Schewanick Computer Services

Ok you have your business model, the I's are dotted and your T's are crossed, and you're ready for the customers. But where are they? As much as we would like to believe customers will flock to your doorstep (or your web "doorstep") overnight, that is far from the true. Granted there are the lucky few that are immediate sensations, but for the rest of us...we have to advertise.

What you say? You don't have a million dollar advertising budget? You, my friend, are in luck! Below are ten inexpensive suggestions on ways to promote your business.



1. Have your email address match that of your domain name. Now this may seem obvious but I can't count how many times I have gone to a website and sent an email to the webmaster at an AOL or Hotmail account. They are missing a prime way of targeting website traffic and branding. Every time your email address is posted somewhere or you send an email to someone you are advertising your company and your website. Why? Because anything that comes after the @-sign is your domain name and might spark people to visit that website you worked so hard on. I know, you may already have several email addresses and don't want another, but you can have your ISP (Internet Service Provider aka the place that hosts your website) forward the emails to any other email address that you want!

2. Advertise your website on all materials sent out from your business. That includes everything - include the magical www. on business cards, promotional materials, brochures, etc. Your website is designed to be at its best at all times of the day and night - the perfect advertising agency 24/7. If you don't include it on your materials, people won't know about it and all of your hard work was for naught. You can also set up special URL links based on your promo materials to evaluate your ROI.

3. Buy a car magnet and drive around. Do you or your sales force do a lot of driving? Think about what you do while you are stuck in traffic, you look around. This is a perfect opportunity to bring brand recognition and promote your business. Keep it short and simple, something like your slogan, website and phone number. Make several versions for each of your sales rep's territories. See which sparks the best results. Be careful the person driving the vehicle is a responsible drive however. You wouldn't want the wrong type of publicity.

4. Or screen your company slogan and contact information on your back window. Depending on the size of your window you may gain additional space that you would lose from the peel-and-stick magnetic sign. This would be a permanent option, so I strongly recommend doing this to company vehicles only. This is also a great alternative if you would like to expand a little more on your business or perhaps include your logo.

5. Look around your desk. How many pens have advertisements on them and can you honestly tell me you don't have a coffee mug from some company? What made you pick them up initially? Because they were free of course. There is nothing more than people love than a freebie! A great online resource that I have found is called Cafe Press (http://www.cafepress.com/?pid=356452). They have several tiers of online stores and will assist you in marketing your materials based on the tiers. The materials are created on an as-needed basis so it cuts down on your overhead and material storage. And the best part is, since it's on an as-needed basis you can change your campaign over and over again! You will need a bit of artistic talent or a fantastic friend willing to donate their services because you design your own logo, etc. and upload it to the store. You could even create a license plate and place it on your car for additional free advertising and branding! Surround yourself and anyone that visits the office with clocks, mousepads, calendars and coffee mugs. You can ever purchase your own creations from your Cafe Press (http://www.cafepress.com/?pid=356452) store at a discount.

6. Become part of local networking clubs and groups. A club or networking group is a great way to meet other people in your area that have the same interests and intentions as you. Contact your local government or library for a list or browse your local paper under the events section for a list of upcoming meetings and clubs. Most meetings are held at an eating establishment and give you several minutes to stand up and announce who you are and what your business does. Before, during and afterwards the name of the game is networking! Make sure to bring plenty of business cards.

7. Have a business card handy at all times. Nothing is worse than being caught without one. I can't speak for others but I collect business cards like I collect shoes, which means I have gads of them. When I need help with something in particular my first destination is my business card book. Why am I telling you this? To illustrate that people can and do keep business cards, and for most of us that means we hold onto them for a long time. I may not need your services today, but that doesn't mean that I won't remember you when I do. I even jot down quick notes on the back of their cards to help me remember my impression of them at the time of our meeting. One website that I have found to be very reasonably priced is Vistaprint.com (http://www.vistaprint.com). There are a variety of templates for a nominal fee or you can design your own. VistaPrint offers design services for those that don't want to design it themselves and don't want to go the template route. If VistaPrint isn't right for you, do a quick search for "business cards" in Google or Yahoo and numerous options will appear.

8. Write articles to be picked up and published elsewhere. If you do a quick search online you can find dozens of websites that contain RSS feeds that will pick up your articles for others to publish on their websites, online newsletters, etc. Include a quick byline and an about-the-author section at the end and you gain three-fold. You become an establish authority on a specific topic, you gain link backs from the website that publish your article, thanks to your about-the-author section (after all you were including your website, weren't you?) and you also have content to be published in your own materials. Oh, did I forget to mention that your website now gains additional attention and can earn higher rankings in the search engines based on those link backs?

9. Create your own online newsletter. While printed newsletters are the staple of many companies' ongoing campaigns to stay in contact with their subscribers, many forget that online newsletters are a great alternative. Depending on your target audience many may prefer to receive the newsletter in their email inbox instead of their mailbox. Why you ask? Perhaps they are environmentalists at heart and would like to save the trees and not fill the landfills. Maybe they are technology junkies and prefer reading by the brilliant light of their flat screen monitor. As you can see, you don't know until you ask. Send a quick poll to your existing print newsletter subscribers and see how they would prefer to receive their announcements. If you haven't done so already be sure to include the opt-in online newsletter option prominently on your website.

There are several services available that have the opt-in feature code, allow you to create the newsletter using a template, track click thru rates, etc. for a fee. An example is Constant Contact. Or if you are savvier and a do-it-yourselfer you can purchase software that you can use to send the newsletter. You will have to maintain your own lists and have a basic understanding of HTML though. Although a one time fee, software can cover the gamut of price points from $20 to over $1,000. The second of these options is typically less monetarily expensive but does cost more time and energy. The choice is yours of course!

10. Help other people! There are a variety of ways to post information online. Answer others questions in forums and use-groups and always include a link to your website. Don't publish advertise-y material, but be helpful and considerate which does go a long way. You never know, you may be gaining a new customer. These replies are indexed (and therefore searchable in the future) by search engines and other companies and may be around and viewed for a long time. There are some websites, like Epinions.com (http://www.epinions.com) that pay you to express your opinion and answer others questions, which may be another option for you to consider.

About the author:

Cassie Grove is the vice president and director of marketing for No-U-Turn, Inc. (http://www.nouturn.com), a Bradenton, FL based company specializing in custom web development, custom software and computer consulting.