After months of planning and developing contents and graphics, your website is finally up. You submit your website to the search engines and check your website statistics on a regular basis waiting for the orders to pour in. But, hmmmm…where is everybody?

The Field of Dreams quote “build it and they will come” worked well for Kevin Costner on the silver screen. But unfortunately for the rest of us, getting people to your website takes a more proactive online marketing approach. This means learning specific techniques to drive visitors to your site.

The good news is that there are oodles of ways to drive traffic to your website or blog. And most of them don’t cost a thing. But, these strategies do require an ongoing effort to build a presence on a wide variety of Internet channels. By implementing these traffic building techniques a little at a time, week by week, your website traffic will build.

When it comes right down to it, my philosophy is always that online marketing is about building relationships with people, but not just any people - I think it’s really important that you identify and understand your target audience.

If you’re a small business owner or an independent professional doesn’t know your target audience, I’ve created an action guide called A Niche Will Make You Rich. Knowing your target market is central to implementing successful online marketing strategies to drive traffic to your site.

Often we get focused on the quantity of our visitors. And, while it is useful to track your website or blog statistics, it is really the quality of visitors that you should concern you. Because you don’t just want anyone to visit your site - you want qualified people to visit your site. You want people to visit your site who are likely to buy from you.

Here are 8 simple methods that you can use immediately to start driving traffic to your site:

1. Your e-mail signature line: Include a signature line that is in all of your e-mails that includes your URL. This is very easy to set up in Outlook and other e-mail programs. If you have several websites, you can even tailor your signature to target it to your recipient.

2. Your marketing materials: Next, make sure your URL is on all of your marketing materials. It should be on your business card, your stationery, your brochure, newsletters, postcards, and advertisements. If you ever give public talks or seminars, be sure you mention your website.

3. Forums and newsgroups: Go to forums where your target audience congregates and become an active participant in these forums. Some good places to find groups to attend are Yahoo! Groups and Google groups. Once you are familiar with the level of interaction taking place between other participants, begin to answer questions and participate in conversations. In every post, include a signature line with a small description of your services and a link to your website.

4. Online Social Networks: Business and other social networking communities are springing up all over the Web. These sites offer great opportunities for entrepreneurs to establish joint marketing ventures with like-minded businesses. Business networking communities can help generate traffic by allowing their members to create personal profile pages with links to their main business sites. Examples of business networking sites include Ryze, LinkedIn, and Always On. More purely social networking sites include MySpace, Friendster, and Tribe.

5. Start a Lens: Marketing guru Seth Godin has started a site called Squidoo. You can start a Lens for free where you can post information about your services and products. It’s easy to do and it utilizes text tags to drive traffic to your lens.

6. Give testimonials and write reviews: If you are using a product or service and like it, offer to provide a web testimonial. Make sure they list your website on the testimonial. To give a great testimonial, quantify the results you got after using the product or service. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many people are curious about you and will click through to your site through testimonials.

7. Offer to give interviews on online radio stations and podcasts: Look for online radio programs and podcasts. Use a search engine to find industry-specific shows and offer your expertise. Most of these venues welcome experts on their shows. You can also contact website owners and cross-promote through free or paid teleseminars like this one. Be sure to mention your URL.

8. Comment on blogs: Look for blogs that post within your industry and make intelligent, thoughtful comments on their posts. The bloggers love it and the popular blogs have well-trafficked blogs with loyal readers. These readers are very likely to visit your site through your link in your comment.

So start implementing these strategies a few at a time, week by week. I use all of these techniques, so I know they work. Each of these strategies works over time to bring in a steady stream of qualified visitors from a variety of sources. Over time, your traffic will grow exponentially.

© 2006 Wendy Gray Maynard

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE? You are welcome to publish this article in your ezine, newsletter, blog, or website, as long as you include the following:

Wendy Maynard, your friendly Marketing Maven, publishes REMARKABLE MARKETING, a weekly marketing ezine for business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. If you’re ready to skyrocket your sa1es, easily attract customers, and have more fun, subscribe at http://www.gomarketingmaven.com/ezine.html

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Drive Tons of Traffic to Your Website or BlogThis teleclass will teach you how you can attract tons of targeted visitors to your website without spending a dime on advertising. There are no question about it - more visitors is the number one reason you will get more prospects, more ezine subscribers, and more MONEY. Attracting traffic to your website or blog is an ABSOLUTE MUST!

In this info-packed teleclass, I give proven methods that I use to attract oodles of people to my site. I’ll explain each of these online marketing strategies so that you can do it too. Click here to read more about this online marketing audio recording.

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A website is one of the most powerful marketing tools that you can implement. You can update it immediately; it is unique to your business; it can be seen by thousands of people who are searching for EXACTLY what you have to offer; and it works as your sales force 24/7. And, it can be expanded and changed over time.

Make sure that your website includes content that will keep your prospects coming back. This is called a “sticky” site. Things like articles, tips, and quizzes not only show off your company’s expertise and skills, but they are interesting and can educate people about a wide variety of topics.

Here are some things you can do to enhance the stickiness of your site:

1. Update Your Portfolio: If you have a portfolio of your work (photographers, architects, landscapers, designers, writers, etc.), keep your “latest and greatest” work current. Send an enthusiastic e-mail to your customers to let them know when you update it.

2. Write Articles: You are an expert in your field. Customers are hungry for the information only you can provide. Give them helpful advice and tips. On your homepage, let website visitors know about this section.

3. Add a Discussion Forum: Your website designer can help you add a discussion forum. This allows visitors to communicate with each other, and your staff can provide helpful answers.

4. Create a “Links” Page: Customers like being able to find out more information regarding their purchasing decisions. With a links page, you can map the way for them to visit other related websites. People will return to your site as a resource to access this compilation of links.

5. Publish an Ezine: Publishing an ezine will help position your business as an expert in your field. It sets you apart from your competitors and instills confidence and trust in your readers, making it easier for them to do business with you. You can archive your articles on your website on an ongoing basis to refresh your content for business.

6. Ask Your Site Visitors What They Want: Is there something in your business you are considering? Do you want some feedback on a service? Why not ask for your customers’ opinion? You can post an online opinion poll and down the road, post customers’ responses.

7. Start a Blog: If you are committed to posting regularly, a blog can be a great way to build relationships with your customers and leads. You can give them advice about services or products, you can offer them helpful advices, and you can give business updates. Best of all, a blog is easy to set up and update!

8. Publish “Audio Bytes”: There is so much great technology you can easily incorporate on your website. One example of this is easy-to-record audio. You can create audio reports or radio shows to give your visitors helpful advice. Click here if you want a free trial month with the company I use on my website.

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard

Go Marketing Maven! Marketing Success Tips for small business owners

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You may have read my post last year about the weird Japanese gender-bending Ronald McDonald. If not, at least click on the post to see the pictures. International McDonald’s gets even weirder with this picture of a Indian McDonalds that just opened near Kimaya Kothrud. No wonder people have fear of clowns.

I’m so creeped out….

Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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One of the most popular questions among small business owners and entrepreneurs is “How can I get more people to come to my website/blog? This is an important topic because if you have a site but no one can find it, you don’t make any sales. There are no question about it - more visitors is the number one reason you will get more prospects, more ezine subscribers, and more MONEY.

Attracting traffic to your website or blog is an ABSOLUTE MUST! And, you don’t want just any ‘ol traffic - you want targeted visitors who are absolutely interested in what you have to sell. But, many people feel mystified becase the Internet feels vast. I can help you unravel the mystery of the Web.

That’s why I am conducting a teleclass on this topic: Click here now to find out more about this Live Teleclass!!

The good news is marketing is marketing whether you are focusing on traditional offline methods or marketing to the online world. It is all about buidling relationships with your target audience.

The twist is that there are key online strategies and technologies that you must learn. I use more than a dozen different strategies to help people find my website. And these techniques have been very effective in driving traffic to my website, attracting subscribers to my ezine, and making online sales.

In this info-packed teleclass, I’m going to give you the proven methods that I use to attract oodles of people to my site. I’ll explain each of these online marketing strategies so that you can do it too. These strategies are easy to set up and do not take a great deal of technical knowledge. They are easy to implement and will work to drive traffic to your site month after month after month.

I will go through a LOT of detailed information in this telelclass. Don’t worry though, because you will also get a complete action book is PDF format that covers the details, resources, technical information, and how-to do its so that you can easily do the same thing that I’ve done.

“See” you at the teleclass! Click here now to learn more and sign up!!
Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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In Monday’s Wall Street Jounal, there is an article about real-looking profiles in MySpace for fictional characters.

Creating real-looking profiles for fictional characters is the latest step in marketers’ quest to reach the highly sought-after MySpace contingent. John Tucker, the womanizing teenager of “John Tucker Must Die,” and each of his four girlfriends have MySpace pages…So do seven of the characters from “Accepted,” a film about college students debuting this week. (Bartleby Gaines, the fictional star, lists “Fake I.D.’s” and “Monica” as his interests.) Even the creepily-quiet mascot king from the Burger King commercials has a site. (”If you’d like to be the King’s friend, he’s totally down with that,” his page introduction says.)

Although anybody can create a MySpace profile for free, and fake ones abound, these pages are the result of paid advertising deals with News Corp. The arrangement allows marketers to add extras like longer videos — including trailers for movies — and more pictures than a free page has.

But the real appeal to advertisers is the opportunity to create personal relationships with millions of actual young people. “What we really struck upon is the power of friendship,” says Michael Barrett, chief revenue officer for News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media and overseer of these deals. And this is a big circle of friends. MySpace had nearly 45.7 million unique visitors in June alone, with users spending an average of nearly two hours on the site at a time, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

While I suppose this is a clever and effective marketing strategy, I find the whole premise somewhat annoying. Take for example, the profile of Burger King’s “The King” with over 94,000 friends. And, a Procter & Gamble member page for the female vocalist Rihanna, who is promoting Secret body spray and her music tour. Or, the not-very-clever Lincoln MKX profile.

20th Century Fox seems to be promoting all of its movies with screaming success on MySpace according to a June article in The Hollywood Reporter. And at 1 million new MySpace users most of them teenagers and young adults, who wouldn’t want to incorporate it in their marketing strategy? Especially since it’s free.

So…marketing via social networks a fad that will fade? Or is it a marketing strategy that is here to say?

Your thoughts, as always, are welcome!

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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Are you publishing an ezine (electronic newsletter)? By creating an informative publication that is sent out on a regular basis, you stay in the awareness of your your customers and leads. It also reinforces your expertise.

Your ezine can provide your readers with helpful tips and advice. You can also give them updates about your company, as well as showcasing your latest projects. Your ezine can help drive repeat business to your website. It also reminds people you are still available the next time they need your fabulous services or products.

Over time, an ezine establishes trust with your readers. You begin to form a relationship, even if you’ve never met face to face. Be there for your readers if they have questions, need advice, or want support. E-mail or call them back promptly. Ultimately, your publication will lead to more word-of-mouth business and referrals.

To generate your mailing list, start by asking your current customers, friends, associates, and vendors if they would like to subscribe. Include a sign-up form on your website for print and/or electronic versions. For an example of a sign-up page, go to my ezine page.

Ask new customers if they would like to receive your newsletter. Organize your contacts using some kind of database software. Make sure you keep your list up to date.

To collect the names of your ezine subscribers, you will have to pick out a system as a database and to send out information.

I highly recommend Professional Cart Solutions as your management system for your subscriber info, ezine sign-up forms, autoresponders, shopping cart, affiliate program, ad tracking, and more. This is the best system if you marketing online. Professional Cart Solutions has a “starter” version for only $29/mo. They offer a FREE 30-day trial, so you can even just play around with the program for a bit and see how you like it!

The common protocol in today’s spam-heavy Internet climate is to use an opt-in list in which a person has to agree to become a subscriber. I also recommend having a privacy statement on your website to reassure potential subscribers that you won’t give away or sell their name to other entities. Be sure to include a method for people to unsubscribe if they no longer want to receive it.

Some advice: Keep the majority of your publication focused on advice and resources. If it is too sales-oriented, people will be a LOT less interested in it. You will also lose some of your credibility and may be perceived as pushy. Make your ezine fun, interesting, creative, and informative. Try organizing each issue around a theme. Develop a mailing schedule and stick to it.

If you want to learn more about how to get started on your ezine, Alexandria (Ali) Brown, the “Ezine Queen” is an expert in ezine publishing. She has a wonderful product to help you learn all about how to start one and to make it successful. Learn more about her manual at Boost Business With Your Ezine (even if you don’t purchase it, be sure to sign up for her ezine for tips).

ACTION ITEM: Today, start making plans to create an ezine. If you already have one, is it being sent regularly? Does it need a facelift? Is the content interesting? Are you receiving positive feedback? Make sure your publication is creative and that it’s working effectively. If you want to read more about how to build your list, read my article on Six Tips to Build Your List.

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard

Your friendly marketing maven

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE? You are welcome to publish this article in your ezine, newsletter, blog, or website, as long as you include the following: “Wendy Maynard, your friendly Marketing Maven, publishes REMARKABLE MARKETING, a weekly marketing ezine for business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. If you’re ready to skyrocket your sa1es, easily attract customers, and have more fun, subscribe at http://www.gomarketingmaven.com/ezine.html”

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Hello lovely readers,

My sweetie and I had a wonderful vacation in the California Sierra Nevadas. We went on some amazing hikes and mountain bike rides. It was an all around good time!

Hope you had a productive week and I will post a new marketing entry tomorrow.

Hugs and success,

Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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