14 Keys to Effective Online Marketing – Part I

Have you jumped on the Internet Marketing/Social Networking bandwagon yet? If not, it’s high time you did.

When I first started using Internet Marketing tools to grow my business a few years ago, I wasn’t sure all this Online Marketing stuff was destined to stick around. It could’ve just been the next great fad.

While the tools keep changing–and some do prove to be nothing more than a flash in the pan–it’s become clear that Internet Marketing and Social Networking are here to stay. In fact, the Web provides a boatload of highly effective and inexpensive ways to market your small business… Once you learn the basics and get a good plan in place that is.

Because, especially in the beginning, Online Marketing can be confusing and overwhelming to say the least. Between email marketing, online article submissions, Social Networking, blogging, Twitter, Social Bookmarking, Squidoo, and all the other options out there it’s easy to waste time, spin your wheels, or just get frustrated and quit.

So in the next 3 posts I’m going to cover the fundamentals of Online Marketing. And explain a bit more about how all these tools can work together to drive traffic to your Website and grow your business.

14 Keys to Effective Online Marketing

#1 – No single marketing tactic (online or off) is going to grow your business all by itself. Instead you want to use at least 3 or 4 together to accomplish your goals. This means creating a plan.

For example, I use a combination of article marketing, social networking, blogging (including audio and video), email marketing, social bookmarking and micro-blogging (IE Twitter) to drive traffic to my Website. Then email and direct mail to stay in touch.

#2 – You need an online hub you can drive prospects to who want more information. This can be a traditional Website or a blog site.

If you don’t already have a Website, get one. And consider having a blog site built instead of a traditional HTML site.

Basically, blog sites are built on a blog backend or platform (WordPress is the industry standard and leader currently). They may have static pages like a traditional Website, but they typically also include a blog you update regularly with new content.

The benefits of blog sites are:

> You get better search engine rankings because blog sites are automatically set up to be indexed

> You have a way to communicate new info to prospects and clients regularly

> They are typically cheaper and easier to build as most are at least started using a template even if that template gets customized.

If you already have a Website, keep it. You can always add a blog to it and get many of the same benefits.

#3 – You gotta stay in touch! While initially Online Marketing is all about pulling people in, not pushing them to buy, eventually you do need to take action. That means coming up with ways to keep contacting them and offering valuable information.

Typically that means offering a no-cost report or audio in exchange for their email addresses, then following up with email newsletters. I’ll go into more detail about this next week.

#4 – Social networking sites like LinkedIn, Biznik, FastPitch, FaceBook, YouTube, and more are terrific tools for getting your name out there and driving people back to your hub site. And each one is a bit different.

Different sites let you republish your blog content on your profile, submit articles to the site, participate in Q & A forums, or upload videos. The key is finding the sites your prospects are using. You can do this simply by Googling “social networking+your industry”.

Once you’ve found some sites that look promising, sign up for a free account and “lurk” for a bit to see what other people have posted and how folks are participating. When you feel good, jump in and play.

A few tips: You can put the same profile information on all your social networking sites if it makes sense. Most people are only going to connect with you on one or two sites anyway, and consistent messaging is a good thing.

Be sure to include links back to your main Website or blog.

Don’t sign up for more than 3-4 sites. To get the most from social networking, just like with live networking you need to show up regularly and participate. Join too many and you’ll be overwhelmed by the time suck.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to marketing your small business online. Next week, I’ll cover even more specifics. Stay tuned…

Thoughts, ideas or suggestions on this topic? Please do share by leaving a comment below!

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[tags] Small Business, Marketing, online, social networking, Internet, stacy karacostas, tips, video, website, blog [/tags]