More website promotion tips
Short-but-sweet random tips for getting free or low fee publicity:
- Put your Internet address on everything -- business cards, clothing (caps,
t-shirts, fleece sweatshirts), pens (that you can "leave behind"
at clients' offices), mugs and plastic bottles (I bet there's a coffee mug
in your cabinet with a company name on it), other giveaways (refrigerator
magnet clips, keyrings with flashlights, calendars, mousepads, paper pads),
and anywhere else that will get impressions. Distribute these items to businesses
that might be interested in your services, put them in mailers, or give them
away on the street. There are even companies that will imprint bottled water
and chocolates for you. Just do search for "promotional items",
and try to think of what your potential clients might use. For clothing, try
CafePress.com or Dazzle.com. Why wear a t-shirt with another company's brand
logo on it when you could be promoting your own brand? Make a nice design,
and your friends will probably be more than happy to wear your website promotion
"gift" as well.
- Distribute your business card in the right places. A tattoo artist friend of mine attends tattoo conventions every year and leaves her business card at every booth. Attending the right trade show, conference, or business meeting can yield you a goldmine of targeted leads.
- How does free radio or TV publicity sound? In addition to submission of
articles and press releases, contact your local media companies to ask if
they have any reports on the horizon that might benefit from your input. Also
ask if they maintain a contact list for experts in your field so that they'll
have your name on file for future reference. All forms of media need content
and input from experts. You can become one of their phone consultants whenever
a related story comes up. For example, I once ran an employment website, and
made myself available for interviews about the region's job market. That idea
came to me back when I was running an apartment rental service and heard a
competitor on the radio getting free publicity in return for his opinion about
the tight rental market. Listeners might have assumed that he was just being
helpful, but it was pure website promotion.
Traditional radio is perfect for targeting an audience in a particular urban area, while webcasts on a well matched station are ideal for reaching a very targeted demographic worldwide. What kind of radio programs would your target customers be listening to? Contact stations directly or check out RadioAds.com. Other sites of possible interest: TargetSpot.com, Bid4Spots.com, StrategicMediaInc.com. - Become a part-time "professional" speaker. Trade organizations, associations, and private companies are frequently looking for experts to speak to their members. While some speakers make their living this way, for most the compensation is an opportunity to gain clients, leads, and recognition in their field. For example, a real estate agents who offers a free seminar at a community center called "maximizing your home's value" is most likely motivated by the possibility of meeting prospective clients who will soon sell their homes. Similarly, massage therapists often find clients by offering their services for free at local companies during lunch hours. Check a Learning Annex catalog, and you might recognize people just like yourself mining for clients by teaching courses.
- Post flyers around universities, in laundromats, in cafes, and on street
poles. Posting flyers around universities is the easiest -- no driving, high
exposure, and good exercise. As for cafes and laundromats, hitting up your
local spots is no problem. But if you want to post at a hundred or more locations
per day like me, do your research first. Since these types of businesses are
often not in the phone book, it's worthwhile to get a mailing list with addresses
first. Use InfoUSA.com or USAData.com -- the SIC code for laundromats is 7215,
and cafes start with 5812 (do a lookup on each provider, since the exact code
varies). Then input the addresses into Google and map
an efficient route. As for posting on phone poles, check your city's local
ordinances before blanketing your neighborhood. Here in San Francisco there
is a special section of city law that specifies exactly how many flyers you
may post per block. Also, if you live near a big city, consider handing fliers
out to people on their way to work (e.g. near the exit of a subway or train
station).
- How often do you notice the personalized license plate on the car in front
of you? License plates are small, but their messages really get attention.
Here in California, license plates can have up to 7 digits. I've seen some
people adding vinyl lettering off to the side of their plate for adding a
".com". Even if your URL is longer, how about getting the middle
letters of your URL on the plate, and then adding vinyl lettering to the left
and right?
- Similar to vanity license places, vanity phone numbers are the offline equivalent to a domain name. Companies like 800-GOT-JUNK have practically built their businesses around their phone number. Not only do you increase the odds of reaching customers while they're not on their computers (or customers who are not Internet savvy), but displaying a good vanity number on your website increases legitimacy as well. Be creative, and consider local numbers with 4 or 5 digits that spell a word.
Along the same lines, if you think bumper stickers wouldn't get enough
attention for effective website promotion, be creative:
