I see a lot of elaborate web sites being built and sold in this business of online marketing. I see them come in all sizes. Some light up and spin around like pinball machines and others are as dry as melba toast and half as sophisticated. Some are designed to sell, (but not always too well) and others are brilliant but are not positioned properly online.

And for many companies – this is where their pain begins.

If you got a strategy that works for your online marketing you can transfer that to your other sites. But what happens when that technology fizzles out and becomes obsolete. I always think about the technology that existed just a short while ago in the broadcast FAX market. A lot of companies sat back on their haunches and let that technology drive their business – in many cases – right over Niagra Falls. I am surprised at how many companies I run into that expect a fat living from a site that has no proven ways to drive traffic to it. Having high visibility is not always enough. Getting high on the search engines is great for visibility but you always need to place your site in front of enough of the right people who may want your goods and services.

Beware of Self Arrogance

It’s easy to fall in love with your own product or service. And yes, love is blind. It becomes easy to miss out on the necessary details when you are so self absorbed with your own business and that can cost you. Many companies do not bother to build at least 12 strong incoming lead sources to their businesses online or otherwise. Keep in mind that all of these sources do not have to be online in nature. These can be classified ads, display ads, direct mail, yellow page advertisements, pay per click ads, and more.

Another way to drive people to your site is to always be in the mindset of inviting people to something. You want to think in terms of “events”. Throwing a webinar on the Internet is a perfect opportunity to invite people to something big. It allows you ample time to conduct your sales pitch in a style that’s comfortable for you. You can showcase what you are doing in front of a crowd and have visuals to work with whether it be an online video or a Powerpoint presentation. To me this is more effective than running a teleseminar where you don’t have that type of direct control over your audience.

There was a study done not too long ago that illustrated the importance of dealing with a visual and audio media when it comes to selling. A wide majority of people like to be communicated to in a fluid visual manner. There are a percentage of those who will appreciate a sales letter environment. They will in turn read a great deal of this material as long as it ties in with their areas of interest. You will need to find out what these are and how it relates to your business.

Thinking in Themes

Out of all of the mistakes I see clients make is the inability to think in themes. If you have a target market for Golf for example then you need to think above the obvious. You need to think where that main market splinters off into tangent markets. You want to track where the money goes and how it is spent. You want to figure out where else that customer spends their money on various things. Do they have a different view on travel than most people? Do they frequent bed and breakfasts as opposed to a economy hotel when on the road? Do they like the finer things in life such as premium scotches or watches? What periodicals do they read? And if this is your market then you need to be thinking of how you can get your marketing message into these environments so you can attract these folks.

Some call this process of thinking mind mapping. I call it common sense. You must also keep in mind that not all markets behave the same way or even react the same way. One of my clients recently complained about his market to me because they were not ordering off of his online shopping cart. His customers would in turn call the main office and place their orders over the phone. It did not matter so much that they acted in a predictable manner but what mattered most was that they were ordering the product and paying the premium price. You may have to make adjustments in your marketing and your understanding of your customer as you build your relationships.