Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Work with Cathy
  • Classes
  • Resources
  • About
You are here: Home / Guest Posts / Figuring out Where to Start

Figuring out Where to Start

June 23, 2010 by Cathy Stucker Leave a Comment

If you are just starting out with a new website, it can be pretty tricky figuring what your first move should be. 

There are so many ways that you can promote your new website, and it is easy to let overwhelm prevent you from actually getting off the ground.

So with that in mind, I am going to break it down for you and suggest how you can conquer the choice effect and pick up your first few drops of momentum. Once you are moving, picking up speed is much easier, but those first few steps are the ones that matter right now.

Let’s Break down Internet Marketing

For the sakes of simplicity, let’s think about website promotion in 4 categories. Each category is a consideration on it’s own, and whilst they can all be thought of as being interlinked, it is simplest to start with if we get to grips with each on it’s own.

Social Media

All those things like Twitter, Facebook, Technorati, Digg etc! There are literally hundreds of social media tools that you can consider using for your site. Don’t worry though, none of them are absolutely essential. Just pick one to start with, which ever one you can understand the most easily, and work on finding ways to use that. Unless you are already an expert on social networking, it is easiest to learn one at a time rather than rushing in and trying to learn ten.

SEO

SEO is all the stuff you do to get free traffic from the search engines. This is in my opinion one of the most important bits to get right. Good SEO results take time, but once you have developed good search engine ranks, that will continue to bring you free traffic. There is a lot to learn, but if you start with the basics and build a solid foundation right from the start, you can learn more about SEO as you go along.

Paid Advertising

I’m talking about things like banner Ads, and most notably; Adwords. Paid advertising is great if you have the cash to put into it, but you have to be very careful about how you do it. Sometimes it is only possible to break even with PPC programs and you might find that repeat custom is your only way to make it profitable. My recommendation would usually be to take your time. When you have the time to test and know exactly how much money (if any) your Ads are bringing in, then you can start experimenting with PPC.

Email Marketing

Perhaps the single most important aspect here, yet also the most often neglected. I could write pages about the importance of a good mailing list, but suffice to say for now; setting up a good email marketing strategy should be number one (or at least top 3) priority from the outset.

Just Starting? Here’s What to do

Promoting a new website is not necessarily a one size fits all activity, your own situation, and market might be better suited to different mediums. But if you are at risk of being overwhelmed, having a simple plan to start off is better than being paralysed into inaction.

So here’s my recommended plan to get you started with your new website business:

Set up your site first of all, get it working. Then you can start laying the foundations of your SEO efforts. Just build a couple of links and write some good content to get your site bulked up a little. In the meantime, figure out how you are going to sign up new email contacts and get a working mailing list.

Figure out a plan that will help you to keep on top of your email marketing. This is all important because it is very easy to never get round to actually using the email contacts you gain.

Once that is set up, pick up a social networking site of some sort and learn how to use it. My first one was Twitter, but you can pick whichever site you “get” the most easily.

Once everything is running reasonably well, start to learn the basics of setting up and tracking an Adwords campaign, and if you then feel comfortable, set up a cheap Ad and see how it goes. Never set up an Adwords campaign without using conversion tracking. If you can’t track successful sales you can’t know whether it is worth the money you are spending, so always track.

Once you have gotten that far you should have a much better idea of what you are doing, now you can start to develop your skills in more depth, getting started is the biggest hurdle though. Just remember this: you don’t need to do things perfectly, just doing something is what matters.

—

Mark Johnson is the founder of Marks Marketing blog, a blog for internet entrepreneurs and info-preneurs. He blogs about everything from starting an internet business to maximizing your Adsense profits.

print

Related Posts :

When You Don't Know What to Write
Make Money with Affiliate Marketing
Don't Let the "Shoulds" Get You Down
3 Incredible Reasons To Become An Amazon Asso...

Filed Under: Guest Posts, Internet Marketing

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Search

Join Me! (Get Free Stuff!)

Get useful tips and techniques to build your business, plus member-only exclusives such as free webinars, as an IdeaLady Insider. It's free!

I respect your privacy & will NEVER sell, rent or share your email address. More than a policy, it's my Privacy Pledge.

Connect with Cathy

 Facebook Google+ Twitter YouTube Pinterest LinkedIn Flickr StumbleUpon RSS Amazon Author Central

Recent Articles

  • Need Customers? Borrow Some!
  • When You Don’t Know What to Write
  • The Secrets to Creating Good Habits
  • Turn a Minus Into a Plus
  • Dealing With Business Setbacks

Categories

Be an Expert Blogging Business Cards Business Start Ups Cash Content Copywriting Creating Information Products Creative Ideas Creative Marketing Strategies Creativity Customer Service Customer Testimonials Dealing with Clients Email Getting Things Done Growing Your Business Guest Posts Image Internet Marketing Life Lessons Making Changes Making Good Decisions Marketing Market Research Monday Morning Messages Money and Finances Motivation and Inspiration Mystery Shopping Networking Online Business Passive Income Persuasion Positive Thinking Pricing Publicity Public Speaking Reputation Management Running Your Business Sales Search Engine Optimization Social Media Success Technology Working Smarter Writing and Publishing

Learn About

Mystery Shopping
Book Publishing
Marketing
Becoming an Expert
Free Publicity

Return to top of page

Copyright © 1998 - 2019 Cathy Stucker - All Rights Reserved