Sometimes when I see a social media consultant or a marketer, I get the strange feeling that they forgot about some important things when it comes to marketing, especially online.
Marketing online is just another way to get your business out there to the masses. You can do this with television, billboards, pamphlets, business cards, radio, newspaper, and more. The Internet is merely another medium. The problem is that these marketers forget to use all their tools, no matter where their business may be. I mentioned in another post that you need to have a presence online and locally.
You need to promote your business in any manner possible, even if your business is online, or sells from a building that you want people to come to. Your business needs as much help as possible. This is why people sometimes wear a t-shirt to a conference that has their company’s logo on it, or you can leave a few of your business card on some pin board at some local grocery stores.
I have put together a little graphic meme to help with my point. You are welcome to save and share it, or share this post.
What marketing methods do you currently use for your business?
You don’t want to forget to utilize all the different facets of online marketing. Just like television has different ways of advertising such as commercials, product placement, endorsements and how-to infomercials, the web has a variety of tools marketers should use. This is a good, smart message to send to marketers out there.
i believe there is no need of social media marketers. we should use social media ourselves to promote our businesses. its not any rocket science to do that.
How funny I arrived here to read Nile’s post and saw yoru name Sadia, I speed read your comment and thought I didn’t write that! How similar our names are! I generally call myself by my full first name Sadie-Michaela, instead I just use Sadie and my surname is Harris! So you can see Sadia Haris and Sadie Harris are very similar. 🙂
Great reminder, Niles. The internet provides just another means of advertising but it’s not the only way. A business is a business – it doesn’t matter if it’s a traditional brick-and-mortar or not. Sometimes internet marketers forget that the internet is not the online media that influences their target audience. To create the buzz that leads to profit, it’s important to utilize them all.
Dena Lynn
Direct mail sales letters were once all the rage.
Every marketer worth his/her salt had to know how to put one together, obtain a well-targeted mailing list, and have massive mailings prepared and delivered by mail shops.
Now, marketers find it easier and more lucrative to harness email lists and send emails to prospects in an attempt to get them to open a Sales Letter.
The goal is the same, to get people to read your sales letters and buy stuff.
The medium is the same… the sales letter.
The end product may even be the same.
But the internet has introduced a different way to deliver the message than direct mail. Ironically, though, many of the top internet marketers are now going back to direct mail.
They know what you wrote in this article, Nile.
It doesn’t matter how you make your pitch… online or offline… as long as you’re pulling the desired results.
This is another good site which is raising now-a-days for do those all things which are important in online marketing. Beside that this is much beneficial because you can find lots of people easily which are in your profile.
Some people is really aggressive with their marketing and selling skills, of course you get more results, but you can be come some sort of spammer online and in real life. I really can’t go that far as I don’t like when people do that to me, but it’s nice when you can find a balance in the amount of marketing/emails/posts you do.
I used to invite students from college contests, and calling for small institutions for on a website which was like an article directory (not particularly the article directory, but something like that).
Ya Nile ,You are right.Promoting our business in any way possible is very good strategy. It give strength ton our business.Social medias and networking sites are online place for promoting our business.Thanks for nice sharing.
Great post nills that is very helpful by social media we can earn more and more money thanks for sharing this post..
First, clever use of the infographic.
So many people go off chasing the latest rabbit trail. We want to remember that email and when appropos, face to face networking are highly valuable.
Patricia, thanks for the reminder. You said what I was trying to articulate. I think both buckshot and more targeted rifle shots are what are needed in our marketing. We need to engage with leads on the platforms that our target audiences most hang out on. But we can also use the many many online and offline platforms to get our name and brand out. As someone who is very busy with other ventures, I like to choose the most powerful and targeted platforms to spend my time on: for me, that is Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google Plus. And of course, email marketing.
For someone JUST starting out, would you recommend a platform like blogger or wordpress?
Thank you for taking time to remind us about the importance of marketing our business though any possible means- I even have stickers on my car with the name and logo of my site- I think we should think less of what some people might say about our methods and concentrate more on getting public to our products!
Great Reminder Nile! I always have my business cards in my purse when I am out and about but very rarely do I leave them anywhere.. Thanks for sharing.. Chery 🙂
I think that we should use as many channels as possible when promoting a blog or a product. Some potential customers are using the internet, while others watch Tv shows, so we should combine all these mediums to increase the conversion.
Hi Nile,
I totally agree that you should use every medium possible to reach people, especially online.
I use my blog for content marketing and building an email list but I also put up videos on Youtube and I’m thinking of starting a podcast real soon.
Have a great day Nile, cheers.
~Philip
Hi Nile,
I have been using social media a lot more to drive traffic and customers to my offers. This was one aspect I underutilized when I first started blogging.
Moreover your business needs as much attention as possible. Thanks
Great point . Well detailed . Social media play important role in internet marketing . Now a days video kill the radio
Nice post Niles. You can never have enough business and when you do, it is time to expand. Use every resource at your disposal to obtain business.
Thanks for the reminder, Nile. There are so many ways to promote a business that sometimes I forget the simplest ones!
Alan
I totally agree. You need to present yourself on as many channels as possible. I use blogengage, bizsugar, justretweet, guest posting, commenting…and planning to get into Audio later. There are so many options online and offline as well. Great post!
Hi Nile,
I totally agree with you about the importance of exploring all avenues of marketing both locally and online. I do alot of local marketing by doing store food demos, workshops, and while shopping at farmers’ markets. I also do online marketing with my blog and social networks.
Thanks for sharing this great reminder!
Nile tip top advice as always. In recent times I have seen small business owners and principle knowing the need to get to grips with Social Media spreading themselves too thinly across across to many platforms and then neglecting all other forms of promoting their business.
As you have said there are many, many ways in which a business can promote itself. I think you will have switched on a light with this post for many people 😉
Good reminder Niles. It’s so easy to get stuck doing the same things over and over, especially once you see a measure of success. Even with 30 years of sales and marketing experience there are areas I find I shy away from simply because I used to just assign that stuff to my agency – now I’m the agency – so I need to keep expanding my comfort zone!
Excellent post Nile! In today s market , it becomes a challenge on how you can effectively communicate to the people with your contents. And making one’s content eye-catching and easy to understand is not an easy task. Infographics here play a vital role in doing so.
While networking and relationship-building takes time, it’s a very effective way to keep your business and your content on the minds of people who might be interested in linking to you. Make a list of the bloggers in your industry who have authoritative and relevant websites. Then start building relationships with them. Follow and tweet with them on Twitter, and give them a little link love by linking to their content in your own blog articles. Once you’re on their radar, they may be more inclined to link back to you if you have content that’s relevant to their audience, too.
Love it 🙂 I’ve just shared via Facebook.
For me online is just one part of the marketing mix, and each part is what works for your business, and it may not work for someone else.
Must say I’m not using what I should be to advertise my business!! Some great tip here and I know what I can start working on!! Thanks, Nile!
Nile,
so great to read your very interesting articles… I always learn more and more.
I agree with you… using all the tools available is always best, no matter where the business is, online and offline.
thanks again
nickc
You know Nile I think I’m just plumb tired of the Internet and online marketing. The best results I get are more traditional anyway, like face to face networking with people. I like to do it so I’m wondering about the whole social media thing.
Thanks for pointing this out. Makes me think.
RICK
Niles,
This is a great post. I thinmk often times people come online and wonder why they are not doing well. The truth of the matter is that marketing is a universal SKILL that one needs to develop.
As you said this is just ONE MORE place to market. Effective marketing works no matter that medium is chosen, the same skills are required to get an ROI.
When I consult local businesses I often find they spend a ton of money on marketing with no trackable results. These are simple mistakes that work on and offline.
Posters/Flyers/ Business Cards/Drop cards and other marketing material will always be a part of “doing business” and doing it properly.
Like you mentioned in your article- t-shirts are great! Hats etc.
All great ideas and nothing should be ignored. A fully integrated marketing plan covers as many bases as possible.
Many hooks in many rivers catch lots of fish. One hook in one pond can only catch one fish at a time.
Thanks for the awesome post. I love the design of your site too BTW.
~Jacqueline
I agree we need to use as many as possible, but not at first. It’s better to choose one, and get really good at it before adding a second, and subsequent ones. If we don’t know what we’re doing, we will be spreading ourselves too thin, and spending a lot of effort getting nowhere.
Willena
Hello Nile, we should utilize almost every medium that can be beneficial for our business. As many mediums are there in online business so we can try for them.
Thanks for sharing Nile
I think that Making money online is all about giving people something they can actually use, teaching them how to use it and keeping the entire process simple and fast.
As a few other commenters have indicated, “on as many useful mediums as possible” is good advice IF tempered with “on the most appropriate mediums for you and your target audience.” (Of course that “if” is true no matter what media is used.)
I think that some businesses may avoid using online as a medium because they are confused by the plethora of platforms. As a few commenters said, their is a tendency to be spread too thin or to be using a platform but using it incorrectly. Finally, what platform is appropriate to you and your brand.
I understand the focus of the meme is directed to those who shy away from internet media altogether, perhaps like many local businesses.
It is crazy the vast number of online networks that are available to connect to others. Right now the sites that I mainly work with are FB, Twitter, Instagram. I’m slowly getting on the ball with others but I don’t want to overwhelm myself. I can barely keep up with those now.
Being out there and making a difference with your business being the solution to challenges people have on a daily bases. They need to know how to get to your business.
Nile, you give us the one focus point many forget especially when they launch their business online. They forget word of mouth advertising is the best yet they refuse to get out of that office and meet people.
You make all valid points and ones we all need to take a look at in a personal manner. I love the ideas of pin on a board in the stores we shop. I still see plumbers and electricians doing it no matter what company it is. Major service businesses pay people to place flyers and other methods to the general public. They still pay others to spread the word online also.
Marketing is a billion dollar business within itself.
Great article Nile and we believe in your vision. You have proven time over keep your imagination open to all possibilities. Get yourself aware of other things that are not online. Just get involved in activities other than phones and online meetings. Spread your business services to the masses by all means.
Great post..’ Thanks , dear you nice sharing with me.
It is very effective for me, again thanks……
Hi Nile,
I really like your infographic. The message is powerful and as a marketer, the bottom line is business is business. The internet provides so much opportunity to expose your offer to more people. So in one way, it is very efficient if you have narrowed your business down to a specific targeted niche and take the action to promote effectively from start through follow up.
The ways to market online are unlimited! There are so many and the most challenging for marketers is to choose one or two and master it. I’ve tried almost every major category of marketing online, and my preferred method is solo ads. Social media is a great way to connect with people and can be an effective tool if you brand yourself properly. Thanks Nile!
Raena Lynn
Hi Nile,
Indeed these methods should be used strategically, especially for brick and mortar establishments.
Generally local businesses are more comfortable with these traditional methods, while online businesses find these archaic.
Each type of business should step out of their comfort zone, to at least test, to see if satisfactory results are realized.
Hey Nile, great topic. I agree that you can’t rely on just ONE method, no matter how great of results you are getting. Things change so fast today, you need to be diversified in your marketing to continue to keep your traffic, lead flow and conversions coming in!
Hey Nile,
I don’t know how many times I have talked with a company and been like you need to have a Twitter and Facebook. All to common, they say I don’t want it and will never use it for my business. Or better yet they will just share a couple things for a couple days and quit. But, I can offer a service where I will manage it for them 🙂 It amazes me how lazy some people are when it comes to their business.
This is pretty much key to getting your website/content to rank highly in Google now, you can’t just rely on one strategy & need to do lots of different things.
The only avenue we’re missing is podcasts.
Hello Dear
i loved your post really this is amazing ways of promote and advertisement is one of the best source, TV newspapers redio ect . its very common and useful way so thanks for sharing
Yeah, we should try get into as many social network as we can and improve our site traffic from those areas. You need to diversify your efforts
Useful mediums. A sound piece of advice if there ever was one. So many of these have come and gone, each promising to better than the ones that have gone before, in the social arena anyway.
All we can really do, I guess, is make the most of the choices we have available at the time we are marketing our businesses. If we try using media whose time has already gone by we run the risk of attaching that kind of reputation to our own sites.
But using the ones that bring a good return for the time investment we put into them can make all the difference.
Thank you for this post it is really useful. Very creative too.
hey nile i agree with ur Points that marketers are doing nothing new but making only ,,.we should use various Mediums to promote our business .By promoting through various medium we promote our business more effectively and more fast.
Hi there…I just want to drop by and tell you how much I enjoyed reading this post. This very interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing this!
Agree..with the cutthroat competition nowadays, using all possible media for exposure is advisable.
I would also say test, test, test. I have an ecommerce store and it took a long time to find out where our right people online hang out. This is the point of all the mediums anyways, to find the right audience for your website, blog, or business.
The article is quite interesting and informative. Being a businessman, i agree with the point that marketing acts as one of the most important part for the growth of any business. This article is very much helpful for me and thanks for sharing it.
Hi nile,
Its true that Internet marketers are not doing anything new except making money with tools available.
However if someone will do it something different, it will be a successful start up. Isn’t it ?
or, who are doing it differently are riding on big bucks.
Nile,
You are so correct, as usual. Online marketing is only ONE aspect of marketing.
Here’s another great marketing strategy. Have a great blog or website, first, then do local networking! Go to local networking events. Pass out business cards, collect business cards. Then email or call the people on those business cards just to keep in touch. Don’t try to sell them. Just keep your name in front of them. The more people in the local community know your name, then the easier it is for you to get more business from then when they visit your website that promotes your service.
It’s about Online and Offline working in conjunction!
Take Care,
Jupiter Jim
Hi Jim… I have suggested those at conferences as well.
Great post nills that is very helpful by social media we can earn more and more money thanks for sharing this post..
Better to market using the internet as medium since most of the time it is free or cost lesser than the usual tri-media.
Social media is a good medium for Marketing, its simple to handle our self no need for third party, but we need to write any one update per day..
Very well founded statements. It is a fact that most business rely heavily on internet marketers to promote their business but forgot to think about other mediums to boost it even further. Online advertising is just a fraction of the task, you would only reach a handful of people if you are only using this medium.
It is certainly good to get onto as many mediums as possible because the law principals governing conversion means that the more people you touch with your marketing the higher the return on customers you will get
Great and super post that is very helpful by social media we can earn more and more money thanks for sharing this post..
great reminder for bloggers, I’m a tech blogger and trying my best to help my readers, thanks for share
This is an excellent write-up because it accurately reflects how the market and technology are changing the way legal services and other companies must operate. It is a ‘do or die’ situation – whereby many will choose not to adopt the new methods, but they will simply get left behind.
Post was quite interesting and informative. Being a blogger, i agree with the point, thanks for sharing it.
I read your whole articles. This is amazing and super.
I agree with you… using all the tools available is always best, no matter where the business is, online and offline.
thanks again
Gorgeous and amazing post. this post is very helpful by social media we can earn more and more money thanks for sharing this post..
hmm.. iam totally agreed with you great post…
The keyword is USEFUL. There were times when the more meant the better. Now it is not so.
Wow, this is pretty cool. Thanks for the write up. I had no idea this existed.
Nile a good reminder about other sources to use. The comment about all social media and internet marketers do is make money seems kind of harsh because the marketing companies that use traditional methods like television, magazines and so forth get paid. Some businesses either don’t want to have their own department to do it just like some small biz people don’t want to learn how to market themselves online. As long as there is a need for anything there will be someone who offers to either do it for you for free or give you their price.
Gorgeous post. No doubt media is most important and useful media. This article is so informative for every one. Thanks for share.
Yep… With the big social media boom, a lot of marketers have forgot about traditional ways to advertise. Thanks for reminding them, that there are ways to get the exposure that we desire, if we utilize all of our resources.
you are absolutely right,I should use your advices in electronic marketing , I am junior in marketing.i hope to success.
I really appreciate all the info. The sources to is something I was really looking for. Using social media is something I was really missing. Thank you
I completely agree with you on this point. We must try to make the optimum use of every available resource for marketing. Thanks for sharing this great post.
Marketing has become much easier with the advent of internet and technology advancement so all avenues should be utilized for marketing including social media and more. Great share.
Great post as new comer in the field of internet marketing this post very helpful for me. i think social media is huge platform to marketing your business and business need profit and what is the promotion ways television, radio boards many more stuff we use to marketing strategy it’s traditional or internet marketing.
Thanks for the wounderful tips..great work
Marketing is strategy. keep spirit and best succes
Great… I m very impressed. You have done an outstanding job. I learned a lot from this remarkable article. I want to thank you for sharing this great article with us.
Hey Nile,
Awesome name by the way!!
Good article here and very true.
Like I say if your out fishing wouldnt it be best to use as many different bait as possible. Just like marketing the more hooks you throw out there the more fish you will catch!
Rock on my friend!!!
Paul Butler
It is really a great post for me. we should utilize almost every medium that can be beneficial for our business. As many mediums are there in online business so we can try for them.
Great reminder, Niles. The internet provides just another means of advertising but it’s not the only way. Thanks for sharing.
Hi
It still amazes me how many social results come up everytime I google something now. Just goes to show you how much influence google is giving social media. We know we have to follow where google goes or live to regret it.
agree with you nile
we should use every possible medium to increase the limits of our business
hello nile
yes we should promote our business on many platforms from social media to other blogs. it will 9ncrease the chances of getting noticed
Thanks for sharing the information. always have my business cards in my purse when I am out and about but very rarely do I leave them anywhere.
This is something I feel that most people forget about. The internet is simply another “tool” to use to promote your business, but limiting your efforts to simply one medium will not help any business.
I do think that the Web is the best place to market as most the audience is global and the marketing is and can be free. Although there are paid SEM serivces, SEO and Social Media can be optimized at no cost to the business.
Great post NIles!
Nile your posts always gives me something awesome to learn 🙂
hello nile
yes we should promote our business on many platforms from social media to other blogs. it will 9ncrease the chances of getting noticed
Very true. I think too many people put all their eggs in one basket and focus on one particular medium and neglect all the other great options out there. Thanks for posting!
agree with you
if we use all medium then chance we get new costumer is big
thanks for pointing this out
Hi Nile,
So true , it is like when the telephone was invented we still wrote letters . The important thing is to understand your market and how people like to communicate. For example I enjoyed a long coffee with a friend today in a hotel . I was waiting for her for about 10 mins if the hotel had some marketing material on the table I might have read it . Both of us tweet and that would be another way to get our attention . Bye for now and thank you for sharing this valuable advice. Take care Rosemary
We should first decide the mediums suits our business then we should go for it.
yeah really agreed with you Nile
we should try every possible thing to promote our business, and try in news paper also. 🙂
thanks.
Nile –
I love the idea of doing more offline promotion! It’s something I haven’t done much for any of my sites, but it’s been on my mind lately.
Thanks for the eye opener!
Hi Nile ~ I totally agree with you. I am getting ready to start marketing my website offline pretty heavily. If you think about it there a limitless places you can advertise to get more eyeballs on your blog. All you need to do is get a little creative.
I used to invite students from college contests, and calling for small institutions for on a website which was like an article directory (not particularly the article directory, but something like that).
Great reminder and advice Niles … love the meme and the thing is I see so many only advertise on FB (often by what some would see spamming) so…great to be reminded that there is a whole wide marketing world out there!