Online Guerrilla Marketing Techniques
Guerrilla Marketing is a concept you may be familiar with.  The term was made popular by the book "Guerrilla Marketing Attack" by Jay Conrad.  The book talks about what a small business can do to compete with a large company that has an unlimited marketing budget.  Most of the marketing techniques discussed in the book are free or low cost and simple to do.  This article will take the Guerrilla Marketing concept and apply marketing options found on the Internet.     

There are six Internet Guerrilla Marketing Techniques: 

• Signature Files
• Free Search Engine Submissions
• Discussion Groups
• Press Releases
• Writing and submitting E-zine Articles
• Creating an E-zine

Signature Files - These "files" are found at the bottom of every email message you send out and should include your name, company name, Web address, phone number, and tag line.  My signature file appears as: 

By using a signature file you are constantly advertising your business, for free.  The tools to set-up a signature file can be found in your email program. 

Free Search Engine Submissions – There are currently four search engines that do not charge a fee to list your site.  They include – Yahoo, Google, MSN, and Open Directory.  You will need to resubmit your site every four to six weeks and it will take up to twelve weeks before your site appears on search engines. 

Discussion Groups - These are groups of people that "get-together" to discuss a common interest.  You can use discussion groups to promote your business by finding a group that attracts your target market and then actively participating in the discussion.  Your participation must be a benefit to the group and not a sales pitch. Answer questions with free advice and ask questions of your own.  These back and forth conversations will start to position you as an "expert" in your field and someone that people will look to for answers.    To find a discussion group search for "discussion group" on your favorite search engine.   

Press Releases - I am sure you are currently using press releases to keep the local media informed of activities at your business.  Online press release services distribute your press release to online sources including search engines and online publications.  You should be using online press releases to announce new products, employees or awards your company has won.  To find places to submit your press release search for “online press releases” on your favorite search engine.

Writing and submitting E-zine Articles - By writing an article for an E-zine (online newsletter) you can quickly position yourself as an expert and receive free exposure for your business.  Most e-zine editors are looking for free articles to put in their e-zine.  In exchange they will allow you two or three lines for a bio and contact information.  One downside to writing an article is that you need to be able to write a good article.  If you are not talented in this area you may need to hire an editor to review.  A good place to start is to search for “submitting e-zine articles” on your favorite search engine.

Creating an E-zine - Having a company e-zine is a great way to stay in touch with your clients and potential clients.  E-zines are a free way to keep clients up to date with new products and services and helps to educate them on changes within your industry.  However, you need to be able to write and come up with articles on a regular basis.  Virtualtech writes all of our own articles, however, there are a number of people looking for outlets for their articles.