Internet Marketing for Small Businesses

So you have a website. Well done. What else should you do to promote your business? Here are five tips for inexpensive but effective Internet marketing.

Set up an email newsletter.

Collect email addresses for customers and prospects on your website and elsewhere. Mail your list on a regular basis with an interesting and informative newsletter. I use Constant Contact to manage my email newsletters and it handles all of the analysis, list handling and unsubscribes. There are many such services around. People will unsubscribe from dull or sales-pitch newsletters so make sure that you add value with interesting articles and links.

Promote your business with Social Media.

Many businesses have set up a page on Facebook. Would this suit you? Facebook works better if you operate in business to consumer rather than business to business. Twitter is another social site where you can send micro-blogs of up to 140 characters. Once again the key is not to overtly sell but to add value with information and links relevant to your specialist area of business.

Blog.

Either set up your own site's blog or contribute as a guest blogger on other sites. Write interesting articles about trends and issues in your business field. Try to act as a thought leader in your business by discussing topics of interest. Be controversial and outspoken if you want to get more coverage. Yet again it is important not to use the blog articles to sell but to promote you and your business more subtly.

Use Keyword Advertising.

You can buy key search terms that prospects might use to search for a supplier in your business. You will then appear on search listings and elsewhere with a box advert that links to your site. You can choose how much to spend and what geography you want to cover. So for example you could ensure that anyone searching for a plumber in Seattle sees your ad.

Offer pod casts and webinars.

You probably offer flyers and brochures as downloads from your website. Why not add a podcast of a talk or interview? You can also offer webinars where people can see your product or service demonstrated and ask questions in a chat box over the web. I use Webex for this kind of service.

The internet is a fantastically versatile tool for promoting your business. Your website is just the start. You should use methods like these to make your business better known and to attract new customers.

More from this contributor:
Email newsletters - do's and don'ts
The Six Best Ways to become Rich
Seven great questions to ask at a job interview