Where can I advertise my business?

[cr8yrday]

I have started a new online retail business and have invested pretty much all that I can before making some money back. I am trying to advertise my business by giving away free gift cards and I wanted to post this on things like Craigs List, but promotional offers are not allowed. Does anyone know where I can post these e-gift cards for my business for free or VERY little cost? Thanks!

[Amanda G]

try using myspace!

[Joe King]

Here's your chance!! Tell us more about it!

[sumguyuknow]

Being a little vague with the business there...it's an online store, but for what?

Using what little knowledge I have, if you want to advertise for free, maybe start a myspace for your business (I'm sure you can), make friends, and pass it on through word-of-mouth. Or, create a personal myspace page and just slip your online store into a conversation and ask people to check it out. Either way, if you want to do it for free, word-of-mouth is your best bet, I think. But still, advertising for free won't be easy.

[Jeanne B]

Bus benches, billboards, on the buses themselves, bus shelters, word-of-mouth (not here, though, it's not permitted here, either.) Newspapers, Google, Yahoo, and other websites that do advertising on the website.

From my personal experience, and advertising classes: Make your free offers, and coupons very limited. They will take any income you need right out of your business. Coupons should be limited to new customers only or you will lose money instead of creating new ones.

You can also go to the Small Business Administration and ask for a retired helper for advice. It's free and they pair you with someone who has run a business very similar to yours for your best success.

[Ada O]

I own an online business which I started over six months ago. Like you, I invested a lot setting up a website, advertisements, marketing, and all the other stuff that go with starting a new business. I found out that there are many places to advertise freely, but, you have to put in more efforts and time, since it's free. I have started seeing more traffic to my site. One of your biggest tools is Blog. Create a blog, it goes a long way. Try and add content at least three times a week. This increases your presence and ranking with search engines. Within your Blog, in a subtle way, mention your business and put in the url, if you have one.

Create an account with squidoo.com, create a lens. Create an account with Twitter, tagfoot among others. Facebook is helpful, myspace is also. But, you'll still need to spend at some point those two places to get exposure to your business, unless you have so many friends.

There's also link and banner exchange. These are free. And join some forums and groups that are related to your type of business.

Try and write some articles. If you can't, there are ways you can write some without going against copyright laws.

For more ideas on increasing traffic and advertising freely visit my Blog at http://cashincomegroup.blogspot.com/ Also view the sites listed below. There are really so many ways to bring exposure and traffic to your business without breaking the bank.

Ada