Okay, now you have setup a website to market your products. But how are people going to know about your website? Remember, simply setting up a website is not enough, since there are literally millions of websites which spring up very other day. If you don’t get people to visit your website, your website is useless. To let people know of your website, you will need to advertise it.
Advertising can be cheap as well as expensive. Needless to say, as a small business owner, you can hardly afford expensive advertising costs, especially if you are just starting your business. In this article I will tell you of a few low cost ways to advertise your website and to get a good amount of traffic every day.
1. Test and track your website: If you simply spend lots of money without testing your ads, you might as well be without a sale at the end of the accounting period. You can use an ad tracker to track your ads and sales.
2. You should do all the testing in blocks. If you simultaneously advertise in newspapers, radio, and also PPC, you won’t be able to know which of your ads are working and which are not. You may ask your customers about how they heard of you, but trust me, only a few people will ever answer your question, and even then, the answer may not be precise. You can’t rely on your customers to test your ads!
3. Only when you are sure that your ads are working, you may want to venture ion big advertising campaigns. How much income your business will make by this additional exposure depends on the nature of the products you are selling, the type of media you are advertising your business in, and also your ad writing skills.
4. As you can understand from lesson #3, you should always look for ways to minimize your advertising costs. If you think you can’t afford the time to test the ads you run in newspapers or radio, here are some low cost advertising options which can be used to promote your business without investing big bucks:
A. Viral marketing: ‘Word of mouth’ or viral marketing is one of the best ‘free’ methods to promote your business. If you already have a few customers, ask them if they know anyone who could benefit himself from your products and services. If your customers are happy with your products, they will be happy to spread the word for you. A monetary incentive (such as a customers’ only affiliate/referral program-where your customers will get commissions when their referrals buy your products) would give your customers even more reason to spread the word for you.
B. Business cards: You can usually get up to 500 business cards for $20.Distribute them. Make sure you don’t give out more than two business cards to one person. If they need more, they will ask you.
C. Press releases are also a good source of promotion. The most important thing about running a press release is that you should construct it as a news story. The most important details should be packed at the very beginning of the press release and the extra details should be left at the the end.
D. Non-primetime advertising on TV and Radio: You can get some of the best discount rates on television and radio especially during midnight or non-primetime venues. These target times are not a total waste as they can easily keep the infomercial people in business.
Check your local television and radio rates for non-primetime hours, and see if any bargains exist or not. The prime time for TV is usually between 7am to 10 pm, whereas the primetime for radian is usually 8am to 5pm.That leaves a whole lot of time in your hands to advertise in these media at a much cheaper rate!
To conclude, there is a lot to know when it comes to advertising your business. However if you know the basics of advertising, everything else will fall in place and you will be laughing all the way to the bank. For more information on how to advertise your home business on a budget, [adrotate banner=”37″]