How to Build an Online Business Part 1
© 2003 Terri Seymour
If you recently started an online business, you are
finding out that it is different than owning a brick and
mortar business. Although the basic strategies are the same:
*Marketing
*Promotions
*Advertising
*Networking
*Customer Service
*Multiple Income Streams
The method of each is different. The possibilities
on the Internet are limitless..........contained only by
lack of passion, creativity and commitment.
*Marketing & Promotions
There are countless ways of marketing and promoting an
online business and a lot of them are free/affordable.
*Writing Articles - Extremely effective method of
building your reputation and your business. Writing
articles is not hard, just stick with what you know and
do not think you have to use big words to impress
anyone. People are just looking for understandable
articles with helpful info and useful resources.
*Ezine Publishing - If you own an online business you
should definitely be publishing an ezine to keep in
contact with your website visitors and subscribers.
Ezines themselves can be excellent income generators
and they can also generate a lot of business for you.
* Reading Other Quality Ezines- I have obtained
unlimited knowledge and information just be subscribing
to and reading other quality ezines. Good ezines
contain a wealth of information and resources.
Find all kinds of ezines here:
http://www.myfavoriteezines.com
* Free Ecourses - Compile a series of articles and turn
them into a mini ecourse. Give step by step info and
provide helpful resources to compliment said info.
Always provide links to your website, ezine and any
products that are applicable. You also want to have
your email on every page so it is very easy to contact
you. Assemble your course on a fr~e autoresponder and
start offering it to your subs, visitors and submit it
to fellow webmasters for distribution.
Example: mailto:moe-mini-course@getresponse.com
*AutoResponders - Autoresponders are used to mail out
follow-ups to ezine subscribers, requests for more
information, orders, article requests, etc. Effective
follow-ups can raise your sales substantially.
http://www.getresponse.com
* Free Ebooks - Creating an ebook is not hard. You can
simply compile several articles that you or other people
have written. Provide tips, resources and information.
Offer your ebook to webmasters, ebook directories and
ezine publishers for distribution. More info:
mailto:ebooksforeveryone@getresponse.com
* Building A Good Reputation- It is essential to your
business that you present yourself as honest and
trustworthy. You must then carry out this presentation
and be a person of your word and you must put your
customers first. Treat people with respect, the way you
would want somebody to treat you. Your attitude and
personality will show through and people will respond
to you as they see you.
Getting people to your website and then to actually
become a customer is no easy task. There are
hundreds of thousands of websites out there, with
numerous ones similar to yours. Make your site more
memorable by:
1. Have valuable content
2. Start a community to keep people coming back
3. Offer something for free - free ecourse, free ebooks, free tutorials, etc.
4. Have monthly contests
5. Keep adding new content, keep your site fresh
6. Have your contact info on every page
7. Make your site easy to navigate
8. Do not use over bearing graphics/music
These are just a few ways of marketing and promoting
yourself and your business. As you spend more time
online, you will learn which ways are most effective for you.
Part 2 of this article series will deal with advertising.
Terri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.com
Learn to publish and promote your own ezine.
mailto:myownezine@subto.us
FREE No-Hassle Subscription Management is Here!
http://subto.us
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