Top 7 Steps To Promoting Your Business

Often times when people start an internet business they don't have a clue how to go about their marketing campaign. They end up posting ads aimlessly to places that do nothing but send them spam and waste time and money. Then, after a couple weeks without results, they give up. It almost happened to me and I know it happens to others everyday. So, in order to help the newbies, I decided to give a quick overview of some of the widely used techniques for marketing your business. When used correctly these marketing techniques will dramatically increase traffic and sales without emptying your bank account.

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. PPC's (Pay Per Click) - These are a very widely used method of getting traffic to your website. Pretty much everyone uses PPC's at one time or another. The concept is really simple& you bid a certain amount on keywords related to your product or service. Then when someone searches for those keywords they find your ad (assuming you bid high enough). Finally, they click on your ad and you pay the amount you bid. This is great because you only pay for traffic that actually goes to your site and all the traffic is targeted.
   
   PPCs may sound intimidating because of the word "pay" but you can usually find keywords to bid on for a very low amount. The highest bid I have on a PPC right now is 25 cents per click which is actually considered high for some. You can also frequently find deals where you get money put into your account just for signing up. Then the traffic you get doesnt cost you anything.
   
   For a list of the top PPC's go to www.payperclicksearchengines.com
   -Note: Google Adwords is not listed in their top 10 but it should be. Overture and Google are widely considered to be the two best. You can find Google Adwords at [http://www.google.com/ads/programs.html]

   
   
   
2. Article Writing - Writing articles is another great way to generate a lot of quality traffic as well as make a name for yourself on the internet. All you do is write on a topic you know about and submit it to places that accept article submissions. This one scares people at first because they don’t think they can write. Trust me it's not as hard as you may think to find a topic you know something about. Then just write a couple pages about it. For example: I never used to think I could write articles but you are reading this one right now, aren't you?
   
   
3. Link Exchanges (for search engines) - This technique is only effective if you have your own website. You search for sites related to yours (such as “work at home”) and then you place a link to the website into the links page of your website. Then you ask the webmaster to return the favor by placing a link to your site on theirs.
   
   Link exchanges are great for getting your website ranked highly in search engines such as Google. Then when people search for your keywords they find your site. This takes a lot of time and work but is great for a huge amount of targeted traffic in the end.
   
   

4. Ezines --­ Ezines are one of the best sources of information on the web. They can make a huge impact on your marketing success if used correctly. Most Ezines offer ad space that you can buy for fairly cheap. Some even accept ads for free. You can also write articles (explained above) and submit them to Ezines to get free exposure.
   
   The Directory of Ezines (DOE) is well-known as the premier resource for the best Ezines. You can find the DOE at http://directoryofezines.com/
   
   To help ensure you find quality Ezines to advertise in you should check to see how many subscribers they have. The more the better but make sure their list is 100% opt-in because some will try and make themselves look more popular than they really are. Also, make sure there arent too many ads to compete with. Some Ezines will accept virtually unlimited ads. Your ad will probably never be seen in an Ezine that allows this. I really like the DOE (link above) because they have already checked the Ezines for quality to make it much easier on you.

   
   
   

5. Forum Submissions - Basically all you do with this one is go to internet business forums and post answers to peoples questions. This one is more for making a solid reputation for yourself as a knowledgeable and trustworthy individual.
   
   I have already written an article on this so I wont go into much detail here. The article will give you a lot more info, you can find it at http://www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com/forumsuccess.html
   
   It tells a lot about what to do and not do in the forums as well as provide you with some good forums to get started in.

   
   
   

6. Word-of-mouth - Well, this ones easy. Tell everyone you know or meet about your business and tell them to tell everyone they know about it too.
   
   Here is a great article about this topic:
   http://www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com/300rule.html

   
   
   
7. Ads on high ranking sites ­ Similar to classifieds… there are many websites that offer space for people to place ads. You can usually get an ad for a very good price. Just search for websites on your topic and if they offer ad space then ask them about it. If they are in the top 10 on the search engines for the keywords you type in then there is a good chance they get a lot of traffic. Your ad could be seen by thousands of people every month.

Trent Brownrigg is a successful internet marketer, webmaster, and author of business articles. He will personally help you build a secure financial future. Visit http://www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com for more details.