The Birth of a Successful
Internet Business
Part ten of ten -- Your Internet Marketing Strategy
Developing and
implementing a strategic marketing plan is an essential part of your Internet
success.
Your plan must include both short-term and long-term strategies in order
to succeed.
Short-term marketing strategies are those that bring you a temporary boost
in traffic. Although these techniques are very important to your overall
plan, they are only a temporary traffic source and must not be solely relied
on.
Short-term marketing strategies include:
• Purchasing advertising
• Bulletin Boards
• Search Engines
Long-term marketing strategies are those that bring you a steady stream of
targeted traffic over time. These strategies will continue to produce results
even years down the road.
Long-term marketing strategies include:
• Opt-in Lists
• Freebies
• Content
By creating and implementing a balanced marketing strategy, using both short-term
and long-term strategies, you will drive a steady stream of targeted traffic
to your website.
Creating a successful Internet presence involves much more than designing
a great website or having the "perfect" product. Listing your website with
the Search Engines is your first step, however, you must not solely rely
on the Search Engines to bring you traffic. You must develop a complete
promotional strategy and work it every day.
-> Search Engines:
A significant amount of website traffic originates from the major Search
Engines. Most Internet users will go to a Search Engine, type in a keyword
phrase and look through the top 10 - 20 results. Most of the time, they'll
find what they're looking for in the first 10 results. The percentage of
click throughs is even smaller. Listing near the top and grabbing the attention
of your target audience is the top priority.
Your first step will be to optimize your web pages to the best of your ability.
Visit
http://www.searchenginewatch.com
for a complete overview of the Search Engines and optimization.
-> Opt-in List
As soon as your website is up and running, you should immediately begin building
an opt-in list. An opt-in list is a list or database containing email addresses
of individuals who have chosen to receive your email messages. Your messages
may be web site updates, product updates or an ezine. They provide you with
a direct line of communication with potential customers and enable you to
promote your
products or services. For further information, visit the following web address:
http://www.web-source.net/ezine_basics.htm
-> Organizing Your Strategies
A good way to organize your promotions is to set up a web page, for your
personal use, which will contain your complete strategy. This page should
be stored on your hard drive and not uploaded to your server. Your page should
contain four sections:
• Daily Promotions
• Weekly Promotions
• Monthly Promotions
• Miscellaneous Promotions
Each of these four sections should contain the appropriate information for
each of your promotional resources such as website name, user ID, password
(if applicable) and hyperlinked web addresses for each website you plan to
use for your promotions. This will enable you to open your web page each
day and visit the sites you have listed.
-> Daily Promotions
Link Exchanges:
Exchange links with websites similar to yours, but not in competition.
Discussion Boards:
Visit some popular discussion boards and share your expertise. Although you
may not advertise on discussion boards, you can include your signature file
with your post.
Visit the following web address for a complete listing of some of the top
discussion boards:
http://www.web-source.net/web/Discussion_Forums/
-> Weekly Promotions
Your weekly promotions should consist of placing a paid ezine advertisement
and/or arranging ad swaps with fellow publishers.
Visit the following web address for a complete listing of hundreds of publishers
and contact information for advertising.
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/t.cgi?l=doe
To organize your ad placements and swaps, place the publication names, publisher
names, ad dates and hyperlinked web addresses within your weekly promotion
list.
-> Monthly Promotions
Your monthly promotions should include writing an article in the area of
your expertise and promotional exchanges.
To organize your monthly promotions, place the names and hyperlinked web
addresses for each of your promotional resources within your monthly promotions
section.
Writing Articles:
Writing articles that may be freely published with your bylines is one of
the best promotional methods online. Your article may be published in hundreds
of ezines, on websites or even in magazines.
Visit the following web address for further information:
http://www.web-source.net/write.htm
Promotional
Exchanges:
Cross promoting is a powerful technique used by many Internet marketers to
increase the exposure of their products, services or publications. You simply
decide what type of promotional exchange you would be interested in and contact
fellow marketers to discuss an exchange.
The most effective technique used in cross promotions is recommendations.
By providing each other with a personal recommendation you can increase your
response rates tremendously.
Here are some popular cross promoting techniques you can use
to boost your business:
• Ezine Ad Swaps
• Subscription Exchanges
• Ezine Column Swaps
• Byline Exchanges
• Signature Exchanges
• Ebook Exchanges
• Private Web Rings
• Ride Alongs
• Upsells
• Free Bonuses
• Forum and List Moderation
-> Miscellaneous Promotions
Promoting your website offline is an often overlooked way to increase your
traffic. Your web address should appear on all of the following:
• Business cards
• Letterhead
• Envelopes
• Receipts
• Invoices
• Sales letters
• Brochures
• Flyers
• Post cards
• Fax documents
• T-shirts
• Pens
• Pencils
• Mouse Pads
• Phone book listing
• Voice mail message
• Newspaper/magazine ads
• Vehicle
Below, are several resources to assist you:
IDit Plates - Put your web address on your vehicle.
http://www.iditplates.net/new/2711/index.html
Magnetic Signs - Full size magnetic signs for your vehicle.
http://www.magneticsigns.com
Visit iPrint for all of your printing needs.
http://www.iprint.com
Place ads in newspapers, magazines, on the radio, or on TV. Visit the following
websites for a complete list of resources to assist you:
Gebbie Press
http://www.gebbieinc.com/
NewsDirectory Newspapers
http://www.newsdirectory.com
Newspapers Online
http://www.newspapers.com/
For even more promotional products, PromoCity can add your logo to any one
of over 500,000 items.
http://www.promocity.com
Press Releases:
CanadaOne provides a free interactive press release builder.
http://www.canadaone.com/promote/pressrelease.html
Gebbie Press provides over 10,000 links to print and
electronic media on the Internet.
http://www.canadaone.com/promote/pressrelease.html
Dr. Kevin Nunley will write your press release and send it to 5,000 media
contacts.
http://www.drnunley.com
Automated Press Releases will enable you to send your press release to over
10,000 media. You write your press release or they'll write it for you.
http://www.automatedpr.com
Once you've created your promotional web page, open it within your browser
and add it to your favorite places or bookmark it for easy daily access.
Set up a specific day for your weekly and monthly promotions and perform
your miscellaneous promotions as needed.
Although these promotional strategies are far from complete, they provide
you with a basic overview to get you started.
Once you've implemented your promotional strategy and continuously work it
each day, you'll be amazed with the results of your efforts. Consistency
will be the key to driving massive traffic to your site.
Copyright © Shelley
Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design
Mastery.
http://www.webdesignmastery.com
And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book.
http://www.ebookstarter.com
Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips
and receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing
Strategies."
http://www.web-source.net
You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print,
in your ebook or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author
bylines are included.
Part Nine
More Articles
|
|
