The best marketing is free marketing!

It's great to wake up in the morning to find that you've been featured in promotions by design websites! Somehow, I was chosen for two this week.

what + designers

WeFew

Both sites are terrific and absolutely worth adding to your list of great resources and reads. To be chosen by sites that I admire is a real compliment. Thank you!

While I've not paid for these promotions, they were not free per se. I've spent countless hours promoting myself online and making connections. This is hard for me to do because, in reality, I hate to promote myself. But it is necessary in business, especially online where there are millions competing for the same audience. So, for those of you who promote yourselves, keep it up. For those of you who watch others promote themselves, don't hold it against us!

My marketing goals for 2009

One of my goals this year, is to manage my online marketing to the fullest. Like many, I'm all over the internet. Now, I want to target my audience and put my energy toward those networks that will serve me best. I have my own website and blog. I am on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Etsy (and several other buying/selling sites), blog network sites, various directories, ning, and countless others. They are all time consuming, albeit fun, and I need them to work for me.

I've recently signed up for a pro account on Flickr. For minimal cost it has allowed unlimited photo management which saves me a lot of time. Plus, it has its own networking community. I was able to create a slide show for my website which was a lot easier than creating my own html code.

Today, I updated my Facebook page and started my first ad campaign there. We will see how it goes. If you are on Facebook, please consider becoming a fan. Also, let me know if you are on FB, and I'll do the same.

I was also reading up on DIY SEO tips (do-it-yourself search optimization). I manage and code my own website which is very time consuming. I am a self taught computer geek with very little training. My guide has been internet searches, various blogs. the book Creating Web Sites - the missing Manual, and lots of trial and error. But, I've come this far. It is quite liberating. As I begin to implement some of my strategies, I will share them. Perhaps it will help or maybe you can stop me before I make a huge mistake!