The Three Core Components of Your On-Line Presence

One of the most common questions business owners ask is: "How do we find the time to stay on top of Twitter, Facebook, blogging and every other Internet tool?" It's a fair question, and an important one. The answer is not to try and stay on top of them all. There are three that will do 80% of what you need, and that's good enough.

So what are the three?

In brief:

1. Your Web site
2. Your e-mail newsletter
3. Your blog

What about Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, YouTube, LinkedIn, Foursquare, viral e-books, Tripit, and everything else?

Forget about them.

Yes, forget about them!... At least for now.

I'm not saying they aren't useful. They are, but for most of us they should be the last 20% of your Internet marketing effort. If you get around to them, great; if not, no big deal.

But you must be good at the Big Three: Your Web site, your blog and your e-mail newsletter.

Is this true for everybody?

No. There will always be exceptions to this, and you'll hear stories of people who use Twitter as their main marketing tool; or spend hours in LinkedIn discussion groups; or anybody who's running a profitable membership site.

But they are the exceptions. For most of us, setting our priorities on our Web site, blog and e-mail newsletter will be good enough.

So let's look at the key requirements for each.

1. Your Web site

Your Web site should clearly:

• Define your target market(s)
• Identify their biggest problems, questions, desires or aspirations
• Lead them on a clear path to the solution you offer

Most importantly, you must be able to change your Web site yourself. You need this so you can keep building and adapting it as your business grows.

2. Your e-mail newsletter

Your e-mail newsletter should:

• Only consist of subscribers who have given explicit permission to be on the list
• Provide high-value content in every issue
• Promote products, services or events - but only up to 20% of each issue should be promotional

Despite problems with e-mail overload and new on-line marketing tools, e-mail is still the best way to get your message to your target market.

3. Your blog

Your blog should:

• Be the place that brings together everything else that's happening in your professional life
• Link back to product and service pages on your Web site, where appropriate
• Take no more than 10 minutes for you to write each blog post (yes, it's possible!)

Your blog is more fluid than your newsletter. You can publish to it more regularly, make short or long posts, and embed videos and other cool stuff. It's harder to get people to subscribe to it (that's why you need the e-mail newsletter as well); but on the flip side, every blog post becomes a Web page, which increases your on-line footprint.

OK, that's it!

This is easier said than done, I know! But if you just follow the principle of getting good at these three things, you'll find your Internet marketing to be much easier - and perhaps even enjoyable!

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