Best way to advertise without having a big budget?

[Eirinn]

Can anyone provide tips for advertising for online forum membership and online store sales? I have both sites up and 99% running, but I really need to draw some clientel. Any ideas how to get massive advertising out there without breaking the bank. Also, what ever advertising may be suggested, does anyone have an idea on the costs for that type of advertising? Thanks again!

[TotalPC]

Well generally Google Adwords and Microsoft Adcenter are excellent places to start. You only pay per click, so you can really control your budget as well as targeting specific keywords and demographics.

You can do a lot of free promotion by creating content and submitting to various article directories, blogs etc. Social bookmarking is another technique. There are dozens of different techniques.

For starters, you should post a link to your site(s) in your forum signature.

[vangogh]

There are lots of ways to advertise. What is your site about? Basically you need to figure out where potential customers spend their time and then you need to build a presence there. It generally isn't going to happen overnight though. It usually takes some time to get the word out about your business. If you can give us some details about what your site is about and better some details about who your potential customers are we can probably offer some ideas about where to advertise.

[Eirinn]

There are lots of ways to advertise. What is your site about? Basically you need to figure out where potential customers spend their time and then you need to build a presence there. It generally isn't going to happen overnight though. It usually takes some time to get the word out about your business. If you can give us some details about what your site is about and better some details about who your potential customers are we can probably offer some ideas about where to advertise.


It is mostly geared to survival, outdoor activities, camping, hunting, firearms, global news, some economics, etc. I can send you a PM, I do not want to post a link as Google will cache it, and considering the "problems" I am going through, do not want another party finding this thread(s). Thanks.

[Patrysha]

Public relations and social media will be the least expensive strategies, but there are other low cost strategies that could be brought into play depending on the budget and goals.

[tylerhutchinson]

I would get in free directories, build social media, and if it is local then network with local businesses to get some advertisements.

I do a lot of advertisement for my business. I do not pay for ANY of my advertisement. It is fairly time consuming, but it is free and I meet new clients and have been building very quickly.

Pay per click is a great way also. Depending on your target demographic you can do it on Facebook and get good results that way.

[vangogh]

I've seen the site and will try to offer a few thoughts. (without mentioning the site of course)

Generally forums take time to build. There's a catch22 in that people don't want to join an empty forum, but until you get some people in you're going to have an empty forum. Before you start advertising I think you'd be better served by getting some people in posting consistently. You don't necessarily need a lot. 20 active users might be enough to start though more would be better.

We were fortunate here in that most of us came from another forum. We opened with a core group of active people. Even then myself and one of the other admins were posting non-stop for the first couple of weeks to keep the place as active as possible. Ideally find some people and get them posting daily. You can actually hire people to post on your forum, though beware the quality of the posts probably won't be great and they might not really know much about your subject.

You may want to send a PM to KristineS (http://www.small-business-forum.net/members/kristines.html). She has a blog about outdoor related topics. I don't think her blog has been active recently, but she had built a community around it when it was more active. Her readers are probably a good match for your forum.

Once you have an active core of users you'll be better served by advertising.

I know this is part of the issue you're having with the other party you don't want seeing this thread, but having a few friends to post would be a good way to start. You could also add a blog and begin writing articles. Instead of a comment section on the blog point people to the forum. Each article could be a forum thread starter and the blog post and forum thread could link back to each other. You might find it easier to promote a blog in the beginning. It'll be easier to pull search traffic an spread the informational content on social sites.

At the very least find one or two other people along with yourself and start filling up the forum with as much content as you can. Right now your forum is showing 0s everywhere and you can advertise as much as you want, but until there's some activity it's unlikely advertising will get new people to join and post.

[Hulbert Lee]

Can anyone provide tips for advertising for online forum membership and online store sales? I have both sites up and 99% running, but I really need to draw some clientel. Any ideas how to get massive advertising out there without breaking the bank. Also, what ever advertising may be suggested, does anyone have an idea on the costs for that type of advertising? Thanks again!

Visit relate forums, blogs, and social networks to help people out with their problems or questions. Build your brand by establishing yourself as an expert. Eventually, you'll get noticed by others and they will go to your websites. These methods are free too.

[vangogh]

Forums, etc, definitely work, though it doesn't happen quickly. It does work to build your brand and develop real relationships that last.

[Christopher]

Advertising costs can quickly consume a large part of new businesses, startup costs, and existing small businesses, but without advertising there will be no customers or continuing sales. Fortunately, there are low-cost ways to advertise that require more of your creativity and time than dollars.

[KristineS]

Definitely check out outdoor forums and blogs. I've not really kept up with that world lately but there were several thriving outdoor forums out there that sold advertising. There are also a lot of outdoor blogs that sell advertising as well.

[Dan Furman]

It is mostly geared to survival, outdoor activities, camping, hunting, firearms, global news, some economics, etc. I can send you a PM, I do not want to post a link as Google will cache it, and considering the "problems" I am going through, do not want another party finding this thread(s). Thanks.

So wait... you won't even post a forum link because someone else might find it? But you are asking about low cost online advertising, which is (generally) all about doing things that google will find? That makes no sense to me.

Whatever the problem is, one way or another, solve it. Then move on with business.

[vangogh]

Dan I think the not wanting to link here is only a temporary thing until an issue behind the scenes is worked out.

[Dan Furman]

Dan I think the not wanting to link here is only a temporary thing until an issue behind the scenes is worked out.

Ah, ok. I thought it was like a personal problem / spouse / ex-friend / or some other thing that is counter-productive to doing something.

[vangogh]

No it's an issue where this business was started as a partnership with the other partner not meeting their obligation to the business. Eirinn started another thread talking about the issue and is trying to decide whether or not to give the partnership one more chance or to get out of it completely. It also gets complicated since family is involved. I think a talk between parties was going to happen this past weekend.