Top Internet Marketing Strategies For Business Owners

If you are interested in making money online, you need to have your internet marketing strategies in place. These strategies ensure that your online marketing efforts are coordinated and planned towards achieving set goals rather than being random acts of online promotion.

The main objectives of various internet marketing strategies are to:

- Inform customers about your company.
- Do research about customer preferences and behavior of current as well as potential customers.
- Sell your products or services to your customers.

Here is a list of top online marketing strategies that have been quite effective for several successful online businesses:

1. Website: Most internet marketing strategies depend on having an effective web site design for your business. Your website is your online brochure that is the first interaction your customers have with your business. Therefore, it is very important that you have a high quality web design that provides credibility to your business and makes a great first impression. You must choose a domain name carefully making sure that it is easy to remember and at the same time stands out in the crowd. You must also select a web hosting service that is reliable and robust.

2. Online Sales Pitch: After you have a great web design ready, what you need is great content which includes text, images and/ or video content. Your website must have persuasive sales content otherwise most of the online visitors who come to your website will fail to get converted into paying customers. Your other internet marketing strategies that bring customers to your website will be futile if your online sales pitch is not effective. Make sure that you are able to gather personal information of your customers who do not buy immediately for a follow-up sales pitch.

3. Search Engine: Next, in the list of your online marketing strategies is to have a search engine strategy in place that helps drive visitors to your website. You must identify the keywords which have high search volumes but relatively little competition. Then, you must optimize the content and code of your website for these keywords, so that your business is ranked high on the chosen keywords. This should be followed by submitting your website to various search engines and monitoring your rankings. You will need to work continuously on improving your search engine rankings by using modern SEO techniques and adding high quality unique content.

4. Automate Your Marketing: It is important that you automate the process of online marketing efforts after you have established your web presence. When you automate your online marketing activities, you do not need to dedicate a lot of time for routine activities. Automation will not only ensure that you are able to convert maximum number of potential customers but will also give you ample time for researching new marketing ideas and reaching out to new customer segments. In order to automate your marketing efforts, you will need to ensure that most of your regular contact with your potential customers is automated through the use of automatic newsletter campaigns and auto-responders.

Of all the internet marketing strategies discussed here, the automation strategy is one that differentiates between businessmen who are successful in creating several different online business ventures and those who keep struggling to keep one online business going.

Maryjean Howe is a professional internet marketer and business coach. She works with people to help them start a business and continues to help them use training materials to effectively run a successful business. Maryjean has worked with people from all different backgrounds to help them start a business without any experience.

By Maryjean Howe

Internet Marketing Cycle of Communication

I've spent a lot of time talking with small business owners about the importance of setting up a blog, using social media, and sending newsletters to their mailing list. The most common response is a physical response - the shoulders droop, a sigh escapes from their lips, their eyes close in exhaustion. I can see immediately that the mere thought of trying to add those elements to their routine is simply overwhelming.

So I immediately launch into my "mothering" mode, comforting them and telling them it's all right, we all feel that way - but YOU CAN DO IT! Then once I have their spirits lifted and their attention... I give them a rundown on my Online Communication Cycle Strategy. And once they understand that - hey, this can be automated - they are on board with the idea of creating an online communication strategy for their business.

By Melissa Shea

So what is my Online Communication Cycle Strategy?

Basically it all starts with a single blog entry. So what can you do with a SINGLE blog entry?

1. A blog entry can automatically feed your Facebook Fan Page status which feeds your Twitter status.
2. A blog entry can be used for a newsletter article.
3. A blog entry creates content for search engines to index and bring traffic.
4. A blog entry can be submitted to Article Directories.

Ok - that makes sense, but how do I make time for a blog entry?

1. Set a plan to write one blog entry a week. It's OK to start small - you just need to start!
2. All week, keep your eyes open for content that is coming to you - industry newsletters, news reports related to your industry, customer problems you've solved, new products, company achievements.
3. Once a week, pick one of these items and just write about it. It doesn't have to be long, just tell your audience what you tell your clients. I bet you're sharing this information all week long! Just write it down!

Of course, now you have to actually promote what you've written. This may seem a little time-consuming at first, but that's because it's new to you. Once you make this a part of your weekly routine (or better yet, delegate it), it will be easy and you'll start seeing results!

To get your Online Communication Cycle Strategy up and running you'll need to put the following in place:

1. Set up a blog (of course). Use WordPress.org code to implement a blog on your current web site - do not use a the free version because it does not bring you search engine rankings for your web site.
2. Setup a Facebook Fan Page (for business) and a Twitter account.
3. Use the Facebook Notes feature to Import a Blog to pull in your blog article and post it to your status.
4. Link your Facebook account to your Twitter account so that when your blog article posts to your Facebook status, it will also post to Twitter!
5. If you're article is well-written and contains useful content, submit it to article directories. Other's will pick the article up, put it on their web site and bring you incoming links and traffic. The better the article and more timely the information, the more it will get shared.
6. Use the article as the content for your next newsletter to your mailing list. Add info about upcoming specials, coupons, resource links, etc, and ta da! You have a newsletter!

Obviously you'll need to feel comfortable with your technical skills to set all this up yourself. If that is beyond your comfort zone - not to worry - sites such as Coffeeshopreneur.com can help for very affordable prices. The important thing is that you get this setup so you can get started promoting your wonderful services and establishing yourself as an expert in your field. It's critical. There really isn't a choice in this new world we live in. The longer you wait, the further behind your business will be from your competitors.  

Web and marketing strategist Melissa Shea is co-founder of Coffeeshopreneur (http://www.coffeeshopreneur.com), a site devoted entirely to helping internet entrepreneurs find the resources they need to build their online business and live the internet entrepreneur lifestyle that brings freedom, fun, wealth and contribution! Coffeeshopreneur.com provides a community where members can learn, share, and connect with like-minded entrepreneurs.

Over the years, Melissa built a reputation as a unique professional who could not only design a web site, but could use marketing strategy to develop it into a money-making tool for her clients. Representing clients in hundreds of different industries, Melissa developed a wealth of business experience and honed her instincts for marketing a message that sells.

In recent years Melissa has embraced the gigantic leaps of opportunity for business owners to cleverly and easily use internet and social networking technology to start and build their business. She relishes her ability to democratize the business world for small start-ups and help them compete with "the big boys" using clever, inexpensive techniques.

Fake Online Opportunities You Must Avoid

If you don't know these things before you start making money online, you could be in for a world of hurt and disappointment. You will waste your time, lose money, and you will likely quit before anything good happens. Here's what you need to know so this won't happen to you.

A lot of people fall for traps and scams when they start. It's hard not too-they are everywhere online. Things you should avoid are multi-level marketing schemes, Google cash related products, and pyramid schemes.

Multi-level marketing schemes usually promise you great payouts if you get in early and build your downline. This generally doesn't work. Instead, what will happen is that you will waste a lot time and effort.

Some tell-tale signs of a MLM scam are 'guaranteed income', 'we will build your downline for you', and crazy claims about 'miracle products'. Other indicators are if you only make money by signing new members or if there is no actual product to sell.

Googlecash products, like Google Money Tree, are well known scams online. There are many fake stories about people using it to make money. However, these generally don't work and they often have hidden monthly fees around $70 or more.

Pyramid or Ponzi schemes are also something you should avoid at all costs. These are completely unsustainable business models that rely on new people buying into the system. Once new members stop coming, the bubble bursts, and a lot of people lose money. You can tell whether or not an opportunity is a pyramid scam the same way you would for multi-level marketing.

The saddest part about all the false hope these schemes are selling, is that they give people the false impression that most opportunities online are fake. This couldn't be farther from the truth.

The reality is that there are many legitimate ways to make consistent profits, and some of them have amazing income potential. The best place to start would be through affiliate marketing. This is a proven, safe and ethical way to make money.

In affiliate marketing, you sell other peoples products and earn 50% or more per sale. A lot of these products come with marketing material and instructions on how to sell. All you have to do is follow simple steps.

Places like Clickbank.com have many proven products available for you to sell. However, to be extremely successful with affiliate marketing, you will probably have to purchase some guides or training courses, which will give you a shortcut and ensure you have long term success.

An even easier way would be to do paid surveys online. Here, companies pay you to offer your opinion. A great place to start is at SurveyFarm.com which lists the top survey companies for you to choose from.

The fact is, there is no better time to work from home and build your financial future online. However, keep your eyes open for the above scams and stick to the legitimate methods. If you do that, the sky is the limit!

By Jesse Grant and Bill Maloney