Promoting Yourself and Your Business on the Web
By Janean Nusz
Across the nation, and even globally, people are becoming more and more influenced by the Internet. According to a recent study by Nielson-Netratings and MORI Research, abound 60% of decision-makers said that online was the best way for advertisers to reach them. Fewer than 40% of those surveyed stated TV or radio as the best way to be reached by advertisers. Nearly half of those surveyed also said that the Net was influential when making purchases or obtaining services for their home or business.
In just a few short years, the Internet has developed into one of the best ways to promote yourself and your business. It is a must to have a digital presence on the Web today if you want to be able to stand out among your competitors. Chances are, most of your competitors probably already know the buying power that the Net provides, and have a web presence of their own.
WEBSITES
Websites are a great way to promote yourself, your business and your services or products online. In fact, websites are the #1 way to promote yourself online. With a website, you can offer an ever-changing selection of information to your visitors, and provide yourself with a digital home from which to communicate to your prospective clients.
The first thing to remember when making or purchasing a website is that it must ALWAYS be professional. To show your business to its best advantage on the web, you must have your own domain name, and a professional looking website that reflects the character of your venture.
For example, you’d want to refer your customers to www.JoesBusiness.com as your URL (Uniform Resource Locator – the address of your website on the Net) not http://www.freewebhosting.com/business/joesbusiness/index.html. The first URL, a purchased domain name, gives the impression of professionalism. Even if you are a small company with two or three employees, or are managing a business on your own, the professionalism implied by your own domain name will go a long way when reaching prospective buyers on the Net.
After you get your domain name, the next step is to have a professional looking website designed. Your best bet is to hire a website designer, as they’ll know the best way to lay out your site and the optimal code to put into your site to get it successfully listed in the search engines. A good website designer should at least know CSS, HTML and be able to provide you with good quality graphics. A knowledge of PHP and JavaScript is also necessary if you plan to have any interactive components on your website. As with the domain name, when hiring a designer, don’t necessarily settle for the most inexpensive solution – cheaper is not better in this instance.
Of course, there are quite a few paid services out there that supply free templates, and then charge a monthly fee for hosting your site. This might be a viable option if you have a general knowledge of computers and the Web and don't mind doing your own site updates.
ONLINE ADs
If you can’t afford a website, then an online ad is the next best way to get yourself recognized online. Most online ads are used to point to a website for reference.
Ads come in a variety of formats, from small 120 x 120 pixel ads listed on sidebars of websites, to impressive interactive banner ads appearing on major websites (such as Yahoo! Mail) with lots of exposure. Most online ads contain graphics, but you can also purchase text ad space on major websites, much like you would a newspaper advertisement. Sites like Google offer text ads as search results that appear to visitors using their search engines.
When advertising online, prices vary greatly. Not only must you get the ad designed by a good designer, but you’ll also usually have to pay to have it placed on a high-traffic website for exposure.
If you’re strapped for cash, the best thing to do would be to have a digital logo designed. Your logo could then be used in place of an online ad in most cases. The logo could then do double-duty in your printed advertising, also.
When having an ad or a logo designed, it is important to remember that the ad copy is just as important as the visual representation. You’ll need both; great ad copy and eye-catching visuals, to get results online. Always choose an ad that can deliver both!
POWER EMAIL
Don’t underestimate the power of email when promoting yourself online! Email can be used as an effective marketing tool. With email, you can quickly, and inexpensively, notify your customers of upcoming sales, specials and even deliver monthly newsletters to keep them up-to-date.
The first thing you’ll need to do when developing an email marketing campaign is to get the email addresses of your customers. This is easily done by providing a sign-up page on your website, or offering the opportunity to opt in when they’re at your place of business.
Once you’ve established a list of customer email addresses, you can start sending out notices and newsletters. If you’re planning to impress your customers with color newsletters loaded with impressive graphics and live links, you’ll need to hire a designer or rent a service, otherwise stick to plain text messages.
Regardless of whether you plan to use graphics or plain text, always make sure your newsletter is written to convey professionalism and is delivered only to those customers who have requested it. Otherwise, you could be hurting your business image more than you’re helping it!
Whether your “presence” on the Net is a website, a small text ad, a graphic or banner ad, or an email newsletter, it will be worth your time and money to make sure you are represented to one of the fastest growing demographics for advertising. Internet usage in the US alone has grown by 115% since 2000, and the trend continues. In fact, many people would rather surf the Net than watch TV! With exposure like that, you can’t afford not to have a web presence.
(Copyright 2007. No part of this article may be used, distributed or reproduced without the author's consent.)