Simple Tips for Successful Online Marketing

So you finally started that online business you've been dreaming of and the new Website you've put so much work into has been live for quite some time now. You know it's a great site because you had several smart, objective people analyze it and tell you so. You dotted all your I's and crossed all your T's. You've worked diligently to make sure that your Website's overall theme and content communicates the right message and establishes rapport with your potential customers.

However, you continue to check your Website statistics daily, but keep wondering where your visitors are? The problem is not your Website; it's your lack of marketing.

At this point you are probably feeling pretty frustrated and realize that you need to do a little soul searching as well as some cost-effective marketing. But in which direction do you turn? There is so much information available and everyone claims they have the perfect solution to your online marketing dilemma. What's a new online business owner to do?

Hold onto your hat! Before you start spending boo coo bucks on high priced advertising or SEO (search engine optimization) gimmicks, there are a few things you can do to boost your Website traffic and increase online sales that require very little or no money at all and are extremely effective:

Article Marketing: Maybe you've heard about article marketing or perhaps you haven't. If the later applies, the concept is simple. Write some quality articles in your field of expertise and submit them to article directories. What do you know that they don't? What information would your potential customers really appreciate and find extremely helpful or useful? Writing articles should be a snap since you already have a good knowledge base about the products or services you currently sell.

Some Advantages of Article Marketing Include:

1. Free and endless incoming links - For every article that is submitted, approved and placed within an article directory you automatically get a free link. And as you have probably heard, the more quality links (including relative content) you have pointing to your Website, the higher your search engine rankings will be on the likes of Google, Yahoo, etc. Another benefit, and probably one of the most important aspects of article marketing is that publishers of other Websites will find your articles in these directories and place them on their Websites. In turn, this will create even more incoming links on relative content to your site.
2. Establish Credibility within your field of expertise. This is probably the most important aspect of article marketing. By establishing credibility within your field, you are proving to the online world that you are capable of successfully delivering your product or service. People will appreciate and respect that you have built your business on a foundation of knowledge and expertise. You see, every time they read one of your articles, they are reading about the knowledge, skills, and expertise that you bring to the table.
3. R.O.I. - Article marketing also has a great return on investment. You can simply write one article, and with just one article, have hundreds of quality links pointing to your new site. Another great advantage of article marketing is that the articles keep working for you. Even though you may have forgotten about them, they have not forgotten about you. Years down the line you will continue to spot your articles in various Websites and e-zines almost unexpectedly. Talk about quality ROI! Just a little bit of a time investment can lead to endless Website traffic and prestigious credibility within your area of expertise.

How do you find these article directories?: Simply query Google with a search string such as e-zine articles, article directories, submit articles", etc. and you are sure to come up with many of the main article directories like Search Warp.com, EzineArticles.com, Articles Base.com Article Dashboard.com, etc.

Join a FREE Online Networking Site: You may have heard of sites such as Ryze, My Space, Linked In, etc. These Websites are not just for social networking, but serve as a powerful business marketing tool you can use to gain customers, referrals and enhance your credibility in your field of expertise.

Some Advantages of Online Networking include:

1. B to B Relationship Building - The main goal of successful business networking is to create positive, lasting relationships with other like-minded business professionals - online networking sites such as Ryze, My Space and Linked In, provide the right atmosphere and tools for targeting and establishing successful business relationships.
2. Word of Mouth/Viral Marketing - Upon harnessing these important B to B relationships, you have access to other powerful marketing tools such as word of mouth/viral marketing. Leaders and followers alike of these networking forums are excellent brand evangelists and will readily "spread the word" about your company's great products and services.
3. Free Market Research - That's right! I did say free yet again. As an online networking participant, you will have access to free market research. You will have the ability to listen to what others are saying about your company's products and services or similar products and services within your industry. This gives you the unprecedented ability to monitor your company's products and services in relation to the ever-changing marketplace. Talk about smart and cost-effective marketing!
4. Joint Venture Opportunities - Online business networks create the ideal platform for joint venture partnerships to thrive. Simply find other like-minded business professionals in your network to partner with. You can start by exchanging coupons for goods or services and then move on to bundling your products or services with another company's products or services. The possibilities are endless and your Website statistics will be too.
And last but not least, place Free Advertisements on other Websites. There are many sites which offer free quality advertising such as Where2Go.com, Biz Hwy.com, listings.local.yahoo.com, etc. Taking advantage of free advertising can prove to be an effective way to reach your target market as well as provide more incoming links to your Website; many of these online business directories will allow you to place a link to your Website at no extra cost. Simply query Google with a simple search string such as "free business listings, free business advertising, free classifieds", etc to get started.

So what are you waiting for? End the frustration. You know what to do now. Now that you've got a great company Website in place, it's time to put into practice these successful online marketing tips that are sure to generate hits to your site, increase your sales and bring a smile to your face.

By : Laura Humphries
Copyright 2007 Laura Humphries. All rights reserved. Article courtesy of http://www.sweetdaisycards.com and http://www.logodaisy.com