Starting and building an online or home business is not an easy task, but it can be done. It takes work, time, commitment and passion. This is not a get rich quick career! You want to start by letting everyone know about you and your business and by building your reputation. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to do this online. They do not cost anything but time!
1. Message Boards – Do not blatantly advertise, but join in the conversations, offer advice and support. Your signature will do the advertising for you. Always, follow the boards guidelines for posting.
http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/bb/
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/277709
http://www.kitchencraftsnmore.net/forum/
http://selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/
2. Email Discussion Groups – Similar to message boards. Follow guidelines and participate in the conversations.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/itsjust4u2003/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomansNetworkingCommunity
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ideasbypost
3. Ad Swaps – Contact other ezine/newsletter publishers to arrange an ad swap. You run their ad in your ezine in exchange for them running your ad. This is a great way of advertising and networking. Ezine directories are a good place to find other publishers.
http://www.myfavoriteezines.com
http://www.ezinelocater.com
4. Link Exchanges – Similar to ad swaps, but you exchange ads on your website. This not only advertises your site, but will improve your ranking in the search engines. Be selective in choosing sites to swap with. Do not submit your link to the FFA (free link sites), or link farms. Choose quality sites that are rich in content. Contact the webmaster personally to see if she/he is interested in an exchange.
5. Ezine Publishing – Ezine publishing is very important for your online business. Keeps you in contact with your potential customers and helps build trust and respect.
mailto:moe-mini-course@getresponse.com
http://www.myownezine.com/tutorial/index.shtml
6. Write Articles – This is one of the top methods of free advertising. You do not have to be a writer to write good, informative articles. People want basic and useful info, not fancy words and psychological theories.
mailto:articletips@getresponse.com
mailto:articlelibrary@getresponse.com
7. Guestbooks – Visit quality sites and leave feedback in the Guestbook along with your url. This will not make you rich, but it is free advertising and provides some good networking opportunities. Take the time to look at the site and leave sincere feedback.
8. Sigtags – Always have a short but effective sigtag in all your outgoing emails. This is very effective advertising. Try to keep it about 4-6 lines maximum. Example:
To our success, Terri Seymour
Learn to publish your own ezine mailto:myownezine@subto.us Resources, tips and more for your home and family. mailto:subscribe@seymourproducts.com
This sigtag will help you get subscribers which you can keep in contact with via your ezine.
9. Signature Buddies – Another form of ad swap, where you would contact associates and swap sigtags with them for a period of time and then swap with another associate so your sigtag is consistently revolving around the web.
10. Testimonials – Be free (but not too free) with testimonials, but make sure they are sincere. The publisher or webmaster will often publish these testimonials on their website/ezine along with your url.
11. Group Pop Unders – This is when a group of publishers come together to share one pop under window at several sites. Each participant adds the window to their site so every time someone visits any of the sites, all participants get exposure. There are several of these programs to choose from.
http://www.subscriptionrocket.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi?r=6401
http://www.subscriberdrive.com/
http://www.listfire.com/
12. Welcome Letter – When someone subscribes to your ezine and then confirms, it is time to send them a welcome letter. Make full use of this letter. Tell them about any freebies or specials that you offer. Give them a quick background of your site and the purpose of your site. Point out the highlights of your site. You can say so much more in your welcome letter than just Welcome.
13. Announcement Groups – Follow guidelines and keep your groups organized. Spending a few minutes a day sending out your announcements can get you several subscribers.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AdvertisingLists
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Group-Promotions/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Her-Announcements
14. Group Subscription Pages – Similar to group pop-unders. Join together with about 10 fellow publishers and promote each other on your subscription thank you pages. This will benefit the whole group.
15. Online Directories – There are all kinds of free online directories where you can submit your ezine, website, business opportunities and so on. Do a search for free directories, ezine directories, etc. and get started. It will take some time!
http://amazines.com/
http://bestyellow.com/addurl.html
http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Some of these methods are, of course, more effective than others, but they all provide free advertising. Do all of these consistently and in time, you an your business will become well-known in the Internet world.
Terri Seymour and her husband Terry offer
a no-cost, non-MLM home business opportunity.
They strive to help you build a successful home
business. They also provide a website building
service. Take advantage of the gifts, resources &
more provided for your home and business at
http://www.seymourproducts.com FREE ecourse at:
business-building-ecourse@getresponse.com
