Owever attractive your web site, however persuasive your sales copy, however fascinating the content, nothing happens until potential customers fi nd you. Marketing is the process of disseminating information about your business so that visitors will come to your site.

In Internet - speak, those visitors are Traffi c . Traffi c, properly managed, becomes your List . Readers on that list become your customers. This chapter shows you the action steps of marketing your business.

E-MAIL MARKETING

The basis of most Internet businesses is e-mail marketing. Internet marketers are fond of saying, “ The money is in the list, ” but our friend Craig Perrine ( Www. MaverickMarketer. com ) takes issue with that. Craig likes to say, “ The money is in your relationship with your list. ” We concur. Building a friendly, trustworthy relationship with the people on your list is critical to the success of your business.

The e - mails you send to your list should fi rst of all refl ect your personality. Write as you would to a friend, in your own distinctive voice. You may never think of your Voice , in the way that writers use the term. But if you ask people who know you well, they will readily identify the expressions you use and the patterns of your speech.

Secondly, your e - mail must communicate a sense of your competence and authority. You are the expert in your fi eld, and you have

Knowledge your readers hope to gain. Write to your readers as equals, with respect, but don ’ t be shy about positioning yourself as a leader.

Ideally, each e - mail you send to your list will combine that sense of your personality and authority with some useful information, and possibly a touch of humor. Occasionally your e - mail will include some personal news or refer your reader to your latest article or blog entry. But here are the two things that should be included in 99.5 percent of your e-mails:

1. An offer.

2. A call to action.

Your business is selling. Your readers understand that, and you should, too. In the past, we were sometimes reticent to sell in every e - mail, and reluctant to send e - mails more than a couple of times a week. In the past few years, we have learned better. Now we e - mail our lists daily throughout the work week, and we are selling more than ever. Rather than resenting the frequency of e - mails, our readers seem grateful for the opportunity to know us better and to receive useful offers from us. The occasional reader who is ready to move on unsubscribes from our lists, but the overwhelming number of readers remain on our lists, open our e - mails, and buy from us.

To learn how to write compelling e - mails, see Make it Hypnotic!

ARTICLES

Articles are a terrifi c way to get traffi c to your web site. Think about a variety of topics that will be of interest to your readers, and write a series of 500 - to 700 - word articles. Be creative with your headlines, as many people will only read the headline and skim the actual article. Your headline should include the keyword or keywords you want to use. At the bottom of the article include a contact box with your name, your web site, and the offer of an ethical bribe.

Post your articles on article distribution sites. You can fi nd these by typing in “ article directories ” in your search engine. A good source is Www. UltimateArticleDirectory. com . Here are some of the top web sites that publish articles for republication by other sites:

Www. A1Articles. com

Www. ArticleBin. com

Www. ArticleCity. com

Www. ArticleDepot. co. uk

Www. Amazines. com

Www. EzineArticles. com

Www. GoArticles. com

Www. IdeaMarketers. com

Www. Isnare. com

Www. SearchWarp. com

Software is available that will make the publication of your articles quicker and simpler. We ’ ve provided more information for you on our web site, Www. YourInternetCashMachine. com . Check the Resource page at the end of this chapter for details.

In the chapter, “Set Up Your Web Site,” we introduced you to RentaCoder. com and other freelance web sites. There are a number of excellent writers available who can write articles for you for a very affordable fee. You simply provide them with the subject and the content. If needed, they can also research for additional content. You can search on Rent A Coder to get an idea what fees have been charged by various writers for similar projects, and what ratings the writers have been awarded by previous clients.

You will be amazed at the power of articles. Once you submit a few, and they are accepted by the article directories, newsletters and other sites throughout the world will begin to republish them, along with your contact box. The links back to your site will improve your standing in the search engines, and many new visitors will sign up for your mailing list. Finally, include your articles as content on your web site.