I know the internet is a powerful marketing tool, but there's just so much out there it's hard to keep track of! How do you use the internet to attract customers to your business?
I recently found the website www.Mapyeti.com which will let you list your business for free and list any sales and specials you have going on. Really cool site. I'm sure there are more gems like this out there, so share your favorites!
BusinessPlanner | Window Shopper |
12/8/2009 - 9:50 am
We created a free information site that would be more desirable for other sites to link to. The more relevant sites that link to your site, the higher in the search engines you will be listed. If you search for 'business plan' in Google or Bing you will see www.BusinessPlans.org listed on the first page. This is our free resource site.
What search terms will prospective buyers search for when searching for what it is you sell? Can you create a resource site with free beneficial information and links to other sites? If so, you can market it to other sites to get them to link to you. This is the cheapest method and very effective way to use the Internet to market your business.
I wish you great success.
Message Edited by NicoleD on 12-10-2009 05:39 PM
We created a free information site that would be more desirable for other sites to link to. The more relevant sites that link to your site, the higher in the search engines you will be listed. If you search for 'business plan' in Google or Bing you will see www.BusinessPlans.org listed on the first page. This is our free resource site. What search terms will prospective buyers search for when searching for what it is you sell? Can you create a resource site with free beneficial information and links to other sites? If so, you can market it to other sites to get them to link to you. This is the cheapest method and very effective way to use the Internet to market your business. I wish you great success.Message Edited by NicoleD on 12-10-2009 05:39 PM
Forums within your niche are great because they can do two things at once, attract interested clients while also providing SEO benefits.
I think a lot of people forget that sometimes the best way to help yourself is to help someone else. If you create good content, people will help you in return, or trust you with their business.
Hi Bob,
Online marketing techniques vary among different businesses. What type of business do you own?
Do you have a Web site for your business? This should be something to consider as soon as you can. Then you will be able to market your Web site domain where you showcase your business products and/or services.
Check out this list of articles on Internet Marketing Strategies and Techniques.
That will give you a BIG headstart in understanding online marketing techniques.
Hope this helps. Best of luck to you!
Message Edited by NicoleD on 09-02-2009 05:24 PM
You are so very right that there are many ways to market online - websites, forums, blogs, social networking, etc.
The things I know about all of these is that it takes times and continuous effort. I would suggest you try a few things (website with SEO or blogging or social networking). Try them for a while and see what works. Keep the things that work for you and scrap the others. Also, keeping trying new thing - try article writing or ebooks. When you nfind some thing or things that work - keep at them. While they work right now - things can change and your efforts should change with them.
Lastly, any marketing comes down to knowing your customers. If you know what they want and need as find out where they get their information - then it is easy to put the right messgae in the right place. Thus, you might try better understanding your target customers before embarking on a marketing campaign - thus, you won't waste a lot of time and money on things that will not work.
Also, when you find the right medium to use (forums, soical networks, etc) - make sure you follow the rules of these mediums (written and un written rules) - this way you do not alienate your potential customers.
Wow, what a good question! I realize you asked it some time ago, but hope this answer finds you at a good time :-)
Some think of the internet as a giant fishing hole and with the correct bait (and in some cases a net) you find loads of new customers. The reality is that it depends on your business. You didn't mention your target audience so I will be a bit more generic in this answer. However the more specific your target, the more calculated your Internet marketing strategy will become.
In general terms, BusPlanMaster does a great job of breaking down your specific Internet related target strategies. In fact, this answer does a nice job of referencing the options that we give our clients every day.
What I see missing in the replies to your question is the use of an interactive Back Office management solution to manage your contacts. The key to your Internet site should be to create viral sales opportunities from those people you already know. YOu need to be able to categorize your contacts and keep in touch with them regularly.
My suggestion here is a solution like Salesforce.com or any online contact management system to allow you to divide your contacts by groups and allow you to promote services to each group by email blasts, thereby laser focusing your marketing efforts. We have a chart on our website that references real estate marketing transactions completed by marketing segment. My assumption is that most businesses have the same percentage of sales results from the Internet.
Make sure to contact all your customers by phone to get their email address and interests. You NEED to call them, they will not just answer an email survey. You will find that if you offer them discounts or specials, that they will become your biggest MEGAPHONES to tell people they know about your offerings.
Your website will then become your retail store on the internet to trusted past customers and because you are marketing to people you already know, they will be more apt to buy, and more importantly refer you to their friends...
This brings up a whole new topic with social marketing; i.e. Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the social networking channels that are developing. I'm sure we'll cover this in another post at some time.
I hope this helps, take care!
s.
Message Edited by NicoleD on 11-30-2009 04:47 PM
laptopbob,
There are really great ways to market your business online. Of course I am partial to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but there are plenty of other ways (also free) to announce your product or service to the world!
PPC Marketing - Simply put you pay for each time a customer clicks on your text and/or image ad which is tracked using onling tools partial to ad network. The most popular is Google.
Social Media Marketing - This is new, and to a certain extent free. This concept is simple. You engage with online communities full of potential customers to help generate sales and build reputation. Most popular sites are facebook, twitter, and myspace. There are many others out there. Here is a great resource with some social media marketing information. http://www.socialmediamarketing.com/about
Search Engine Optimization - I know of a great company for this! But i will stick to the text book definition found from wikipedia:SEO - 'is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via 'natural' or un-paid ('organic' or 'algorithmic') search results as opposed to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion. ' Found Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
As stated in other parts on the business.gov community you can also try these free methods to drive traffic and market your business online:
Write a press release
Submit your business listing to Google maps
Create social media profiles on facebook and myspace etc.
Join forums!
Comment on blogs
Submit yoru site to DMOZ
Share your photos online
If you have products (for the rest of the community) submit your products to
Google Base
Start twittering!
Post on classifed ad sites! :)
I hope this helps!
Message Edited by ChristineL on 12-04-2009 10:02 AM
laptopbob, There are really great ways to market your business online. Of course I am partial to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but there are plenty of other ways (also free) to announce your product or service to the world! PPC Marketing - Simply put you pay for each time a customer clicks on your text and/or image ad which is tracked using onling tools partial to ad network. The most popular is Google. Social Media Marketing - This is new, and to a certain extent free. This concept is simple. You engage with online communities full of potential customers to help generate sales and build reputation. Most popular sites are facebook, twitter, and myspace. There are many others out there. Here is a great resource with some social media marketing information. http://www.socialmediamarketing.com/about Search Engine Optimization - I know of a great company for this! But i will stick to the text book definition found from wikipedia:SEO - 'is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via 'natural' or un-paid ('organic' or 'algorithmic') search results as opposed to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion. ' Found Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization As stated in other parts on the business.gov community you can also try these free methods to drive traffic and market your business online: Write a press releaseSubmit your business listing to Google mapsCreate social media profiles on facebook and myspace etc.Join forums!Comment on blogsSubmit yoru site to DMOZ Share your photos onlineIf you have products (for the rest of the community) submit your products toGoogle BaseStart twittering!Post on classifed ad sites! :) I hope this helps!Message Edited by ChristineL on 12-04-2009 10:02 AM
I agree too that internet is a big tool for advertising your business :)
There are many sites like the one you attached, you can find them by google ;)
I believe that the most effective way to advertise your business online, is via forums (without spamming..), where people can ask, can be informed in seconds, can disscus andshare experiences and opinions..
laptopbob - thanks for starting this converstation! :-) I hope both new and established business owners take a moment to share their experiences in online marketing.
Message Edited by NicoleD on 08-11-2009 10:34 AM
BusPlanMaster | Window Shopper |
8/14/2009 - 1:26 am
Show Replied Text…
Hi Bob, Online marketing techniques vary among different businesses. What type of business do you own? Do you have a Web site for your business? This should be something to consider as soon as you can. Then you will be able to market your Web site domain where you showcase your business products and/or services. Check out this list of articles on Internet Marketing Strategies and Techniques. That will give you a BIG headstart in understanding online marketing techniques. Hope this helps. Best of luck to you!Message Edited by NicoleD on 09-02-2009 05:24 PM
I have two businesses. One of them is totally online -- that is the business plan site in my sig file (below). So, of course, that is all done on the internet.
My other business is coaching people as they build their websites. I use my online website to introduce myself and my business and invite them to contact me. People don't pay hundreds or thousands of dollars without feeling pretty comfortable with a coach, so a real conversation is essential. The website acts as the funnel for the telephone calls, which then become clients.
In working with retail clients, we have discovered that websites are very symbiotic with brick and mortar businesses. Nearly every single type of business. It is so popular to have both a live business AND a website business, that it has been dubbed 'click and brick businesses'. This is an increasingly popular business model. Let me give an example.
Suppose you had a bookstore focusing on romance novels. You are physically located in a nice shopping area. But no matter how nice your area, your business is accessible only to a limited number of people each day. Your website can accomplish a number of very powerful things for your business.
1. You can create an online community of readers of romance novels. Some of them will be people who visit your brick and mortar business, and some of your community will come solely from the online world.
2. You can stretch the reach of the products you sell in your store by offering them on the web. You will be amazed at how far that marketing arm can reach.
3. You can expand your marketing arm even further by offering even more products on your website. Your website can be expanded indefinitely, so you can offer slews more stuff than you can offer in your brick and mortar store. You could offer
~ Movies based on your romance books;
~ Posters from those movies;
~ Ebooks on how to write romance novels;
~ Bunches of stuff. If you had a collection of pirate stories, you could set up an eBay store on your website offering pirate stuff;
~ You could be an affiliate for Amazon.com, which offers an amazing array of products;
~ You could even offer to edit romance novels (for a price), and offer the best ones for sale on your site.
That's just the beginning. I have yet to work with a brick and mortar business that does not a promising future on the web.
And it is not just retail sites that this applies to. Every single topic that I can think of can promote and sell things on the web. Some are more successful than others, but everything is possible.
The web is truly an amazing medium for us all. I hope you take some more time to explore what it can do for your business and your future.
MaryAnnBusiness Plan MasterStart and Finance Your Business Now
---This post was edited to remove a commercial link. Read our discussion policies for more Community best practices.
susiautorepair | Performer | 2/5/2010 - 10:59 am
BusinessPlanner | Window Shopper | 12/8/2009 - 9:50 am
MarkAse | Contributor | 12/8/2009 - 1:15 pm
Greenerbilling | Performer | 8/13/2009 - 10:37 am
phanio | Contributor | 8/15/2009 - 9:05 am
1parkplace | Performer | 11/29/2009 - 10:48 pm
linkerati | Performer | 12/3/2009 - 6:08 pm
Jack_P | Creator | 12/6/2009 - 1:28 pm
NicoleD | Former Moderator | 8/11/2009 - 10:34 am
BusPlanMaster | Window Shopper | 8/14/2009 - 1:26 am
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