7 Online Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

No business is known to harness its full potential if it does not exploited the online market. Making a mark in the online community is a bit different in terms of procedure but has the same goal - selling the business. When pursuing online marketing, it is necessary to keep certain things in mind. The top online marketing tips have been summarized below.

 

small business online marketing

1. Promote the product or the service on famous websites like YouTube etc. These are websites that are visited by a large percentage of online customers and is bound to give the product the desired promotion. Add humor to the promos to make them more attractive and popular. Videos are the best way to do the same.

2.  Forums and discussion panels spread over the internet are visited by people who have knowledge of different products. Most often than not, they prove to be good critics and can help formulate a strategy to improved marketing. Be an active participant and gain their trust. It would help get tips and tricks of the trade which otherwise are not known thus giving an edge from competition.

3. Promoting your small business throughout the biggest social networking websites and offering your established clients and prospects to try some of your products or services at discount rate is also an ideal way to reach your increased sale goals. Facebook and Twitter are visited by thousands of people interested in your niche. Offer them some small but valuable benefits and you will get more visitors and client to your small business site. If the offers are good, customers are bound to come and visit the website. Who knows, many of them could become permanent customers.

4. Search engine optimization is essential to improve the page ranks and get into the good books of the search engines. They serve as a major source of traffic directors and being on the top of the list can increase total traffic inflow by as much as 500%. Work on entities such as content, tags, linking, advertisement, sitemap etc.; things that help attain a good SEO.

5. Remain focused on the job at hand and make sure that website to be marketed online revolves around the product to be sold. At no point should the visitor feel distracted. All actions by him should make him like the product even more which is only going to be possible if the website is made under strict guidelines and after scientific research.

6. Bookmarking is another way to improve the brand image of the product. RSS feeds can be implemented to make sure that customers come to know of all developments happening in the arena. It is wise to take the product to the customer than to want for the customer to come to the product.

7. Grab a keyword or two and make them specific to the product. It would be wise to choose those which are not highly competitive or saturated. By choosing a not so famous keyword, you have the option of personalizing it to your benefit. Keywords dictate what exactly the customers are looking for.

There are a number of other tips that may help achieve the desired marketing level. However, the above mentioned are the ones that over the years have been tried and tested. Browse the blog and you will learn more for each one of them. They are sure to bring in profits in the long run and help any entrepreneur's business expand.

Building a Successful Email List in 7 Steps

Most small business owners that have built large, responsive, email list consider it to be their business’s most valuable asset and one of the keys to successful small business marketing. Тhis might seem like a stretch but take the example of Hotmail, which was purchased by Microsoft in 1998.  Microsoft didn’t need their email technology – that had a team of the worlds best developers at their exposure.  The reason Microsoft acquired Hotmail was because of it’s 9 million users – essentially their email list.

Email Marketing for Small Businesses

Email marketing is effective and established way to get your small business noticed. You don’t need to grow your email list to 1 million, in fact, you don’t even need to grow your email list to 90 thousand, or 9 thousand.  The number of subscribers you have is not really as important as the relationship you have with those subscribers.  Do you get emails that you don’t read?  Of course you do, we all do…  But, do you also get emails from certain people or companies that you open immediately when you see them in your inbox?  Maybe you even look forward to a certain day of the week when an email newsletter that you enjoy gets delivered to your inbox?  This is the same for the subscribers to your email list.  It’s better to have 900 subscribers drooling at the mouth for your next email than to have 90,000 subscribers ignore it…

How to Build a Responsive Email List that Reads Every Email and Buys Every Product or Service You Offer?

Тhat was quite a headline for this paragraph, but, this is the ideal situation you want to be in when building your email list for your business.  Keeping these ideals in mind from the very get go will allow you to get started on the right foot and even automate a lot of the processes involved.  Here is outline for achieving a responsive small business email list that loves receiving your emails and buying the products or services you recommend in them:

• Use a professional auto-responder service to manage your email list.
• Use some type of “bribe” such as a Free Report, eBook, Training Course, to build your email list fast.
• Create an auto-responder email sequence to be sent out automatically starting the day they sign-up.
• Build credibility and position yourself as the expert in the industry by providing REAL value in your emails (don’t just try to sell them something every email).
• Use your real name, do not hide under to company name.  People connect with and by from real people, not corporations.
• Have a call to action in each email to built responsiveness with your list.
• Presell a product or service before it’s available.

Okay, now that we have the outline for a successful roll-out of your email marketing plan, let’s look a little deeper into each one…

1 – Using a Professional Auto-Responder to Build an Effective Email List for Marketing Your Small Business

This is a critical and often missed step in the process of creating a successful email list.  With so many SPAM problems it’s impossible to grow a list beyond 100 to 200 email addresses without starting to have some major problems.  First and most commonly, many of the people on your list will never even get your email – not even to their SPAM folder.  This is because your email hosting provider will only allow a certain number of the same emails to go out before they start blocking them.  Also, Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, etc. will flag this message as SPAM and not allow it to be received even if it does get sent out.

To fix this problem you absolutely must sign-up for a professional auto-responder service to improve your small business. Such company works directly with all of the top email service providers to ensure that they are always within their guidelines.  They also strategically send out batches of 10 or 20 emails at a time from different physical locations which allows for better sending/receiving rates. Once you have this service you can go crazy and start building your list to thousands or even hundreds of thousands of subscribers!

A word to the wise:  you CANNOT switch your email auto-responder service without making each of your subscribers re-opt-in and agreeing to receive emails from you.

2 – Grow Your Email List Fast with a “Bribe”

If you’ve ever put a “get our newsletter” opt-in box on your website or seen them on another website but didn’t sign-up you probably understand that without some kind of incentive, most people will not sign-up to receive emails from you.  This is where the “bribe” comes in. You’ve seen this before, in fact, you’ve probably sign-up for an email list to receive a bribe yourself.  Common bribes include “Free Reports”, “eBooks”, “Training Courses”, “MP3 Downloads”, or Access to a “Members Only Area”.  These are all VERY effective in allowing you to build your list quickly and effectively.

Not only does it help to build your list but it also help to build a relationship with your subscribers and position you as an expert in your industry.  When they read your eBook, watch your Training Course, etc., you become the go-to expert for them.  Of course, if goes without saying that your bribe needs to be awesome and TRULY provide VALUE.  That is the key to making this work.

Many people worry about giving too much away with their “bribe”.  Top recommendation is to give your best small business information away for free.  Now, don’t give everything away, but give a full them some really good stuff they wouldn’t find anywhere else for free.

3 – Automate the Process with an Email Auto-Responder Sequence

What’s an email auto-responder sequence?  It’s essentially just a series of emails that you setup to be send out a number of days, weeks, or months after your new subscriber signs up.

The best way to explain this is with an example;  let’s say you’re building a list and using your new eBook as the bribe.

Day 1 you setup your auto-responder to automatically send them a link to download your eBook as the first email they receive after signing up.

Day 2 you might send them a little tip from the book and add the link to download again incase they missed it (or got busy/distracted) yesterday.

Day 3 you might send out another tip from the book with a third link to just triple check they downloaded it.

Day 4 you might send them another tip from the book and this time ask for their feedback. You could have a link to a SurveyMonkey survey asking them what they liked/didn’t like, etc.

Day 5 you might thank them for filling out the survey and tell a small personal story to help them connect with you as a person (also, put the link to the survey again in case they missed it yesterday).

After that you might want to setup a new value-driven email to go out every 3 to 4 days.

4 – Build Credibility and Position Your Small Business as an Authority in your Industry by Providing High Value, Unique Content

By providing your email list with high-value content that is specific to your industry you will be able to quickly build credibility and position yourself as the go-to expert in your industry. Whether they are looking for related products or services for themselves or their friends/colleagues/family members your name is sure to be the first one that pops into their heads.  This is what will allow you to grow exponentially and with minimal advertising costs.  The more unique, intriguing, and actionable your information is the quicker your list will grow.  The quicker your list grows, the more income you can generate off of your list.

If you are not a good writer then you can always hire some quality article writers that deliver unique and optimized content for your needs. If you want to save time in searching for such service then check this site - Unique Niche Article Packs  - You can get from there ready made unique article packs or make custom order t really affordable price for unique web content.

5 – Send Emails from Your Name, not your Company Name

This might sound like strange advice to some of you, but the fact is people connect with, and by from other people.  You might think you like a brand or a product but most of the time if you really think about it you might really like the founder or CEO behind the brand, or the expert that recommended the product you love so much.  This step is so important when building a responsive email subscriber list.  You want to have a personal connection within the mind of each of your subscribers.

It’s incredibly powerful to tell emotionally charged or meaningful personal stories to subscribers – really open up with them.  This humanizes you and makes you more trustworthy and easy to connect with.  When you’re doing this the best type of stories those of struggle.  There is no better way to connect with anyone on this planet than to have a mutual story of struggle… especially when that story ends in overcoming the struggle.  One thing you MUST steer clear from is anything that could be looked at as bragging…  Just be yourself, a humble expert that has gone through struggles and learned a lot on the way and you’ll be perfect.

6 – Place a Call To Action within Each Email to Build Responsiveness with Your Subscribers

People enjoy reading great emails that provide value but sometimes your readers can feel “left hanging” if you don’t provide any Call To Action within the email.  This could be as simple as “go check out the video here”, “click reply and let me know what you think”, or “go sign-up now for 50% off”.

By providing a clear and concise Call To Action you will also start to build a responsiveness into the mentality of your list.  In other words, your subscribers will get used to doing whatever it is you recommend in each email.  This will be of great value to you later when it’s time to let them know about a new product or service you have that they need.

7 – Presell Each Product or Service Before It’s Available

Within your professional auto-responder service you have 2 types of emails you can send out.  The one that have been described so far is the “sequenced” emails.  You can also send out “broadcast” email that just go out to everyone on your list at the same time (just the one time).

When it’s time  to sell an existing product or service you might build the “pre-sell” into the sequence. This could just be a “Product X is going to be great because…”, then “Product X is almost ready…”, then “Product X will be available tomorrow at Noon…” If you have a new product you can do the same type of sequence but use the broadcast system to be sure that your entire subscriber list will receive the emails (as some of them will be in different parts of your auto-responder email sequence).

Email List Marketing is Your New ATM

As you continue to build your small business email list you’ll realize that it will quickly become your business’s most lucrative asset.  You’ll literally be able to send out an email with a link to your product or service (or affiliate product/service) and instantly get sales.  Not to mention it’s always there, working even while you sleep…

Getting Your Small Business Blog Noticed and Ranked

Making your small business blog noticed and respected is an essential goal of your online marketing strategy. If your company site is not regularly visited by a lot of targeted traffic, then you will face many difficulties in making sustainable online presence. Driving huge amount of visitors to your product and service for lower cost is every entrepreneur’s mission. It is achievable priority that will make your company more effective and profitable. 

Setting right online marketing budget will boost your online authority and put you ahead of your competition. So, you better increase your online marketing efforts, doing nothing does not mean that your competition is asleep too.

Check below some essential small business marketing tips that will keep your cost down and teach you to apply different marketing techniques. As your knowledge and income grows, you can start to use paid techniques, while still keeping the risks low since you’ll have enough experience under your belt so avoid throwing your money away on PPC!

Forget about free traffic/visitors

There is no free traffic at all and you have to work hard for every visitor. Pay-per-click advertising might cost money, but so called ‘free’ ways of driving traffic tend to cost something far more valuable – time!  As a small business site owner you want your content to be the major draw for your traffic, but until people know where you are how do they know if your content is worth a look?

Over time, if you are writing good posts on a regular basis, and following some basic SEO practices, you will start to attract regular readers and backlinks from other sites and bloggers. There are several marketing tips that will boost up the process and make your online visibility better.  

Internet marketing tasks such as writing and submitting articles, social bookmarks, leaving comments on other related niche blogs and participating in forum discussions are some of the major ways of getting your small business blog noticed.

Social Bookmarking is among top small business marketing techniques that will get you better search engine ranking and traffic. Submitting a blog post to social media sites and social bookmarking sites is not only a great way to get a rush of traffic, but it’s also one of the best ways to get a new site or blog post noticed by the search engines. There are many quality social bookmarking services for small business marketing. Use them to save time and focus on other marketing techniques for obtaining more customers. Just remember, it is better if you social bookmarks are done manually, with unique titles, description and tags. Manual social bookmarks are a kind of guarantee that your site will be correctly listed, in the appropriate category and hash tags. It is better to keep it simple; therefore we warmly recommend the following service used by us for years:

Social Bookmarking Service – manual social bookmarks with unique titles and descriptions.

Manual Social Bookmarks are always ranked and indexed better that search engines. They are submitted in the right category targeting the right audience.

You will not only drive targeted visitors and spread the word about your products and services. You will also gain valuable backlinks from bookmarking sites with huge authority

Getting your small business blog indexed via social media

What you need to do is create a pillar article, a great blog post. It could be an in depth opinion piece about your niche, a tutorial, a review or maybe a list of resources. It should not be an epic masterpiece, but it should be a reasonable length and it needs to be good! If you face any problems or you just do not have a time and knowledge for writing down your blog post, then you can always order unique niche articles at affordable price. Article writing is not an easy process, consumes a lot of time, energy and research. So, many small business owners prefer to outsource that task and focus their attention at other segments of their online marketing strategy.

Article writing service – Unique Niche Article Packs

Submitting your posts, YouTube video, Forum profile, Facebook FanPage or web2 blog network to a handful of social media sites can quickly turn you into niche expert, something that will help you branding your small business and increase your company reputation and authority.  

After writing a suitable pillar article or using article writing service you’ll start to get some traffic from these sites, but more importantly, the search engines like Google will follow those links and index your site.

You can now repeat this exercise on a regular basis. DO NOT submit every post that you write, that would be spammy.  Instead, submit only your best posts - ones that you honestly think would add value to these social media sites.  Join in with the communities too - you don’t want to simply submit your own pages then leave the site, they are called social sites for a reason!  Join in, vote on and submit other people’s pages and become part of the community… that way you won’t seem like you’re only interested in self promotion and will be more likely to get submissions and votes on your own pages!

Getting your small business blog noticed and ranked is vital for your online business performance. Post content on your site, promote it throughout the social sites and be more engaging. Help your customers to satisfy all their needs and problems using your small business site and outcome will be more than incredible.