Effective Internet Marketing
Means Success!

When I first started out trying to build a business, the whole idea of internet marketing seemed very intimidating. But it really isn't.

Just think of marketing as an overall plan - or strategy - for making money on the internet.

You've heard the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!" Well, that holds doubly true for marketing online.

So yes, marketing is vitally important. But that doesn't mean it has to be some big, huge, scary, deal.

Here's a way to think of internet marketing more simply. Use "who, what, when, where, how, and why."

Do these steps:

• Choose a target market. Answer the "who" question: Who are the people you want to sell goods or services to? Who are the people you'd be most comfortable talking to and working with?

(Sorry, but the answer can't be, "Anyone who'll buy what I'm selling!" I've tried that, but it doesn't really work. Because it won't help you tighten your focus enough to achieve effectiveness. You cannot be all things to all people.)

• Think about that target market. What do they want or need or buy? What are the problems that your product can help solve? How can you benefit them?

• Think about what you yourself have to offer. What product or service do you want to sell? What product or service do you really enjoy talking about or working with?

• Answer the what, when, where, how, and why of meeting those people's needs with your product or service. Are they a good match? Great! If not, then change your thinking a bit. For example, you might want to adjust your market or your product a tad.

• Answer the what, when, where, how, and why of getting the message about your product or service in front of that particular group of people.

• Adjust your marketing plan as you go in order to make it more effective - for your customers and for you.

Now, that may sound like a lot. But if you sit down and think about it, you probably already know a lot of the answers! And you can dream up the other ones pretty quickly.

For instance:

• You want to have a home based business working over the internet. That means you're going to be marketing to people who use the internet.

(So you're probably not going to target recent Russian immigrant senior citizens who can't read much English. Wonderful people; but they aren't your market.)

• You already have some rough ideas about what you'd like to do. Or you have some skills you'd like to employ.

(I've always enjoyed working with words and ideas. I also like using a computer and keyboard. But I really don't like to talk very much. So for me, an internet business is a pretty good fit.)

• You have a hobby that you love and you want to turn it into a business. Think about people who love that hobby. What do they search for on Google? What kinds of goods and services would they be interested in buying? Many of these questions you can answer just from your own experience.

So, sit down with paper and pen and start writing out some ideas. I'll bet that within ten minutes or an hour you can have a pretty good internet marketing plan roughed out! As you jot down ideas, make note of areas you'll want to know a bit more about in order to be successful.

Be careful now! Don't stew about what you don't yet know. Focus primarily on what you DO know. Pick up the rest along the way. Just like you've done in other areas of life.

You already know how to be successful at something. Bring those skills, abilities, confidence, and willingness to work and apply them to the business of internet marketing.

Remember: It doesn't have to be a perfect plan, or 100% complete. (It never will be!)

It just has to be clear enough to get you going and keep you focused. You refine it as you go.

So at its simplest, internet marketing just involves a plan for focusing on the essential needs of your business - with the goal of making it more useful to your customers and more profitable to you.

Plan the work. Then work the plan.

Enjoy it all!

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