How to get Your Business Noticed without Going Broke!

If you have a quality product or services, it is easier than you think to get your business noticed... And all for FREE! TALK Tell people about your business and its story. People love and always remember a good and funny story. Take ours for instance: My husband, Stephen came home one day with a wooden wine crate and said to me:" I think that I am going to make a pet feeder out of this for our dog..." I gave him an incredulous look and asked:" Did you take your pills today?".... Then I saw the finished product...I was amazed how sensational, unique and beautifully hand-crafted the feeder came out, I immediately prompted him to sell them. Stephen came up with the name "Whiner and Diner" (appropriate and clever!): our business was born. Now, we just had to promote it and get it to be noticed...even though our advertising budget was nearly nonexistent, after doing a little research, we found out that there are many free ways to promote a business. CREATE A WEB SITE There are many Internet services which offer free web sites. They are user-friendly and enable you to have a professional on-line presence. For instance, Microsoft Office Live Small Business offers a free service; you just need to purchase a domain name. It does not require any programming or coding, just choose your templates, insert text, graphics and photos and you have a web site in no time. It even comes with a branded e-mail address which adds tremendous professionalism to your business, and allows you monitor your web site visitors. Whiner and Diner used Office Live and got noticed. Microsoft even wrote an article about Whiner and Diner's website: "Home Business Has Its Day!" OPTIMIZE YOUR WEB SITE Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important for an on-line business. The better your Web site's optimization, the best are your chances for people to find you on-line. Many search engine directories will let you list your Web site for free. WRITE ARTICLES Share your thoughts and expertise with others. Write about what you know and are passionate about. Always include your Web site address; this will provide with free traffic... Just Google "publish your articles for free" and you will find plenty of sites to do so. CREATE A BLOG Blogging is a great way to write on a specific topic (e.g. your business). Connect with people in the same industry as you and share your ideas with your peers. SEND NEWSLETTERS Introduce yourself and your business to potential customers, on-line magazines, products review sites, other sites etc... BUSINESS DIRECTORIES List your Web site on professional directories. Many of them will give you a free basic listing. MEDIA Call your local newspapers, magazines, TV and radio shows. They are always interested in new businesses and interesting stories. OFF-LINE PUBLICITY Business cards, brochures, flyers, posters, stickers...If you have a computer and a printer, you can create all of these yourself. Hand them out to everyone who will take one! NOW, GET TO WORK AND GOOD LUCK!