that same user will return to Google, select another of your articles, read your advice, and recognize your name or face – this is what it’s all about. Usually when visitors recognize they’ve just received several pieces of solid advice from one person or company, they’ll look for about them in search for more useful advice. This is why branding is important across the board – forums, comments, email, websites, articles, blogs – they should be an easy to recognize name, company name, or even nickname.
Overall, there are plenty of ways for business owners to promote their businesses online without a large marketing budget. By taking advantage of social media as a business owner, you can create an online presence, market your product or services, and even interact with potential customers one-on-one.
Why not get started straight away? Write a comment and continue the conversation — did you find it helpful? How else can you promote your business for free? Do you have any success stories you can share?
Dapeem is a site that helps business owners find more customers and make more money.
Add Your Business to our yellow pages (18 million business listings)
Promote Your Business and find new customers.
You might also like these posts:
6 Free Ways to Advertise Your Business Online
In: Advertising
24 Jun 2009Starting a business online has become increasingly popular for a variety of reasons – one of them being advertising. With billions of people searching the internet, it only makes sense for business owners to tap into the community for potential customers. Just as with print advertising, online advertising can become expensive depending on the placement and type of advertisement, however, the world of online advertising opportunities is far more welcoming than the print world. Consider the following 8 ways to advertise online for free if you’re seeking inexpensive advertising opportunities.
1. Add Your Business to Directories
The first way you should tap into the online community of customers is to submit your business information to as many yellow page companies and business directories possible. By doing so, you’re enabling the community of people searching the yellow pages and business directories to find you. You can get started by adding your business to dapeem.com – it’s free!
As it’s better to add your business to a few directories, we recommend you also add your business to these yellow page companies:
MagicYellow.com & YellowUSA.com
2. Start a website
Obviously, to effectively tap into the online community and expose your company name, you’ll need a website where you can direct potential customers. It’s a common misconception that creating a strong website is just as important as creating a strong business card – it’s so much more important than that. Again, there are billions of people searching the internet … think of the internet as a super-mall – creating a strong website is closer to the importance of creating a strong store within that super-mall.
While you’ll have to purchase the actual hosting for the website, you won’t need to pay to advertise your products, services, or news on the site – with your own website, you have absolute power! The goal is to catch the eye of that customer browsing the super-mall directory … which is sometimes called Google.
3. Start a blog
This is one of the best ways to promote your company name. By creating a central place for the articles you write, potential customers will be able to follow your work, subscribe to your blog, and interact with the company – all of which increase the chance that reader will convert into a customer.
However, the requirements for a successful blog include a considerable amount of time and effort devotion, so it’s imperative that you’re able to maintain your blog once you create it and people start reading it. If your website is a store within the super-mall, consider your blog your free giveaways, promotional flyers, and company announcements – in essence, your blog is what attracts potential customers to your website through the use of each individual article. The more articles you write, whether they’re offering tips, company news, or what ever else you think people might be interested in, the better chance you will increase the traffic to your website, and the more potential customers will view you as an authority in your niche. Once you get going, you can start practicing linkbaiting – arguably one of the best ways to optimize your website and draw more page rank.
Remember, if you fail to keep your site updated frequently (at least once a week), your blog will grow stale, readers will stop visiting, and your company reputation might decline as an authority.
4. Write blog comments
First of all, let’s go over what this feature is exactly. Blog comments are a way for blog readers to post their thoughts regarding the article they just read. This allows readers to connect and interact with bloggers – and most importantly, continue the discussion unfolding within the article while providing a non-obtrusive link back to their website.
This is one of the single most effective ways to attract positive attention online as an authority in your niche, because you’re not advertising – you’re simply chiming in with the rest of the community interested in what ever the topic of discussion. If we were to visit that super-mall once again, the blog comments would be the equivalent of you visiting each store in your niche and casually engaging with the owners and visitors regarding your niche interests.
So how does this all help advertise my company? As mentioned, when ever you leave a comment on a blog, you’re given the option to fill out your name and website address, which marry when published. This points readers to your site! After reading your helpful comment, readers will click your name to learn who you are and realize that you’re the owner of a small business offering relevant services or products. That reader might convert into a customer at this moment, or they might find another one of your comments helpful and decide to start following your blog. The more useful your comments, the more authoritative you seem to readers. The more reputable the blog you comment on, the more attention you will receive.
5. Forums
Like blogs, forums can be a place where visitors can participate and create a presence in their professional niche by offering reliable information and advice. Forums tend to be great repositories for information as well, so they make great places to post information about your trade, answer questions from other visitors, and get involved with the ongoing conversations. Just remember, you’ll need to register for a membership name when participating in forums, so you should consider the branding factor – how do you want others to see you, what do you want them to call you, and how will you stand out from the others?
6. Article Marketing
This option can be best described as “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” With so many people online, it’s no wonder why there are so many websites; and there are so many websites, it’s no wonder there’s so much demand for content. Article marketing is focused on the value of fresh content … fresh information. By writing an article related to your niche and giving it to a website interested in your niche in exchange for a link to your website, you accomplish two major things when it comes to creating an online presence: authority and links. The more authority you have, the more people will trust your advice or service; the more links you have, the more traffic your site will receive.
Another great feature about article marketing it simply the ability to spread your name across the internet – the more websites you collaborate with, the bigger your marketing net becomes. But perhaps the best feature about this form of free marketing is the probability that you’re article will be found on that directory. The amount of people searching Google for information is staggering, so if you have three strong articles posted on a few websites about how to raise turtles, chances are someone searching Google for ‘how to raise turtles’ will find your article, read your advice, and see you as an authority. If you’re lucky, that same user will return to Google, select another of your articles, read your advice, and recognize your name or face – this is what it’s all about. Usually when visitors recognize they’ve just received several pieces of solid advice from one person or company, they’ll look for about them in search for more useful advice. This is why branding is important across the board – forums, comments, email, websites, articles, blogs – they should be an easy to recognize name, company name, or even nickname.
Overall, there are plenty of ways for business owners to promote their businesses online without a large marketing budget. By taking advantage of social media as a business owner, you can create an online presence, market your product or services, and even interact with potential customers one-on-one.
Why not get started straight away? Write a comment and continue the conversation — did you find it helpful? How else can you promote your business for free? Do you have any success stories you can share?
Dapeem is a site that helps business owners find more customers and make more money.
Add Your Business to our yellow pages (18 million business listings)
Promote Your Business and find new customers.
You might also like these posts: