Marketing in the Web 2.0 World

by Peggi Ridgway

It seems strange to say that the Internet is in its second generation, but that’s really the case. With huge technological advances in process for serving up information and bringing people together, we find ourselves on a continuous learning curve, one that constantly challenges the way we market our businesses. Here are two ways to spread the word:

Social Networking

Millions of people are following their friends and colleagues in setting up accounts at Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter and many other sites that promote online networking. Although some, like Twitter, seem ridiculously simple at first, the act of putting information out there consistently and frequently becomes a tool for regularly reminding people who you are, what you do and what your business offers. Whether you use the social networking sites to share personal and professional information, stay in touch with friends, or attract leads and new clients, you’re picking up what amounts to a new kind of telephone; you’re speaking about your products and services. Furthermore, when your client recommends you as a vendor or supplier on a popular site like LinkedIn, that’s money in the bank. Those words of praise go a long way to attracting new clients for you.

Blogging

Blogs are web pages created by people who are passionate about the subject they are blogging (writing) about. Blogs can be created with free software available from sites like WordPress, Blogspot, etc., and can reside on the blog software company website (at no cost) or on your own website.

In the early days of blogging (less than ten years ago!), business owners were often discouraged from setting up blogs unless they could devote several hours each week (or daily) to post new articles to them.

What’s changed since then is that today a blog is nearly a necessity if one is to successfully market a business online. Search engines like Google pick up blog pages as if they contained magnets because blog pages are typically highly focused on one topic, usually a topic that someone is searching for.

Another surefire method of building high traffic volumes to your main website is a robust search engine optimization of the site combined with paid online advertising (pay-per-click ads). But by blogging properly, you can usually accomplish similar results. The trick is to post articles regularly for several months and then submit the blog to various blog directories. Directory listings help to create links pointing back to your blog and make your blog topic visible to those using the directory to find informational blogs on similar topics.

In a Nutshell….

Nothing’s easy when it comes to marketing your business on the Web. While it’s a simple process to set up a blog or an account at a social networking website, maintaining your presence there, writing articles and constantly looking for ways to market yourself using these tools are time consuming. How serious are you about marketing your products? How passionate are you about the service you provide? Your passion and dedication to getting great results will guide you through the new Web 2.0.

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