When I began building my new business, I aimed to offer good internet business advice based on honesty, not hype. You will come across a lot of other websites that will show you the latest "get rich quick" scheme for online business. In all honestly, most of these get rich scams end as quickly as they began, just as they do if you were to try them on regular "brick and mortar customers."
For example, there are a number of popular strategies for manipulating search engines. You can pay someone to create thousands of links to your site on completely unrelated sites. These are usually spam news sites that engage in "black hat" techniques intended to obtain a high rank for your page on Google. This type of advertising manipulation may quickly get you to the front page of Google for certain keywords. However, even if it generates some sales for you, it is highly unlikely you will see repeat sales unless your site is fresh, compelling and gives the customer a reason to come back for more. If you've used tricks to get them there, chances are they won't stay.
You may have heard the saying that online, "content is king." The reason for this is that in today's internet, entertaining, compelling and educational content is the best free way to attract new people to your site. A steady stream of fresh content, is the best way to keep them coming back. The goal of your free content is not necessarily to promote your products, though certainly convincing free content may drive some to purchase your paid products or services.
Regular free content is really aimed to create a long term relationship with your customer, which is the main reason why email lists, blogs, podcasts and videocasts are so compelling from an online business perspective. When someone subscribes to your blog, email list, or podcast, they get fresh free content from you every week or so. Over time they get to know you, who you are, and grow to respect your expert knowledge and ultimately trust you.
We often make purchases based on the advice of those we trust. When I move to a new area and need the roof fixed, car repaired, or want to find a good school I ask people I know and trust. Recently I received a fly rod as a gift, and decided to learn more about fly fishing. Honestly, I know almost nothing about fly fishing other than it seems like fun - so I found some lessons being offered locally, and signed up for the course on the advice of a friend.
Ultimately, if the fishing lesson is good, it's very likely I'll recommend it to some of my friends. And some of them will recommend it to their friends, and so on, and so on...Word of mouth can be a very powerful force.
This also holds true for traditional business - we reach for the brand names we know first. Online, your content is your ticket, your lifeblood and the basis for maintaining your long term brand.
So what does all of this mean for successfully building an online business?
* Fresh and frequent content is a key component of building a long term relationship with your customers, and offering them repeat exposure * Compelling,free content can help directly promote your product or service * Relationships help build trust, which is the basis for long term, repeat sales * These elements ultimately build your brand, both through repeat customers, and word of mouth
Do you have your own thoughts on web content, relationships in online business? Leave a comment or contact Brad on his site at OnlineBusinessZen.com
For example, there are a number of popular strategies for manipulating search engines. You can pay someone to create thousands of links to your site on completely unrelated sites. These are usually spam news sites that engage in "black hat" techniques intended to obtain a high rank for your page on Google. This type of advertising manipulation may quickly get you to the front page of Google for certain keywords. However, even if it generates some sales for you, it is highly unlikely you will see repeat sales unless your site is fresh, compelling and gives the customer a reason to come back for more. If you've used tricks to get them there, chances are they won't stay.
You may have heard the saying that online, "content is king." The reason for this is that in today's internet, entertaining, compelling and educational content is the best free way to attract new people to your site. A steady stream of fresh content, is the best way to keep them coming back. The goal of your free content is not necessarily to promote your products, though certainly convincing free content may drive some to purchase your paid products or services.
Regular free content is really aimed to create a long term relationship with your customer, which is the main reason why email lists, blogs, podcasts and videocasts are so compelling from an online business perspective. When someone subscribes to your blog, email list, or podcast, they get fresh free content from you every week or so. Over time they get to know you, who you are, and grow to respect your expert knowledge and ultimately trust you.
We often make purchases based on the advice of those we trust. When I move to a new area and need the roof fixed, car repaired, or want to find a good school I ask people I know and trust. Recently I received a fly rod as a gift, and decided to learn more about fly fishing. Honestly, I know almost nothing about fly fishing other than it seems like fun - so I found some lessons being offered locally, and signed up for the course on the advice of a friend.
Ultimately, if the fishing lesson is good, it's very likely I'll recommend it to some of my friends. And some of them will recommend it to their friends, and so on, and so on...Word of mouth can be a very powerful force.
This also holds true for traditional business - we reach for the brand names we know first. Online, your content is your ticket, your lifeblood and the basis for maintaining your long term brand.
So what does all of this mean for successfully building an online business?
* Fresh and frequent content is a key component of building a long term relationship with your customers, and offering them repeat exposure * Compelling,free content can help directly promote your product or service * Relationships help build trust, which is the basis for long term, repeat sales * These elements ultimately build your brand, both through repeat customers, and word of mouth
Do you have your own thoughts on web content, relationships in online business? Leave a comment or contact Brad on his site at OnlineBusinessZen.com