Unfortunately, although the definition is simple, the tasks and actions needed to create the marketing strategy and carry it out are not always so simple. It is for this very reason that the internet is littered with web sites that are rarely visited even though they were beautifully designed and possibly quite expensive.

In fact, the sad reality is that the days of throwing up a new web site and being bombarded with visitors (and sales) is gone for good. (Did it ever really exist?) These days, if you want visitors, you must actively market your site.

There are many methods you can utilize to market your site on the internet. Consider the following popular options.

• Search engine optimization
• Pay-per-click and Adsense campaigns
• Creating an online “brand” for yourself or your business
• Social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Ning and other social networking sites)
• Multimedia (online video, podcasts, photos)
• Article writing
• Blogging
• Webinars, teleseminars and teleclasses

All of the online marketing strategies listed above can be quite effective for marketing your business and web site online. In the excitement of starting their business, however, many business owners make the mistake of jumping in and tackling all of these methods at once. It doesn’t take long for their marketing efforts to become a rat’s nest of confusion and chaos. Ultimately, they spend a lot of time and money on marketing only to burn out and give up thinking that they’ve done nothing more than waste their resources.

A strategic internet marketing plan can prevent such disillusionment. Strategic internet marketing involves investing time up front to identify your target market, identify your ideal clients, and then creating a plan for reaching out to that market and those clients in ways that will speak to them. Strategic internet marketing is not about throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks — it’s about being focused. It’s about knowing your market and becoming a leader in your market. It’s about communicating clearly and effectively. It’s also about being efficient, coordinating your efforts and not wasting your marketing dollars or resources in areas that will not give you an acceptable return on your investment.

The key component of strategic internet marketing is actually the plan. As I mentioned earlier, however, creating the plan is tougher than many people realize. It requires thought. It requires researching your market. It requires spending time doing “non-active” tasks that many people find incredibly boring and/or difficult and just don’t want to do. In spite of the great effort needed to develop your marketing plan, if you do take the time to create your plan beforehand, you will find it far easier to execute your marketing tasks and will be much more pleased with the results than the person who give little forethought to marketing and tries everything at once.

Remember, the “secret” equation is really quite simple.
Strategic internet marketing = marketing your business online WITH A PLAN.
Or, as the old saying goes, “Plan your work, and work your plan.”

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