Starting a business online can be one of the easiest things you can do. It doesn’t take much money, and with all of the free software available, it is very easy to automate every aspect of your business.
Once you start to market, suddenly it’s like you’ve been thrown into the Wild, Wild, West. There’s no structure to the organization of the Internet, and if your customers can’t find you, you won’t make any money from your business.
Although you will find there are as many opinions on online marketing as there are marketers, here are four methods you can use to build traffic to your site and make money.
If you’re starting on a shoestring, you’ll still be able to build traffic without spending much money.
1. Write articles.
As a small business owner, you may not think you are a writer. If you plan to do everything yourself, you’ll have to write.
Luckily, writing articles can be as simple as creating a list of items and then adding detail to each one.
You can also write step-by-step instructions on how to do something. This technique will work with just about any type of business because internet surfers are always looking for how to information.
2. Create an optin list.
The one thing that all of the top marketers online agree on is that you must have a list.
There are two ways you can do this.
First, you can purchase leads, but make sure you find a respectable dealer and make sure that the leads you purchase are targeted to your market.
Second, you can build your own list. This is cheaper, and it takes longer, but you’ll be better off because you know your traffic is targeted.
These are people who want to be on your list and want what you sell.
You can do this by adding a subscription box to your website. You can offer product updates, short articles or reviews, information on trends in your field, or any other valuable information you think your customers can use.
You can also offer contests, or a valuable free premium to your customers to get feedback.
This is also the easiest way to promote your products because you have a list of people who are interested in what you have to say.
3. Pay Per Click Search Engines.
This is a relatively new trend, but it can provide you a way to get more targeted traffic to your business.
Pay per clicks will provide you more targeted traffic than standard search engines and directories because you have more control over your keywords and ranking. Many will get you started for free.
4. Joint ventures.
This is another method of traffic generation frequently used by top Internet marketers.
A joint venture is where you find a newsletter publisher and have him/her promote your product in his/her ezine. The publisher get a percentage of the sales made from advertising your product.
It is similar to affiliate marketing, but there are other steps involved to creating a successful joint venture.
You’ll want to offer publishers a deal they can’t refuse. Give them a free copy of the product but include plenty of bonuses. Make it as easy as possible for the publishers to accept your offer.
If you follow the steps above, implementing one step per week, in four weeks, you will have a complete marketing strategy.
The most important thing to remember in implementing a new marketing campaign, is to track what you are doing. This way, you can abandon techniques that don’t work as well as others.
Jinger Jarrett is a certified Web CEO search engine optimization professional living in Alpharetta, GA. She will show you how to market your business online for free. You’ll find dozens of free ebooks, software, ezines, and tools at her site: http://www.jingerjarrett.com.
