Marketing Your Business

As a small business owner, you may be looking for some great starter options to get your website out there and obtain new clientele.  There are many avenues for doing this, and most of them provide very affordable options to help you gain the success you desire.

Tips

1. Always be sure to have a YellowPages or 411 directory listing for your business. You can choose from their picture ads down to the basic text ads. It’s free to place your business text listing within 411, and well worth it.

2. Craigslist is a bit more popluar in the United States, but it’s still a great way to gain a few more clients. Be sure to add a picture to your ad by inserting this code into your ad <img src=”http://www.yourwebsite.com/picture.jpg”>. You’ll need to upload that picture onto your web server with an FTP client such as Filezilla.

3. Here’s another classified system out there that you may want to try; http://www.oodle.com/.

4. Try posting an ad in Kijiji. Make sure that the title and the first paragraph of your ad will catch your reader’s attention. Take advatange of their top ads and home page gallery ads, and make sure to keep your ad updated and relevant at least once a week. You can use their bump up ad feature, or repost the ad for free.

5. Getting on the first page of Google is a popular request, and it may help to bring in those extra needed clients. You will need to have your website coded in the back-end with Search Engine Optimization techniques.  You can also choose to use Google Adwords to get your site on the first page quickly. They operate using a pay per click system, and it can be very effective in aquiring new clientele.

6. Be sure to have the social networking tools going for your business. Facebook offers a business page that you can link directly to your site.   http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php?campaign_id=372931622610&placement=pghm&extra_1=0   You can also link Facebook and twitter together, allowing you to make all your posts from one rather than both. Facebook also has an adword campaign tool, where you can place and ad and pay per click.

7. Newspaper ads are pretty oldschool, but they can still be effective. Many small businesses are getting recognized by local newspapers these days, so it may help to find a PR person to help you get an article written about your business. You may also want to consider placing an ad within a popular magazine that is relevant to your business.

8. Have you thought of making a Youtube video for your business? Make sure that when you post it, you also place keywords on the page to help potential customers find you.

9. There are many business expositions that you can attend, and this will also help your business to gain valuable recognition.

10. Last but not least, referrals are an excellent way to obtain new business. Offer your exisiting clients referral based incentives, and watch your business grow to what you’ve always dreamed it would be!