Updated: 10/08/2026
Savvy online business owners can take advantage of all the free marketing opportunities the Internet has to offer. In order to maximize the results by using free marketing, you’ll need to put in a little bit of elbow grease and quite a few hours of time, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be astonished by how well you can get the word of your business out there and start seeing real conversions.
The best way to go about marketing your site without spending a dime is definitely the social media route. There has been a literal explosion of interest in sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and Yelp in recent years, and any online business owner who’s interested in getting the word out about their products and services would be foolish to not take advantage of these congregation spots.
The trick for making social media marketing effective is the method in which you go about it. Many business owners simply sign up their businesses for accounts and then send off hundreds if not thousands of friend requests and expect interest to come flooding back in.
The reality of the situation is that it’s not that easy – a smaller approach is definitely much more economical insofar as generating real interest in your business is concerned. Start by friending smaller groups – no larger than twenty people. If somebody sees that you’re trying to friend over two hundred people, chances are they’ll think you’re a spammer and not reply to your query. Smaller groups make you look more genuine and interesting. Also remember only to friend groups and individuals who have a stated interest in the product or services that you sell; to do otherwise is considered spam.
When sending out news feeds on these sites, the number one rule to consider is keeping your send-offs interesting. Before you send anything out, be it a “tweet” or a status update or an email announcement, take a minute and think about whether or not what you’re sending out is relevant or interesting. People will enjoy hearing about your product offers occasionally, but not three times a day. Again, you don’t want to come off as a spammer, because then people will stop friending you and the whole process will be for naught.
Also, be sure to take the time to look at the profiles of your friends and occasionally comment on what they have to say. This helps build your credibility as a “friend” and show that you take an active interest in the people who are following you on the social networking sites. Once again, more personable and less spam-like makes your social media marketing strategy much more effective.
