The Fletcher Method

30 Ways to Market Your Business When You’re Broke

Nissin Top Ramen - Chicken

Photo credit: camknows

Have Top Ramen and peanut butter sandwiches been a staple of your diet recently? Do moths tend to fly out of your pockets when you reach for your wallet? Let’s be honest, starting a small business can be tough on your finances. There always seems to be a new expense demanding your attention, marketing expenses being at the top of the list.

The success of your marketing plan is crucial to the growth of your business. And if you’re feeling the pressure of your dwindling bank account, you’re in luck. With the internet today, successful online marketing (sayonara expensive print advertising) can be accomplished with little to no budget.

There are at least 30 ways to market your website with a time investment and no credit card required. Some of these are oldies but goodies, while others are newer and exciting avenues you may not have tried out yet.

– searchenginewatch.com

In a recent article by Carrie Hill from searchenginewatch.com she lists 30 awesome ways to get your marketing in tip top shape for absolutely no cost. Free online marketing tips? Yes, please!!

  1. Press releases
  2. Send press releases to local media outlets
  3. Claim and verify your Google local business listing
  4. Provide helpful information to sites that pertain to your business
  5. Build a Google+ page
  6. Setting up joint benefit with local businesses
  7. Comment with relevant information on similar blogs
  8. Set-up a webmaster central account at Google
  9. Set up a Bing Webmaster Tools account and verify it
  10. Update or create your XML sitemap and upload it to Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools
  11. Write a “how-to” article that addresses your niche for Wikihow.com or Answers.com
  12. Write unique HTML page titles for all of your pages
  13. Share your photos at Flickr
  14. Start a blog
  15. Make sure your Bing and Yahoo Local listings are up to date
  16. Update and optimize your description and URL at YP.com
  17. Use your Bing Webmaster Tools account to look at your incoming links
  18. Make a slideshow of your products or record an original how-to video and upload to YouTube
  19. Try a new free keyword tool for researching website optimization, then see #20
  20. Add a page to your site focused on a top keyword phrase you found in #19
  21. Build a Facebook Page and work to engage those that are interested in your product or service
  22. Install Google Analytics if you don’t have any tracking software
  23. Start Twittering or start doing it much better than you are now
  24. Pinterest is hot right now
  25. Create a new list in Twitter and follow profiles of industry experts you know and trust
  26. Try a new way to write an ad for a struggling PPC ad group or campaign
  27. Review your Google Analytics In-Page insights and take note of how users are interacting with your page
  28. Set up a Google Content Experiment through your Analytics account and test with the information you obtained and changes you made in number 27
  29. Build a map at Google Maps and add descriptions for your storefront, locations, and nearby useful points of interest. Make your map public and embed it on your own website
  30. Keep reading Search Engine Watch for more free tips and tricks 🙂
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