Marketing

[FantasyBelles]

As mentioned already, there is no "one size fits all". However, in general social media is free and a great way of interacting with selected markets. Also having a website doesn't hurt

[81charduck]

Each one of us is different, and we work for a variety of different businesses. So, as others mentioned, there is no one form of marketing fits everyone.

Your question, however, was what kind of marketing we each find most effective. I personally find forum posts and participation extremely effective.

[Amy Jacobs]

I always like t have 5 forms of advertising going always.. Consistency and Patience is key. Plant those seeds.

[shall]

Social Media - it's free and its a great way to expose your business. I especially like LinkedIn.

[Blessed2BeHome]

Hi there-- Get Excited & Stay Excited!!

You should always have more than 1 form of advertising going every day, every week, every month... and there are many different things you can do.

What's most effective can depend on your target market... however, I will say that hands down RELATIONSHIP MARKETING is the key. People only buy from or join with people who they know and trust... how do you get them to trust you?? You build relationships. Yes, social media is that platform that enables you to do just that... while Facebook is one of the best ways to do this... there are many other social networking sites that you can do this effectively. You just have to research your niche, define your target market and come up with strategies you'd like to implement... be CONSISTENT and have 4-5 different marketing strategies going daily/weekly/monthly... you will get the job done!!

Another piece of advice, as I've always trained my students and teammates... never neglect your local market... implement online and offline strategies if you really want to cover all grounds... and there are many things you can do offline to cover those grounds as well (i.e. being vendor at events-- especially fundraisers, attending networking events, joining meet-up groups, using car magnets, etc.).

I hope this helps!

Blessings,
Tresie

[myseogal]

I agree as well. I have also found that SEO, Adwords, Social Media, being listed on blog rolls that are related to your industry, having your products reviewed by blog owners, being guest bloggers on blogs that are related to your industry, writing articles and submitting them to top quality article directories, having buttons or banner ads on sites that are related to your industry but not in direct competition also helps.

[esprintguy]

Social media marketing is good. It lets you interact with people more openly and get them talking about and sharing your site. You just need to make a good strategy.

[wizhoo]

All of the methods mentioned are effective. It just is a person's personal preference in the ones that they choose. It is imperative to have as many forms of advertisement as you feel comfortable with. Of course if you have a product or service that people need and want it serves to naturally attract prospects.

[Bella Pearl]

Pinterest is also something to look into

[arosadio1219]

I agree that those who can pay high prices obviously fare better, but most of us are not in that boat. Especially if we are single income families with multiple children!

I've had the most success with social media and forums. But more recently, I started getting hits to my site by using ViralURL. I was already using link compressors to post on social media and a colleague of mine recommended it. It seems to be working despite the fact that I haven't really been promoting it as much as I could and it's free so you can't go wrong.

Basically it's a free membership and you can use it to compress any link you want. The part that nets you site hits is there is a section to create simple text and banner ads. You agree to have one of those ads on your site and in return, your ads will show up on other people's sites. As I said, I've gotten some more traffic over the past couple of weeks so it could be a good tool.

If anyone hasn't tried it yet and would like to, here's the link. You have to at least go through Steps 1 - 5 for it to be most effective and start producing hits to your site. And I'm not directly making anything from you clicking on the link...just getting credits to keep my ad in the link rotation. It's FREE...I promise!

http://vur.me/RosadioVentures

Angie