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When most people think of Internet marketing, they think solely of websites. Are they right or wrong? Well both. While websites are a key component of Internet marketing and in many cases are the only Internet marketing tool businesses use, they are not the "be all, end all". They are not required for Internet marketing. However, I do highly recommend them as they are best suited to sit at the core of your Internet marketing plan, the hub so to speak, but thatÕs a topic for another conversation.
So here are 7 killer Internet marketing tools that you can implement on a shoestring budget without having to have a website of your own:
1. Email Marketing
When properly implemented, there probably isnÕt a quicker, better, and less expensive way to stay in front of your prospects and clients than to leverage the power of email. You can literally touch an unlimited amount of prospects and clients with a single click Š howÕs that for power?!
2. Blogs
Blogging is a great tool when you would like to step it up a notch and stay in constant contact with your prospects and clients. Some ideas on how to use it might be to post whatÕs new with you or your business, post informative content as a value-add to your clients, or hold and interactive forum with your clients geared towards understanding how to better serve them.
There are a handful of free or low cost blog hosts out there that really make this process simple (e.g. Blogger and TypePad).
3. Article Marketing
This is a phenomenal approach to bringing notoriety, interest and ultimately leads for many types of businesses. It can be used as a major differentiator or value-add on why someone should buy from you instead of your competitors. Whether your clients are local, regional, national or global -- articles are portable and usable in all situations -- that's part of their charm.
4. eZines
Much like blogs and article marketing, eZines are great way to stay in touch with your prospects on a more scheduled basis. Additionally, they are probably the forerunner in helping you develop a list of prospects to market and sell your wares.
5. Affiliate Programs
Get others promoting and selling for you. This tool can become the equivalent of having both a full blown marketing and sales staff that gets paid on performance. They donÕt promote and directly lead to a sale for you, they donÕt get paid. For the do-it-yourselfers, there are plenty of tools out there to help you set up this type of program. For everyone else, there are excellent service providers out there who can coordinate and manage this process for you (e.g. Clickbank and Commission Junction).
6. Viral Marketing
Again, a great approach for getting others to promote and help create a buzz about you, your business, your products and/or your services. The best, most genuine way to get this started is by creating raving fans out of your existing clients and then helping them help you spread the word.
7. Public Relations
If I tell you IÕm the best at what I do, youÕll take it with a grain of salt. Maybe youÕll believe me, maybe you wonÕt. However, people tend to believe what they read. So if a respected publication tells you that IÕm the best at what I do, that usually holds more weight and adds instant credibility to me.
Spend some effort here. Become a resource for the press. You help them and they can significantly help you.
I highly recommend you spend some time with these. Explore how you can implement one, someFree Articles, or all of these Internet marketing tools to help explode your business.
© 2005 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer", is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' Š a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.
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