Online Marketing Articles: 10/01/2010

All good things take time. This is especially true in online marketing. Plan on a long-term commitment to your e-business and you will greatly increase your chance of success!

Don't follow the example of the myriads of companies who are pouring in massive amounts of money into online ventures expecting quick returns on their investments. The initial online boom of quick profits is over. Now we are very much in a tortoise-versus-the-hare competition. Remember who won the race?
Keep overhead as low as possible by keeping your business debt-free. Use the hundreds of free and low cost online services to build, host and promote your site.
The Internet is a vastly changing atmosphere. Keep up with new technologies that may help expand your e-business to a wider audience.
Marketing is a continual responsibility. Plan on doing something at least weekly to promote your business.

Targeting Customers -

The Internet provides an excellent opportunity to target an audience. Craftspeople, in particular, can use this resource to find (and keep) new customers like never before.

1.Mass email and other forms of Spam do not work. In fact, in traditional Net culture, they can be detrimental to your business. Don't waste your time and money on these techniques.
2.Develop an "opt-in newsletter" to keep existing customers up-to-date on specials and new products. Send this out on a regular basis, but be sure it actually contains "news" or you will quickly lose your subscribers!
3.Purchase targeted paid online advertising from relevant sites. For instance if you carry handmade collectables for golfers, buy advertising space on golf-related resources.
4.Pursue reciprocal links with related sites. Cross-traffic is a great way to build your user-base.
5.Use relevant keywords, titles and text on all your pages for high relevant positioning in search engines and directories.

Showcase your Products

1.Crafters face a unique challenge in that traditional buyers of crafts like to touch and see products before making a purchase.
2.Use high-quality images of your work.
3.Use thumbnail photographs to cut initial page-loading time, but allow them to enlarge to show detail when clicked.
4.Provide descriptive text for each online sample. Try to think of often-asked questions about products and answer them in the description.
5.Be sure your site is easy to navigate so that customers can quickly find the products they want.

-Mike Haynes

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