How can I market my business online? Is a question that is being asked by more and more self – employed people and small to medium size brick and mortar businesses. The internet is without doubt a global phenomenon and having an online presence will allow you to reach global markets as well as create extra revenue streams, But how do you get your business message out their onto the world wide web?

The answer to that question comes down to two age components, time and money. How much time do you have to devote to your marketing efforts and how much money do you have budgeted for a marketing campaign? The good news is there are many methods in which to promote your business online, some will be for free but will cost you your time others will be a paid service and will be very quick to implement but will cost you financially. In this article I will look at three ways in which you can promote your business on the web for free.

So how can I market my business online for free?

The following three points are free methods that you can use to market your business, product, service or opportunity online.

1) Facebook – The world’s largest social media site. As a business owner you can use the site to make prospects aware that you exist. The strategy is as simple as creating a professional profile for business purposes complete with a professional photo, and then adding very targeted friends. I.e. people who will be interested in what you have to offer. Start to interact with these people and share information that will help them i.e. a blog post or a video (doesn’t have to be yours) and you will soon create a following.

2) YouTube (video marketing) – The second largest social media site. This site allows you to upload videos that you can use to promote what you are doing. Again make sure you keep the content of the video 90 per cent informative and ten per cent a call to action. Be sure to include a link or the information of what you want them to do next at the bottom of the video. A powerful marketing tool as it allows you to create instant rapport with prospects as they can see and hear you. I would also recommend that you distribute your videos to other video sharing sites such as viddler.com.

3) Article Marketing – A time tested proven strategy that will allow you to create interest in what it is you do. You will have knowledge within your line of business that people would like to hear about, share it with them in the form of an article and publish it online by submitting to online article directories (such as the one you’re on now). You will have the chance to include a resource box at the end of an article and this is where you can make your call to action to get the reader to follow through, i.e. click on the link to go to your website. A quick tip here is to make sure you do some key word research and find out what are the words people are typing into the search engines to find your product or service, this will help your article rank on the all-important first page of search results.

How can I market my business online needn’t be a taxing question, a little point in the right direction and some knowledge will have you creating relationships and content online. The key is to offer value to people. Give them genuine information that helps them to succeed and prosper, they are not looking to be sold to, they will gravitate naturally towards you when they see how much value you are offering them and what it is you can do for them.

To find out how you can build your business online with more free promotional methods, check out the link below.