Like any good entreprenuer, I've been a subscriber to Entrepreneur Magazine for quite awhile.  If you haven't had a chance to take a look at one of their latest issues, you might want to at least visit their website and read their suggestions for 21 Low-Cost Marketing Ideas.  I think it's pretty telling that 7 out of the 21 tips in that article have something to do with online marketing.  So I figured I'd write a little follow up article of my own to add my take on some of the ideas they suggested.

1. Blogging

Blogging is huge, yet some people are still confused about what exactly blogging is and why it's so valuable.  In a nutshell,  a blog is just a website (but all websites aren't necessarily blogs...most are not).  Here are just a few of the benefits of having a blog:

• Ease of Use - Blogs are generally pretty easy to use, even for non-techies.  If you can use a word processor, you have all the technical skills necessary to run your own blog
• Comments - Blogs allow website visitors to leave comments.  This allows you to interact with your potential customers, get an idea of what types of information, products or services they're looking for and so on.  Just like in the "real world" it helps to talk to your customers, having a similar "conversation" via your website is also useful.  Blogs make that easy to do.
• Built-In Goodies - I'm not going to get into the technical details of this particular blog feature.  But let's just say that all of them have "stuff" that works behind the scenes that lets you know when other blogs mention your website and vice versa.  This can be a great way to subtly get to know other people in your market, get traffic from related sites and possibly even become "known" within your field.  Nothing like expert positioning to help your business.

There are other reasons to use a blog too, but I have a feeling this is going to be a long post.  If you have some ideas for other reasons to use a blog, try that comment thingy I mentioned and leave your suggestions below.  :)

2. Distributing Content

One of the best things you can do to get more visitors to your site and to let people know about your business is to distribute content.  For now, let's just talk about text-based content in the form of articles or other info.  One thing that always seems to get people hung up is thinking they need to be some sort of Pulitzer Prize winning writer.  Not so.  If you know about your business, writing a short, 400-500 word article shouldn't be much of a problem.  In addition to the sites mentioned in the Entrepreneur article, I suggest submitting articles to:

• Buzzle.com
• EzineArticles.com
• ISnare.com
• Industry websites that accept guest articles
• Trade journals that accept guest articles (whether online or offline versions)

3. E-Mail Marketing

E-mail marketing is probably the single most valuable thing a small business can do to quickly add an effective online marketing method to their marketing plan.  You know for yourself that in the offline world, often times most people do not buy your product or service during their first visit.  It's no different online.  People visiting your website might not take whatever action you're hoping for during their first visit (requesting a free estimate, calling you directly, placing an order, etc).

What if you could capture the names and email addresses of some portion of those people to follow up with over the next several days?  Or what if you have a restaurant and could add the names and email addresses for your diners to an email list and send them updates on specials, coupons, etc.  Keep in mind that you have to provide good content in email too, so in that restaurant example, it might also be a good idea to send people with exclusive recipes similar to what your restaurant offers (e.g., Italian recipes if you're an Italian restaurant).

Imagine if you have 1000 people on your list and each time you send an email, 10% of them take you up on your offer...and each offer nets you $50.  That sounds like $5000 to me!  Not bad for a system that would only cost you around $20 a month to keep running.  Bottom line...email is GOOD!

4. Surveying

Speaking of email, one of the best ways to leverage your email list is to survey your subscribers.  The Entrepreneur Magazine article recommends SurveyMonkey.com and I also recommend iContact, which seamlessly integrates surveys with your email list.  Want to know what your customers really want?  Just ask!

5. Social Networking Groups

Social networking is something you might have heard about with the rise of sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and others.  These can be a great way to reach out to your existing customers and to broaden your business network.  Don't get wrapped around the axle about this stuff...it's just like networking face to face.  The benefit is that you can get to know other people in your business, other business owners who also sell to your ideal customers, and you can have a direct connection to your customers.

If you'd like to learn some quick ways you can use social networking to help grow your business, I'd like to offer you a free copy of a special report I've created titled "Social Networking for Small Business - How to Use the Internet to Expand Your Small Business Network".  You can get it for free by joining me on one of the following social networks (or if you're an overachiever, you can join me on all three).  Then send me a message and I'll send you a link to the free report:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Facebook

6. Video (and other multimedia)

Using video content can be an excellent way to gain exposure, rankings and traffic to your site.  Do yourself a favor and checkout the videos on YouTube related to your market.  Not the kid skateboarding off the roof, but real, informative videos that help people solve problems.  If you find videos related to your market, great.  Be sure to take note of the number of times those videos have been viewed and how long the video has been on the site.

Some of those views probably represent multiple views by the same person, but even accounting for that, you'll probably find that there are a LOT of people watching videos in all sorts of markets on sites like YouTube.  Why not use this low-cost method for promoting your business?  All you need is a cheap video camera...a good lapel microphone would also help too, and will make you look and sound more professional.

You can get a lot of the same benefits from audio content such as podcasts too.

7. Leveraging the Web

One of the tips in the Entrepreneur article was bit broad and recommended leveraging some of the popular free sites online such as Craigslist.org, Digg.com, Squidoo.com and others.  The benefit of sites like these (and others mentioned in the article) is that often times, they have such authority that they can rank well on their own for specific terms related to your market.  This can be a way to create sites that rank well and are one click away from your own site.  Bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us are also a way for fans of your product or service or people who are passionate about your industry to spread the word about your business and the unique value you're bringing to the table.

Pssst...wanna' peek behind the curtain and see some of my own links and find some additional online marketing resources?  Click here to see what's currently in my del.icio.us account.

Wrap Up

Whew, that was a loooong article.  But the original one from Entrepreneur had some really great info and I felt compelled to share my spin on it.

I guess the big takeaway is that if you're not using at least some of these elements of online marketing in your business, you're getting behind the curve and probably spending way more than you need to.

If you'd like to turn that trend around, why not contact me for a free online marketing consultation?