Without effective online marketing, businesses lose their competitive advantage. Internet marketing is crucial to any business, but especially to home based businesses. You don't have to be an internet guru to launch a successful online marketing campaign. Here are the basics:
Website The best way to market online is to set up a website and promote it. A website is an effective way to market and sell your products or services online, and having a presence on the web is necessary for most businesses who want to reach customers globally. You need to have a professional looking website with well written content to be successful. Websites that aren't professional looking and are full of spelling and grammatical errors drive customers away (and leave them thinking that the business is not credible or legitimate). You don't have to spend lots of money, and you can build one yourself using free publishing tools such as WordPress. You should submit your website to search engines like Yahoo!, Google and Bing, and free directories such as DMOZ. You should also announce the launch of your website and business in a press release that you submit to article and news sites that will distribute it for you for free or for pay. Email Marketing One of the most basic and effective online marketing techniques is to build a list of existing and potential customers who want to hear from you through email alerts or newsletters. This is known as an opt-in list because subscribers choose to join your list rather than you collecting their email addresses and sending them emails without their permission (known as spam). An email alert can be as simple as announcing sales, offering discounts, informing them of a new podcast episode, or asking them to take action. A newsletter is more in depth and can include articles, news, tips and current events. What you do is ask people if they would like to join your mailing list to receive an alert or newsletter using a form. There are many free and paid forms online that you can put on your website so that customers can fill in their names and email addresses. When they subscribe to receive emails, you will be notified and the next time you send out an email to your list, they will automatically receive it. You can market your own and other people's products and services to your list. Blogs A blog is an interactive website that's easy to update. The content you write are referred to as posts and are listed in chronological order. Visitors can leave comments which you can respond to. Blogging is a popular method of online marketing. Businesses can interact with their markets in a conversational way, giving blog visitors the opportunity to know and trust them. Search engines reward blogs and websites that have a blog with higher page ranks because the content is continually updated. The higher your page rank, the more visits you'll receive online, which will result in more sales. When it comes to online marketing, businesses have the option of hiring someone who offers internet marketing services. However, whether you choose to market yourself online or hire someone to do it, you have to take the time to understand the basics of online marketing. It will help you increase your presence on the internet, which will result in more business.
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Daphne Mallory, Esq. is the co-owner of Mallory Writing Services and has written more than 100 articles helping home based business owners and entrepreneurs start and market their business. You can learn more about her here.
