9xb - Creating Online Success

WHY INVEST IN ONLINE MARKETING?

John bought a cakemaking machine to start his own cakemaking business. He made sure he had a warehouse stacked with flour,eggs, sugar and butter. He sourced the finest jam, and the best pink food colouring (for the all-important battenburg line). His chefs were a carefully selected blend of recent graduates and michelin-starred greats.

On the first day, he made 12,000 cakes. On the second day, he made a further 15,000 cakes. In fact, by the end of the first week, he'd manufactured 150,000 pieces of cakey goodness.

By the end of the second week, representatives from the bank had come and were packing up the cakemaking machine. And meanwhile, someone from Robertsons was at his house, taking away his sofa.

Why?

The reason was simple. In all his attention to detail, John simply failed to tell anyone he existed. His mum knew, and all his friends knew. A couple of them bought some yummy buns. The guys at the local cash and carry suspected, because normally people didn't buy jam by the palletload. But he didn't even put a poster up. He hired precisely no tele-sales staff. No leaflets dropped on the doormats of local shops. He didn't even phone ASDA to find out how to become a supplier.

Of course, no-one really is that dense, right? No-one would start a business and merely hope to attract custom out of nowhere?

Think again. The internet, whilst perhaps finally shedding its reputation as a way to an easy million, still offers the promise of instantaneous success to the unwary. Every day, someone somewhere launches a website and sits back, waiting for those sales to roll in without doing anything. That's maybe OK if you've got 10 years spare to wait for decent natural search rankings.

If you've invested £10000 in a website, plan to invest another £10000 promoting it. Hire a copywriter to write your site content. Get them to pen articles in your name, promoting you as an 'expert' in whatever field you work in. Buy advertising on a car. Pay for online adverts. Start giving motivational talks (and mention your website at every opportunity!) If it comes down to it, walk down your highstreet with a sandwich board.

But please, whatever you do, don't do nothing!

OTHER ARTICLES

• Are you Morrissey or Christina?
• 4 old tricks for new dogs
• Have Your Say!
• Using a Blog for Marketing - What, How, Why and When
• When Website Marketing Goes Wrong...
• Using Your Website to Support Your Direct Marketing
• Viral Email Marketing - Some Thoughts
• If No-One Can Find Your Website, Does It Exist?
• So You've Got A Website - Why Should I Care?