If you recently started an online business, you are finding out that it is
different than owning a brick and mortar business. Although the basic strategies
are the same:
- Marketing
- Promotions
- Advertising
- Networking
- Customer Service
- Multiple Income Streams
The method of each is different. The possibilities on the Internet are
limitless... contained only by lack of passion, creativity and commitment.
- Marketing
& Promotions - There are countless ways of marketing and promoting an
online business and a lot of them are free/affordable.
- Writing
Articles - Extremely effective method of building your reputation and your
business. Writing articles is not hard, just stick with what you know and do
not think you have to use big words to impress anyone. People are just looking
for understandable articles with helpful info and useful resources.
- Ezine
Publishing - If you own an online business you should definitely be publishing
an ezine to keep in contact with your website visitors and subscribers. Ezines
themselves can be excellent income generators and they can also generate a lot
of business for you.
- Reading
Other Quality Ezines- I have obtained unlimited knowledge and information just
be subscribing to and reading other quality ezines. Good ezines contain a
wealth of information and resources.
Find all kinds of ezines here: http://www.myfavoriteezines.com
- Free
Ecourses - Compile a series of articles and turn them into a mini ecourse.
Give step-by-step info and provide helpful resources to compliment said info.
Always provide links to your website, ezine and any products that are
applicable. You also want to have your email on every page so it is very easy
to contact you. Assemble your course on a free autoresponder and start
offering it to your subs, visitors and submit it to fellow webmasters for
distribution. Example: moe-mini-course@getresponse.com
- Autoresponders
- Autoresponders are used to mail out follow-ups to ezine subscribers,
requests for more information, orders, article requests, etc. Effective
follow-ups can raise your sales substantially. http://www.getresponse.com
- Free
Ebooks - Creating an ebook is not hard. You can simply compile several
articles that you or other people have written. Provide tips, resources and
information. Offer your ebook to webmasters, ebook directories and ezine
publishers for distribution. More info: ebooksforeveryone@getresponse.com
- Building
A Good Reputation- It is essential to your business that you present yourself
as honest and trustworthy. You must then carry out this presentation and be a
person of your word and you must put your customers first. Treat people with
respect, the way you would want somebody to treat you. Your attitude and
personality will show through and people will respond to you as they see you.
Getting people to your website and then to actually become a customer is no
easy task. There are hundreds of thousands of websites out there, with numerous
ones similar to yours. Make your site more memorable by:
- Have valuable content
- Start a community to keep people coming back
- Offer something for free - free ecourse, free ebooks, free tutorials, etc.
- Have monthly contests
- Keep adding new content, keep your site fresh
- Have your contact info on every page
- Make your site easy to navigate
- Do not use overbearing graphics/music
These are just a few ways of marketing and promoting yourself and your
business. As you spend more time online, you will learn which ways are most
effective for you.
Advertising
There are various ways of advertising your business, website, or ezine. Some
are free, some not. Some are effective, some not.
Let's take a look at some that, I think, are effective.
- Ezine Advertising -Buying paid ad
spots in an ezine can be very effective. Some ways to find out which ezines
are better for your advertising...
Subscribe to the ezine to get an idea of
the consistency, reliability and quality of the ezine.
Contact the
publisher to see if they make themselves available to their subscribers. If
the publisher is not available to his/her subscribers, chances are the
trust/respect relationship is not there.
Read the feedback of other
advertisers to see what kind of results they got.
- Joint Ventures - Another way to
effectively advertise your ezine/business is by participating in joint
ventures with business associates. Examples of such Joint Ventures would be...
- Ad swaps - Contact fellow publishers to see if they would be interested in
swapping ads, that is, they run your ad in their ezine and you do the same
for them.
- Group Pop Under/Over Windows - Joint ventures like this enable your ezine/business
to be advertised on several different sites every time they get a visitor.
- SigTag Swaps - Find yourself a sigtag buddy and swap signatures for a period of
time...a week, a month, whatever you agree upon. When that swap is over,
arrange another one. This can bring you a lot of additional exposure.
- Writing Articles- This is definitely
one of the most powerful and effective methods of free advertising. Writing
and submitting articles can get you tons of exposure in ezines and on
websites. This also helps your search engine ranking.
The first article
is indeed the hardest. Once you get started they will come much easier. Do not
be afraid to give your articles a little personality and/or humor. Subscribe
to some ezines and read the articles to get an idea of what people are
writing. But do not try to copy somebody else's style. You want
your knowledge and personality to come through in your
articles.
These are just a few of the numerous and creative ways of advertising your
business/ezine on the Internet. Next week in Part 3 of this series I will be
covering networking...another effective form of advertising.
Networking
Networking is when you come in contact with as many people you can to learn,
share, promote, and form relationships with prospective customers. You want to
talk about your business, but not blatantly advertise. Get to know others, learn
from them, let them learn from you and get to know you.
There are many benefits to online networking such as:
Meeting new people/making new contacts Learning through other people's
experiences/knowledge Making friends Building your reputation Increasing your
confidence
All this and more can be done through sincere networking through discussion
groups, email, message boards, etc. By sincere, I mean you really get make an
effort to get involved, answer questions when you can, help others as often as
possible, become a part of the group, not just a lurker waiting to get in some
free advertising.
You can also do a lot of networking through your own email. People will email
you with questions, concerns, suggestions and ideas. Answer all emails as
quickly and efficiently as possible always being courteous and respectful. This
is a great way of building your networking list and very possibly picking up
customers.
When visiting message boards and email discussion groups, remember these
guidelines.
- Do not spam! A lot of forums do not allow blatant advertising, but do
allow sigtags. Make sure you read all rules carefully before posting. There
are groups that allow advertising of any kind, however these are not very
useful as far as networking or learning anything of value.
- Do not flame! Forums are a means for people to express different
opinions and ideas. You should never insult anybody because they do not agree
with your point of view. This is one way for you to lose all credibility for
your business and your reputation.
- Do participate in the discussions! You definitely want to get involved
in the discussions and make yourself known. Answer questions whenever possible
and give advice. People will come to respect you as an expert in your field
and trust what you say.
- Do treat others with respect! Always give others on the boards the same
treatment and respect you would want them to give you. No matter how much or
how little someone knows, they still deserve the same respect as others.
Always remember, you started out not knowing much either.
- Do build relationships! I have "met" so many wonderful people since
starting on the Internet! It is a great way to build personal and business
relationships. So go to the boards/groups, start a conversation and just have
some fun, while building your business!
- Message Boards
- Email Discussion Groups
So start networking and have some fun!
Customer Service
Customer service means different things to different people, but we have to
remember the bottom line - treat each and every customer with respect and
courtesy (no matter how difficult they may be).
Simply put, a business is nothing without customers.
Dealing with people can be hard, but we all know we must be courteous and
professional. You need to accept the fact that you cannot please everybody. When
you come across one of these people you cannot please no matter what you do,
deal with them firmly, but courteously and professionally.
Do not give in to that old adage - The Customer is Always Right.
This is definitely not true, but when the customer is wrong, you must handle it
properly.
Be as helpful as you can. Offer your expertise, advice and support whenever
possible. Learn to understand what your readers/customers want and need. This
will help form a strong bond.
If you get the eternally nasty customer who will not be consoled no matter
what you do, do not lose control or sink to their level. Remain calm but firm.
The customer is not always right no matter how much they think they are. Do not
lose control.
Offer free gifts/discounts to your customers to show your appreciation.
Send the customer a personalized "Thank you".
Go the extra mile for your customer.
Really listen to the customer. Talk to them,
not at them.
You need to actually care about your customer and care about making sure they
are satisfied with you and your service and/or product. Do not just think of the
customer as another sale.
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