Getting Started Tutorial - Step 6: Drive Business To Your Door By Marketing & Networking

1. Articles. Article marketing is an excellent way to not only drive traffic to your website but to establish credibility as an expert and to generate publicity. Article marketing online involves writing articles and posting them on your website for visitors to read and posting them on the available article marketing websites. http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/freebies/article_distribute.htm offers a list of some potential article sites and you can even post articles here at Internet Based Moms. One important thing to include in every article you post on another website is a link back to your website.

Articles can also be written for relevant publications. If you own and operate a business that dropships camping and outdoor equipment, you can write an article for a camping magazine or your local outdoor club. Again, always include your website in your article bio.

2. Advertising. Advertising can take many forms. You can advertise with banner ads, purchase ad space on a relevant businesses website or ezine, trade advertising space, and even take part in Google’s pay per click program. The key with advertising of any kind is to start small and track your results. You may find that a particular ad generates tons of traffic to your website but no conversions or sales and another ad generates few click throughs but results in a sale almost every single time.

3. Forums. There is a forum dedicated to just about every topic under the sun. If you love tropical fish, there are online forums for people to discuss tropical fish. If you love organizing your home, there are forums for that too. Find a few forums that are relevant to your business, visit them, read the registration rules and a few posts. If it feels like a positive group and you’re allowed to post your website in your signature when you register, go ahead and register.

To jumpstart this step, join us on our forums.

4. Offline marketing can be just as profitable. Depending on your business, posting flyers around town or leaving brochures in relevant places can be a huge business driver. Additionally, we recommend getting involved in your community. Do you have a small business association? Is there a free university of community education program where you can teach a class? This type of marketing tends to breed lifelong customers and generates many profitable partnerships.

We’ve only scratched the surface of the many marketing tools available to the home based business owner.  Networking and building a business does take time but it does pay off.