Online Marketing - A Beginner's Guide to Making Noise Online

As an online business owner, you should be aware of the huge marketing potential of the Internet. Like everyone else, you probably use the Internet as a valuable resource when deciding where and how you're going to spend your money. Clearly, times have changed; the Internet is now the most important marketing tool for businesses of all sizes.

But, have you ever Googled the service your business provides? If so, was your business near the top of the search results, or were you buried below pages and pages of larger companies? If your answer is the latter, then you might have wondered how to elevate your business in the search results.

The most efficient and budget-friendly solution is article marketing. With this strategy, the market size of your small business can grow even larger than that of the big companies.

You probably already have your website -- maybe you love it, and you can't understand why it doesn't get more visitors -- but the most well-designed website in the world attracts no visitors if it makes no noise. Article marketing is the perfect way to generate a buzz for your business, and to move up in the search results.

But where to begin?

It's easy. You're an expert in your field, correct? If not, you'd probably be doing something else. Your field is your area of expertise, and you know everything about everything. Why not use this as a marketing tool?

Write an article. Write two articles, or fifty. The more, the better. You're intelligent, you can write well -- use this. Write articles that everyone in your field will wish they'd written. Use research, if necessary; simply make it interesting, and make it informative.

In a moment, I'll tell you how to put these articles to lucrative use -- but first, there is one condition: These articles should not be advertisements for your business. These articles should be written solely to inform your potential customers of things they should know about. Yes, They should also know about your specific business, but we'll get to that.

After you have an article or two, or 50, search Google for "article marketing," and sign up for an article distribution service. After you've signed up, submit your articles -- but think carefully about how you want to categorize them. When asked to select categories for your articles, imagine the terms that your potential customers are likely to search for. If you pick the right categories, customers will have no problem finding you.

Once you've submitted your articles, it's likely that the service will suggest revisions and changes to your work. Don't be offended; these folks know what they're talking about. Take their suggestions seriously. Remember, while the quality of your articles is important, you are working to increase the market size of your small business, and these services are only trying to help.
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Eugene Rivera is an internet marketing protégé. He is the webmaster of Secrets of Online Success. Learn about all the money making techniques to achieve success on the Internet. Click on our webpage at http://www.secretsofonlinesuccess.info
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How to Be an Online Marketing Genius

Think online marketing is hard? It's not. All you have to do is be yourself. Learn to use stories from your own life and social networking to become an online marketing genius. "Genius. It is just attention to something specific. That's all it is … so anyone who gives attention to any subject for a period of time will evolve in the direction of that understanding." -- Abraham-Hicks

Most of us wish we were geniuses but almost none of us feel that we are. Society tells us that the Einsteins of the world come along maybe once in a generation.

But you are a genius – we all are. At what? At being you. And that may be enough to help you create online success. Why?

Ever look around on the web and find that most online businesses are, well . . . boring? Loud? Obnoxious? And definitely unappealing? Ten-page ads are NOT appealing. Empty promises of making thousands of dollars in a few weeks – appealing, but not very realistic. This mass of unappealing web content is the result of people trying to be the model of success – but these people have forgotten to be themselves.

At the other end of the spectrum, look at what's really a success online: social networking. MySpace, YouTube, Facebook. What's that all about? These sites are about people being themselves. They show themselves as they really are--grungy, attractive, silly, sad, and smart by turns. Other people are really attracted by that authenticity.

Some MySpace users have over 1.5 million friends. Count 'em. Yup, I said millions. What are they doing? Nothing but putting a spotlight on who they are. They are geniuses at being themselves, and that attracts.

You are also a genius at being you. So if you want to attract people online to your business, be the genius that you are. Don't hide your personality under a bush or cloak it in a lot of "expert" bull-pucky. Express yourself!

Whether you write articles, author a blog, put up a page on MySpace or post a YouTube video, the germ of success for you lies in your own genius.

The age of the guru is over. The age of "people like me" is here, now. People want to interact with people like them, people like you.

Whoever you are and whatever you're situation, write about it so people can connect with you. Connecting is as simple as letting people know not just who you are, but how you are. Describe your situation and BE HONEST. Are you a mom stuck at home dealing with dirty diapers and toilet training but longing for some time and money for yourself? Then say so. If you haven't washed your hair in three days because you don't have time to, but you really want enough time and money to hire a babysitter, dress up for a few evenings of adult conversation and wine … then blurt it out!

If people can have 1.5 million "friends" online talking about their most recent fight with their boyfriend or a bad day at work, just think of what you can do with your home-based business by just being you? Blog, submit articles, write reviews, set up a business website, get a MySpace page … whatever. Just don't lose your personality along the way.

As Coco Chanel, the grande dame of fashion, once said:

"How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone."

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Eugene Rivera is an internet marketing protégé. He is the webmaster of Secrets of Online Success. Learn about all the money making techniques to achieve success on the Internet. Click on our webpage at http://www.secretsofonlinesuccess.info
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