In this economy businesses tend to think of cutting costs. The first thing some business owners think of throwing out is marketing. Big mistake. There are many ways to market your business in an affordable way. Perhaps the easiest of these ways is the press release.

Whether you are an online business or offline business a press release is an easy and affordable way to reach a wide audience. It works like this: You get the word out to someone influential and they get the word out to the masses. Instantly you’ve reached lots of people by making one contact. Of course it takes a teensy bit more work than that but you get the gist.

If you still underestimate the press release think of it this way. Try sending a quick email or note to said influential person with a short sales pitch about your business. Something like this: “Hi I own a business that sells household appliances and I was wondering if you’d do a story/blog post/mention of my business.”

Yeah, good luck with getting a response. Now instead how about a well-crafted press release that talks about how increasingly people were coming into your store asking for portable clotheslines because they were hanging their clothes to dry to save money on energy costs, and how your store picked up on the trend and is now the largest carrier of portable clotheslines, surpassing even your appliance sales. Well I can’t guarantee a big story but that may sound like a trend story to your local business reporter.

People the pitch is everything. It costs little to have a press release written up, it’s free if you do it yourself. Either way you take advantage of some affordable public relations. What are you waiting for? Think of an angle and get to pitching.

Probably the most common question of all questions on the Internet is “How do I get more traffic to my site?” Hands down. There is no higher question. And theories abound, some of them work and some, well frankly, are a waste of time. Some of them are free and some will cost you.

If you are a smaller business trying to handle your cyber pr campaign yourself you are looking for a way to increase traffic and keep it affordable. So here are a few ways to increase traffic to your site without affecting your bottom line.

1. Get a blog, add content and update frequently
You may have a website already and that’s great, but search engines love blogs. The constantly changing content encourages bots to crawl and index your site often. Customers and clients will find new and valuable information that keeps drawing them back. It also gives your company a more personal site. I tend to think of a traditional website like a veil, sure it provides information, but it’s static and there’s no depth and I feel like the company is somewhere behind that website I just don’t know. A blog on the other hand can give a little more personality, even if it’s just the style of writing.

2. Use social media
Create accounts on YouTube and Facebook and Twitter and Stumble and Digg and update them regularly. This works two-fold. Yes you’ll be more in touch with potential customers and clients, but also, you’ll be creating “outposts.” These outposts are your presence in cyberspace and the more your brand is out there and the more outposts you have the more people will find you and the more you will come up in search engines. Ultimately these outposts can drive people to your site.

3. Employ article marketing to get the word out
You are in a great position for this because you are obviously an expert in your field. Write some articles and submit then to article marketing sites. These sites will allow you to include a link to your site. These article marketing sites usually rank high in the search engines helping your site out since the article includes a link to you. Also these sites allow others to use the articles and since the articles include a link back to you you benefit again by more incoming links. For instance if you have a landscaping business or sell gardening supplies you can write articles on gardening and have them link back to your site.

4. Use blog and website directories
Do a search for any and all blog directories and website directories and forums in your field and join and list your site there. Again this will create more incoming links and those links will help you in website searches.

5. Guest post on other sites
Identify the “biggies” or expert bloggers in your field and ask them if you can write a guest post. Make sure you are ready with an idea, or even a finished post and any photos and ask them if they’d like to run it as a guest post. Give them a time frame to get back to you in and hold off before you submit to other bloggers. A well-placed guest post can bring you in front of thousands of targeted customers. Just make sure your site is in its best shape when the traffic starts coming your way.

I’ve expressed before, my thoughts on how not everyone is qualified to manage their own public relations. I still stand by that when it comes to just putting your best “writer” in charge and letting them go. Successfully managing your public relations campaign takes more than just someone who can string words together and make them sound pretty. So am I telling you you need to hire someone?

It makes sense to hire someone dedicated to managing your company’s reputation and getting attention without having to switch gears and create sales reports or re-stock shelves. And as affordable as hiring a PR pro can be, it’s not absolutely necessary. Do-it-yourself public relations can be just as successful.

Here are a few tips for do-it-yourselfers:

1. Remember the small things count
Send out press releases even for the little accomplishments your company achieves. Awards and accolades are worth mentioning and should be sent to media, blogged about, tweeted about and posted on your website and company materials.

2. Getting the word out doesn’t have to be fancy but should look professional
When you do send out those press materials they don’t have to be in expensive packaging, but do make sure they are clean, neat and organized.

3. Make sure you have both an online and offline presence
Just because you have a blog and a Facebook account doesn’t mean you can neglect your offline campaign. Keep those old-fashioned methods alive, like maintaining contact with annual postcards, phone calls or whatever ways you’ve traditionally stayed in contact with clientele. Conversely, don’t assume you don’t need a strong online presence, you’d be surprised at how many, and which customers are online these days.

4. Concentrate on the “relations” part of public relations
Whether you are sending out mailers, running promotions, or blasting Facebook posts you still need to create and maintain an actual relationship with your clients and potential customers. When they comment on your Facebook page be sure to reply. Get involved in forum discussions on subjects related to your business. Speak with them, not at them.

5. Create a written plan for your public relations
Creating and sticking to a plan will keep you on task with your public relations campaign and help keep it affordable. Your plan will keep you focused and allow you to manage the time you allot to public relations activities.

6. Consider hiring a consultant
Delegating some of the tasks to a PR pro can still be part of an affordable do-it-yourself public relations campaign. Most of all it can be a time saver and after all time is money.