Setting up a business, requires a lot of things, but, normally, you need a lot capital. To make money, you need to spend money, as well. One of the biggest costs, is advertising and self promotion. No business can run without customers. The more customers you have, the more money you make.  That is a simple fact. But where and how do you find customers? And how do you do this, as a new internet marketer, with limited funds? You know you need a list, but how do you this, without spending money?

Well, luckily, the internet is a fantastic resource and there are still a few good methods of attracting traffic, for free. Nothing happens overnight, you will need patience. You’ll also need the proper mindset and a lot of enthusiasm and of course you will have to do a lot of hard work. Once you have a thriving business, you could afford to sit back, although I doubt you will. You will be so excited and always in search of more.

How sweet it would be, to get more traffic, to your site, without spending a single cent. Well, although not always as quick and easy, as paid services, this is possible. Many websites have articles and advice, that offer tips and guidelines, on how to generate traffic, using only free methods. It is possible to do and you don’t need to speed a single cent. It may take a little longer to see the results and it is often better to pay for your advertisements, but at least you have another option, with some of the free methods, I’m about to tell you.

1) Take advantage of online forums and online communities. The great thing about forums and online communities, is that you can target a certain group, that fits the niche, or demographics, that you are dealing in. You can discuss lots of things, about the niche that you represent, or offer. Another great advantage, is that you know, what you are getting into and you will be prepared. Show yourself as approachable, helpful and knowledgeable and of course, remember to place your link, to invite others to visit your site.

2) You can also make use of newsletters. Offer a free newsletter, in return for their names. Provide the people with an idea of who you are and what you are offering. Have a catalog of your products and give them interesting and entertaining articles. If you make it really interesting and entertaining, more people will sign up for your newsletter and recommend it to other people. The more people who sign up for your newsletter, the more people there will be, who will go to your site, thus increasing your traffic.

3) Link exchanges. Another great idea, is trading links with other sites. You don’t have to spend a cent. All you have to do, is reach an agreement with another webmaster. With exchanging links, both sites can benefit. All the traffic that goes to the other sites, could potentially click on your link and then pay you a visit. This works well, especially when both sites feature the same niche.

4) Write interesting articles, that catch the attention of people, who have interest in your niche. Try writing articles that will provide tips and guides to others. Write several articles, that provide good advice to other people and post these on the article sites. There are thousands of them and most are free. All other sites are constantly looking for fresh content, so there is a huge potential here. Again, insert a short paragraph about you and include your link. 

5) There are thousands of submission services. Many are free and most offer help on finding the best keywords etc. You can submit your site link to all the search engines, through these services. Make sure you have good content on your site. Many search engines track down the keywords and keyword phrases, that your site uses. They send spiders and crawlers  to check and they only read your html tags.

6) Set up a few personal blogs. Again, there are many that are free. Blogs offer far more flexibility, in that you can write anything you like and you can include as many references, to your sites and links, as you like. As mentioned earlier, join communities and build up a number of friends.

7) Offer a free book, or report, in return for permission to send the people your promotional mails. People love free gifts. Once you have their names and email addresses, you can send out offers, by mail.

8) Write your own book, or report. You could also find a suitable report, with PLR rights and edit it. You could even find a re-brandable book. Once you have your biography, your links and a couple of offers, give it away and ask others to also give it away. This creates a lot of interest in your sites.

9) Directory services. Do a search for free directory services and submit your site link to as many as possible. The more links back to your site, the more interested the search engines will be.

10) Classifieds. There are plenty of sites offering free classifieds. Find as many as possible and post your ads with your link. Not only will this attract visitors, but it will also impact on your rankings with the search engines.

11) Free websites are another option. Join these and construct a basic page about you and your services. Insert your links and forget about them. They will work for you in the same way as the ads and link directories.

12) Traffic generators. There are many free versions available. Join these and participate. Some require you to surf for credits. As long as you are prepared to view other people’s sites, they will reciprocate. Just a warning here, if you have Adsense on your site, Google doesn’t approve of these tactics.

13) Group mail services. If you are prepared to receive mails from every tom, Dick and Harry, then use these services. You are allowed to send out so many mails to all the members, as long as they can also mail you.

14) Giveaways. Grab a decent product with rights from one giveaway and then join another as a contributor. Give the product away, in return for the email addresses. Just remember to promote the giveaway, for the owners, or you will be banished. If done well, this can result in tons of names.

15) Instead of spending a lot of money on all sorts of services, just spend a little on a decent, recommended Traffic Building Report, or List Building Program. I have a couple on my blogsite, under pages. You can go through my recommended programs.

All of these methods and more will drive more traffic to your site for free. All it takes is a bit of effort and extended working hours. Learn all you can about the methods described here and you will soon have a site with a great traffic flow, without the usual costs that come with it.

One of those that I recommend is Free Traffic Explosion. Take a look here: http://dersalsites.com/freetraffic/

Derek Robson is an up and coming, South African, internet marketer, with a vision of empowering all fellow South Africans and non U.S folk, to have equal opportunity and success, on the internet. He is a syndicated article writer. He and his wife Sally, have started a string of sites, resources, courses and articles, as part of Dersalsites. For daily postings and articles, on Internet marketing, South African business, list building, affiliate marketing, the law of attraction, rugby and general topics, check his blogsite, at: http://dersalsites.com/southafricanbusiness  

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Make sure you get our course on Internet Marketing. This is a comprehensive course, comprising of over 243 pages, with pictures and videos, to help explain exactly what to do. This is a fantastic e-course and is broken into 13 lessons. To get your free course, click here :  http://dersalsites.com/course/  

Sally has a passion for gardening. Visit her website at at: http://dersalsites.com/sallysgardeningtips/

Clinton is involved with fitness, exercise, bodybuilding, weight loss etc. Visit his site at: http://dersalsites.com/clintstrainingblog/ 

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