It’s time for our monthly Q & A post!  We’re all about helping you grow your businesses and we can’t think of a better way than directly answering your burning questions!  So pull out your pen and paper and get ready.

Q: Someone suggested that I should use Pinterest to promote my business, but didn’t explain how. I don’t understand how putting pictures on an online pin board will help publicise my online art courses. I’d be really grateful if you could explain how I can use Pinterest.

A: Great question!  Instead of filling up the whole post here (because the answer is a big YES), I’m going to direct you to the experts.  😉  Create and Thrive recently posted on how to Grow Your Business with Pinterest – Search Engines Love Pinterest.  Tara Swiger breaks down the easiest way to use Pinterest for your business in this very short video.  And if you want to get really into the nitty gritty of it, Online Money shows you how to Use Pinterest Analytics to Boost Your Traffic.

Q: How much should we spend on marketing?  If we don’t have a lot to spend, what’s the one type of marketing we must spend money on?

A: First, I’d need to know if you mean how much to spend on ‘advertising’ because marketing is free.  Marketing is pitching to blogs, magazines, your local newspapers, etc.  Marketing is applying to shows.  Marketing is passing out business cards.  Advertising on the other hand, is ads on a blog or in a paper.  Personally, I spend nothing on advertising because no one looks at blog ads nowadays.  Also, the best kind of traffic comes from word of mouth and from honest referrals, not Facebook clickers.  So skip the advertising costs until you’re a big company.  The best kind of marketing is free!

Q: What are other options for marketing online besides social networking?

A: So many!

  • Pitching blogs for a feature
  • Guest posting
  • Giveaways
  • Facebook fan page that engages your customers and fans
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Blogging
  • Personally emailing those on your mailing list just to say thank you
  • Pitching shops to carry your work
  • Interacting with groups such as Etsy teams

Q: How do you get your product/service featured on blogs?

A: One way is to simply pitch them.  It is the blogger’s job to find amazing material to share with their readers so you’re doing them a favor by sharing your work with them.  Keep your email short, just 2-3 paragraphs and include a link to your work and several photographs.  Make it as easy as possible for the blogger to just copy and paste from your site onto theirs as it will increase the chances they feature you.  Also, make sure you include in the email a little snippet that shows you’ve actually looked over their site and know what they regularly post.

Another way to get featured on blogs is through giveaways.  Andreea Ayer’s wrote a great guest post for us on that exact topic: Blogger Publicity – How to Promote Your Products with a Blog Giveaway.

Got a burning marketing question you’d love us to answer?  Have a problem you’d like some advice on?  Email us at [email protected].  Each month we pick 4 or 5 to answer in our Q & A!  And please let us know in the comments below if you enjoyed this series.

{Featured image via Memories Too}