10 FREE GUERRILLA TACTICS TO PROMOTE YOUR WEBSITE

It never ceases to amaze me: that more people do not avail themselves of the following:

1. Submit to Google local, and Yahoo and MSN local business centers: it is still free, and it is still the most underutilized, free advertising out there: if you are too lazy go to UBL.org and pay $30
2. Post partial posts on other blogs and groups – so simple: you write a great post like this one, post partial posts all over other blogs, Yahoo groups, Linked-in groups etc….
3. Start and manage a group that is on-topic – I do ot know why more people don’t go to the trouble: but they don’t: for instance my group I founded at Active Rain: http://activerain.com/groups/WEB20 – it has 810 subscribers and growing and only 415 posts, I would put to you that it is what I delete, that makes it successful, and not what I add, but it is still an available targeted marketplace for me.
4. Participate on other blogs and in other groups – you do not need to start a group to access it’s members, just join one.  I have found groups at linked-in and yahoo groups with 3-4000 ready prospects for me that read everything posted – heck I can join any group on meetup.com and have access to all the group members immediately by email.  From local politics to singles and all points between, there are groups that target your market.
5. Join the local chamber of commerce, go to all the events – the oldest, and still most underutilized business resources: the local chambers of commerce and local visitors advocacy groups – every city and state and even some counties have government backed groups and agency designed to create jobs, promote touristy, and otherwise benefit your local economy.  By getting involved you get exposed to the members, and potential members.
6. Warm calls – anyone who hangs out a card or brochure or group profile anywhere is fair game: I call them warm calls because they are advertising their business and must answer the phone: if you are looking at their yellow page ad or PPC ad or any type of advertisement the person paying or arranging for that advertising wants to know how and why you came to see the add: “warm”.
7. Follow up – nothing new, here, but just as underdone as the others: WAKE UP! THE HOTTEST PROSPECT YOU HAVE IS THE GUY WHO YOU HAVE ALREADY TALKED TO – FOLLOW HIM OR HER FOREVER UNTIL THEY BUY, DIE, OR ASK YOU TO STOP! If you do not mail-merge your prospects, clients, and contacts you are missing 50% of the business you could be doing.
8. Write about yourself – I cannot tell you how many times I have heard of someone being very perturbed at the constant self-promotion of a competitor – well, if you cannot beat them…join in: write about yourself!  Well placed articles properly formatted can completely control what happens when someone ‘Googles’ your proper name or company name – control your online reputation
9. Solicit reviews and ratings – from yelp.com to digg.com and all points between, this new world of user-generated, user filtered content is not going away, and it will become even more widespread – YOUR ENEMIES WILL ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO SLANDER YOU, BY ALL MEANS INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE OPPOSITE!  – You can write your own reviews on Yelp.com, for instance..
10. Invest your time rather than your money – expensive advertising can work, but, if you supplement that which you must pay for with that that is free, you will leverage your reach – start a personal blog and make yourself famous one post at a time!

I make my entire living online: I work from home, work in cyberspace, and my company is low overhead giving us a competitive edge.  I am sharing the wealth here, please, join me, and join in!