$2000 Budget ... what to do?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by sholiz, May 30, 2006.

  1. #1
    I've got 2 sites, one is a news/article system site (custom CMS being made) and the other is a vBulletin forum with 2100 members and ~2,000 uniqies/day. Both sites are going to be fully integrated with each other.

    With that said, I've got $2000 to put into both of these sites for "heavy" PageRank building and work for branding online and bringing the user count on both sites up.

    My idea for this budget was to:

    • Hire a vB Skinner (500-1000$)
    • Link Building (PR4+ $250/month Links)
    • AdWords Budgeting ($500)
    • Directory Submission ($100)
    • Clothing Promotion ($500-1000) [Depends on rest of budget]

    Listed from top priority to least. The vB skinner would redesign IronMass.com's forums and hopefully would reskin my 2nd site.

    I'm just wondering if anyone sees this as the best way to utilize the money while I have it (once-a-year sponsor renewal for $2800).

    I think that with a new skin, it'd create a "unique" feel and would make the site look a LOT prettier.

    Link building would bring up my page rank, and give me a hand in top search results. Since the term "bodybuilding" is a big one.

    AdWords - 'nuff said.

    Directories, again just trying to build PR and this is the *cheapest* and most effective for cost IMO.

    Bringing on a clothing line since it IS a bodybuilding community, tight-nit and a prior clothing sale went quite well. Adding more products and more Tshirts would be a big hit I think.


    Other than those 5 things I can't really think of what would help outstanding? I've thought about magazine advertising but that's WAY out of my league. 2 full page ads are the same cost as my years profit!
     
    sholiz, May 30, 2006 IP
  2. moneyonlineideas

    moneyonlineideas Peon

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    #2
    you seem to be on the right track. however, i don't think adwords is the right way to go to build a user base for any forum. u may want to re-assign that element.
     
    moneyonlineideas, May 30, 2006 IP
  3. carowan

    carowan Peon

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    #3
    Full page ads would be expensive, but they also sell them as 1/4 or 1/16 page ads also.. Might be something to look into
     
    carowan, May 30, 2006 IP
  4. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #4
    As a PR pro, I want to cry every time I hear people talk about spending money on so much advertising and not listing free / cheap "guerrilla" techniques. lol j/k

    I think you can do a lot more than you think, and I agree that Adwords might not be the most important thing for your goals. Take some time to chart out a real marketing plan, taking into consideration Marketing, advertising and PR all together, what you hope to accomplish with them, and do a little bit of research to find out how realistic it is. Magazine ads aren't a bad idea ... and you can certainly use smaller than full-page ads ... or better yet, go with smaller magazines (still get a decent reach, and a highly targeted audience with a fraction of the cost).

    I think the merchandising is a great idea for you to help develop better branding. But I really think you can get more creative than adwords. For instance, buying ads in newsletters from related sites can give you a huge reach for minimal cost compared to print advertising, and it's going directly to people who asked to see it. Invest in a decent prize and run a contest ... promote the heck out of it. Offer up a tip of the day, featured members, etc. ... anything that can change regularly and keep people coming back. Build partnerships with related companies (such as those that might donate things for contest prizes in exchange for promotion on your site in the form of a sponsorship). Sponsor events yourself in some way.

    The possibilities are endless, and I think a lot of website owners really miss out on a lot because they limit themselves. Think like a small business, not like a site. Better yet, think like the big guys. Who's the biggest company in your industry? How do they promote themselves? Scale it down to your level and give it a shot. :)

    Jenn
     
    jhmattern, May 30, 2006 IP
    vanessa likes this.
  5. biggerboy

    biggerboy Peon

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    #5
    If I were you I would take more from the clothing budget and put in the the Adword budget.
     
    biggerboy, May 30, 2006 IP
  6. Nerz

    Nerz Well-Known Member

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    #6
    Id imagine the keywords for your chosen niche wouldnt be cheap in adwords. If your going to use adwords, id experiment a little bit with finding relatively cheap alternative keywords to the obvious biggies such as "bodybuilding".
     
    Nerz, May 31, 2006 IP
  7. psyberweb

    psyberweb Peon

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    #7
    For a niche like yours, ask your grandfather what he'll do in the old days if he have a community that talks about bodybuilding. Well, not everything can be done online.

    I think the best part is reaching out to your local communities and the best thing is do a brick and mortar world advertising campaign. a $2000 dollar is a lot to spend to, you can distribute flyers to body building centres and make a deal with local gym owners for a section in your forum. The opportunities to expand your site is endless and i believe that this can be done if you just select the right people to help you grow your site.
     
    psyberweb, May 31, 2006 IP
  8. Wiep

    Wiep Peon

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    #8
    Using AdWords and targeting on keywords such as 'keyword + forum', 'keyword + chat' will bring you very targeted visitors. It won't be 1000s a day, but the CPC is a lot cheaper and you will have high conversions...
     
    Wiep, May 31, 2006 IP
  9. psyberweb

    psyberweb Peon

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    #9
    Wiep is right. :D
     
    psyberweb, May 31, 2006 IP
  10. sarathy

    sarathy Peon

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    #10
    500$ permonth is too less for that big market on adwords. Your cpc will be very high for that kind of budget. I would suggest you to go in for magazine ads.,
     
    sarathy, May 31, 2006 IP
  11. mad4

    mad4 Peon

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    #11
    Submit some body building articles and put good content on your site. Its free and its one of the best free seo techniques you can do.
     
    mad4, May 31, 2006 IP
  12. sholiz

    sholiz Active Member

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    #12
    That's what I've been doing with a $25 voucher I got from GoDaddy :D All the "keyword" + forum / chat are like $.30CPC, not that bad.

    That's what the 2nd site I'm opening is going to be, but submitting them to anywhere other than the website? ... such as?
     
    sholiz, May 31, 2006 IP
  13. L146705

    L146705 Peon

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    #13
    how about buying another forum and emailing all its users or redirecting. That would get you users.
     
    L146705, May 31, 2006 IP
  14. sholiz

    sholiz Active Member

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    #14
    That's one thing I plan to do actually ;) ... I'm negotiating with the owner of an old forum which has lots of members with virtually zero activity, having that list of emails (all confirmed as valid emails) would do good with bringing more to my site.
     
    sholiz, May 31, 2006 IP
  15. sarathy

    sarathy Peon

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    #15
    verify that the emails are not old and bouncing before buying.,
     
    sarathy, May 31, 2006 IP
  16. zeropaid

    zeropaid Well-Known Member

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    #16
    out of curiosity, where are you going to find a 'vbskinner' ? elance?
     
    zeropaid, Jun 1, 2006 IP
  17. ConstantContent

    ConstantContent Banned

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    #17
    Keep the content on your own site you're much better off... Don't submit them to others sites. Unless of course you can get good articles on major targeted body building sites, then its worth it. If you're going to go the article route its best to surround your site with the articles. It won’t necessarily help with backlinks (unless people link to the article), but it will help with targeted traffic to your website.
     
    ConstantContent, Jun 1, 2006 IP
  18. Classic-SEO

    Classic-SEO Peon

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    #18
    Hello Dear

    We are SEO & Link building Specialist.

    we will provide link 30-40 quality link in $250/month.
    we have 300-400 directory list.
    we will do 300 directory submission in $100

    let me know if you interested.

    thanks
    Classic-SEO
     
    Classic-SEO, Jun 1, 2006 IP
  19. Java

    Java Peon

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    #19
    Also look into Adwords alternatives. Test everything and you'll be able to find the best ROI. Adwords has a high volume but not always the best ROI.
     
    Java, Jun 1, 2006 IP
  20. diamond008

    diamond008 Peon

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    #20
    I think adwords is the most cost effect way of getting the traffic. but how to keep the visitor depends on the site itself.
     
    diamond008, Jun 1, 2006 IP