Internet Marketing For Free

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Social marketing is the Web 2.0 version of forum posting. It is a way for you to connect with your customers, as well as others in your field you might want to joint venture with. It gives you credibility because you are no longer just another anonymous website on the internet.

In other words, this is a way for you to connect with others online and build your presence online. The real secret to getting traffic online, which no one talks about, is to go where the traffic is, whether it’s article directories, search engines, social networks, other directories, forums, etc. The bonus is that these types of sites allow you to also connect.

Although there are many types of social networks online, and you’ll want to look at these especially if you have a niche topic (crafts, real estate, gardening, and thousands of others), there are general sites you can join and still connect with your market because these sites also offer opportunities for you to niche. Examples of these types of sites are Facebook and MySpace.

Your first steps on marketing on these types of sites is to sign up and create your profile. When creating your profile, you’ll want to include several different things:

1. A keyword rich title. Keywords are what searchers use to find you. So, if you’re promoting real estate (this is just an example), include this in your title.

2. Clearly outline your purpose on the site. The biggest problem with general social networking sites is that if you’re not clear about what you’ve signed onto the site for, you’ll have all kinds of nuts approach you. People looking to cyber, people who are lonely and looking for sexual experimentation, you get the drift. Although they have a right to do that online, I, and you, also have a right to be left alone. I’m here to do business, and reputation is important. I don’t want to be associated with that kind of stuff, and neither should you if you’re trying to do business online.

If you sell that kind of stuff, then I would highly recommend you approach all of the perverts online you can. There is a market for it.

3. Complete your profile information. This includes telling others about yourself, listing your interests, and including information the type of people you would like to connect with. Two of the most important elements you should make sure you include are a subscription box, as well as links to your website. Include a complete description about your website to tell others what your site is about.

Once you’ve completed your profile, start searching for others to connect with. There is some software available, for sites like MySpace, you can use to help you find more friends but be careful. This kind of software can sometimes get you in trouble, and some sites, like MySpace, limit the number of people you can connect with each day.

With MySpace, you’ll find a general people search, so you may have to wade through a lot of profiles to find what you’re looking for. With Facebook, you can actually join geographical networks, as well as groups on topics you’re interested in. You may also receive invitations from others to join groups, as well as connect.

Facebook allows you to join groups, which are also forums to talk about subjects you’re interested in. What I like about Facebook is that not only can you join groups on your topic, but there are groups there so you can get involved with groups that deal with social issues, as well as helping others, and you can also connect with those groups that want to help.

If you want to connect, the major sites I use are Facebook and MySpace. You’ll find my profiles here:

Meet Me On MySpace

Meet Me On Facebook

You can actually pick one network to be on, but I would advise that you find at least two or three you like and sign up. Promote yourself and your business. The reason I recommend more than one network is that it’s more publicity, but each network has something it’s really strong in that can help you promote your business.

If you visit my profile on MySpace, you’ll see that I have a really cool background, my dream car. You can dress up profile, put your favorite music on there, add videos (great way to promote your business), and let others comment. When you comment, one thing I would advise is to avoid is using graphics in your comments. Although some people swear by them as a way to get traffic, about all it really does is wreak havoc with your profile and make it slow to load. You can choose whether or not you allow comments, and you can choose whether or not the commentor can use HTML to comment.

To find really cool backgrounds and express yourself, you can do a search in your favorite search engine for free myspace layouts. If you want some really nice layouts, as well as more information on getting more from MySpace, read Crack the MySpace Code.

With Facebook, one of my favorite features is called “Shoe Box”. Shoe Box is a really cool application you can add to your profile to display your websites. This is a must have, as is Lemonade Stand so you can sell directly from your profile. Facebook has hundreds of applications you can easily add to your profile to dress it up, and you can even make your own through WidgetBox. If you can answer just a few questions, it’s pretty easy to make applications here.

Now, for those of you who are interested in other sites to market on, I recommend you check out Alexa. If you look in the top right corner of the page, you can access the top traffic sites by geography (use these sites to market in your home country if you live outside the US), by the top traffic sites, and the top US traffic sites. I use this list all the time to help me target my market and see what’s hot on the internet.