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Building a marketing plan on a shoestring (2/2)

Here are the last five suggestions for using internet marketing to promote your business on a budget. (You can read the first five here.)

6. Write an email newsletter

What’s it good for? Getting more leads and customer  transactions

Top tips

  • Don’t duplicate effort: what you write in your  blog can also go in your newsletter
  • Use one to conduct a survey and find out what you need to know straight from the horse’s mouth
  • Introduce new services without the expense of a traditional direct mail campaign

7. Use Google Adwords

What’s it good for? Getting more leads

Top tips

  • Choosing the right keywords is essential: you  need a good balance of popular (i.e. people are searching on it) but precisely defined (i.e. only your potential customers are searching on it). (See my Choosing  keywords for SEO blog post.)
  • Keep an eye on expense: the costs can rack up without any conversion if you’re not careful

8. Write a guest blog post (like this one)

What’s it good for? Expanding reach and  raising awareness

Top tips

  • Find industry blogs that interest you and your customers: that’s where you´re potential customers will be too
  • Offer to write a free guest blog post and you’ll make a friend for life: most people struggle for ideas and time to keep their  blog up-to-date
  • Promote your expertise, not your company: no one likes reading adverts

9. Offer free information on your website

What’s it good for? Getting more leads and  improving conversion rates

Top tips

  • Make sure you’re giving useful information: you’re doing this to improve your credibility
  • Have a PDF download on your website: but make sure you they need to submit their email address before they’re sent it so you can contact them again
  • Run an email campaign of a sequence of tips: you’ll capture readers’ attention over a longer period

10. Make podcasts

What’s it good for? Getting more leads  and improving conversion rates

Top tips

  • Make sure you’re giving useful information:  you’re doing this to improve your credibility
  • Make it interesting and relevant: people will be  more likely to keep watching and forward it on to friends and colleagues
  • Don’t make it too ‘heavy’ or ‘dry’: bear in mind  that people might be listening to it away from their PC on their MP3 player or  in the car

Catherine Every at EveryWord
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