by TheMarketingProfessional
Running an internet business verses a traditional business appears to be the trend these days however, there are still circumstances where off-line firms are more appropriate and can outperform online businesses. Let’s look at some pro’s and con’s for both.
Having an online business means that you have access to a global market place that is open 24/7. When you own a local business, you still have competitors however, they are fewer in number. For example, some services are better suited for face to face interaction.
If you don’t have a large amount of money to invest, another factor to consider is that buying an online business is usually more affordable initially and more economical over the long haul to run. There will be expenses none the less and you will have to pay for a domain name and web hosting just for starters. In many circumstances an internet business can be run directly from your home with a reliable computer and internet connection.
Both online businesses and established brick and mortar businesses have their own benefits and drawbacks. Internet businesses are often more economical to maintain and have more room for expansion, but, you may also face more competition.
No matter what you choose be sure to weigh the benefits versus the time it will take to be successful.
Here’s to your good business choice,
The Marketing Professional
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by TheMarketingProfessional
For those of you who want to start a internet business, search engine optimization has become a major part of any website. The internet has continued to grow at an amazing rate since its birth more than twenty years ago, now the number of websites and therefore competitors is in the billions. Which makes getting top search engine ranking very hard. The sheer volume of results that search engines produce can cause a needle in the haystack effect. To make sure that people can find your website you will need to appear at the top of the search results for the key-terms that are relevant to what you do. That means optimizing your website with search engine optimization. It is no longer good enough to have a great looking website. Now it has to be optimized for the search engines, otherwise it will be buried in a heap by millions of other sites, that’s bad news for your website. And don’t forget about search engine submission service.
You want your site to be seen, but you don’t know where to start. You need to have your current site analysed Then you will to decide on the most practical way to bring the traffic in. In some cases minor changes and some general search engine optimization techniques will be enough to get your site moving up the ranks.
Although for some sites, especially those created before the SEO revolution, a small amount of tinkering just won’t quite cut it. If your current site isn’t up to scratch then starting again may well be the best answer. Make sure your site is built from the ground up with SEO and search engines in mind. This could well reduce your long term marketing spend and increase the amount of exposure and therefore customers. The design of your website is obviously a very important consideration. During the design phase it is especially important to maintain the focus on your potential customers and making sure the site is built for them. If a customer can’t use your site easily at the first attempt then there is a high chance the will be going somewhere else with their custom. It is far better to have a simple, easy to use website rather than one which looks great but is hard to navigate.
Other things to keep in mind when putting together a website design are, budget, timeframe, how the site will be edited and by who, what do you want the customer to do on the site are they visiting your website for information or do you want them to purchase something?
If you have your own webpage that helps alot, but if no one can find it then there isn’t a great deal of point. Submitting your sites to the Search Engines is one of the first steps in SEO and can help speed up the process of getting your website noticed on the search engines. Submitting your site to the search engines can be time consuming and submitting your site to the right ones isn’t always as straight forward as it should be. As a rule of thumb it is wise to stick to the big ones such as Google, Yahoo etc and then to find any specialist ones that cater solely for your industry.
Inbound link building is a very important step in SEO and getting your website ranked highly in the search engines. Each link you get from another site acts as a vote If the other site is relevant to yours and of high standing, then the vote is worth more. Getting good quality backlinks can be a minefield, especially as there are a lot of companies offering thousands of links for a fixed fee. Stay away from these companies at all costs, the links they provide may not do much more than hurt your website ranking, build your links the right way.
To Your SEO Success,
The Marketing Professional
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by TheMarketingProfessional
Online marketing is a very competitive and fast pace business in which the smallest errors can take a chunk out of your internet business.
Before you start an internet business you should have a clearly defined plan as to how it will be managed. You’ll need to establish certain parameters, conditions, and systems concerning your objectives and the manner in which you’ll accomplish them.
Let’s have a look at 5 key rules you’ll want to adhere to insure yours will be a successful internet business.
#1 List Building
LIST BUILDING should be one of your TOP priorities as you work to establish your online business. Capturing the contact information of anybody who has shown interest in any of your marketing campaigns is a shrewd business strategy. This presents the opportunity to market to these people again in the future with less cost or effort.
#2 Relationship Building
Start to DEVELOP a RELATIONSHIP after collecting contact information from someone by maintaining periodic contact with them; emailing them with helpful or entertaining information is a good start. By doing this you start to develop a rapport of sorts that breeds a certain familiarity with them. This will make your future marketing efforts more effective.
#3 Auto responder
An auto responder is a great way to keep in touch with your opt-in list even when you don’t have time to send them emails manually. The ability to prepare a series of emails that will be sent out on prescribed dates is an absolute must. Not only will it free you up to tend to other components of your marketing plan but it will also insure the timely and reliable delivery of your emails. The scheduling and frequency of your emails is left up to your discretion but you will want to maintain some sort of regulated contact with your list.
#4 Deliver Value
Each time you send emails to your list make sure that you include something that is useful to your list, like rebrandable ebooks or even just a free gift. People will need to know that what you have to offer will help or interest them. In order to make money online people need to be willing to buy from you. If you’re giving them free information and gifts they find useful they’ll assume products you are selling will hold EVEN MORE value for them. This assumption will motivate them to make the purchase.
#5 Test, then Test again
This last key rule you’ll need to follow is both ‘boring’ but ‘very important’ if you want a successful business that will make money online for you. You need to TEST what it is you’re doing to see what works and what works best. From your emails, to your headlines to the copy on your website you want to know what needs to be improved. Online marketing is a very dynamic environment that is constantly evolving so what may work one day may not the next. A willingness to continually monitor your marketing plan for any missed opportunities is a must. Your ability to address and adapt to these changes will ultimately lead to the success of your online business.
To the Success of Your Professional Marketing,
The Marketing Professional
P.S. – I recomend www.ProTrackerPlus for all your testing, tracking and web analytics needs.
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