Promoting with Vista Print

   If you're just starting out with your business chances are you don't have tons of money to put in to promotion. Ads, business cards, flyers, coupons... It's all expensive, right? Well, it CAN BE, but it doesn't have to be. Vista Print offers some awesome promotional items to help you build your business, and they offer them for FREE!

   BUT, there is a trick to this. You see, Vista Print offers these products for free because they know once you're on the site placing an order you are more likely to spend on "upgrades," extra products and fast shipping - which is where they make their money. However, if you follow my tutorial below, you'll get the biggest bang for your buck...

Step 1:
   Visit VistaPrint.com and join - which is free...


Step 2:
   LOG OFF!  They don't offer the good stuff to you on your first visit! So just log off and give it a day.

Step 3:
   VistaPrint will email you every few days with "sale" emails. THIS is what you want!  Whenever you get the email from them go through the list of FREE items they are offering you. While each email is going to be different here is a list of basics that you can usually get and that are AWESOME for growing your business!

• Business Cards
• Post Cards
• T-Shirt
• Small Rubber Stamp
• Car Magnets
• Mailing Labels (I use these as sticker Ads)
• Magnets
• Sticky Notes
• Lawn Signs

Step 4:
   Take some time to design your products, make them perfect!

Step 5:
   You DO have to pay for shipping, although the products are free. Do NOT let them upsell you on the shipping!!!  While they say the "slowest" shipping takes a long time to arrive, it rarely takes more than 5-7 days to arrive. So unless you need your products this week, do yourself a favor and use the slowest route this will save you HUGE on shipping costs!

Step 6:
   Enjoy your growing business when you use these products!

Key Points & Other Tips-

• Vista Print makes their money on upsells by charging more than they are worth, so don't go for the stuff that's not free or hugely discounted!
• You do have to pay shipping, so always go for the cheapest option.
• Occasionally you will have the option to earn free expedited shipping when you spend so much, usually this is a good deal. So take it when you can.
• Take the time to create the best products you can, these products will speak for your business even when you can't!

Become An Affiliate!

Affiliate programs are found all over the web. Generally they are free as you are not working for or with the company. You are simply the "middle man" for their advertising. Its a very simple concept and easy to do. You will usually need a website of your own or at least a blog, but you could also earn through email or social network profiles as well.

Affiliate Marketing works because you are paid on each sale the company gets through your link. They will provide you with a link, ad or banner to place on your website. At that point you will earn a commission from every sale made through that link. You are responsible for bringing new people on to the site in order to purchase through that site or link. Generally you'll want to stick to products that work well with the subject of your site or blog.

There are a few ways to go about finding Affiliate Programs.
1.) The first is simply by checking out the sites you already shop at... If you have a favorite online site you may want to check out their page for an Affiliate Program option. Usually these are at the bottom of the page.

2.) Second there are Affiliate Exchange Sites that will enable to you find a large number of Affiliates to join from one place. Both www.CJ.com and www.Linkshare.com are Affiliate Exchange Sites. You will be able to join these sites and find a large list of potential Affiliate Programs to join...

3.) Online Mall programs tend to have a free option to join and you are then rewarded for referring new people...  However, make sure to read the find print as many of these sites require a minimum purchase each month in order to get paid...

Once you have found a program that you like, you'll want to maximize exposure. Do this by emailing the link to friends and family, posting it on ALL your profiles on ALL your Social Network sites, Posting it in your email and forum signature, and of course on your website or blog - or both!

Remember, the more people who see the link, the more people that are going to click it, the more people that click the more you earn! So don't miss out on potential commissions by hiding your link at the bottom of your pages. Post high and proud and make sure that everyone knows you are an affiliate. Many times people are willing to visit a friends site to go through their link instead of just going to the site... But they cant do this if they don't know it's there...

Happy Affiliate-ship!