Author: Pete Smalberger
The internet had by far the biggest influence on businesses around the world in the past 20 years. The biggest opportunity that it brought has to be the homebased business - and the explosion doesn’t want to stop!
Owning your own business and working from home gives freedom and joy and more so if the business is profitable.
But the growth in homebased online businesses also added competition. With more than one billion websites out there the challenge to be number one is getting very difficult. You may have the most outstanding product or idea in the world, but in order to be successful you have to let the world know about it. But there are proven ways to promote and grow your business successfully.
The list below of 21 proven ways to grow your business should be used as a checklist of activities that are necessary to get to the top. Every strategy is like having a fishing line in the water – if you have 21 fishing lines in the water and your competitor has one line in the water then you have a better chance of taking a fish home.
Let’s get started:
1. Word-of-mouth
* Tell as many people as possible about your new business.
* Do it in person, personal letter, email, or phone call.
2. Press Releases
* Submitting a press release is a way to permanently establish your presence on the internet.
* Write a short story about the launch of your new website or article and then use sites like PRWEb or PRNewsWire to publish your press release.
3. Business cards
* Distribute customize dollar bills with your website address on.
* Give business cards to all the people you are dealing with – every time you spend money.
4. Social networking sites
* Join Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Squidoo review site, etc.and mention your website.
* Create a profile on these sites and link back to your main website.
5. Online Classifieds
* Place small classified ads with organisations such as USFreeads.
6. Classified ads
* Place advertisement in newspapers with reference to your domain name.
7. Display ads
* Place ads in magazines covering your niche.
8. Postcards
* Design and print postcards and distribute with mailing lists or use as flyers and business cards.
9. Flyers
* Make up basic flyers and pass them out – in your neighborhood, local shops, colleges and university.
10. Faxes
* Launch a fax out campaign.
11. E-mail (not spam)
* Send an email to your list announcing your new business with a link to your domain name.
12. Backlinks
* Get a link back to your domain name from high ranking websites where you can join as a member.
13. Blogging
* Set up your blog, create content (articles) and make links in your blog post.
* Every time you make a post in your blog you create a brand new page on the internet – every page is another fishing line!
14. Articles
* One of the most effective online marketing strategies is to write and submit articles on the internet.
* Write articles and submit to EzineArticles.com, IdeaMarketers.com or similar services and add a link to you domain name.
15. Banner Advertising
* Work with advertising networks like Google Adsense and buy advertising space on other websites.
16. Pay-per-click
* Make money while you sleep with Google Adwords
* Google Adwords get your site ranked on search engines by using keywords.
* You don’t pay until someone click on your ad to visit.
* Google Adwords is extremely powerful and is a science to get the best results.
17. Forums
* Join online community and discussion forums and place your signature – link to your website with every post.
18. E-books
* Write an e-book and place your domain name strategically in the book.
19. Ezine (Internet Newsletter) Advertising
* You can make money fast money with solo ads or classified ads to Ezines.
* Place an order with ezines and get your domain name out to thousands.
20. Joint Ventures
* Set up with another website business and share the database or let them introduce or promote your site.
21. Affiliates
* Get someone else to promote your business and pay them a fee.
My advice is to create a spreadsheet for every month and schedule each strategy. Plan actions for each strategy on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Then DO IT! and you will be successful in growing your home based online business!
About The Author:
Pete Smalberger is owner of Formula4BusinessOnline coach SME owners and writes on a variety of subjects. Starting or managing an online homebased business Pete recommends you visit: http://www.Formula4BusinessOnline.com for an easy way to start or to see how it should be done.
