Hi everyone

Just wanted to hear some ideas on what you think the best promotional methods are? I'm sure we all think word-of-mouth referrals are the most powerful, but what should new businesses do, or those that have already eaten their referral stream right up?

For word of Mouth you need to do some banner advertising to get some customers first :)

So what banner ad networks have given good results?

I have to respectfully disagree. I personally do not see banner ads as the best way for a start-up to obtain word-of-mouth marketing. a) start-ups are usually on a tight budget and banners cost money b) Do banners REALLY work for sales? I assume that's open for debate.

I do agree however that word-of-mouth is the best marketing any company can have, especially if the words are good ;)

What I KNOW works for obtaining word-of-mouth is donations. Donate a site to a church or local non-profit organization. Exchange their kind words about your kind deed for a free site.

Imagine for a moment...

You contact a small local church in the area and offer them a free web site.

Their pastor (or whatever title used by the congregation) stands in front of the congregation and says... "Notice the new web site address printed on the schedules...thanks to YourHost we can now post our special occasions on line so that all of you can find out when the next Potluck will be blah blah blah... Please take the time to visit YourHost.com and thank them for their generosity"

Sunday School teachers et al make the same announcement ...

Then YourHost.com posts a special on their site.... for all "GreatChurch.com Members 10% off blah blah"

Then GrannyDoGood obtains a website for Granny's Quilt Club, since you've made it so easy for her, and *GASP* MotherGossip cannot stand the fact that Granny's Quilt Club has a site, so MotherGossip runs out right away to get one for her husbands Morning Prayer Group. Oh My, you can imagine what happens from there! Next thing you know ChurchNextDoor realizes that GreatChurch has a web site and it all starts all over again because you'll be there to fulfill their needs.

Voila... word-of-mouth is born. (Though I did get a bit out of hand with my example hehe sorry)

This can work in many different situations... Girl Scout Troops, PTAs, etc etc....

It falls under the "What goes around comes around" as well as the "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and even the "Give and ye shall receive" ...the list of cliches goes on and on because the concept is still true and correct :) It feels good to give and it does good to give. I firmly believe that giving will accomplish the "getting" all by itself.

I wouldn't go with banner networks if I were you, there are great webmaster resources and hosting directories where you can get some clients.... because of the competition you'll find some reasonable prices.

I think Deb has "hit it right on the nail" :)

Doing community stuff is one of the best ways I can think of to get new customers that costs next to nothing except your spare time.

As for me, I didn't do that. I put the smallest ad in the cheapest computer magazine and started from that. Now I have an 8 page A4 brochure being inserted into one of the better computer / Internet magazines :)

Cheers,
Nigel

Originally posted by Deb
Then GrannyDoGood obtains a website for Granny's Quilt Club...



Yeah by then you're so busy with all those sites from church that you're soo busy, you have to skip church and stay at home. Then people wonder what happened to you, they drop by, see you're passed out in front of a keyboard with some pr0n on the screen. They see that, then cancel all their orders, you're an outcast and forced to move to a new town under a new name and webhost name to start the entire process all over again...


...then again I could be wrong.


:)

Oh my gosh, I don't know how many times I've had that happen to me. I don't even bother getting a phone line or mailbox anymore.

I always get caught with this site: http://www.furnitureporn.com/



-Adam
http://www.getwebspace.com (this week) :D