real blogging tips

If their was such a pill as a one all cure for the internet marketing blues this will be it. Whether you are a newcomer drawn in by the promise of the worlds riches, or a veteran that has already put in the time learning to earn this will definitely help you out on your journey. Now while many author’s dress up posts like this these are really some very basic things you may be avoiding, or even just plain ignoring. You should take a deep breath and see what this list holds for you, maybe you have not seen a reason to do some of these, but I will show you why you should as well as how.

If you are new to internet marketing, or are still researching whether this is an endeavor you wish the undertake let me be the first to encourage you to do as much research as you need, but to also start building your project from thin air. Everyone is going to make mistakes, that in itself is not failure. Failure is not learning from the mistakes you made and repeating them again. I am here to help you stay on the path of success and all my future series about the subject will hopefully put you in a positive frame of mind and give you the knowledge you need to succeed.

1.) Make A Splash – “Press Release” - Before you do anything get in touch with anyone who will listen to you, and do it in a respectable manner, you are by the way asking them to help you, not generally the other way around. A lot of internet marketing is what you know, and to a certain extent who you know. Now I do not want to trivialize any aspect of this process but if you go this totally alone your going on the road that is long a lonely. This plays into a “pre-launch party” which I will cover in an upcoming post in depth.

2.) Your product + related products = ? Retailers that sell products online should most definitely be using product feeds to reach a broader audience. A product feed is simply a file generated from the website that lists product details such as photos, descriptions, pricing and even specials. These product feeds can be submitted to shopping comparison websites, search engines and also made available to customers using feed readers. So not only do you have your product , a few related products but now your also listing yourself outside of your own page. I guess that = Intelligent business and less lost sales to the close page syndrome.

3.) Share Your Knowledge - Not only does this offer proof that your next best thing of a product is not vaporware, but it also shows you care about who is buying it and that they are able to maximize its use to its full potential. There are many ways a marketer can appear as an expert or voice of authority in a certain industry. One way is to host classes, seminars or workshops online or offline. If you are transparent and available you will be better off rather than being one of those new product a day fly by nighters. Internet marketers have known for years that one popular way to share knowledge and gain extra exposure is by writing content for free distribution. Article marketing, as it is known, has the ability to increase awareness of a retailer’s presence, online and off.

4.) Create A Newsletter - This is cliche at this point, but do it anyway and send out your best stuff this way instead of your blog. If you manage this aspect of your IM career correctly you will establish a very loyal base in which to market, joint venture and prosper through the ages with.  In short your Newsletter and email marketing is key in keeping in touch with the customers you’ve manage to get in your site or on your list. It takes a lot of work to gain a customer. Why let them leave without offering a way to stay in contact?

5.) Submit Your Site - Another major mistake many make and generally because they just did not know how or when to do it. Many new website owners submit their site to the major search engines and then sit back and wait for customers to come. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Those same website owners often overlook all the other directories available. Look for specialized link directories and niche sites to submit your business information and website. Not only will these directories help increase your link popularity, but they can drive highly targeted traffic to your retail store.

6.) Local Listings Anyone - While this is just starting to catch on you should not just glance this over and not honestly consider the implications for your bottom line. Google, Yahoo, Superpages and other directories and search engines are creating tools for local shoppers to find your business, provide maps of location, hours of operation and even coupons. Many of these listings are free with upgrade options for a fee. Take advantage of this and you could easily double your business and free word of mouth advertising.

7.) Create Your Own Commercials - That’s right I said it. Anyone can do this and often with such a low budget that your ROI is safe as it should be. If your project has paid for a print display ad in the local newspaper, you may know how ineffective marketing without spoken word or visual imagery can be. Radio and television marketing may be too pricey for your project’s budget, but there is another option. Online video marketing allows a marketer to extend the reach of their message to a larger audience for little investment. Unlike traditional marketing, producing a unique online ad or video to convey your message or brand your project can have an extremely high ROI.

8.) Social Networking - Wow it does work? Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn may or may not help you sell your products but if that’s where your customers hang out, maybe you should too. The blogs on these sites can help retailers keep in touch with shoppers, make announcements or feature new merchandise and promotions.

9.) Offer An Affiliate Program - This is my favorite not only this empower others to earn, but it can be a source of autopilot income for the most part after a launch. This is the process in which a marketer pays one or more affiliates for each sale or customer gained as a direct result of the affiliate’s marketing efforts. The marketer generally provides banners, buttons or product feeds for the affiliate’s use. Many marketers manage their own affiliate programs while others opt to use a third party to track sales, orders and payments to the affiliate. The amount of commission or bonus paid out is determined by the marketer and outlined in the affiliate agreement.

10.) Free Stuff Works - Yea I said it, give something away! Shoppers love to get something for nothing! Marketers know this and have used freebies and giveaways as marketing tools for decades. Pens with the business name on them at the checkout counter and shopping bags with store logo are so commonplace in a retail store that we may not even see them as marketing items. Unfortunately, these items can actually become quite costly. Not all giveaways must be expensive. A big advantage of marketing a website is the opportunity to easily and quickly offer contests, coupon codes, product samples and even valuable content as promotional giveaways. Use your ONLINEness as an advantage in the free stuff department. People do prefer physical stuff too so taking the extra effort to have something like pen’s goes a long long way in a customers mind.

If you start employing these methods in your internet marketing efforts you will surely see a surge in conversion, lead generation and affiliate sales. Keep in mind the time factor and what it is exactly you are pushing whether it be a product, an idea or a way of life you must be honest, it must be real, and it must be of higher quality than the other 5 million yahoo’s already marketing the same thing else where.

Hopefully these tips help you out, I would love to hear about any personal experiences you have had before and after using any of these or even some I was unable to include in this list.