When you consider the incredibly brief period of time that online marketing has been around, it is amazing that as many companies have had the success they have had. It is not easy, however, as every accomplishment takes a lot of hard work. Anything that is worthwhile takes effort; therefore, you must have solid determination and persistence to reach your goals. There is no magical guidebook that tells you or anyone else how to use online marketing to its fullest potential, but here are a few common strategies that are employed by many on the path to success.

Web Design And Pertinent Text

Your website is going to be the first thing that people see to identify with you.  Make sure it is a display you are proud of and that directly relates to what you’re trying to sell.  There are plenty of great web designers and web design packages promoted to help beginning businesses get started.  Look at several options before making a final decision.  The words that advertise your product and/or service need to be grammatically correct and error-free to present the best impression possible to future clients.  If writing is not your best forte, hire a freelance copywriter to assist you.  Many are available that can help put your ideas into words.  Ensure any links that are listed on your site are correct and work properly.  Also, make sure that all contact information is correct.  You don’t want to send a potential client to a wrong email address or give them a phone number that isn’t correct.

Forget Pop-ups

A compromise used by many companies who want to grab your attention but not make you angry is pop-ups. However, this technology is dated at best and obsolete at worst. It does nothing to enhance your web design. Just about every browser in this day and age from Microsoft Internet Explorer to the open source Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome offer built-in pop-up blockers. Really, in 2009, the only person who would suggest using pop-ups as part of an integrated online marketing campaign likely doesn’t know anything about the Internet.  They tend to make potential clients more frustrated than attentive.

Be Prepared For Success

Let’s say you have devised an online marketing campaign that has built up a good amount of buzz and you have people flocking to your website like never before. Success! Now what? A surprising number of companies are seriously unprepared for the deluge that a good online marketing campaign brings. They either don’t upgrade their servers so the flood of traffic knocks their site offline or they don’t revamp their home page to give curious clickers the information they came for in the first place. No one is expecting you to turn everyone in this group of curious onlookers into customers, but you do need to convert at least two percent.  Two percent is a fairly standard goal that should be obtainable with your web design and winning text. Make sure your product is showcased; the links people can click on to learn more should be prominently displayed; and you should have a simplified online check-out system in place to handle thousands of clients at once.  Be prepared; if you’re not, you may not get a second chance at those potential customers. Anything less and people will instantly lose interest and go check their email or the latest tweet on Twitter. It is up to you to turn these people into clients; don’t let opportunities slip through your fingers.

Social networking sites give businesses the possibility of reaching thousands of people very quickly. You can use blogs, podcasts, articles, and discussion boards to engage potential customers. You will attract people to your site when you give them information they want. That’s attraction marketing: you establish relationships with your audience, eventually turning prospects into customers.

Attract, Don’t Advertise

While social networking sites are among the best ways to market a business, they are not for advertising. Each site has its own rules about what types of direct advertising it allows. Direct advertising is self-promotion, which social networking sites strongly discourage. That’s why attraction marketing is the way to use the power of social networking to enhance your business.

Provide Information with Podcasts

A podcast is an audio or audio/video file distributed over the Internet. You upload the podcast; listeners download it and play it at their convenience. Podcasts are a great tool for attraction marketing on social networking sites because:

• You can target messages to various groups of customers, prospects, or contacts.
• You can provide information your customers or prospects will find interesting, helping to establish you as a trusted expert.
• People can listen to your message while they do other things.

New services let you can create your own podcast with no technical knowledge and at very low cost. Several podcast and social networking sites (Gcast.com, blogtalkradio.com, clickclaster.com, gabcast.com, to name a few) make it easy to set up a podcast using a microphone and a PC or even just a telephone.

Blog for Your Business

A blog gives you a chance to present information and communicate with other people on an ongoing basis. On a social networking site, you can have your own blog and you can contribute to the blogs of other people. Remember that what you write reflects on you and your business. Make your posts truthful, useful, concise, and polite. Rude, spamming, or inappropriate posts will turn your customers off and could get you kicked off the site.

Blogs also play an important role in attraction marketing. Reading the posts of people in your audience base tells you about their concerns and needs. You can then craft messages that address these issues and provide solutions. A discrete link to your website at the bottom of your posts lets people easily contact that wonderful person who helped them out with great information.

You Are Your Brand

Your task is to build relationships with interested people. Focus on solving the problems they have that relate to your business or industry. People respond strongly and positively to information they find valuable. This is how you brand yourself, build trust, and establish yourself as an expert in the field.

Establishing relationships is the key to attraction marketing. Through social networking sites people learn who you are and what you have to offer. Once you have their interest and trust (which takes time, so be patient), you can tell them about your business.

Lately I have been shopping for a wood stove for my home. I know something about wood stoves, but not enough to make an informed decision. So what I needed first was information. The dealer I approached spent a great deal of time educating me about the different options and sharing stories about wood stoves. He told me what my next step was and gave me his card. He never tried to make a sale. I had an enjoyable and educational experience. I liked him; I trusted him; I’ll probably buy from him. Whether he knew it or not, he was practicing attraction marketing.

Give and Get

Attraction marketing focuses on gaining customers by giving them something they value or need. You know what they need by listening to their problems and asking questions. Then you match your resources with their needs. The stove salesman didn’t tell me about gas stoves, because I said I wanted a wood stove. He gave me information and brochures about wood stoves that might fit my situation. He carefully asked and answered questions.

Attraction marketing is based on the principle that the more you give the more you get. Every business has something of value to offer its customers. Hardware stores tell customers how to fix things. Online gardening sites offer ideas on garden planning. MLM opportunities provide tips on making money online. Whether you give articles, resources, tips, samples, or how-to videos, your goal is to help customers and prospects reach their goals.

Push and Pull

Think about attraction marketing in terms of push and pull. Until recently, marketing involved pushing people to make a purchase. Ads said, “Buy my product. It’s the best.” If you think about it, the act of pushing creates more distance between people. Attraction marketing, on the other hand, is about pulling. By listening to and responding to people’s needs, you draw them in, like a magnet. Pulling brings people together, creating relationships. At its most basic, attraction marketing is about building relationships.

E-commerce

Attraction marketing is well suited to e-commerce. Most people visit the Internet to find the information they need to solve a particular problem. Their primary objective is to get information, not to make a purchase. After you establish trust by providing valuable solutions you are in a position to market your business. Customers like to buy from people who help them.

MLM Opportunities

If you are marketing an MLM opportunity, your first task is to find out what prospects need. Make sure your communications and advertising address these needs, whether they want financial freedom, aim to work from home, or need a flexible work schedule, Ask prospects what they want to achieve, and then tell them how your MLM opportunity can help them reach their goals.

Mutual Benefit

Focus on what people want. Give them useful information related to their needs. Don’t focus on sales. Instead make every moment of contact helpful and enjoyable. With attraction marketing you help yourself by helping others. Your business will grow when you build mutually beneficial relationships between yourself and your customers.

No technology has changed the world of business quite like the Internet. Even though this amazing expertise and knowledge has only been in people’s homes for less than 15 years, it has changed the way people buy cars, homes, Christmas presents, and just about everything else. Companies these days spend millions on online marketing as more and more people put away magazines, newspapers, and even television in favor of the Internet.

The Internet is a terrific technology asset and marketing tool. Nearly everyone either has a computer or at least has access to a computer on a daily basis. The audience you will be able to reach through the Internet is incredibly magnified when compared to using only traditional marketing tools. Here are a few basic starter tips for anyone looking to start or expand a business using online marketing tools.

Speed With Honesty

A recent study shows that a webpage or banner ad has less than four seconds to grab the attention of a would-be customer. You want to make sure that what the banner ad reflects is your most important selling point.  Since the attention span of Internet skimmers can be so short, the words and/or graphics you display must convey to the person how important your site, product, or service could be to them.  This means that honesty really needs to be your best policy, because if you get the potential customer directed to your site, what they find there should be legitimate and accurate in order to keep them there and returning (not to mention that Google will like you better).

Easy-To-Remember URL

It is possible to use online marketing and not have a website to direct people to, but it isn’t a good idea. Every company in the world in this day and age of highly efficient technology should have some kind of permanent web presence. The trick is finding an easy-to-remember URL after all this time. Many of the good .com addresses are taken, but the my recommendation is to stay away from the .net, .tv, org., etc. People are used to the .com addresses and will be more responsive to them.  Also, the easier your URL is to remember, spell, etc., the better off your marketing campaign will be.

Security

If you have your own products to sell online, security is a technology feature that is in especially high demand today because, unfortunately, there is always going to be some unscrupulous persons looking for a way to get something for nothing.  You don’t want your site to become one of their targets.  Advertising security, and backing up that claim, needs to be a priority for any online marketing effort.  You want your customers to feel secure. Even though most credit cards now offer complete fraud protection, it is in your best interest to trumpet just how safe your site is.  Two of the most popular security enhancements that provide reputable logos to help your clients feel safe are VeriSign and HackerSafe.  Most services that offer shopping carts for your customers also provide security options.

Follow up

If you are lucky enough to turn an interested Internet web surfer into a buyer, you need to ensure you provide excellent service and that the customer’s experience is of the highest quality you can manage. Word-of-mouth is still the best advertising you can get, and you won’t get much in the way of word-of-mouth advertising unless you have customers using your business over and over again. It is important to follow up with emails, newsletters, phone calls, etc.  Find a good autoresponder, like Aweber or I-contact, and set it up to keep in contact with your customers weekly.

There is nothing in the world worse than finding yourself in a rut. It could be a rut formed by a routine that has become a little “too” routine or it could be caused by a lack of upward mobility at your workplace. If you have been considering starting your own online business and feel you don’t have the resources to accomplish that goal, think again.  It really doesn’t take a lot of capital to get started; it does take a lot of hard work and wherewithal to meet success head on.  It can also be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.  Utilizing the Internet to help you obtain your goals, along with traditional forms of marketing, is a winning combination.

Choosing The Right Mission

In order to succeed at any business, online or otherwise, the product or service you provide should “matter” to you – you should care about it.  It is much easier to sell something you personally believe in.

Motivation

Once you get started with your new online business, you will discover it can take a lot of motivation to keep going on your own.  It is important to build a social network of like-minded business entrepreneurs.  Together, you can help keep each other motivated to reach success.  You also need a good “sounding board,” and other entrepreneurs who are going through the same things as you are a good source.  It is also helpful to have objective listeners who can give you feedback on your ideas and decisions from a different perspective.

Communication

Your communication skills will be crucial as you proceed in your new business.  The Internet brings a completely new realm of email, social networking, chatting, being a part of discussions in a forum, and so much more.  You will need to find ways to communicate that cover broad topics and range across a wide variety of interpretations from different people.  Each person has their own frame of reference for any set circumstance.  To communicate effectively, you must be able to break down and cross any barriers that might be presented online, as well as in person.

Focus

It’s easy when you’re first starting out to become overwhelmed with numerous details.  Plodding through all the necessary decisions you will need to make about your product, your web design, your web host, the content on your page, which security provider to choose, etc., don’t lose sight of your main focus – your ultimate goal.  Sometimes the important points can get lost in all the details.  Ensure you stay focused on your original passion and keep your vision clear to see your mission through to a successful conclusion.

Self-Esteem

Believe in yourself; believe in your product or service, and you will be a long way down the path to success.  Don’t allow feelings of low self-esteem to interfere with your drive for victory.  Self-esteem can be one of your most important aspects.  The way you see yourself reflects how you present yourself to the world, business or social, online or offline.

Set realistic goals for your business and yourself; that way, you have less chance of experiencing disappointment and you will have the spirit to keep moving forward.  When you reach one goal, set another and move toward it.  In this manner, you are almost assured of success for your dream.

With the new Presidential administration only 6 months in, there is already talk of what will happen when “the honeymoon ends.”  The fact is, in today’s information world, with instant access to world events, in real time, things that used to take a year, now happen in a month.  So, it got me thinking – if a new “superstar” like our new president can only be “the next great thing” for 8 or 9 months, what does that say about you and me.  More specifically, what does it say about how people see us in our business of networking and how we see ourselves.

It seems to me that if you’ve been in the networking industry for at least a year or two, and still remain, you’ve probably already realized that what got you into the business originally, probably is not what is keeping you there now.  Somewhere along the way, what you thought the business was going to be is not what it turned out to be – the honeymoon is over.  But fear not…this is the way it’s supposed to be.

You see, when you first started, what probably kept you going was inspiration and motivation from others – most likely, from people who came before you who were having great success in your company.  You fed off of their passion and their belief.  In essence, you borrowed it.  And, during the first phase of your business, this worked pretty well.  You were excited and passionate, and those you approached, at least some of them, fed off of your passion, and decided to join you – great!

But, then, something happened – the excitement started to wear off – after 2 years of the same weekly meetings, the same quarterly events, the same weekly training calls, etc. , your passion begin to fade.  Those successful people, who you now got to know personally, didn’t have the same effect on you any longer.  All of sudden, your passion and belief started to wane, and so did your business.  So now what?  Is it over?  Do you quit?

My answer to you is this – absolutely not!  You are going through a natural process – a necessary one.  Is it over? – no, it’s just beginning.  So where do you go from here? – you get educated.  Like the great Jim Rohn says, “Life change does not start with inspiration, it starts with education.” You can no longer sustain your business on motivation alone.  Rohn says, “If someone is an idiot, and you motivate him, now you have a motivated idiot.”

So, your job is start Phase 2 of your career – take the classes, read the books, listen to the CD’s, go to the seminars, read the blogs, buy the products, watch the videos – become a serious student of the industry.  Immerse yourself in as much information as you can find – the information is out there.  If you need help, find a mentor – someone ahead of you in the process who is willing to help you.  Stay focused and disciplined to learn your trade, because getting educated is preparing you for the next phase – the phase that takes you from amateur to professional.  To become a professional in network marketing, you must shift your focus away from your company and their products – you must focus on branding yourself and then helping others do the same.

Phase 3 of your career is sharing your knowledge and all that you have learned with others.  You can do this through personal training, social networking, blogging, etc.  What you will learn in this process is what others before you have known for some time – “teaching sells.”  You see, the old model of networking involved “pitching” and chasing prospects.  The true professional now uses what is called “attraction marketing”, which is to give value and thereby “attract” others to you.  What is so nice about this approach is that it changes the whole dynamic of your business – you become the “hunted” instead of the “hunter.”  You are the expert, and people are now coming to you for help.  This is a massive paradigm shift away from the way you were taught originally.  After you make this shift, however, you will never go back.

So, those of you out there who have experienced or are currently experiencing the “end of the honeymoon” in your network marketing career – congratulations!  You are moving to the next phase in your career and are well on your way to success.  Get your education, find a mentor, and start giving value to others.   Is it possible to make 100 times what you’re making now?– absolutely! – become 100 times more valuable to others.

If you’d like to find out more about making your transition a smooth one into the real of attraction marketing, your are always welcome to contact me, and I’ll be happy to get you started in the right direction.

Keep your head up, smile, and stay strong.