If you want to make money online then it is important for you to have the right marketing strategy otherwise you’re going to struggle. Unfortunately, the old adage “you have to spend money to make money” is usually as true online as it is in a traditional business. Thankfully, if you know what you are doing then it is possible to do internet marketing on a very tight budget.
Guest Posting on Niche Blogs
The internet is full of blogs in all sorts of little niches and they are always looking for new content. If you have a lot of expertise in a specific niche (it doesn’t always have to be the niche your business is in) you can offer to provide guest posts to the blog. These guest posts must be full of interesting information and cannot just be an advertisement for your business! Of course, you can link to your business during and at the end of the post.
Many people in the internet marketing niche have found a lot of success by posting on Timothy Ferris’ Four Hour Work Week blog. If you can find similar popular blogs in your niche then you may be able to replicate that success.
Sending Out Review Products to Bloggers
Bloggers, like most people, love free stuff. If you offer to provide bloggers with free stuff for an honest review you will often find that they are more than happy to comply. This gets you a nice little backlink from their site and (if your product is good) a very good review. This shouldn’t cost you too much, especially in terms of the potential reward, if you only target specific bloggers with a popular website and/or large social media following.
But, beware! Make sure that you communicate well with the blogger who offers to review your shop. A miscommunication between Anges de Sucre and a blogger ended up in the news for all the wrong reasons last year. The blogger asked for a lot more free stuff than they’d agreed and threatened to give the shop a bad review unless they gave her what she wanted. When they refused to give her what she wanted she did exactly as she promised and give them a bad review… ouch!
Create YouTube Videos
If you have a lot of knowledge about your particular niche then YouTube videos are a great way to promote your business. How-to videos, video reviews, interviews with business insiders – there are so many ways in which you can market on YouTube. If you post regularly with related content (turning it into a series is always a good idea, people will often end up clicking through the entire series and then through to your website!) you can end up with marketing which sends people to your website on a very regular basis.
It’s important that you put time into researching your keywords and always include a clear call to action at the end of your video.
Write an EBook on Your Industry
With the advent of Amazon Kindle’s it’s more than possible to market by taking advantage of the ebook market. You can put together a book of between 5,000-10,000 words on the biggest issues in your niche and then upload it to Amazon for free. Not only will you be entitled to the majority of the royalties for your book, but you can also include clear links to your website throughout the book.
One great way to use the book for marketing purposes is to use the Amazon Free Book promotions which you can do once a quarter. You won’t make any money from the free downloads, but these people will still witness your links in the book when they read it. If you’re very clever you might also include a link during the free preview of the book to capture the attention of those who don’t even purchase it!