Spending Money on Internet Marketing

BY Scott F. Geld

Planning your marketing budget on Internet is a quite tough question to answer, as there is no end to spill-out your mega bucks on Internet marketing! But at the same time, with careful analysis and planning, one can also save a lot by choosing the right options and channels. You can build, promote and make money from your website with minimal costs. Knowledge is the key to make money, save money, and being success in the Internet business. The main aim - and challenge too ~ of a Internet marketing campaign is to divert traffic to your website and converting browsers into buyers. There are eight basic concepts of Internet marketing, which are listed below:

Search Engines

Most people search Internet by getting started through Search Engines. Though submitting your website to search engines is free and can be done by yourself, it can consume your valuable time and energy. In addition, all major search engines today have spiders which will be able to find your site on their own. It is unlikely that submitted sites have any better chance of being included in a particular search engine's results.

Alternatively, you can hire professional companies to do the task for you, which would focus on web positioning rather than just inclusion. Or you can simply bypass all that risk and purchase advertising on sites in your category that are already ranked well by the search engines (my recommendation).

Linking Strategies

You should be able to link your website to as many websites as possible. Linking provides a great channel for diverting traffic to your website. You should have good content on your website so that others find it useful to link to your website and vice-versa.

Viral Strategies

It is the important strategies that encourage others to carry your marketing message via e-mail, using their own resources and network of relationships. Viral marketing is quite easy to understand. You must be getting email in your inbox, which have been forwarded to you by your friends, and you then forward it to your other friends. This forms a chain and is part of viral strategies. You can also provide quality articles to be published on different websites with your link at the end, which could in turn divert traffic to your website.

Public Relations

Public relations to get press coverage are a kind of viral strategy. It is all about press coverage. You can get your press releases published by several print and internet publications, which in turn would boost traffic towards your website. While there are free news release services, expect to pay several hundred dollars to get your news release sent to hundreds of subscribing periodicals.

Traditional Media

Though the traditional media is considered by some to cover only geographically concentrated potential buyers, it is still a valuable means of advertising your business locally. You can place an ad in a targeted publication with a teaser copy, and pointing readers to your URL or an auto- responder email address for more information.

E-mail Publishing

If you are smart then you won't even think of developing a business website without getting it engaged to an e-mail publication. The website is the shy partner who passively waits for people to reach him. To the contrary, the email publication is the bold and active partner who goes out to people and invites them to meet her groom. Together they make a great couple!

Networking

On the Internet, networking is done chiefly through e-mail discussion lists and news groups. Search out the discussion lists and newsgroups in your industry and take an active part. This will result in increase of traffic, along with recommendations and referrals by list members to their other friends who may be in need of your products or services.

Paid Advertising

If you are not on a budget and want greater exposure, you may opt for different types of paid advertising options available in the market. Though you can yourself do the above listed forms of advertising relatively inexpensively, but if you are serious about expanding your business exposure then it's pragmatic to consider the following forms of paid advertising:

1. Banner ads
2. Paid Listings in Portal Sites
3. Sponsorships
4. Pay-per-Click Links
5. Pay-per-Sale Advertising
6. Paid ads in targeted e-mail newsletters
7. Opt-in E-mail Advertising

There are other forms of paid advertising also coming up in the market by the day so look out for others options as well by keeping abreast with new horizons in Internet marketing.

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Scott F. Geld is the Director of Marketing for Marketing Blaster, Inc., an Internet firm specializing in providing targeted traffic and leads. For more information, please visit http://www.MarketingBlaster.com

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