There have been some interesting responses when people hear what I do for a living. In fact, Im almost certain Ive seen a few people take a step back. When people hear internet marketing, they think of those annoying pop up ads and spam in their inbox. But thats not what this article is about Im an internet marketing consultant and I despise that stuff too.



Once you get past all the annoying things about internet marketing, you realize that the internet offers some great, practical advantages, especially for small business owners like you and I. Here are a few:

1. Its Inexpensive. Part of what makes internet advertising so inexpensive is that you can publish information instantly without using costly paper and ink. Let me explain
   
   
   
   Suppose you plan to print a brochure for your business. The printing company is going to set their price based on the quantity of brochures youd like to print, AND the number of colors you want to use in the brochure. You are also limited by the amount of text and photos you can squeeze onto that 8 x 11 paper. When you run out of brochures (or when the information becomes outdated, which is usually what happens first), you must pay the printing company to do another run.
   
   
   
   But your company website is a lot more nimble. You can make your website work like an online brochure. Hundreds of thousands of people can read it at the same time, without paying for hundreds of thousands of copies. When the information in your online brochure becomes outdated, the changes can be made in a minute or two, at no cost. Once it\'s changed, everybody has the most current information at their fingertips. And of course, with the internet you dont pay for the use of color, and you arent limited by the size of a piece of paper. That means you can include as much text and as many photos as you like. The advantages with internet marketing are obvious. By having your own website, you can publish as much information as you want, and keep it constantly up-to-date.





2. Immediate Contact, Immediate Results. Another advantage of internet marketing strategies is how you can immediately contact your prospective customers, and more importantly see immediate results! Lets consider that brochure again.
   
   
   
   Once the brochures are printed, you will receive several big boxes full of brochures. Its up to you to get them in the hands of your prospective customers. So perhaps you plan a direct mail campaign, where you mail the brochure to thousands of prospective customers. You must pay for postage (another expense). You also must wait on the mail carrier to deliver those brochures, and THEN wait to see how many new customers purchase your product or service. If you find that the brochure doesnt pull in business the way youd hoped, your only option is to start over to re-print and re-mail. Its an expensive choice and most people just choose to accept the poor results.
   
   
   
   With the internet, you can use e-mail to send your online advertisement free of charge, and youll have feedback within an hour or two to judge whether its effective. If it isnt working no problem it doesnt cost a thing to change it and resend it again later.
   
   
   
   
3. Its Viral!
   
   When I hear the word viral, my first thought is to stay away. But when it comes to your internet marketing strategy, viral is a good thing! (Not to be confused with virus, which is completely different.)
   
   
   
   If youve ever used the free e-mail service from Hotmail, then youve seen viral marketing at work. When Hotmail started, they put a small text ad at the bottom of each e-mail message their customers sent that said, Get your private, free e-mail at www.hotmail.com. Within no time, hundreds of people began clamoring to get their free e-mail. The hundreds became thousands, and the thousands became hundreds of thousands. Suddenly, Hotmail was the largest e-mail provider on the planet, all because of a text ad that cost nothing to include on their customers e-mail messages.
   
   
   
   If your website has content thats meaningful to people, it too will become viral. People who visit your website will begin sharing a link to your website with their friends and youll reach more people than you ever thought possible.