1) eBooks

eBooks in the form of PDF special reports are being used more and more in launch sequences thanks to Jeff Walkers Product Launch Formula, however, don’t think that you can only use them in a launch sequence.

A well put together ebook on your topic that links back to your website can become a powerful promoter of your site when used correctly.

Offer the ebook to your current subscribers and customers and encourage them to pass it on to their own lists, friends, families and work colleagues who they feel may benefit from reading it.

You can even use it as a sign up offer for new subscribers again encouraging them to pass it on.

A word of warning. A blatant sales pitch or ebook chock full of affiliate links will fail miserably…ensure your ebook is appealing to your target market and has the pass along factor embedded in the information it provides.

I have a 35 page ebook that still drives traffic to one of my niche market sites nearly 4 years after I first sent it out…and I haven’t promoted in over 2 years!

Once your promotional ebook is out there you never know where it will end up or send traffic from!

2) Radio Advertising

Now, you may be thinking that radio advertising is out of your league and if you’re selling $30 eBooks you’re probably right!

However, if your products run into the hundreds or even thousands of pounds or dollars then radio advertising could be the route for you.

When running a radio advert keep in mind what your ‘most wanted response’ is from the person listening to the ad.

What do you want them to do after hearing your advert?

Don’t try and sell your product in the ad, make an offer or give them an outstanding reason to visit your website for a free gift, report, etc.

Capture their contact details and then follow up using an autoresponder sequence or, even better, an offline campaign combining mail and telephone.

3) Affiliate Programs

In a nutshell this is where other people promote your website / product and earn a commission every time a sale is made from their referral.

This is an ideal low cost (in marketing spend terms) acquisition vehicle that you can put into place in your business.

The two main drawbacks to affiliate programs are:

i) Recruiting affiliates who will actually do something. Think in terms of 97% and 3% with traditionally the 3% doing something.

ii) Training and motivating your affiliates. To make your affiliate program pay off big you will have to invest time in training your affiliates, giving them tools to promote your site such as pre written emails, articles, images etc.

That said, we use affiliates extensively to promote our Junior Soccer site and have over 45% of our affiliates actually promoting the site.

The reason for this is that we are in a low competition niche AND I invest the time to train them.

4) Classified Adverts

We run a number of classified adverts in niche market specialist publications each month that drive people to a specific landing page where we capture their name and email address as a minimum and full contact details where appropriate.

You’ll be amazed at how cost effective these adverts can be and the traffic they bring is highly qualified.

Think about it, someone who has taken the time to read your advert in a magazine, then gone to their computer AND given their details is a hot prospect.

5) Speaking Engagements

Public speaking doesn’t appeal to everyone, in fact I know of many people who would rather cut off their right arm than get up in front of an audience to speak!

That said, public speaking is a great way to promote your website using various methods.

i) Have your URL on each slide you use. This will be displayed to the audience AND if the event is being filmed the people who buy the DVDs will see it to.

ii) Mention your URL in your talk, where appropriate; don’t over do it.

iii) Include your URL on any handouts you may use

iv) Use your URL on any brand clothing you may wear. We have shirts, T-shirts and jackets with our URLs sewn in!

v) Offer a resource page on your site where people can go to download a copy of your presentation or bonuses you may offer.

6) Conference Calls

Taking part as a guest on a conference call is an ideal way to put your name and website in front of different prospects.

During the call mention your website several times, again, don’t over do it. You can use the same strategy as with speaking engagements by giving a special page on your website to download further information to the attendees.

If the host is sending out information to their list before the call ask them to include a copy of your bio and web address.

7) Email sig file

A sig file is usually just a couple of lines long and gives a short description of you and/or your business including your web address and is included at the end of your emails. Many sig files contain a strong benefit and a call to action to visit the website. Don’t oversell in your sig file but do give a compelling reason for the reader to visit your site.

Reciprocal Links

This involves the swapping of links with other websites usually within your niche market; however, I’ve seen many reciprocal links on sites that aren’t related.

Reciprocal link exchanges were originally used to build up your link popularity rating with the search engines, although over the last few years this has become less effective as Search Engine technology advances.

However, don’t discount reciprocal links just yet.

On several of our sites, we still seek out high ranking and high traffic websites where we can both benefit from a reciprocal link exchange.

In this case, I’m not doing it for the benefit of search engine ranking but for the pure reason of traffic generation.

A link in a prominent place on a high traffic site will, by its very nature, generate traffic for you. And if you have your site set up correctly you should be able to capture the visitors name and email address.

9) Search Engine Listings or SEO

Let’s get one thing straight – I am not a search engine expert by any stretch of the imagination. In fact I heard the best definition of SEO earlier last year when it was called…

“Search Engine Optimist”

However, I do understand the principles and do put in place strategies to take advantage of the natural search listings.

The easiest way is to add content to your website and link this from an index page or site map on your website.

I run many websites that are single sales letter types sites and many of them have a page rank of 3, 4 or 5.

However, behind these pages are several dozen content pages that are linked via an index page. By checking my site statistics I can see which pages are driving traffic and in many cases new sales.

When setting up a new sales letter site, I’ll use PPC traffic to gauge how well it will perform and for the ones that do really well I’ll spend the time adding content pages to sit behind the main site.

10) Classified Adverts

I’m not talking about classified adverts online but simple adverts in your niche market’s magazines and publications.

This simple strategy has made us thousands in various niche markets and has even had the magazine editorial team contact us to see if we would like to contribute to the magazine itself.

In specialist magazines you can often place a classified ad for only a few pounds or dollars and know that it will be reaching your target audience.

The idea of these adverts is not to sell your product off the page but to drive the readers to your website and preferably a name capture page.

To do this, your advert must contain a benefit to the reader to put down the magazine, go online and type in your web address.

11) Your Own Business Stationary

If you operate in many different niche markets and are only selling digital products then this may not be ideal for you, however, if you have a small number of markets then at a minimum I’d have business cards printed with your web address on them.

In our main niche markets, we have business cards that have an offer and call to action on the back to encourage people to visit our sites.

We also have letterheads, and if we send out a physical product, we enclose an insert with the branding and an offer or another call to action for the customer to take.

12) Email Campaigns

If people are already on your email list this shouldn’t be the end of your traffic driving process. By making sub lists of your main list you can then send targeted messages to drive your customer and prospects to new sales pages and offers.

13) Forums

You may already know my view of forums within the Internet Marketing arena.

However, forums in niche markets are still an ideal way to drive traffic to your website. However, PLEASE don’t go and blatantly promote your site on the forums…there are rules to follow.

First of all, find the forums in your niche and spend a bit of time ‘lurking’ reading the posts and watching how they are answered.

After a short time, you’ll get the feel of the board and if they allow any promotion of websites or if you can use a signature file at the bottom of your post.

Once you understand the rules start answering some of the questions on the board, and leave your URL and/or signature. file at the end.

My own view with non marketing forums is not to try and answer all the questions; answer only a few and answer them completely with very good advice or suggestions.

This will get you noticed more and build up credibility with the other people on the board.

14) Conference Calls

Conference calls are an ideal way to build up an email list quickly and are an excellent relationship-building tool as well.

You can either have a free to join call or have attendees pay a fee to join you. Either way I’d approach other ‘players’ within your market and ask them would they promote your call for you. With a paid call you can offer an affiliate deal.

The call should be on a specific topic and during the call you can make reference to several pages on your site or make a specific sales offer for attendees.

With a free call you can make the MP3 recording available afterwards encouraging your attendees to tell others about it. This will create a viral effect as the call gets passed around and in turn drive traffic back to your website.

I have an mp3 that I recorded more than 3 years ago that still drives traffic to one of my sites each and every week!

Summary

So there you have it, the conclusion of ’21 Ways To Promote Your Website’. Which ones will you implement into your business?

Running a successful web business is simple, but not easy. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.

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