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Can anybody tell me any free or low cost ways to promote and advertise my business and website?

I own a performance speed shop located near Salem, Oregon. I have a website and a conventional store and would like some ideas on how to market, promote and advertise my business. I'm open to anything and am willing to get aggressive in doing so. If anybody has any tips, tricks, or anything else that is free or fairly low cost please let me know. thanks

Public Comments

1. You could advertise on my website (www.AsherHeimermann.com). I charge $15/month for a banner on my website or $10/month for a link on the Marketplace page. My website adverages well over 1,500 visitors per month and 95% of the traffic comes within the United States of America. For 2008, my website had over 24,000 visitors. Contact me thru my website for more information. Good luck.
2. Usually traffic exchanges work for initial awareness I listed the one that provides a lot of marketing tools/tips. Also, try ads or flyer's online like http://adsfree.adpost.com/ or Craigslist. Another way is social networking which helps with site indexing get a profile on MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter etc. And of course old fashion word of mouth give your friends & family business cards. Good Luck
3. Well unfortunately the term... "you get what you pay for" comes to mind ;-) So don't look for free. First... sit down and "define" your target market (customers). Do they rebuild cars professionally? Just fixer-uppers? Race cars? Are they young? Are they old? Do they wear suits and ties? Or do they work in the local mechanic shop? Do they think a carburetor has something to do with their weight? Do they correct you and say there are called "Heels" not lifters? These will help you define a message. Start with some local or regional newspapers. Check out how much it would cost for a half page ad not including the Sunday addition. Look at creating an interesting logo with your company slogan. Get interest built this way. Next, call your local radio stations and talk to their marketing department. They will have some excellent opportunities for you and will even help define a message and create it for you. No need for you to say even one word into a mic for the radio. Look for non-prime time spots and compare the price to evening prime time spots. Listen to their marketing people... they understand their target market well and will know what works but don't bend over for them ;-). Contact racing venues around your state at ANY level of skill. Ask about buying an advertising board on their track. Now the biggest problem most small companies have with advertising is they think you put in the money for a few months and BAM you have results. It doesn't work that way. Look at a budget of NO LESS than a year and try to utilize multiple avenues together to push a single message. Also... make sure EVERY customer is asked where they heard about you. No need to pay for that board ad on that track in Timbuktu if it isn't bringing you business right? I'd do all these things for you... but then I would have to charge you ;-). Which btw... there should be a small marketing firm near-by that can help you out as well and is worth investigating as well. Good luck
4. Blogs, Articles, Classifieds, Digg.com......... There are many ways to get the good word out there. Remember that time and patients are the key. Once traffic starts coming life gets easier. What to are doind here on Yahoo is another great way. Good Luck!
5. There are two ways to promote a business and its website - online and offline. Online marketing would involve getting some SEO work done on your site to make it search engine friendly - text links on the site with the correct anchor text, an XML Sitemap and robots file, meta tags, analytics, key phrases researched and placed on the pages, set up a blog. Then you would need an ongoing programme of content writing for your blog and other site pages, submission of articles to article sites, and creating inbound links from relevant sites, especially other blogs. Offline marketing can work very well too, through word of mouth, business cards and leaflets. Come up with a special angle to get attention - a specialist area you can talk about, anything to make you stand out from the competition. Special offers for a limited time work well. Create a flyer, and add a good selling message. Include a phone number so people can talk to you. Local coffee shops, pubs, music shops, libraries, community centres, newsagents, health clubs often have counters and noticeboards where you could put your flyers. You could invest in some perspex 'take ones' to put on counters at these places that will keep your flyers in sight and looking professional. Try some local PR, create a story for your business. Success stories, special events, openings, in-store shows, tie-ups and partnerships with the local community always work well. Call the radio station and say you are a local person business with an interesting news story. Offer to go into their studio to record an interview. Try local newspapers, call up the news desk and they will tell you who to speak to. Stress that you are local. They may well give you some coverage or airtime. Is there a local 'town' website where you live? Call up the editor and see if you can do a picture story for the homepage, or at least get a listing in the services section. All of this would get you going and more promotional opportunities would quickly present themselves as a result of the publicity you will get, both online and offline. Hope this helps! Katy Ortega http;//www.biz247.biz