So you have a vision for your business, you’ve started your company or signed up as an associate for a direct selling organization. You have built your brand. You are ready to start flying!

But your budget is tight. Perhaps you don’t even have a budget!

Thankfully, with the advance of the Internet, you can promote your business for free or for very cheap!

What do you need to promote your brand? Here are some ideas to get you started:

1) First you need a domain name. This costs about $12 per year at GoDaddy. You also need personalized emails. Gmail and yahoo email addresses are not professional and come across as “spammy.” You can also get custom email with GoDaddy for minimum cost.

2) You need a website. The easier and cheapest way to build a website is a WordPress one. But go for WordPress.org, which means you need a hosting company. A really easy, inexpensive way to do this is to buy a hosting package from HostGator. If you buy their Baby package, you can have unlimited domains and emails. I highly suggest at least this one. You can also buy your domains through them, which I recommend. Through HostGator, you can also have autoresponders and many more features. Just check them out!

3) You need a blog. You can use WordPress again for this. Or maybe you just want your blog to BE your website. That is perfectly fine.

4) You need a Facebook account. Social media is big these days and is a huge avenue for promoting your brand. Who influences your target market? Find these people and become friends with them or like their pages. Comment often with these people. Be a thought leader. You will find your target market can’t wait to friend you!

Remember that with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, it’s about relationship marketing. Tell them about yourself. Don’t just post links to your product or service. This is tacky and will turn off your audience. Give of yourself, encourage others, engage in conversations with your friend. Cultivate a community. Join groups that align with your passions, your target market, and your business. Use the time on Facebook and other social media sites wisely. Balance your posts between authentic sharing of yourself and promoting your business.

5) Do keyword research and write articles around those keywords. Wordtracker has a very effective tool for this. Study how to do keyword research. Find out what information your target marketing is looking for and give it to them. Submit your articles to article directories like EzineArticles.

6) Make a YouTube Channel. Video marketing is hot. It’s immediate and compelling! You don’t need an expensive camera and loading your videos on YouTube is free! Again, use keywords. Give gold nuggets of information that people need, want, and desire!

7) Set up a way to capture leads, through an autoresponder. Produce a free item that will attract people to your list. DO NOT use your own email program. Use the autoresponder in HostGator, or a service like Constant Contact. A lot of these services have free trials. Develop a weekly email newsletter so you can get your brand in front of your prospects.

I hope these ideas spur you on in your journey to build a small business! It is a learning adventure and one that is very worth it, because, as the old L’Oreal commercial used to say, “You’re Worth It!”

And if you do this, you will have a brand that sizzles!