Need Inexpensive or Cheap Marketing Ideas

[nsbeasley]

I have recently started an internet copywriting business. I have years of experience, a good website ranking on the first page of search results for my keyword phrase, and lots of experience with article marketing. We have also put a few press releases out there. Unfortunately, all of this has not led to business. I need ideas on how to gain visibility in a highly saturated market. I have almost no budget to work with. Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

[Wozcreative]

Who are you targeting with copywriting? You can start by applying as a freelance designer to various marketing agencies.
Also, how about writing blogs/articles.. do you have this on your website?
How about posting your available service on websites like kijiji or craigslist?
Do you attend any networking events that will help you build up contacts?

[nsbeasley]

I am mostly targeting small to medium businesses. One of the appeals of our service is that we are much less expensive than bigger companies. We are also a team of two people, not a ton of writers. This allows us to give more consistency in writing style and quality. We do have a blog and we have articles on our website and on Ezine. All of our services, including blogs and articles, are listed on our site. I have tried Craigslist and only gotten spam. As far as networking events, until this pans out I'm stuck in a full time job that doesn't allow me to do stuff like that. Thanks for the ideas though.

[Harold Mansfield]

"Inexpensive", and "Cheap" usually means that you are willing to do it yourself. Still, you can only go so far on your own.

Honestly, I'd say change the focus of your business to writing website copy, sales copy, brochures and promotional material instead of articles. And see if you can team up with web, graphic design, and marketing companies to do copy writing work.

Article writers are a dime a dozen and cheap. Not necessarily good, but the forums are full on $5 and $10 article writers.

Not only that, the entire concept of flooding a blog with cheap articles for SEO benefit is really kind of dead so that target market is dwindling quickly. Not too many serious professionals or webmasters are going to have someone else write their articles for them. That's not the say that they don't still write, they do. But at this stage in the game someone who is trying to establish themselves as an authority will write thier own stuff.

Again, because article marketing is kind of dead.

That's just my opinion of course.

[Wozcreative]

I very much agree with the above! I couldn't get into the market I wanted to at the start... without really offering cheap prices. So I marketed to design agencies, developers etc. Now I have grown and am stepping away and going to the source—the end client. You may need to rethink the plan a little.

[KristineS]

Another thought might be to look at your areas of expertise and try to market yourself as a niche article writer. Now, of course, your niche will have to be large enough to generate some business for you, but targeting a few areas in which you're especially strong might be a way to go. Yes, it does limit your pool of potential clients, but if you can provide expertise and knowledge that other writers cannot, you have an advantage.

[bradjones]

I can't agree more with this. By conquering a niche, whether it is food, social media, or hiking, you will be able to become an expert in that area. If you brand yourself strategically, the rest will fall into place. Best of luck!


Another thought might be to look at your areas of expertise and try to market yourself as a niche article writer. Now, of course, your niche will have to be large enough to generate some business for you, but targeting a few areas in which you're especially strong might be a way to go. Yes, it does limit your pool of potential clients, but if you can provide expertise and knowledge that other writers cannot, you have an advantage.

[nealrm]

a good website ranking on the first page of search results for my keyword phrase
Take a look at how many people are using your keyword phrase and your click through for it. Being on the front page of Google with a keyword phrase that no one is using doesn't help. For example

Purple people eating copywriters from Liberty MO

In a few days, that phrase will be on the first page of Google for that phrase. Will it generate any traffic for this thread - NO. Given the lack of relevant results it may even make the first page for Liberty Mo Copywriters.

Given your location, I would look into focusing on copy-writing for specialty stores. Parkville and Weston both have markers for that.

[Wozcreative]

Marketing for niche is a very good idea. I have done a lot of design for food and consumer products. Because of this, I keep getting more and more clients in these fields.

[mightymouse]

Hi nsbeasley,

The list of cheap/inexpensive copywriters are a dime a dozen, but the really good/great ones is very, very short. An extremely good copywriter charge A LOT for their work. Maybe you want to re-evaluate where your skill level is at, and what kind of target market/niche you're going after.

[nealrm]

Just to reinforce my point. This thread is not only on the front page of Google, but it is also the top listing for the phrase "Purple people eating copywriters from Liberty MO". So remember, its not important just to be on the front page, it's important to be on the front page for the right phrase.

[e-persuader]

One of the secrets of most successful copywriters is the ability to connect with the readers emotionally and persuade them with your words. Web copy is effective when it focuses on what readers want. I think you have to master the psychological trigger technique, once you do it you will be on your way to becoming their favorite copywriter and soon a successful one.

[ericw]

If you're doing the marketing yourself (which requires a lot of time both implementing and learning) I might recommend doing some guest blogging. I've seen a lot of success when a small no-name website gets an article on a large one.

Don't be one of the low quality article providers I have contacting me constantly on my personal blog, though - pick a relevant topic, provide new information or a new twist at least, and spend at least 5-10 hours writing, editing, and researching the site you're targeting.

Also, make sure you're at least familiar with basic SEO principles.

[ericw]

If you have the time (and you either have to have time or money) I'd recommend becoming familiar with SEO (http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo). Even if you pay another agency to do SEO sometime in the future, it makes the project run much faster if a person familiar with the marketplace has been pushing the website in the right direction for a while.

I'd also look at guest blogging if you're a great writer or have one available.

[Carsten]

I agree to some of the posts before. In my eyes it is essential to focus on the topics you like and prefer. Create lots of content about this. With this kind of focus you will be able to create a sharp profile and dominate your niche. When your topic has a high relevance for other people too they will notice you for this. There is no sence in wanting to do everything for everyone. Get your personal topic and start to fill out your niche.

[AmyCarter88]

There are definitely a lot of replies here that are good and on point. Articles can be very cheap, unless you attack a higher-end market. For SEO, you won't see more than $5-$10 per article, and this is hardly profitable unless you have extremely low overhead and hire a ton of minions to write. For your situation, it may be more useful to write for companies that are looking for real quality work or even submit your work to magazines. I think the key with this is to work on creating content that will blow people's minds. You have to essentially create your own demand for your work.

Another option is to have other companies write for dirt cheap and mark up their articles. For SEO purposes, the good thing is that quality is far more important than quantity so a lot of these writers from other countries with incorrect grammar will soon be obsolete. That's good for anyone in your line of work.

Anyway, I hope you figure it out!

[funnyelizh]

Guest blogging. As mentioned a few posts up, I can vouch for guest blogging. (Both receiving posts and distributing my posts on other blog works well). Also sign up to high quality business directories such as yelp.com yell.com and so on for a little referral traffic and a sound backlink.

[farrey]

To inexpensive and cheep marketing is sms marketing it is too much better to run small scale business marketing.
Because i think if you not invest your business you can not earn any thing!

[LGCG]

There are definitely a lot of replies here that are good and on point. Articles can be very cheap, unless you attack a higher-end market. For SEO, you won't see more than $5-$10 per article, and this is hardly profitable unless you have extremely low overhead and hire a ton of minions to write. For your situation, it may be more useful to write for companies that are looking for real quality work or even submit your work to magazines. I think the key with this is to work on creating content that will blow people's minds. You have to essentially create your own demand for your work.

Of course if you have time, write your articles yourself. It's better coming straight from the horses mouth.

[janeangel]

"I need ideas on how to gain visibility in a highly saturated market"

Why didn't you try Social Media approach to get visibility? Now a days Social media marketing is the best way to promote your product or services to the targeted audience. Get Social with the people on social networking sites like Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Hope this help.

[PayForWords]

There are definitely a lot of replies here that are good and on point. Articles can be very cheap, unless you attack a higher-end market. For SEO, you won't see more than $5-$10 per article, and this is hardly profitable unless you have extremely low overhead and hire a ton of minions to write. For your situation, it may be more useful to write for companies that are looking for real quality work or even submit your work to magazines. I think the key with this is to work on creating content that will blow people's minds. You have to essentially create your own demand for your work.

Another option is to have other companies write for dirt cheap and mark up their articles. For SEO purposes, the good thing is that quality is far more important than quantity so a lot of these writers from other countries with incorrect grammar will soon be obsolete. That's good for anyone in your line of work.

Anyway, I hope you figure it out!


I'll have to respectfully disagree with that. I consistently get $15 to $20 per 500 word SEO article on sites like eLance.


Outside of eLance, me and quite a few other guys I know get up to $40 for an article.


Most people order them in batches of 5 or 10. You figure 30 minutes for an article (that includes research, etc), you can make $80 an hour.


No overhead costs at all with the exception of paying for Internet.


However, unless you have built up clients over the years, it isn't a very profitable business anymore.


Unless you're cool with making about $300 a week for working 40+ hours. That's about the norm for beginners.

[Dan Furman]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with that. I consistently get $15 to $20 per 500 word SEO article on sites like eLance.


Outside of eLance, me and quite a few other guys I know get up to $40 for an article.


Most people order them in batches of 5 or 10. You figure 30 minutes for an article (that includes research, etc), you can make $80 an hour.


No overhead costs at all with the exception of paying for Internet.


However, unless you have built up clients over the years, it isn't a very profitable business anymore.


Unless you're cool with making about $300 a week for working 40+ hours. That's about the norm for beginners.

30 minutes for a 500 word article? Including research? That's clearly not a very good article. Plus, nobody is writing 16 articles a day (2 an hour). Heck, I doubt most can write 5 a day. Writing hurts after awhile. Personally, I'm good for 3,000 words a day (and that's a killer day).

I've gotten out of the "article" business (was never really in it, to be honest) - there's zero money in it unless you are outsourcing. I *do* write 500-1,000 word articles/posts for people, but I get $300-$400 for those. Takes me half a day, but they are for known / somewhat known people that hit the Huffington Post/etc.

[Harold Mansfield]

30 minutes for a 500 word article? Including research? That's clearly not a very good article.

I have to agree. It can take me a couple of hours to write some blog posts, and that's when I already know the subject.

Anyone can throw some words together to fill up a page, but Google has progressed past just looking to match the "0's and 1's", with whatever self linking you can do to it. A 30 minute, 500 word article is not the kind of content that gets shared, referred to, and syndicated....which is what is needed for good SEO and sustainable traffic.

The reason business is slowing down for mass produced articles, is because people are starting to realize that just throwing something up, doesn't earn you any respect as a source of information, doesn't help your rankings, or provide any credibility for your products.

It takes time to write something that is good, original, informative, entertaining, and professional.