In my next post I’ll go over some advanced article marketing techniques, but right now I want to get back to some basics that are often overlooked or even forgotten…

In the midst of all the commotion online, with a new mega marketing course launching every week and a barrage of software and services promising to boost traffic and sales, we can easily miss the simple things that have worked since the beginning. You can implement these right now, 100% free and get traffic from them immediately. Granted, these won’t solve all your traffic problems, but they are easy to set up and will work for you without any extra effort. Here they are:

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Email Signature File

This is one of the simplest and easiest ways to get free traffic to your website. You can link to your main website, affiliate links or your blog. You create it one time in your email client and then it gets automatically added to every email you send out. If you’re like me, you’re already emailing all day long, so why not include some free marketing for yourself at the same time?

Email Sig File Tips:

1. Do not include more than 3 – 5 links in your signature file. I’d actually recommend only 1 as the optimal number, and no more than 3. But definitely not more than 5! Anything more than that looks unfocused and devalues all of them.
2. Keep the tag line short and to the point, or just put the link without anything else. For example:
   

   Best Regards,
   Dustin Struckman

   http://IMGeni.us
   “Internet Marketing GENIUS!”

3. The use of a “PS” can be a very effective signature file. Almost everyone reads PS’s – even if they don’t read the rest of the letter. For example:

   Best Regards,
   Dustin Struckman

   PS If you’re looking for a way to earn huge commissions on total auto-pilot, visit http://AffiliateSilverBullet.com

4. Include the http:// before the URL. It doesn’t look as nice, but there are still some email programs that won’t convert it into a click-able link with this.
5. Don’t use tacky fonts, colors, bold, smiley’s, etc. Just keep it simple and professional. I recommend plain text – just like the rest of your email.

Resources:

• Creating a Signature in Oulook
• Creating a Signature in Apple Mail
• Creating a Signature in Thunderbird
• Creating a Signature in AOL
• Creating a Signature in GMail
• Creating a Signature in Yahoo! Mail
• Creating a Signature in Hotmail

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Forum Marketing

This technique also uses a signature file. Basically, you participate in forums and let your signature file to the work for you – just like in your email sig file. Advertising and links in your forum signature file is widely recognized as an acceptable way to market inside forums, where directly promoting something in a forum post is often frowned upon.

Again, you create the signature file once, when you create your account, and it’s automatically added to every post you make in the forum. So this is something you can do right now and begin seeing results immediately. Follow the same signature file tips from above when creating your forum signature file.

Forum Marketing Tips:

1. Participate in the forum. Don’t just sign up and post a bunch of junk only to get your signature in front of eye-balls. This is rude and ultimately ineffective. Instead, view the forum as a community and become a member of it.
2. Ask questions, answers questions, start conversations. Spend a little time getting to know the forum first. Read through some posts to see what the general “flavor” is, so you can participate effectively. Then ask questions of people who’ve posted topics, comment on other peoples replies, and answer questions if you can. You can also start your own topics if you need help with something that isn’t already covered. But the key is…
3. Provide value. Again, make sure you are participating in a valuable and meaningful way. If you genuinely strive to add to the conversation your forum marketing will prove successful. But if you dive in and start posting a bunch of garbage the community will not appreciate it and will consider your posts as SPAM. This can get your posts removed or even get you banned from the forum.
4. Read the rules and guidelines before you start posting. Each forum has it’s own rules and regulations, so make sure you are familiar with these first. For example, some forums don’t allow you to use affiliate links or links to squeeze pages, so in these cases you will need to link to your website or blog. (We’ll talk about blogs in a future article.)
5. Abide by the rules of the forum to remain a member in good standing. These are usually pretty simple and common sense. And again, if you’re sincerely trying to add value to the community and you limit your marketing to your signature file you should be fine.

Resources:

These are all very active forums in the Internet Marketing Niche

• Warrior Forum
• Digital Point
• ewealth
• AssociatePrograms.com
• MoneyMakerGroup.com

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Action Steps:

1. Set up your email signature file right now. Stop reading and go set it up…
2. Sign up (or log in) at at least one of forums above and create your signature file. Again stop reading and go do this now…
3. Make at least 10 forum posts every day. You can do this first thing before you start your day or last thing before you end it. But make 10 posts every day. It should take you no more than 15 – 20 minutes to log in, find or start relevant topics and make your posts. Do it!

In a future post I’ll cover some more free advertising methods, as well as some advanced free advertising methods, but for now I want you to get started with some simple techniques you can put into action right now!