![[L]](../images/LogoL.gif){kind=small}
illicotch.com -
Help - Starting your
own website - Promoting a Site
Promoting a Site
These are easy things that everyone can do.
- Put your website address on everything that you send out
Seems simple enough, but you would be surprised how many people don't do it. This includes all print material.
I prefer a small link. Like this
Visit
Lillicotch.com
You never know, sometimes an e-mail gets passed along, sometimes many thousands of times. The word visit is a simple call to action.
- Start with a mailing list.
When I first started this business all I had was a list of names of people that I had kept in touch with through email.
My family was mostly across the country, so I started writing weekly e-mails describing the exploits of my over 30 (now over 40) hockey team.
Over the years I have added names from all walks of life and work to my address book. When I realized I was going to start a business I wanted to try to contact all of them and start a friendly conversation to tell them about my business. I also included some of them in on my hockey updates and others just occasionally sharing some good information just to keep in touch. I also attached a small signature file to every email asking people to visit my site. This has helped me get several referrals.
Keep in mind that your own mailing list is ALWAYS your most valuable marketing tool. These people are your friends who are inclined to listen to you. Don't abuse this privilege.
-
Write newsletters and articles.
Take the time to write about what you know. Try to schedule time just to write. Please see my articles.
Save all of your e-mails. Write to people about what you do and answer questions. Write articles and send them to people that you know and let them tell you about it. Be sure that they know you don't want to hear "what you want to hear". Be sure to pick people who will give you an honest answer.
Find an article submission service that suits your needs and matches your interests. For an article you will have a bit more information about you. Write a short promotion about you. I believe less is more here. You want to offer a tease to get them to come to your website and, or course, include your link.
Don't limit yourself to just one service.
- Start a Blog.
I don't know if the blog will ever be the end all marketing tool, but it's
good way to keep your ideas organized.
If you are lucky enough to get visitors involved in tht discussion then so
much the better.
- Conclusion
No matter what form of marketing that you are using the most important thing to do is to test the results. Maybe you could change your headlines, tweak your signature file a bit or vary what you are sending to who, but you need to know what is working so you can do more and what is not working so you can stop wasting your limited resources.
