Anyone new to the internet marketing scene needs to have a firm grasp on internet marketing basics along with knowledge of at least a couple of simple methods for online success, most importantly: a simple marketing plan.
One thing I often see with new internet marketers is that they fly at it making a full-on marketing assault the likes of which are only equaled by an unattended egg-beater stuck on high speed… They complicate the heck out of everything and never get where they want (and need) to go. They end up wasting a terrific amount of time, energy, and effort, and more times than not within a month or two they will, in great frustration, declare, “This internet stuff doesn’t work!”
Well, it does work – but you need to know how to make it work. You can’t get ahead of yourself – fly at it willy-nilly and hope for the best. Internet marketing is like any other worthwhile endeavor – it requires a certain skill set and a plan of action. This article will address a simple marketing plan.
If you have decided to bring your product or service to market on the internet you need to understand that you’re going to need more than just a website to get the job done(not sure if you’ve noticed, but there are already a few websites dedicated to the promotion of products and services…). What approach will you take? How will you begin? What will you do to ensure that people who are in the market for your product or service will find your website?
The First Step in any plan is to determine your marketing budget. Yes – your budget. Marketing on the internet is business – not magic. Like any business, you will need some kind of operating and marketing budget. It doesn’t have to be huge, but enough that you can secure at lease the basic tools that you will require such as an autoresponder, a website and web hosting, and some means of driving traffic towards that site (marketing/advertising).
At the very least you will need to dedicate around $50/mo. for marketing tools. If you can’t afford $50 per month please do yourself an enormous favor and leave the idea of bringing your product/service online until you can. It’s absolutely futile to try to market online without an autoresponder, web site, and hosting.
Once you have determined your budget you can create a plan of action. To be perfectly frank, you can do a pretty good job marketing online with a monthly budget of $100. This will allow for a bit of paid advertising, your basic tools, and a few other goodies. Of course, a little more would better, but $100 will do to get you started.
Step Two: Create your site. I highly recommend a niche site that is dedicated to providing general information about products/services like yours to potential customers/clients. A niche site is an information based website that addresses a small piece of a larger market and is, in my opinion, the best way to generate a never ending stream of free organic search engine traffic.
To create a successful niche site you will need to write (or have them written for you) ten to twenty articles which you will post on your site. These articles must address the needs and concerns of your market and focus on the keywords that people use to try to find information about products/services like yours.
Be sure to put an opt-in form on your site and encourage people to subscribe to your list by offering them a valuable free report, e-book, or information pack. This is how you will build your business contact list. Be sure that whatever you offer has irresistible appeal to your website visitors – the more irresistible, the more likely visitors will be to opt-in.
The opt-in form on your site is attached to your autoresponder. Once someone opts-in, you are free to communicate with them for as long as they stay on your list.
Step Three: Start building your business contact list! There are many things that you can do to help drive traffic to your site. Social networking works extremely well, as does sending a few ads or putting together an AdWords type campaign that offers your free report or information pack. It’s also a great idea to submit related articles to some of the better article directories – these articles will result in links back to your site, which is great for both increasing traffic and improving your rank at the search engines. However you decide to generate traffic make sure that all roads lead back to your information based site.
Step Four: Reach out and touch someone! I’m sure you have heard many times that the money is in the list. Well, that is almost true, but it would be far more accurate to say that the money is in the relationship. Before your list becomes a source of income, you are going to have to invest some time and effort to developing relationships with the people on your list. Why? Because people are more likely to do business with people whom they know, like, and trust.
The articles on your site and the free information you send will help people to get to know and like you – and being a real live person reaching out to people from behind your autoresponder you will help people to trust you as well. Be sure to master the art of communication so that you can develop as many relationships as possible with the people who subscribe to your list.
Step Five: Where does the sale fit in? Well, once you have gained the trust and respect of your subscribers you can start making personal recommendations for products and services, or let them know exactly what it is that you do – and because your subscribers have come to know, like and trust you – they will pay attention to your recommendation and you will easily begin generating sales.
Step Six: Do It Again, and – Do it Again! For as long as you continue to do business online you will be constantly driving traffic towards your site, encouraging people to opt-in to your list, and forging strong relationships. You will continue to write fresh, insightful content for your site and master the art of communication so that you can solidify relationships in any environment, such as social communities, and forums. And don’t limit your efforts to online activities – dive into the off-line environment too! Believe it or not, there are even more people off-line and it’s a great idea to encourage them to visit your site as well.
Is it really that simple? Yes, it really is. It’s a simple plan that ensures you get the order of operations correct: the relationship comes first – the sale comes later (and that’s a marketing basic you can take to the bank!).
Before your online business can thrive you must become familiar with a handful of internet marketing basics and employ a simple marketing plan. The steps below summarize a very simple, effective plan that, when properly executed, will get excellent results every time:
Establish your budget
Create an information based niche website
Drive traffic to your site and build your contact list
Communicate and develop relationships with your contacts
Make recommendations
Do it again (times infinity)
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