Money always seems to be an issue when you're a writer. How do you get the word out without spending a fortune? This article shows you easy and low-cost ways to promote yourself and your books, services, and products.

After spending days and countless hours writing your masterpiece and honing your skills as a professional, you want the world to see your efforts. The problem for most writers is not the actual writing, but getting the word out after you completing their written work. 

What you’re trying to sell or promote doesn’t matter. It could be an article, short story, book of poems, or a complete fiction or non-fiction book. If you use the following six tips correctly, you will be on your way to big publicity!

Email and Message Boards
You can use email and message boards to promote yourself. The trick here is to do it right. Always include your signature with each email you send. Your signature should include your name, contact, and the URL for your website (if you have one). The same applies to message boards. Post on popular message boards on websites that cater to your target audience. One of two things may happen on forums and boards: a) the reader may find your post interesting and visit the website URL that you placed on your signature, or b) in search engines, if a user searches for words that you used in the post, they might end up on that post, paving a path to your website.

Directories and Links Pages
There are many free directories and links pages on the internet. Use a search engine to search for “free directory” or “add a link”. Find the right ones and post your website URL and/or name or the page where your books, products, or services are sold. Remember, there are also some very good writing sites to post on, so add “writer” or “writing” to your search phrase when searching for directories and links pages.

Content and Articles
A site full of valuable info in the form of articles and content can work to your favor. When posting your articles on a website, use plenty of keywords. Instead of writing “the book by R. Smith was great”, adding “the book, Poetry by Smith, is a fabulous read that features poetry by great writer / poet, R. Smith.” A more descriptive, keyword-rich article will perform better in search engines. For example, when a user searches “book about writing poetry”, the chances of your website or article ranking higher is much greater.

Business Cards
Always have business cards handy. It doesn’t have to be a formal business card that a lawyer or doctor may carry, but it could just be a simple card with your name, services you perform, and the URL to your website or sales page. Give several cards to friends and families so that they can hand them out to when someone they know shows interest in what you provide.

Offer Something for Free
If you’re selling a book, then why not let interested readers preview the first few pages of your book? It sure beats just reading a blurb or a short description, and readers can really get a good idea of what your book is like, and if they love the first few pages, they will buy it. It’s like walking into a bookstore and reading a chapter or so before buying a book. The same principle can be applied for freelance writing services, booklets, or eBooks. If you offer other services, offer a free newsletter or article for registered users. 

Submit, Submit, Submit
Regardless of what you have to sell or promote, write articles and submit them to websites and magazines that are of interest to your target audience. Many websites publish articles by guest writers, so the opportunity is fairly large. For example, if you’re selling proofreading / editing services, it may be a good idea to submit an article to a writing site about the importance of a clean, well-written manuscript. Somewhere in the article, you could plug in your own skills (i.e. “There are many proofreaders out there, such as My Own Company, who provides quality service at a great price.”) Also, many publishers will allow you to place a byline and/or short bio at the end of the article. Use that to your advantage – place links to your website and provide contact information in your byline.

The whole trick with marketing and promoting yourself as a writer is to be diligent. It doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money. Eventually, your efforts will pay off. Use a hit counter to track which of your avenues are bringing in the most traffic to your website, article, or sales page. Try it – you have nothing to lose! And good luck on your journey.

About the author:
Helene Vance is the Editor-in-Chief of The Write Spot Online Magazine at writespot.org. In addition to operating the website, she is also working on her first genre novel.