Dare To Be Different: Competitive Internet Marketing Advice
Ros Bott
July 15, 2009
If you are considering, or are already running an internet business, it is very important that you realise how competitive it is, especially if you are working within the money-making industry. You need to make sure you have some kind of competitive edge, whatever your niche. Driving visitors to your website and getting them to buy is not as easy as it sounds and in order to get ahead in your market you need to get a little bit creative and different. Here is some internet marketing advice that will help you get ahead of the rest.
1. Think about the niche your internet business is in. Is there anything appropriate that you could add to your website or blog to make it more interesting or interactive? With today's technology, you do not have to be a computer expert to make your site appealing to your visitors.
For example, if your niche is in mortgages or real estate you could add a mortgage calculator to help your visitors work out what they can afford. This kind of interactive tool is very popular and will make sure your visitors stay interested in your site.
If you have a sports website, perhaps you could include a live update of current sporting events, or perhaps a well-known guest writer to add the occasional article.
The idea is to try to be different from your competitors and give your visitors something new and exciting that will catch their attention.
2 While social networking has become very popular with internet marketers, there are thousands of people all using Facebook and MySpace, so you are going to be in heavy competition unless you are in an unusual niche area. However, there are many smaller social network websites that may be more specific to your niche.
For example, I have a website offering genealogical services and resources. I recently discovered that there is a new genealogy networking site that runs in a very similar way to Twitter. This means that everyone on this website will be interested in ancestry, so it's much easier to market.
Spend some time searching for networking sites in your own niche as you will then have a much more targeted market.
3. Think of as many different ideas as you can to get people to subscribe to your mailing list. Don't just offer a free e-book or report for signing up to your newsletter; this is what everyone does. What else could you offer that is a bit different? For example, one my life coaching website I offer a free half hour email coaching session for people who join up. What skills or services do you offer that you could add as a free incentive for your visitors?
The internet marketing advice I have outlined here is to try and get you thinking about how to get creative in small ways and get ahead of the competition. It's not necessary to spend a fortune, but you do need to be constantly thinking about and developing new ideas so that your internet business doesn't go stale.
1. Think about the niche your internet business is in. Is there anything appropriate that you could add to your website or blog to make it more interesting or interactive? With today's technology, you do not have to be a computer expert to make your site appealing to your visitors.
For example, if your niche is in mortgages or real estate you could add a mortgage calculator to help your visitors work out what they can afford. This kind of interactive tool is very popular and will make sure your visitors stay interested in your site.
If you have a sports website, perhaps you could include a live update of current sporting events, or perhaps a well-known guest writer to add the occasional article.
The idea is to try to be different from your competitors and give your visitors something new and exciting that will catch their attention.
2 While social networking has become very popular with internet marketers, there are thousands of people all using Facebook and MySpace, so you are going to be in heavy competition unless you are in an unusual niche area. However, there are many smaller social network websites that may be more specific to your niche.
For example, I have a website offering genealogical services and resources. I recently discovered that there is a new genealogy networking site that runs in a very similar way to Twitter. This means that everyone on this website will be interested in ancestry, so it's much easier to market.
Spend some time searching for networking sites in your own niche as you will then have a much more targeted market.
3. Think of as many different ideas as you can to get people to subscribe to your mailing list. Don't just offer a free e-book or report for signing up to your newsletter; this is what everyone does. What else could you offer that is a bit different? For example, one my life coaching website I offer a free half hour email coaching session for people who join up. What skills or services do you offer that you could add as a free incentive for your visitors?
The internet marketing advice I have outlined here is to try and get you thinking about how to get creative in small ways and get ahead of the competition. It's not necessary to spend a fortune, but you do need to be constantly thinking about and developing new ideas so that your internet business doesn't go stale.
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