Navigating the internet marketing maze is not simple; however, successful use of internet marketing is essential to growing your business. Increased presence of article directories, blogs, and social networking sites have added pieces to the internet marketing puzzle. Websites are better designed and more frequently updated. E-newsletters are governed by more regulations. It is no longer enough to fax a press release to your local media outlets and send an e-newsletter to your subscribers. To reach new markets, it is essential to utilize different avenues of promotion.
Article Directories
Article Directories such as Ezinearticles.com are places for marketing experts and newsletter publishers to find original content for their materials. When they select and publish your article, they include information about your business. Most article directory sites require publishers to respect the article in its entire form, including information about the article source and author. Posting informational articles related to your business on these sites is a highway to exposure.
Affiliate Marketing
Harness the power of networking to grow your business via the internet. Individuals with websites love the chance to make extra money. Start an affiliate program for your business that rewards individuals to link to your site. Credit with your business, or a percentage of sales is powerful motivation for site managers around the world. If you do not have staff time to start your own program, consider partnering with companies such as Linkshare to advertise and manage your program for you. In addition to providing more clients, affiliate links help your website rank higher in search engine queries.
E-newsletters Revisited
No longer must one staff person maintain a comprehensive list of current emails, and comb through the list painstakingly to edit it. New services such as Vertical Response help manage email lists for you. Put a box on your home page for interested consumers to receive your newsletter, and these services do the work for you. Nonprofits can upload lists of new members every time they want to send an email, and the service will edit and remove duplicate emails from the list. For as low as a penny per email, you can send custom formatted, seasonal and product driven emails on a regular basis. Such e-newsletter services allow for easy subscribing and unsubscribing services for your consumers, thus handling privacy and communications regulations for you. (It is currently not legal in the United States to continually send email communications to people who have not agreed to receiving such communication.
Websites that Wow
All forms of internet marketing mentioned above work best if you own your own website and domain name. Most affiliate promotion sites and article directories will not allow you to link to a site other than yours. Social networking sites are powerful; however, many are private. Every business will gain new consumers with a public, well designed, easy to use website. While several web-hosting sites offer tools for you to design your own website, to make the most of your internet presence, hire a qualified web designer to create a new site or give your existing one a face-lift. Find a designer who will help you create a website that is easy to update frequently. In an age where consumers expect up to date content, a static site will do more harm than good. Most web providers can provide you with a "back end" from which you can easily change and update your pages. When a drastic move is needed, call your web designer for help, so your outgoing message remains cohesive.
Young consumers have come of age with the internet as their primary resource. Cutting edge businesses have appropriately harnessed the power of the internet to grow. To keep current, and attract new constituents, dip your toe in the water with powerful tools described above. If you need help, find it! Sites such as elance, guru and others will connect you with talented freelancers ready to work for you!
