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Three Internet Marketing Tips For Business Owners

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

When was the last time you tried to get new customers for your business? What did you do, advertise? How did that work out?

I’m guessing that since you are reading this, you are ready to find a way to increase your leads and customers by doing a bit of online marketing. By now you realize that advertising doesn’t always work out the way you expected, and you have to pay for it whether you get results or not!

A while ago, I was in the same position, having blown a wad of dough on ads, and watching my business go down the tubes. I didn’t have any money left for hiring professionals, and believed that it was time to take things into my own hands. After all, I’m an entrepreneur and had mastered skills to create three successful businesses. How hard could Internet marketing be?

Well, I was about to find out, the hard way, how much I didn’t know. I had developed marketing and advertising skills over twenty-seven years of running professional services businesses and stores, but they were inadequate for what I wanted to do online.

I considered myself a fairly advanced Internet user, but as an Internet marketer, I was a rank novice. I ended up wasting months floundering around on MySpace and social sites, and got absolutely nowhere. I thought that I had a good website, but even though I could tell that people were going to it, I got no business from it.

When I stood back from this and examined what I was doing, I realized two things: I didn’t have a clue what I was doing wrong, and I didn’t know what was wrong with my web site! Yuck!

Well, it’s been a long road since then. I got an education in how to market businesses online, and have turned the results dramatically. Along the way, I learned some of the complexities of website design and lead generation, and also determined a few very simple steps that anyone can do to promote their businesses online.

Here are three free ones:

1. Write press releases about anything newsworthy pertaining to your business or industry, and post them online to a free directory. One I use is 24-7pressrelease.com. The releases can be as simple as describing new merchandise, announcing a new employee, or describing how you are at the forefront of an industry trend. Online press releases often show up in searches for YEARS after they are posted, and using them puts you in control of your company’s image.

2. Writing articles is another good way to get lasting publicity. There are many article directories to post them on, for free. One of the larger directories is EzineArticles.com. Different from press releases, the articles are not about news or events, but can be reviews of products, “how-to” tips, or anything of interest to your potential customers. Like press releases, these articles will often show up in searches for you, your business, or your industry.

3. Make videos and post them for free on YouTube and many other video hosting sites. Get in front of the camera and talk for a few minutes about anything of interest to your potential customers. Make a series of related videos. For example, if you’re a Real Estate Agent, talk about neighborhoods, condos, housing styles, etc. These don’t have to be slick to be effective. The whole idea is for people to get to know and like you.

In all of your marketing, include a link to your website, and a call to action. For example, a simple one is “Go to my web site and get more info on XYZ.”

If you want to get leads, you need some way to collect the information. Don’t rely on people going to your web site, picking up the phone and contacting you. Your web site needs to be constructed to capture lead information (name, email, phone, etc.) The simplest way to do that is by getting an email service (called an auto responder) and adding a lead capture form to the site.

You can offer a free report, or a consultation, newsletter or something in return for opting-in. This establishes a relationship, and gives you something to reference when you contact the lead. For example, if you gave a free report on seagulls, you could start a phone conversation or your follow-up email with “Did you find that seagull report interesting?”

Without getting technical about lead capture forms and auto responders, all you need to know is that’s an easy thing for you to do yourself or have your web designer add it for you. There are many auto responder services out there, and you’re probably getting emails from businesses using them right now. One popular service is Constant Contact.
Whichever one you choose will provide the capture form and some basic installation instructions for you.

What I have listed here is the basics of an internet marketing campaign. If you post one press release, one article and one video every week, you will achieve publicity which would cost you thousands of dollars if you paid an agency.

These very steps have been proven to work for many different types of businesses. Of course, your marketing will be most effective if you get some additional instruction on how to structure your presentations and fine-tune your marketing, but the important thing is to actually start doing it.

Posted in Business, Marketing | 4 Responses »
Tags: internet marketing, marketing tips, online marketing, small business marketing

Making Money On The Internet With Attraction Marketing

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Making money on the internet is an enigma to many newbie internet marketers. It has also proved difficult for seasoned business owners who attempt to apply their offline marketing experience to the new online media.

In both cases the confusion is rooted in the dominance of print media and television over the last half of the Twentieth Century. Offline media is dominated by advertising, and advertising has been the method of choice for disseminating marketing messages.

When the same messages are conveyed via Internet marketing, the effect is often less than desirable. Rather than attracting qualified customers, online advertising can become a source of “repulsion” marketing. As an example, one very effective albeit dubious advertising technique rampant among online network marketers is the use of the word “scam” coupled with the name of competitors. Similarly, many ads feature negative or sensational messages in an effort to draw attention.

Attraction marketing aficionados generally abhor the word “scam,” since it attracts paranoid and skeptical customers. Attraction Marketers also seldom use paid advertising at all, since its messages are often ignored by jaded online surfers. They have learned that it is difficult to make money on the Internet when customers pay no attention to the ads, and when the only prospects drawn to the ads are afraid or reluctant to spend the money they have.

As an alternative to online advertising, these Attraction Marketers have learned to harness the power of the information super-highway, using everything from videos to forums and a myriad of social media sites like Twitter and Face Book to get their marketing message across.

So what is an Attraction Marketing message? The very nature of the message is as exotic as the concept. Each marketer first defines who their ideal customer is, and then crafts an internet presence to attract that customer. As you can see from this definition, crafting an internet presence would be very difficult to achieve through advertising alone. That is why Attraction Marketers rely on other, more fluid messages which can be constructed via social media.

For example, an Attraction Marketer may decide that his ideal customer is a baby-boomer professional with a high income. To attract such professionals, the marketer could make videos on subjects which appeal to the target group, and also make a Face Book profile showing how the marketer himself has an affinity for the same things which his target group likes.

The secret to making money on the internet with attraction marketing techniques is to very subtly ask for the sale. This is what separates it from blatant advertising. Ninety-nine percent of attraction marketing efforts involve building rapport with the customer, and demonstrating that the marketer is worthy of respect. The other one percent is asking for the sale.

An attraction marketing training program for network marketers who want to make money on the Internet can be found at http://www.PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: Attraction marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing techniques, making money internet, making money online, online marketing

Newspapers Are For Burning.

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Are You The Owner Of A Small Business? What happened when you last advertized in a newspaper? Did it get the results you expected, or not?

In many households, including mine (and maybe yours), newspapers are subscribed to out of habit and embedded tradition. However, most of the editions stack up unread and end up in the recycle bin, or in the fireplace.

There is no way, if you have been in business longer than a week, that you do not know about internet advertising. Have you ever tried it? Got any results?

As owner of several stores, my original thoughts on internet marketing all centered around having a great website. Eventually I had several. The shops had websites, but it seemed that only our existing customers visited them.

I had no idea how to drive traffic to the sites, and the professionals I consulted with only knew about web site design and advertising, not marketing.

You see, there is a huge difference between advertising and marketing.

What I learned is that having a great web site is a form of advertising. But it’s like advertising in the middle of a newspaper which is never opened. If no one goes there, what’s the sense?

It takes marketing to get new customers to your website.

If you advertise, and the business traffic doesn’t pick up, it’s time to learn about marketing or to hire an agency to handle the problem.

How’s traffic on your websites? Is anyone finding them? Have you considered hiring a professional internet marketing company to help out?

Before You Hire A Marketing Company To Handle Your Online Presence,

Ask Yourself A Few Questions:

1. How many thousands of dollars will you spend on marketing each year if you contract with an agency? (Not advertising, just marketing)

2. Do you know the difference between marketing and advertising?

3. Are you willing to trust the future growth of your business to “professionals” who are not specialists in your industry?

4. If you do not market your business, what will happen?

5. How can you grow your business on a tight budget?

6. Are you willing to learn a new skill set which can easily save you thousands of dollars and get new customers for your business?

Internet marketing can be easily learned. It is not rocket science, and several online training courses are available for small business owners who want a do-it-yourself solution to promoting their businesses.

One training program can be found here.

Posted in Business, Marketing | 3 Responses »
Tags: internet business training, internet marketing, online marketing, small business marketing

Why Network Marketers Are Afraid Of Working Online.

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Why are many network marketers afraid of the internet? Working online could make their teams grow, right? So what’s the problem?

There are many network marketing companies to choose from. Most follow a multi-tiered compensation program, and are commonly referred to as MLMs. And, the majority build their teams using traditional methods, offline.

The reason for the focus on traditional prospecting techniques is obvious. The people who started the companies modeled them after companies which were already successful. It is the business model they are familiar with. It is their strength.

Until recently, there was no alternative to the tried-and-true traditional methods. There were no companies formed by internet marketers, simply because there was not a precedent.

However, that situation has now changed. Several new MLM companies have sprung up which operate exclusively on the internet. They are mavericks, but their training programs usually range from rudimentary to excellent. They are mostly strong on product, and weak on internet savvy.

But where does that leave network marketers who do not want to jump ship and join one of the newer online opportunities? Many of them are totally intimidated by online technology, so if they are looking for a change, it will most likely be a lateral shift into another traditional MLM. Others who are trying to find a way to market their traditional companies online, really have very few options.

The proliferation of self-professed gurus also confuses their choices for learning online marketing. Usually the gurus have set up shop, it seems, as a ruse to lure unsuspecting followers into a network marketing company they covertly endorse.

On the surface, the only choice for network marketers to succeed online is to jump ship and start over. However, a handful of new companies have emerged which provide expert online marketing training and a generic platform which can be adapted to any marketing company.

The new training-oriented generic marketing systems can remove the fear of online marketing. The best programs explain every step in terms which newcomers to online marketing can easily understand. They offer video tutorials, live training, and in-depth instructions.

The new training sites are a major opportunity for traditional network marketers to expand their lead generation efforts and move their team-building efforts to a new level in their current company.

The generic marketing and training company which I use is PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Posted in Business, Marketing | 1 Response »
Tags: home business, internet business training, internet marketing, online marketing

Generating Free Internet Leads For Network Marketing/MLM Businesses

Monday, September 14th, 2009

One thing that every network marketer needs is leads for his or her business, and learning to generate free leads online could mean the difference between profit and failure.

If you are a marketer with any kind of business, new leads are the lifeblood of your business. You need to get people to your site, or through your door to make a sale.

It is obvious that business owners can pay for leads. They can actually buy them form a list vendor, or pay for advertising to generate the leads themselves. What many network marketers do not realize, is that getting free leads on the internet is easier than any other media.

One thing that can be done to get free leads is to write articles and place them in blogs and article directories. Another is to make videos and place them on any number of distribution sites. (YouTube is the largest.)

Network marketers can also generate leads for their MLM businesses by developing friends and followers on social media sites like Twitter, Face Book and MySpace.

For each of these options, different approaches are needed. It’s a great idea to get marketing training before diving in and wasting your time. Training can be as simple as searching online for various topics, or signing up for online courses, e-books. Some marketing systems come complete with excellent marketing training which can be used to generate leads for any MLM or business. One such system is PrimaryBusinesses.Net.

Many people have built sales and MLM/network marketing businesses completely by generating free leads online. They simply have learned how to market online, and then they implemented a marketing plan by taking massive action.

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: generating leads, internet business training, online marketing, social media marketing

Funded Proposals Online: Old Kid In New Clothes?

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

Funded proposals are used in online attraction marketing systems, but they have been around longer than the Internet.

A funded proposal is a small item which is sold as a “leader” in many sales businesses. In retail businesses, the funded proposal is often referred to as a “loss leader,” which is something being sold at an attractively low price, for a small profit, or sometimes even being sold for below its wholesale cost.

Funded proposals and sales leaders are used to attract customers to a business and to qualify them as customers. The object is to increase a company’s customer base, and allow further marketing with the goal of having the customer buy more profitable items in the future.

An example of employing an off-line funded proposal is a high-quality, framed art print which was offered in art gallery for thirty-seven dollars. Prices of other original art in the gallery start at six hundred dollars and go up into the thousands. Many people visit the gallery to “browse” and some of them buy the small framed print.

The small sales pay much of the gallery’s expenses, and give the buyers a comfort level with the business. They return as “customers” instead of “browsers,” and many upgrade to buy thousands of dollars of art over the next months and years.

Online network marketers use a funded proposals in a similar way. A marketer who has a program costing hundreds or thousands of dollars, may first introduces his leads to a capture page which offers an attractively priced e-book. Those who buy the e-book experience the quality level of the network marketer’s offerings. They also become part the marketer’s email-list, and receive information about other products and the primary business.

The small sales help pay for the online marketer’s operating expenses, and build his customer base. The customers get a chance to become acquainted with the marketer, and they go on to buy more products or join the primary business.

Funded proposals are valuable tools for any business. Using them consistently will help build customers and profits.

Network marketers can find a pre-made funded proposal marketing system at PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: funded proposal, internet business training, internet marketing, Marketing, online marketing

Are You Willing To Learn?

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

Here is something you should ask yourself if you are considering being self-employed or starting an online business.

open source video, online video platform, video streaming, video solutions

Are You Willing To Learn?

You may think twice about this: Are you ready to learn new skills?
I run into people all the time who answer yes to that. They very enthusiastically say YES, they are ready to learn new skills, and they are ready to do what it takes.

They think that working on the Internet is just like pushing a few buttons, or maybe as easy as sending an email.

The reality is that it is really not easy, and there are skill sets which need to be learned. And these are perhaps things which you can not even imagine right now, and you certainly don’t know how to do things yet.

So, think about how you have approached new things your whole life. Were you a quick study in school? Are you still a quick study? Or did it take you a lot of effort to learn, or maybe you have something which holds you back, like a form of dyslexia.

If this question is something you have not considered before, perhaps you will benefit from knowing about the other twenty-two questions I have answered in a special report you can get by signing in here.

I have worked with people of all aptitudes, and what it takes is for them to have the drive and discipline to do what it takes for them to learn these new skills.

So, be prepared to learn. Consider if you are really ready and willing to learn new skills. Are you willing to go back to school? How did you think about it when you were in school? Couldn’t wait to get out? Or were you excited to learn the next thing?

You need to have an openness to learning when you do business online, because things change quite quickly. Often there are skills you will learn, and then a short time later you will need to learn to modify what you have learned, to adapt to new conditions.

Things change constantly on the Internet. It’s really a wild and wonderful place. So be prepared to learn things. And if you’re not prepared to learn, or if you have always hated to learn things, just save yourself and your sponsor a headache and don’t do it, okay?

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: internet business training, online business, online marketing, work at home

Outsourcing Online Marketing: Can I Pay Somebody?

Friday, August 14th, 2009

When it comes to outsourcing online marketing, new Internet business owners are often confused by their responsibilities. There are an awful lot of people who don’t want to put in any effort at all. They want to outsource, to pay someone to make money for them. Whether it is from fear of learning new skills, a genuine (or perceived) lack of time, or just plain laziness, they will seek to hire someone to do some or all of their business setup and marketing for them.

Although the answer is yes, it’s possible to pay someone to make money for you, that may not be the best route to for a new online marketer to take.

What happens in that scenario is a situation where the business owner has total dependence on what other people create for them. It is ultimately more advantageous for online marketers to develop their own skill sets.

Later, when one has an understanding of what needs to be done, repetitive and time consuming tasks can be outsourced.

The important point here is that a business owner should know how to judge the work they are contracting for.. That means knowing how to do things for ones self before you go pay others to do anything for you.

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Outsourcing your online marketing before your business has cash flow will also put the business owner in a position of having to make proportionately larger gross sales to become profitable. If all the business’ capital is tied up in paying other people, you have to recoup that. You are in business, after all, and the result should be profits.

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: online business, online marketing, outsourcing online marketing

Do I Need Computer Skills?

Friday, August 7th, 2009

The Number One question that I get asked all the time is “What if I don’t know much about the Internet?” and “What if I don’t know how to do business online?”

(Which is basically telling me that someone is not comfortable using a computer.)

People tell me that they have a fear of the computer, and of doing things “wrong” and ruining the internet or their computer, or both!

There are a couple of answers to this. The first is that yes, you should have some rudimentary Internet skills. I like to say that if you have the basic ability to send an email, and attach a photo to an email, and to do simple word processing (which is basically being able to write and edit an email and use spell-check) that you have the start of what you need to get you going.

But you do have to be open to the idea of learning a few things. So don’t be afraid of it! Internet marketing simply requires learning a new skill set. No one is born knowing it!

People think that kids know this stuff, but the reality is that everyone learns by doing things over and over again, and learning things that they need to know, as they go along.

I made a report about this and several other points which I think are important for anyone interested in doing a network marketing business online. You can get the report and subscribe to my private marketing newsletter by signing in here.

So that’s how you should approach this. Just keep in mint that you will be learning things as you go. You’re going to be involved in a lot of new concepts. So be open to that. Treat it like you’re back in school, and you will learn these skills that you need to know — one by one – and get along on the Internet!

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: home business, internet marketing, MLM, network marketing business, online business, online marketing, report

Bruce Wood

Marketing Consultant and Coach