United States Charity

Sherrie Chastain asked:


Using these Internet Marketing Strategies to market your small business online will get the best return on investment and allow you to dominate your competitors plus you will be paying less for your clicks than your competition.

You don’t have to be afraid of the Google slap when you apply these basic rules when using Google Adwords.

When you are using Google adwords for an affiliate campaign your job will be to pre-sell the prospect before they go to the company sales page. There are several ways to do this.

When you are writing copy for your pre-sale landing page keep in mind you are helping someone find a solution to their problem or pain. People will always move away from pain into pleasure, you just have to show them how.

If you always keep solving the person’s problem your focus you will never have to sell them, they will want the solution you are offering them.

Google is doing the same thing. Their concern is on the millions of eyes that read their search results and ads. These are the people they are trying to please by giving them what they are searching for. So if you always keep your solution as relevant and targeted to the problem of your prospect the easier it will be to sell the product.

When you do this Google will reward you by charging you less for your clicks. The people in the number 1 spot of the Google sponsored links are paying less than the people below them. It is all about relevancy.

Give the people what they want and Google will give you what you want.

The best way to do this is to keep your keywords, ad copy, ad groups and landing pages, all congruent. If you do not follow these simple principles Google will raise your cost per click, ban your ads and slap your pages. Google can suspend your account for as long as they want also.

This is not a good thing because Google is really the only game in town for advertising if you are talking reaching the major part of the market. It is much more effective to learn to give Google what they want, which is to satisfy the people searching.

Buyers know what they want and are on Google searching for it. There are also other ways to use Google Adwords in the content network. Most marketers just focus on the search network because the buyers are more aggressive. The content network can be a goldmine if you write your ad copy with thought streaming in mind.

Keeping these basic ideas in mind when using Google adwords to market your small business online will help keep your expenses down and keep you from being banned by Google. These internet marketing strategies will greatly increase your ROI when you market your small business online.

Sarah Jordan asked:


I was recently reading a magazine and came across an article about involving humor in the workplace. My eyes naturally gravitated toward the article, as I am all about incorporating fun into my workday. As I read through the article, I started laughing out loud at how ridiculous it was (not the laugh the author was looking for).

The article was, for lack of better words, lame. His points were stiff, structured, and focused on when and how to use humor in the workplace. Some of the “laughable” tips include avoiding intellectual humor and practicing your joke, yet looking for ways to make it appear spontaneous. I don’t know about you, but I am not practicing the joke I am going to ***** in a meeting the night before, and definitely am not practicing ways to make it seem impulsive.

I am privileged to work in a growing, small business that encourages team members to be themselves and bring their own sense of humor to the table, very unlike the article that I read. PaySimple created its core values into the PaySimple PATH (which stands for Passion, Authenticity, Teamwork, and Happiness) and the PATH always begins and ends with Fun! As a small business, our team members are constantly working hard for our clients and continuously striving to contribute to the success of our company. Humor brings us together and creates a more enjoyable work environment. When you are working hard 9 hours a day, who doesn’t want to occasionally break for a laugh?

Having fun and involving humor also builds relationships among team members. When your company is growing at a fast pace, and you are constantly adding new people into your culture, humor is a great icebreaker and effective communication tool. Additionally, the small business environment can be stressful, and humor can be a valuable tool to relieve that stress. Use it often to lighten the mood, especially if the person next to you is having a rough day and needs a little pick-me-up.

Appreciate working in a small business environment, as you have the power to energize and empower your employees by creating an enjoyable and open place for them to work. And laugh and have fun along the way!

Matt Chansky asked:


Many articles on recession marketing begin something like, “you should increase your marketing in times of a recession…” But the tacit reaction from the typical small business owner is often “oh yeah, how?” “How do I keep marketing with decreasing revenue? I barely had enough money before the economic downturn.” The answer: make careful and shrewd adjustments. Most importantly, don’t just worry about your business—ACT. Act with discipline and meticulous attention to detail. This article will get you started.

THE ACTION PLAN

One – Google AdWords™. Even with a modest budget, the upside potential here is superior. People are already searching for your goods or services when they see your ad. The filtering process of Internet search gives you a great opportunity to capture a qualified potential client. Google has the broadest reach and generally costs the least. Go with best-of breed. From auto parts dealers to real estate agents and all points in between–what many insiders are saying is that they are cutting back on TV, print, and Yellow Page ads and actually increasing their AdWords push, because it gives them the most bang for the buck. Want even more validation? Look no further than Google’s October, 2008 and January, 2009 earnings reports. They not only hit the ball out of the park, but they knocked the cover off the ball. There is a reason why Google is growing while virtually everyone else’s growth is suspended until the economy gets stronger.

Caution: First-timers should become familiar with bidding strategies and keyword usage so that you can hit the ground running. There are many free resources available on the Internet. As with all marketing strategies, the more knowledgeable you are—the higher success-rate you will have. Read between the lines—like anything, you can waste your money if you don’t know what you are doing with pay-per-click. Most importantly, make sure your website is ready to receive guests and convert them into customers. The last thing you want to do is advertise a weak website.

Two – Partnerships. Look for high quality strategic partnerships with other relevant businesses. Make sure that this is a win-win situation and that you have equal incentive to refer good customers. Be wary of companies contacting you for referral programs. Take time develop lasting strategic partnerships.

Three – Negotiate Advertising. According to “Advertising Age” the price of advertising is going down by some 4%. Advertisers are worried about the recession, too. When you advertise in print or on the web look for good deals and if you don’t see them, try to negotiate a better deal for yourself.

Four – Web Links. Continue to find directories and relevant websites where you can post a link to your website. This will help increase your web rankings and Internet exposure (boost your SEO). But keep in mind that the goal is traffic, quality traffic–getting a company to put your link on 1500 irrelevant directories won’t help.

Five – Printing. Don’t let the cost of printing stop you from creating brochures, direct mail pieces or other marketing collateral. You MUST continue to spread the word. Search online for discount printers, some even offer 10% off for new customers. Don’t know who to trust? Just email Momentum 18 and we’ll give you a list. You can get A LOT of printing done very cheaply.

Six – Advertising. This could be as simple as a small web button that goes to a special landing page on your website or as ambitious as a trade magazine advertising campaign. Try not to create “a who we are ad.” Instead, offer an incentive, a reason for the potential consumer TO ACT. Make sure to emphasize THE VALUE of your offerings. People will be drawn to the lowest price in a recession, but they will also be convinced by quality goods or services for their money.

Seven – Gratitude. Take extra care of your existing clients. Let your loyal customers know how much you appreciate their business. Tell them directly. If budget allows, create “Thank You” packages or incentives for your loyal customer base.

Eight – Find New Clients. Spend some time focusing on the clients that may not have been the ideal in thriving times. If you can piece together a number of small revenue streams, then you add value to your bottom line. You can accomplish this by expanding your reach, both geographic and capabilities. One way to entice them is by offering a free service along with a paid service.

Nine – Quality. When many people begin in the stock market, they pay “investor tuition.” They lose money trying to make quick profits. Warren Buffett made his billions by investing in Quality and Value. You should do the same. Quality printing, advertising, marketing, and design are essential. Your branding and marketing should not take a hit just because money is tight. Confucius says “cheap man travel road twice” (once to pay cheaply and once to get it done over again properly). The cheap route can be costly.

Mark Aucamp asked:


Tougher times are expected for small and medium sized business. Business failures are expected to rise by a staggering 50% which means that failed businesses could peak around 32,400 in 2010; this would be the highest level recorded since 1992. The Federation of small businesses said that they had recorded a dramatic increase of 214% in the amount of calls to their legal advice line on redundancies from concerned small businesses in the fourth quarter of last year.

Their members are concerned about jobs and how to hold on to jobs; small businesses are usually the last businesses to make employees redundant. The calls are asking how to make employees redundant, how do I do it, what action should I take, this is extremely worrying when it is thought that 32,400 business may go bust. On average each small business employees approximately 5 members of staff; this means that 150,000 people could lose their jobs from small businesses this year.

The federation of small businesses is the voice of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK; they have over 215,000 members, who employ more than 1.3 million people with a combined turnover of £10billion. The federation of small businesses are proposing a five point plan. They believe that small business can help to get us out of this recession if the government were to give small businesses more contracts, the government improves employment paperwork, government improves access to traineeships or apprenticeships and improves the position of the banks giving money to small businesses. This will rely on the bank mangers releasing and relaxing the money supply to small businesses and not having a knee jerk reaction to this recession. As quoted by Stephen Alambritis.

This government under Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling need to realise that small businesses are the back bone of the economy and that they need to ensure that this recession is as short as possible. To do this they need to spend copious amounts of money to implement a massive job creation programme to keep unemployment down and taxation revenues up. Then hopefully we may ride out this recession!

It’s not just a case of the government supporting the Banks and the Car industry; we need more far reaching initiatives for employment across the economy. The recent incentive released by the government was to assist employers recruiting people who had been unemployed for six months or more. This initiative is flawed as the government will provide £2,500 to employers for training any new recruits as long as the new employee has been unemployed for more than six months. So now employers may be tempted to only recruit people who have been unemployed for six months or more for the additional money that is available.

Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling should look across the pond to Barack Obama’s newest policy to create 3 million new jobs in America. This initiative is expected to cost some $850 billion to implement along with other help offered to their car industry and the banking sector.

Gregg Blanchard asked:


1) Not Seeing the Future

Small business software can be tricky when it comes to buying different licenses. As your company grows, your software needs to be able to grow right along with it. Take a customer database for example. At first you have just a few clients, easily manageable with a small, free piece of software or even a spreadsheet. Suddenly, you have hundreds of clients with vital data to store regarding each one. Your software is overloaded and your spreadsheet looks like a bowl of Japanese alphabet soup. When you are choosing the software for your company, choose a software that is designed not just for small businesses, but mid sized businesses as well. Make sure that if it designed to hold employee data, that it can hold an unlimited number of employees without having to buy extra licenses. Also, if there are different levels of licenses available, don’t restrict yourself with a lower license just to save a few bucks, buy a license that will give you room to expand a little without breaking your budget.

2) No Support or Expensive Support

The software you will be using to run your small business will hold very important, time-sensitive information. Be it an invoice or payroll, the slightest computer glitch can cause your employees to be upset, customers to request refunds, and most importantly, money to be lost. When a server goes down the last thing you want to hear is your 20 year old tech guy say, “Sorry dude, looks like your data is pretty much toast.” Choose software that has a solid phone support system. Email support is affordable, but it usually takes 24 hours to get a reply. If your business is worth $200 an hour, how much is that really costing you? On the flip side, don’t pay an arm and a leg for phone support. Annual fees of $100-$200 are about average with per incident fees running about $50-$80 a pop. If someone wants to charge $200+ per incident or per hour for phone calls, be very weary. Their software better be perfection on a screen if it’s going to be worth it.

3) Not Trying it Before You Buy

What is the safest way to make sure you get the software you need with all the features your business demands? Download a demo BEFORE you buy! Nearly all software can be tried before you make a decision to purchase. If you don’t see a clear way to download a demo from their website, give them a call and request one. If they don’t offer one, ask them why and, unless they have a really good excuse, pick up the search again for your software. Demos are great for a lot of reasons. First, you can make sure that the data is compatible with your other programs (i.e. payroll with time tracking). Second, this gives you a chance to test it on your network and operating system to ensure full capability. Third, you can test their support when you encounter issues. If they are unwilling to help you get the demo running, this may be a sign of “monetary myopia” where they only help you once you have given them money. Not only does this show a sign a poor customer service but it shows a lack of confidence in their product.

Nate Stockard asked:


Over the past decade more and more people are getting fired, getting downsized, or getting fed up with their corporate jobs and embark on the journey as a small business owner. Unfortunately, most of the new small business owners fail to consider their marketing plans or strategy. There are many marketing concepts for small business marketing to consider and plan for, but here is our list of Top 10 Marketing Concepts For Small Business Marketing.

 

Marketing Concept # 1: Consistency



Consistency is the number one marketing concept for small business marketing only because it is left out of marketing concepts for so many businesses. I have worked with a long list of clients, big and small, that are extremely inconsistent in all areas of their marketing. Consistency helps lower the cost of marketing and increase the effectiveness of branding.

 

Marketing Concept # 2: Planning



Once small business owners decide to be consistent with their marketing, planning is the next major concept to engage. Planning is the most vital part of small business marketing or any level of marketing, for that matter, and so many owners, marketing managers, and even CMOs plan poorly. Put the time into planning your marketing strategy, budget, and other concepts presented here to ensure success.



Marketing Concept # 3: Strategy



Strategy immediately follows planning because your strategy is the foundation for the rest of your marketing activities. In the process of planning, you must develop your strategy: who you will target, how you will target them, and how will you keep them as a customer.

 

Marketing Concept # 4: Target Market



Target market is also another key concept for small business marketing. Defining exactly who you are targeting allows small business owners to focus on specific customers and reduce marketing waste. A well-defined target market will make every other marketing concept so much easier to implement successfully.



Marketing Concept # 5: Budget



Although it is listed at number 5, budgeting is important throughout the entire process. Creating a marketing budget is usually the hardest and most inaccurate part of small business marketing. Most small businesses owners lack a great deal of experience in marketing, so their budgets usually end up skewed. The most important part of this marketing concept is to actually establish a marketing budget. From there, you can worry about how to distribute your available funds.



Marketing Concept # 6: Marketing Mix



The marketing mix is usually defined as product, pricing, place, and promotion. As a small business owner, you must specifically decide on your products (or services), the appropriate pricing, where and how you will distribute your products, and how will you let everyone know about you and your products.



Marketing Concept # 7: Website



In today’s market, a business of any size must have a website. I **** when I see businesses that have a one page website with out-dated information. Customers, be it businesses or consumers, will search the web over 60% of the time before making any purchasing decisions. This marketing concept contains a slew of additional components, but you must at least develop a small web presence of some kind and keep it updated.



Marketing Concept # 8: Branding



Many small businesses owners also neglect this concept. Small business marketing must focus on this marketing concept just as much as large corporations do. Branding consists of the pictures, logo, design scheme, layout, make up, and image of your products and even your company. Branding is how your customers perceive (please place a lot of emphasis on that word!) your products and company. Make sure to pay special attention to what kind of brand you are building through each step of your planning and implementation.



Marketing Concept # 9: Promotion and Advertising

 

Promotion and advertising is a very complex marketing concept, but must be considered for any type of business and its products and services. Once you engage the previous 8 marketing concepts, you must finally let your target market know about you and your products. Proper promotion and advertising will result in effective brand recognition, and, ultimately, increased sales.

 

Marketing Concept # 10: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)



The concept of customer relationship management has become a huge industry in the marketing world. There are many types of software and services offered to help businesses of any size handle their customer relationship management. Since there is so much available, usually for a large sum of money, small business owners usually look at this concept as something they are not big enough for or have enough money to implement. Don’t be fooled by the massive industry that has evolved from this concept. Maintaining proper customer relationship management is essential to creating loyal and consistent customers.

 

This list of marketing concepts should be examined, researched, planned, and implemented, especially by small businesses, in order to be successful. Also, your marketing doesn’t stop here. Each business is unique and will have additional components that must be considered, but this list will jump-start any marketing plan.

 

Michael Lemm asked:


It’s not news that things are tough today. For small businesses and sole proprietors especially.

For example it has become very difficult to spend money on non-critical activities. It also means having to let go people (if you have employees). But it seems also that by doing so, we loose on competitiveness. It is a real catch 22. How do you adapt? What should small business owners do to keep their head above the water?

I think the details of how you adapt will vary by company and industry, but the fact is that small companies actually can adapt more quickly than big ones. One or two people can make a decision, and with electronic communications (email, website, twitter, or whatever) that change can be cheaply and quickly communicated.

The problem for many small companies is that they don’t have any emergency cash reserves (sometimes because the owner has just taken everything out over the years things went well) …. so they *THINK* they can’t adapt. But the problem is not size, the problem is available reserves.

I know of businesses who have started to bid on what was in the past not lucrative enough projects, just to keep their work force employed. Even though there will be no profit. One company started a new entity so that their “high end provider” image wouldn’t be tarnished by taking what the owner calls “el cheapo” jobs.

There are also companies who are offering certain vendors longer term commitments in the future against smaller payments now.

These sorts of decisions can’t be made quickly in large companies, but both of them were made AND implemented by small companies.

It’s also a great time to buy out competitors. Even those in good shape but where the owner might be older and ready to retire anyway.

There are lots of opportunities in this type of market where there is fear, and a partial but not complete loss of value, but not a real classic case of a bubble bursting with nothing inside.

From another angle …. The answer does not come from looking INSIDE your company, but rather from looking at your customer.

What changed, is their thinking. Before you can decide where to spend, or what to change, you have to find out how your customer’s thinking changed – how have their needs and wants changed?

Answer that, and you know how to adapt. All other changes that you make in your company come from that.

I also suggest that beyond this …. now is the time to market your company. I know this seems crazy, but beefing up your sales and marketing will help you make it through the tough times.

The thing to do with marketing is find your most profitable clients and market to them and similar prospects. Market only to them, not just “ok” clients and prospects. Marketing to marginal prospects will cost you too much money in hard times. The key is knowing your target audience extremely well and making them offers they can’t refuse. Think of what is in it for them, not what’s in it for you.

I know times are a little crazy, but keep servicing your customers and exceeding their expectations and you will be OK.

Jinger Jarrett asked:


Starting a small business can be overwhelming if you’ve never done it before. You need a wide variety of skills for setting up and marketing your new business, especially if you choose to market online.

Before you get started though, there are several things you might want to consider. By setting a firm foundation for your business before you build it, you’re more likely to see success.

1. Find the focus of your business.

This is a primary mistake I see many small businesses make because many haven’t taken the time to really decide what is most important in their businesses. This includes determining who your customers are, what your goals are in starting a business, and what you’re trying to sell. You may also want to consider the value of your product or service for your target market, as well as how much competition you face. Although competition is good for your business, if you choose the wrong market, or you choose one that’s too competitive, like travel, you may find yourself having trouble connecting with your market at all.

The lifeblood of any business is your customers, and if you fail to connect with them, or you fail to offer an appropriate solution to their problems, you can find yourself out of business fast. Focus on the tasks in your business that will help you reach your goals and don’t waste time on things that won’t grow your business.

2. Know the value of your business.

Price is an important issue in business, but it’s not the only factor. Quality, as well as providing an appropriate solution for your customers is also important. Use what your business offers to appropriately market your business, and consider the value of your product when pricing.

If you offer physical products, the cost of making, marketing, and distributing your products is an issue. You want to make sure you correctly mark up the price of your product so that not only is it a fair price, but you also cover the cost of making your products. You should consider this BEFORE making your product.

3. Become the best in your industry.

It’s not enough to know a lot about your product or service. You want to become the expert in your field. This will bring customers to you. The way to do this is to know as much as possible about your topic, which means constant educating yourself on the latest information in your industry. You also want to provide stellar customer service. This means going the extra mile to make sure your customers are satisfied with the purchases they make. Build value into your products or services and strive for constant improvement. Word travels fast on the internet, and you want others to say positive things about your business.

4. Emphasize customer care.

There are many ways to do this. Providing FAQs not only helps you because it keeps you from answering the same questions over and over, but it also offers your customers additional information on your products.

Answering support tickets promptly, as well as issuing refunds quickly when necessary gives your business a more professional appearance, but it also shows that you are attentive to your customers’ needs. The secret to a well run customer system is to automate your systems as much as possible, especially if you sell digital products. The way to do this is to sell your products through systems that allow you to automate the sales process so the customer is immediately taken to the product. If you sell physical products, then you’ll need to process orders as quickly as possible. Just make sure you have a system in place.

Personalize your communications with customers, as well as your readers. Using autoresponders can help with this, as well as writing conversational messages that are easy to understand.

5. Design an effective marketing strategy for your business.

Although I believe that every free internet marketing technique will work for every business, we’re all different, and there may be certain techniques you are more comfortable doing when first starting out.

Design your marketing plan ahead of time, select the appropriate techniques to try, and then test and track those techniques to get the results you want.

Roni Deutch asked:


Owning a business means you will have more free time.

With this myth, the exact opposite is usually true. Nearly all-new business owners find that they actually have much less free time when they open a business – especially in the beginning. Yes, your schedule will be more flexible but it will not be lighter. Being a business owner is more of a life style than a job. If you are going to be successful, you will probably need to dedicate most of your time to it.

You should not worry about a business plan.

People often mistakenly think that if they do not need to secure funding for their business, it means they should not worry about a business plan. Technically, you do not need a business plan in this situation, but you should still compose one for your own purposes. Creating a business plan will allow you to research your industry, organize your thoughts, and set your long-term goals.

To get customers you need to be cheaper.

New business owners frequently think that they need to have the cheapest prices if they want to get customers from competition. This is anything but true. Look at stores like Macy’s or Nordstrom’s – they do not have cheap prices but still attract customers. You do not necessarily want to overcharge your customers, but do not take a loss in order to offer cheap prices.

If you cook well, you should open a restaurant.

How many times have you overheard someone saying, “Wow, you are a good cook. You should open a restaurant”? Little do they know that opening a restaurant requires a lot more work than just cooking the food. As any small business owner will tell you, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of hurdles to opening a business. Then, after opening the restaurant, business owners typically end up hiring a chef and focus entirely on operating the business.

Good friends will work well together.

Every year, friends forming partnerships open hundreds of new businesses. Unfortunately, just because you are good friends with someone does not mean you will work well together. Forming a partnership with another person is a huge commitment. You need to be 100% sure that you will be able to work together before you take this big step.

Failure is the opposite of success.

In life we are all taught that failure is the opposite of success. However, the opposite is true when it comes to small businesses. Failure is actually an essential part of success. When you open a business, you are embarking on a new journey, and you learn through trial and error. It is unlikely that any business is going to be immensely successful from the start. There are going to be failures and bumps along the road.

Watch employees closely or they will slack off.

As we mentioned in last week’s tips for managing employees effectively, you cannot expect your employees to be productive 100% of their shifts. By allowing employees to have some time to breathe they will be more efficient when they are working on a project. The last thing you want to do is cause employees unnecessary stress by breathing down their necks.

If you build it, they will come.

Small business owners often invest all of their money into opening their business and forget to save funds for marketing purposes. People think, “if I open my store, people will naturally just come in off the sidewalk.” Uh, not true. You might get a few walk-ins if you have a great location, but it is essential to advertise your business if you want to attract new customers.

You can write-off everything.

Too many people learn this myth the hard way. If you take too many business deductions it sends a huge red flag to the IRS and could cost you thousands in unpaid taxes and fees. A general rule for write-offs is to ask yourself, “would I make this purchase even if you did not have a business?” If the answer is yes, then the item you are purchasing is probably not a business expense.

The customer is always right.

This is one of the oldest – and most incorrect – myths about running a small business. No, the customer is not always right. In fact, they are frequently wrong. If you always tell customers they are right, then you can wind-up losing thousands of dollars to customers who take advantage of you. There is nothing wrong with correcting a customer who is in error. However, you always want to be polite and professional in doing so.

Tiva Kelly asked:


Recently, when doing research for my Internet marketing advice column, I’ve been talking to small business owners about why they originally decided to take the risk of entrepreneurship, and to strike out on their own. Most of them, when they think seriously about why they first started their business, offer no single reason, but instead cite a variety of factors that contributed to their decision.

One big reason I’ve heard from a lot of small business owners is, basically, that they felt directionless and small in the corporate or service worlds, so they decided to take their fate into their own hands. Many large employers treat their workers like nameless and faceless cogs in a vast money-making machine. Certain types of people — like those who become small business owners — just don’t want to be another mindless drone in the hive. These big, uncaring companies are simply no place for the creative, innovative, and adventurous mind.

Other small business owners say that they were excited by the challenge, or that they wanted a chance to work from home, or that they simply saw a gap in a market and jumped on the opportunity to fill it. Some say that all of these factors contributed.

But there is one reason that strikes me as the most important in today’s Internet marketing climate: Many small business owners do what they do because they are passionate about their field. They had something they loved to do, and which they felt they were particularly knowledgeable about, and they decided to turn it into their daily bread. This is the factor that practically every small business owner has in common — knowledge, passion, and expertise. After all, no one ever starts a business in a field they don’t like.

When maneuvering the tricky labyrinths of entrepreneurship, many fledgling small business owners forget about their original passion, and instead come to think that they must bend themselves backward to market their services. I’ve lost count of how many successful small business owners I’ve spoken to who regret the amount of time and effort they used to put into trying to emulate the practices of larger companies. This is a common mistake, but it’s only natural. We see how successful the big corporations are, and we think we have to do everything just like them.

But this is simply not true. Just as large corporations don’t get anywhere by using small business marketing tactics, small businesses won’t get anywhere by trying to market like large corporations. Fortunately, Internet marketing for small businesses can actually be quite easy. What if I were to tell you that there was such a thing as free Internet marketing, and that it is easy and completely legitimate? Well, that’s what I am telling you.

The key is to put your passion and expertise to use. The Internet and its users constantly crave new content, and who better to generate content in your field than you? No doubt, whatever your field is, there are countless Web sites that publish content pertaining to your area of expertise. You probably even read some of these sites. Why not become a contributor?

The process is easy and simple. First, you must write the content. Write 600-700 word articles about some topic in your field that you know a lot about, and which you feel needs to be covered. Then, find an article marketing service on the Web. These services are increasingly popular among small business owners. They will not only help you polish your content, but they will also work to distribute it throughout the Web on your behalf.

The benefits of this marketing technique are incalculable. Through the “About the Author” box attached to each of your articles, readers will discover your Web site, and business will steadily increase. Best of all, though, the more articles you have published, the more links there will be to your Web site, and the higher your site will rise in Google search results. In short, free and easy Internet marketing is not only possible, but it is also the smart thing to do.