Promoting your site on a
shoestring can be done - but you will have to roll up your
sleeves. It takes time, smart thinking and a willingness to
really be in communication with your audience. Take notes from
The Cluetrain Manifesto:
"If you only have time for one clue this year,
this is the one to get...
"These markets are conversations. Their members
communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct,
funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining,
joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It
can't be faked.
"Most companies, on the other hand, only know how
to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission
statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us
busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked
markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to
speak as they do.
"But learning to speak in a
human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us
they are human with lip service about "listening to customers."
They will only sound human when they empower real human beings
to speak on their behalf.
"While many such people already work for
companies today, most companies ignore their ability to deliver
genuine knowledge, opting instead to crank out sterile 'happy
talk' that insults the intelligence of markets literally too
smart to buy it."
http://www.cluetrain.com/#manifesto
When you sit down to create the content for your
website make it your business to find out who you should be
talking to and where they hang out online. Spend time listening
in the forums and discussion groups that would be of interest to
your public. Go to
http://www.technorati.com and find the blogs dealing with
your subject. Take the itnme to read these blogs.
Use your knowledge and passion about your
business to help others. Don't be afraid to share your
knowledge. Learn to write good content so that you create an
atmosphere of credibility.
Be real. Show that you know what you're talking
about and have the solutions in your field. Do your homework.
Find other sites, e-mail newsletters and blogs your prospective
clients might find interesting. Offer your articles to these
sites and e-mail newsletters.
Start your own blog. There are many free blogging
tools out there you can use. Wordpress is one. Blogger is
another.
Promoting Your Content
Take advantage of the power of syndication. RSS -
Really Simple Syndication - can increase your traffic and raise
your search engine visibility faster than any other strategy
right now. Visit PRESSfeed to find out how you can add news
content to your website and syndicate it in an RSS feed.
PRESSfeed also has a list of over 50 sites where
you can promote your RSS feeds
Create a great email signature file. Use your
'elevator speech' for a quick pitch on all your e-mails. This is
not an ad. A good elevator speech should show them how you can
be of benefit. Always include your URL, email address and phone
number. Don't make prospects do the hard work of finding this
information if they want to contact you.
Word of Mouth is the still the most successful
method of advertising. On the Internet you need Word of Mouse.
When people pass on your links because of your good content,
you're ahead of the game
Every successful campaign has had only two common
elements: publicity and word of mouth. The Internet provides
both in abundance if you learn how to tap into it.
RSS Feeds to RSS News
