Websites 4 Small Business Newsletter
1 June 2006

30 Ways to promote your website
on a shoestring budget - Part 3
by Ivana Katz

This is the 3rd and final part of our article dealing with marketing 
your small or home-based business if you have a limited budget.  

If you have missed the first two parts of this article, you can 
view them at:

http://www.web4business.com.au/ArticlesIK30waystopromote.htm

21.  Ezine Advertising

One of the best, cheapest and most targeted way to promote your 
product or service is through ezines (electronic magazines).  Ezine 
ads reach people who want what you have to offer.  As Ezines are 
generally based on a theme or particular interest and their 
subscribers have requested to receive them, you can be sure that they 
are going to be read.

Prices for advertisements vary depending on the popularity of the 
ezine and the actual location of your ad.  Top position ads generally 
cost more than those found mid-way or at the bottom.  Most ezine 
publishers will also send solo ads (advertisements about your 
product/service) to their subscribers.  However, this is generally 
more costly.

To get the most of your ad, ensure you develop a killer title or 
headline and that the ad is straight to the point.

The best way to get started advertising in ezines would be to contact 
the editors of various ezines and check their rates, publication dates 
and number of subscribers – go to www.ezine-dir.com or 
www.go-ezines.com  for a comprehensive listing of ezines.

22.  Publishing an Ezine or Newsletter

Whether you are the CEO of a multi-national corporate network or a 
stay-in-your-pyjamas entrepreneur, one of your primary business 
objectives should be to develop long-term relationships with everyone 
you communicate with – website visitors, prospects, customers, 
employees, suppliers, service providers etc.  And one of the best 
methods of building strong relationships is through your own Ezine 
(electronic magazine) or Newsletter.

If you've been marketing on the Internet, then you know it may take 
several contacts with a prospective customer before closing a sale. 
What better way to make those contacts, without spamming... In 
addition, you can eventually make a nice income selling sponsor 
advertising and classified ads.

To publish an effective Ezine will take some time to develop and there 
are thousands of resources on the internet that will help you – simply 
go to your favourite search engine and type in “ezine publishing” or 
“ezine publishing articles”.

In the meantime, here are some tips to get you started.

(a) Give your readers quality content - not rehashed or well-worn 
articles that have been published hundreds of times already.

(b) Write your own articles whenever possible or hire a ghost writer 
to help you.  Talk to your readers as you would normally talk. Be 
yourself and let your sense of humour and uniqueness show through in 
your writing.

(b) Ensure the ezine has been properly edited, you have checked your 
spelling, grammar and formatting.  Ensure all the links are working

(c) Personalise each issue for your subscriber. If your email software 
allows it, include a field so that your ezine is addressed to your 
subscriber by their firstname.

(d)  Don’t publish too many ads or too many affiliate links

(e)  Ask for feedback to help you improve your ezine

(f) Stick to publishing a text ezine rather than HTML.

(g) Publish your ezine regularly and on time.

23.  Media Releases

Having a story written about you and your business will not only bring 
you lots of new customers (at no cost to you), but will also provide 
you massive credibility.  Stories about you in the media are far more 
believable, powerful and attractive than any ads you could possibly 
run.  People will trust and respect you instantly.

A media release (also called press or news releases) should provide 
enough details to be informative, but it should leave out just enough 
information to be tantalizing that the media person calls you to find 
out more.

Your media release should feature the following:

(a) The Headline
This is 90% of your release.  Your headline will do almost all of the 
work in attracting attention to you.

(b) The Summary
This is the first part of the media release and should tell your story 
briefly.

(c) Credentials & Quotations
Insert quotes from other people and include the person’s credentials  

(d) Call to Action
What do you want the person reading this release to do?  You want them 
to call you for an interview.  So provide your contact details and 
write a very brief outline of why you would be an interesting person 
to interview. 

For more information about writing media releases visit:

www.pressrelease.com.au

www.elance.com

www.prweb.com

www.prnewswire.com

www.newsbureau.com

24.  Radio advertising

You may have shied away from radio advertising, thinking the cost 
would be well over your budget and it may very well be if you were to 
advertise on commercial radio stations.  But have you considered 
community radio stations?  There are hundreds of them around and the 
great thing is that they will reach your local market.  For community 
radio stations in your area, visit your local yellow pages or search 
on the internet.

25.  Print advertising

Writing the Copy

When it comes to print advertising, you have to get to the point—fast. 
Your headlines should motivate readers to want to read on to learn 
more about your product, price and offer.  Effective headlines address 
a pressing customer need or desire. The reality is that people care 
more about themselves—and what you can do for them—than about your 
business. You'll get a much higher response rate when your headline 
quickly answers the question, "What's in it for me?"

In the body of your copy, offer an incentive for the reader to call 
you or come to your store. You may want to offer a discount or a free 
giveaway.

Placing the Ad

Newspaper ads are very effective for businesses that market their 
products and services locally. Not only can you reach a large number 
of people in a specific metropolitan location, but you can also target 
prospects via their interests (in the sports, lifestyle and business 
sections, for example).

Advertising costs depend on a number of factors, including the size of 
the ad, where it's placed, the day it runs and so on. Call and request 
a media kit from the newspaper or magazine so you can determine what 
advertising steps you can take that will fit with your marketing 
budget.

Consider placing print advertisements in local publications, national 
publications, industry publications, target market specific 
publications, yellow pages, local directories, special catalogues

26.  Postcards

If looking to target potential customers, don’t overlook postcard 
marketing.  Postcards achieve almost a 100% readership, while being 
simple to use and inexpensive. 

Postcards:

- keep your name in front of customers
- generate a high return on investment
- are flexible, informative and creative
- have high impact and low cost  

Postcards can be used to:

- generate website traffic and sales leads
- promote new specials or company awareness
- announce new products, websites, store locations
- thank customers
- use as a discount offer /coupon

Repetition is the key to effective marketing efforts and postcards 
offer an inexpensive way of doing it.

27.  Word of mouth / Testimonials

Word-of-mouth marketing truly is one of the best ways to promote your 
business.  The three most important things you can do to start the 
process of increasing your business through word-of-mouth include:

(a)  Diversify your networks by becoming visible and active in the 
community.  Participate in various networking groups and/or 
professional associations.

(b) Set up a contact list of businesses that are complementary and 
non-competitive to you. For example: a lawyer, an accountant, a 
financial planner and a banker. All of them have clients with 
overlapping similar needs. They can all work with and refer each other 
easily. Another good example is a florist, a photographer, a travel 
agent and a jeweler. A referral for one of them becomes a referral for 
all of them.

(c) Building your business through word-of-mouth is about cultivating 
relationships with people who get to know you and trust you. People do 
business with people they have confidence in. It's not what you know, 
or whom you know, it's how well you know them that counts. If you go 
into this process understanding this one key point, you will have a 
better opportunity to build your business through word-of-mouth.

28.  eBay

If you sell products (as opposed to services) in your business, one of 
the best marketing tools you can use is eBay.   eBay is a community 
where individuals and businesses can buy and sell a vast range of new 
and used items at fair market prices.

The main reasons why you should sell on eBay include:

-  You can sell little or lot of practically anything from antiques to
   cars.

-  Gain access to the millions of eBay buyers worldwide.

-  Feel safe with policies and protections of the Community.

-  Sell as an individual, small business, enterprise, and more!

For more information visit: www.ebay.com for selling globally or 
www.ebay.com.au for selling within Australia.

29.  Viral marketing

On the Internet, viral marketing is any marketing technique that 
induces Web sites or users to pass on a marketing message to other 
sites or users, creating a potentially exponential growth in the 
message's visibility and effect. One example of successful viral 
marketing is Hotmail, a company, now owned by Microsoft.  Their 
strategy is simple:

(a) Give away free e-mail addresses and services,

(b) Attach a simple tag at the bottom of every free message sent out: 
"Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com" and,

(c) Then stand back while people e-mail to their own network of 
friends and associates,

(d) Who see the message,

(e) Sign up for their own free e-mail service, and then

(f) Propel the message still wider to their own ever-increasing 
circles of friends and associates.

Some viral marketing strategies work better than others.  Below are 
basic elements you should try to include in your strategy.

(a) Give away products or services
Most viral marketing programs give away valuable products or services 
to attract attention. Free e-mail services, free information, free 
"cool" buttons, free software programs etc

(b) Provide for effortless transfer to others
The medium that carries your marketing message must be easy to 
transfer and replicate: e-mail, website, graphic, software download. 
From a marketing standpoint, you must simplify your marketing message 
so it can be transmitted easily and without degradation. Short is 
better.

(c) Scale easily from small to very large
To spread like wildfire the transmission method must be rapidly 
scalable from small to very large.  Ensure you have enough resources, 
such as mail servers and staff that will be able to handle the 
increase in business.

(d) Exploit common motivations and behaviors
Clever viral marketing plans take advantage of common human 
motivations such as greed, the desire to be cool, hunger to be 
popular, loved, and understood.

(e) Utilize existing communication networks
Each person has a network of 8 to 12 people in their close network of 
friends, family, and associates. A person's broader network may 
consist of hundreds or thousands of people. People on the Internet 
develop networks of relationships, too. They collect e-mail addresses 
and favourite website URLs. Affiliate programs exploit such networks, 
as do permission e-mail lists. Learn to place your message into 
existing communications between people, and you rapidly multiply its 
dispersion.

(f) Take advantage of others' resources
The most creative viral marketing plans use others' resources to get 
the word out. For example, affiliate programs place text or graphic 
links on others' websites, authors  give away free articles, news 
release can be picked up by a large number of publications as they 
form the basis of articles seen by hundreds of thousands of readers.

30.  Joint Ventures

A joint venture is an agreement in which two or more businesses work 
on a project for a set period of time. Joint ventures can be long-term 
or short-term.  With joint venture you can:

(a) Build long lasting business relationships.

(b) Increase your credibility by teaming up with other reputable, 
branded businesses.

(c) Get free or discounted products and services.

(d) Set up most joint venture deals with little or no money.

(e) Gain new leads and customers.

(f)  Offer your customers new products and services.

(g) Get rid of your extra inventory.

(h) Find and create new distribution channels for your products.

To learn more about Joint Ventures, visit:

www.howtowritehypnoticjointventureproposals.com

There are many excellent ebooks on internet marketing.  I would 
strongly recommend you pick up at least one or two and start reading.  
For a list of some great electronic books and tools, which are 
available for instant download, visit:

http://www.web4business.com.au/BusinessTools.htm

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