What better price is there than free? After all your break even starts immediately and your Return on Investment will be off the charts. Many of these techniques are often overlooked, but can result in real impact and at no cost. The topics to be covered are as follows:

• Domain Based Email Addresses
• Email Signatures
• Business Cards
• Business Facebook Page
• Free Google and Facebook Ads
• Community Involvement
• Blogs and Forums

Domain Based Email Addresses

It always makes me laugh when I see someone using an email address that is @yahoo.com or @hotmail.com when a person has a website. You've already paid for the domain name why not leverage your assests to spread the word about your company. Think about how many emails you send every day. Why not discretly let people know that you have a website. When you think about the fact that you send 25 to 50 emails every day. That is more than 1000 emails a week. If your email isn't something to the extent of yourName@yourdomain.com then your passing up on free brand recognition.

Now I know there are some disadvatages to switch to a domain based email address. The typical hesitation I hear are, "everyone has my old email address" or, "all of my contacts and messages are on my old email account" or, "I like the way that gmaiil(or other email client) works".

For every reason there is a easy solution. If your afraid people won't know about your new email address set up a forwarding rule to reroute all emails from your old account to your new domain based account. And then reply with your new account and they will quickly realize you've made the change. Also if you really want to get clever you can set a smart rule to only send through messages from your contact book. This my reduce that unwanted junk mail.

Almost all email services allow you to export and import your contacts, messages and more. This will allow you to take all of your valuable information from your old email to you new one with ease. Also consider it a chance to spring clean as well and set up your new folders and get rid of some un needed emails.

Lastly, thanks to free services from Google (one of the reasons I appreciate their commitment to raising the bar) you can use google apps to manage your email hosting for free. That means you get the same user interface interface you are used to but with your domain on the end.

Email Signatures

Your email signature is a great way to spread the news not only about your business address and phone, but why not your website, facebook page, and brand. Use this free space to point back to your web presence. A well done signature should include your contact informatoin, social media pages, and your brand. Executed in the right way says you understand the power and opportunity of the web and your going to take advantage of it.

Business Cards

Just like your domain based email address and your signature your business card or other advertisment should always try to drive traffic to your website and increase your brand recognition. Thanks to sites like Vista Print your first 500 cards are free. Now they may get you with premium add-ons or shipping, but still a professional business card is well worth the marginal costs.

Business card fishbowls are a great way to gain customer information that you can use later to send your customers updates or promotional information about your company. As you grow and build up your email marketing campaigns fish bowl that qualifies someone for a free meal or consultation can lead to increased business and sales.

Business Facebook Page

Even if you don't like to use facebook it is a great way to increase your web presence. Google allow syou to post free information about your company and point back to your website or business. Additionally as you get more and more involved you will have the chance to allow your employees to spread the word by choosing your comapny and their place of employement and to share it with their friends.

Free Google and Facebook Ads

Both Google and Facebook will start you out with $50 to $100 of free ad credits so you can get a feel for whether it might be a tool for you to use. Facebook ads can be used to increase your fan base or dirrect traffic to your website. The facebook platform allows for specific targeted audience based on their likes and prefernces. This allows you to pick who sees your ad. I personally like the idea of driving likes as this gives you a chance to spread the news not just once, but every time you post on your facebook page. And to increase the reach it will even notify their friends about them liking your page.

Google ads on the other hand are more dirrected toward your website or selling your product. Through their free marketing tools and analytics you can gain insight as to how effective one ad campaign is versus another. Google ads also allow you to get an understanding into what the local and global search quanties to specific keywords. You select the keywords you wish to display your ads on which means those browsing are looking specifically for what you are offering. 

Both of these servies have a easy to use interface and give you the flexibility to set your budget and determine the rate you are willig to pay per click or impression.

Community Involvement

The reason you started your business is most likely because of your passion for your industry. Thus, you should continue to participate in your community. This can be done at sporting events, community festivals, or volunteering at non-profits. Armed with your business cards and a willingness to spread the word you have a unique chance to engage with your neighborhs and community . This gives you the chance to really show that you aren't just a business all about the mighty dollar but a community activist with a passion for your industry.

Don't be obnoxious or to commercialized. Let people ask about what you do and then show your excitement and knowledge about your industry and this will natural draw them to ask more questions and more authentic relationships.

Blogs and Forums

Similiar to the last topic blogs and forums are a great means to be involved in your web community. People have questions and you just might have the answer they are looking for. I often see blog threads or forum conversations that  are authentic and result in a one on one conversation that results in trust and further inquiry. Again the same can be said as above, don't be to quick to point to your website. Of course if you were proactiive and you already wrote an article about the topic then post it to the forum. This works to increase your SEO and is targeted to drive traffic specificly wanting the information you're giving.

Learn More

If you want more information about any of the above discussed topics I would love to continue the conversation with you. Send me an email or give us a call to set up a free consolation meeting. After all this stuff is second hat for me and may not be for you. So let's do it together.