GETTING STARTED
There are many forms of advertising these days. And all of them have there pros and cons. In this training we are going to explore some of these advertising options, but most importantly I am going to be letting you in on corporate secrets and techniques that are used to obtain FREE ADVERTISING for your online business.
Advertising is a key part in making your online business a success. A lot of new businesses can not afford big expensive advertising campaigns, most new businesses can not afford a small advertising campaign.
So how do you get people to know about your online business without having to spend money. Impossible I hear you say, it can not be done.....can it? Well there are several ways that you can promote your business totally free of charge.
In the next few paragraphs I will tell you of several ways that you can advertise your business free of charge. There are some you may already know and they are some that not many people think of, but I want to cover them all so that everyone can make the most of the online marketing skills.
WORD OF MOUTH
One of the best forms of advertising over the years is by Word Of Mouth. Ok, I know it can take time to let people know you are out there but it also is the strongest and best way to build a reputation.
I say this because Word Of Mouth advertising comes from people recommending you and your business. And future customers will be more likely to buy from a company that other people have recommended to them, rather than a company they have seen on TV that they have never heard of before.
So tell you friends, family members, workmates and anyone else you know about your business and then ask them to tell all there friends, family members, workmates and anyone else they know about your business. You could even offer them a small incentive if they introduce someone who buys from your company.
INCENTIVES
There are a variety of incentives you can offer for Word Of Mouth recommendations. Free products, free services, commissions on sales and so on. But you need to keep track of who earned the incentives. There are many easy ways of doing this without spending too much time or money.
OPTION 1
You can give them numbered business cards that they can give out to people, when someone orders from you simply ask them for the number on the card they were given then you can match that number to the person who had those card numbers.
OPTION 2
You can give them a claim form and they can give you a list of the names and address of everyone they have recommend your business to and once you have received an order from someone on there list they receive their incentive.
OPTION 3
You can make a leaflet or brochure with a I.D code which you assign to each person you give your leaflets or brochures to, and place it on the back of the leaflet or brochure and customers can give you the I.D code when they order so that you know who's leaflets or brochures the customer had received.
If you like you could do all 3 options at the same time which would of course reinforce confirmation who the incentives belong too.
SOCAIL MEDIA EXCHANGE PROGRAM
When people talk about social media sites you automatically think of places like "Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus"and there are many more social media sites out there to choose from. So you can reach a lot of potential customers by utilising these sites to their fullest.
Of course you can put posts up and write about anything you like, but that's not what I am talking about when I say Social Media Exchange Program.
HOW DOES IT WORK
The way you set up an Exchange Program is to contact anyone you know that has a business, product or service they are trying to promote just like you are and then agree with them to "EXCHANGE" any adverts, pictures, posters, video clips or anything else they are wanting to use to promote their business, product or service and agree with them to place their advertising material on all your social media sites if they are willing to do the same for you.
This way your customers see their adverts and their customers see your adverts and it has cost you nothing to set it up, (except the price of the call, but I cannot give you everything for free)
HITTING TARGETS
The way you can make sure that your "Social Media Exchange Program" agreements is being kept to by the businesses that you have set up an exchange program with, is to agree to set times for both of you to place each other's agreed advertising material on your social media sites.
You could a set time program "For example 9am, 3pm and 9pm" this way you can check that the adverts have been placed at those set times and your "exchange partner" can check if you have done the same.
SPACE SWAPPING PROGRAM
When i talk about "Space Swapping" what does it make you think about? Does it make you think about rearranging your desk? Or does it make you think about changing things round in your home? What it should make you think about is the potential advertising space that you have unused on your website.
Those small areas on your website that are sitting there unused are potential pieces of gold that you could use to set up a "Space Swapping Program"and unlock the BIGGEST form of free advertising of them all.
HOW DOES IT WORK
First of all you need to make a list of all possible candidates for the "Space Swap Program". There are various ways that you can put together a list of potential business contacts. Here are 10 examples of how I put my list together.
• Email Contact Lists
• Friends Contacts Lists
• Acquaintances
• Social Media Sites,
• National Business Directories
• Local Business Directories
• Search Engines
• Ask For Recommendations
• Free Papers
• Business Forums/Chat Rooms
There are many more ways to compile a list of potential business contacts. Try the ones above and then try adding some more yourself.
WHAT NEXT
Once you have made your lists of potential business contacts, you then need to make a cover letter explaining that you are wanting to offer them an opportunity to swap advertising space with you. Make sure you explain that you are willing to give them the same size advert on your website in return for them giving the same size advert on there website.
When you find a business that wishes to agree to a "Space Swap" then the next step is to have a terms of contract drawn up that you both agree with and then your ready to set up your first "Space Swap Program".
If you have a business that wants to set up a program with you, but they want a larger advert than what they can offer you, that would allow you to charge them for the difference in advert size. This means that you not only get your advert put up free of charge, but you make some extra money as well.
If a business just wants to advertise on your site without setting up a "Space Swap Program" then you can charge them the full cost of the advertising space that they want.
Additional resource recommended:
Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising($8.96;#1 Best Seller Book)
This book is specially written by one of the bestselling author Ryan Holiday which would discuss more about the essential techniques in growing one's marketing skills.Click the hyperlink to find out more.
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS THEN PLEASE LIKE, COMMENT AND SHARE.THANK YOU.
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