OK, so you are wanting to escape the working week and looking for an alternative career path maybe, or just want to earn a little extra cash, and find yourself asking, what is an online marketing strategy and do I need one, well maybe these 22 suggestions will help.
The Internet is still relatively new with the creation of the first World Wide Web browser which didn’t come into existence until 1990 at Cern and wasn’t released to the public until 91’
In such a short time, the Internet has expanded at such a rate that we currently have around half the world population with access to the Internet, that’s around 5.5 billion people.
With more and more people turning to the Internet for ways to earn a living from, whether to complement their current income or eventually to replace it, means that in order to be a success then you have to be doing it better than the rest, and only makes it so much more important to have an online marketing strategy.
It really doesn’t matter what business you decide to get involved in, you should always have a plan of action and try to stick to it.
I know everybody likes to get straight into the more interesting elements of running a business, but it is all of a set of elements together that helps you create a successful business, not the odd one or two.
These are in no particular order of relevance.
OK then, let’s get to it!
- Mindset
- Follow a business plan and strategy
- A website is a must
- Content is king
- Ensure, create and update dates are included as part of your Posts and Reviews
- Be unique, don’t copy and paste
- Be thorough with your recommendations
- Never Give Up
- Determination
- Stay Organized
- Stay up to date
- Engage with your customers
- Be transparent with your customers
- Invest in user experience
- Listen to all criticism
- Feedback
- Comments
- Stand out from the crowd – Create your own style!
- Know your competition
- Start an email list
- Include videos
- Take advantage of social media networks
1. Mindset
The new Psychology of Success I read somewhere!
This could be a new word for some, and one that is passed around all the time especially on the Internet, but having the correct mindset in everyday life is what everyone should aim for and try to achieve.
We all fight with this and probably without us actually knowing about it.
Haven’t you at some point (probably many times) tried to gear yourself up to do a chore of some description?
Maybe some DIY around the house and had to get in the right frame of mind before you would even contemplate starting?
I know I have. Fighting with shall I start or shall I not?
Used to happen to me all the time, but over the last, maybe 10 years or so my mindset is in a better place.
Finding the right balance with your mindset is extremely important, because at times you will find yourself fighting with your negative side, and in my case when this happens I either do something entirely different, take a break or go for a run.
Going for a run for me helps in so many ways, and gets me thinking.
Obviously helps to forget the pain when you are hitting those miles too!
A great way to get yourself into the correct mindset is to mix with people who are successful and are very positive in life.
Try to stay away from negative people, that’s people who slate what you are trying to achieve with your life, such as own an online business with the view to calling it a day with the 5-day working week.
There is plenty of literature on this topic, and you can go very deep into the psychological side, which to me is way too much information, but hey, that might be your thing?
Maybe listen to someone like Tim Robbins, or someone like if you are struggling with it.
Life is a massive learning curve and through time we learn many things about ourselves. I learned that maybe 10-12 years ago that I didn’t have the right mindset to build an online business.
Nowadays things have changed somewhat and maybe it’s an age thing. Who knows?
- Stay positive
- Believe in yourself
- Commitment
- Hard work
Take a look and see what the trusty Wikipedia has to say about Mindset
2. Follow a Business plan and Strategy
Running an online business still needs structure, and everybody should have a Business Plan and Strategy, even if it’s just a serious of steps roughly written down on paper with a bunch of these recommendations here in this article because without one means that maybe you aren’t serious about building your very own online business.
I know an online business might be different in a lot of ways, due to the exemption of external premises, overheads, and stocks, which obviously is a massive saving, but it is still a business all the same.
3. A Website is a must have
If you are serious about creating an online presence, then a Website should be at the top of your list.
Maybe around 5-10 years ago creating a website required you to have 
knowledge of HTML, JavaScript (or any scripting language) and maybe graphics but those days are gone.
Technology has come a very long way in such a short time.
There are options out there and some very good ones too.
Here are 6 Website creators straight off the top of my head, who are well worth researching.
You could, of course, employ a professional if you had the money, but why?
Nowadays creating a website is fun and enjoyable.
What isn’t fun when creating your own independent website is trying to find answers to questions in Google, but not just finding answers, are the answers actually correct?
If you don’t already know, there is a lot of false or misinformation on the Internet, and before you know it, could end up creating yourself untold problems.
Why not find a training platform and one you can trust 100%?
If you do your research you will find quite a few.
Some good, some bad!
Some expensive, some not!
4. Content is king
Having a website to showcase your products and services is the first step, and promoting that website is all down to creating unique great quality content.
Keyword research
Before we delve into content creation, we have to concentrate on keyword research.
You have to find those great “Long Tail Keywords” that people are keying into the Google Search Engine that relate to your products and services.
Why “Long Tail Keywords”?
By using this type of keyword, it allows you to focus on an area where the traffic is not too busy and not too competitive.
There is no point trying to compete at a higher level (Broad Term Keyword) where the major companies will be concentrating.
There is a rule of thumb that I go for when deciding what keywords to use.
There are three statistical figures to take into consideration.
1. Average number of monthly searches
I look for an average amount of traffic per month that has to be 100+ searches, the more the merrier.
2. Traffic
Amount of traffic that could be available to your website if you ranked on page 1 of Google for your chosen “Long Tail Keyword”
3. Competition
The way we find the competition is by looking at QSR (Quoted String Results).
That’s the figure you will find at the end of your search query results that come back from Google when you key in the keyword and press enter.
The number of websites that reference that very same keyword.
Google QSR – Quoted String Results
Jaaxy Keyword Tool
Showing average monthly searches, Traffic, QSR
Note:
When you have found your chosen keyword for your article or post, then it may be that the keyword doesn’t fit your premise, and with a little ingenuity you might be able to keep that keyword but make it mean something else with adding words to the beginning and/or end to make it mean something entirely different, and something that fits in with your current project.
It also helps to find a great Keyword Research Tool. There are many out there and I have tried a few but I find that Jaaxy gives me everything I need in a keyword tool, it’s quick, easy to understand and helps speed up my production when I do my research.
For anybody that may be interested, Jaaxy Lite now comes as part of the premium membership in Wealthy Affiliate
Message to convey to your reader or potential customer
An important factor in a post or review is the message that you trying to get across to your reader and keep them interested. The message should be clear and concise. You don’t want to lose your reader in the first few paragraphs, do you?
Your initial goal is to educate your readers about the products and/or services that you will be promoting. Content is key and therefore you must ensure that it is unique, interesting, informative and possibly with some humour at times so that your readers keep coming back.
Try to ensure that your posts/reviews are not too short.
Aim for 1000-2000+ words per article and at various lengths.
Try to use one keyword per article with maybe variations of it within the content.
Do not use “Keyword Stuffing” – That’s a big no-no!
It may have worked back in the day when anything was possible, but Google is constantly changing their algorithm and you will only be penalized for doing such a thing.
Highlight certain important points within the content
Before you publish the article or post, ensure you read it through a few times and make sure there are no spelling or punctuation mistakes.
Do what I do and get somebody else to read through it and get them to be honest and tell you what mistakes they think there are.
Always good to get an extra pair of eyes involved!
Remember this is the key to getting your website in front of the millions that are out there hopefully searching for what you have to offer.
Just think, according to Internet Live Stats there are over 60,000 Google searches per second, and I haven’t mentioned Bing or Yahoo yet.
You can check it out for yourself here
5. Ensure, create and update dates are included as part of your Posts and Reviews
This question comes up more than you could imagine.
I remember sitting on the fence regarding this and some may well find it a trivial question.
I myself don’t and the reasons for this are pretty straightforward.
When I am doing my research, which entails reading other peoples websites, then I personally like to see dates attached to the post or review.
This at least tells me that the post or review should be current!
I see far too many websites with no dates and therefore I haven’t a clue when they were written, and in a lot of cases, I just come back out.
The exception to this is “Ever-Green” articles, where the information wouldn’t change regardless of time.
I myself include the creation date and also an update date for when I go back to modify the post.
I’m sure many will have mixed feelings about this, but I like to give the reader as much validity as I can, and is all part of the relationship that you as the business owner want to build and relay to your customer.
6. Be unique, don’t copy and paste
This goes without saying, do not copy what others are doing, this is a sheer way of falling flat on your face.
When you have found your style, then being unique will just fall into place.
You want something to be proud of and creating uniqueness is a big step in the right direction.
Remember, it wouldn’t take long for your name to be plastered around the Internet for doing such a thing!
7. Be thorough with your recommendations
Ensure that when you are writing your content, whether it is a post or a review make sure you are transparent, focusing not only on the positive aspects but tell your reader about any negatives that there are too.
When you are trying to get something across, try to show your reader and not tell them!
Either through video, images etc
8. Never Give Up
Some day’s life gets a little difficult and you just have to push through that barrier. I know it is hard but try to focus on the positive side.
Ensure you are mixing with like-minded business owners and entrepreneurs
It’s pretty difficult trying to focus when you aren’t around the right type of people.
Why not find a community of people who are involved with the same thing?
A training platform maybe?
Some days are going to be hard, and it’s so easy to give up and call it a day. I see it all the time!
Back to the mindset again.
Just take a break, do something else
Reconnect to the why?
Why are you doing this?
You will find many people just fall at the first hurdle and mainly because the business is not making enough money.
Developing a business must have more purpose than just money.
Having premises and not earning enough to keep afloat means that you may have no alternative but to call it a day.
That’s unfortunate, but owning an online marketing business would mean that you have some room to manoeuvre.
9. Determination
How do people become millionaires and billionaires?
They have a determination and foresight to never give up no matter what.
Do you think successful people got where they are now by some freakish piece of luck?
Of course, they didn’t!
They fought through all the trials and tribulations to get where they are now.
I know several people who lost everything not once or twice but in one case 5 times, but they pulled themselves together and carried on and are in a good place now, well until next time hopefully not.
10. Stay Organized
This is a hard one to structure and stick to because many times you will spend far too much time on one topic instead of spreading your time about to focus on other things that are important when owning and running your own business.
Why not…
- Put up a great big picture of where you would like to be
- Keep a diary
- To-do lists
- What about a wall chart
- Get plenty of sleep – very important
- Compartmentalise
- Learn how to say NO.
- Stay calm, don’t panic
11. Stay up to date
Technology is always advancing and at such a rapid pace, try to keep in tune with what’s happening, because it could affect the way you run your business.
Google Algorithm is always changing. This is a very important aspect of your business
Keep abreast of what’s trending
Any news that could affect your readers let them know in maybe a newsletter.
Always make a point of updating current posts and reviews accordingly.
12. Engage with your customers
The most important part of owning and running a business is your customer because without them you don’t have a business.
That is why it is extremely important that you engage with them.
Far too many businesses just don’t understand the importance of engagement and focus far too much on sales.
A happy customer is a happy buyer and if you as the business owner give the customer value, then they will come back time and time again.
13. Be transparent with your customers
Always try to be transparent, be truthful and don’t gloss over things and try to cloud the judgment of your customer.
Remember, you want your customer to be around for a long time.
Never lie because you will eventually be found out.
Do not try to be somebody you aren’t.
14. Invest in user experience
Find out what your readers want and ask them if you could improve things with let’s say the Website.
Is your reader happy with the layout and is it easy for them to navigate?
If you are struggling with building your website, maybe it’s time to ask for professional help, but that can be expensive.
You could actually send out a form and ask your readers for suggestions.
Be always open to suggestions, because this is not about you, it’s about your reader or potential customer.
15. Listen to all criticism
Constructive criticism should be taken on board and viewed as useful feedback, that can help you improve yourself as well as your business.
Work with it and make any negative aspect work for you.
It is very easy to retaliate or offer some kind of defensive response, especially when you are having a bad day because nobody likes being told that they are not doing things in the right manner.
Remember, you can use criticism to your advantage.
16. Feed Back
Always welcome feedback from your customer, this goes hand in hand with keeping the customer happy.
It may be that you have sold them something or maybe just given them some good advice.
Whichever it may be, you want to ensure that the customer is happy and feedback allows you, as the business owner to improve things too.
Why not ask family and friends.
Wellcome any criticism, both positive and negative, and insist that they don’t hold back on anything?
17. Comments
Comments work hand in hand with feedback but with a slight difference and should be welcome.
Always encourage your reader.
18. Stand out from the crowd – Create your own style!
In order to stand out from the crowd, you have to be doing it better.
Check out what others are doing and see how you could improve your own business.
Writing to some doesn’t come easy, and I would be lying if I said it did for me, but like anything you do in life over time, it gets better.
Eventually, you will have your own style so stick at it because in time you will get there.
19. Know your competition
See what your competition is up to and learn from them.
Competition is good
Working amongst your competition should give you the boost that you are looking for.
To be good at something engage yourself around successful entrepreneurs, always a good way for you to learn and improve.
If it works for them then Utilize their ideas within your business and hopefully, you can get your business to the next level.
20. Start an email list
You must have heard the saying, “The money is in the list”?
How true this is and can only happen when you as the business owner have done all the right things regarding your customer.
An Autoresponder is essential in today’s online marketing and allows you to build a bond with your readers.
There are some great ones available and a little research before you jump in will ensure you choose the right one.
As you will see you have quite a choice but there are many more, these are just ones I could think of.
- Campaign Monitor
- Aweber
- iContact
- MailChimp
- BenchMark
- GetResponse
- Vertical Response
- Active Campaign
- Sendinblue
- Mailing Manager
I have tried a few and they are all good in their own rights, and of course, some things you may or may not like about them, but that’s down to personal preferences, right?
GetResponse for me has the landing page creator which is a big plus.
21. Include videos
We all know about YouTube and just how much this has taken off.
A unique and very personal way to focus on grabbing the attention of prospective customers.
Creating videos is not everybody’s cup of tea, and if you don’t capitalize on this medium then you are missing out on a massive portion of potential customers.
Making use of videos should be included in everybody’s marketing strategy otherwise you are missing out on so much traffic.
Just check out a few facts from FortuneLords regarding YouTube right here!
22. Take advantage of social media networks
Social media has taken off big style so make it work for you.
Spend time studying social media and capitalize on what they have to offer
- Google+
- Tumblr
- YouTube
And getting them to work for you as part of your marketing campaigns
Final thoughts
I’m sure you can think of more to include in this list and maybe some that I’m not too familiar with, so please share.
Having a business strategy is not difficult to come up with but sticking to one can be.
That’s where discipline comes into play.
The benefits I’m sure you’ll agree are pretty major, but get it right and keep your readers/customers happy and they will stay with you and keep purchasing from you, way into the future.
Feedback and Comments
I hope you have found the above list helpful!
I’d like to thank you for taking the time out to read and digest this article, and maybe it brought some light to what could be a vast topic.
Always try to adopt the KISS approach – “Keep it Simple ?”
It is always the simple approach that tends to work best, but finding a simple approach can be a nightmare to find.
Any feedback or comments are welcome, and I will get back and reply to them all and to the best of my capabilities.
Feel free to share any ideas you may have or maybe just tell us where you are on your Internet journey.
Maybe you are in the early stages of your research and are contemplating starting an online business, but you are unsure where to go and would like some advice?
If you are interested and would like to know more, make sure you check out my review of Wealthy Affiliate. A training platform that goes way beyond anything I have come across on the Internet.
Please let me know what you think and ask me any questions you want.
Your friend
Mick
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Very nice, clean and professional website! I love the use of the list of links. The writing is well done and easy to read with images and content well thought out.
The way the subject matter is layered is a subtle and gradual process that pulls you in.
I seem to have some catching up to do !
Great job !
Mike
Hey Mike, I’m glad you liked the article, and thanks for those great comments!
It’s very much appreciated.
Hello Mick,
This is a great summary of the basics for starting an online business. I must say I am very glad I found Wealthy Affiliate so that I have the tools, training and community here to help me every step of the way. It is pretty amazing that we have a worldwide community of great people that can help answer our questions or give us encouragement 24/7/365.
There is a wealth of knowledge available here between the training and members.
Basic steps such as finding great long tail keywords are VITAL to an online business and can’t be ignored or slighted. It really helps to get the training up front and not waste time bumbling around.
Thanks,
Jessica
Hey Jessica, I think at times we fall into bad habits and forget just where we are and what we are doing, and sometimes we have to take a step back and rethink whether we actually do have a strategy, but more importantly that we are sticking to one.
Having a strategy and finding the right training is so important and go hand-in-hand.
Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.