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So you’re all "Googled" out, are you? You’ve
been working feverishly placing e-zine ads, paying
for placement and position with search engines,
buying online classifieds, and trying to optimize
search engine rankings for your website. All of
that effort and money may be paying off for you,
or it may be your greatest source of frustration.
Most new businesses on the Internet quickly discover
that there is no magic formula to driving website
traffic higher.
If you’re looking for innovative methods of
marketing your on-line business, start thinking
like an off-line marketer. The tried and true
marketing practices employed by traditional businesses
represent significant value to your on-line venture.
Before placing your next bid with a Pay-per-click
engine, consider some of these marketing initiatives:
Off-line Advertising – Yes, they still have
advertising off-line, in things like newspapers
and magazines.
If you have an intriguing website name that is
focused on one particular industry or profession,
you have access to highly targeted publications
that will do an excellent job of reaching your
target market. Imagine that you operate a website
that sells an amazing new product aimed at the
plumbing market. You can stretch your advertising
dollars by placing ads that contain only your
URL in recognized plumbing publications. An ad
that reads www.besteverplumbinginvention.com
would attract plenty of traffic from curious plumbers
and industry suppliers. While other companies
are using their ad space to explain to plumbers
why they should call them, you’ve provided a
compelling reason (curiosity) for plumbers to
hit your site. Since you only advertised the URL,
you don’t require considerable space to explain
your idea, hence the cost of your ad will be very
reasonable.
Get Published – The mantra these days is to
"get published" in various e-zines and e-newsletters
by writing articles from your expert point of
view and including your byline. The byline, or
"resource box" acts as an ad for your company
by providing your URL and e-mail address. Getting
published is a highly effective, low cost method
of promoting your on-line business. The question
is: why stop at e-zines? It seems everybody has
forgotten the huge number of magazine and newspaper
publications available in today’s marketplace.
Getting published in print is just as effective,
if not more effective, than on-line publication.
Let’s say that you offer a business to business
service through your website. Almost every major
city in the U.S. has a local business publication
that discusses local business news and covers
topics of interest to business owners. How many
major cities are there in the U.S.? An informal
analysis reveals that there are at least 50 (one
for each state), plus many more….there are 5
in California alone! Since you are on-line, geography
is not an obstacle, so get your articles and news
releases out to these publications no matter where
they are published. There’s a magazine for just
about everything these days, so whatever your
area of expertise is, you’ll find an editor
who might be interested in running your article.
Targeted Event Promotion – No matter who you
are targeting, there is some type of annual event
for them held somewhere in the U.S. From dental
assistants to senior citizens to country music
fans, there is a conference or convention that
attracts thousands of them. Promote your on-line
business with an advertisement in the convention
program, or better yet, distribute some promotional
materials at the show, such as pens or note pads
with your URL printed on them. If the event is
out of town, don’t worry. Contact the facility
where the event is being held. They will usually
help out with this type of promotion for a small
fee.
The on-line world is a tremendous place to market
your products and services. But don’t forget
about the rest of the world, or you’ll miss
out on some tremendous marketing opportunities.
About the author:
Will Dylan is the Author of "Small Business Big
Marketing" and owner of www.marketingyoursmallbusiness.com
. Will also offers article and news release writing
services through his website. You can contact
Will at askwill@marketingyoursmallbusiness.com
Will Dylan
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