Using local businesses to advertise raffles online

No doubt you’ve got any number of small businesses in your town that would love some free advertising…right? After all thats what you’re looking for! By teaming up with one or many small businesses you both can get some really quality and locally focused free online advertising.

Most businesses and organizations have (or should have!) a website…even a simple one. If they don’t then they are missing out on everything the internet has to offer. In this you have to opportunity to greatly expand your charity fund raising raffles exposure to local folks in your town and nationwide.

This is the same idea of teaming up online, for mutual benefit, with local charity organizations and non-profits by networking Locally -Online. Leverage your local contacts to expand your online exposure and increase the number of local eyeballs that see your raffle.

The idea is pretty simple. You both have websites and you both are looking for free advertising. For an example lets say Bob’s Fruit Stand is in your town, a small local business with a simple website. Your Charity or Non-Profit organization has a website. You each post a link on your respective websites to the other. You have Bob stick a picture and link on his site to your raffle website or page and you put a link on your website to Bob’s Fruit Stand website. Pretty simple.

In doing this you both expand your exposure in a couple of ways. All of the people that know and visit Bob’s site will now know about your raffle and all the people that visit your Organizations site will now know about, and maybe visit, Bob’s Fruit Stand. Win-win.

You can expand your relationship in any number of ways. Maybe you give Bob a stack of tickets to sell and Bob gives you a stack of gift certificates to his Fruit Stand. You may give out a gift certificates with some of the tickets you sell in other locations providing even more value to Bob for promoting your raffle. And around and around it goes. The key is creating the relationship, making sure it’s a win-win for both of you and cultivating that relationship. Getting the exposure on Bob’s Fruit Stand website is fantastic, having Bob himself lend a good word about you, your organization and your raffle is even better.

Now that you’ve got a hand on your local exposure online lets hit some on the major free online spots to get the word out. Have you heard of Google Groups? Thanks! Bill