START WITH MARKETING
How Will You Tell the World About the Next Best Thing? Why You Should Plan Marketing BEFORE You Roll Out a New Product or Service.
By Keegan Michaels Biz Guru.com
Lately I've seen a number of terrific web sites that aren't getting visitors. They feature great products, services, lot of quality information and look dazzling. But no one knows about them!
Merle at buckeyeweb.com hit the problem on the head when he told me, "Building a beautiful web site and then not marketing it properly is like building an incredibly elaborate billboard and putting it in your basement."
SMALL BUSINESS MUST PLAN, TOO
It isn't just web sites that fall victim to the "no one knows you're there" problem. Mail order businesses and small retail stores struggle with the sudden realization that they don't have a good, affordable way to promote their businesses to customers.
You get a sinking feeling in your stomach when you discover that you've put all your money, time and energy into developing a fabulous new business project, but don't have a good way to promote it. That's why savvy businesses insist on working out the marketing details BEFORE they develop the product or service.
PUT MARKETING FIRST
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs start with a promising marketing tool, THEN find a product or service that will fit it.
That's how Jeff Bezos got the idea for starting Amazon.com. Bezos knew the Internet would be a great way to promote a business. Then he looked for a product that would work well with that model. Books won.
You don't need nifty new insider promotion tricks to make your web site counter soar. Most of the best marketing tools are well known, tried and true.
THREE "TRIED AND TRUE" STRATEGIES
Here are three simple promotional methods that work very well:
1. Register Your Site With Search Engines--There are millions more people on the Net each month and smarter search engines are being used like giant Yellow pages. Make sure your opening page has plenty of descriptive copy. Your page title must describe what your copy talks about. Include meta tag info in your code--that's what search engines use to categorize your site.2. FREE, FREE, FREE--Free information is what makes the Internet go. Don't be miserly with what you know. Offer free reports, free articles, free consultation and free samples. The more you can feature "free" in your content the more the Internet will like you.
3. ADVERTISE IN EMAIL NEWSLETTERS--E-zines are without question the most efficient form of media ever invented. Magazine publishers drool over the low cost of producing an e-zine. Direct mailers turn red when they think about the almost non-existent cost of emailing a quality e-zine to thousands of subscribers. All those savings translate into very low advertising costs for you. Go to ezinesearch.com and find newsletters that reach your best customers. Keep your advertising consistent and constant for best results.
Use these three marketing methods over and over again. You may see small results at first, then mounting response as word spreads.
TRACK YOUR RESULTS
You can't truly know if your marketing is working unless you track your results. Web sites can have their ad send people to a specific web page that can count the number of hits. Mail order ads can direct people to a "dept." number that keys to the publication the ad appeared in. You'll then have hard numbers to show you which ads need to be renewed which aren't working for you.
Keegan Michaels manages BizGuru.com, a website packed with FREE marketing tips, tools and strategies for web sites, retail and mail order businesses. Get his FREE marketing course via email.
Send an email to BizGuru@aweber.com
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