Creating Your Own Web Marketing Strategy
When I built my first website (a few years ago now), I naively thought, build it and wait for the money to come rolling in. Then I could relax, work an hour or 2 a day and become a millionaire...easily within a few months.
Well, that's what all the Internet Marketing ads said would happen.
It was a long, long way from reality.
I quickly found out that Internet Marketing is extremely complicated and is much more difficult than simply putting some keywords in the text of your site.
There was just so much to concentrate on and I didn't know where to start, so I found myself an Internet Marketing mentor. He was excellent.
One of the first things he said was, "You need an Internet Marketing Plan"
"What's that?"
"A web marketing plan, a web marketing strategy. Where are you taking your web business?
"I don't know", I replied.
I was asked 7 questions that I just couldn't answer:
1. "What's the strategy for your Internet Marketing business?"
2. "What are the latest trends in your area of expertise?"
3. "What are your customers looking for?"
4. "What products and services are you going to create and sell?"
5. "How much are you going to sell the products and services for?"
6. "How are you going to distribute your products?"
7. "How are you going to market your products and services?"
I had a huge amount to learn. But I was keen and I was committed.
Do you have an Internet Marketing Plan for your business?
Answering the 7 questions above would be a great start to creating your Internet Marketing plan.
The basic steps are:
1. Strategic planning
2. Trends analysis
3. Customer analysis
4. Product focus
5. Pricing strategy
6. Product distribution
7. Internet marketing
Step Number 1: Strategic Planning.
What is your overall strategy for your business? Are you going to create product after product after product in the same business areas or are you going to diversify into a number of different areas?
What is going to make your business stand out from the rest?
What are the overall aims of the business? Income? Sales? Products? Customers?
All these questions go into what you want your business to look like in the future. Knowing that will help you establish the steps you have to take today, tomorrow, this week, next week and next month to move the business forward.
Bear in mind, you never reach your strategy. Why? Because you should always be looking ahead and changing your business strategy.
Step Number 2: Trend Analysis
Understand the market that you are in. Study and research. Listen to the gurus. Analyse your competition. The more you know about the industry you are in and how you can succeed in it, the better.
Step Number 3: Customer Analysis
How much do you know about your customers? In order to effectively market to someone, you have got to know what he or she is looking for. What are their pains, their ‘problems'? The better you understand the type of person you are marketing to, the better. And please don't say, ‘everyone needs my product'.
Step Number 4: Product focus
If you know your customers pains and needs, then you can create and offer a product the customer wants. Here you want to build up to having several products on offer. Something for free, something under $10, something for $30, $100, $300 and higher.
Step Number 5: Pricing Strategy
This can be a difficult step. Get the price too low and customers won't buy because they have a perception the product is ‘rubbish'. Get the price too high and customers will just refuse to buy. Do some research. What are others selling a similar product for? Then decide on a price and see what happens. A couple of months later you can change the price. It really is a matter of testing.
Step number 6: Product Distribution
How are you going to distribute your product? Some Internet business offer physical products like CD's, DVD's. Others will allow you to download everything, instantly. Others allow you to choose and charge different prices depending upon which you choose - physical or download.
Allowing instant download is a great selling point because people want the goods they have just purchased NOW! You could then follow up with the physical.
Step Number 7: Internet Marketing
This is a huge subject, but basically how you are going to advertise your business on the Internet.
Newsletters?
Article Marketing?
Search Engines?
Blog Carnivals?
To be effective, most probably all of them.
Getting to grips with these 7 steps, will help you on your way to creating your web marketing strategy and help you be much more successful.
Creating Your Own Web Marketing Strategy - To learn more about this author, visit Andrew Rondeau's Website.
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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