Completely Free Marketing Tactics that Really Work... As Long as YOU Work, They'll Work!
What Makes a Good Free Marketing Tactic?
How Does Free Marketing Differ from Paid?
Elements of Successful Marketing Materials
The Pros and Cons of Do it Yourself Marketing
Good Tactics
Article Marketing
Directory Listings
Signature Lines
Event Participation
Link Trades
Ad Swaps
Bartering
Cross Promotion
Cooperation
Search Engine Listing
SEO
Viral Marketing
Opt-In Lists
Link Optimization
Print Downloads
Forum Participation
Blog Participation
Networking
Target Your Customer
Niching Your Business
Press Releases
Guest Appearances
Leveraging
Volunteering
The Pros and Cons of Do it Yourself Marketing
Most people who do free marketing do it because they simply cannot afford more expensive methods. Many though, do it because there are some VERY effective methods that should be done even if money is plentiful. In fact, many of these tactics are so effective that business owners will pay someone else to have them done, as it is still a more effective use of their money than some other paid forms.
The major issue here is one of time. Free marketing methods take time in two ways:
They take work, which YOU have to do (or which you have to pay for), and that work takes a lot of time.
They are slow to work. They work with awesome power, but it takes time to build.
So, that means if you decide to do your own marketing without paying for anything other than equipment and supplies (internet connection, computer upkeep, paper, etc), then you must be willing to work very hard, for a very long time.
The other thing about doing it yourself is that you have to LEARN. There are tactics that are a waste of your time, and some that can actually harm your business. There are other solid, tried and true, and highly effective tactics, and you have to learn to know the difference, and how to do the good ones right.
Nearly every tactic has a specific set of rules. Do it wrong, it will backfire. Do it right, it will slowly grow into something awesome.
Doing your marketing yourself means you have to learn how to do those right, and you also have to learn the rules of effective marketing in general.
You can use the most effective method in the world, and if your marketing message is wrong for your target market, it will still fail. So you have to learn how to word things, and how to produce an effective message.
These are things many business owners can learn. It is certain though, that you will have many moments of frustration, and quite a bit of discouragement before you get there. I don't know any small business owners who have not had to slog through a great deal of marketing that they did not feel like doing, during a time when they thought it would not work well enough to bring enough long term. As they persevered though, they DID triumph, and with dedication, it did eventually pay off.
You have to spend about half of your business time marketing during the first three to six months. After that, you can only slack a bit IF you are getting good results. You'll also get more efficient at marketing, so it gets done faster.
Free marketing tactics that work, and that startup owners can learn to do, are one of the ways in which a determined person can get started with a business, even if they have no real cash to invest.
But it only happens if they substitute work for cash, and determination for assistance.
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Updated August 20, 2007