Work At Home Business Options

Posts Tagged ‘free advertising’

When it comes to promoting your business online, I see way too many people promoting their businesses the wrong way. Here are a few things you need to be aware of in regards to spam.

1. Do not join online forum boards aka work at home mom communities to just spam business ads. If you do this, you will be labled as a spammer by everyone who participates in the wahm communities.

2. You never send out sales promotions or business opportunity information to people via email, unless they have specifically asked for the information. Manually adding folks to your email list is not the way to go. Furthermore, sending out all your business information to people who are in your personal address book is another big mistake.

3. If you are participating on social networking sites such as facebook, myspace, linked-in and twitter and do nothing but post business information…again you will be labled as a spammer. You never send a private message via a social networking site with business information in it…to someone who didn’t request it.

These days I am seeing way too many home business professionals marketing and advertising thier businesses the wrong way.

The quickest way to ruin your online business reputation is to run around spamming other people.

Take the time out of your schedule to learn and educate yourself on the proper way to advertise, market and network your home business online.

~Shelly~

When it comes to promoting a home business online, there are many ways you can advertise your business for free. I always recommend that you start out with free advertising and as your business grows, venture into some paid advertising.

The following is a list of 10 ways you can advertise your business for free.

1. Create A Business Blog – You can create a business blog on various blogging sites for free.

2. Email Signature Tag – Add your business information to an email by creating a signature tag. Make sure it’s attached to all outgoing email.

3. Email Signature Tag Referral – Ask your friends and family members to add your business signature tag to all of their outgoing emails.

4. Forum Boards – Join a few forum boards related to your business niche. If you sell items that women want to buy, join a few mom or women topic forum boards. If you sell weight loss products, join a few boards that are specifically for dieters.

5. Link Exchange – Contact website owners who are in the same niche as you. Ask them to exchange website links with you.

6. Online Talk Radio and Podcasts – If you consider yourself to be an expert or leader in your field of business, volunteer to be a guest speaker on one of their upcoming programs.

7. Article Marketing – Write a few niche related articles and submit them to article databases. Website owners and ezine publishers are always looking for new content. Create professional looking Author’s Resource Box with your business information in it.

8. Banner and Button Exchange – Find a few niche related websites and exchange your button or banner with that site.

9. Social Networking – Join a few of the free online social networking sites such as myspace, face book, linkedin, yahoo groups, ryze and twitter.

10. Barter For Advertising – If you have extra product inventory or you can provide a service that another website owner can use, contact them and offer to barter with them in exchange for some advertising on their website or blog.

NOTE: This article is Exclusive to Work At Home Business Options and can not be reproduced without our permission.

Copyright © 2009 Work At Home Business Options and Shelly Hill

As a home business owner I spend a lot of time online networking as it’s an important part of my Direct Sales Business.

What is Business Networking? According to wikipedia, “Business networking is a marketing method by which business opportunities are created through networks of like-minded business people.” If you can’t go out to local business events, networking online can be a viable alternative.

Why should you spend time networking your business online? By networking online, you can meet new home business professionals and learn from them. Those who have been running a successful business can share with you…what works and doesn’t work. These discussions are usually based around advertising, marketing and recruiting ideas. In return, you can share with others what has worked for you. Networking is a 2-way street, it’s better to give…than to receive.

In addition to learning more about business, you can make new contacts which can lead to new recruits, party bookings and new customers. If you are looking to expand into the online market, you will need to learn how to network and advertise online.

What groups should you join? I recommend going to a major search engine and doing a keyword search for the following: business networking groups and/or work at home discussion boards. A list will come up with the most popular online sites. You will want to join a few groups and fill out your online profile. Once you have that completed, post an introduction to the group and join in on some of the business discussions.

When you network online, you need to be consistent with your efforts. You will want to participate in the groups, 2-3 times a week. By being consistent, you are being visible…which means you are allowing others to get to know you and your business.

When business networking is done properly, you will increase your business knowledge and make new business contacts. These contacts will lead to new sales and new team members. Success doesn’t happen over night, but you will see positive results if you keep at it.

This exclusive article is copyright 2009 by Shelly Hill. All Rights Reserved. This article can not be reprinted without Shelly’s Permission & it is exclusive to this web site.
NOTE: This article is Exclusive to Work At Home Business Options and can not be reproduced without her permission.

Copyright © 2009 Work At Home Business Options and Shelly Hill

Are you looking for creative ways to market your home business offline? If so, I have some creative offline advertising ideas for you to try out. I recommend that you try 2 of these ideas every week and to be consistent with your offline advertising.

1. Make up advertising filler packs and pass them out every where you go, every event that you attend and swap them with other women home business owners.

2. When you travel and stay in hotels, leave your catalog, business card, business coupon behind in your room, lobbies and other places that people congregate. I like to leave my business card with my hotel housekeeping (maid) tip.

3. Print out flyers with your business name and contact information along with any specials you are running. Leave these flyers in public places where others can see them. Public Places: Grocery store message boards, community center message boards, employee lounges, etc.

4. Contact local area bridal stores, bridal supply stores, caterers, tux rental centers, dj’s, photographers, etc. if your company/business offers a bridal registry. See if you can leave them your business cards!

5. Daycare Centers: You can get a lot of business from the parents who use daycare centers so contact them about leaving your business cards or flyers.

6. A lot of churches and religous groups hold spring and fall festivals, so make sure you contact them about getting a booth space at one of their events. Booth spaces are usually very economical with these types of groups.

7. Join your local Chamber of Commerce! They always hold local business events in your area. This is a great way to network and to make new business contacts.

8. College Campuses: College Students are always looking to spend money and they are usually on the hunt for a business opportunity to help pay for their school expenses so you can target them for sales and for recruting into your business opportunity. Most schools have a student center, so that is where you would want to leave your business cards and flyers.

9. Contact your local area Welcome Wagon or Welcome to the Neighborhood group. See if you can add your business info to their Welcome to the Neighborhood bags.

10. Contact your local area hospitals and see if you can add your business info to their New Mommy Diaper Bags. A lot of hospitals give out free bags filled with goodies to all the new moms who have babies at their facilities!

11. Contact your local medical offices, particularly the Obstetrics & Gynecology Offices and the Pediatrician Offices. A lot of those offices also give freebies to expecting or new moms. See if you can add your information their freebie packages.

12. Donate a prize or a gift certificate to your local radio station for their numerous prize giveaways and contests. This gets you free business exposure. Often times, they will also list you as a prize sponsor on their website too.

13. Donate a prize to your local area Bingo Halls! They are always looking for prize donations.

14. Call your local Chamber of Commerce to find out when there will be local job fairs in your area and get a booth at one or at the very least attend one so you can make some new contacts in your local area.

15. Call your local area colleges and trade schools to find out when their next local area job/employment fair will be. A great way to market your home business opportunity to others who might be interested.

16. Contact local area car dealerships. I make up small packets of business information, my business card, my coupon and a small freebie. Ask them if you can drop off 100 packs to them to hand out to others who come in for those FREE test drives.

17. Contact your local area gyms and fitness centers. A lot of times you can get a table and market your business for an economical fee of $25.00.

18. Network with others in your community who have home businesses. They are usually in the know on local business events that are upcoming in your community.

19. Contact companies in your local area to see if you can come in and set up a display in their employee lounges or cafeterias for an employee shopping break. This works best if you offer an exclusive discount or deal to their employees.

20. Does your local area TV Cable Company have a local information channel? If so, contact them to see if you can advertise on their information channel.

21. Contact local small companies and shops to see if you can offer an exclusive discount to their employees. Companies like to offer perks to their employees such as shopping discounts from various local businesses.

22. Small home town newspapers! I don’t get a great response to the big city newspaper ads but I do get a great response if I place ads in small home town newspapers!

23. Get a low cost outdoor banner ad printed up to market your business during outside community events such as: sporting events, music concerts and so forth.

24. Take your business on the road during the nice weather seasons. Contact your local area parks and recreation centers to see what kind of events are coming up and inquire about getting a table or booth at their outdoor events.

25. Community coupon clipper packs and coupon packs. If your community has them, call them up and find out how you can advertise in them.

26. Contact local area businesses such as: salons, banks, massage parlors etc. See if you can come in and set up a display. Offer a contest and prize with your display. Use the entry forms to gather contact information for possible new contact leads.

27. Contact local area pizza shops, diners, deli’s and coffee shops. Most of these types of businesses have paper placemats where you can buy ad space and have your business ad placed on them. People do READ these ads!

28. Contact local area bars, restaurants and clubs to see if you can buy some advertising on their paper beverage coasters.

29. Local Television Newstations are always holding on-air contests and website contests for their viewers. Contact them to see if you can donate a prize to get some free business exposure for your business.

30. Attend local area Holiday Shopping Events. Customers who are ready spend some holiday money and looking to purchase holiday gifts attend these events. Get a booth or table space and market your business to them.

31. Hold a local community block party at your home or at your local community center. Families are always looking for something to do on the weekends!

32. Get your business listed in your local yellow pages phone book. Way too often home business people over look this valuable advertising tool. These days a lot of phone books have coupon sections too, so make sure you inquire about adding your coupon to that section.

33. You can take this phone book idea one step further by finding out who prints up those vinyl phone book covers that are covered with local business advertising in your area and find out how much it would cost for you to add your business ad to that phone book cover.

34. Get your business information printed up on pencils and hand them out for FREE to local colleges and adult technical schools.

35. Get a vehicle banner made for your automobile. I recommend the vinyl clings so that you can easily remove them when it comes time to wash your vehicle.

36. If your city has a travel guide that tourists request, make sure you place a business ad in that travel guide. This is a great way to get your business information into the hands of non-local customers.

37. Local City Maps! These days you can find all kinds of small business advertising printed on the sides and backs of those city maps! You can get really good economically priced ads placed onto those maps.

38. Contact local area hotels, motels and bed and breakfast inns in your local area. Ask them if you can leave your business information with them for their guests to peruse when they are in the lobby.

39. Get your business information printed up onto balloons. Give these ballons to local sporting events, charity events etc. A great way to get more business exposure.

40. Find a few home business owners in your local community and team up with them! You can all sponsor a local boys/girls sports team, a parade float or other things in your community! This makes it very economical for those who are in small business to get business exposure and to participate in your local community events.

41. Get T-shirts printed up with your business information printed on them. Hand them out to your friends and family members and ask them to wear them when they are out in the community running their errands.

42. Get some canvas tote bags printed up with your business information on them. Pass them out to a few lady friends and ask them to use them when they are out and about in the community attending events or running errands.

43. Get a license plate made up for the front of your car with your business information on it.

44. Wear a business name tag every time you go out in the community. People do read them and do notice them!

45. Local Area Magazines! Does your city publish their own local area magazine? If so, contact them about placing some advertising in their magazine.

This article is copyright 2007 by Shelly Hill, All Rights Reserved. This article can not be reprinted without Shelly Hill’s permission.

When it comes to Direct Sales, one of the most valuable tools you have to market your Direct Sales business is your own home.

There are many creative things you can do to market your business out of your home. Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Hold a joint Direct Sales Vendor Party in your home. Invite other Direct Sales Consultants in your community to participate. In order for this idea to work, each of the Direct Sales Vendors need to invite a minimum of 20 customers to the event. Each vendor then sets up a table display with their products and business information. Guests and customers arrive and can browse the table displays to see what interests them. This works best with only 5-10 vendors unless you have a very large house or hold the event off-site.

2. Host a Community Block Party for your neighborhood. These work best during the summer months and if held on a Saturday. You can invite 1-2 other Direct Sales Consultants to participate to keep costs down. You will want to hang up flyers and pass out invitations to all of your neighbors. Serve some refreshments or hold an outdoor barbecue.

3. Invest in an all-weather yard sign. You can find some really affordable ones online that you can have custom printed with your business information. Find a good area in your front yard to place your sign so that everyone who walks or drives by can see it.

4. Neighborhood Children’s Shopping Party. This idea works best in November (to promote holiday shopping) and again in April (right before Mother’s Day). You will want to invite the children from your neighborhood that you personally know and with the parents permission. Children love to shop without their parents, especially when it comes to purchasing gifts for their parents. Parents love this idea as it gives them an hour or two break from the children. If you are expecting 7 or more kids to attend, then please do yourself a favor and get a volunteer helper.

5. Co-Sponsoring A Home Party. Find another Direct Sales consultant in your area who is with a non-competing business. Hold a joint home party together in your home. You both invite your customers to the joint home party which in turns put you in touch with customers you might not of ever met. This is a great way to move beyond your circle of friends.

6. Vinyl Window Cling: I recommend getting a vinyl cling business sign that measures approximately 4 inches by 6 inches in size. Get your company name printed on it and place it on your front door window. You are now advertising your business to everyone who enters your home or who might be there delivery packages. Keep the size close to those proportions so that its not to obtrusive.

7. Business Banner or Flag: You can find some custom printers online by doing a keyword search through a major search engine. You will also need to invest in either a flagpole or a banner holder. Get your business name printed onto a banner or flag and hang it up in your front yard.

I hope these 7 ideas have inspired you into using your own home to help promote your Direct Sales Business.

Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989. Shelly is a Manager with Tupperware. You can contact Shelly at:
Web: Classy Home Business Women
Web: Shelly’s Tupperware Home Business