Promote yourself... for Free!

This post is targeted to small, local independent businesses (including home based), organizations, faith based groups, clubs, neighborhood groups etc. ... almost anywhere. There will be additional posts on this topic.

Promote yourself... for Free!

Do you want you, your company, your organization, your group in front of hundreds or thousands? For FREE?

Am I suggesting Facebook, Twitter , Google+, Linkedin, etc? Yes, but (and don’t let anybody kid you) those are not all that effective for your local audience, period! All of those huge numbers (2,267,233,742 visit the world wide web) you see are for worldwide, nationwide etc. (I’ll address this in a later blog). But for now... Use your time for more productive efforts.

How do you get you in front of hundreds, maybe thousands? It's basic. And you can do it for FREE!

Consider The Patch. The Patch is an online news publication and has 900 pluse publications nation wide.(http://www.patch.com/ ) The Patch is doing what is known as Hyperlocal news. So there most likely is a Patch near you.

What can you do with the Patch (and other online and print publications we will address another time)?

… You can Blog for Free (no experience required)... I’m doing it (no snide remarks please). And if I can you can. Just look on the Patch landing page for Want to blog on Patch?. It’s in the center of the page. scroll down just below current Blog posts.

… You can list your events, groups, school functions, faith based news, special announcements etc …FREE. Click on the Events page tab near the top on the landing page for more.

All of this is FREE! And because, in this case, the target audience is Hyperlocal you have a very real expectation to reach Your Target Audience.

Just a few additional points...

Like ALL marketing/advertising/promotional efforts, this is not magic. However, it is one more (and a pretty effective) tool to use to make you, your group, your organization successful.

It is important to read the Patch every day. It has very good information about what’s happening locally. Lots of that information can be valuable to you for business. In addition you will become more comfortable in your efforts to write your Blog posts, gain ideas for future posts as well as learn more about your local community...what a concept.

Notice how long the Blog Posts remain on the landing page (home page). Often for days. Does that mean they are that good? You be the judge. What it most likely means is, no one else has made a blog post. That should give you confidence and encourage you to start writing... there is room for you.

I mentioned earlier, no experience required. With that said, If you can’t or think you can’t write or you get writers block, choose the Your questions/comments tab (top of this page) and submit a note telling me what you need help with. I’ll get back to you, really.

also remembering