Gaining sponsorships, getting noticed – all things many competitors want. With this web 2.0 time, online marketing can be a vital part of a self-marketing plan. Bootstrapping it? Don’t panic, tons you can do for free with little effort. A professionally designed website is really the best choice of course, but if that isn’t possible here are some options:
Facebook/Myspace
The most popular medium. Whether it be just a page for yourself, or a “fan page” on Facebook, these also have built in networking capabilities.
Blogger
Blogger is quite popular and offers a 100% free way to start a blog, or if you work on it and change a few things you can make it more of a website. It’s owned and operated by google, so you know it’s secure – you won’t put in tons of effort and wake up one day to find your blog gone. There are a number of stock templates that come with it, but if you do a google search for “free blogger templates”, “free blogger themes” etc – you will come across dozens of sites offering free templates that look extremely professional and really add a nice touch. There are also tons of codes you can search for to make the blog look more professional, whether it be a custom favicon, adding a Facebook button and so much more. You can actually produce a 100% free site/blog and host it free forever, and put in some extra effort and make it look extremely professional if you wish as well.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com, which is basically the same software this blog runs off although ours is self hosted so more customisable, is also a free blogging software service. You just sign up and go. It’s less customisable then blogger, but the general layouts are more professional.
Googlesites
Also 100% free, googlesites offer a way to make your own website quickly and easily.
Buy Your Own Domain Name
Both blogger and wordpress will give you an extended domain name. As in Janesmith.blogspot.com or Janesmith.wordpress.com. Buying your own domain name such as janesmith.com and forwading it looks much more professional. Domains normally cost about $10 a year, and ones with a info ending [janesmith.info] are normally around $2, so it’s a small price to pay for the added touch it provides. Godaddy is one of the mosty popular domain sellers.