Marketing on a Shoestring

Here is the deal. If you have a shoestring marketing method or tips that you like to use, write up a 300 to 600 word article and send it to stanpontiere@internetbizops.ws The winning entry will be published on my blog. At the end of your article, you get to put your signature along with a link to your website or blog. Only a couple of rules. No plugs or links can be included in the article only shoestring marketing tips or content. Second, we expect you to put a link to your content website and/or blog but you may not link to an affiliate sales page. You may ask “Whats in it for me?” Easy you get to prove your expertise in shoestring marketing, published forever on my blog and you should pick up some traffic by having your link being displayed here. Please leave separate contact information with your entry, email subject should be contest entry and then just simply email: stanpontiere@internetbizops.ws

On your blog and on your website one way to get repeat traffic is to run a contest. I have a website called “The Digital Photographer” and each month, I run a Digital Photo of the Month contest. If you are into digital photography, just hop on over to “The Digital Photographer” and click on the contest page and submit your best photographs. The winning photograph will be published at the first of each month, receive a certificate suitable for framing and be entered into a yearly contest with a cash prize. Not only that but if you are available for assignments, we will publish your contact information if you so desire.

In fact, I am now going to run a contest on this blog. Send in you best traffic tip and the winner will be published on this blog and also on my “Marketing on a Shoestring” website. You may ask, what is in it for me? Simple, at the end of your article, if you win, you will have a signature file that may contain links to any websites or blogs that you have. Please send all entries to:
stanpontiere@internetbizops.ws

I hope that you can see how this can help you get repeat traffic if you also run a contest on your blog or website. It is really simple. It costs you virtually nothing and anyone who enters will be returning to your site or blog to read or view the winning entry.

It really is a win/win situation, you get repeat traffic and the entrant get a chance to be published with links to their website or blog. Try it and see how it builds your traffic.

My photography website “The Digital Photographer” is holding a monthly digital photo contest. If you are into digital photography, please visit “The Digital Photographer” and click on the contest page. You will find the site loaded with solid content on how to create great digital photos.

You can spend all the money you want on Google Adwords and their competitors and all that you will get is short-term effects. Shoestring Marketing, on the other hand, will produce results that will last weeks, months or maybe even years. Advertising is not only expensive but it only works while you are forking out your hard-earned dollars. Shoestring marketing costs nearly nothing and builds long term trust and respect. The 5 top secrets that I mentioned earlier are not really secrets but the top 5 methods of marketing on a shoestring.

1. Build a list. You have heard time and time again that the money is in the list. That is not exactly true. The money is in the trust and respect you receive from producing a quality content filled newsletter. Most newsletters are nothing more than blatant advertising but if you give your readers solid content, you will build trust and respect and when you do promote a product, your readers are far more likely to buy from you. One note of caution, don’t go cheap when you pick an autoresponder. Go for the best. Not only do they have higher delivery rates, they also will keep you out of legal hassles. There are a lot of laws involved in email marketing and the FTC can be a real dragon. Many ISPs are so afraid of the FTC that at the slightest sign of a spam complaint, they will shut down your website. Being cheap with an autoresponder could be mighty expensive.

2. Article Marketing is absolutely the best in terms of building trust and respect for your expertise and it is truly a long run affair. Some articles will be picked up by other websites, blogs and social networks, months or even years after you originally wrote the article. The web has a voracious appetite for solid quality information and article marketing meets this need. Not only will this bring you trust and respect, it will build quality back-links. Quality back-links will always improve any Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that you may do.

3. Build a quality content rich website. Nothing is worse than writing great articles and then have the reader click on an Opt-in page. Certainly, you need an opt-in page but it should not be the site that they land on after reading one of your articles. Your readers are looking for content-not fluff. Certainly, you can put an opt-in page on your website, just don’t let it be the first thing that your article readers see.

4. YouTube and the other video sites can be a great method of producing quality traffic for your website. Although, you can’t meet your customers face to face, at least they can see you and hear you on the video sites. This is a great source of quality traffic. If your videos look professional, you will have much the same effect as article marketing.

5. Social networking. Almost everyone I know is on one of the social networking sites-Squidoo, MySpace or one of the myriad of others. For sheer volume of visitors, the social network sites cannot be beaten. There is one caveat (aside from your blog) the quality of visitor is not nearly as good as you will get from article marketing. Certainly, spend some time on the social networks, but not too much. You will get a ton of visitors but, not a lot of customers.

There are many other shoestring marketing methods and you should use them all. These five are the ones that you should concentrate upon.

Unlike Brick and Mortar businesses, where you can meet your customer face to face, you only have two basic options when it comes to internet marketing-your website and your newsletter. No, I am not forgetting about social networking, Youtube and the others. I am talking about your primary point of contact with your customers.

It is far easier in the Brick and Mortar world to build trust. On the net, it is far more difficult but, if you don’t work on building trust with your customers, your online business will fail. So, the question is how do you go about building trust with someone that you will probably never meet in person.

First thing that you must do is create a killer page. Put your picture on your site. Put your name, address, email address and a contact phone number on your contact page. You should also put a contact form on your contact page. This information should also appear in every newsletter that you put out and make sure that your readers understand that you truly want to hear from them. This way you are not just a faceless entity.

On your website, you should also put a bio page (About Me) giving your reader a glimpse into your personality, your background and what you intend to do with your website and newsletter. Again, this is a trust building issue and the more the reader knows about you, the more they are likely trust and respect you.

Make sure that your website is more than just a sales page. Your website and newsletter should always have solid fresh content on your niche. If you provide your readers with expert content, they are far more likely to trust you.

When it comes to the products you promote, make sure that they are products that you have either used yourself or at least have a copy of so that you can honestly represent that the product really does what it claims and that you can attest to that from first hand experience. I have several websites (they are all areas of personal interest) and every product I promote I have either used or have a copy of the product. A customer is far more likely to buy from you if they know that you are personally involved with the product. When you can tell the customer that you own the product and give them the personal results that you have had with the product.

Avoid Hype. The shortest way to lose a reader’s trust is to over-hype a product. If anything, a little understatement will go that extra mile in product promotion. Anyone who has been on the net for any period of time immediately sees hype for what it is and will quickly kill the trust that you are trying to build with your customer.

Another thing that I now like to do with my websites is to produce a Youtube video of myself talking about some of the content on my website and then embed the video on the website. As they can’t see you in person,at least they get to see you on the video. It gives them just one more reason to trust you and your expertise.

In closing, the main point with your website and newsletter is to use them to create mutual respect and trust between you and your readers. Give them the respect that they deserve and you will gain their respect.