Visionary Internet Strategies Guide

Internet Strategies For The Visionary Thinker

1 Copyright 2006 Randy Gaulding – All rights reserved
You may not copy, reproduce, post, or forward this document in any format.
For permission or joint venture opportunities, contact randy.gaulding@gmail.com


Copyright 2006, by Randy Gaulding

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Introduction

I have helped hundreds of clients and friends with their Internet
marketing questions.

Most of the informational material and tools found on the Internet are
about creating an online business, i.e. write effective emails, creating
a web site that draws audience, hypnotic formula for writing a sales
letter, and write an ebook the fastest way. These are good tools to
have depending on your task at hand.

What about; why would I use blogs vs. mini web site, or what is a
squeeze page and how is it used, and what is the difference between
lead generation and email marketing.

I am working on the Internet 7 hours a day with clients and after all
this time and all these years, I haven’t found one document, or one
book that would explain all the different actions one can take in
promoting a business on the Internet.

The Internet is changing every day and new visionary ideas are
popping up. The constant within this change is that there is change.

Let me show you something you may have missed about Internet
marketing.



How to Use This E-Book

This book doesn't need to be read cover to cover like a traditional
book. You can skip to whatever sections you think will provide you
with the most benefit. If you're new to Internet marketing it may help
you to follow the natural progression of each section. The sections
are organized to build upon previous ones.

For your convenience, the ebook is available as a downloadable
PDF. If you prefer to print-out a copy of the e-book, I recommend the
PDF version because it is more printer-friendly.

Why an E-book?

Nothing changes faster than the Internet. With an ebook, I'm able to
update with the latest information in real-time, while it's still relevant.

If this e-book were published as a traditional book a lot of the
information would be obsolete by the time it hit book shelves.

As new tactics are developed and proven, I will update this ebook.



Introduction............................................................................................................................................................... 3
About the Author ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Visionary Thinkers and Their Strategies …or .................................................................................................. 8
Internet Marketing..................................................................................................................................................10
Concept Validation................................................................................................................................................13
Target Audience & Niche....................................................................................................................................15
Demographics ................................................................................................................................... 18
• G.I. generation: 1901 – 1924 ................................................................................................... 18
• Silent generation: 1925 – 1945................................................................................................ 18
• Baby Boomers: 1946 – 1964 ................................................................................................... 18
• Bridge-point: 1959 – 1964....................................................................................................... 19
• Generation X: 1965 – 1979...................................................................................................... 19
• Twixers: 1976 – 1984 .............................................................................................................. 20
• Generation Y, aka: millennial generation, aka: Echo Boomers: 1980 – 1999 ...................... 20
• 9/11 Generation: 2001 – present............................................................................................. 21
Other Narrow Demographic Groups .............................................................................................. 21
Perceived Value of a Product or Service .........................................................................................................22
Strategies and Tactics ..........................................................................................................................................24
What is the Difference between a Strategic and Tactical Approach to Business? ...............................24
A Correct strategy can make all the difference in your future. .................................................. 28
5 Internet Marketing Strategies ..........................................................................................................................30
Lead Generation (OPT-IN) .................................................................................................................... 30
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) / Search Engine Marketing (SEM) .................................... 30
Joint Ventures (JV) ............................................................................................................................... 31
E-Mail Marketing ................................................................................................................................ 31
Affiliates Programs ........................................................................................................................... 32
Online Tactics.........................................................................................................................................................33
Direct Response Websites .............................................................................................................. 33
Sales Letter Website ....................................................................................................................... 33
Membership Site.............................................................................................................................. 34
Affiliate Site ...................................................................................................................................... 34
Review Site ...................................................................................................................................... 34
Topic Site ......................................................................................................................................... 34
Discussion Forum Site .................................................................................................................... 35
Corporate Site .................................................................................................................................. 35
e-Commerce Site............................................................................................................................. 35
Squeeze Page ................................................................................................................................. 35
Directory Website ............................................................................................................................ 36
Internet Marketing Tactics ...................................................................................................................................36
Domain Name .................................................................................................................................... 36
Testimonials ....................................................................................................................................... 36
Pop-Up/Pop-Under/Pop-Over/Hover Ad............................................................................................... 37
Auto-responder Email Sequence ................................................................................................... 37
EZine.................................................................................................................................................... 38
JV Email Request .............................................................................................................................. 38
Affiliate Email ........................................................................................................................................ 38
Email Signature/Signature Box ....................................................................................................... 38
Testimonials about OTHER products ............................................................................................ 39
PodCast/Video Blogging .................................................................................................................. 39
RSS/Blog............................................................................................................................................. 40
Publish Articles ................................................................................................................................. 40



Article Resource Box / About the Author ............................................................................................. 41
Co-Registration.................................................................................................................................. 41
Audio ................................................................................................................................................... 41
Video.................................................................................................................................................... 41
Press Release....................................................................................................................................... 41
OnLine Advertising ...............................................................................................................................................42
PPC Ads ............................................................................................................................................... 42
Paid and Free Inclusion Directories ............................................................................................... 43
Ezine Ads ............................................................................................................................................ 43
Solo Email Ads .................................................................................................................................. 44
Banner Ads......................................................................................................................................... 44
Sponsorship Ads .............................................................................................................................. 44
Blog Ad’s ............................................................................................................................................ 45
Forums & Newsgroups .................................................................................................................... 45
Niche Market ...................................................................................................................................... 45
Free Information ................................................................................................................................ 45
Directory of Related Information........................................................................................................... 46
Tele-Class or Tele-seminar .............................................................................................................. 46
Free Sample.......................................................................................................................................... 46
Free Trial / Demo ............................................................................................................................... 46
Contests.............................................................................................................................................. 47
Survey .................................................................................................................................................. 47
Special Events ................................................................................................................................... 47
Relationship ....................................................................................................................................... 47
Refer a Friend ....................................................................................................................................... 48
Opt-In List ............................................................................................................................................. 48
Viral Information ................................................................................................................................ 48
Strategies & Tactics Matrix..................................................................................................................................49



About the Author

With more than 15 years of business development, sales and marketing
experience in the Information Technology Industry, Randy is an accomplished
Marketing expert. His vision and expertise in business development have driven
notable enterprise growth in the retail, communications, and travel industry
sectors.

Offering a blend of creative and business strengths, Randy has utilized his Sales
and Marketing skills to create a number of successful Internet enterprises for
himself and others. With a particular focus on empowering entrepreneur and
business professionals to expand and develop their personal effectiveness,
Randy has an exceptional track record, both on and off-line.

Randy has been using emerging technologies like Blogs, Podcasting and Video
blogging as strategic marketing tactics with his clients. Using these technologies
also requires knowledge of using RSS feeds to syndicate client's information to
the Internet.

Randy’s clients have come from a varied industries; online ecommerce,
professional businesses, publishers, MLM entrepreneurs, sports arbitrage, online
dating, real estate investors, progressive learning centers, physicians, health
guru’s, food and wine experts, natural and alternative health experts, Reiki
masters, Fung Shui masters, internet marketing experts and seminar presenters.

Randy is an Internet Marketing Strategist and a Certified Expert in Strategic
Marketing Plan Development, Search Engine Research and Ranking, Affiliate
Marketing, Ebook Marketing, Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimization,
Copywriting, Statistics & Analysis, Pay-Per-Click Campaigns.

Randy is also a certified “Retirement Coach”.



Randy lives in Dallas, Texas.

Visionary Thinkers and Their Strategies …or

(The Secret World “Outside the Box”)

What I am presenting here is the “Answer of the day”…

It has two parts…The good news answer and the bad news
answer. Oh, by the way, the question has already been asked
– the minute you bought this book.

“Well, what’s the question?” you might ask at this point.

And THAT answer is…

“How do I make money on the Internet?” of course!

Okay, getting back to the answer of the day - Which do you
want first – the good news answer or the bad news answer?

I think you may already see where this is going…Well, just play
along with me for a minute, all right?

How about if we start with the bad news answer first? That is
(Insert drum-roll here…) Your old assumptions about how to
sell on the Internet will not work the same today as they did one
year ago (Darn; you were hoping I wouldn’t say that, weren’t
you?).

Ok – now for the good news answer…yes, there is some good
news.

You CAN make money on the Internet, Virginia – excuse us,
Santa Claus – Only there IS a hitch.



You will have to open your mind, open your thoughts to a new
way of marketing, and then create a way to look for new
possibilities.

There, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Just a new way of looking at
things. And, after all, I am here to help. So, let’s get started,
shall we?

Visionary Strategies and Tactics are not new gimmicks; they
represent knowledge we have had for some time; it’s just that
now, they need to be viewed and applied in a different, more
creative way!

One of the keys to successfully applying them, from a
marketing perspective, is that you must discover new avenues
to reach your target audience and capture their attention.

Each year, for the past five or six, your audience has become
more and more astute looking at Internet marketing.
Consequently, you must also be much more aware of the need
to communicate more effectively with them. You must find a
way to entice them to come back to your site, over and over
again.

How about we get started?



Internet Marketing

Have you noticed, there are millions of web sites up and
running now? Of course you have – you’d have to be dead
between the ears to have missed that!
So, Mr. businessman/entrepreneur, how will you get the results
that you are looking for? AND, is it even possible to have a
business on the Internet and create income?

As you might imagine, in my business I get this question often.
Usually, it comes in the form of “Are you making money on the
Internet?”

My answer is always a resounding, “YES – absolutely!”
There is a difference, though, between marketing, making
money, and selling and, knowing that difference is what will
determine what you take to the bank.
Simply by having a website up does not mean you are going to
“sell” anything.

Think of it this way - Your web site is a visible “vehicle” to hold
images, text documents, audio and video recording. Really,
said another way, Web sites are “instruments” to sell products
and services.
When thinking about using the Internet for a business, you
must have a pretty clear idea of what your objective is. This
actually takes careful planning and the creation of an effective
marketing plan. Believe it or not, this is just as important when
you build a website as it is if you were planning to build a brick
& mortar business.

This seems like as good a time as any to explain the difference
between marketing and selling. Since this is a critical piece of
knowledge, let me put it as simply and concisely as possible.
That is – and you can quote me on this - “Marketing is



everything that you do before you accept payment before a
product or a service”. Let me repeat – it is that important!

Marketing is EVERYTHING you do before the money changes
hands between you and the customer.
Now I am not the first person to say this – and I won’t be the
last – but it is one of the most critical things to “get” about being
in business.

Marketing means using strategies and tactics to reach your
target audience pull them to your web site, encourage them to
purchase your product or service, and bring them back again
and again.
Creating a web site can be fun, educational, somewhat
frustrating at times and can provide great conversation in a
small group of people. BUT, (and it is a big but) - it is
meaningless if nobody knows that you have created the site.

In the course of my working with hundreds of clients, nationally
and internationally, I have gathered numerous successful
strategies and tactics which have helped me help my clients to
build and grow thousands of successful businesses on the
World Wide Internet.

As we continue, and if you pay close attention, you will learn
the difference between Strategies and Tactics. In addition, you
will learn that BOTH are required to make your business
successful.

Now, if you have spent any time surfing the Internet for
information about marketing, you know that you will see and
hear mostly about marketing tools that will help you in
developing your site, creating content to capture your visitors’
attention, and handy gadgets and gizmos that will help support,
manage, and analyze your marketing efforts.



I may touch on a few of these tools, but the information I ‘m
going to share with you will discuss the things I’ve found to be
the most effective Internet strategies and tactics around.

First things first. You need to know that pretty much everything
related to Internet marketing revolves around three key things:

• Concept Validation
• Identifying A Target Audience/Niche Market
• Perceived Value of A Product/Service

Remember, what I am going to help you discover is how to
create a “Visionary Internet Plan” by using the correct
strategies and tactics.

I will not be designing your website. That gets done by you or
a web designer you hire. Notice, I said “web designer.”
Believe me, one of the biggest mistakes people make is
thinking they are hiring a “marketing expert” when all they are
hiring is an “artist type” with a good eye for design who thinks
something looks “cool” but has NO idea how to market or sell
anything.
And, remember, you heard it here…If you are using a Web
Designer, it is still your responsibility to understand strategies
and tactics and be able to define and direct your Web Designer
to build a site that will “sell”.

So, be sure to keep all that in mind when you hire that guy or
gal to build your site; Their job is to do what they do best –
design. Rely on yourself and the sources we will be talking
about to market your product or services. Another advantage
of being clear about this is that when you realize that all they
are doing is “design” work, and you are doing the heavy
thinking, your cost will remain lower and you will have more
control.



Make sure you are clear about this with your designer. You
need to be able to communicate your strategy objectives and to
fully explain the tactics that you want to use, or it will be
impossible for the designer to build a site that will achieve your
goals.

Hopefully, by the time we’re done here, you’ll be clear about
knowing your target audience, your niche, and how to sell your
product or services much better then they ever would.
Oh, yes, one other thing. If you plan to make a business out of
this, be sure that you or someone you can easily communicate
with and who is very reasonable who will be able to make
changes to your website. Having a website does require being
able to update and keep things current and if you have to
continually go back to your web designer to make those
changes, it could end up costing you a pretty penny. Now, if
cost is not an object, than, not to worry – However, if you want
to be able to be economical in running this business, be sure
your designer builds your site in such a way that you can go in
and make updates and changes periodically.
Ok, ready to get started with the first of the three key things to
know, Concept Validation.
Concept Validation

What Exactly Do I Mean by Concept Validation?

I’m sure that even if you’ve used the Internet well before you
decided to create a site or create a business on the Internet,
you may not have thought about what was going on in the
background while you were using a browser.

What I’m talking about are all those words or phrases that you
used, to search for vacation spots, your kid’s history lesson,
and maybe even that great recipe you heard about on TV.



Well, over time, companies like Google, MSN/Overture, and
few others, created a way to capture each word or word-phrase
used and then put a matrix or data base behind the usage.

The end result is that they know exactly how many people
search for any given word or word-phrase AND how often a
particular topic is searched.

So, without going into a lot of detail about search engines, the
point is, if we also knew how users were searching for
information on the Internet, and how many times this
information is being requested in a 24 hour period, we would
know how exactly, being crystal clear, on how to market to
these people. It’s pretty obvious that they would be our target
audience.

For example; If you knew the ice cream truck came into your
neighborhood three times in a single day, after a couple of
days, if you wanted some ice cream, you would know when to
be on your curb, waiting for the truck.
There are tools that will help you in determining how
keywords/phrases are used. They will also help you in
validating your concept based on how many time the
word/phrase is used in a 24 hour period, and how often the
word/phrases are used on other web pages.

Here are some that I have found to be particularly effective:

As an entrepreneur of the web, I have built many sites. I have
also worked to get these sites ranked at the top of search
engines. To be able to do this, you need to conduct extensive
research to find the most popular keywords that people search
for and then use those phrases on your site.



Here are a few tools that I used to create a list of keywords and
determine which are search the most:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

http://www.digitalpoint.com

http://www.wordtracker.com

http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html

http://www.apogee-web-consulting.com/tools/keyword_tool.php
http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/#

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/free-keyword-research-
tools/8153/

To pull traffic to your web site to promote your services or
products, you need to know what they are looking for and how
they are looking for it.
Ok, time to move ahead to Key concept #2…

Target Audience & Niche

Who is Your Target Audience and What is Your Niche?

It’s really important to define and understand your Target
Audience. From my experience of working with hundreds of
clients, it is best to work on one target audience and one niche
market at a time.

Now, at this point, you might very well say, “Yes, but, I have
several ideas I want to market and have lots of different kinds
of audiences I want to market those ideas to. How can I
narrow it down to just “one Target Audience?”



Well, if you are a creative sort of person, you may very well
have several ideas that you want to get onto the net ASAP;
however, once you learn the process of how to market a
specific service or product, bringing other products in behind it
will be a piece of cake for a pro like you!

The business principle that most describes what I am talking
about is this…”If you market to everybody, you will sell to no
one.” Actually, I think I said that as a matter of fact! If not in the
past, I am saying it now.

All kidding aside, if you are going to take the time and energy to
build a web site, doesn’t it make a whole lot of sense to build
the site that attracts the people you want to sell to? They are,
after all, your target audience. Your message to them must be
clear, with no confusing messages, unnecessary content, and
other products that would not relate to their needs or which
would distract them.
The next thing to think about is that your message must also
relate to the “niche” in the market that you have decided to fill.
Now, unless you have heard this term before, you may be
asking what the heck is a “niche”. Well, some of you may be
very clear what it is, but for those of you who want a little more
background, it goes like this. A niche is a small area in a
particular market that is not already being served by someone
else or is being underserved. Here’s an example:

A client of mine was interested in selling natural health
products. Within this product line was an Aloe Vera drink that
she liked, used and it also was getting good sales.

When I asked her about her experience with this drink, she told
me a story about being diabetics and how she discovered that
the drink help her maintain her body levels. She also took the
drink when she was pregnant and her results were very
positive for her pregnancy, her doctors were amazed and it
helped maintain her blood pressure.


Her focus, her target audience, her niche was diabetic
pregnant women.

So, continuing on in the discussion about our target audience,
one of the first things you are going to want to focus on are the
benefits of your service/products and the part they will play in
the design and execution of your message to your customer.

Now, your natural inclination may be to start with “the facts” or
features of your service or product.

Things that you may believe make you stand out from all the
others in your field. Well, facts and features may be
informative and logical - but, and it is a BIG but, people buy on
emotions. That’s right – your facts, data, features and
statistics, maybe logical but they won’t create the kind of
emotional response necessary to get someone to BUY your
product. And, that is our aim, right?

Okay; let’s look at an example of “feature” versus “benefit”.
This should help you get the idea.

Let’s say you are going to buy a new clothes washing machine.
When you are talking to the sales person, he mentions that this
is a front loading machine. Would you buy this because it is a
front loading machine? Well, you might if you knew a LOT
about why a front loading machine was better, right. But, if you
didn’t, just by saying it is a “front loader” would not necessarily
entice you to buy it.

Now, if the salesperson is good at his/her job, the first thing he
or she will say after mentioning it is a front loader is, “…and, as
you know, front loaders are much more energy and water
efficient, which will save you lots of money on electric bills and
water usage – something that will definitely make it worth the
slightly higher price than the top loading model.”

Bingo, the sale is made and everyone is happy!


One more thing to keep in mind as you address and identify
your target audience is knowing what are the demographics of
your customer.

You can break demographics down in a couple of ways…ages,
income or lifestyles.

Pay close attention to this; because how you market to a Baby
Boomer (50-60 years old) would be quite different then
marketing to someone who is 35 years old. Can you see that?

Why do you think that is so?

This is a list of demographics:
Demographics

• G.I. generation: 1901 – 1924

This “Can Do” generation survived the Great Depression and
WWII. Established brands give them a sense of security. They
are still active and vital. This is a generation of avid readers,
who prefer sales by mail because customer service “isn’t what
it used to be”. To appeal to this generation, don’t treat them as
“old”. Customer service is key. They don’t want a salesperson;
they want a friend in the business. Many have trouble with
transportation, so catalog sales are a natural fit.

• Silent generation: 1925 – 1945

Even though the Silent generation has been financially
conservative in general, they are now more willing than ever to
spend money on themselves. This wealthy generation feels it’s
now-or-never time to splurge for that big-ticket item.

• Baby Boomers: 1946 – 1964



This generation is busy. Boomers are juggling kids, spouses,
parents and jobs, so anything that makes their lives easier or
more convenient will appeal to them. They don’t have time to
read lengthy marketing efforts. If you don’t capture their
attention within seconds, you’re going to lose them.

They have a reputation for being image conscious and big
spenders, but they demand products that will save them time or
streamline their lives.

Their desire to look and feel young has fueled the fitness and
sports industries. As they get older, they’re expected to
purchase more financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals
and healthcare. There are an estimated 77 million Americans in
this generation.

• Bridge-point: 1959 – 1964

Keep in mind that all of this is a generalized model. There is a
somewhat subtle and permeable bridge-point between the
youngest Boomers and the Oldest Gen Xers.

• Generation X: 1965 – 1979

This generation is decent, pragmatic, creative, strongly
independent, self-reliant, and hard-working. They have a good
work ethic – including a strong sense of company loyalty, as
long as it’s reciprocal – and they want to get ahead, even
though they aren’t as concerned with the trappings of “success”
as earlier generations who were very concerned with financial
and emotional security. They are hopeful that the future will be
good to them, but they’re also shockingly realistic and honest
about the struggles they’re going to face in a rapidly changing
world of diminishing resources, an elderly society, and a culture
dominated by, and designed for, “Baby Boomers”.



Concerned about their economic prospects, this group is
responsive to marketing that focuses on product value. They’re
reputed to be savvy and cynical about advertising and resistant
to stereotyping by marketers (e.g. they don’t like being called
Gen Xers). Confidence and trust has to be earned every time.
They’re entering their peek earning years, raising families.
They’re comfortable with computers, ethnic diversity, and they
love to shop.

This “in-between” generation may have gotten a bad rap.
Instead of slackers, they are survivors akin to the GI
generation. They have survived divorce and dislocated family
situations, razor blades in Halloween candy and violence on TV
and in their lives. Because Xers were not supported by family,
they turn to friends as the successful television show Friends
demonstrated. But because of unstable family situations, they
“long for a sense of belonging and family”, because they have
been unfairly short-changed in this area. This is a group of
approximately only 47 million.

• Twixers: 1976 – 1984

This is another bridge-point or sub-category between the
youngest Gen Xers and the older Generation Y. These are the
twenty something’s who’ve been so fussed over by their
boomer parents that they can’t deal with adulthood. This group
still lives at home with mom and dad and if they hold jobs,
these young people have disposable income that’s probably
not spent on rent or mortgages. They also have parents willing
to spend money on them, too.

• Generation Y, aka: millennial generation, aka: Echo
Boomers: 1980 – 1999

These are the little clones of the Boomers as they were in their
youth, as if they were re-living their youth vicariously through
them. Their young minds are being shaped to mimic Boomer’s



political and social values. They wear bell-bottoms, use drugs,
and even revived “folk” music – though most don’t recognize it
as such.

This is the most globally connected generation. They all watch
MTV, they use the net, they see the same movies, and they are
exposed to the world. They are very global and so are savvier
about patterns, designs, colors from other cultures. They
understand ethnic patterns.

They have disposable incomes.
There are estimated to be between 73.4 and 78 million children
in this generation and predicted to rival the Baby Boomer
generation in terms of sheer numbers.

• 9/11 Generation: 2001 – present

This will be a generation that values fitting in. During their
formative years, 9/11s are over-protected – at home, because
of the rash of kidnappings and Amber Alerts; at school,
because of Columbine-type incidences; and in society,
because of terrorism. An overprotected generation tends to be
risk-adverse and therefore conformists as adults.

Other Narrow Demographic Groups

• Cablinasians: Mixed racial heritage

• Unmarried, Professional Women in their 30s and 40s:
highly educated with disposable income

• Empty Nesters: Boomers whose kids have moved out
freeing up disposable income



• Boomer Grandparents: Day-care providers to their grand
kids

• Progressive Prioritizes: Women 25 to 29 with bachelor’s
degrees who are prepared to leave their jobs to stay
home with kids and then return to the work force when
they’re ready.

• Blended Families: The kids of younger boomers who
remarry

• Single Mothers by Choice: Women age 30 – 44 who
have children without partners.

Ok, that’s it for Target Audience and Niche Market; on now to
our third key concept, Product development…
Perceived Value of a Product or Service

One Service or Product will not make you SUCCESSFUL.
Early on in my Internet marketing education, I was taught that
to be successful you must sell multiple products or services.

If you look at sites of the most successful Internet gurus, over
the years, they have created many products to sell. It’s kind of
the same things as if you had a store on the corner of the down
town square; just selling one product would not meet your
financial goals.

Another analogy I like to use for this is called a “product
ladder.” Picture this - each rung of this ladder represents a
product to sell to my existing and new customers.

Think about it…They start at the bottom – on the first rung.
That is the beginning service or product. For example, you


could give them something that would cost them nothing but
their name and email address and for which they would receive
something of value like an information product. Meanwhile, this
valuable “piece” of themselves is as good as gold to you since
it will be used later for an email or sales campaign of some
kind. AND, it cost you nothing to get it except something you
created and gave them in exchange for their information. You
both benefit; you get their information and they get something
of value from you. The perfect business exchange – win/win.
The next rung might be an enhanced version of your service or
product and something that has a higher value and a low price
attached to. It could even be a similar product, but converted
from an ebook format to a tele-seminar or a MP3 file with
similar, updated information.

The next rung would be another product and one which only
adds to your credibility with this customer, as well as adding
dollars to your bank account. Is this beginning to make sense?
I hope so. I have illustrated a typical “product ladder” below – I
think that will make it really clear for you.

This is the overview of each step in the marketing process
which builds trust and brings the prospect one step closer to
becoming a client.

Call to
Action
Side

SEM Sales
letter
Purpose Marketing Marketing
of the Tactic Tactic
Marketing Used Side


Now, just backing up a few steps here – remember, we talked
earlier about marketing to one target audience at a time? Well,
here’s the case of how you would take the same product you
marketed to the first “target audience,” make some minor
adjustments, and then market it to a new, totally different target
audience. Why not. If 80% of the material is the same and you
only have to modify the 20% that reflects the next target
audience, you have created multiple products. You’re on your
way to a dynasty of delights for multiple markets!

Let me give you a perfect example of this – Have you been to a
toy store lately. If not, take a quick trip to one and go to the
game aisle. Look up Monopoly. Yeah, that’s right – it’s been
around forever AND it is marketed to an enormously broad
market – of many different target audiences. Let’s see, the last
time I looked there was …

Monopoly Property Trading

Monopoly Spongebob
Monopoly the Disney

Monopoly Star Wars
Ok, so I think you now get the picture about multiple products,
target audiences and how growing your business takes some
strategic thinking…speaking of which – that brings us to our
next subject – Strategies and Tactics. Onward!

Strategies and Tactics
What is the Difference between a Strategic and Tactical Approach
to Business?

Let’s answer this question, shall we – along with why we are
asking it in the first place? Like, why do we care, right?



Well, both strategies and tactics are important and both are
required to make your business a success – but, all too often,
business owners and managers spend too much time on the
smaller, tactical issues rather than on the larger, longer-range,
strategic ones. Let’s take a look at what the encyclopedia says
about these two critical marketing concepts.

Marketing Strategy - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A marketing strategy serves as the foundation of a
marketing plan. A marketing plan contains a list of specific
actions required to successfully implement a specific
marketing strategy. An example of marketing strategy is
as follows: "Use a low cost product to attract consumers.
Once our organization, via our low cost product, has
established a relationship with consumers, our
organization will sell additional, higher-margin products
and services that enhance the consumer's interaction with
the low-cost product or service."

A strategy is different from a tactic. While it is possible to
write a tactical marketing plan without a sound, well-
considered strategy, it is not recommended. Without a
sound marketing strategy, a marketing plan has no
foundation. Marketing strategies serve as the
fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to
reach marketing objectives. It is important that these
objectives have measurable results.

A good marketing strategy should integrate an
organization's marketing goals, policies, and action
sequences (tactics) into a cohesive whole. The objective
of a marketing strategy is to provide a foundation from
which a tactical plan is developed. This allows the
organization to carry out its mission effectively and
efficiently.



Tactic Method - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A tactic is a method employed to help achieve a certain
goal. Tactics are the actual means used to attain a goal.

Okay, got the picture now? Strategy is the overall plan;
tactics are the way to make the plan happen.

Here’s an example: You have an ebook called “Laws of the
Universe”…You want to sell this book online.

So, you identify your strategy as “Search Engine Marketing
(SEM)” – that is selling your ebook on line. The tactics
appropriate to SEM are numerous – some of which include
creating a sales letter site, writing articles to attract
customers to your site, creating a press release to do the
same. Everything you do – all Marketing in other words,
would be appropriate to your strategy called “SEM”. The
attached Strategies and Tactics Matrix will show you tactics
under different strategies.

Now, let’s look at another kind of strategy. Supposing you
wanted to hold seminars and coach people. Then, your
strategy would be trying to build a “list” of people to whom
you could market. That would be a strategy called “Lead
Generation.” In this strategy, the tactics would be somewhat
different. You would want to build credibility and give your
customers something that would entice them to give you
their information in exchange, say, for a gift or an electronic
product that they want. You give them the “freebie,” they
give you their name and you add them to your “list” for future
marketing purposes.

Starting to get the picture? There are actually only about 5
main strategies and there are many tactics that fit inside
those main strategies.



The most important thing to remember about all of this talk
about strategies and tactics is this…Having a strategic
marketing plan can make the difference between success and
failure. It is the one thing that will consistently reduces the
uncertainties associated with trial and error, hit or miss
marketing. It is very much a “roadmap” to your success.

You know yourself, if you’ve ever found yourself in unfamiliar
territory, a map can be critical to your getting to your destination
on time and intact.

Believe me, the Internet is a challenging and competitive
environment. While it’s true that lots of people make money,
lots of people don’t’ – and if you want to be one of the ones
who does, thinking strategically can make all the difference.

Let’s take a look, now, at two important keys aspects in the
marketing process; The Marketing Plan and Constant
Reassessment.

Marketing Plan

Internet marketers approach their sales with a planned
marketing outline for a step by step approach. Successful
Internet entrepreneurs understand that, in selling, it is the way
that they do things that sets them apart from their competition.

Having a thought out, strategic Marketing Plan in place will
allow you to achieve your goal. That plan could even include
multiple strategies which could lead you to what you want to
accomplish. Identifying the strategy though, remember, is just
half of the battle. Once you’ve selected your strategy, you
actually have to do something.

A strategy is thought out and it gives focus to your tactics.



The clarity that comes from adopting a strategic plan can be
tremendously empowering because you are able to compare
available tactics against the strategy and determine very
quickly which are appropriate and which are not.

Constant Reassessment

The second aspect is constant reassessment. Since change is
the ONLY constant in your business success, especially on the

Internet where everything changes minute by minute; and since
you can only be undermined by change if you fail to adapt to it,
you will ONLY be successful by seeing change as an
opportunity.
A Correct strategy can make all the difference in your future.
I can’t emphasize this enough. When creating your online
business, taking a strategic approach can provide the path for
you strategic improvement as well.

It will allow you to set up a reliable method of testing every step
of your process. Without this strategic testing, you may act on
the basis of what you wish were true rather than what is true,
and we all know where that can lead, don’t we? Ever wish
things were not the way they actually were? Not real
productive, is it? I think it’s called “wishful thinking” and it
doesn’t put much in the bank.

There’s yet another reason why having a clear strategy is key
to your growth and prosperity: its called innovation.
Too many times, business owners like us feel that they are
constantly responding to market forces that are beyond their
control. A major reason for this is that these owners and
managers are often managing, based on data collected in the
past. They actually spend way too much time trying to interpret
historical information that has already lost its relevance over
time.



Business that adopts a strategic approach to growth and
development tracks what they’ve done – and that information is
only part of the data they evaluate when making forward-
looking decisions.

Strategies are based on research and analysis of market
factors which help define customer needs, competitive supply
levels, and other market-making trends.
On Customer Focused Business
In the United States today, growth of market share is
increasingly dependent upon clear, values-driven, business
strategies.
Businesses who do not think about how to improve their
customer relationships, who don’t open themselves to new
markets, or fail to re-position their unique selling proposition
(USP) in a relevant and compelling manner, are doomed to
stagnation, declining share, and eventual failure.

It is essential in today’s marketplace to lure customers and
clients away from competitors in order to continue growing. For
those business owners and managers not fiercely guarding
their existing client/customer relationships, and aggressively
going after new ones, this means they are under siege.
Their sales will decline.

Making sure that you have a well-defined strategy will allow you
to be more creative in how you approach prospective
customers – maybe even open up entirely new, never-before
explored, markets. Innovation in positioning, products, and
service can lead to significant breakthroughs and, more
importantly, make you the only player in the field – even if only
for a short time.



5 Internet Marketing Strategies

Lead Generation (OPT-IN)
Your list of customers collected is worth pure gold in the form of
sales. This strategy focuses on building a list of potential
customers, then converting them into customers that are
purchasing over time. This is a long-term strategy that requires
patience, discipline, and time to build the relationship that
makes people trust you and buy from you again, and again.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) / Search Engine Marketing
(SEM)

Designing a site that is search engine friendly should be an
objective of every business on the Internet that wants to do
business.

Search engines are the most common way for Internet surfers
to search and purchase on the net. There is a statistic that 85%
of all people who use the Internet use search engines as their
primary way to look for information. By using keyword/key
phrases that is related to your business services or products
can improve how search engines rank you. You want these
keywords in the domain name, your page titles and page text,
your ALT tags for graphics and your page headers.
Because search engines can bring significant volumes of traffic
to your site, you must understand how the major search
engines work and how the design of your site can influence the
indexing of your site.

The strategy of SEO/SEM is to drive traffic to your site as
mentioned above.

SEO focuses on optimizing web pages to get listed in search
engines “organically” (i.e. without the use of a Pay-Per-Click
search engine). It is a sub-set of SEM.



SEM includes everything that drives traffic to websites from
search engines. This strategy is very large and has many
tactics, with new ones emerging every month.

Joint Ventures (JV)
Joint Venture marketing is the secret key to uncovering the
hidden asset of your ability to contact millions of people,
quickly. There are many resources to Joint Venture with.

With the right Joint Venture, you can put your product in front of
a very large (often targeted) group of people to generate an
enormous number of sales in a very short amount of time (even
overnight). Instead of spending your marketing money up-front,
you give it to the JV’s who send you the people who buy your
product.

The major difference between JV’s and Affiliates is the size of
their list and reputation.

Joint venture endorsement marketing should be approached
from a scientific marketing standpoint... you should do careful
market research to find all the businesses that are attracting
your type of prospects and customers. Joint venture
endorsements should be focused on results--not general effect.

E-Mail Marketing

Email is one of the most important forms of communications
you have with your customers, potential customers and niche
market. Email is widely accessible and accepted form of
business communications. Email is used to build your
community online, sell products and provide customer service.

Once you have created your database of clients, potential
clients, email marketing becomes a powerful strategy to use.

One of the greatest benefits of email strategy is the speed in
which you can communicate.



Affiliates Programs

You may already know this well know fact; referral business is
the easiest and most efficient was to grow your business.
When doing an online business, affiliate program enables you
to capitalize on this concept.

There are many different affiliate programs associated with the
Internet. These programs very in terms, reliability, and amount
of commissions offered. All affiliate programs pay for referral
business, but in different ways. The most common program is
commission based.

Today’s affiliate programs the focus is on getting good affiliates
who are going to perform and giving them the tools to a great
job. Your greatest advantage of an affiliate program is to
expand your sales force to thousands of people.



Online Tactics

Direct Response Websites
Web pages aren't just for geeks any more. If you're in business,
the chances are good you'll be involved in building a Web site
in one way or another. But what if you don't know HTML from
H20? Or a browser from Bowser?

Every online strategy uses a website. The most important part
of your website is that it’s designed to get a direct response -
to sell your product or service, capture a lead, or get traffic from
a search engine.

Whatever Internet marketing strategy you choose to use, your
website will ultimately be your key to success. The type of
website you create depends on the strategy that you use.

Sales Letter Website
A Sales Letter website that is designed to do one and only one
thing – SELL! There is a well thought out and proven method
on how to create a Sales Letter web site. It looks like a direct
mail sales letter but with a header graphic, headline, content of
the letter, an image of the product and a link to buy now.
Since this type of web site is design to sell, there are no links to
other websites. Your logo and contact information is listed at
the bottom of the page along with a copyright statement.

Your visitors have two choices when they come to your sales
letter; they either purchase your product or leave. After a visitor
purchases your product they are sent to the thank-you page to
download the product.
A Sales Letter website you can carefully target who your top
potential clients are and provide them with valuable information
and the urgency to purchase now.



Membership Site
A membership site is when anyone pays to access information
you publish in a password protected area on your site. You can
offer exclusive articles, information, or even a service (like
software, games, ebooks, or music).

As a product most membership sites cost money to join. The
design is much more involved and can require special software
to restrict access to the members-only area.

Affiliate Site

An affiliate website offers products and services on their
website for a commission. They choose merchants that fit
within the context of their site's offerings.

Affiliates enter into an agreement to place links on their
websites that lead to the merchant, for the purpose of
promoting goods and services. In return, affiliates can earn
commissions on click-through leads, or purchases made
through their sites.

Review Site
A review website is based on content that is reviewing others
products or services. Sometimes referred to as “content site”.
This is one of the more complex sites to build. It requires lots of
content and information that will bring visitors back to your site
for more information. You will have to be very creative to
generate a revenue stream from this site.

Topic Site
A topic website that is dedicated to one topic and provides
extensive information about the topic, related products, and
reference sites. You will have to be very creative to generate a
revenue stream from this site.



Discussion Forum Site
A website where people gather to discuss a particular topic of
interest.

Corporate Site

Corporate websites offer content about their product and
services. The owners and operators of a business have as one
of their main objectives “the receipt or generation of a financial
return in exchange for their work”. There are many types of
businesses, and, as a result, businesses can be classified in
many ways.

In most cases, this type of website is not particularly useful for
Internet marketing– it is designed for a business or corporation
and acts more like an on-line business card or brochure.

e-Commerce Site

An e-commerce website consists primarily of the distributing,
buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products or services
over electronic systems such as the Internet.

A website (i.e.: Amazon.com or Ebay) that sells hundreds or
thousands of products that are listed like a gallery with a
picture, short description, and an order button that places the
product in a shopping cart for the visitor to purchase later.
Squeeze Page
A squeeze page is a web page that was created specifically to
respond to a marketing campaign you are running. The action
you want the target visitor to take might be to make a purchase,
join a membership, view live demos, participate in a survey or
leave their contact information. The squeeze page is geared
towards a conversion or converting the searchers into buyers.

Your squeeze page should emphasize the benefits of your
offer; it should speak to your audience. The squeeze page
should have a dynamite headline that grabs their attention.



Your squeeze page should create a sense of urgency - get
your visitors to do what you want them to do NOW. If they
leave your site without making a purchase, it is often unlikely to
have another opportunity.

A squeeze page is a smaller version of a Lead Generation site.
It is used to gather your visitors contact information and for you
to give that visitor a gift.
Directory Website

A directory website which offers access to a categorized listing
of other websites optimized for lookup, search or browsing. It
specializes in linking to other websites. Web directories often
allow site owners to submit their site for inclusion.

Internet Marketing Tactics

Domain Name

Your domain name, in most cases, will be the first thing your
customers see or hear about you or your product. For Search
Engine Optimization (SEO), your domain name is the single
most important item to use for optimization. Choose a name
that includes your primary keyword phrase that people would
use to find you in a search engine. Usually it explains what you,
your product, or your business does and sets you apart from
your competition.

Testimonials
Satisfied customers who give you testimonials are crucial to
your success on the Internet. Visitors will believe others over
you. The testimonial demonstrates that your claims are
accurate and attainable by everyone.



This tactic lowers the readers guard to the ground so they will
accept everything you say after that as true. If you don’t have
testimonials, give your product away to prospects in exchange
for their testimonial. Then, once you start selling, always ask for
one from your new customers.

Pop-Up/Pop-Under/Pop-Over/Hover Ad

Even though most people don’t like pop-ups, they are still the
most effective way to get people to sign-up or opt-in for a free
offer. A hover ad looks like a pop-up that drops down in front of
the current browser window to display an advertisement. It
cannot, however, be blocked by pop-up blockers. The down-
side to a hover ad is that it can’t be controlled as well as a pop-
up. You can set a hover ad to appear when someone clicks off
your page.
Auto-responder Email Sequence
The sequence of predetermined email messages sent
automatically from an auto-responder (email program) can turn
one-time visitors into repeat customers. They can be used to
follow-up after a subscription or purchase, automate your
customer service, create automatic follow-up promotions, or
deliver a multi-part mini-course.
An auto responder is a program located on a mail server that is
set up to automatically send a preprogrammed reply to an
email address that sends mail to it. This reply can be a single
message or a series of preprogrammed messages.

One of the major benefits of using an auto responder is the
immediate response, 24 hors a day, 7 days a week, 365 day a
year. Auto responders are a real time saver, eliminating the
need for manual response of routine request. Another
advantage is the ability to schedule multiple responses at
predetermined intervals.



EZine

Publish an online newsletter or ezine (electronic or email
magazine) on a topic related to your business. You can write
the material yourself or collect it from other sources. Your
subscribers will appreciate the information and many will
become customers.

Ezine, or electronic magazines, is the online versions of
magazines. They are content rich and content information
regarding a certain topic in the form of magazine articles and
features stories.

There are web-based e-zines that have only an online
presence. These e-zines are accessed through their web sites.
Web-based e-zines tend to be graphically pleasing.

JV Email Request
Use this type of email to show potential joint venture partners
that you're serious about your business -- and show them how
they can benefit from aligning their business with yours to
develop new profit streams.

Affiliate Email
Use this type of email to persuade potential affiliates from the
top sites in your industry to join your affiliate program. Their
sites will give you the exposure, traffic, and sales you need!

Email Signature/Signature Box

Develop an informative signature and use it to sign all your e-
mail messages and discussion group postings. Your signature
is like leaving a business card or free advertising wherever you
go. Use them to announce a new product, special event,
award, website, free report, article or anything of interest. You’ll
be surprised by how many people will click on a link in your
email signature to go to your website.



When you are writing articles, posting to a blog, creating a
press release, or making a comment on someone else blog,
always leave your signature box. This will generate a link back
to your businesses. This also helps in link popularity. This is
creating a mini advertisement for your company and its product
and services.

Testimonials about OTHER products

Offer product testimonials to top sites with related products in
your industry. More than likely, the owner of the website will put
your testimonial on his website with a link back to your website.
This builds your status and credibility as an expert in your
industry. The links back to your website generate additional
traffic and increase your Google Page rank and position in the
search engines.
PodCast/Video Blogging
This technology automatically distributes audio and video
programs over the Internet using a publisher/subscriber model.
It automatically transfers material to the user, like an
independent producer of a radio show. This is like an audio
version of an RSS feed (blog). It can be used to deliver regular
audio or video messages to your customers, prospects, and
target audience.

Many information entrepreneurs and other sites are
incorporating downloadable audio and video content on a
regular basis to encourage repeat visitors.

This is becoming very popular because people can download
and listen to the content while driving, working out, sitting on
the porch or traveling.



RSS/Blog

RSS stands for Rich Site Syndication; RSS is a powerful tool,
and the publishing choice of the future. A blog is a
chronological publication or online journal of posting to a web
site. The blog can include text, images, links to video files, links
to audio files and links to other web sites.

Writing the content for your blog is referred to as blogging
(posting).

RSS provides web masters and content providers a distribution
vehicle for their content that is guaranteed to be delivered. This
distribution channel makes it easy for individuals to access the
most current information, but also for other site owners to
publish the syndicated content on their sites as well.

It allows you a quick way to post news, thoughts, interact with
people, and more. It brings search engines to your site on a
regular (even daily) basis. It creates links, brings traffic, and
can be used for announcing product releases, and even
marketing messages.

Publish Articles

Publish your own online articles to increase your credibility as
an expert and increase the number of links to your website.
Use a ghostwriter if necessary. This is the best method for
creating incoming links to your website. Write 10 articles and
submit them to the major article websites, topic related
websites, and ezine publishers. Not only will your articles be
found on the websites where you submitted them, the search
engines will also pick them up and will help get your name and
website ranked higher in the search engines.



Article Resource Box / About the Author

Develop an informative resource box or “about the author” and
use it at the bottom of all of your articles. Your resource box is
like leaving a business card or free advertising wherever you
submit your article. Use them to announce a new product,
website, free report, article or anything of interest. You’re
website traffic will increase and your search engine rank will
increase because of all the links back to your website. You’ll be
surprised by how many people will click on a link in your article
to go to your website.

Co-Registration
Establish co-registration or co-marketing agreements with other
businesses that complement yours or who serve the same
target market. By joining together, you can share marketing
costs and benefit from each others’ reputation and traffic. This
is often accomplished through multiple ‘opt-in’ options when
requesting more information about a topic on either of your
websites.

Audio
Add audio to your website to round out your presentation. An
audio message from you or a recorded testimonial makes more
points than visuals alone.

Video

Add video to your website to make it come alive. Video and
Audio messages are 68% more effective than audio alone.
Press Release

Press releases are designed to inform news media of events
concerning your company that the public might consider
newsworthy. A press release is a standard form of
communication with the media.



To improve the changes that your story will interest journalist
enough t publish it, you must make the journalist’s job easier by
presenting your press release in an appealing format and style.

Make your products or services newsworthy; send out a press
release and tell the media about it. You’ll gain free public
exposure and the kind of credibility no advertising can buy.
Online Press Release services make it possible to send out a
press release to every media contact world wide and to be
listed in all of the major search engine “News” pages. The links
to these search engines alone can increase your search engine
listing for your entire website, not to mention all of the exposure
to the media.

OnLine Advertising

Advertising increases your visibility online and creates links to
your website. You can buy advertising on other websites,
search engines, directories, ezines, email, banners, pop-ups,
and even blogs. One shot advertisements are rarely noticed
and deliver little or no results. Plan on running a consistent
series of ads; if possible, a minimum of 3.

PPC Ads
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) generates targeted exposure for your site,
product and services. You are expanding your reach with
contextual advertising. You are paying for exposure on surfers
search results pages, based on keywords sponsorship.
Businesses can bid on specific keywords or phrases that their
search engine listings appear only when a searcher conducts a
particular query.



If the searcher clicks on a particular listing, the business pays
the amount the bid for the click, and the results is a targeted
lead. Targeted lead is the key.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads are used to market your product on a
large scale, using search engines and other websites. You are
charged a fee every time someone clicks on your ad that is
displayed for your specific keyword phrase. The fee is
determined by how much you bid on that keyword phrase to be
displayed. One ad for a popular keyword phrase can cost
hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month. The search
engine or website that displays the ad depends on which pay
per click (PPC) search engine from whom you purchased it.
Usually, one PPC search engine displays ads on many other
websites. Google AdWords are not only displayed on Google
world wide; they are also displayed on Amazon.com, AOL,
CompuServe, Earthlink, AskJeeves, Shopping.com, AT&T
Worldnet, About.com, Lycos, The New York Times, InfoSpace,
HGTV.com, Foodnetwork.com, business.com, and more.
Paid and Free Inclusion Directories

Seek out online directories of businesses (online yellow pages)
and others related to your business, and make sure you are
listed in them as well. Many directory listings are free, and
others are inexpensive. A listing on the largest online directory,
DMOZ.com, is a must. It supplies information to all of the
search engines and it’s free.

Ezine Ads
Ezines with a large number of subscribers in your targeted
audience can be used to deliver a focused message. Your ad
will be placed in one of three places: Top placement, Middle
placement, or Bottom placement. Top placement delivers the
best results and, likewise, costs the most. Ezine ads are
relatively inexpensive compared to PPC ads and Banner ads.
The cost is usually a flat fee for one or more ezine mail-outs.


Solo Email Ads

Some list owners (who have ezines) offer to send out an email,
on behalf of you, to their list. The email comes from the list
owner, but it contains your email message. This ad allows you
to leverage the relationship that the list owner has with their
subscribers. Like the ezine ad, you can pick an ezine that
serves your target audience and deliver a focused message.
The cost is usually a flat fee for one or more emails that are
sent. This method of sending email to your target audience
gets a much higher response rate than purchasing a list,
sending bulk email, or SPAM.
Banner Ads
Banner ads are small advertisements that are placed on a web
site. Companies usually develop their banner ads, find sites for
placement, and then either purchase or trade banner space.

Banner Ad’s can be used to increase exposure, generate
leads, increase traffic, or generate sales. The basic type of
banners supported by all of the ad distribution networks are:
standard image banners; HTML banners; interactive HTML
banners; and Flash banners. The cost of a banner ad is either
a flat fee for a period of time (like a month) or per impression
(when the ad is displayed) or per click (when the ad is clicked).
The banner ads can be purchased directly from the website or
through a third party who works with a larger network of
websites.

Sponsorship Ads

Text ads with a link to your website look more like information
on a page and less like an advertisement. You purchase one
sponsorship ad for one page or feature of a website. The cost
is usually a flat fee for a period of time (like a month). These
ads often get a higher response rate than a banner ad which
can cost more.



Blog Ad’s

Owners of blogs with a large readership are now selling ads
which are placed within the blog. The ads often look like news
or an announcement about a new product or service. The goal
of the ad is to get readers to your website. This is a very new
form of advertising, and could become as big as email
marketing is today.
Forums & Newsgroups
Become involved in the “online community” that consists of
your target market. Participate regularly in forums, newsgroups,
and mailing lists, and add your expertise to the pool of
knowledge. Your involvement boosts your credibility as a
source of information and shows potential customers that
you’re not just in it for the money.
Niche Market

A unique niche for your product is critical. Find a new niche and
fill it, or fill a successful niche better than anyone else.

Free Information

Most of the people on the Internet are looking for information.
By offering free, valuable, and helpful information on a subject
related to your business, you enhance your reputation and
encourage people to visit your website, buy your product, or
contact you. Your offer of free information can be the beginning
of a profitable customer relationship.

Use the free information offer on your website or in your online
ads to generate leads, increase sales, or build your opt-in list.



Directory of Related Information

Compile a list or directory of related useful information that your
website visitors can use to find more information on your area
of expertise or topic. Use this on your Topic, Review, or
Membership website to gain respect, visibility, and search
engine placement.

Tele-Class or Tele-seminar
Hold an informative tele-class or tele-seminar on your area of
expertise using teleconference technology. Tele-classes give
you a chance to establish a bond with dozens or hundreds of
people all at once, and to show them how your experience can
help them. They can be free and used to generate leads, or
you can charge a fee to attend, just like an in-person seminar.
Free Sample

Make free excerpts from an ebook, article, or newsletter you’ve
published available to download, or post them on relevant
newsgroups, forum, and information sites. If you’re publishing
good information, it will lead to subscribers and customers. Add
information about your products or services at the end of the
sample to tell the reader where to buy the full version or more
of what you have to offer.

Free Trial / Demo

If you’re selling software, offer a free trial or demo version to
show prospective customers how the software works. If you’re
in a service business, offer to show how you work by
performing a partial service.



Contests

Holding a contest brings visitors to your website, adds visibility
to your name, promotes you or your product, and overall, gets
a great response.
Survey

Conduct a survey on a topic related to your business. Post the
survey on forums, discussion groups, newsgroups, email and
even PPC Ads. Then publish the results when you’re done.
Performing surveys is a way to increase traffic to your site.
People want to fill out the survey and see the results. The
survey topic matter must be interesting. If you want to draw a
very targeted audience, pick a topic to that market only.
Special Events

Grand opening, pre-opening, launch, pre-launch, and seasonal
events (even on your website) all help to create and maintain
an atmosphere of excitement and fun around your business.
Schedule a pre-launch tele-class to demonstrate or announce
your new product, and plan special events every couple of
months to rekindle customer interest.
Relationship

People buy from people they know, like, and trust. Do
everything you can to make each online transaction feel as
human as possible. Use a natural conversational and
personable language in your auto-responder email to confirm a
purchase. Respond to people’s questions and problems with a
personal touch and show genuine interest. Follow up to ensure
full satisfaction (again, even an auto-responder email should
feel as though it was a personal email from you).



Refer a Friend

Friends telling friends, is a tried-and-true method of expanding
your list or customer base. Email is an easy way to spread the
word. Another method is to give your website visitors the ability
to refer a friend to an article, report, or other page on your
website.

Opt-In List

Permission marketing is an extremely important tactic of
Internet marketing. Permission marketing can be a valuable to
any marketing campaign. Permission marketing is asking your
target audience and site visitors for the authority to perform a
specific task - their permission to send them something –
email.

Build an email list from direct opt-ins and product orders for
future use. Email is the surest way to inform people about your
business, and your existing customers are your best source of

future sales and referrals. Keep building your list and stay in
touch with them regularly.

Viral Information
Any type of information that is “self-perpetuating”, compelling
people to share it with others via email or word-of-mouth, so
that it spreads through a community like a virus – but a good
one. The information can be on your website or in a free
product that links back to your website.

Viral marketing, which is often referred to as “word-of-mouth”
marketing, is a low-cost very highly effective way to market
your business and services.
Viral marketing is one of your most powerful online marketing
tactics, using the power of associations to spread the word.



Strategies & Tactics Matrix

This matrix shows you which Tactics go with which Strategies.
To use this matrix: Pick one and only one Strategy. Then pick
the appropriate Tactics under that Strategy. You don’t need to
use all of the Tactics.

Implement your Tactics and then launch your Marketing
Campaign.
You can always create a new campaign using a different
Strategy and repeat the process.


Visionary Internet Strategies Guide

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