Smart Money Choice$

As with most information surrounding marketing, there can be a lot of hype on a topic like this. But the simple truth is that one of the biggest reasons 95% of all start-up businesses fail is because they hang out their shingle and just expect business to show up.

It doesn’t work that way.

I’m going to make a bold statement here. Marketing is THE most important function in your business. Yes, you heard that from me, the QuickBooks consultant who is always telling you how vital it is to have accurate financial records.

I’m not changing my tune on that, but reality is you won’t have any financial records to keep track of if you don’t have enough business coming in the door. Sales come in by getting the word out about the value your business offers the world for which they need to pay you. It’s really all about communication.

If, by means of your marketing methods you are able to vividly communicate to a large, targeted audience the value of what you have to offer them, you will pull in new business. Guaranteed. Of course, to build a reputation that will keep people coming back, you have to deliver on that promise of value. But even those who do not offer high quality services and products will make money if they use effective marketing methods. You know that’s true.

So, the question is, what marketing methods are most effective? I’m glad you asked.
The answer really does depend, at least in part, to the type of business you want to build and who your customers are.

Remember that marketing is all about communication. And guess what? The Internet is all about communication too. That’s why the two work so well together. And what does communication really do? It builds relationships. And relationships are what drive business. People do business with people they know, like and trust. So effective online marketing is about building relationships with your prospects and customers.

That’s why most companies can benefit by marketing through the Internet. Some prosperous businesses are even marketed exclusively online. Mine is one of them.

I’ve never been one to go along with the crowd. So when it comes to marketing my QuickBooks consulting and training business, taking a non-traditional approach is really paying off.

Because I work exclusively on a virtual basis with my clients (that means I don’t go on-site to visit my clients’ offices, but work with them using the Internet and telephone only), it made sense to market my business using only the Internet as well. But I did more than just put up a website and be done with it.

Of course my website is the central point of contact online. But Internet marketing involves much more. Getting results means you have to be where people will find you AND you need to be proactive about building relationships with them. Here are just a few ways I’ve used to get attention and build ongoing relationships with online marketing:

- List in online directories
- Write articles that are published online
- Publish an online newsletter
- Offer online training and/or information for free
- Participate in online forums and social networks
- Advertise using pay-per-click search engine ads

But not all online marketing methods are created equal. The hardest part is not the actual marketing methods. In fact, those are easy and most are quite inexpensive (when compared to off-line marketing). The most formidable obstacle in using online marketing to rake is more business than you can handle is the learning curve.

It took me a few years to figure this stuff out! Literally. But it doesn’t need to take you that long, You can quickly tap into the abundance marketing online has to offer - and I HIGHLY recommend that you do. So here are the ”insider” strategies I’d use, if I had to start again from scratch to learn how to use online marketing in my business.

1. I’d absorb the information being offered for free by the leading Internet marketers.

2. I would go to live marketing events as soon as I could possibly afford it.

3. I would pay for ONLY the information I needed when I needed it.

So how do you know which Internet marketers to listen to (there are a slew of them) and/or which marketing events will get you the most bang for your buck? Here are the marketers I follow because, in my opinion and experience, they are the best of the best.

Jim Edwards‘ free multi-media online newsletter: I Gotta Tell You.  He also has a membership site (of which I am a long-standing member) called The Net Reporter. Jim teaches everything, nuts-and-bolts style, you will ever need to know about marketing your business on the Internet. The way my business is going, I know that I cannot afford NOT to be a member of Jim’s site!
 
Armand Morin: Live seminar - BigSeminar This is considered THE online marketing seminar and the only one that millionaire business owners consistently attend. The reason? It is the best both for content and for networking. It’s not cheap, but you can learn a ton just by attending the preview training calls Armand hosts with each of the speakers for free.

The next BigSeminar is October 3-5, in Atlanta (I’ll be there!), and the first of the FREE preview training calls starts tonight (Tuesday, August 19th). You can learn more about it Here.

So will Internet marketing boost your business’s bottom line? YES! But you’ve got to get past the learning curve first!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Articles, News Flash. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.