There’s a veritable ocean of products and services on the Internet right now to help growing business owners succeed. In fact, you don’t have to break the bank to improve your niche marketing results. With some time and research, you can market your business to customers and prospects for little or no money at all, says L. Drew Gerber, CEO of Publicity Results. He offers this list of cost-effective online tools to boost both your business and bottom line:

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1. Social networking. Free social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, offer companies endless possibilities to publicize their products and services. Social networking connects you with prospects, existing customers, and partners to build your business. It also allows you to get a feel for what is happening in your market and how to provide excellent customer service standards.

2. Query services. Free services such as PitchRate.com can help you get valuable media coverage. By signing up, you will receive free daily opportunities via email to speak with the media about topics and trends in the news.

3. Media lists. Research journalists and their work, and then prepare a list of their emails and contact information. Use Google and free sites like USNPL.com to find the publications or media outlets that best fit your expertise.

4. Databases. Sites like SearchPressKits.com provide a database of online press kits for journalists to search through when looking for an expert source. With more than 55,000 journalists a month scouring the database, an online press kit is a simple must-have for your business.

5. Article portals. Free article portals, such as ArticleAlley.com and BizSugar.com allow you to post expert articles on the Web to promote your business. These sites also offer another benefit of niche marketing: the ability to incorporate specific keywords in your articles to drive more traffic to your Web site from the major search engines.

6. Video portals. Post videos to free portals like YouTube and Metacafe to increase your Web site traffic. Many of these portals will allow you to link to your site and they offer a cool platform to market your business.

7. Press release portals. Free press release distribution sites like 1888pressrelease.com allow you to post press releases on the Web related to your business. They also offer another great opportunity to implement your SEO marketing plan and gain attention for your business.

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