Cross Promotiion Techniques That Work

Cross promotion is not a new idea. It has been used by businesses for a very long time. For example, a real-estate company may promote a certain lawyer to close a sale. In turn, the lawyer will promote that agency in his firm. The system is somewhat similar to the primitive barter system where people traded items rather than using money. But how can anything primitive fit into the online world of Internet Marketing? Very easily!

A cross promotion is, simply stated, the trading of ad space. Instead of paying for advertising space on a site, you simply place someone else’s business ad on your page and your ad on theirs. There are many ways to use cross promotions in your internet business that can equate to effective and cost efficient advertising.

One way is to use link exchanges. This is very effective when considering cross promoting with a
company that is similar to yours. However, you should avoid linking to a page that is in direct competition with yours. One of the biggest pluses for using link exchanges is that some search engines are factoring in hits from the sites that are linked to your page when determining the ranking. Therefore, linking to a more popular site can not only increase your advertising and traffic, but also your search engine ranking.

When customers or potential customers subscribe to your ezine, you can use this as an opportunity to use cross promotions. On the same page that the customer subscribes to your ezine, make available the opportunity to subscribe to another company’s ezine. You can even exchange ad space in ezines and provide recommendations for those with whom you cross promote. You may even want to exchange column space in one another’s ezines.

Writing free articles that inform customers or potential customers with information that is useful
and accurate can create a reputation for you and your business. Readers will quickly come to know you as an expert on that subject. In these articles, the author uses a byline to help promote his site. Bylines are yet another way to use cross promotions. You can use part of the space in your byline to recommend someone else’s product.

If you have been considering writing an ebook, a joint venture could mean increased profits for you and the person you are partnering with. Cross promotion through ebooks is an excellent way to allow for a wider topic and promote both your business and your partner’s business. The ebook should contain information that will benefit both businesses but remain helpful to the reader. A good example of using cross promotions through an ebook is a site selling used video games partnering with a site selling gaming devices: two subjects that would interest the same reader and most likely lead the reader to both sites.

You should keep in mind that the recommendations you make are a direct reflection of you, so choose
your’ cross promotional businesses carefully. Also keep in mind that it would be nice as a shopper to be able to link from one site to another as a way to “shop around”. Also, never link or recommend a site that’s in direct competition with you, since this is not usually beneficial to you. Instead, recommend those that are similar, such as health and life insurance.