Marketing Your Business Online—The Smart Way

Archive for October, 2008

Howevermuch people are attracted to the idea of marketing their businesses online, the lingering doubts about their skills, or, as in most cases, the fear of not knowing how to go about the job could be a demoralizing factor.

Fortunately, the numerous resources available to learn the principles, techniques and strategies of marketing online are great encouragements for anyone willing to try their hand in online marketing. What is more, most of these resources are available for free.

So one can get information on website design, list building, traffic generation, search engine optimization, online advertising, info product creation and launching, etc in any or a combination of the following formats:

1.E-books,

2.Audio cds,

3.How to vedios

4.Off-line published books

5.Teleseminars

6.Coaching Programs

7.Home-study courses

While the vast array of information available can set one’s mind at rest about the learning opportunities, the major problem is in selecting the right information for educating oneself about marketing one’s business online. This is where a coach or a mentor will prove very useful.

Most newcomers, in their quest to acquire the knowledge they feel they need for their business, end up buying more information products than they really need. This leads to:

1.Squandering of money which could be better invested in their online businesses for productive purposes.
2.Information overload which creates unwanted confusion in the mind.
3.Frustration since the road to success is not clear.
4.Launching the business without vision, clear goals, strategies and the right tools.
5.Quitting the scene even before starting.

As you can see, the resources are plenty, but, to benefit from them requires either prior knowledge of the basics, or, guidance from someone who has been through the mill.

Even if it means paying for the services of this person, who could be a coach or a mentor, it will avoid thoughtless expenditures on all kinds of internet marketing programs that promise to teach you the methods to market your business online. It pays to be wise before the event!

———————————————-xxxx—————————————————-

Is it not really amazing that you have , at your disposal, so many options available for exchanging communications with your subscribers, customers, vendors, JV partners and business colleagues, when you are running an Online business? Have a look at these:

1. E-mails

2. Pod casts

3. Web casts,

4. Forums,

5. Chat rooms

6. Message boards

7. Blog Posts

8. Squidoo lenses

9. Teleseminars and webinars

10. Audiograms[e-cards]

11. RSS

12. Social book marking sites

Don’t forget, this is in addition to the “normal” facilities like Telephones, Mobile phones, Faxes, Snail mail, Courier services etc.

All the  facilities mentioned above may not come handy for every type of communication. Each one will be more effective than the rest for one specific application. As an internet marketer one should be aware of these tools that are available for exchanging communications with other parties

In the previous post it was seen how it is possible to reach  large groups of customers at every nook and corner of the globe, which is perhaps the greatest benefit offered by the internet to the online businesses. An understanding of the above communication tools will help the internet marketer to leverage the advantages of each of them to the maximum potential.

E-mails, Pod casts,web casts and audiograms enable information to be sent to a large number of recipients in one stroke. So these tools are best utilised for these activities. Podcasts and Webcasts are usually limited to shorter messages because of the huge bandwidth they eat up.

Chat rooms, message boards and forums enable exchange of information, ideas and brainstorming. These are limited to interaction with smaller groups.

Teleseminars and webinars are platforms for a limited number of persons to interact on some chosen subjects. Participation in teleseminars requires attending the events in person at the venue and the attendant costs are fairly large.  Webinars, on the otherhand, o can be attended by sitting at home and logging into the computer. These are mostly free but in some cases an entry fee will have to be paid.

—————————————————————–