7 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Online Marketing Presence

Increasingly, online marketing is a crucial part of any marketing plan. Executing the programs in your plan, however, is just as critical. For many, finding the time is difficult. To make progress, you must set time aside each day (or other regular time period) for marketing online. To that end, take a moment right now to block out time for online marketing over the next six months, beginning today. Use that time today and over the next six months to execute Internet- based programs in your plan. No plan yet? No problem. You will, of course, want to finish your marketing plan so you can refine your activities, but you can begin improving your online presence today by doing one or more of the following ideas:

Volunteer for Online Interviews

Podcasts, Webcasts, blogs, RSS feeds and newsletters (ezines) are all venues for online interviews or discussions. You'll want to approach publishers who regularly conduct interviews with guests of your caliber, so finding opportunities will take some research. Do this by searching general search engines (such as google.com) or directories. Some directories to get you started: podcast.net (podcasts), ezinehub.com (ezines), sydic8.com (RSS feeds/blogs)

Identify 10 Bloggers in Your Category

Then send them your product as a gift. The idea is to expose your product to influencers in your category by giving them an opportunity to try it free. If they like it, they may give it a mention in their blogs. Note that this is a subtle online marketing technique. The idea is NOT to advertise to them, ask a favor of them or ask them to blog about the product. Choosing to mention (or not mention) your product should be solely up to them.

You can find and read blogs by searching blogging directories such as technorati.com.

Join an Online Network

Online social networks allow you to set up a profile page and interact with others who have your same professional interests. Each caters to a different type of audience, and there are do's and don'ts, so you'll want to read about a network before joining, read some of the profiles and learn a particular site's rules before plunging in. Some networks to explore: linkedin.com, ryze.com, myspace.com, orkut.com, friendster.com, tribe.net

Study Your 5 Closest Competitors' Websites and Online Marketing Activities

Aside from gaining a better understanding of trends in your industry, you will also gain new insights into promotional strategies and tactics for your own business. As you research, brainstorm a list of ideas and use that list to plan a new online strategy or tactic for your own business.

There you have it - seven ideas for improving your online marketing presence. Choose one and get started today!

About the Author

Bobette Kyle draws upon 17+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, online marketing experience, and a marketing MBA as inspiration for her writing.

Marketing Six Steps to Effectively Prioritize Your Time

One key to becoming more productive is to manage your time wisely. This way, those important projects and tasks will not "fall through the cracks." Additionally, you will find that some tasks do not really need to be completed at all!
First, prioritize your activities in the order of their importance. Time spent on routine or trivial tasks takes time away from income-generation. Ask yourself what absolutely must be accomplished today and write these tasks down. Unless you commit them to paper, these objectives are only wishes. Following a prioritized schedule on a daily basis will have a direct bearing on your overall performance. The six steps to effectively prioritizing your time are:

1. Make a critical assessment of how you spend your time. List your activities and evaluate them in terms of their importance.

2. Prepare a list of twenty tasks you want to accomplish for the day, and number them according to their degree of importance. Focus on one item at a time and, as you accomplish each task, scratch it from the list. At the end of the day, you will probably have several tasks that you were unable to accomplish. That’s OK. The next morning, they will be the first items to add to your new list for the day.

3. Be sure each activity is essential. Ask yourself if a given task really needs to be undertaken. If the answer is that you don’t really need to do it, you’ve saved a lot of time - and guilt. Simply take the task off your list.

4. Can the activity be systematized? By creating a step by step procedure, can you make it more efficient?

5. Do you have someone you can delegate assignments to?

6. Can you out-source some, or all, of the assignments?

Follow these suggestions for prioritizing your time and you will soon find yourself completing more in less time.