An Introduction
We started a series of workshops at the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce office last November and they will be completed next month. They explain how Internet marketing and all the various pieces fit together. We thought it would be nice to share these with a wider audience. This entry, as well as subsequent entries, will be brief and to the point. As we go along we will be including links to video and/or articles that will explain more in depth portions of the topic being discussed.
How the pieces fit together
Imagine the pieces of the Internet as a series 
of gears and cogs in a complex and constantly turning engine. Now imagine that the largest, most powerful gear in the engine is your website.
What do we find there?
Content:
Now, as we know, Content is king. It's the information you provide that tells your customer how your product or service helps them solve a problem or fulfill a need. Content is where you sell yourself to the public. Content is your message. It can be the written word, it can be pictures or graphics, it can be a video. Your content needs to relate to your customer.
Basically it's pretty simple...if your product/service doesn't solve a problem or fulfill a need then you don't have a sale. Every sale has to solve a problem or fill a need for the customer, other wise it's just conversation.
No matter how important your product/service may be, unless all the gears (parts of your Internet presence) mesh together and lead to your website, none of this will work. Unless your content can help a customer it's pretty much meaningless.
One thing you have to be sure to do on your website...ask for the sale! You have to ask for peoples business in some form or fashion. The prospect remains a prospect until you get their business. And you don't get their business unless you ask for it. Otherwise...you're just have a nice conversation. You need to include a specific call to action: fill out a form, make a phone call, comment on a blog entry, like us on FaceBook, buy our product/service. In our case we ask that you call us or
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us. Keep it simple, straight to the point and easy to do.
Next, you want to grab up as much "turf" on the Internet as you can...but be sure you put relevant content on that turf. You see, the more space you occupy the better the chance your customer will find you, look at you, like you, trust and then buy from you.
And the places "turf" where that content resides:
Blogs
Blogs are where you get to show off your expertise, where you show your customer that you’re the “Subject Matter Expert”. This is where you can show your customer why it was a good thing they stopped over to your site. There is much you can provide; tips on how to use your product solves certain problems is just one of many topics you can provide to fill the pages of your blog. You can engage your customer and develop a relationship with them. Blogging sites include: Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, Technorati to name a few.. There are more than 250 million bloggers posting on-line regularly today. What that means is there is a lot of competition and clutter you have to get through in order for your customer to find you. So, there is much more to blogging then simply writing a post. More on that in later posts.
Social Media
Where you create and build relationships. Some sites provide both individual and business account setup, some don't. Some are strictly text only, others allow for a mish-mash of content. It's best to get to know the personality of each site first by listening to the conversation before jumping in with both feet.
Popular Social Media Sites include:
Newsletters
Newsletters are where you tell your customers about new and exciting things happening with your company or you provide little tidbits on how to use your product or services, or inform them of the latest and greatest you have to offer. Popular newsletter sites include: Vertical Response, Constant Contact, and Mail Chimp. Most are relatively easy to use and provide most of the analytics you would use to measure the success of each newsletter. Costs vary, but it's usually pennies per email address.
Articles and PR Releases
• Another great way to let people know that you’re relevant and continue to add value to your offerings.
• Google has new restrictions on re-using content
Some article sites include:
Video
• The next best thing to a personal meeting.
• If a picture is worth a thousand words,
• Then video is far more valuable than static text on a web page.
• Why tell when you can show?
Popular Video hosting sites:
SEO
SEO is not some magical thing where someone waves their wand and poof, you're on page one. Oh, if only it were that simple. It can be very challenging trying to find the precise term or phrase that best describes your business and that people use when searching for you.
- Search engine optimization helps your website rank higher using the content you've been creating and the "keywords" or phrases that your audience uses when searching for you or your product/service. Targeted Keywords your audience will use to find you.
- SEO helps to create relevant backlinks to your site from other relevant websites, blogs, articles, etc. It shows Google how popular you are.
- But it takes more than keywords to reach page one ranking. It takes a lot of hard work, smart thinking, and in some case, speed.
SEM/PPC
Search Engine Marketing seeks to raise you in the ranks through paid advertisements and strategic locations on the Internet. Several ways of accomplishing these tasks are:
- Pay-Per-Click is advertising that helps your audience find you quicker. PPC helps you control your destiny in an internet crowded with competition. You can control how much you spend, you can target your audience and you can change direction in a heartbeat.
- Article submissions as seen previously in this post.
- SEM takes into account all the tools we have been discussing and will drill into in future posts.
As you can see there is much to confuse those new to the Internet. You know you have to use it, but how to use the various pieces, when to use them, will they fit my business? These are just some of the questions we will attempt to answer in this blog.
These workshops are available to company's and individuals. We have various programs available for you to consider Just call us at 815-236-9342 or email us at
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.
Next up: How does your customer or prospect see you? How to begin to develop your message.
A New Power Hits Washington
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