Hi, I just had a chat with this pal of mine. He has a cool product (merchandise for retail - not e-book, guide, tip or MLM) but he is not prepared to spend a single penny on advertising He is going to sell it through his online shop, which is currently on a moderate (I am being kind) traffic level. I told him everything about Social bookmark sites, newsletter sites, commenting on other peoples' blogs but hey, after that I told him: "You know, mate, without advertising you will be selling some 10 items per week..." I am going to do some descriptions, newsletters + other stuff for him but I suspect he will not get any far. What do you think? Have you ever tried to promote a retail product without ANY budget?
Everything can go on internet with or without budget. It will just take him longer. I hope he'll take your advice though because you have solid ideas.
I think he is going about it the right way most peeps just chuck money at it and 6 out a 10 end up loosing . If he has not paid out for ads then every sale he makes is total profit. Why pay a middle man straight off. You also got to think that if he makes one sale and some one says where you get that from there’s sale two and so on All great Ideas always start small and work up.
yeah.. takes more time but you can definitely promote your products without spending a penny on advertising.. i know i have.. never underestimate the power of SEO!
Yes I have promoted a product without a budget... well a budget of just a domain name and hosting. So far this product has gained me $48 in profit since I started promoting it last month.
although, I would count my dollars because the cost of learning is expensive or can be very quickly. . .then it depends on the product. If its in demand, they skys the limit.
You don't need a budget to establish online income. Although it would be nice to kick back, outsource and keep throwing money at things until something comes in but I am of the conservative nature. Good Pluck
Creating buzz is basically all you need to do. Get people talking and advertising is effectively free. It's not necessarily always easy to do, but well worth the effort in the end.
He can try Bum Marketing I made my first online sale with Bum Marketing so I can vouch for it.. It doesn't cost a penny but you will need to do some work... Check it out at http://www.bummarketingmethod.com Cheers, Anup
There is an old debate in the advertising world. How much can you go without promoting a product. If its in a monopolistic scenario, you may go without any kind of promotion. But when a service or product is neither backed by a big brand or does not find a competition free market, its difficult. Its really difficult. Now Internet is a crazy place. You never know your friend at the end of three month may earn something big and laugh at all the guys like you who have asked them to promote, but chances are slim.
What I think if you want to earn something then you need to spend something . I think if he wants to earn some quick money then he should make some budget and should promote his site regrously.
Thank you everyone for the valuable comments and especially anup for the constructive advice. I have heard about bum marketing but have never gone down to actually read about it and try it. In fact I am interested in trying any new (read: free) marketing method as it would drive me away from the conventional marketing ideas I've been putting to use for all my life. Despite of success, I think there is much more to marketing than they say in books and teach in Uni
No he is not. He opted out - worried about too much visibility from the academic circles. I am trying not to judge but sometimes it is hard
What kind of product are you talking about? If this is a real product that you can touch and hold - grab someone off youtube that would be willing to do a sales pitch for the item and provide a link in the video description. Give the person a test sample or two, let them do a video about the item, then embed the video into their website. A guy contacted me on youtube about some camping and hiking equipment. He is sending me an item to test and do a video about it. I have 4 sites the video can then be posted on, plus my members get a news letter. By talking to people on youtube, the videos and traffic would be very targeted at a certain group of people. It might cost your buddy a couple of items to be tested, but if you get the right person, or group of people he could get some real targeted traffic. Also, the person that makes the video, have them make it so the video can be embedded into your buddies site.
kev, thank you for your reply. Yes it is a real product. You can touch it and you better hold properly it because it is fragile It is a really good suggestion. I can do the video myself.