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One of the hurdles many people in business face is they need to market their business. Learning how to market yourself online is one of the biggest struggles. Most people are not "marketing" people. They don't enjoy selling themselves. There are born salesmen and then there are those of us who just struggle through trying our very best to market our business and our products. When it comes to marketing an online business there are tools which are unique. Learning how to use them to the best of your ability may be a component to your success. Here are 7 ways you can market yourself and your online business. #1Social Networking - We have all heard about it. It is the hot thing out there lately. You have Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to name the top competitors. Many people look at these sites as someplace to go and be social, hence the name. These are also valuable tools. Just like you would at a networking event, social networking sites can provide you with contacts. The thing with social networking is you want to be social, don't try to hard sell. Make friends and acquaintances. Let people know about you and what you do. This is an excellent place to help people out. Help them solve a problem which is line with your area of expertise. Participate in the community. You will be amazed at the results you get, when you try to be a part of the group rather than trying to sell to everyone. #2List building - It is said an online business is nothing without their list. What is a list and how do I use it as a marketing tool? A list is simple a group of people who sign up for information from you. They may have signed up for a service you offer, a special report or a mini class. Whatever the reason, they are now on your marketing list. You know they are interested in what you have to offer. You should always be working on growing your email list. Don't abuse your list. There is nothing like bothering people with unwanted offers and information to get them to unsubscribe from your list. You want to use a good list service as well. It is easy to get black listed as a spammer so at all cost avoid these mistakes. #3Blogs - Blogs will serve two main purposes in your marketing strategy. First they show the search engines your site is updated and updated frequently, as long as you blog on a regular basis. They also provide you with a great platform to establish your expertise. Part of marketing yourself online is showing others you know what you are talking about. Flaunt your stuff on your blog. Show them you have something interesting to say. Show them you have something to contribute.
#4Communities - This goes along with establishing your expertise. You want people to get to know you. You want them to build a trust in you. Joining communities and contributing to them is an excellent way to do this. We have talked about the social networking sites. This is an excellent place to start, but you want to also contribute to communities where you know your services are needed and interested in. Here again though don't go for the sale at first. Build friendships and show them you have something to contribute to the community. Forums are a great place to start. There are other groups you can join as well which may have private forums and email groups. You may not sell to anyone on the list to start with. Building the relationship will get you the referral, the back link and will eventually lead to a sale. #5Content - You can't say enough about content. It is one of the best ways to get traffic to your website and to establish yourself. It is well worth the time you spend. It is one of the best marketing tools you can have. Content is what people are looking for. People put words into search engines because they are looking for something. They are looking for the answer to a question. They are looking for a solution to their problem. You want them to come across your content on your website as the answer or the solution. Providing good reliable content will establish you as the expert. Even if you hire a ghostwriter to do your writing for you. It doesn't matter what your niche is there is content you can provide. Take for example if you are in a candle selling business. You may ask yourself what kind of content can I provide which potential clients will be interested in reading? You could do a series of articles on using candles to provide ambience. An article on how different candle scents are uplifting, calming or energizing would also be an idea. Whatever your topic there is content you can provide your reader. #6Article Marketing - This is a great way to establish yourself and to get traffic to your website. Great articles which are submitted to article directories will help bring traffic to your site. They establish your credibility. There are many article directories out there. Check with the guidelines. You can write the articles yourself or hire a ghost writer to write them for you. There are services available which will submit your articles to directories for you. Article directories are free services. They publish articles they approve. These articles have your resource box; these are byline with your website listed. People can then choice to publish your article on their site. Complete with your resource box and your link to your website. You have just generated traffic. The more it is published the more you are established and your skills are marketed. #7Give things away - While this may seem contradictory to making a business work, it is a great marketing tool. People love to get free stuff. Giving things away on your site and letting everyone know you are doing it, is a great way to get traffic. It could be something as simple as a special report, a mini email course or something valuable as a copy of your latest and greatest product. I am not saying go broke giving stuff away; I am saying use this as a tool to draw people near to you. Have them enter a drawing. Lately I have seen drawings for things such as Walmart cards.
People qualify by signing up for your email list, retweeting about the contest on Twitter and blogging about it. While a Walmart card may not get you targeted traffic a copy of your latest info product will. If you deal in physical products offer a gift basket which will be mailed to the winner's home. Open up your imagination and I am sure you can come up with something to give away. Here were 7 ideas on how to market yourself and your product. These are inexpensive ideas which can be done on just about any budget. The main thing is to get out there and do it. While most of us don't feel comfortable selling ourselves, if we are to meet our business goals it does pay off to live outside our comfort zone sometimes!
Judith is a freelance writer. She helps people with content, blog posting and article writing, submissions. You can visit her at Written Word Services for more tips on how to use great writing to market you and your business online.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Judith_L_Davis
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