Guest Author - Meg Meyer
Many budding entrepreneurs fall prey to internet get-rich-quick schemes and wind up spending more money than they can ever hope to make, on the next big multi level marketing (MLM) craze. They spend hours on end spamming, irritating their friends and family, bombarding message boards and newsgroups they just joined with pie-in-the-skydesperate pitches, trying to win back their output.
The problem isn't that internet marketing itself is unethical, the problem is with the entrepreneur wanting to make a quick buck and selling out their own integrity to do so.
There is a better way. In fact many people with many home businesses succeed due, in part to internet marketing.
In this article, and in the upcoming weeks, I'll show you some ways that you can ethically and successfully market your products or services and get what you've got to offer to the people that most want to buy it. Here is an overview of three of the components of successful internet marketing.
Website -
Businesses today without a website are seen as unprofessional. Even the smallest operation can present themselves as a professional company with the right web identity. This allows accessibility to the majority of the consuming public. Particularly successful businesses are those with a very defined target market. You don't need everyone to want what you offer. You just need those that do want what you offer to be able to find you, when they are searching for what they want.
It's easy to spend anywhere from $500 on up for a custom, professionally designed and edited website. You can do it yourself, with a bit of a learning curve. Ask yourself if you want a professional appearance more quickly for more money, or would you rather save money and take a longer time getting your website to represent what you do as well as or better than your competition.
Blog -
Blog stands for weblog, and it's all the rage, these days. Everyone from rock stars to the kid at the coffee shop is sharing their pearls of wisdom, one blog post at a time.
Why should your business have one? Well, it allows your potential clients to get to know you, your products, your company climate at a much deeper level than just picking up a product off the shelf at aconvenience store. Today's internet savvy shoppers want more.
What's more, blogging is a great way to build traffic to your website, and thus, increase search engine ranking.
Publicity
Publicity is getting the word out about you, your company, your products or services. It is often confused with advertising. While an ad campaign can garner attention, publicity gets attention without paying for it.
Press Releases about new and innovative programs, business benchmarks, and charitable works can all bring good publicity to your company. Scandals bring publicity, but not really the kind you want.
Word-of-mouth is the best form of publicity. You want your happy clients telling others about how wonderful your services are.
These are by no means the only tools of internet marketing. This is merely the first part in a series of articles taking you from a tire-kicking novice, to a full fledged internet marketing expert. Stay Tuned!
Do you need a website to get make money online?
