Happy New Year and welcome to the inaugural edition of ClickTips!

You're receiving this issue because we met somewhere and you expressed an interest in using the internet to market and grow your business.  If you don’t need information about internet marketing, click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page.

ClickTips is published every other Wednesday to provide you with information about growing your business using the internet as a tool.  I was overwhelmed when I started trying to figure out how to take advantage of the web so now I want to share what I know.  So if there is something specific you would like to know, email me and I'll try to do a feature on that subject. 

Since it’s a New Year, this is a good time to evaluate your internet marketing strategy and see where you may want to make changes.  This week’s article provides a checklist to evaluate your current internet marketing strategy or to provide guidelines if you are just starting to understand how the web can help you market your business.

Nancy D Waring
Editor/Publisher - OnPoint Click Tips

Email Nancy

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Boost Your Internet Marketing With This 7 Point Checklist
© 2007 Nancy D Waring

 Since you only have 7-10 seconds to capture an online reader’s attention, it’s important that you use every tool available to make that reader want to stay and determine if you have information that will help them solve whatever problem they have at the moment.  There is so much information available on the internet that users are in a hurry to get to the next site.  As a service professional, you want to make sure that your visitor stays with your site as long as possible.

 Use this 7-point checklist to evaluate the effectiveness of your internet marketing:

1. You have a written strategy on how you use the internet to communicate with clients.

Having a roadmap of your internet marketing ensures you have the right resources and budget for each piece you want to implement.  You will also save time in the end because you won’t have to do a lot of last minute scrambling for resources, ideas, etc.  Keeping in mind what will work best for your clients and potential clients,   identify which tools, and what content will be most effective in getting your message out.  There is no reason to blog if your market doesn’t read blogs.
  

2. Your internet marketing strategy and offline marketing strategy leverage and complement each other.

Although you can have one without the other, it makes sense to use both on and offline marketing.  There needs to be consistency between the look and feel of both marketing channels.  If your stationery, business cards and post cards are blue and yellow, then your web site needs to continue that theme.  Leverage your online activities by promoting them offline.  For example, promote your ezine with a brochure that you can distribute at networking events.
 

3. You have a clear objective with each online communication.

Whether it’s a blog, a web site or an email, each communication with your reader needs to have a clear intention.  That intention can be a call to action such as to contact you or sign up for your newsletter.  Or it can also be to show off your expertise and educate your reader.  Whatever the communication, before creating it, know what you want your reader to do after they receive it and make sure that you are providing valuable information.

4. Your readers can easily read and navigate your website

Since online visitors are usually looking for information that can help them solve a problem,  your site needs to be organized in a way that makes it easy for the reader to know where to go next for information.  Your navigation bar should clearly label your pages and the reader should be able to go back and forth easily.  More than three colors, or a background other than white makes reading online more difficult.

5. Your web copy clearly states the benefits you offer in the first few sentences. 

Whether it’s an article, a newsletter or a web page, the visitor should have no doubt within the first few sentences that the information is valuable.  Tell the reader what’s in it for them right from the beginning.  Be as concise as you can while still getting your message across.

6. You get feedback before publishing. 

It sounds simple but it’s surprising how many people don’t get feedback on information they are about to share with others before they send it out.  Have someone else read your article, your web site copy or your ezine before it goes out.  The benefit is not just in proofreading for spelling but also to make sure the subject makes sense, reads well and is consistent with everything else you do.  You can be too close to your material.  My VA does a great job of this for me.

7. You connect with your reader. 

Make sure you are creating an emotional connection with your reader.  As a service professional you probably find that easy to do in person.  It may be more difficult for you in writing, but not impossible.  You can make the connection by the way your web site looks, and your style of writing.  Write to your reader as if you are having a telephone conversation.  If you wouldn’t use a word in conversation, you probably shouldn’t use it in your copy either.

About the author 
© Copyright2006-2007 OnPoint Communication Solutions
Nancy D Waring, Internet Communication Strategist and founder of OnPoint Communication Solutions, assists coaches, small business owners and entrepreneurs leverage the internet to build relationships with their clients and create independence for themselves.  For more information about solutions to expand your business using the web, visit www.onpointcommunicationsolutions.com.