Thursday, March 15, 2007

Home Biz How-To: Marketing Yourself Online

Marketing Yourself Online

Are you marketing yourself online? You may be marketing your business online but it is also important to market yourself, as people typically buy from people they like and trust. Of course when they are at their computer surfing the internet they cannot see you or talk to you in person. They must rely on the information that you give about yourself at your website. This means that it is important to build a reputation for integrity when doing business online. In a way marketing online is all about building your reputation as an expert in your field. This type of credibility can be built by posting valuable information on forums, in articles, and on your website.

Personal Website - A well designed personal web site is very important and is designed to sell you first and your service, product, or company second. The site will tell your story and convey your personality to visitors via a biography page (see my site www.scentedcandleclub.com/bio.html). The whole site should convey your values, integrity, and commitment to the reader. It is also a good idea to include a picture, video or audio as this lends credibility and shows them you are a real person. To capture information from your site visitors consider having a opt-in form where the visitor can fill out their contact information to get a free report or sign up for a newsletter. This then allows you to follow up with visitors via an Auto-responder such as www.Aweber.com.

Email Signature - Have you noticed those lines below the senders name at the end of an email? Many business emails will give the senders title, company name, and contact numbers. This is called an auto-signature and can be set up easily in most email programs to automatically place this text at the bottom of the email. To promote your website via email use an Auto-signature with a catchy business tag line and website link. Avoid any hype about your product or service in your signature as this won't attract readers to click! Instead use a simple tag line that creates interest and highlights one of the benefits of visiting your site.

Publishing Articles - Many publishers of online and offline newsletters are looking for quality articles about topics that will appeal to and be of value to their readers. The most common places for publishers to find free articles are online article directories and these sites are springing up all over the internet! (find them in the search engines using keywords "article directory"). By writing some information packed articles that relate to your business and posting in these directories your articles will be run in other e-zines or placed on other websites. When you post an article in a directory it is very important that you also place a resource box at the end of the article that tells readers about you and your business and has a link back to your website (take a look at mine at end of this article). Having these links back to your website will aid you in getting your site better search engine rankings and allow readers who enjoy your article to seek out more information that you have written.

Posting in Newsgroups and Forums - There are many online groups where people come to discuss their hobbies, business, health, and pets with other like minded individuals. Find a group that relates to your business where they let you place a signature and link to your website at the end of your posts (same as you would at the end of an email). Sit back and observe the group dynamic and then begin to post valuable replies to questions, articles, or questions that add to the discussion. Over time people in the group will begin to notice your contribution and will be interested enough in your that they will click on your signature link and visit your site!

About Author:
Danielle Chonody a successful home business owner and entrepreneur. Her FREE business-building ezine provides marketing, management and motivational tips for small business owners and business opportunity seekers. Sign up for your copy at http://www.homebizhow-to.com and receive her FREE special report "25 Low Cost Marketing Ideas to Explode your Business".

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