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Developing and implementing a strategic marketing plan is an
essential part of your Internet success.
Your plan must include both short-term and long-term
strategies in order to succeed.
Short-term marketing strategies are those that bring you a
temporary boost in traffic. Although these techniques are
very important to your overall plan, they are only a
temporary traffic source and must not be solely relied on.
Short-term marketing strategies include:
· Purchasing advertising
· Bulletin Boards
·
Search Engines
Long-term marketing strategies are those that bring you a
steady stream of targeted traffic over time. These
strategies will continue to produce results even years down
the road.
Long-term marketing strategies include:
· Opt-in Lists
· Freebies
· Content
By creating and implementing a balanced marketing strategy,
using both short-term and long-term strategies, you will
drive a steady stream of targeted traffic to your website.
Creating a successful Internet presence involves much more
than designing a great website or having the "perfect"
product. Listing your website with the Search Engines is
your first step, however, you must not solely rely on the
Search Engines to bring you traffic. You must develop a
complete promotional strategy and work it every day.
-> Search Engines:
A significant amount of website traffic originates from the
major Search Engines. Most Internet users will go to a
Search Engine, type in a keyword phrase and look through the
top 10 - 20 results. Most of the time, they'll find what
they're looking for in the first 10 results. The percentage
of click throughs is even smaller. Listing near the top and
grabbing the attention of your target audience is the top
priority.
Your first step will be to optimize your web pages to the
best of your ability. Visit http://www.searchenginewatch.com
for a complete overview of the Search Engines and
optimization.
-> Opt-in List
As soon as your website is up and running, you should
immediately begin building an opt-in list. An opt-in list is
a list or database containing email addresses of individuals
who have chosen to receive your email messages. Your
messages may be web site updates, product updates or an
ezine. They provide you with a direct line of communication
with potential customers and enable you to promote your
products or services. For further information, visit the
following web address:
http://www.web-source.net/ezine_basics.htm
-> Organizing Your Strategies
A good way to organize your promotions is to set up a web
page, for your personal use, which will contain your
complete strategy. This page should be stored on your hard
drive and not uploaded to your server. Your page should
contain four sections:
· Daily Promotions
· Weekly Promotions
· Monthly Promotions
· Miscellaneous Promotions
Each of these four sections should contain the appropriate
information for each of your promotional resources such as
website name, user ID, password (if applicable) and
hyperlinked web addresses for each website you plan to use
for your promotions. This will enable you to open your web
page each day and visit the sites you have listed.
1. Daily Promotions
Link Exchanges:
Exchange links with websites similar to yours, but not in
competition.
Discussion Boards:
Visit some popular discussion boards and share your
expertise. Although you may not advertise on discussion
boards, you can include your signature file with your post.
Visit the following web address for a complete listing of
some of the top discussion boards:
http://www.web-source.net/web/Discussion_Forums/
2. Weekly Promotions
Your weekly promotions should consist of placing a paid
ezine advertisement and/or arranging ad swaps with fellow
publishers.
Visit the following web address for a complete listing of
hundreds of publishers and contact information for
advertising. http://www.directoryofezines.com
To organize your ad placements and swaps, place the
publication names, publisher names, ad dates and hyperlinked
web addresses within your weekly promotion list.
3. Monthly
Promotions
Your monthly promotions should include writing an article in
the area of your expertise and promotional exchanges.
To organize your monthly promotions, place the names and
hyperlinked web addresses for each of your promotional
resources within your monthly promotions section.
Writing Articles:
Writing articles that may be freely published with your
bylines is one of the best promotional methods online. Your
article may be published in hundreds of ezines, on websites
or even in magazines.
Visit the following web address for further information:
http://www.web-source.net/write.htm
click here to continue...
Part Nine
Internet Business Articles Summary
Article Library
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