Going out of ideas to grow your online business? Just Open Your Eyes! Many a times, we scratched our head trying to figure out how to get more traffic to our online businesses without creating a big dent in our pocket. Maybe it is time, we look beyond the online world for clues.

Three common ways of doing marketing and advertising

1. Advertise wherever you can When was the last time you saw an advertisement? Was it a bill board at a junction? Or a sign board on top of a tree? Or a banner between two boats? Or a sticker on the electrical distribution box? Or a small LED screen on the gondola? Or a small LCD while waiting for your lift? Or a radio while you are driving? Or a bulletin board while you are waiting for a bus? etc etc etc. You have the message, advertisement can appear anywhere in the offline world. It can also be applied in your online world. Anywhere that you can find a place. Be it your signature in your email, a banner at your website, a sentence at another site, a small corner of an ebook, etc etc etc. Be Creative and you will think of many places.

2. Do Joint Ventures When was the last time that you were surprised that merchant cross sell each others' products? Have you noticed petrol station selling burgers? Car mechanic selling phone cards? Watch retail shop offering photocopy services? etc etc etc. Whether the products compliments each other or not, as long as it helps you to make more money, JUST DO IT.

3. Offer FREE Gifts When was the last time you were given a FREE gift? Common, when you apply for credit card, you get one. The same applies with housing loan. How about when you go to an event launching, do you receive door gift? How about when you pump petrol, do you qualify for some discounted price items? People just loves GIFT, especially if it is FREE.Let your mind free, whatever that you can give, just give it. Work together with others to offer Joint Promotion, whatever products that is not appreciated in your industry might be very sought after in others' market. Offering FREE gift does not hurt you, you might be surprised about how effective it is in attracting traffic.