One of the greatest things about the internet is that there are many ways to start and run a business without spending a lot of money. If you’re reading this blog then you already know how to start a t-shirt business for free. I’d like to focus now on some of the ways to promote your business for free (or cheap).

One of the first things I tried when I opened my shop was Adwords. To be honest I wouldn’t recommend it unless you want to spend a lot of money. The t-shirt market is very saturated and the high ad placements are too expensive unless you have money to burn. Besides, why spend money when you can promote for free?

Squidoo: I get a fair amount of traffic from Squidoo, from my own lenses as well as people affiliating me.

Squidoo Tips: – Multiple lenses are better than one, provided they are unique.

- Don’t just blatantly advertise your shop. Write some short articles or tips on something related to your shop.

- If your shop covers multiples subjects, make a different lens for each one.

- Experiment with the placement of your modules, the layout of your lens may determine how likely visitors are to click on your links.

Facebook: Everybody’s on Facebook. If you’re not, then get over there and sign up! Look up your old friends from high school and college, and promote your store in the process.

Facebook Tips - Put your store address in your profile, and make sure it also shows in your sidebar area.

- Facebook has a feature called Pages, which can be used for promotion. You can create your own page, upload your logo and provide information about your store. There’s also a discussion board, as well as areas to post photos, videos and reviews.

- Zazzle has an application that can be installed that will show your products on your page.

- After you set up your page, ask your friends and family members on Facebook to become a fan. Then after you have a few fans, post a link in your Cafepress or Zazzle store that invites visitors to become a fan. The reason I do it in that order is because I don’t like to invite customers to a page that has zero fans.

- Cafepress is working on a feature called Sellit that can be posted in your profile. I believe it’s still in the testing phase, but keep an eye out for it to be released.

Twitter: I just recently signed up for Twitter and seem to be gathering a lot of followers for some unknown reason. I don’t post religiously there, but whenever I add a new section I post a little blurb about new products added and include a link. I also have a link on my store page inviting visitors to follow me on Twitter.

Myspace: Myspace is like SO last year, but I’m working on a profile dedicated to my store, since many shopkeepers report getting sales from there. One advantage Myspace has over Facebook is that they will allow you to put the Zazzle flash panel in your profile.

Flickr: Flickr is a tricky one. I don’t use it for my Cafepress stuff since I don’t have a lot of photography there (yet), but I will be using it to promote my Etsy store. It is perfectly suited for a seller of photography or fine art. Just make sure you do not mention that your photos are for sale. You can put a link to your shop in your profile, and that is pretty much the extent of marketing that Flickr allows. (I would also upload low res images only)

Blogging: I don’t currently have a blog for my POD stores, since I don’t think I could come up with enough material to write about my niche. If your niche is something you can talk about though, it’s a great way to promote. For example, if you sell stuff for stay at home moms in your store, then set up a blog about your experiences as a stay at home mom and promote your store in the sidebar. You can get a free blog at blogger, or set up a WordPress blog on your own domain. You will have to pay for hosting, which can usually be found for under $10.00 a month. I think the cost is worth it to have a more professional looking blog.

These are just a few ways to get started promoting your shops. There are probably countless other ways, but I tend to stay with the more established websites. If you sign up for everything under the sun, it’s hard to keep up with and eventually your efforts will become stale (how many blogs have you seen that only have two posts and they’re from 2005?) Pick a few, keep them updated, and hopefully soon you will see your traffic increasing.

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