 |
|
|
   |
|
 Issue #43 - April 5th, 2004 Internet Marketing Newsletter for Small Businesses
Brought to you by idesignbusiness.com http://www.idesignbusiness.com Issue # 43 Monday, April 5th, 2004 In this Issue: ARTICLES: ONLINE POLL: FREE RESOURCE: Welcome to issue # 43 of the idesignbusiness Internet Marketing Newsletter. This issue‘s article is from a guest author and provides a very valuable summary of lessons learned from a successful Internet-based business. These lessons may seem like common sense, or basic knowledge, but they are all key to Online business success and are worth repeating. Any business with a website should be following the majority of these points, if not all of them. We would love to hear any questions, comments, or ideas for future articles, just email us at newsletters@idesignbusiness.com Did you miss the last issue? You can always visit our idesignbusiness Internet Newsletter Archive and easily view and search all our past issues. Neal St. Clair idesignbusiness Advertisement Keep Your Website Current One of the most valuable ways to gain traffic to your website and keep people coming back for more is fresh content. If your website is static then it is not much more than a brochure online and you are missing many of the benefits of being on the web. idesignbusiness provides Website Maintenance packages starting at less than $25 per month that includes unlimited updates to your website. Our web professionals can add pictures, text, pages and more to your website in a matter of hours. For more information please call us at 213-926-2990 or send us an email at info@idesignbusiness.com Online Poll Is Your Website Listed In DMOZ (The Open Directory) ARTICLE Top Ten Lessons Learned in Internet Business By Shelley Lowery Since starting my Internet business back in 1997, I have learned many lessons along the way. These lessons have played a major role in my success, and I‘d like to share them with you. Lesson #1 Collecting your visitors‘ email addresses should be one of your top priorities. Start collecting email addresses the moment you put your site up. Developing a list of targeted potential customers is an absolute must. Although publishing an ezine is usually the best route to go, it is not a necessity. You can use your list to send out web site updates, product updates, or whatever you‘d like. Lesson #2 Your web site can either make or break you. A professional looking web site will play a major role in your success. If you aren‘t secure in your abilities to design a professional looking site, you will be much better off hiring a professional. Lesson # 3 If you want to make a lot of money, you must create a niche. A niche fills a specific customer need. People want products and services that fulfill a specific personal need. If you are the first to fulfill the need, you‘ll reap the rewards. Lesson # 4 Generating web site traffic takes a lot of time and effort. The key to generating a lot of traffic to your site is getting your link on as many sites as possible. Sure, listing your site with the Search Engines is your first step; however, you must not solely rely on Search Engines to bring you traffic. My two biggest traffic generators are as follows: Affiliate Program - Having your own affiliate program is one of the best ways to get hundreds, even thousands of links to your web site. Providing a Free Product or Service - Providing your visitors with a free product or service is a great way to drive traffic to your site. For example, I offer a free article syndication service. This service provides free content for web sites branded with a link to my site. Lesson # 5 Selling your own products and services is much more profitable than marketing affiliate programs. Some of the top Internet sellers include:
People do not like to be sold. You will be far more successful if you have a sincere desire to assist your potential customers. This can be accomplished by writing informative articles, courses, tutorials, or even providing advice within discussion forums in your area of expertise. Trust plays a major role on the Internet. You must build your credibility with your target audience. Lesson # 7 Automation can save you hours of valuable time. Although there are certain areas of business that must be personally dealt with, there are many areas that can be completely automated:
Lesson # 8 Organization is an essential part of developing a successful business:
Customer satisfaction and support should be your top priority. Lesson # 10 You have to spend money to make money. You must be willing to invest in your Internet business including:
SPAM is a four letter word and will be treated as such. Although this list is far from complete, these lessons should provide you with some basic guidelines to assist you in developing a successful online business. Copyright © Shelley Lowery 2003. All Rights Reserved About the Author: Shelley Lowery is the author of Web Design Mastery - An in- depth guide to professional web design. And, Ebook Starter - A complete ebook design kit. Subscribe to Etips and receive a free copy of the highly acclaimed ebook, “Killer Internet Marketing Strategies.” http://www.web-source.net Advertisement Don‘t Pay More Than $9.95 month For Website Hosting! If you are paying more than $9.95 per month for website and email hosting than you are paying too much! idesignbusiness provides affordable and RELIABLE website hosting with comparable features to much more expensive plans. * Newsletter Subscribers - Enter promotional code HELIUM and you‘re setup fee will be waived...Sign up today! Click here to learn more. FREE RESOURCE: Each issue of the Internet Marketing Newsletter for Small Businesses will include helpful free online resources to promote your website. We have discussed the importance of having your website listed in DMOZ (The Open Directory) many times in this newsletter. DMOZ powers the search results of many search engines and can also help your link popularity. My only complaint with DMOZ in the past has been the amount of time it can take to get a website listed in the directory. Although it can still take a great deal of time to get listed in the directory there is now public forum where you can determine the status of your site and find out why it may have been banned from the directory. This is a great resource for webmasters and takes a lot of the guess work out of getting listed in DMOZ. Visit the link below to access the forum. Visit the DMOZ public forum ABOUT idesignbusiness idesignbusiness provides complete Internet services for small businesses including Website Design, Website Development, Hosting and Internet Marketing. Increase Website traffic, build your customer base, and drive revenue using our cost-effective and result driven tools and services. Please visit http://www.idesignbusiness.com for more information. SUBSCRIPTION NOTICE This newsletter is only sent to opt-in subscribers. If at anytime you would like to be removed from this list, please send an e-mail to newsletters@idesignbusiness.com with REMOVE in the subject line or click on the remove link below. Spread the word - Please forward to friends and colleagues. Copyright 2002 - 2004 idesignbusiness http://www.idesignbusiness.com |
 |
 |
|
Contact | Home | Site Map © Copyright 2001 - 2005 idesignbusiness |