The Cyber Two-Step

By Jim Daniels
Posted Friday, August 27, 2004

Everyone always wants things wrapped up in a neat little package. Although this is impossible when it comes to online marketing, I'm gonna try today.

"The Cyber Two-Step" is dedicated to the literally hundreds on internet newbies who have asked the following question "I'm putting my small business online. I have a very small budget and want to know how I should go about setting up an effective internet presence".

My answer? Simple. Do my version of the "Cyber Two-Step".

Here it is...

STEP ONE - Email

Make email your number one priority and start your email marketing campaign as soon as you have a product or service to offer.

Be sure to use a good email program like Eudora. You can get the freeware version at (http://www.eudora.com) or the Pro Version for around 39 bucks at most software stores. Learn how to use every feature in it, as it will become your best friend in your cyberbusiness. It will let you do things like publish an email newsletter, send targeted email to thousands of prospects and gather and store information on every subject imaginable.

Put your email marketing campaign into action right away by seeking out email newsletters related to what you will be marketing. You'll find resources for locating these at The Direct Email List Source (http://www.copywriter.com/lists/) .

Once you find some of these newsletters, do three things...

1. Subscribe.

2. Write and submit articles.

3. Buy advertising.

This is the just the beginning your "email marketing strategy". It will eventually tie in with your web site but it is important to get started marketing right away, even if you do not have a web site yet. This will help you generate income while your site is being built and launched.

Beware: Along the way, you'll be tempted to try unsolicited bulk email. Don't do it. Use only targeted email marketing and never send email to someone who does not want it.

Once you have your email campaign underway, the next important part of your email marketing strategy is to stay in touch with your customers and prospects by publishing a weekly or monthly newsletter via email. In it, offer free valuable information.

An ezine is an excellent tool in promoting your products and services. Publishing your own ezine is much easier than you may think. I suggest you spend a great deal of your allotted time and effort on this important facet of your marketing campaign and start an ezine right away. Even if your web site is not ready, start an ezine. It will be the perfect vehicle to help launch your site when it is ready. For some ezine publishing resources,read the article at (http://bizweb2000.com/contact.htm)

STEP TWO: The Web

Once you've established your email marketing campaign, you must put up a web site. Not just any old site, but a site with content consisting of at least 80% free information about your area of expertise. The other 20% can be about your products and services.

If you have no idea how to build a web site, either hire someone who does, or train yourself by selecting a program at (http://bizweb2000.com/webmastr.htm) and sitting at your computer until you become a webmaster.

Once you get the hang of webmastering, start building your site. If you're not sure where to start, stop by my home page for some ideas. Notice how the information is presented. If you offer valuable information for free, people will be happy to read about what you are marketing, and many will buy.

Some other integral parts to remember about the step two:

A. If you are serious about your web campaign, get your own domain name, or (www.yourcompany.com). Without your own domain, you have a strike against you from the get-go. Use our search banner at the top of (http://www.bizweb2000.com/freehelp.htm) and find out if the name you want is taken. If not, reserve it right away.

B. Be sure to offer secure transactions at your site. Accepting credit cards is a MUST if you plan to make money in cyberspace. Getting a merchant account for your business is no longer a difficult task. Once you have it, set up a secure order taking system at your site.

C. Promote your web site constantly. People will NOT find it by accident. You must use resources like search engines and links with related sites. To learn how to get strategic links visit (http://www.bizweb2000.com/linking.htm) and try the recommendations there. That stuff works. How do I know? I wrote it, and my site now has over 1000 other sites linked to it.

D. Keep expanding your site. Constantly add new pages. The content can be tips, articles, or any other item of interest to your web site patrons. The point is, just keep getting bigger. The bigger your site is, the more people you can reach, especially through the search engines. Growing your site is a never-ending task. Commit a day a week to it and your business will grow along with it.

Well, that's it for today's lesson. Now that you know the Cyber Two-Step, get out there and start doing it!

And remember, if you have any valuable feedback, our new CyberMarketing InfoBoard is open 24 hours! Come on by and get in the conversation.

About the Author
* Article by Jim Daniels of JDD Publishing. Jim's site has helped 1000's of regular folks profit online. Visit (http://bizweb2000.com) for FREE "how-to" cybermarketing assistance, software, manuals, web services and more. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to their Free, weekly BizWeb E-Gazette: mailto:freegazette@bizweb2000.com