Internet Marketing Tycoon

**Audioz** · 08-17-2005, 03:23 PM

I have 2 sites that ive submitted to, and got listed on quite a few search engines and directories, ive recently been exchanging a few links, ive joined affiliate networks and dropped some banner ads in, the problem is im getting no traffic, both my sites are ringtone sites, and i realise that im competing with about a million other similar sites, but im not about to give up, instead i need advice, any advice that will drive some traffic to my site, im not looking for sudden success, just a gradual improvement would put a smile on my face, at the moment i cant afford to use google adwords, im in one of those awkward positions at the moment, i need to promote, but im broke, so im basically looking for ideas that wont cost me anything, i dont mind putting in the hours.

**praveen** · 08-17-2005, 04:56 PM

patience.
it doesnt happen overnight.

it takes time and sometimes lots of it.

join some topsites,
make sure ur site looks good, appealing, dont join places just to promote ur site - participate, more the participation u do more the ppl will notice u and ur site.

**Audioz** · 08-17-2005, 05:04 PM

Thanks praveen, i agree with what your saying, i guess its just that feeling of it costing me money at the moment, but getting no customers yet, until they start finding my site, ive found a list of more directories on this forum that i can submit to, and will maybe read an ebook or something this week and see what i can find, im trying to turn what im doing on the net into a living, its not easy i realise, but i wont give up. Thanks for replying praveen

**praveen** · 08-17-2005, 05:06 PM

if u are planning on buying/reading a book, then ur best option would be the seobook

check my list of seo resources and tools for the link.

think its seobook.com

**Audioz** · 08-17-2005, 05:16 PM

Thanks praveen

**Padawan** · 08-17-2005, 05:59 PM

Here's another free idea - write articles related to mobile phones and/or ringtones and submit them to all the article sites you can find, with a link to your site in the author's box - this works well for link popularity

**Audioz** · 08-17-2005, 06:11 PM

Hi Padawan, i was looking at the thread tonight funny enough of your long list if directories that you put up for everyone ( saved in faves ) and noticed on the same site, the list of 45 article sites, now my plan for the whole of tomorrow is to use both the article sites listed and the directories list too, at first im thinking, what in the world will i think of to write about mobile phones and ringtones

but i may suprise myself with a bit of thought before hand, i think i might take a look at other peoples articles to get a feel of it, not to duplicate, but to get the feel of how its done.

Thanks

**manatee123** · 08-17-2005, 06:28 PM

If you can set a small budget -- say $5 or $10 per day -- you could try Google Adwords. That budget could get you started.

**Audioz** · 08-17-2005, 06:32 PM

At the moment unfortunately i cant even afford that, although i do plan to definately use Google Adwords in the future.

**Padawan** · 08-17-2005, 06:38 PM

Audioz, the best advice for writing articles is firstly to pick a relevant subject and then write something that is informative and interesting about it. As you have a site dedicated to the topic of the article, that should not be too difficult.

Remember, the article itself needs to have some value if you want people to read it and distribute it to other article sites. Therefore, don't self promote in the body of the text, just add your Url to the author's box.

For me, the only tricky part of article writing is choosing a catchy title

Good luck !!

By the way, adding a signature containing the url of your site on forums you post at can be beneficial too

**manatee123** · 08-17-2005, 06:43 PM

Agreed. An article about something of real interest to your potential readers can be excellent publicity for your site/products/services.

It has to be well researched and reasonably well written as well...

**manatee123** · 08-17-2005, 06:47 PM

Audioz, ideally you would have a marketing mix but I think that, given your current budget, you probably will want to focus on combination of publicity and personal selling.

That can be a *very* powerful combination. Publicity - articles and so on. Personal selling - talking to prospective customers in various ways.

**Audioz** · 08-18-2005, 07:49 AM

Thanks very much Padawan and manatee123 for your advice on article writing, if i plan properly i should be able to come up with something decent, once i get into the swing of writing them it may become easier.

Thanks

**Harvey** · 08-18-2005, 08:12 AM

Although I'd normally suggest some intensive SEO, you're obviously in a very competitive market and optimising for "ringtones" would be a waste of time, as well as the fact that you don't have a PR.

Currently, you don't have a logo, you have a header. The first thing you need for returning visitors is a logo. "Desired Ringtones", I think has a lot of potential - it's a brandable name. Whilst you obviously don't have a huge amount of money for professional branding/company image etc, a memorable, brandable logo would go a long way.

Once you have this, you'll be surprised also at the response from other companies in relation to advertising, link-backs etc. Get a logo, and with it, a colour scheme. Put your site name on your signature. Change your avatar to your logo... just get yourself seen!

If you, like me, happen to be terrible at any form of art, get somebody on rentacoder.com to do it, or request a logo competition on WT. $20-40 ought to do it. But, since your budget is minimal, you could even get a friend to do it.

The other day, I got a flyer through my door, advertising text message services and games. It was pretty tacky, but quite a few people in my city would have got one. Seek out people like this. Seek out anybody who has anything to do with mobile phones, and proudly tell them you're the owner of desiredringtones.com and would like to partner.

Good luck

**Audioz** · 08-18-2005, 08:35 AM

Thanks very much Harvey, that sounds like really good advice, yeah, i think a logo could make quite a difference, something that will create more of a brand and not just another ringtone sites name, i realise that even without much money that its possible to make some changes and improvements to help kick start things, im sure you will all understand my situation at the moment, and im guessing that many of you will have been through it, its frustrating when you realise that a bit of marketing will cost money but dont have the money to invest straight away, its good though that there seems to be quite a few things i can do to improve the situation, spending very little or even no money, at least for the time being.
I really appreciate the advice.

**Harvey** · 08-18-2005, 09:26 AM

Any time.

Is that you in the photo? Lol

**Audioz** · 08-18-2005, 09:31 AM

Unfortunately no, its not me in the photo

i tend to grab a few random pics for use on forums, i admit shes quite pretty, whoever she is.

**Padawan** · 08-18-2005, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harvey

Is that you in the photo? Lol

I hope so.

I wouldn't have been half as helpful if I thought I was talking to a man

(joking)

**manatee123** · 08-18-2005, 09:49 AM

As for the SEO, I think it would be good to find a niche area and optimize for that.

For example, a new web hosting company would be stupid to try to compete for the "web hosting". However, if there was a niche area that is the key, say, "aardvark web hosting" (web hosting for aardvarks), then you have a better chance. Now that is obviously a silly example but the point is you don't necessarely have to take on the competition head-on to succeed. You can find a good niche.

**Harvey** · 08-18-2005, 10:00 AM

Quote:

I think it would be good to find a niche area and optimize for that

Absolutely. Download web CEO and research some keywords - e.g. "extremely funky yet jazzy ringtones" may only get 10 searches per day, but you bet you'll be top for that!

And yes, that was another terrible example, lol.