Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Online Marketing Strategies to Help Your Traditional Business Make More Money

By James Steele


As someone who owns and runs a traditional business, it's understandable that you probably don't think (or know) that Internet Marketing can help you. Your business is a brick and mortar business! Why would you spend a bunch of your time playing around online? In truth, you probably already do some of your business online. Have you got a website? Do you ever talk to buyers, clients and partners through email? Both of these are part of Internet Marketing. Truthfully, when used well, Internet Marketing can increase the success of any business. If you want to use Internet Marketing to build your business, here are a few things you can do.

You can use your business' site to sell your products online as well, if that's the core of your business. You are gaining access to a massive market by allowing people to purchase your products online, who likely weren't able to purchase your wares before and probably didn't even know you were around. One problem you might be worried about is managing inventory, but you don't have to worry because there are plenty of software programs that can help you. Avoid limiting yourself to your local area because there's no need to.

When you start to research Internet Marketing methods you are going to hear an awful lot about building a "list." Here's good news: you are probably already doing this--especially if you are asking for email addresses from shoppers and clients. A list is a list of email addresses that you can send marketing opportunities to directly. It's easy enough to ask people to sign up for your list when they buy something from you. Your site also needs to have an "opt in box." There are so many different ways to encourage people to opt in to your list.

If you are dealing with an excess of inventory why not sell the extras through the auction sites like eBay? This is a great way to introduce yourself to people who shop primarily online. When you do this only sell the things that you would normally sell through a clearance sale in your own store--things that you can part with at a lower cost without hurting your profit margin. You should also spend some time learning how to properly keep yourself protected. eBay has become a haven for scammers who want to buy things and then try to get refunds for the things they have bought. Still-when you want to get rid of excess inventory quickly while also bringing more eyes into your business, this is a good way to do that.

There are so many different ways to integrate Internet Marketing methods into an offline and "traditional" business. You might be doing some of them already without even realizing it. Just building your own website, to use one example, is something that every Internet Marketer needs to do. The use of social media and list marketing, for example, are Internet Marketing techniques you can use that can help you grow and beef up your business. So, instead of shunning the Internet, it is important to embrace it and its power so that you can start increasing your profit margin.




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