SUBMIT 2.0

I love the Internet. I consider myself an early adopter and educate others on how to use the Internet to market their small businesses.

But nothing frustrates me more than small business owners who find themselves spending hours working on their websites, blogs, social networking, article publishing and email newsletters to the exclusion of doing other business-building activities. The Internet is the coolest, most fun of the marketing channels, but it may or may not actually result in sales.

One small business owner I know sends out a monthly email newsletter with six original articles she researches, illustrations and surveys. She slaves over it and loves watching to see how many people open it, how many forward it, etc. I want to know what her sales are. A solo entrepreneur only has so many hours in the day. So by spending time over-doing her newsletter, she is NOT undertaking other valuable activities, like sending out product samples, visiting stores to show her product, phoning to find new distributors. Doing things that actually result in money.

Career coaches frequently hear from their clients that they are “working full time” on their job hunt. But their idea of a job-hunt is spending endless hours cruising the big job sites and boards. The Internet is a terrific job-hunting research tool, but it isn’t really an active search. It is their way of avoiding making real contact with people, networking, telephoning and exploring opportunities.

It isn’t hard to see the small business parallel. When you sell your services for a living,you need to get out of your chair and get active. Internet marketing is passive for the most part….and just one of a number of marketing avenues you need to pursue.

When you are a coach or a therapist, it is unlikely that people will hire you simply on the basis of your website, your blog or your Facebook site. They will want to talk to you, meet you, ask you questions, maybe have a preliminary interview. So be realistic about what you can accomplish with web marketing.

Small business and service marketing might include:

* Networking
* Referrals
* Direct marketing
* Public speaking
* Joint ventures
* Writing
* Public relations
* Advertising
* Conferences/trade shows
* Follow-up strategies

Make sure you are undertaking a number of these marketing methods, not just one. Yes, the Internet is the path of least resistance. It is easy and you can do it from a computer, but don’t confuse it with full-fledged marketing.

Article Source: EzineArticles

Filed under: Internet Marketing