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The Technology Trifecta
Copyright © 2006 by Ken Partain
Using your web site, blog and newsletter to win the marketing race.
There are a multitude of technology tools available today to help the small business owner and independent professional manage all aspects of their business.
There are three in particular that when used together can really boost your marketing efforts.
Your Web Site
The first is your web site. There was a time when having a web site was just a novelty for the small business owner. Not anymore. Having a web site today is critical to your business success. Today when people are looking for something, the majority of them, about 70%, go online first.
Having a web site with current, relevant content is the best way to be found.
Your Blog
Although blogs have been around for several years, they didn’t really take off until the last 12-18 months. Now there are thousands of blogs being created every day. Many of them are personal rantings but a blog has a very real benefit to the small business owner.
Unlike your web site, which is, for the most part, an online brochure for your company, a blog is a way to really have a conversation with your visitors. Blogs are made up of many, usually short posts, about what is going on with your business and in your industry.
Blog posts allow your visitors to comment on each post and then allow you to comment in return. This conversation that is taking place helps people get a better understanding of who you are and how you work. It helps people get to know you, like you and trust you. And when that happens they are much more likely to buy from you.
Your Electronic Newsletter
Just about everywhere I look today, someone has an electronic newsletter that I can subscribe to. These newsletters are delivered right to my email inbox.
These electronic newsletters typically contain 2-4 articles relevant to your business or industry, resources so others can find additional information and more than likely something for sale, whether it’s your own product or one offered through an affiliate program.
Electronic newsletters are typically sent out weekly, bi-monthly, monthly or quarterly. The more often you send it, the better recognition you will have with your subscribers but you don’t want to bug them so much that they unsubscribe or simply ignore your mailings altogether.
Winning the Marketing Game
Using your web site, blog and newsletter together is a winning combination.
The core of your marketing message is on your web site with all of your marketing materials. You should also be offering something on your web site like a free report or white paper in order to capture a name and email address of your visitors so you can begin to market to them.
This list of names that you compile are the ones who will receive your electronic newsletter. In this newsletter you want to also offer your free report and drive traffic back to your web site to sign up.
The reason you want to do this is because even though the person you are sending your newsletter to has probably already received your free report, if you are including valuable content in your newsletter people will forward it to friends and colleagues.
You also want to include links to all of your blog posts since the last newsletter went out so people can click through and join in the conversation.
Your blog, as an extension of your web site, will drive traffic to your web site so people can learn more about who you are and what you do as well as to get your free report and/or your regular newsletter.
On your blog, you can make short posts about the last newsletter that went out and the articles that were included. You can post about events that you attended or participated in as well as upcoming events. You can also post about current events in your industry or community. As I said earlier, this is a great too to use to communicate with your audience on a regular basis.
So that’s how your Technology Trifecta works. Your web site is the cornerstone that lets people know about your newsletter and blog. Your newsletter is chock full of information about your industry and lets people know about your web site and blog. And finally, your blog is a way to engage your audience with short posts on an almost daily basis and it let’s people know what is going on in your newsletter and when you make changes to your web site.
Ride your Technology Trifecta to small business success!