Small Business Internet Marketing Tips

I often refer to the Internet as the "Great Equalizer" in terms of business competition. With the right Internet marketing strategies, your small business can compete with (and often surpass) your larger competitors.

Online, it really doesn't matter how big your marketing department is, or what your annual budget is. All that matters is how well you manage and promote your website. So if you do this better than your competition, you can take the lion's share of the web-driven business in your industry or niche. Here are some small business Internet marketing tips to help you do just that.

Internet Marketing Success

First of all, you need to understand the importance of the Web and how it can help you grow your business. When we want to research a topic these days, what's the first thing we do? We sit down at the computer and use a search engine to gather information. This method of research is becoming more common with each passing day.

So this is the first Internet marketing tip you should absorb from this article -- the Internet has the power and reach to take your small business to the next level. With that out of the way, let's talk about some of the things you can do to capitalize on this...

Tips for Visibility

From an Internet marketing perspective, search engine visibility is one of the best things you can achieve for your small business. So it's worth your time to learn the fundamentals of search engine optimization (SEO) and apply them to your website. Here are some of those fundamentals:

• Do a thorough round of keyword research using Google's keyword tool, WordTracker or something similar. This will help you identify the key phrases you should focus on for search engine optimization. Internet marketing success starts with building blocks such as this.
• Create plenty of original content for your small business website, focusing on the topics you identified in the last tip on keyword research. How you organize your content will depend on your business model, your products and services, etc. The important thing is to create quality information that is specific to your intended audience.
  
• Inbound links (from other websites to yours) will help you boost your rankings in the major search engines like Google. So research the various ways to build links and practice them on a regular basis. Techniques include article marketing, networking, submitting your website to web directories and more.
  

Tips for Usability

Website usability is an important part of your small business Internet marketing program. If your website is hard to use (for whatever reason), you are going to lose business as a result. So it's worth your time to learn the key concepts of usability and apply them to your site. Here are some starting points:

• Examine your menu / navigation structure to ensure it makes sense. Your menu should follow standard web conventions to help visitors find their ways. Label things clearly and logically. Draw it out on paper first, if necessary.
  
• Have a friend visit your small business website, somebody who has never seen it before. Ask them perform a certain task, such a locating a particular product or service. You'll find out pretty quick how easy or hard your website is to use.
• Keep your web pages clean and clutter-free. Each page should have a specific goal, and all of the content on that page should support that goal. This is an Internet marketing tip that many small business owners ignore. I can't tell you how many websites I've visited that were overloaded with information, to the point of confusing me completely.
  

Tips for Conversions

Within the context of small business Internet marketing, a "conversion" takes place when a casual website visitor becomes something else. For example, when somebody visits your site and signs up for an email newsletter list, they have been "converted" from a visitor into a subscriber. Web-based leads, inquiries and purchases are other forms of Internet conversion.

• Use multiple techniques for lead generation and/or sales generation. With all other things being equal, several techniques will produce more conversions than a single method alone.
• Start this process by identifying the top-three actions you want people to take when they visit your site. Action 'A' might be the most important, but you should also have a 'B' and 'C' to fall back on. For instance, if you can't make a sale, you should at least capture the visitor's contact information for follow-up purposes.
• Conversion points are the areas of your small business website where you want people to take action. A sign-up box and a purchase button are two examples. Make sure your conversion points are easily visible in key areas of your website. Provide clear instructions where necessary.
  

Obviously, there's a lot more to small business Internet marketing than this list of tips and tactics. But this article offers a good overview of the three most important concepts -- visibility, usability and conversion. If you focus on these three things, and improve them every way you can, there's no limit to what you can accomplish.

The Marketing Encyclopedia - Now Open

We have created a new section of the website called the Marketing Encyclopedia. And as the name suggests, it will offer information on a variety of marketing topics. Most of the information will fall into one of three categories:

General Marketing Topics - The section covers some of the general concepts behind marketing. How to plan a campaign, the tools you can use along the way, marketing-related jobs and more.

Types of Marketing - Explains the many different ways you can market your business, with topics ranging from direct mail to search engine optimization (and everything in between).

Information by Industry - How do people in your industry use marketing to grow their businesses? You can find out in this section of the Encyclopedia.

This only marks the beginning. There's a lot more great stuff coming soon!

Writing Tips for Marketing Letters - New Article

Marketing letters have long been an effective tool for increasing sales and overall business success. They are easy to produce, easy to deliver, and they are virtually guaranteed to be read most of the time.

But success with marketing letters often comes down to the writing ability of the person who creates the letter. Sure, it all starts with a great product or service. But in order to convey the selling points of your products or services, you need to understand some fundamentals of direct mail copywriting.

You find plenty of articles on this subject all over the website, and we've just added a new article that outlines the process of writing a strong marketing letter. Specifically, this articles explains the five steps to success a writer must go through when planning and developing a sales letter.

Here's an excerpt:

If you have kept up with the prescribed letter-writing steps up until now, you should have a clear idea who you are speaking to with your letters. The next logical question deals with the reader's action. What do you want your readers to do when they read your message? This needs to be a specific goal, because you will write your entire message around it.

Read the rest here:
How to Write a Marketing Letter

Copywriting Tips for Postcard Marketing Success

by Brandon Cornett

Everything I'm about to say assumes that you already have a product or service worth selling. If you feel that you do, and you're researching direct mail postcards as a promotional channel for that product or service, then these copywriting tips are for you!

Many first-time postcard marketers make the mistake of starting with the copywriting process before anything else. "What should I write on this postcard?" they will ask. "What should my headline say? What points do I need to make within the body?"

Here's a copywriting tip that will make the process easier for you, while also making the direct mail piece more effective in the end. Start with the response you are trying to evoke, and then work backward from there. Before you write a single word of your postcard message, you should clearly identify what it is you want people to do when they receive it.

Copywriting Tip - Don't Overburden Your Postcards

Here's the key to this process. The desired response for your direct mail campaign must be something that a postcard is able to deliver. Think about the space and time constraints here. You don't have a lot of space for your marketing message, and you don't have a lot of time to convince the reader. They'll give you a quick glance at first, and if you don't grab them based on that glance you're done. So keep your response simple.

For example, let's say I am sending some postcards to business people in a certain industry to tell them about my new software program. My product is designed to make their life easier by streamlining some of the daily tasks they go through. But how much of this do I write into my direct mail message? Well, that depends on the desired response I am seeking from readers.

Copywriting Tip - Work Backward from the Response

In this scenario, I need to start with the objective of my marketing campaign. There is not enough space on a postcard for me to explain all the details of my software program. Nor will most people give it that much time at first glance. So I come up with a simpler response -- all I want people to do is download a free-trial version of my product. Now that's something my direct mail piece can accomplish, and it will make my coypwriting process a lot easier as well.

So from here, I simply work backward. I need a good landing page on my website that I can tie into the postcard campaign. I need to set up the free trial process and make sure everything is working. I need to ensure that names and email addresses are being captured for follow-up purposes.

The Message Writes Itself

Already, we can see how much easier the copywriting process is going to be. I have removed a big burden from my shoulders by determining a realistic response, something that is easy and risk-free for the respondents. I no longer have to tell them everything that makes my program great -- I only have to tell them enough to draw their initial interest, and to motivate them toward the free trial.

At this point, the message practically writes itself. And it's all because I started with a realistic objective and worked backward from there.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon