by Catherine Franz

The opportunities for getting free advertising for your
product or services are only limited by your imagination and
energy. There are so many proven ways to promote without
cost it’s truly mind-boggling! Here are ten proven methods.

1. Write an article relating to your area of expertise and
submit it to all the publications and media dealing in that
range of interest. Become your own promoter and writer. Get
the word out by establishing yourself as an expert on that
topic and "tag-along" everything you write with a reference
box listing your address for a catalog, dealership
opportunity, or more information.

2. Write shorter articles for the Internet and send them to
broadcast houses free articles. (These are known as "media-
matching medias.") Here are a few sites to get you
started:

http://www.IdeaMarketers.com
http://www.addme.com
http://www.ezinearticles.com/
http://www.web-source.net/syndicator_submit.htm.

3. Become a guest on as many radio, television talk shows,
or interview-type programs as possible. (Actually, this is
easier to accomplish than most people realize!) Write a
letter to the producer of the talk show, and then follow up
with an in-person visit or telephone call. Your initial
contact needs to emphasize how your product or service would
be of interest to the listeners or viewers of their program
- perhaps even saving them time or money.

4. Post your advertising circulars on all the free bulletin
boards in your area, especially the libraries, grocery
stores, and beauty and barbershops. Don't discount the idea
of handing out circulars to all the shoppers in busy
shopping centers, at bus or metro stops, and malls,
especially on weekends. You can also enlist the help of
students to hand out circulars.

5. Print your product or service’s promotional ad on the
front or back of your envelopes or other people’s
envelopes.**

6. Send programs announcements on post cards. Shop for
maximum size at minimal price. Use both sides for
information leaving half of one side for the addressee’s
information.

7. Check the publications that carry the kind of
advertising you need and is compatible with your
product/service. Many new mail order publications offer low
rates to first-time advertisers; a free-of-charge insertion
for prepaid issues; or special seasonal ad space at reduced
rates. In addition, there are a number of publications that
will give you Per Inquiry (PI) space - an arrangement where
all orders come in to the publication -- they take a
commission from each order, forward to you for fulfillment,
and send you a check for the balance.

8. Ask about "stand-by" space. This means, you submit your
ad and the publication holds it until they have unsold
space, and then at a savings of 33% or more, you can insert
your ad. Check all local suburban and neighborhood
newspapers for these opportunities.

9. Do you publish any kind of catalog or ad sheet? Get in
touch with other publishers and inquire about bartering an
advertising exchange. They run your ad in their publication
in exchange for you running a comparable size ad for them in
yours.

10. Advertise a free offer. Simply run a print or
electronic ad offering a free report of interest to most
people or to a particular target market . Announce it in
the "tag-line." Alternatively, include the report as a bonus
for their purchase. The objective is to convert the largest
percentage of responses into sales, which is usually done
with a "tag-line" inviting the reader to ask for more
information or a free report.

Unleashing your imagination and have a powerful force
working for you to help increase your sales.

 

About the Author

Catherine Franz, a Business Coach, specialized in writing,
marketing and product development. Newsletters and
additional articles: http://www.abundancecenter.com 
blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

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