Wednesday, July 9, 2014

3 Cost-Effective Ways To Gain Exposure for Free

Artists, musicians, and everyone in between are constantly looking for loop holes and ways to get
ahead. Many of us spend countless hours on the internet searching for strategies and techniques that will get us the exposure we need to be successful. The internet is a big place and a resourceful tool but to organically gain exposure, you have to correlate your real-world events & happenings with your social media following. Some of the things you have to do may be extreme or odd, but they are necessary if you are serious about gaining quality exposure. And to be honest, it may take some money to make some money. So, to help you out a little bit, I took the initiative in creating a quick list of 5 cost-effective ways to gain exposure for free!

Social Media Marketing

It's not required that you create an account on every social network out there, but it's not a bad idea, either. And with the way social media has become an integrated part of our lives, you can sign up for other social media networks using your Facebook account. If you do not wish to create accounts on undesirable networks then you should at least make sure that you have an account on Facebook, Twitter, & Youtube.

Facebook is the premier social network for networking, promoting, & making connections. If you're seriously looking to gain exposure, being on Facebook is almost imperative. Once on facebook, connect with as many friends as you can. Join as many Facebook groups relating to your niche as possible. There are a few things to look for when joining groups on Facebook. Make sure the group you are about to join has at least 1,000+ members if it isn't already a group that you use or created. Before joining, visit the group and do a little scrolling down their newsfeed. Pay attention to how often people are posting. If it is a group that people often post in, it is worth joining. But when people post often, your content will inevitably be pushed down and buried. This is okay. Just make sure you stay on top of it. Post in Facebook groups at least 2-3 times a week. But please, do not spam. Because marketing is not just about how many people you can reach, but how it is received is just as important.
Let's say you want to post something on Facebook that you really want people to engage in. Whether using your Facebook profile or fan page, upload a picture with your post and tag people in it. Facebook typically allows you to tag a maximum of 50 people. This is because when you tag 50 people in a post on Facebook, you can reach up to 3,000+ people instantly. But be careful when tagging your friends. It can become an annoyance which results in backlash from friends and you can even be temporarily banned on Facebook. Because you can reach that many people with a simple post & tag, you have to have a nice budget if you are looking to explore Facebook Ads. If you use Facebook Ads, $100 will probably get you a reach of 3k people. But why pay that when you can get that on your own for free. The great thing about Facebook Ads is that it allows you to target your ad to reach your prospective audience. You should only consider using Facebook Ads when it's something important you want to promote, you have the appropriate budget, and you want to reach a specific demographic. Click here for quality Facebook marketing.

Instagram is a very effective picture-blogging tool. If you use Instagram, it is best to link your Facebook & Twitter account so your post will go there as well. Instagram is great because a big portion of consumers use it everyday. It is ideal for the user who promotes through visuals. Painters, Drawers, Illustrators, Crafts, Foodies, and any job you can think of that deals with multimedia. One of the essential ways of promoting on Instagram is using the ever popular #hashtag. But be careful, excessive use of the hashtag can and will turn people away. If you obtain enough followers, you posts can have a big influence and be effective. Using the video feature on Instagram is also an effective way to post & promote on the platform. Click here for quality Instagram marketing services.

Pinterest is also another very powerful picture-networking tool. Pinterest is a good way to send organic traffic to your website. And because Pinterest is about pictures, you don't have to worry about losing the attention of people with long excerpts. With Pinterest, you can create "boards" for whatever you like and categorize your topics & images that make it easy for like-minded individuals to find.

Youtube is probably considered one of the most successful sites on the internet. It boasts a worldwide archive of media and can be used to monetize content through relative ads. If you're serious about exposure, you will not neglect the Youtube platform. With appropriate permissions, you can upload as many videos as you like and easily share them on blogs, forums, websites, & more. It's the most-shared widget on the internet. If you are trying to get exposure to your Youtube video, actively post them in Facebook groups and Google+ Communities. Post your video on relative forums and submit to relative promotional websites. It is always best to grow your video views organically as Youtube cracks down on fraudulent views. Don't buy views and LIKES from questionable sources. Instead, if you are looking to pay for promotion, look for a service that will promote your video organically so you won't be subject to violating any of Youtube's Terms of Service. By organically I mean no bots, no spam, no junk. Click here for cost-effective and powerful Youtube Video Promotion.

Google+ is being slept on by a lot of people. Nonetheless, it is slowly coming together and becoming a very powerful tool for marketing & promotion. Google+ is the official social network by Google and is on the same level as Facebook & Twitter, if not bigger. Anyone with a Gmail account has Google+, you just have to activate it. Once activated, you want to make sure that your profile page is set up properly with all necessary photos & information. Once all that is out of the way, go to Google+ Communities and join as many relative ones as possible. Remember, join ones that have either a lot of members, a lot of posts, or both. You'll easily come across a Google+ Community that has more postings than it does members. Those are still worth joining because as long as people are actively posting, chances are they will see your content. When you post on Google+, your post also gets indexed in the Google search engine, making it easy for people who are looking for you to find you. This is the edge that Google+ has over Facebook because Facebook is a private network that requires users to sign in to access anything.

Tangible Promotional Material


People don't want to do much thinking these days. When looking to get exposure, you should seriously consider creating tangible promotional materials like banners, flyers, door hangers, post cards, business cards, etc. Find a cost-effective source for marketing materials and create a plan on distribution. Lets say you print up 1,000 flyers for your business. The next thing you want to do is find out the best way to distribute them. Think mailboxes in a prosperous, residential/commercial area. Car windows in the parking lot. Newspaper boxes. Light poles. Communal bulletin boards. If finding someone to do this work for you is an issue, consider finding one person who is willing to do this and pay them to do everything for you. Preferably a flat rate and
whatever you guys work out. However you do it, keep in mind that this is a highly effective marketing technique that can bring you excessive amounts of exposure. Imagine seeing your flyer posted on the street light pole on a very busy intersection. Imagine seeing your posters or flyers in strategic places in a popular area. Imagine seeing your poster at a freeway entrance. Imagine seeing your poster at the entrance of the grocery store. If you perform this action every Friday evening, you will get the best results. Friday is ideal because there is a less chance that city workers and such will snatch down your posters over the weekend.
Also consider branding yourself. Pens, cups, mouse pads, apparel, and other merchandise. It's the small things that make the biggest difference. For example, I can go out and get 100 T-Shirts and put my logo on it but the tag on the shirt might be another brand. If you print up T-Shirts, have a tagless tag with your logo. That alone will speak volumes to your consumers. If you are not looking to pay anything, do what I did. Print up your posters in black & white and distribute them yourself. If you are going to hand flyers out, it's best to do so at a main attraction with a lot of people as oppose to your local plaza and street corner. This technique is also known as guerilla marketing.

Networking is what everyone has to do if they want to get ahead. Attend events, throw parties, meetings, seminars. When networking, nothing works better than being present in the flesh. This is the best time to use your business cards and other tangible promotional material. Attending events is also a great way to gain exposure through word of mouth. Experts will tell you that word of mouth is the most effective promotion. When you attend events, talk to people. Get Email addresses and business cards and do follow up. Always remember, marketing is practical thinking.

Social Median is your cost-effective solution for all your social media marketing needs!

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