So you would like to run an Online Business or already do but … 5

Yesterday I talked about affiliate programs as a way to start-up your online business. Now I want to focus on building customer relationships. In the first blog of this series of 10, I mentioned the importance of list building and the need to get people to visit your web site or sales page but I did not really offer any suggestions on how to get them there.

These next few blogs will concentrate on recognised ways of driving customers to you web site. This can be done online as well as offline. The decision on which is best for you lies in the niche your business occupies, where most of your prospective customers are located and the type of product or service you offer.

Let us consider a few offline methods. Certainly the tactic of placing short advertisements that include your web site address (known as a URL or universal resource locator) in relevant newspapers and magazines has worked well for some. Another idea is the use of automobile bumper stickers or the magnetic equivalent placed on the side of your automobile. What you need is a catchy slogan that summarises your offering plus your URL. And do not forget the obvious one as part of your voice mail system – be sure to include your URL with your message.

Now I have to mention the first important online method – blogging. Blogging has moved on a great deal since a man with a mission (and it usually was a man who was often a techie) told the world what was on his mind. Life changed enormously with the arrival of search engines such as Yahoo and Google who started to rank key words and phrases. And with the possibility of linking these keywords or phrases back to your web site this was manor from heaven. When you enter a search word or phrase into a search engine it displays organic links and content on the main left side of the screen and sponsored (paid for) links on the top and right hand side of the screen. Through blogging and a good web page your aim is to be positioned on page 1 of the organic links in your chosen niche. It is hard work but it can be done without cost other than time.

And if you write good or useful material then people will subscribe to your list assuming that you have a subscription form on your page. Once people have subscribed then you need to maintain their interest with interesting articles or offers on a periodic basis. In this way you are building a relationship with them.

Following my practice of always giving an example of what I am talking about I offer two blog URLs.

Example 1 – visit http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/ this blog offers a serious commentary on topical issues and is excellent. Note the consistency of the blogs over time.

Example 2 – visit http://www.4internetmarketingreviews.com/ this blog is one of my early attempts to start blogging.

Note the inconsistency. At the time of writing this email the last posting to my blog was in April 2008. However, I did a search on 2nd October 2008 using the phrase “doing internet marketing” and I was positioned top of the 5th page on organic links to my surprise. Of course I will be remedying this by posting more blogs henceforth.

So you would like to run an Online Business or already do but … 6