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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
Regardless of how good your products, services or web sites are, you are not going to be successful in the world of online business without using at least some fundamental online marketing tactics. This is because marketing is how you make customers, clients and visitors aware of your online business.
It is also how you persuade them to keep returning to your site to make purchases from you. Here are 5 Internet marketing tips for promoting your online business that are either free or inexpensive:
1. Offer your visitors something that is free. Regardless of what type of online business you have, you can create an e-book, short report, white paper, software application, collection of articles or something else that you can give away for free. You can either create this yourself or have a ghostwriter or web developer create it for you. No matter what, it will still be a free, easy marketing tactic. Another idea is to use free giveaways as an reason for visitors to sign up for your email newsletter.
2. Offer an opt-in email newsletter. This simple Internet marketing tool you can provide for free if you handle the mailings yourself. It will still be quite inexpensive even if you choose to use an email management service to track your results. The key to success here is focusing on your customer instead of on yourself. Therefore you may wish to offer an incentive such as a free e-book for signing up. Then you will want to make sure that you offer new information often that is of interest to your readers so that they will keep coming back.
3. Offer an incentive for repeat business because it is easier to keep customers then to get new visitors and customers. It is a good idea to offer a small discount on future orders, and to give advance notice of new products or services or provide a special members only area of your web site that can only be viewed by repeat visitors.
4. Offer something that is newsworthy. This will help you to make money by keeping your company’s name in front of your visitors and customers. An inexpensive way of doing this is through press releases. It can even be cost effective to hire a public relations firm or writer to write one for you. There are also a lot of free or inexpensive online press release distribution sites that will get your news listed in the Search Engines. Plus, it is free to email a copy of your press release to relevant journalists and bloggers.
5. Offer your opinions via a review. It does not matter what your niche is or what type of online business you run, there is something or someone that you can write a review about. These things include books, products, podcasts, seminars, blogs or other web sites that are not directly in competition with you. This usually will not cost you anything and yet you can send the review that you write to the site, publisher or manufacturer’s public relations person or owner that is related to the review that you have written.
Most of the time these people will then add your review to their web site’s press section. This will oftentimes lead to high quality back links which in turn will help you with your Search Engine Optimization efforts. Sometimes it can also lead to more exposure for your web site. This is especially true if your review is eventually converted into a “top picks” series, yearly or monthly rankings or something similar.
Each of these Internet marketing tips starts with the word “offer” because oftentimes effective marketing means looking past yourself and your online business and putting your focus on the needs of your target market instead. Your visitors and customers will realize and appreciate the fact that you have given them extra value. Of course, it will also help your online business stay fresh in their minds. So, give a little and see just how much you will get in return.
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