This article is geared to auto shops, but can be used for most businesses.

Here Are a Few Quick Tips…

#1 Free Classified Ads - First off in case your behind the curve on online classified ads, I just want you to know that Craigslist.org is hands down the best FREE classifieds on the entire web.

Craigslist.org - this site gets about 50 million visitors each month. There are some people who ONLY advertise their business on Craigslist.org because they can’t handle anymore business then Craigslist provides and it’s FREE!!! Just place one ad and see for yourself. You’ll be thanking me for years to come.

These sites will not hold a candle to Craigslist, but they will bring valuable FREE traffic…

Backpage.com – Backpage is also another FREE classified ads service that can be used to drum up business this site comes in second place for the best ad traffic.

Here are some others…

Kijiji.com, stumblehere.com, classifiedads.com, gumtree.com, inetgiant.com, sell.com, recycler.com, classifieds.myspace.com, USFreeAds.com, FreeAdvertisingForum.com, ClassifiedsForFree.com, olx.com, isell.com, base.google.com, epage.com, ChooseYourItem.com, adpost.com, oodle.com, and the list goes on…

#2 Free Yellow Pages Online Listing - click on this link to get your free online listing in the Yellow Pages: http://listings.yellowpages.com/Services/ServiceClaimSearch.aspx

#3 Get a Website and More Importantly MARKET Your Website – Did you know you can instantly get the customers you need by developing a website and setting up a Pay Per Click campaign with Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. If you don’t know how Pay Per Click Works, here it is in a nutshell…

First you need a website that sells your services. Then you need to set up a Pay Per Click account. When you’re on Google, you type what you are looking for in the search engine box, and then hit search. After clicking search, you’ll get a ton of listings matching what you’re looking for. At the top of the page in the shaded area and on the right side of the page you’ll see sponsored ads…those are Pay Per Click advertising.

To start showing up in Google search results for your business, you need to sign up for a Google account at https://adwords.google.com/select/Login?sourceid=awo&subid=ww-en-et-ads-r3_b_top&hl=en_us.

When signing up Google is going to ask what keywords you want to show up in the search results for and what geographic location you’d like to be found. If you were marketing an auto repair business in Atlanta, Georgia, you would want to pick Atlanta Georgia and the surrounding areas of your choice as the geographic area to show your ads.

Your keywords and phrases would be words like: auto repair shop, auto repair shops in Atlanta, car repair, mechanics in Atlanta, cheap car repairs, etc…

Now, when people type in ”auto repair shop” on Google, the ONLY people that will see your ad is the people that live in Atlanta, Georgia. If someone lives in Austin, TX and types in “auto repair shop” your ad will not show.

You are the one who picks how much you are willing to pay for a visitor to your site when using Google’s Pay Per Click campaigns (Google Adwords).

So to make a really long story short, you pick the keywords you want to use for people to find your business, you pick how much you are willing to pay for those words (usually around $0.10 for local businesses), you pick the areas you want to market, and you can turn the ad campaigns on and off like a lightswitch. These kind of marketing campaigns can drive thousands of new TARGETED customers (in our case thousands every day) to your site every month and the campaigns can be up and running in less than 1 measly day. This is not a shotgun marketing approach, this is a laser beam focused marketing campaign that can literally transform your business overnight.

The internet is the future of buying, phone book advertising is going out of style. Instead of picking up the phone book, people just go online and search or go to YellowPages.com. During 80% of all major purchases, the consumer will go online at some point during the transaction to either research or purchase.

These are just a few ways to market your business online. GotEngines.com advertises their engines by using hundreds of online marketing strategies. Will will be revealing some new techniques in the near future. 

If you don’t have time to set up your own online marketing campaigns, our marketing director takes on special projects from time to time when he’s not booked, and you may be able to have him do set up your complete campaign for a reasonable cost. To check on availability please contact Brian by emailing brian@gotengines.com.