12 Tips to make the most powerful sales tool work for you – The Internet

So many business owners today think that all they have to do is publish a website and it will do all the work! Not true. You have to have a strategy to make that website work FOR you – to make it your best sales tool.

So how do you do that? Here are 12 tips to make the Internet your most powerful sales tool and work for you 24/7/365

#1. Spend money on a decent website. Don’t find the cheapest site around or the cheapest company to do it for you. Remember that you get what you pay for. That does not mean you have to spend thousands of dollars. In reality, you can get a decent website built for under $500 and it looks professional, sleek and the search engines will love it.

#2. List your website everywhere you can that’s free. That includes online directories (such as DMOZ.org), social media sites, forums and more. Those backlinks will help you get ranked well with the search engines.

#3 Submit yoru website to the search engines. Even though they will eventually find you, being proactive will help them notice you quicker.

#4. Create a Facebook Fan Page for your company. With more than 850 million people on Facebook, its almost a certainty that someone will look for you there. Be there or be square. After all, your competition is or will be.

#5 Add “like” buttons to your website, your blog and other online presence to promote your business on Facebook.

#6 Create a professional presence on LinkedIn. Use it. Post your qualifications and more importantly post how you can help your target market by reaching them where they are already hanging out.

#7 Submit your business to Google Places (if you have a physical address people can actually go to hire you or do business with you – if you work from home, don’t do this unless you want your doorbell to ring at odd hours). Be sure and join Google Plus. Although some experts think it is going to slowly disappear, as long as its here and free, take advantage.

#8 Use free tools such as Animoto to create short videos about your company. Upload them to Youtube, mention them on Facebook and post them on your blog. What no blog? Read #9…

#9 Start a blog. Better yet, create your website using WordPress and you have a built-in blog and the ability to take advantage of all the features a blog can offer.

#10 Start an email campaign using the lists you currently have. Send out an email promotion once or twice a month, with a link to your special offer.

#11 Create a Grassroots marketing campaign by telling your friends, family and everyone you know (incuding your family and friends), that you have a website. Ask them to visit it and more importantly to tell their friends and circles of influence.

#12 Build your list by creating something for free that your target audience would value and would give you their name and email just to get. Use a service like aWeber to capture the names and emails and create a system to stay in touch with them.

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Heidi Richards Mooney is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of WE Magazine for Women, a WordPress Web Designer, the author of a dozen books and a social media consultant and trainer. Heidi has interviewed hundreds of experts on Social Media Around the World. In 2003 Heidi was named one of 50 women shaping the Internet by the International Virtual Women’s Chamber of Commerce. In 2009 she was named a Twitter Woman to Follow by Only2Clicks.com. She works with solopreneurs, professionals and small businesses in ecommerce, direct sales and retail. Follow Heidi on LinkedIn