Friday, October 2, 2009

Free Online Marketing Methods That Work

Strive to find free online marketing methods that work, and you can become very successful. There are many different ways to promote your website. Unfortunately, some of the fastest ways to build your online reputation is with money. Many larger companies can afford to flood the market with pay per click campaigns laden with dollars that the average webmaster cannot afford. They can have big fancy firms design and develop their websites, employ the largest SEO companies to optimize their websites, and hire a team of writers to create and distribute their website's content. These same big companies might seem to have a really unfair advantage, however there are several free ways to outsmart and compete with the big companies who may appear to want to edge out smaller online businesses. Here are five really great free online marketing methods that can level the online playing field.

Free online marketing method #1 - Start writing articles.

Writing articles can be fairly time consuming and tedious, but if you create a plan for yourself and stick to it, you will begin to see results fairly quickly. Search engines love lots of good content, and they often will follow your links from the articles that you create. Another great thing about writing a good article is that many online article directories will syndicate your article, making your online brand more recognizable. Readers will recognize your name, and click on your links. You will find that many of these clicks will ultimately result in sales. Write articles on a weekly basis, or even daily, and stay true to your schedule and plan. Article marketing can be a very lucrative plan.

Free online marketing method #2 - Post to as many forums in your niche as possible.

Sign up for forums in your niche, and post helpful comments at least a few times a week. Don't spam the forum, and don't add any links to your post. Remember, that you want to become a part of this community. May sure the topic is relevant, and that it interests you. Save your links for your signature, and be as helpful as possible in your posts. Remember that you are also building your online reputation in a community, so be as respectful to others as possible. Express your opinions, and help others. Post frequently to get the most benefit from the forum. You might even find some answers to your questions.

Free online marketing method #3 - Use free online sources to add social bookmarking features to your webpages.

There are some great websites online that offer free social bookmarking tools. Try Google's Feedburner.com, and Addthis.com. These two companies will give you tools that you can place on your website. When you add the tools, visitors will then be able to submit your webpages to many major social bookmarking sites and email pages to their friends. In addition, search out the most popular social bookmarking websites like delicious.com, digg.com, mixx.com, stumbleupon.com and propeller.com. Bookmark frequently and often. Save lots of things that interest you around the web, and you will find that you are actually creating an interesting online reputation. These are great ways to create new customers, increase your traffic, and maximize your online profits.

Free online marketing method #4 - Start collecting email addresses.

Create a web form and start collecting email addresses from your visitors. There are many free scripts available on the Internet that will allow you to copy and paste code into your website. Try Aweber.com or GetResponse.com, as these are companies that will allow you to set up easy email campaigns. A good way to ask for a potential customer's email address is to offer a freebie or newsletter. Be sure to post a clear privacy policy on your website that specifically states the purpose of collecting emails. Start building your list, and offer many different products and services along with helpful suggestions and new ideas related to your website. Visitors appreciate the convenience of fresh content, and will be sure to visit your website on a regular basis when you keep them informed.

Free online marketing method #5 - Contribute answers to online communities.

You would be surprised how much traffic you will get from curiosity seekers. Yahoo Answers and other services give you an open forum and community to help others with questions or concerns that they might have on any given subject. You can easy create a profile, and go in and start helping people. You will find that people are looking for simple solutions to their problems, and you may be able to provide help and a good solid answer. Be kind, and always picture yourself from the person's point of view. If you can be helpful and answer the question, then contribute. Yahoo Answers allows you to add a link, and you will want to remember to answer questions relevant to your links. It can give you the excuse to create an online enterprise of websites on any given topic.

To reap the maximum benefit from free online marketing methods, try to combine all of the above methods. Do everything, and do it often. These free online marketing methods when used together, just might be the key to your online success.



By : Carmen T. Wilson
Carmen is an avid bum marketer, and a big fan of Wealthy Affiliate. Are you a Wealthy Affiliate Yet? Be sure to sign up for your free copy of the Free Internet Wealth Guide now! Find out the secrets to earning a living online as an internet marketer now!