The Birth of a
Successful Internet Business
Part ten of ten --Your Internet Marketing Strategy
By Shelley Lowery
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.
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