Get the Word Out about You and Your Business -
15 Ways to Advertise for Free!
© Terri Seymour
Starting and building an online or home business
is not an easy task, but it can be done. It takes
work, time, commitment and passion. This is not
a get rich quick career! You want to start by
letting everyone know about you and your business
and by building your reputation. Fortunately,
there are numerous ways to do this online. They
do not cost anything but time!
1. Message Boards - Do not blatantly advertise, but
join in the conversations, offer advice and support.
Your signature will do the advertising for you. Always,
follow the boards guidelines for posting.
http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/bb/
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/277709
http://www.kitchencraftsnmore.net/forum/
http://selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/
2. Email Discussion Groups - Similar to message boards.
Follow guidelines and participate in the conversations.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/itsjust4u2003/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomansNetworkingCommunity
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ideasbypost
3. Ad Swaps - Contact other ezine/newsletter publishers
to arrange an ad swap. You run their ad in your ezine in
exchange for them running your ad. This is a great way of
advertising and networking. Ezine directories are a good
place to find other publishers.
http://www.myfavoriteezines.com
http://www.ezinelocater.com
4. Link Exchanges - Similar to ad swaps, but you exchange
ads on your website. This not only advertises your site, but
will improve your ranking in the search engines. Be
selective in choosing sites to swap with. Do not submit
your link to the FFA (free link sites), or link farms. Choose
quality sites that are rich in content. Contact the webmaster
personally to see if she/he is interested in an exchange.
5. Ezine Publishing - Ezine publishing is very important
for your online business. Keeps you in contact with your
potential customers and helps build trust and respect.
mailto:moe-mini-course@getresponse.com
http://www.myownezine.com/tutorial/index.shtml
6. Write Articles - This is one of the top methods of
free advertising. You do not have to be a writer to write
good, informative articles. People want basic and
useful info, not fancy words and psychological theories.
mailto:articletips@getresponse.com
mailto:articlelibrary@getresponse.com
7. Guestbooks - Visit quality sites and leave
feedback in the Guestbook along with your url.
This will not make you rich, but it is free advertising
and provides some good networking opportunities.
Take the time to look at the site and leave sincere
feedback.
8. Sigtags - Always have a short but effective sigtag
in all your outgoing emails. This is very effective
advertising. Try to keep it about 4-6 lines maximum.
Example:
To our success,
Terri Seymour
Learn to publish your own ezine
mailto:myownezine@subto.us
Resources, tips and more for your home and family.
mailto:subscribe@seymourproducts.com
This sigtag will help you get subscribers which you can
keep in contact with via your ezine.
9. Signature Buddies - Another form of ad swap, where
you would contact associates and swap sigtags with
them for a period of time and then swap with another
associate so your sigtag is consistently revolving
around the web.
10. Testimonials - Be free (but not too free) with
testimonials, but make sure they are sincere. The
publisher or webmaster will often publish these
testimonials on their website/ezine along with your
url.
11. Group Pop Unders - This is when a group of
publishers come together to share one pop under window
at several sites. Each participant adds the window to
their site so every time someone visits any of the sites,
all participants get exposure. There are several of
these programs to choose from.
http://www.subscriptionrocket.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi?r=6401
http://www.subscriberdrive.com/
http://www.listfire.com/
12. Welcome Letter - When someone subscribes to your
ezine and then confirms, it is time to send them a welcome
letter. Make full use of this letter. Tell them about any
freebies or specials that you offer. Give them a quick
background of your site and the purpose of your site.
Point out the highlights of your site. You can say so
much more in your welcome letter than just Welcome.
13. Announcement Groups - Follow guidelines and keep
your groups organized. Spending a few minutes a day
sending out your announcements can get you several
subscribers.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AdvertisingLists
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Group-Promotions/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Her-Announcements
14. Group Subscription Pages - Similar to group
pop-unders. Join together with about 10 fellow
publishers and promote each other on your subscription
thank you pages. This will benefit the whole group.
15. Online Directories - There are all kinds of free
online directories where you can submit your ezine,
website, business opportunities and so on.
Do a search for free directories, ezine directories,
etc. and get started. It will take some time!
http://amazines.com/
http://bestyellow.com/addurl.html
http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Some of these methods are, of course, more
effective than others, but they all provide free
advertising. Do all of these consistently and in
time, you an your business will become well-known
in the Internet world.
Terri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.com
Learn to publish and promote your own ezine.
mailto:myownezine@subto.us
Sign-up for the FREE MOE Ezine Publishing Ecourse
mailto:moe-mini-course@getresponse.com
Make money and keep ALL profits! This is not MLM.
http://www.seymourproducts.com/wholesale/index.shtml
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