You've Got to Spend Money to Make Money

It's an old saying, and one that's not necessarily true anymore. If you're trying to make money online; whether through photography, blogging, writing, or other means; you have to promote what you're doing. "If you build it, they will come" is really just wishful thinking. But when you're broke, paying for advertising isn't an option. So what promotion can be done for free?

Link trading is a good way to get started. Finding other sites in your niche and requesting to trade links with them offers more exposure for everyone and chances to compare your site to others, as well as receiving important feedback.

Forums are another free option, but remember not to spam. Signing up for several forums and just posting links to your site can get you ignored at best and mess up your credibility. Take the time to actually join some forums and become a part of the community. Like link trading, it's an opportunity to network.

Social networks like Digg and StumbleUpon are gaining popularity. However, like forums, you need to be careful not to spam. Make sure what you're trying to promote actually fits into a category or all you'll be doing is wasting time.

Free promotion can take a little more time to build traffic than paid advertising, but patience and dedication can make it work.