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It's not hard to feel with all the hype around that you may be missing out on increasing your market share by not using the Internet as a marketing channel. The Internet can be a very effective way of promoting your business but at the same time it can also be very expensive.

In this article I will show you two of the most effective ways to promote your business on the Internet with zero financial cost to you for advertising and without the need for your own web site. However due to the large amount of information that I wish to share with you I have

split the feature into two articles.

In this first feature article I will concentrate on the first most effective approach and cover the second approach in the second article.

Chris Mole submitted an excellent article on HomebizBuzz.co.nz talking about the importance of developing trust and credibility with people on the Internet BEFORE you try and sell to them by using a web site providing free targeted content (see the Resources section at the end of this article for a link). Our own web site www.PropertyTalk.co.nz uses that same model to attract people and sponsors. Believe me it works! However, if you don't have a web site the model won't work for you. So what can you do?

Tire Kicking
I have a saying that I like to use when dealing with people who are trying to sell me something.

"Where's the Proof?"

When you think about it most of us are tire kickers meaning we like to try before we buy. Now if you think about it paying someone to show your logo on their web site is not really the most effective way of promoting your business online. Where's the tire kicking? Where's the proof that you know what you are selling? When people buy they are looking for the seller to share their knowledge because the more you know about a product or service the more you will enjoy what you have brought.

The Internet is a fantastic place to prove to people that you are worth their time and money by providing them some kind of sample of your knowledge and experience. What you need to do is offer some of your experience and knowledge to people for free. Think of it as a free sample of what you can offer them.

Here is an example so you understand what I mean.

Taking Advantage of the Internet
Let's say you sell dog grooming products. You would like to use the Internet to promote your products to New Zealand households but you have no money for advertising nor do you have your own web site. What can you do?

The first thing to always keep in the back of your mind when using the Internet to promote is that the average Internet user gets hammered every day via the Internet and email from sales people trying to sell all manner of items. Most of the sales messages are provided as spam and contain products or services that are at best dubious in nature and origin.

What I want you to remember is that people are now very wary of anyone trying to sell them stuff. Who can they trust on the Internet? Who knows that what they are selling is good and can provide effective after sales service? Who is just selling crap to get a quick buck?