7 Steps to Better Business Promotions Online

Looking for effective ways to promote your business? Look to the internet! With just a little know-how you can advertise your business, use social networks for more business and follow-up effectively with customers and prospects.

Getting started is easier than you think with these 7 steps to better business promotion online. Part 1 of a 2 part series.

1. Build a Website
Having your own website, where you showcase your products and services is the first step to promoting your business online. Establishing your web presence is a 3 step process:

1. Register a Domain Name
   Every website needs an address, like every home needs an address. Your domain name is that address. When considering a domain name, think first about the name of your business, your location and whether your customers are local, national or international. Then search for a domain name.

   You can register a domain name for a minimum of one year. Or, you can register for multiple years. Prior to the expiration of your domain name, at the end of the registration period, you will receive emails prompting your to renew the name. It is a good idea to use your Calendar (Google Calendar and Outlook are examples) to schedule a time for domain name renewal.

2. Host the Domain Name
   Hosting is the process of creating the virtual space for your website files. This is not the same as owning a domain name. You can own a domain name but not have a website. But you cannot have a website without having the virtual space for the website files. Part of the hosting process involves creating space for your website on a web server.

   Two companies that register domain names and host websites are:
   Domain Names USA
   Moniker.com

3. Build the Website
   Building a website involves designing a layout, creating the graphic images and writing the text or ad copy for the site. You can do this yourself if you know HTML, you can hire a freelance Web Designer or you can retain the services of a business promotion company to do this for you.

   If you hire a company or freelance web design person, the cost of building your website will depend on the complexity of the site. How many pages will the developer create? How many images? Does your business need a shopping cart?

   These questions should be asked during an initial meeting. Then you should receive a written proposal based on your conversation. Once agreed upon, most sites can be designed, approved and developed within a few weeks.

2. Start a Blog
Starting a blog is the first step to having an online dialogue with your potential customers. You can use your blog to tell your visitors and customers about your upcoming events, new product launches and community service.

You can create surveys through your blog and get feedback about what your readers care most about. This is an excellent starting place for developing new products or services or improving your current offerings.

You do not have to be a technical guru to start a blog. You can be up and running with your own company blog in 30 minutes with either:
blogger.com, a Google service, or
wordpress.com.

If you are a wee bit technically savvy, WordPress makes their blogging software available to you for download from WordPress.org. Download the files, upload to your hosting account and install. Then find a theme that suits your business and you are ready to blog!

3. Create a Twitter Account
Twitter is the social networking sensation that you can use to build loyalty, establish yourself as an expert in your industry, offer your prospects an online coupon in real time, discover trends, start trends and much, much more.

Twitter is very simple. You join. You Follow. And people, called Tweeple, follow you.

And using 140 characters or less, you text a message from your mobile phone, laptop or office computer.

Setting up a Twitter account is fast and easy. Just go to Twitter.com.

Once your Twitter account is set up, you can hook your blog and your Twitter account together, so all your Tweets appear on your blog and your blog post titles appear on Twitter. Pretty nifty!

This is part 1 of a 2 part series on how to promote your business online. I welcome your comments on these business promotion tools and look forward to showing you 4 more ways to promote your business online!

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