4 Steps To Internet Marketing

I finally sat down to start writing the book, A Simple Guide To Basic Internet Marketing, and this is what I came up with.

I always start with an outline. I wanted to organize all of the information that I have swirling around in my head. I figured I should review what some others have written about it. I was interested in one book in particular that I remember teaching me a lot.

As I read through it, I realized that they had a lot of great ideas, facts that are true, and pearls of wisdom, but it was like walking through a paintball war zone. Things were flying at me from all directions. There was no order or organization to it.

The problem is that there are general background concepts about marketing and there are tactics specific to the Internet. It’s difficult to explain concepts, strategies, and tactics at the same time. You should know phrases like “Unique selling proposition”, “Target market demographics”, “Conversions”, and “Relationship Marketing”. You will hear them in any marketing book. I want to focus on Internet Marketing tactics. I need to explain concepts first so that the tactics make sense.

Here is the core of how to market specifically on the Internet. I see 4 steps. Every business is different and there are many variations, but the “straight down the middle”, step by step process, is linear and easy to follow. I think this is the basic way that most people who are selling a product or a service will be successful.

Yes, I really used this photo to illustrate 4 steps

Here are the four basic steps to Internet Marketing:

1. Get a web site. It’s the center of the universe. All roads lead back to your web site. Without a web site, there’s no foundation to build everything else on.

2. Get people to read your site. SEO, social media, advertising are all ways to get traffic to your site. Targeting specific people that meet your target market is part of this effort. Getting people in the front door is what this is about.

3. Get people subscribed to a mailing list. Use a mailing list management service to allow your readers to subscribe and manage themselves.

4. Sell to the mailing list. Publish a newsletter. In that newsletter, you should offer valuable content and then sell your products.

If you follow these steps, you will understand the basics of Internet marketing. You will be selling stuff.

If you know how to do each of these steps, you don’t need to buy the book. If you need help and advice, explained in a simple, easy to understand way, then the book will be really helpful.