Part I:
Marketing
Basics
4 Ps
Markets
Consumer Decisions
Diffusion
Marketing Mix
Relationship Marketing
Hunters & Browsers
USP
Push vs. Pull
Reach & Frequency

Part II:
Should your
Business
be Online?
Customers Online?
Competitors Online?
Cost?
Benefits?
Risks?

arrowPart III:
Marketing
Blunders
to Avoid
Netiquette
Legal Blunders
Distribution and Pricing
Graphics and Design
10 Blunders to Avoid

Part IV:
How to
Do It
Bare Bones Marketing
Getting Noticed
Call to Action
Repeat Traffic

10 Marketing Blunders to Avoid

1. Not getting involved.

You know your business better than anyone else and need to stay involved in every stage of design and maintenance. You cannot turn over your Internet marketing plan to your ISP or a web page designer and expect to get good results.

2. Ignoring your customers.

Answer your e-mail promptly. Fulfill orders quickly. Your cyber customers are every bit as real as your local ones and have a lot more options for purchasing goods and services. Don't treat them like second class citizens.

3. Ignoring Netiquette.

Study the culture before you take the plunge to avoid embarrassing yourself in front of a global audience.

4. Not integrating.

Integrate your Internet presence into all of your marketing efforts. Put your e-mail address and URL on your business cards and stationery and incorporate it into your advertising and sales promotion.

5. Not including your staff.

Everyone in your company needs to get caught up in the excitement of being on the Internet. If your sales staff doesn't understand the nature of the leads they are getting, they wil fizzle. Your secretary should be able to reel off your URL.

6. Getting complacent.

If you take a long lunch break, the Internet will have gone through 20 revolutions. Keep on top of things to make sure your approach is fresh and bright. You can't slap up a page and expect it to draw customers six months from now.

7. Not marketing your site.

Within the bounds of netiquette you have to hustle. Hundreds of thousands of web sites are competing for attention. Enter your site in all of the appropriate indices and search engines and make sure they stay there. Negotiate for reciprocal links. Consider banner advertising. Stay on top of it: new promotional opportunities are being developed constantly.

8. Giving up

It takes time to develop an Internet clientele. Give it at least six months.

9. Not having goals.

You can't be all things to all people. Decide on concrete marketing goals for your web site and stick to them. Delete the nonessentials. You don't have to fill up all the space.

10. Letting standards slip.

Treat your web site with obsessive attention to detail. Don't settle for anything less than you would demand from your traditional marketing media.

arrowNext Section: Part IV: How to Do It

Susan Ives
Square 1 Internet
suives@texas.net
(210) 694-4582
FAX (210) 694-IVES
 Bill McGaw
iWay Solutions
bill@iwaysolutions.com
phone: (210) 696-9800
FAX: (210 696-4900