What sets your business apart from the shop down the block? Is it your price? Inventory? Location? Finding your business’ competitive edge is what differentiates you from your competitors and often, puts you in the lead. Ignoring it on the other hand can lead to disastrous results including in extreme cases a failed business and bankruptcy.

All businesses will have competition they face, be it as a retail store or an online operation. As the economy takes a dive, it’s time to conduct your own fact finding mission – that of researching where your business stands in relation to your competitors.

Competitive research is not about relying on luck or the goodwill of your fellow tradesmen to let you in on their secrets. Instead, it’s about implementing a strategy by accurately identifying your competition, your target market, and your own edge. This can be done by online research, visiting the store, polling your current customers and calculating the research and marketing strategies of your competitors both online and offline.

Once you know what they offer, you can look to build your competitive edge by evaluating the areas in which you can stamp your own unique features.  Begin by asking yourself the following questions:

• Have I defined my target audience?
• Have I calculated my market segment?
• Can I track my competition’s marketing moves?
• Do my competitors have a USP (unique selling point) of their own?
• Does my company have a USP I can develop on?
• Who are my current customers and are they loyal?
• Do I have a customer service policy in place and am I sensitive to the customers current and future needs?

Once you have the answers to this you can get into  more specifics by developing your competitive edge around one of the following parameters:

Customer: Define who your customer base is by asking the following questions: where do they live, how old are they, are they male or female (primarily), do they shop on a regular basis, do they shop in store or online, how much do they spend on average, would they be willing to spend more with me? A great way to identify your customers immediate/future needs is by listening to what they have to say via one to one chats, polls, surveys and in-store promotions.

Pricing: Beating the competitor’s price is a sure-fire way to gain customers, but they might not be repeat customers, and a constant lowering of prices might not give you the profit you seek. Therefore, if you are looking to lower prices, it’s important to evaluate where you can cut corners. Other ways to lure in customers are by offering specials or promotional offers, coupons, discounts, and money back guarantees.

Product: Your product (or service) is your bread so to speak and without it, you don’t have a business to run. Your company’s entire reputation is built around it, so it’s crucial to reexamine your offerings every 6-12 months to ensure they are still in demand. Ask yourself the following questions: is  my product durable, reliable, priced well, easily recognizable? Sometimes all it takes is rebranding to make your product stand out from the rest.

Below is a sample of a before and after packaging re design that we performed for a client.

[Before]

[After]

The same holds true with your inventory. Do you have an efficient inventory flow? Can you keep up with customer demand? Note what products sell and those which don’t. It may be the simple case of installing a software like our MotoCMS for auto parts and accessories manufacturers, which allows you to keep track of your inventory, and sales in one go.

Marketing Strategies: While your product might be your bread, your marketing strategy is your ticket to selling it and you cannot venture out without a firm marketing plan for yourself and a firmer understanding as to what the rest of the industry offers. Analyze succesful brands and build up your own using their strategies. Likewise, tie up with a marketing agency to get professional input as to what you need to be doing. Be inventive, be creative, but always bear in mind your target audience, your competition and a back up plan should you need an alternative strategy.

Customer Service : Lowering your price might gain you a few extra clients, but likewise, going the extra mile through personalized service will also get you the same results. Often, good, old-fashion customer service can outdo expensive technology and high-fangled gadgets. Wow your customers and gain their goodwill. 

Online presence: Location is important, but you don’t have to be in the heart of the city to gain an edge over your competitors. More and more shoppers are going online to research and buy products and services. Do you have a strong web presence? Can you enhance your visibility with an interactive website? A new design? A web store? There are plenty of options available no matter the business’ size or specialty – speak to a designer to see which ones suit your business best.

In the end, what sets you apart from the rest is also what enhances and grows your business, so find it, stamp it, and claim it as your own.

Statistics reveal that almost half of new businesses fail within their first year. Considering the amount of new businesses being launched each day, those are not pretty figures to contemplate. One of the most common reasons businesses fail is thanks to a poor investment in quality marketing materials, including those which help brand the company.

So honestly, in all this branding talk, how important can a logo be? And why should I focus my energy on having one created when my company name and product can sell itself?

Logos are an integral part of any brand building project and if you want to have your company succeed, a good and strong brand is what will get you through a weak start, heavy competition, tough economic times and even low funding. Your brand is your promise to your customer; it’s your guarantee that you will deliver what you signed on, and it’s your expression of who you are and what your company is about. Your logo is a summery of all of these, wrapped neatly into an identifiable square (or circle or triangle..)

A well designed logo will do the following for your business:

• Bring uniformity to your online and offline marketing – stick it on your website, newsletters, brochures, business cards and even stationary, stamps, coffee cups and hats.
• It will carry with it the promise of credibility, honestly, integrity, loyalty and capability.
• It will create visual impact your customer can readily identify with.
• It will place you apart from your competitors and signal you to be a well organized, professional set-up, even if in reality you are a one man show operating from your garage.

Take our client Biographica. When we met with them, our brief was to design a logo that reflects the flowing and ever changing nature of the Amazon region. And the logo does exactly this. Strong colors and swirling graphics results in an impressive logo that strongly conveys the evolving, fluid nature of the Amazonian region. A spiral tunnel formation represents evolution, while shades of green and water drops represent the Amazon. The leaf stencil effects on the edges of the icon draws attention to the landscape and plants of the surrounding rain forest.

When it comes to a company or business logo, having a clear focus is important – you have to be sure about what your identity is and have the design reflect your message. Once you’ve developed a logo, it’s tempting to use it differently, but brand dilution is just that – dilution –  and your logo needs to be the central focus of all your marketing plans.  It might also be tempting to redesign your logo after a few years. With a well executive plan, your logo should be flexible to move with your company’s growth, so a redesign – which can lead to brand confusion- is avoidable.

Which brings me to my next point, can you design a logo by yourself? You can if you are a designer. And you can also use the free templates that are available on most web creation sites. But beware of doing so. In most instances your design will be readymade and not reflective of your business’ nature, nor be of a high resolution, which would lead to problems when it comes to printing brochures, banners and even business cards. Instead, seek the expertise of a professional web design house like ourselves and let us design something suitable for you. You’ll be surprised at the time and cost it saves you to get your logo done professionally. Here’s what American historian and esteemed writer Daniel Boorstin once said about a logo, ““An image … is not simply a trademark, a design, a slogan or an easily remembered picture. It is a studiously crafted personality profile of an individual, institution, corporation, product or service.”

With the right logo, your brand and company image will stay in the client’s mind long after the sale’s been made and will attract new and potential clients to your doorstep. It’s all part of the impression you create to gain and retain clients. You don’t have to be a McDonalds, Starbucks or Coca-Cola to have a memorable brand. With the correct planning and empathetic designer you can create a strong and powerful logo for your company.

Ecommerce refers to electronic commerce, which involves the transfer of information across the internet. It can be used in any type of business or service and almost any company that wants to sell or trade will need to have some basic form of ecommerce website development in place.

Over the last few years, ecommerce strategies have emerged that have blurred boundaries between traditional forms of trading and trading done online, and whatever barriers remain are sure to be wiped out as the technology develops even further.

Why develop an ecommerce site?

Transactions carried out online offer the seller or business owner a greater competitive edge. B2B businesses engage in hundreds and thousands of transactions per day and it’s easy to imagine how much smoother handling such volumes online would be. While traditional forms of commerce still retain an important place in trading, online transactions have definitely emerged a strong force to contend with, not to mention a cheaper, faster and more effective option. Electronic transactions between businesses have given rise to electronic marketplaces where companies can display their goods and services and buy, sell and trade at a competitive rate.

However the road to success can be hard if the client fails to understand the intricacies of an ecommerce site. Developing an ecommerce strategy can be most effectively done only with the help of a company specialized in ecommerce website development. At MN Interactive for example, we’ve handled the customization of ecommerce sites for customers which has resulted in smooth and easy transactions between the business owner and his clientele.

Ecommerce strategies that don’t work

Despite having set up their ecommerce sites, a lot of clients wonder why their customers are not reaching for their wallets and making much sought after purchases. The reason is quite simple: a less than efficient website design.  Customers are known to peruse ecommerce sites to do comparison shopping, and then revert back to their neighborhood store to make the final purchase. Poor loading time (think of all the graphics and information you might need to upload on your ecommerce site) is another reason which keeps customers away. A jumbled web design, little information and confusing buying policies can also work against sales. And finally, the lack of a phone number, contact name and address can keep potential customers guessing as to your site’s integrity.

And those that do

At the reverse end of the coin, there are some strategies which have to be implemented.

Content and inventory: Your website should be able to update content and inventory as and when is needed.

Pricing: Regular prices, competitive prices, sales prices, discounts, prices in foreign currencies – these are just some of the options your site should be able to handle.

Fulfillment: A tracking number allows both you and the customer to track the order; very important in the event there are delays or losses.

Payment and security: How do clients pay for their purchase? Credit card and PayPal are two popular choices. Does your company have a return or refund policy? Will it be able to handle fraud and online theft?

Support: Do you have a toll free number? Online customer support? What do customers do if they have a questions? Need to report a delay? Want to return goods?

A good ecommerce website development will also help you look at questions like: is my business going to be localized? Can I market it overseas? Can it be integrated into the rest of my business plans? Do I have the right software and the right team to manage it?

Get experts onboard your team

Going to an expert forces you to answer the primary question: Why develop an ecommerce strategy for your site? Sit down with your web designer and identify your company’s particular needs – is it to sell a product? Service? Build brand awareness?

If you are thinking of going at it alone, question your own expertise. An effective web design and an ecommerce strategy will translate into sales. Are you able to create both? While you might want to upload all the graphics and flash animation you can afford onto your site, in the end, this might not translate into sales. Clients have short attention spans: it’s your site’s job to use their presence as an opportunity to convert curiosity into a purchase.

A good ecommerce strategy created by an ecommerce web site development expert will capture the following:

• Quick page loading time
• Comparative shopping
• Easy to use purchase options
• A valuable customer service center which allows you to address clients queries and complaints with equal ease

In the end, ecommerce if played out right can be a profitable venture for your business. But it’s important to rely on the advice of a professional ecommerce website development company to install your software and design your layout, which saves you time and money and allows you to begin trading right away.

As more and more companies take advantage of these paid submission strategies, it’s getting harder to distinguish genuine from paid. And webmasters from reputable sites have begun to instruct spiders not to crawl certain files or directories, even banning them from their domain.

Organic SEO using natural organic SEO strategies on the other hand does not guarantee immediate results, but what it does guarantee is a positive image, quality content and honorable marketing methods.

SEO in general can target different kinds of search – video search, image search, keyword search etc. Organic SEO achieves the same results, but by a more natural method and is best done by an established natural organic SEO company. It’s characterized by the following:

• No paid links
• No paid membership to link directories
• A more viable and cost effective campaign
• Stronger links to well-known websites.

So why use a natural organic SEO company? If you are not going to be paying to get your company promoted, it makes good sense to use the services of a company which can achieve better results by knowing exactly what to do and how to do it. A natural organic SEO strategy means search engine rankings are developed by connecting to sites which have high rankings and are known to be leaders in their industry. At MN Interactive for example, we’ve helped a number of clients connect to other sites using natural organic SEO strategies including free links, html coding using specific keywords, removing barriers to search engine indexing opportunities and increasing back links or inbound links. In fact a simple method to enhance your page title and meta description is guaranteed to get results. Based on these tactics, the hits your website receives would be from an audience genuinely interested in the products and services your site sells and the content it markets.

Natural organic SEO strategies are probably some of the best internet marketing strategies your company can adopt, but should they be the sole marketing strategy? Not so, and we always advise our clients to let us use an array of services – organic SEO, paid advertising, quality content building  and even offline advertising via radio, TV and magazines to get the best bang for their buck and improve their site’s conversion rate. In fact if your company is relying solely on search engines to drive traffic, it’s important to begin branching out to other marketing options.  Organic linking, forum discussions, active blogs etc are all strategies to consider. By aligning your company with the top contenders you are automatically pulled into a higher ranking sphere.

The bottom line though is to use natural organic SEO strategies in conjunction with targeted marketing, both traditional and online, to get cost effective results that are tailor made to suit your company’s immediate and future needs.

The answer lies in looking at the Internet, where trends to shift advertising budgets online began a few years ago and continues to grow. Websites have long since proved their effectiveness in getting the message across. An effective web design consultant can help ensure the website is created around what matters most – brand awareness – and around a budget a client is comfortable with. Lead building, search engine marketing, email marketing and list growth are the new keywords, and a targeted web design can capture these components to enrich any marketing plan.

Creative web design solutions are the new way to fight recession, while maintaining a hefty profit margin or at least not sliding down into oblivion. If your website is gathering dust, or is not search engine optimized, you are losing a viable existing marketing option. Seek out a web design consultant who can spruce it up for you and achieve the following:

Expand your in-house list: In recession, you might find it hard to spend money on capturing new clientele. In this instance, a good website will allow you to convert your in-house list by generated sales emails, targeted pitches, and limited time offers.

Focus on lead and referral management: Searching for clients through advertising is one thing; having them come to you from an existing or satisfied source, at a trade show or event, or as a visitor to your site, is another. Nurturing leads and referrals is important and your web design consultant can ensure this is part of your web strategy. An effective web design consultant will help you identify those who can be turned from potential customer into satisfied clientele by implementing creative web design solutions like an opt in list from an autoresponder (aweber or constant contact work well), landing pages and RSS feeds. The right offers make people want to buy into your products and services. Some examples include:

• Blog Invitations
• Downloadable PDF Brochures
• Teleconferences and webinars
• Videos
• E-Books
• White Papers or free reports
• Case Studies
• DIY Guides

Optimize landing pages: If your website is not optimized, you are already at a disadvantage. During tough financial times, it’s even more important to turn to simple yet creative web design solutions for answers. Research shows time and time again that optimized web landing pages can results in more leads for every dollar spent. Instead of you hunting for clients, a good keyword selection can ensure clients come right to your doorstep. Spend time on finding out how you can best maximize your investment by targeting first time buyers, buyers who are on equally tight budgets, buyers who have been categorized as ‘non-risk’ takers etc. If you don’t have experience writing optimized web content, your website design house should be able to find you a provider who can. A good marketing writer will also be able to recommend the right online marketing solutions for your business, such as PR, cross- link advertising, affiliate marketing etc.

Make use of available sales tools: With the advent of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter, it’s easier than ever to convert your website into a community. Adding on forums and discussion boards from companies like www.Vbulletin.com and www.proboards.com will further steer visitors to other pages within your website.

Make your site visible: While SEO might get visitors to your site, a great design will keep them there. In an earlier post Web Design Mistakes to Avoid, I had mentioned the importance of a good site design. I reiterate that a strong site designed by a professional web design consultant is important to help showcase your business’ details. If there’s one thing you need to invest money in, it should be this.

Add cost effective solutions: Online catalogues and brochures can cut back on printing and distribution costs. Online FAQ’s can work in lieu of a customer service representative. Receiving credit card payments online, or via PayPal can save you big in terms of fees paid out to banks. It’s important to find a web design company which is experienced in identifying easy, yet financially viable options.

In the end, there are a lot of online solutions which can save you thousands of dollars, money well appreciated during hard economic times. Creative web design solutions offered by an effective web design consultant will help you in capturing these options for your own benefit.

1. Followers do matter: Let’s play the numbers game. How many followers do you have on twitter ? Fans on Facebook? Connects on LinkedIn? Follow the leaders on these sites in your industry to see how many they have. Next, compare interaction levels between both your sites. Having someone follow you is cool, but it doesn’t really count if they are inactive and their presence static. It’s how your users behave which is important. Take the following two examples with Twitter and Facebook, and apply them to any social media tool you use, including blogs, YouTube, MySpace etc.

• Twitter: Do your followers retweet your message? Use your DM box? Follow you because you follow them, or because they are interested in your services? Act on your offers?

• Facebook: How many have signed up and has it been for a particular campaign? Do they comment/like your posts? Are they active on the wall?

2. Test them: Gather the information you receive and test them. The simplest way to do this is to DM your community a message which allows you to gather their email via opt-in. Once you have gathered them legitimately, do a test run via your autoresponder provider (ePost work well to create test runs) to see response rates.

2. Measure visitors once they arrive: You can also measure audience using tools to capture page views, time spent on site, frequency of visit, and conversion rates. Web analytical tools like Google Analytics provide an easy means to gather information in one go.

3. Redefine your end goals: They might change over time, but keep up with the changes and consider the following: Social Bookmarking– who is adding your posts to sites like Delicious, Stumbleupon and Reddit? Your web analytical tool might allow you to track visitors who do so, or you can bookmark these sites and keep checking for your URL on a regular basis.

4. Cross-analyze linking to your site: You can also measure how many people are subscribing to your RSS feed, or link back to your site (WordPress has a feature which allows you to check this), or by checking on Technorati.

5.  Take note of less obvious measurement benchmarks: These are the good old fashion customer service tools to see if your customers are really happy with the services you offer, your SEO rankings, leads and referrals you receive etc.

6. Don’t forget the more obvious calculable ones: Like the investment that’s gone into your online marketing campaign, and the actual sales you’ve generated from it. Revisit your profits to see if your budgets can be sustained and need to be redirected.

7. Make PR your friend: Business owners often forget about public relations in its free or paid form, yet it can be a very strong measure of how well your business is capable of doing. Nowadays, PR and Marketing are almost becoming interchangeable, as what better way to get your message across than to brag about it on your blog or post it on twitter. If you can measure PR, you will be a strong position to measure social media.

Not much has changed since then- a good marketing strategy continues to be essential to any business. Without one, any efforts to attract customers and brand products and services will be ineffective. Before you write your marketing plan, you need to know the difference between a strategy and plan. A marketing strategy has been defined in many ways, but simply put, it’s one that’s shaped by your overall business goals and supports your end needs. Its sole purpose is to identify and communicate the benefits of what your business has to offer your target market. It outlines the approach you’ll use to meet your objectives.

A marketing strategy should include a description of your products and services, a target profile of potential and current customers, and your company’s stand with regards to competitors. It should also define strategies you’ll be using to build your business such as ‘improve online communication’ or ‘build brand awareness’ etc.

A marketing plan or a marketing tactic as it’s sometimes known, is a practical application of your marketing strategy. You have the means in place via a strategy, now all you have to do is apply them via a plan. A marketing plan cannot exist without a marketing strategy. In the above instance, your plan could be ‘sign up to social media sites and discussion forums to improve online communication’, or develop a newsletter to build brand awareness’.

A good Internet marketing strategy can do the following for you:

• Improve market visibility
• Build brand awareness
• Promote your services to the right target
• Gain customers
• Brand you as an expert
• Make your products/service more trustworthy

Before you begin drawing up your strategies, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is our industry going through any changes? Can I take advantage of them?
• What are the company’s strengths and weaknesses as defined by a SWOT analysis?
• What do customers really want?
• How can I target the right audience?
• Can I improve my customer service?
• Can I adapt or modify my products or services?
• Is the price right?
• Are my distribution channels enough, or do I need to explore further?
• Do I have tracking tools in place to ensure my campaign is being carried out correctly?

Running an online marketing campaign is obviously quite different from running one offline in say print on television. In some ways however, it’s easier as there are plenty of tools to help you do the job effectively and cost efficiently. Online marketing strategies follow traditional marketing campaigns in that they have to be both short term and long term.

• Short term strategies could include forum discussions, signing on to search engines etc.
• Long term strategies could include a well crafted website, blogging, social networking sites, opt-in lists etc.

A credible Internet marketing strategy focuses on where consumers are – in most instances, Google search engines can help you identify this. All searches start with a single keyword or key phrase, and your website’s ranking will be determined by Search Engine Optimization (SEO). So the bottom line is to know what your customers search for and tailor make your campaign around this search criteria.

The following are some of the top Internet Marketing Strategies adopted by successful online companies over the past two years. In the great wide world of online marketing, things move fairly quickly and what’s new today might be very old news tomorrow. Having said this, the following strategies stand the test of time, and are easily adaptable to new technology which may arise.

Organic search results: Organic searches are results by indexing pages based on content and keyword relevancy, rather than from advertisements or from those who’ve paid money to gain rank, such as with overture.com. Google, Yahoo, and Bing are the top search engines, which provide both organic and non-organic search results.

Keyword research: There’s no getting past it; keyword searches are vital to the success of your online campaign. If you enter the wrong keywords, chances are customers will find it hard to find you. By targeting wrong keywords, you’re not only throwing away your money, but also the chance to gain a higher rank.

Social media like Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn: more and more companies are putting top dollars into social media with remarkable results. In 2009, results showed over 150 million active users on Facebook, 76 million for MySpace, and 50 million for LinkedIn.

Video marketing: In a recent blog post I wrote, I mentioned 90% adults, 18-30 years explore video-sharing sites like Youtube. If this is your target audience, can you really afford not to use video sites?

Public relations sites: You might have heard the saying ‘any publicity is good publicity’. While this is not always be the case – negative publicity can hurt your business – free publicity is another marketing strategy worth researching. And press releases rank pretty high up when it comes to free attention. Use the many public relations sites available to push your release forward and draw attention to the particular theme you’re promoting.

Blogging : There’s not much to say about blogging which this post, Is Corporate Blogging Right For Your Business? doesn’t already cover. The best part about blogging is that it allows you to built up a steady stream of loyal readers who will be willing to act on your advice.

Link building: Search engines adore popular sites, and one way to build popularity is by linking to other relevant posts and sites.

Web design: A good web site is designed around attracting and keeping audience attention on it, and allows visitors to be guided to choices they may make. It’s easy to make mistakes while designing a site so in this instance, investing in the services of a professional is a good idea.

PPC: Pay per click has become one of the most important online marketing tools, to the extent hundreds have  built businesses around it. The key to PPC advertising is to use attractive key words and key phrases; and the benefit in doing so? An easy and convenient solution to your marketing needs, with high returns.

Newsletters and email marketing: And last but not least, newsletters or ezines have blasted onto the scene allowing even the smallest of businesses to attract a large client following. Their main purpose is to keep clients and potential clients informed about products, services, and the latest happenings in the industry, but they also use to subtly guide the client into making well informed decisions such as investing in an ebook, buying a newly launched product, or signing up for a new service.

Identifying what you want them to do and actually getting them to do it are of course two different matters and contrary to popular belief, a higher readership doesn’t always translate into a higher conversion rate. Setting up a strategic plan is necessary which lays out step by step what you need to do to get visitors to actually take action.

One of the most popular conversion terms coined is ‘Call To Action’. What it simply means is that unless you call (not con) people into taking action, chances are they’ll read and enjoy your posts without doing anything about it. Think about the average visitor who browses a few sites each day – if he likes what he sees on your site, he might bookmark it to visit again. Will he voluntarily retweet or comment on your post? Maybe, if he enjoys your content, or if he’s building a marketing campaign and wants his brand noticed. On the other hand, if he’s visiting a site which sells information, products, or services, and can be converted into a potential buyer, will he do so without any urging? The chances of that are slim.

Call your reader to take action in your blog post, in your related site, in your navigation menu, on internal banners, and even in your comments (though that has to be handled subtly). As with all marketing tools, you need to experiment with what works best for you.

End your posts with an urgency. ‘Click here for more information’ is so boring and passé – people will not even bother to do so. Instead, try ‘Only 5 days remain to….’, or ‘A special SALES OFFER…’. People like to be offered something of value, which makes them feel special. Tap into this for your own sales.

Rethink your marketing campaign. What can you do that you are not already doing to make your reader conversion rates leap through the roof? Most of us will use standard marketing ploys – newsletters, free eBooks, articles on ezine directories etc. Begin to think outside the box. Does your WordPress or blogger page look okay? Can you add your own sales tools on it to boost sales? Where can you position this? What colors are you using? Do they make the ad pop? Do all the links work? (This is such a basic principle, yet most bloggers fail to check if links published are valid!). Again, it’s all about experimenting with what’s right for you. In this sense, tracking devices are invaluable in helping you calculate conversion rates.

Similarly, be ruthless and delete the unnecessary. Have you heard about too many cooks spoiling the broth? The same holds true for too many ads and links- they distract the reader. No one wants to visit a site for information and find themselves battling against an untold number of ads or sales links. Subtlety is the key to gaining higher conversions. It’s true you won’t get anything if you don’t ask for it; but it’s equally true you’ll lose a lot of potential visitors if your site feels unkempt and cluttered. Have a primary message (e.g. signing up to your newsletter) and build your secondary messages around it (e.g. selling your ebook and affiliate products in it), ensuring they all link together. This way, visitors know they are being led in one direction, not scrambling to choose between many unrelated paths.

And finally, don’t forget to use all the tools successful bloggers use to get their blog noticed and talked about including:

• Regular valuable content
• Text interspersed with videos and images
• Related keywords
• Comments and responses
• The occasional survey, interview, and guest post
• Plenty of links
• Incentive via gifts, discounts etc.

In the end you will find your blog evolves, matures, and changes over time, and your marketing plans need to be adjusted to keep up with it. But with consistency and a well-planned campaign, no matter the direction you’re headed, your customers will follow you.

One of the common threads you’ll see in all successful blogs, is daily content being posted with plenty of links. Links can be an excellent strategic way to build audience. Link building campaigns add on a slow audience trickle, which after awhile translates into a much larger flow. There two ways to achieve this; by adding links to other sites and by adding links to articles within one’s own site or blog. Lets see, step by step just how to start adding these links.

Offer regular content: As mentioned earlier, a simple way to ensure you have plenty of links is by adding regular content to your blog. Doing so generates link-worth material. Try and consciously begin by adding at least two links per posts. Don’t worry, gradually linking becomes natural and won’t feel so forced.

Add a blog: if your site doesn’t have a blog, now’s the time to add one. Most web hosting companies will allow you to build a blog as part of the site, but if not, WordPress and Blogger are great places to get started.

Take advantage of friends: If you’re not sure as to which links are compatible with your post and don’t have time to research them, keep links to friends sites and blogs of handy on your blogroll and link to them.

Make use of MySpace, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn etc: If your friends have obscure sites you can’t possibly link to, another way to add links is via your social networking audience. Twitter is especially great as no matter the size of your following, you’ll always find great sites to link to within them.

Join local organizations: As a writer, I’ve had some great responses from writing groups like Professional Writers Association of Canada of which I’m a member and through which I get business. My web links on these sites enable potential clients and coaching students to find me. It doesn’t matter the kind of business you’re in; you’ll always be able to find local bodies you can link to, and in turn, get them to connect to your blog.

Buy or exchange links on Ezines and newsletters: If you have friends or colleagues who have Ezines, you can always buy or offer link exchanges with them. Sometimes you might also be able to get a guest post created, which in turn will carry your web/blog- link.

Submit to ezine directories: Publishing in ezine directories like Go Article and Ezine Articles is a great way to get you site’s name out there. Submit quality articles and watch your readership grow. While most of these directories will not allow you to insert links into the text, you can promote your company in your profile which gets published alongside it.

Write a press release: Similar to ezine directories, press releases allow you to link back to your site and can prove to be an invaluable tool in promoting your brand. You can see samples on PR Web. Make sure you do have something press worthy before you write your release. A poorly written release can do more harm than help and can damage your company’s reputation instead of enhancing it.

Use online directories: Submitting your site to online directories can work well for you, but only if you select the right ones for your business. There are hundreds of directories like jayde and Dmoz and it’s easy to get caught up in registering with all of them, but the results cannot be measured and your inbox will fill up with useless junk mail. Instead, do research for the ones most appropriate to your business and stick to them.

Experiment with social bookmarking: Like online directories, social bookmarking sites can work well if correctly targeted. The trick here is not to just bookmark your site and blog posts, but to bookmark a number of other sites/posts which interest you. In fact, you might even be penalized if you only stick to bookmarking your own offerings.

Build internal links: And finally, don’t forget to build internal links, by connecting to older articles and posts within your site. This way you’ll be regenerating forgotten posts, and encouraging visitors to move around your site.

Linking takes time and patience especially if you are to do it so it seems like a natural progression to your blogging skills and not blatant self promotion. Yet, if done correctly, it can bring in a targeted audience, promote your brand and services, and connect you to hundreds of other companies who in turn will be happy to refer back to your site.

The following list is by no means comprehensive. In fact, if you have a particular ‘niche’ you are interested in, this site should help you get to something more specific. The list I’ve compiled is general, and includes sites which are a must-follow, if you are to learn more about how to use social media, how to network effectively, and what popular and current topics being discussed are. While all of them will provide you with fresh ideas you can adopt on a daily basis, some of them can be used in turn to promote your own products and services, brands, and website.

Note the list is of English speaking sites. If you are interested in learning more about social networking in other languages, this post on link building is a good place to get started. And if you want to see who’s using what in countries around the world, this here. Brian Solis takes the same one step further in his post, The State of Social Media Around the World 2010.

So here you go, 8 excellent sites to explore and get hooked onto right away:

Mashable: One of the top 10 web blogs and with a following of over 2 million, it’s a comprehensive guide to social media. Founded in 2005 by Peter Cashmore, it has today among its guest post authors, Geoff Livingston, Brian Solis, Sarah Evans, and even San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom. As the guest posts are unpaid, you’ll be certain they are written because their authors are passionate about topics they select.

ReadWriteWeb: ReadWriteWeb was created in 2003 by Richard MacManus and has grown to be a popular site for in the tech savvy community. It explores emerging trends and offers daily Internet industry news.

Social Media Examiner: As its tagline says, it’s a ‘guide to the social media jungle’, and covers everything social media related, including case studies and interviews with top players in their field. It was started by the ever popular Mike Stelzner, author of the book Writing White Papers, and man behind Social Media Success summits.

Chris Brogan: If you want to hear from someone who really knows what he blogs about, Chris Brogan is your man. He’s said to be one of the top social networking gurus, yet his style is friendly and down to earth. Chris recently authored Social Media 101 (link).

Brian Solis: And speaking of men who know their stuff, Brian Solis is another blogger to follow. His blog has been ranked top 10 consistently, and he’s considered one of the original thinkers who paved the way for social  media. With such credentials, can you afford not to subscribe to his posts?

The Social Media Marketing Blog : Scott Monty is head of social media for Ford Motor Company and this is his personal blog. But don’t be fooled. It covers all you should know about social media in the real world setting, and more.

Social Media Explorer:  The site can at times get a bit ‘salesy’ but overall, it provides fresh insight into common social media issues and concerns.

Kikolani : The name is catchy and so is the blog. It’s a great site for bloggers and social media enthusiasts to check out.

There are a number of other sites like Technorati and Digg, whose powers should not be underestimated. Learn more about them here and enjoy transferring this knowledge to your own applications.