Online marketing may sound complicated and confusing – especially if you’re not really a technical person.
The good news is – you don’t have to be a technical person, you just need to be a people person.
Regardless whether your marketing strategy involves the Internet, face-to-face, in a magazine or television you are marketing to people, so all the same marketing principles apply:
Who are your customers?
Where are your customers?
What do your customers want?
How do your customers like to purchase?
When do your customers like to purchase?
Why do your customers purchase the things they do at the times they do?
Knowing the answers to these questions will let you know the combination of marketing tools you need to effectively reach your target market.
Let’s take a look at some of the options in online marketing by examining those you can do for no cash outlay – just a regular commitment of your time.
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, Instagram) – All are free to join and participate in. Don’t forget to not only set up your account, but also explore the sites of other users to see if there are any individuals or groups who share similar interests to yours.
Dedicate a little bit of time each day to update your pages and perhaps even more importantly, comment on the pages and profiles of other people. Begin a conversation and build a relationship that will allow you to share your knowledge, interest and passion for clean, healthy living, good health and Miessence certified organics. It’s a great, affordable way of expanding your circle of influence.
Blogs – Weblog (blog) services provides by the likes of WordPress and Blogger are free to use when using their provided templates.
There are three real secrets to making blogging work.
The first is to know your audience (who are you writing for and why), the second is to seek out other blogs which share the same interests as yours and actively participate in their conversation. Don’t forget to add these to your blog roll (with your own Miessence Shop, of course!). Once you’ve established a relationship with other blog authors, ask them to add your blog to their roll. Lastly, be prolific. Commit to updating your blog at least three times a week – you have an audience waiting for you, don’t disappoint them!
The advantage of blogging is also threefold - fresh, regular content on the world wide web makes Google’s search engine stand up and take notice, which makes it easier for new audiences to find you. Secondly, the greater your reputation as an interesting blogger, the more opportunity you have to be invited to guest blog on someone else’s site, which means you can reach out to their audience too. Thirdly, blogging hones your skill as a writer and provides the opportunity for you to turn your post into an article or a feature that a newspaper or magazine might wish to publish which further expands your reach.
Chats/Forums – If you don’t have the time to commit to regularly blogging (which can be time consuming and demanding), then regular input on chat rooms and forums might just be the answer.
Again, the principle is to be friendly, knowledgeable, prolific – just like attending a party or a regular gathering, your aim should be to build relationships with people. Once you’ve established commitment and trust, people are more likely to consider purchasing through you.