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by K. Marie Parker
If you are a current business owner or a new business
start up, it is imperative that you find inexpensive ways
to market your business. I have put together a few handy
tips that you may find will not only fit your budget, but
will prove as effective as some of the more expensive ways
of marketing most of us try to avoid if possible. Enjoy and
pass it on!
Tip #1: "Litter" Your Business Cards
Leave Your business cards everywhere you go! Place them in
restaurants with a tip, in books at the bookstore,
magazines and journals that apply to your business. Send
them with your bills! Place them on bulletin boards, in
your hair salon or barber shop. Use your imagination. Be
creative. Any place where people are likely to go is
usually a good place!
Get 200 FREE Business Cards (Full-Color) From Beaver Prints!
By visiting: www.freebcards.net/mbb
Tip #2: Use Postcards For Marketing!
Postcards are a very inexpensive way of marketing your
business. Plus, if your card is standard size, you can mail
each postcard for less than you would if you decided to
mail a letter. It's best to have a "no fuss" postcard
rather than a fancy postcard that someone will eventually
trash. Keep the postcard short and to the point but make
sure you have a catchy headline. Make sure the colors are
bright and will grab the attention of the reader. (Bright
yellow card with black text is a good choice.) Web cards
are a great choice of you have a web site for your
business. It is a fun and inexpensive way to promote your
biz! Visit: http://www.web-cards.com I also recommend
Beaver Prints for general printing needs, they have very
professional designs and their rates are so affordable!
Request a free catalog: 1-814-742-6070
http://www.paperdirect.com has a fun and inexpensive
assortment of postcards as well as letterhead and
brochures. Marketing pro Bob Leduc, offers a great, low
cost manual that shows you how to build your business fast
with postcards. For more information, visit:
http://www.bobleduc.com
Tip #3: Start An Affiliate Program
Many business owners are seeing the benefits of starting
an Affiliate program. You simply allow your customers to
earn a commission rate of 5-50% for referring you new
business! You can have your Affiliates link to your site
and display a banner advertising your products or bus-
iness opportunity on their web site. For free banner
designs visit: http://www.addesigner.com. When new
customers click on your link, they earn a commission when
that customer buys a product or signs up for your business
opportunity. Clickbank offers a wonderful free affiliate
tracking program Learn the details by visiting their web
site at: http://www.clickbank.com If you want to go "big
time", visit: http://www.affiliateshop.com
Tip #4: Be Creative!
Here is a unique marketing tip for businesses who make
personal contact with their customers, or visit trade
shows or business expos on a regular basis. Professional
presentation is a must. Why not make it unique and
something your prospects or customers will remember?
Visit: http://www.donutbox.com They offer fun and creative
boxes that can be used for personalized marketing. There
are many fun designs to choose from and they are not just
for donuts! Many Entrepreneurs use them as a way to
deliver their product or business opportunity info in a
creative way. An added bonus is that these boxes are very
affordable!
Tip #5: Increase Your Profits With Affordable E-commerce Solutions
If you are online and don't accept credit cards your
business is most likely losing money. The more options you
give your many visitors the better. Your site should be
user-friendly and should allow visitors to make credit card
purchases if they desire to. Accepting credit cards adds
credibility to your business and could very well triple
your sales! I have reviewed many E-commerce provider web
sites. Many of these providers charge high rates and have
added fees for just about anything they can legally get
away with! I have found a company that offers very
affordable rates and they require no application fee, no
set up fee, no monthly lease or monthly statement fees. Low
discount rates and real-time processing. You don't have to
know HTML and your funds are deposited into your account
the same day. Secure server and shopping carts/Internet
store also included. Now that is a good service! They can
set you up online fast for only $49.95 a month. For more
information Visit: http://strictlybu.evsholdingco.com
Tip #6: Swap Ads With E-zine Publishers
Many online e-zine publishers will allow you to advertise for free
in their e-zine if you advertise their ad in your e-zine. (If you don't
have an e-zine start one up!) This is an awesome and free way to
market your business. Here are some e-zine publishers below that
allow ad swapping.
2) Ezine Directory Notes
3) 101 Opportunities
4) Cyberlife Ezine
Tip # 7: Make A Free Offer!
These extremely competitive days one has to do more than
just offer a nice 30 day money back guarantee for a
product. You are going to have to go the extra mile. Many
online web owners are offering free gifts that can be
bought in large amounts very inexpensively and are of
value to the consumer. I personally utilize vacation
vouchers. These are inexpensive 3 day 2 night certificates
with a choice of 20 destinations. Customers love them and
who doesn't want to get away? If you would like more
information on these affordable vacation certificates email
me at: travelbiz@usa.net Another great way to attract
customers is to offer a free downloadable E-book. These
popular e-books are cheap fun, and have a variety of
topics. For more information on offering e-books on your
site visit:
I suggest every serious marketer use promotional
products such as bumper stickers, magnetic business
cards, hats, pens, whatever you can think of to promote
your business inexpensively. A great web site for a vast
array of these type of promotionals is Nebs. Visit Now!
http://www.Nebs.com
Tip # 9: Free Prospects!
Want to gather a huge database of prospects for your business
for FREE? Utilize your junk mail! This is a very inexpensive way
to find fresh prospects especially if you offer business opportunities.
I mail a postcard to every person who mails me there promotional
material. If they have a toll-free number listed, I will call them and
make them a free offer for visiting my web site. No toll calls! (They sent
me something first, so I am only following up on their information.) No
worries about outdated address and phone number information because
your info comes straight from the prospect-not the list broker or
mailing list companies. Why pass up free active leads? Start utilizing
your junk mail today!
Tip #10: Promote Your Business By Writing Free Articles
If you want to promote your business nationally or
internationally, one of the best ways is through writing
articles for free distribution in e-zines and home-business
publications. One of my mentors, author Bob Leduc, turned me on to
this when he allowed me to use his articles in my e-zine for free. It later
dawned on me that "free article swapping" is a very profitable and
free way to promote your business massively. You don't have to be
a gifted writer! If you have information that can be useful to another
person than why not just go for it! There are many web sites that
will show you how to market your business using e-zines.
I have listed some of them here below.
1) http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/articles/add.cgi
Well, I hope this information will be useful to someone. Start
promoting your business inexpensively and effectively today!
Author: K. Marie Parker is a full-time wife and mother of 3 lovely
children, and a part-time online marketer and personal home-business
coach. You can visit Marie's web site by logging on to:
www.youshowmethemoney.com
EMAIL
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