3 Innovative Ways to Generate Buzz About Your Business

Entrepreneurs are always looking for new ways to spread the word about their business and using PR is a great way to reach potential customers fast. Besides the more traditional methods (like getting coverage in your local newspaper, for example), usage of on-line marketing and social media are gaining momentum, especially for those who are serving wider geographic areas.

Here are three innovative ways to generate on-line buzz about your business, for free, or low cost:

1. HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a free PR service that brings nearly 30,000 reporters, journalists and bloggers, over 100,000 news sources and thousands of small businesses together to tell their stories, promote their brands and sell their products and services. Starting from the idea that "Everyone is an expert at something", the service wants to make that expertise available to journalists and reporters who need ideas to write their stories.

Once subscribed to the service, you receive three emails a day with queries from reporters and publications from all over the world. If a query fits your company's PR strategy, your reply can be picked up and included into the story.

HARO can help boost your business big time, as it is increasingly used by large media corporations like Fox, CNN, New York Times and Business Week.

 

2. Killer Startups is a user driven community for internet startups. You can list your business for free and have it rated by users in the community.

Killer Startups can help your business in three ways:

• put it in front of bloggers and potential investors,
• validate your business idea through interest generated in the community
• help improve your website in key areas like usability, design and speed.

 

3. Pay with a Tweet is a social payment system that uses tweets and Facebook likes as currency. In exchange for exposure, business offer services and products in exchange for tweets or Facebook likes.

This service helps your business tap into your user's social networks and it can be used for viral campaigns, coupons, exclusive promotions or samples.

What services do you use to generate buzz about your business?