The question that always comes up in relation to Internet marketing is: Are there any free ways to market your business?

The answer is a resounding Yes! Of course you will get better results overall by using the paid methods, but there are a few free methods that if done consistently over time will yield you great results.

Note: I don't recommend anything I haven't spent my own money on and/or wouldn't use myself! There is NO junk here!!

If you're sending quality traffic to your site and it's not converting to either sales or opt-ins, the problem could be your website.
STEP 2



What is it? Writing articles for your target market/audience. You can write about anything, but you need to find a way to tie it into your business or what it is that you're offering.

After you write your articles, you will then distribute them to ezine publishers, article directories and banks either manually or through the use of a submission service or software. You can also put them on your website.

Prerequisite: Knowing about keywords and/or your target market; knowing how to write or be willing to find people to write for you.

Pros: You can generate thousands of "targeted traffic" to your website for free. Search engines can index your articles, which means that they will show up in search results.

Writing articles gets you known as an expert in your field thereby building your credibility. A lot of Internet marketing gurus, such as Mike Dillard and Stephen Pierce use article marketing. What does that tell you? It works!

Cons: It can be a slow process when you first are starting out. You have to enjoy writing, or be willing to pay someone to do if for you (http://www.Elance.com). You can also use Private Label Rights (PLR) articles and just rewrite them to make them your own.

Resources: Turn Words Into Traffic, Article Announcer, Article Marketer, Article Submitter

1) Turn Words Into Traffic
An E-book by Jim and Dallas Edwards. Jim is an author and co-author of seven best-selling e-books and numerous other products. He has used articles to generate thousands of visitors to his numerous websites. Dallas Edwards is a writer and has written articles, books for the past 40 years.

Turn Words Into Traffic will show you...

• Step-by-step how to write and construct articles
  
  
• Many resources for article directories/banks
  
  
• Many examples of how to write resource boxes that get clicks (a resource box is what you put at the bottom of your article that has your name, web address, your "pitch" and your "call to action.")
  

Comments: This is a great e-book for those just starting out.
Pros: There's a lot of information and resources to sink your teeth into. Easy to read, understand, and apply. This is the Jim Edwards style. He is one of my favorite "Internet gurus" for this very reason. 60 day risk-free trial and many bonuses.

Cons: Keywords are not touched upon in this e-book.

2) Article Announcer
An article marketing course by Jason Potash and John Reese. Both are highly regarded especially John Reese who is an Internet traffic expert.

• A-Z how to write articles
  
  
• You get CDs, CD-ROMS video tutorials
  
  
• Workbooks
  
  
• Comes with article submission software

Comments: If you don't plan to use article marketing consistently as one of your marketing strategies, then this would be money wasted by buying this heftier article marketing system.

Pros: Very comprehensive complete article marketing system. Definitely over-delivers.

Cons: None.

Tools To Help You Distribute Your Articles:


1) Article Marketer
An online article submission service. Submits your articles to 30,000+ publishers.

• Get you more exposure for your business
  
  
•  Hit all the major directories at once
  
  
• One Touch Article Submission - Incredibly easy!
  
  
• Free Article Marketing Resources, Classes, E-Books and Audio, and tools
  
  
• Have your article submitted on Auto Pilot
  
  
• Reach thousands of editors and publishers all around the net. Build your business and get more traffic.
  
  
• Free Expert Review of Your Articles before they are submitted to thousands of publishers around the net
  
  
•  Widest distribution and best exposure

Comments: Highly effective for sending out articles at the push of a button. This is absolutely one of the best, if not the best way to get your articles distributed. Article Marketer is one of the most popular article submission services around. This is what I use for my articles.

If budget conscious, start with the free service and work your way up to one of the paid services for wider distribution of your articles. Best use of time, money, and effort.

Pros: No limit to the number of articles you can send out. Easy to use. They also format your article for you. Article writing training free of charge at Article Marketer University.

Cons: None.

2) Article Submitter
Software by Brad Callen (SEO Elite) that allows you to quickly submit your articles to hundreds of article directories with a few mouse clicks.

Comments: Get the free version and upgrade to the paid one if you like the functionality of it.

Pros: Easy to install; ranks the directories by traffic so you can submit to only the top directories if you want to. They offer a free version so you can try it out.

Cons: It can be a little time consuming at first when you you're just getting started. Some directories require you to log in before submitting your article.



What is it? A blog is short for weblog. It is a website where content is posted on a regular basis. It’s also known as an online journal. You can attract traffic to your blog and in turn, send them to your website.

You can also make money with your blogs alone by having ads on them. It’s a highly effective business tool, not to mention the fastest and cheapest way to get a website up. Most Internet marketing "finest" like Seth Godin, Armand Morin, Stephen Pierce, and Mike Filsaime have blogs.

Prerequisite: None

Comments: If you want to set up your blog correctly right from the start (I don't know why you wouldn't), then you need a *course to teach you how to do it right-unless you're just blogging for pleasure and you don't care if anyone reads your blog.

*Note that if you have more time than money you can do a lot of research on the net and find out how to practically do anything.

Pros: Blogging can be quick and easy to do, not to mention fun (if you enjoy writing.)

You can attract more visitors to your website through your blog and most importantly, your blog can get high search engine rankings! Blogging is one of the most powerful marketing techniques out there... and it's free!... however to get the most benefit you have to learn how to do it the right way.

Cons: To use blogging as an effective marketing technique, you must learn how to use blogging tools and strategies effectively or else it will be just wasted effort. For best results, It is ideal you blog daily and interact within the blogosphere community.

Resources: Blogger, Typepad, Wordpress, Blogging For Dollars, Brandon Hong's Wordpress Videos, WordPress Tutorials

* The training courses are listed first, followed by the different types of blogs and the software used to make them.




1) Blogging For Dollars
Produced by Internet Marketing Center-a top Internet company that's been around since the beginning of Internet marketing. This blogging course comes with a DVD.

This course shows you...

• How to use blogs to dramatically increase your website traffic
   
  
• How to rank #1 in Google, Yahoo!, and MSN -- for the keywords most searched by your target audience
  
  
• Three critical steps you MUST follow to catapult your website to the TOP of the search engine rankings -- for any keyword you choose
  
  
• How to Attract 400% more repeat traffic than your static webpage!
  

Comments: I really like this course, but I think it could've been even more detailed than what it was.

Pros: Easy to follow, a ton of resources, tips, and strategies to help your blog get top rankings.

Cons: They use Blogger as the example, and didn't go too much into how to set up the other blogs. It also didn't go to much into the pros or cons of using each particular software.


2) Brandon Hong's Marketing Rampage with Blogs and RSS
Comments: Brandon has a very detailed course on how to do blogging. He has a lot of tutorial videos ( I counted 42) to guide you every step of the way.




1) Brandon Hong WordPress Videos
Comments: This guy appears very credible and he does what he advocates others to do: sets up blogs! He walks the talk. If you're going to do a WordPress blog, then you definitely need a course to help you with it, unless you're pretty crafty setting up websites.

2) Semiologic
Comments: This course/software makes it really easy to set up a WordPress blog. Non-geeky, easy to follow videos. Definitely worth checking out if you want a Wordpress blog.

3) Sherman Hu's Wordpress Tutorials
Comments: Comprehensive beginner to advanced audio/video tutorials to help you get the most out of your WordPress Blog. This is an online subscription and all the videos are online for your convenience.


1) Blogger
Comments: Owned by Google. This is the best place to start if you’re new to blogging. It's also a good place to learn and get in the habit of doing it consistently.

Once you gain enough knowledge and discipline in blogging, then you may want to consider a blog, like Typepad or better yet, a Wordpress blog so you have more options and flexibility.

Level: Beginner

Hosted: Yes

Pros: It is self-hosted; very easy to set up; easy post and blog management; create as many blogs as you would like. It’s FREE!

Cons: Since it is self-hosted, you don’t have any control over it, unless you host it yourself on your own server. There have been instances where people have had their blogs removed by blogger. It's something to keep in mind if you choose to have Blogger host your blog.


2) Typepad
Comments: A lot of people prefer Typepad over Blogger due to it's flexibility and design. Typepad charges a monthly fee from $4.95 to $14.95 per month. It may be smarter to start with a free blog at Blogger to gain some expertise before you go and pay a monthly fee for one at Typepad.

Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Hosted: Yes

Pros: More features than Blogger to help you design a better looking blog.

Cons: I don't know of any.


3) WordPress
Comments: Wordpress is a popular powerful blogging tool. It’s a favorite with many advanced Internet users.

 If you are unfamiliar with how to set up a website or not a "techie", you will probably need help setting one up. As listed above, there are many courses out there to teach you about WordPress. This is definitely the blog you want to have or aspire to have.

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

Cost: Free

*Hosted: No

Pros: Many customizations (plug-ins) available and new ones are constantly being created. I'm amazed with all the things you can do with this blog.

Cons: Can be very technical to install.


*There is a hosted version of Wordpress at http://www.wordpress.com –it has limited functionality as compared to the unhosted version. Most people who have a Wordpress blog have the unhosted version because you have control over it.


1) Linking Strategy – Request links from relevant, high traffic websites, preferably one-way links. In other words, ask these high traffic sites to put your website link on their website and tell them why it would be in their best interest to do so.

2) Viral Marketing – Any type of advertising that compels people to share it with others via email or world of mouth so that it spreads through a network or community like a virus.

One way to use this method, is to write an e-book and give it away and encourage others to share your e-book with their friends.

Another way is by having a signature line at the bottom of your e-mails. Most Internet providers allow you to post a signature at the bottom of your outgoing e-mails. This is how Hotmail really took off!

For example:
Want to make money from home in your pajamas?
Go here for FREE info. http://www..yoursite.com

If you decide to join newsgroups, forums, Yahoo groups, etc. you can put your signature line in your profile (some sites allow this). When you start posting, your signature line will show up.

Start by searching for groups that relate to your business or where your target market is likely to hang out. Post and respond to posts, but don’t spam your advertising message where it is not wanted.


3) Free Online Classified Sites – A good source of traffic because it allows potential prospects to click on your ads and be taken to your website immediately for more information. Examples of sites are craigslist and backpage.

There are thousands of free classified sites. It’s a very competitive market, not to mention very time consuming to post many ads.

If you want to employ this marketing technique, it would be in your best interest to use software that allows you to automatically submit your ad to thousands of free classified sites. Two submission software programs are:

1. Power Submitter

2. Classified Connection

Both offer free demos. Try them both out and go with the one that is more comfortable for you to use.



4) Press Releases
Press Releases are popular ways of letting the media know about your business-virtually at no cost!

Prerequisite: Must know how to write a press release, whom to send it to and how to send it.

Pros: Tons of free traffic via media outlets (television radio, newspapers etc).

Cons: You may want to use a paid service in the beginning to learn how to do this marketing technique effectively.

Resources: PR Web

PR Web Direct is a service that also offers templates, tips on how to construct a press release.  They also have an editorial review service (fee based). You should also check out:
PR Web Press Release Tips


5) Squidoo
A weird sounding name for an outstanding marketing method. Squidoo is like a blog.  The difference is that each Squidoo website or lens as its called, is generally focused on one topic or niche. Squidoo is the brainchild of Seth Godin.

Squidoo itself is ranked high in Google's search engine.

Pros: Easy to set up, once you know what to do. Your lens can show up in the search engines easier than a regular blog.

Cons: Putting up lenses can be addictive-it's actually kind of fun!

Resources:  Squidoo Secrets, Squidoo Queen

Squidoo Queen
Kelly Stone's comprehensive look into Squidoo.  She also offers one-on-one coaching just for buying her course.  This course is underpriced for all that she's giving you.

Squidoo Secrets
Has one the best if not the best overview on how to use Squidoo in your business. A lot of great info for free. I wasn't too impressed with my upgrade.  I didn't feel it offered the value for what I paid. I suggest getting Kelly's course above if you want more in depth training on Squidoo. IMO.

Here's a free audio that will let you see the power behind marketing tool. Get it now, while it's sitll available for free.


What is it? An Ezine is simply an electronic magazine or newsletter about a given subject that is sent out to a list of people who have asked for information on a topic that interests them.

These people are then known as subscribers because they opted-in (opt-ins) to receive this information. The newsletter that was requested is then sent to them via e-mail.

The newsletter itself has articles that relate to their interests, with advertisements in various areas throughout the issue.  However, not all ezines accept advertisements.

The subscribers to ezines are a highly targeted group of people, which makes this type of advertising highly effective and powerful.

A lot of marketers underestimate the power of ezine marketing. It’s a good idea to subscribe to the ezine to know what the ezine is about, quality of the content, and if the subscribers are being over-marketed too (the ezine has too many ads).

The three types of ads are classified, sponsored and solo, with classified being the least expensive of the three.

A sponsored ad is found at the top of the ezine. A solo ad is mailed out separately in an e-mail to all subscribers on the list and is generally the most effective and expensive of the three.

It is best to start off using a classified ad to see if you get a good response rate before paying bigger bucks for a more expensive ad. If you are serious about using this technique, then you’ll want a subscription to The Directory of Ezines. There are other free membership type sites available as well.

Prerequisite: Must have effective copywriting skills to write ads (see copywriting)

Pros: Get targeted traffic in front of your ads; cost effective.

Cons: You have to know which ezines cater to your target market or you'll just be wasting money. There are really no cons that I can think of in regards to this method of advertising, however you do need to track and see what ad is working the best for you.

Resources: The Directory of Ezines, Ezine Directory, Ezine Hub http://www.ezinehub.com


1) The Directory of Ezines
Comments: A membership directory site that list thousands of ezine publishers. They’ve been around since 1998. Best use of this membership: If you plan to do both article marketing, and do ezine advertising. 

• Quick and easy way to get targeted traffic to your website
  
  
• All ezines are broken down by category
  
  
• Lists which ezines accepts articles
  
  
• Lists ezines that accept joint venture offers. A joint venture is an arrangement with an ezine publisher where he or she sends out your offer, with an endorsement, to their mailing list. 

You don’t pay anything unless sales are made. You split the revenues per your agreement with the publisher

2) Ezine Directory
Comments: The Ezine Directory was created by Ryan Jensen in 1999 as a free resource for ezine publishers and subscribers. It is a human-edited categorical listing of ezines, fanzines, and email newsletters.


3) Ezine Hub
Comments: Ezine Hub is a newsletter search engine and directory that is updated daily.


Pay per click is the fastest way to get traffic to your website –about 15 minutes if you’re using Google!

What is it? Whenever you do a search in a search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN etc), you get two kinds of listings: natural listings and paid listings.

The natural listings show up because of that particular websites content. The paid listings show up generally because of content and because they paid to be there. This is done on a per-bid basis.

How to do it: You begin by writing an ad for whatever it is you're trying to sell, and then you select a group of keywords that you want to "trigger" that ad.

You then set a maximum cost-per-click amount for your keywords. Whay you’re doing is choosing the maximum amount you're willing to pay for one "click" or one website visitor.

In a nutshell, when someone searches for one of your selected keywords, this will trigger your listing or ad to be displayed.

This is the best way to get targeted traffic to your website that are actively looking for what you have to offer. In other words, they are searching for you.

That was a simplistic version of what pay per click is all about. This marketing technique especially takes time to learn and master or else you will lose a lot of money.

Prerequisite: The ability to write effective ad copy; know about keywords; have a website that converts the prospect into the action you want them to take (a buyer or a subscriber.)

Pros: Highly effective method to get targeted traffic in minutes. With this method you can rather quickly test whether or not your website is converting.

Cons: You will lose a lot of money if you don’t know what you’re doing and/or if you don’t meet the above prerequisites.

Resources: Perry Marshall’s The Definitive Guide to Google Adwords

Perry Marshall’s The Definintive Guide to Google Adwords
Comments: This has to be the world's most popular course for winning the Google AdWords game.

Perry Marshall is the king in this area.This is a must-have course if you want to do this marketing technique.

Pros: Perry Marshall’s course has set the standard as to how to use pay per click effectively. He has a 90-day money-back guarantee
Cons: None.



I'm sure by now you're like a kid in a candy store....pick only one piece of candy, err.. method and then learn it, apply it, and then go on to the next method.

STEP 3, the final step, will have tools to help you apply your newfound marketing techniques.

Let the Good Times Roll...

Take Me To STEP 3- I'm Ready!!