Effective online marketing is essential for the home office professional; learn how to organize everything from your marketing strategy to your promotional information to your online bookmarks for more effective marketing.
Organize Your Marketing Goals
The first step to take in productive online marketing is to figure out what your goals are. What are you trying to accomplish via online marketing? Who are you trying to reach, and for what end? Are you just trying to get your name out there, or do you want to sell a product or a service? Marketing takes many forms, so before you know which methods will be most effective you need to know your marketing goals. Set three to five marketing goals, and then set a timeline for each one. "Next Week" for all five goals isn't a good idea.
Organize Your Marketing Strategy
Make one or two of your goals more short-term, and give yourself more time for the remaining three.
Once you've determined your goals, you are ready to organize your marketing strategy. For each goal you've listed, list the first five steps (at least) that you need to take toward reaching that goal. Make each step a single task if possible; if it's a more complex "project" type step, then break it down into simpler steps. Find a little time each day to spend on your marketing. It may only be twenty to thirty minutes, but if you know exactly what you need to do it can be effective. Start with the first step listed under the first goal, and work your way down the list.
Organize Your Promotional Material
The promotional material you use for your material is an important part of productive online marketing. It may be as simple as creating an email signature or a Twitter feed that you update regularly with work-related material; or it may be an entire portfolio online, a regularly updated blog, work samples, ebooks, or various social networking pages. It depends on what your work is, what your personal style is, and what your marketing strategy is.
Whatever your promotional material, it's important to keep it updated, professional, and linked to your marketing strategy. Make a list of all your online resources that can be used as promotional material for your business. Link those materials to the tasks you are working on as part of your marketing strategy.
Organize Your Online Networking
Spend some time thinking about how online networking fits into your overall marketing strategy. You can spread yourself so thin on the various means of online social networking that you end up accomplishing nothing. This is where the adage that "less is more" rings true. First, you need to determine what online networking tools fit into your overall marketing plan. Then you need to organize them. Use an online bookmarking service to keep track of the sites that fall into your online networking plan. Set up reminders on your calendar system (if you need to) to check in and update. Consider Windows Live Calendar. And remember to use your online networking as a way of spreading the word about your promotional material. Link when appropriate, share when appropriate, and use your materials as they are meant to be used: to promote your business to potential and current clients.