Market Your Online Business at No Cost with These Strategies

Anyone who says that you can open and maintain an online business without any cost may have never set up one in his entire life. It is just like any brick-and-mortar enterprise. You have to shell out some money for investment. You can buy it to purchase equipment such as printers and mobile phones, even to buy a web host and domain so you can create your web store.

But that does not mean you have to be spending money at it all the time. Perhaps one of the glorious things about doing business in cyberspace is that there are tools and techniques that do not require moolah:

Advertise your business on Facebook. This social networking website is the largest in the world. Today, it has a membership of millions, and the number continues to rise every day. If you want to get a glimpse of planet Earth, this is where you should go. Somehow, too, Facebook is friendly to businesses as you can set up your own fan page. There you can shamelessly plug your products and services, and you don’t have to feel guilty. Facebook members have the option to add you so they can stay posted of any updates.

Use Twitter. It seems like these days that Facebook and Twitter are interdependent and go hand-in-hand. The two mesh together so well, that you can integrate your Twitter account to that of your Facebook. Twitter is a micro-blogging platform, so you can add, share links, photos, and videos to all those who are “following you.” It’s the easiest way to keep the world up-to-date on what’s going-on in your business. It’s the electronic method of word of mouth.

Set up a blog. Despite the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, many still use blogs for the simple reason they are more comprehensive and offer a whole lot of features not found in the social networking websites.

Create a video. If it were not for video-sharing websites such as YouTube, the teens will never know about Justin Bieber. In the business front, one of the best success stories is Blendtec. Because of its “Will It Blend?” campaign, the company is able to boost its income to several million dollars, gain a huge following, and come up with other merchandise including a shirt dedicated to the main guy- Tom Dickson. As long as you have a good story line and decent-enough video recording device, you’re good to go.

Why This Is the Best Time to Start Your Own Online Business

For the past few months, you’ve been thinking about leaving the corporate world and build your own online enterprise. However, for some reason, you keep on postponing it. You should know by now that the best time to set up one is actually now, for the following reasons:

1.     There are plenty of competitors out there.

Don’t wait for the time when all you can say is “This used to be my idea.” Definitely, cyberspace has a lot of room for newcomers, but it isn’t going to wait for you forever.

2.     You have all the tools you need.

One of the greatest advantages of the World Wide Web is there are already a lot of productivity tools you can use for your business. You have social networking websites such as Twitter and Face book, blogs, message boards, and even e-mail apps including those of Gmail. And around 60 percent of them are free.

3.     More people are starting to trust the Internet more.

Based on the data of Comscore®, over $21 billion was spent on online shopping during November and December 2010, and this was during the time when economic pundits claimed the country is still picking itself up from the recession. If you open up an online business now, you can definitely get your share of this huge pie.

On the other hand, just like anything online, things are evolving, and more people are using their mobile phones for online purchases. By positioning yourself today, you won’t be having a hard time getting mobile phone customers and subscribers.

4.     You don’t like your job anymore.

Seriously, you wouldn’t be reading this page if you still enjoy what you’re doing at the office. Perhaps you’re seeking greener pastures, or you’re already tired dealing with your nagging boss. Either way, the job doesn’t give you the satisfaction and recognition you desire. Before it burns you out completely, you’d better off leaving it now.

5.     There are a lot of opportunities waiting to be harnessed.

If you’ll just do your research well, be observant, and employ your creativity and innovative skills, you’ll realize there are still 101 businesses that have been not maximized properly or saturated. They are niche markets that are waiting to be tapped by people like you.

An online business requires a marketing acumen, some basic financial know-how, and 99 percent determination and persistence. Simply put, there’re no shortcuts to your success. That being said, it will certainly not come unless you take the big leap today.