You have a solid business plan, you stand behind your product or service, and you have a web site that no one visits. How can you get the word out on a tight budget? Read on!

1) Write e-zine articles with a short bio and web link at the end. Many e-zine clearing houses allow you to submit your articles for free. Benefit: You potentially gain more exposure and your web site traffic could easily increase. My favorite e-zine sites: www.ideamarketers.com, http://freezinesite.com, http://www.ezine-writer.com.au and http://www.family-content.com

2) Once your articles have been picked up, approach the webmaster whose web site carries your article. Perhaps he or she would be interested in carrying your product in their on-line shop. Several webmasters added my book to their sites after I asked! Benefit: You have now doubled your exposure with one contact.

3) If you have something to tell the press, consider submitting your press release to this free PR service: www.prweb.com You can purchase a highlighted listing with their service for as little as $10. Benefit: It's an easy way to have your product name come up in search engines. I actually received my first fan e-mail through this service!

4) Link your web site to others. Benefit: You can funnel traffic to your site by building on other people's visitors and vice versa. An added benefit: Your site will come up in search engines more often.

5) Post messages on product- or service-related message boards that are topic-related (don't make your message be an advertisement or you'll get thrown out!). Benefit: You will pique people's curiosity (much like an e-zine article can), and they will want to visit your web site. An added benefit: Oftentimes, your message comes up again on search engines, thereby increasing your exposure. Make sure to add your web link in the message. Most boards allow you to do so.

6) Join a yahoo discussion group at www.yahoo.com under "Groups." Make certain that the group contains your target audience. Join in the discussion and add your web link each time. Much like a message board message, you should not make your post be an ad, but a valuable contribution to the topic at hand. Benefit: You'll make friends while you build traffic!

You may not have the time for a weekly or monthly company newsletter. These tips take only a few minutes. They have helped me increase book sales by 33%. Good luck! It may be the only traffic you'll ever love.

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Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of Diary of a Mother: Parenting Stories and Other Stuff, has a BA in pol. science from Smith College and an MA in International Relations, German and English Lit. from the University of Constance, Germany. She currently lives with her husband and two children near Munich.
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