Note from the Editor

Gearing up for Christmas sure can be time consuming. I’ve spent a lot of time lately trying to get things really in place. Late, yes, as better would have been a couple months ago, but it’s better than nothing.

Life at home can get hectic. So many little things can interfere with just getting work done. But you ahve to keep at it and don’t let the obstacles get you down.

Advertising Your Home Business on a Tight Budget

Running a home business is rough. It’s a financial risk and a tremendous dedication of time. It’s not easy. But oooh can it be fun!

Since you don’t have to pay rent for an office space when you work at home, your big expense may very well be advertising. And if you can’t do that cheaply and effectively it can really eat away at your bottom line.

I’ve gone over tactics such as article marketing in the past. Short version for those unfamiliar with the concept – write quality articles with links to your site in the resource box. Submit to article directories.

There, was that so bad? Maybe if you don’t like writing articles.

There are more ways than one to advertise your home business on the cheap, fortunately. You may find that some appeal more to you than others.

Blogging can be a form of advertising. It’s a way to show another side to your business. Get a good list of sites to ping, and every time you update your blog there will be sites telling people about it.

Posting on forums is advertising. Just make sure the forum lets you post your link in your signature. Be a member of the forum, not a spammer or constant advertiser. Your signature link will do its job if you do yours.

Free classifieds can be advertising. Craigslist is, of course the big one, but you have to be careful and follow the rules when posting on Craigslist. They’re pretty strict about business ads. Other sites will have different rules.

Get your site listed in relevant niche and general directories. While these generally provide very little direct traffic, they are a source of backlinks to your website, which search engines appreciate.

If you run a newsletter, find a newsletter to do an ad trade with. If your newsletters are relevant to each other, you can both benefit. Try to do better than a classified ad trade. If you both do solo ads, those are of course the most valuable. If not, go for top ad positions.

Effective advertising doesn’t always have to cost a fortune. There’s plenty you can do on the cheap, and it can be effective. Test your ads, test where you put them, test your landing pages to learn what works the best for your home business.

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