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” 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 with online
articles?
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.
