Has your business set up a site on the Internet's World Wide Web? Believe it or not, the most difficult aspect of online marketing is not setting up a web page. Anyone can do that.
No, my friends. The most difficult aspect is generating leads for your business and traffic to your site. For without leads and traffic, you are out of the game before you even start.
It doesn't matter how great a site you have if nobody visits. And it would be crazy to think that you can generate traffic without doing at least a little work. Fortunately, it's not that hard.
Here are ten things you can do right now to generate business leads and web site traffic:
1. Post classifieds, announcements, and dialog to Usenet Newsgroups and mailing lists.
The newsgroups of the Internet are specific areas online where people discuss their common interests. There are over 15,000 newsgroups so just about every special interest is represented. You can announce your site, offer information via e-mail, even post classified-type ads in some of the business groups. Mailing lists are like newsgroups, segmented by special interest, but the articles arrive via e-mail.
2. Post classifieds and announcements to Online Service Classified areas.
America Online (AOL) and Compuserve are two of the best places to generate a fair number of qualified, responsive leads quickly. The best part is, they are very inexpensive to use, even free in the case of AOL.
3. Post classifieds and announcements to WWW Classified areas (like the iMALL and other commercial sites).
There are a slew of commercial sites online that accept classified advertising. Many will allow you to directly link the ad with your web site. Use search engines Yahoo and InfoSeek to find them. Enter in the key search words: classified, mall, and advertising.
4. Post lead generating, credibility-building articles to the Online Service File Libraries.
I've received more free publicity from just a few articles I've written and placed in online file libraries than if had sent out 500 press releases. In fact, the nice people at Entrepreneurial Edge discovered me in one of Compuserve's file libraries. Another article of mine on AOL has been downloaded over 15,000 times (and has generated thousands of inquiries).
5. Obtain reciprocal links from similar businesses that are already on the web.
You can trade links with virtually anyone, even your competitors. Remember, on the Web, we need to create strategic alliances. Unlike the old business model of "stab 'em in the back," while online, we must work with our competitors to normalize the consumers' experience of spending money on the Internet. Our biggest competition is the fear of online commerce in the mind of the prospect.
6. Purchase and barter links from proven traffic zones.
There are scores of web sites that will sell (or trade) you a link in the form of a banner ad. A banner ad is one of those graphic ads that show up in many commercial sites like search engines. When you see existing advertising on a site that you think would compliment yours, ask for the rates. You'll find that many smaller sites will sell you a link for as little as $250/month. Also check out Link Exchange.
7. Create publicity-generating articles and press-releases and submit them to established media sources like magazines, newsletters, television, and radio.
It's possible that your site could get featured in a traditional media source and derive traffic from the exposure.
8. Register with the appropriate search engines and directories (like Lycos, Yahoo, InfoSeek, etc.).
Visit the multi-submission page Submit-It.. From there, it's possible to submit your web site to hundreds of different search engines at one time for free.
9. Use bulk-e-mail.
Although this is still a highly controversial method of online marketing, there are now established services that will do the dirty work for you. And, as far as quickness is concerned, there's no other way I've ever found to generate 2,500 qualified, responsive leads in 36 hours. [EDITORS NOTE: Jonathan does not mean "scam/spam" types of bulk e-mail.]
10. Advertise using conventional methods like print, direct-mail, and broadcast media.
Your web and e-mail address should be
on the following:
- Business cards and letterhead.
- Print and display advertising.
- Broadcast advertising like radio and TV.
- Direct mail and brochures.
- Press and publicity releases.
The bottom line is this, generating traffic should be your first priority in establishing a business presence on the Internet. And with these techniques, it will be easy, if not downright fun!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jonathan Mizel is CEO of
Cyberwave Marketing and creator of
The
Online Marketing Letter, the number one professional newsletter for Webmasters and small business owners which reveals simple,
proven, low and no cost techniques to make more sales online.
As
luck would have it, you can kill two birds with one stone simply by
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