What Advertising Budget?

The five ways I earned publicity without paying a dime.

“Publicity can be defined as a message issued on behalf of some

product or cause or idea or person or institution; "the packaging of
new ideas."”

Over the last two years I have spent my time managing and working in my virtual
assistance business, Business Services, E.T.C. and during this time, I have noticed
a wonderful phenomenon happening – I have been receiving publicity without
ever paying a dime out of my own pocket.

A lot of companies start out each year by putting together a budget and in that
budget they set aside cash flow for advertising, marketing and promotion. In the
two years I have been in business, I have not yet had to do this. The only
promotion I pay for is my website which I think is more a necessity than an added
cost.

Achieving this is actually quite simple! Using the five techniques outlined below,
you can see results in a short amount of time without having to spend any money,
use up your valuable time or enlist the help of extra resources.

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 Technique #1: Press Releases

You may think that writing press releases only works when you have important
news to share or company announcements to make and that is wrong! You can
write and submit press releases at anytime which will get published if you put an
interesting slant to what you are submitting.

Here are some interesting ideas to help get your press release picked up by the
media:

1. Write a story about how your business fills a void in your community or
solves a problem that is plaguing a lot of people.

2. If your company has a focus on charitable contributions, write up a press

release about what your company is doing to help in the community.

3. Tell your story – whether you came from nothing to rise to something big
or if you’ve built up your business with a personal struggle, write it!

4. Relate your story to what is happening today – watch the news, check out
what the “hot topics” are and find a way to spin your own story from that.

By writing and submitting a press release to the media, you’ll receive free
publicity and the best part is that most consumers will read an article before
they’ll look at an advertisement. The idea behind that is consumers believe that a
press release is written because there is an important story to read and they
believe that advertising is simply paid for, a message from the company, and may
not benefit them in any way.

Writing a press release isn’t a daunting task – most press releases really follow a
basic template and once you write one, you can just copy it, replace the

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information with your “new news” and submit again. However, when writing
your press release, there are guidelines you should follow. Here are a few to get
you started:

1. Make sure it is on company letterhead. If you don’t have letterhead, at

least add your logo to the top of the press release. Add in as much contact
information as you can fit. If the media wants to contact you to find out
more information or to run a larger news piece, let them!

2. Underneath the logo, you should write the words Press Release in caps to
be sure that the recipient of this news article knows it is a press release. If
it is to be released immediately, add the words “For Immediate Release”
and if you want it released on a certain day, add the words “To Be Released
On…” and add the date where I have the “…”.

3. Come up with a really catchy headline – what you think the news piece
should be called. It’s also a good idea to create a catchy subhead as well so
that the editor who receives your story is drawn in before he/she has to
read the entire article and so that it gives them a few ideas of their own on
how this will benefit their readers.

4. Make sure the body is double-spaced and try to keep it to a three-page

minimum. If you can tell your story in fewer pages, do so! When you end
your article, add ### centered underneath the last paragraph. This
signifies to the editor that the story is over.

The format of a press release is actually quite simple once you get the hang of it.
Just remember, allow the creative process of writing a press release to be fun and
open and you’ll come up with a much better story that will be sure to be picked up
by the press.

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Resources We Recommend

PRWeb.com – Press release submission service. Fast, easy and powerful!

I-Newswire.com – Another free or paid press release submission service.

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 Technique #2: Join a Forum… or two!

The use of forums as a medium for advertising is often overlooked. What people
don’t realize is that there are rather large benefits to posting messages in free
forums. 1) You are capturing the attention of your audience, your target market.
2) You have the ability to learn more about your own industry. 3) You can meet
some really great people and network while you’re “advertising.”

When you join these industry forums, be sure to read and review their forum
rules to be sure you do not run the risk of being banned from their site. Some
forums do not allow any sort of advertising in poster’s signature lines and some
forums have a specific area where you can do your free advertising.

Once you are signed up and have read the rules of the forum, there are a few
things you need to do to ensure you are maximizing your exposure:

1. Beef up your profile and signature line. Add your website URL, your e-
mail address, a quick note about your free e-zine or e-book giveaway.
Whatever you can add that will catch people’s attention and want them to
learn more about you.

2. Post often when you really know your stuff. If someone has posed a
question that you know a lot about, make sure to post a response. By
showing that you really know your stuff, you are guaranteeing that people
will come to trust your knowledge and information and will seek out more
on your company and your expertise.

3. Offer to moderate a section of the forum if the site is a busy one. Most
websites that have large forums are willing to enlist the help of forum
users to moderate posts and come up with new discussion topics. By

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 doing so, you can subtly keep the conversations flowing in your area of
expertise and then you can show that expertise to your fellow posters.

One word of caution though when doing this – don’t overdo it. Coming off too
strong or too focused on selling can turn people off right away and most people
can see through the fluff. Instead of offering advice and then trying to direct
them to your website or to a product you are trying to sell, let them come to you
by making their own decision to do so. These customers are more likely to sell
and they’ll come to your business with a positive, appreciative attitude.

Not all forums are great methods of advertising however, some of the forums are
outdated, unprofessional or just plain boring! Some advice when searching out a
forum:

1. Before signing up an account, check to see how many members the forum
has, when the last member signup was, how many posts there are, when
the last post was posted, etc. By checking up on the “freshness” of the
forum before signing up, you run the risk of having a hundred different
signups with no real beneficial sites to visit.

2. Check to see if they make mention of the forum’s geographical location. I

joined a few forums before only to find out that they were based in the UK,
Australia, etc. which didn’t help me target my specific market.

3. Look at the accompanying website, if there is one, to find out if it fits into
your business’ needs, wants and goals. If you don’t think the website
would be one you would turn to for assistance, the forum may not be much
help either.

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Resources We Recommend

Big-Boards.com – Tracks the status of many message boards across the web and
lists them in an easy to read directory.

Yahoo Message Boards – One of the largest directories of message boards on the
web. There is something literally for everyone.

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 Technique #3: Link Exchange

I’m sure you’ve heard it before or maybe you are doing it already but this is a
great way to get your business free exposure. Link exchange is simply the
exchanging of URL information between two websites. Once these links are
exchanged, each party posts the information onto their website, usually on a
“Links” or “Resources” page.

By exchanging links with other websites, you are increasing the number of
incoming links to your website which improves your overall website rating which
in turn boosts your placement in search engines. You also have the power to
carefully select which websites you exchange links with so that you can be sure
you are showing up on similar websites – places where your target market might
show up on the web.

By exchanging links, you also have an “in” with the company you are exchanging
links with. Even though your relationship may start with the webmaster or
administrative personnel in charge of exchanging links, you can easily turn that
into a contact in the marketing department, sales department or even an
employee at the senior management level.

Here is a step-by-step guide to doing a link exchange:

1. Start with a topic or specific market. Do some research on the

websites that you would like to do a link exchange with by going to Google
(or another search engine) and performing a search on a few keywords
related to that topic or target market.

2. Determine which sites are best. When performing your search, do a

secondary search on their website for “add a link” or “suggest a site.”

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 Those keywords will bring up the link exchange page if they have one. Not
all sites have a link exchange program in place.

3. Fine tune your list. When making your list of potential sites to
exchange links with, go back through the sites and look for attributes that
you do not want to be associated with. Does the company exchange links
with websites that may be considered offensive? Does their website have a
good rating and draw in a lot of traffic? Asking yourself questions like this
will keep your list a lot shorter.

4. Send your request(s). When sending your request for a link exchange,
you need to have a few key pieces of information ready. These include:

a. Your website URL.

b. The title for your URL – you may want to include a tag line of some
sorts. E.g.: “XYZ Company – Automotive Battery Specialists.”
c. Contact e-mail address.
d. Page of your website where their link appears. Some companies
may want you to have their link posted before they’ll add yours.

5. Send a follow-up e-mail. The best thing to do is once the webmaster

adds your URL is to send them an e-mail to say thank you. Remember, it’s
not just about getting your URL out to as many places as possible; you also
want to be building relationships with other companies.

Once you’ve participated in a few link exchanges and you let some time elapse,
you can easily check to see how many websites have links which point to yours.
Simply open Google and enter link: and then your website URL. The pages which
link back to you should be displayed in the search results and you can see how
well your link exchange campaign is doing.

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Resources We Recommend

Google Toolbar – allows you to check to see what the ranking on most pages is.
This will help you determine whether the site you seek out is worth it or not.

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 Technique #4: Partake in Teleconferences

We live in an information rich age. Businesses everywhere are looking for

content all of the time – content for e-zines, articles, blogs, websites and
teleconferences.

Teleconferences are telephone conferences where customers dial into a bridge

line and listen to a half hour or hour long session given by an expert in a chosen
topic. Teleconferences are becoming so popular for three key reasons:

1. It brings you closer to your customers. By being able to

communicate with your customers on a weekly or monthly basis and by
allowing them to ask you specific questions on your content, a chosen
topic or your business, you are opening yourself up and bringing yourself
right to your customer’s doorstep.

2. They create passive income. Once the teleconference is complete, you

can take that recording and turn it into an info-product. Sell it as a
downloadable audio or sell the audio on CD so that people can listen to the
content while driving or traveling. You can also have the audio transcribed
into a mini-report or e-book to sell over and over again to your customers.

3. They are EASY! Teleconferences are literally “dummy proof.” All you
need to do is provide a call in number and access code to your customers
and presto – you’ve got yourself a teleconference. Recording the calls is
very easy as well depending on whom you go through to host your
conferences. Most bridge lines have a “touch of the button” service which
records the call and e-mails you a download link afterward where you can
access the audio.

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Within your teleconference, the creative possibilities are endless. You can use it
to provide a short teleclass where you teach your customers to do something
related to your business or you can invite an expert in a related field to come in
and talk to your customers. Regardless of what you choose, your customers will
highly appreciate the closeness and information they receive from you and your
business.

Resources We Recommend

FreeConferenceCall.com – receive a free bridge line and free recording

services. The account takes literally minutes to setup and is very simple to use.

AudioAcrobat.com – If the bridge line you are using does not come with a
recording feature, this software program does it for you! You do need a paid
account but they do offer a free trial that you can use to see if you like the
software before purchasing it.

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 Technique #5: Write and Submit Articles

This is a growing trend that is catapulting unknown authors to known experts.

The idea is simple: write an article about a chosen topic, submit it through the
multitude of article submission sites and presto – your message and content is
delivered to people who are looking for exactly what you are “selling.”

The article isn’t a sales pitch however. When you write the article, keep in mind
that people really do want to know about the topic you’ve chosen and they want
to learn something. Teach them something about what it is you’ve chosen and
the idea is to come across as an expert or at least highly knowledgeable in that
area so people can trust your information and visit your website to learn more
about you and what it is you do.

Here are just a few of the benefits of article marketing:

1. It’s FREE! That’s right, totally 100% free and it is so powerful.

Submitting articles through directories does not take up more than ten
minutes of your time (excluding actually writing the article) and once
submitted it becomes searchable on all search engines and if posted on
your website as well, helps with search engine optimization.

2. It promotes your website. Even though writing an article is not a sales

pitch, you always enclose an “About the Author” at the end of the article
which is great for you! You can add your URL, a short blurb about what
you do, a note about your e-zine; whatever you feel is necessary to have in
that area.

3. They are used over and over again. If I am doing a search on a

particular topic for my latest blog entry and I come across your article, I
am going to copy and paste it (including the disclaimer and about the

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 author section of course) and put it on my website which in turn gets you
exposure for free. If someone sees it on my blog, they may copy and paste
it for their blog which gives you that much more free advertising and
publicity. Never underestimate the power of viral marketing.

One hint with using article submission sites: download the free program
RoboForm. Some of the submission sites have a lot of information to enter each
and every time so you can cut your time in half (or more than half!) with the use
of a downloadable program like RoboForm which is a “form filler.”

Resources We Recommend

RoboForm.com – An automated form filler and password keeper for your

computer’s internet browser. Cuts down your time spent on repetitive form
filling.

EzineArticles.com – One of the biggest and best article submission sites on the
web. You can setup an account and post as many articles as you like. Also
provides you with great statistics on the number of views you’ve received, how
many times your link has been followed and if it has been e-mailed out.

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 About The Author

Erin Blaskie is the owner of Business Services, ETC – a

virtual assistance firm – as well as The VA Coach – a virtual
assistance coaching company.

In August of 2004, Business Services, ETC was formed to

serve business owners with their administrative and
operational needs via the internet and generally, completely
virtually. The business began serving clients across Canada
and the US and now serves business all over the world.

Over the past three years, she has built up her company to a six-figure business
and has taught all of her clients (a combination of small business owners,
internet marketers, coaches and speakers) how to delegate their tasks to a virtual
assistant so that they can focus on the ‘money making’ ventures.

Recently, Erin has begun to focus on the entrepreneur in terms of what services
and products they need to drive their business forward. Working one-on-one
with a wide variety of clients has given her experience and insight into a wide
range of industries. She brings all of this to the table and combines it with her
bright, positive demeanor.

To learn more about Erin, please visit:

Business Services, ETC – http://www.bsetc.ca

The VA Coach – http://www.thevacoach.com
VA Visionaries – http://www.va-visionaries.com

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 Disclaimer

This publication is protected under all applicable international, federal, state and
local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights: you are not allowed
to give or sell this special report to anyone else.

Please note that much of this publication is based on personal experience and
anecdotal evidence. Although the author has made every reasonable attempt to
achieve complete accuracy of the content in this special report, they assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions. Also, you should use this information as
you see fit, and at your own risk. Your particular situation may not be exactly
suited to the examples illustrated here; in fact, it's likely that they won't be the
same, and you should adjust your use of the information and recommendations
accordingly.

Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to
be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There
is no implied endorsement if we use one of these terms.

Copyright © 2007 Business Services, E.T.C. All rights reserved worldwide.

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