How to Advertise a Home-Based Business

M.A., SPHR

There are several options available for promoting home based businesses. Find out about some of the techniques you should consider and choose the ones that make the most sense for the particular type of business that you are operating.

Six Ways to Advertise a Home-Based Business

Here are a few important - and affordable - advertising suggestions that you may want to consider.

1. Website

A quality website is a must for home-based businesses. Since you don't have an office or storefront location for potential customers to visit, your website will likely serve as the first point of contact for your company.

Quality is key; don't rely on a template or try to build a website yourself if you're not a skilled developer and designer. Instead, hire a professional web designer who is knowledgeable about marketing to create an attractive, easy-to-navigate website that accurately conveys the features and benefits that your company has to offer to potential clients. A few examples of web design firms that provide design and development services to home-based entrepreneurs include e-worc.com and PromoDivas.com.

2. Search Engine Optimization

Having a website is only the first step in building an effective online presence for your small business. It' also essential to ensure that potential customers have the best possible chance of finding your site - and learning about your company - when they conduct online searches that are relevant to the products and services that your business has to offer. This involves optimizing your website for search engines. Most web design firms offer search engine optimization services (SEO).

Since optimizing a website is an ongoing process, it may be in your best interest to learn how to perform some SEO tasks yourself. A few books that can help you master the basics include Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day and Search Engine Optimization Secrets.

3. Email Marketing

Maintaining contact with existing and potential customers through email marketing can be a cost-effective advertising strategy for home-based business owners. If you choose to utilize e-mail marketing, be sure to place a subscription form on the main page of your company's website as a way of capturing email addresses from site visitors. Use an accepted email marketing service like Constant Contact or Vertical Response to send your newsletters and email marketing pieces. Make sure that your email marketing efforts are in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act and that you are not doing anything that could cause your domain to get blacklisted.

Consider offering a free information product (such as an e-book or special report) or a discount code to encourage people to register to receive the publication. Additionally, establish a regular publication schedule. For most professional service businesses sending a monthly or semi-monthly newsletter makes the most sense; a more frequent schedule may be desirable for retail businesses that offer special sales and promotions regularly.

4. Article Marketing

Write informative how-to articles that are relevant to your business and of interest to members of your target customer groups. Submit these articles to quality, high traffic article marketing directories like EzineArticles.com, IdeaMarketers.com, Amazines and others. You'll likely find that you enjoy exponential exposure from this type of internet marketing, as bloggers, e-zine publishers and website owners pick up and republish your articles on various websites. In addition to using article directories to distribute your articles, conduct online searches for relevant blogs and websites that accept contributed articles and offer content to the publishers as a way of expanding your exposure.

5. Social Networking

Don't overlook the importance of leveraging social media websites as part of your advertising plan. Establish a LinkedIn profile for yourself and connect with other professionals and entrepreneurs, as well as potential clients. Join LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your business and monitor them for information that may be beneficial to you. Set up a Facebook page and Twitter profile for your company and build social networking followers by share useful information that potential customers and referral sources will want to learn about. If your business is one that lends itself to telling as story through video, consider utilizing YouTube as a social media outlet as well.

6. Face-to-Face Networking

Even though your business is based in your home, you may likely find that face-to-face networking is one of the best ways to advertise your business. Consider joining the Chamber of Commerce in your community so that you will receive invitations to participate in networking opportunities with other business owners and professionals in your local area. Also consider getting involved in local chapters of national professional organizations that are relevant to your business, participating in business tips clubs, joining a structured networking group like Business Network International or becoming active in a civic organization. You can even build your professional network by doing volunteer work for charitable organizations in your community.

Measuring Advertising Effectiveness

Be sure to take steps to track the effectiveness of every advertising strategy that you use. This is an important key in determining if you have chosen the right advertising channels and messages to get your point across to consumers.

There are a number of ways to track advertising effectiveness. A few examples include:

Google Analytics: Use Google Analytics to keep up with traffic to your website and to stay aware of what key phrases and referring sites are sending visitors to your site.
Google Alerts: Set up a Google Alert for your name and your company's name so that you'll receive email notifications any time something new is published online related to your company.
Dashboard Reporting: Utilize the dashboard feature offered by your email vendor to keep track of relevant statistics associated with your email marketing efforts.
Referral Tracking: Ask people who inquire about your business and new customers how they found out about your business and keep track of the responses.

Explore Additional Advertising Avenues

While most - if not all - home based businesses can benefit from using all of the advertising techniques detailed above, this is certainly not an all-inclusive list. Depending on the nature of your business and the size of your budget, you may also want to investigate traditional advertising venues like broadcast, print or outdoor advertising as well as direct mail marketing and trade show participation.