Cheap and Easy Online Marketing Tips

These are cheap and easy things everyone can do, and while they may seem obvious at first, it's still good to be reminded from time to time of promotional efforts that work for others.

The first ~ and MAIN ~ thing is simple: GET A WEBSITE! Even if it's a free site, made with a template, it's imperative to have a place to "hang your shingle" on the World Wide Web. If you don't know the first thing about making websites, ask around. Make sure you keep the site updated regularly, and consider adding a blog to keep the content fresh.

That said, here are a few cheap and easy things you can do to help spread the word about your website and your writing.

NO BRAINERS

1. Email signatures: if your book and/or website URL isn't linked at the end of your email, you're missing an opportunity to plug your writing every time you send an email message, whether to a friend, a company online, a newsgroup, or a Yahoo! group.

2. Newsletters: if someone other than your mother has bought your book, create a newsletter (either through a listserv, your webhost server, or a free group such as those through Yahoo!). Add a prominent link to your website so that readers can join your group.

3. Contests: people love freebies, that's a fact of life, up there with taxes and death. So run contests on your site or through your newsletter: give away free copies of your books, or gift certificates (doesn't have to be much, and preferably for a chain bookstore or coffee shop, somewhere that fits in with the theme of books). If you have advanced marketing items that depict your cover art, such as note cards, journals, etc., consider giving these away as well. If people think they have a chance to win it, they're going to enter.