Free Ads And Low Cost Advertising Ideas
Free ads are every home business owners dream! And yet they may or may not be effective, depending on the type of advertising you are doing. Which free advertising sources actually work?
Advertising is the lifeblood of your business. More advertising equals more business! A reputable source of paid advertising is generally quicker and more effective than free ads, unless you have LOTS of time to invest.
However there are MANY effective ways to advertise your business for free or for very little money.
Additionally, there are some excellent strategies for getting free ads by using self funded advertising services. Self funded advertising pays you for referrals, this allows you to defray marketing expenses. Ultimately a good self funded source becomes one of your free ads!
Some free ads or low cost advertising sources are not worth your time. The key is to figure out which ones are worth your time and effort.
Your best source of free ads is still "word of mouth"! Building relationships with people, and building yourself into a circle of influence is the key.
Additionally, here are some of the most effective ways I've found to build a business.
Free Ways to Build Your Business
Online Networking
Learn how to meet exactly the kind of people you want to work with on AOL and internet communities. Never buy another lead! Industry trainer Max Steingart will show you exactly how with his brilliant training programs.
Create Your Own Blog or Newsletter
This takes some time but is one of the most effective way to generate leads for free. People are looking for information... so share what YOU have learned about home based internet business.
Do not make it an advertisement for your business, but provide value, free resources and helpful info... and DO include links to your website, your picture album and/or a personal biography page (NOT a sales page!). You'll need a very reliable autoresponder to create a list. Even if you create a blog, you will want people to be able to be notified when you update your blog. This autoresponder will automatically notify people of your blog updates, with no extra work on your part.
Then create an announcement message that you can use to "list" and announce your newsletter or blog with your link included. Go to various listing groups in yahoo and also on appropriate forum and message board sites, and also advertise your newsletter in your signature file.
Creating a newsletter takes time, but has worked extremely well for many small business owners, myself included!
Internet Forums and Communities
Find communities where you feel comfortable with the people, where you can have fun, learn, and build some fantastic friendships here... some of which can turn into business partnerships! Not recommended as a primary business strategy, but certainly can be helpful.
Chatrooms
Unfortunately many chatrooms have degenerated to the lowest common denominator, where business chats are full of people pitching businesses at each other, but sometimes you can find one that has more integrity. The newest forms of chatrooms have voice capabilities too!
Here is what Benno, a friend of Mashubi Rochell said about his experience in chatrooms...
"I am testing what for me is a new way of relationshipping on the Internet. In many Chat Rooms, such as Yahoo, e.g., you can talk live to people if you have a microphone. The neat thing is that this is conversation which everyone in the room can hear. I was giving some business advice to one person, and received Instant Messages from two other persons who had listened in and who must have liked what they heard. Both of them signed up for my Autoresponder, and I am in conversation with both of them. We all know the concept of leveraged income. Maybe this can be called leveraged relationshipping?" :-)
"Elevator Introductions"
You will find numerous opportunities to chat with people throughout the day. Most people eventually will as what you do! This can be a wonderful way to generate interest for your products or business.
Find what you love about your business to answer this question. Some folks say simply "I teach people how to earn income from home on their computer."
Here is one example of an "Elevator Introduction" by Jackie Ulmer...
"Since the crash of the big dot-coms, the Internet has become the perfect place for individual entrepreneurs to generate an impressive second income. I teach people how to do this, and help them get set up in a business they can run from home, online, around all their other time commitments."
Free Web site traffic builder
I have met friends and business partners this way... though you STILL need to develop a relationship with people. Website Wizard provides even an free Web site builder. The quality is not as good as that of SBI! though, which I personally use and recommend rather than that of Website Wizard.
Web decals
Advertise your URL on your car. Enormous exposure for a VERY low price, and a wonderful conversation starter with your warm market. Runs $20-$50, highly recommended because it works! You can buy your own domain and point it to your website.
Here is a testimonial from Jackie Ulmer about the power of Web decals...
I had the strangest/funniest thing happen today and wanted to share it. I am a BIG advocate of having a web decal on your vehicle with a catch phrase and your website. As a regular car pooling hockey mom (yes, we DO have ice hockey in Phoenix!) I spend lots of time in the city traffic and feel like my car should be doing something for me besides guzzling gas!
Today, my phone rang and I answered it and this guy says "Where are you located?" I said excuse me, not knowing who this was, or what I should say.
He said "I'm up here at Chandler Blvd and I'm looking for your office." I said "Who is this?"
He said "Oh, sorry, I saw an SUV driving through my neighborhood with a web site listed on the back, and I got on the site, loved what I saw and put together a resume. This sounds like something I want to be a part of. If you have a few minutes, I'd like to drop in and meet you."
I went on to explain that I work form my home, and that address on my web site is actually at the Mail and More. We talked a little bit more about Network Marketing, and I got his name, email address and phone number and sent him off with a homework assignment.
I'm about to email him a follow up of the steps to take!
I must say, that is a first, but it does go to show the power in ADVERTISING your business everywhere you go!
I do get a lot of traffic from that Web decals and it starts LOTS of conversations with friends, parents at my kids school, parents on the hockey team, and in parking lots all over! And, when someone asks ME, instead of me asking them, it is powerful!
Free Business Cards
You pay a nominal fee for shipping, depending on where you live. Can be used to create different "teaser" messages with your autoresponder or website address, such as Are YOU Making Money on the Internet?. Try several different messages, different styles or cards to appeal to different people. Leave the cards everywhere you go! An autoresponder address is preferable because you can build a relationship with people via e-mail.
You can also make "inspirational cards" with a profound saying that has a tag line "brought to you by www.yourwebsite.com". The more uplifting and interesting the saying, the more quickly the cards will be passed around to others.
Domain and E-mail Forwarding
Get your own unique web & e-mail domain that you can promote. Point them to your websites so people will remember you! That way your site can be www.yourname.com or www.greatbiz.com which is easier for people to remember than a long address. The .com names are by far the most memorable.
This approach also gives you an unlimited number of e-mail addresses, for example name@yourname.com, internetbiz@yourname.com and so on. You can advertise your URL on your car and business cards, and this will bring traffic to your website! Buy Domains offers free domain forwarding and e-mail forwarding when you register a domain with them for $16/year. This is the best bargain I've found. Most other domain registrars charge extra for the domain forwarding and e-mail addresses.
Blogging and Syndicating Your News
Another unique source for low cost or even free ads is through creating your own blog or RSS feed. A very smart way to do this is to use a service that also allows you to create a newsletter list as well as an RSS feed... so you can be published two ways, for the price of one! If you're not sure what RSS is, take a look at my What is RSS? page for some background.
You can create business, product or even personal newsletters/RSS feeds which help you to stay in regular contact with your visitors AND can provide valuable free ads in multiple ways.
If your news feed is TRULY unique and truly valuable, other people may even want to syndicate it on their site! Eventually you may gain enough exposure that people will pay you to put their advertising on your news feed.
Additionally, some sources pay you for referrals, defraying your own expenses!
To your success,
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