Doing business online is different than doing business offline. That seems obvious in some ways, but it is the not-so-obvious ways that can trip people up–especially in the early days of launching an Internet business, or marketing an offline business on the Internet. “Tripping” in business these days, could mean going right over the cliff.

What I see a lot of people do when they first decide to market an existing business on the Internet, is create a website, and then work at telling people with whom they already come in contact (offline) to visit it to learn more. They might print the website URL on a business card, and then hand out the business cards wherever they go. Twenty…; fifteen…; even TEN years ago that was considered pretty savvy marketing.

Not anymore.

In essence, that approach is a lot like buying billboard space, or creating a glossy brochure, and then using traditional (non-Internet) methods of getting people to look at it directly. The “reach” of your message will be limited by the reach of your marketing. And, both billboards and printed materials are pricey as all get out. Who can afford that?

Forget the “field of dreams” approach too (that is, “build it and they will come”)–it is a myth that will leave you in the dust, while all around you are Internet-savvy business owners, raking in the profits, because they learned HOW to market their businesses online. There is a HOW here. You with me?

Simply starting a blog or building a website will NOT ensure that a prospective customer in another part of the city, state, country, or world will find YOU when they go a-Googling. Remember–most of your future customers do not have your printed business card, therefore they do not have your URL; to be blunt, they have no inkling that you exist. You can count on this though: they will find what they are looking for and they will spend their money–but it will not be with you.

In order to get in the game, new Internet marketers must get up to speed quickly on how search engines actually work. The key is to understand what information your website (i.e, you) needs to feed to the search engines in order to be found and displayed in the search results.

” ‘…Feed…the search engines?’ What do you mean?” This is more involved than the average Internet user/consumer has any reason to know or understand. It is the essential life-force, however, for a successful Internet marketer. Inside the biz it is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. Fortunately, SEO is something that even Internet newbies can easily learn and master–with the right training and support.

A Super-Short Intro To SEO: The whole point of using the Internet to market your business is so that you can leverage your time, resources, and actions for maximum ROI. In other words, you want to OPTIMIZE the search engine and its search activities to give your business top ranking and make sure it shows up ahead of the competition.

Using SEO techniques, a few well-crafted, well-targeted (and mostly free) marketing actions will jettison your unique message, product and/or service out into the Internet universe in a matter of seconds. AND, (once you know what you are doing) you will understand how to “backlink” (an SEO term) everything that goes out, in such a way as to magnetize it and attract massive traffic back to your website or landing page, from the far corners of the Internet universe. Ta-da! Never in the history of the world has there been such an opportunity to connect searchers almost instantaneously with access to the very things they are searching for. We want that to be YOU!

A Hard Pill To Swallow: The Internet has so revolutionized the way business is transacted today, that any business owner who does not get up to speed with this in 2010, will have a hard time surviving by 2011. That will be a particularly hard pill to swallow for businesses that did just fine (thank you very much) before the Internet came along. Those days are over.

I’m just sayin’.

Be amazed and amazing,

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All the best for your success,

Thia Hamilton, Ph.D., successfully launched her own independent Internet Marketing Education and Home Business Coaching company in the Spring of 2009Since then she has provided invaluable assistance and resources to hundreds of adults moving from traditional employment to home-business entrepreneurship, learning how to use the Internet to achieve explosive results and lifestyle freedom. Assisting and encouraging mid-life, career-changing entrepreneurs is what Thia loves best because she walks the talk! Her expertise, passion for supporting others’ success, and great sense of humor have evolved through 30 years of leadership and management experience in the nonprofit sector. In her long and rewarding career, Thia has been mentor, advocate, friend, and career coach to thousands of individuals as they overcome huge obstacles in order to live prosperous and empowered lives.