1. Start a content driven site.
Slashdot, Ars Technica, and PlanetSourceCode are all great examples of sites that do not explicitly sell products or services, but make money anyway.
They are all about a certain subject that the authors are familiar with. The authors, although they might not get money directly from the site, get recognition that leads directly to money. I still occasionally get approached by people because of a site I haven’t updated in years. (Maybe I should start up again!) It is a fantastic way to gain recognition and make contacts.
2. Help an open source project.
Open Source projects are always looking for more help, and helping is an easy way to contribute to the community and get publicity. Even if you aren’t a programmer, you can still help with documentation, artwork, or even testing for bugs and suggesting new features. You get name recognition, and even better, you can put that in your resume or marketing materials – a winning situation all around.
3. Write a brillant article and syndicate it freely.
There are countless submission mailing lists you can join. Join them. Write an article on something you know about. Submit it. Watch the article get posted all over the world. Get publicity. Repeat.
4. Help out somebody.
There are a ton of advantages to helping people on messageboards and newsgroups. First, you get free exposure – I’ve had people approach me for work just on the basis of messageboard posts. Your signature line can be great advertisement. Second, by consistantly helping people, you become an authority. Third, you get the benefit of all the other posts you read – there could be a solution to a problem you have just sitting there. Fourth, you get contacts in the industry, which can be very helpful, particularly when it comes time to subcontract work or to do joint ventures.
5. Revamp your site. Make it client centric.
Give away your intellectual property in the from of articles, how-to guides, tips, and so forth, instead of simply using it as a selling platform. Give people a reason to visit.
6. Undertake joint ventures with other professionals.
Joint ventures are fantastic – they help everyone. There are a lot of great ways to do this:
– Cross promotion – post articles on each other’s websites. This gives visitors to both sites more reason to visit, builds credibility for both parties, and increases search engine ranking.
(Many search engines – Google included – use the amount of places that link to a page as a primary indicator of how far up on the search results that page should go.)
– Coauthoring books or articles.
– Undertaking joint studies, such as a survey or a poll. These are great. When you do a study, you generate new information… and new information is automatically newsworthy.
7. Start an e-mail newsletter.
Newsletters keep you in regular touch with people who are interested in your services – and give people reminders when you post interesting things on your site. They keep you in the minds of your customers when they feel like buying.
8. Start your own opensource project.
If you have some high quality technology kicking around, why not open-source it? In return, you’ll get publicity that you couldn’t get with any amount of money… and you get accesss to top notch technologists to improve your work in return.
9. Speak at user groups.
Speaking at groups is a wonderful opportunity. You can sharpen your presentation skills – which are vital these days. You can gain contacts and meet fascinating people. You can get feedback. You get to present your ideas buyers of your services. What could be better?
David Berube is a writer, software developer, and speaker.
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