Introduction

This post is the fourth in the series on starting an online business. Now that you have your products, an online platform and a business model, you are ready to go to the next step in your online business journey.

No business can thrive without an effective sales and marketing strategy.  Discover the best ways to promote your online business and build an audience of raving fans who are excited to learn about your products, services and opportunities.

Things You Need to Know Before You Start Advertising

1.  Know Your Ideal Customers

It's hard to promote and generate sales if you have no idea who you're selling to. To be successful, you need a targeted audience of people who are interested in what you have to offer.

Head over to our book store and get our interactive guide "Sell More to Your Ideal Customers" that walks you through everything you need to know and understand your ideal customers.  

Once you're armed with this information you will know what to do and say to get your products and services in front of the right audience.

Understanding your ideal customer is the key to make a connection that allows you to promote your online business.

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2. Know How Your Products and Services Can Help Your Ideal Customers

It's also important to understand how your products and services will help your ideal customers.

Sell more when you make the switch from product pusher to a trusted resource when you help your customers solve problems using your products and services.

Our bookstore has a resource "Is Your Product the Best?" that walks you through performing a product analysis. This analysis will help you make the connection between your products and services and the benefits they provide to your ideal customers.

Once you have this information, you'll understand the best way to promote your online business. You'll know how to use the right words and phrases to attract people who are most likely to buy your products.

You'll write better blog posts, ads, stories and product descriptions that will work to help you reach your goals.

Video: Things to Consider When Promoting Your Online Business

3. People Don't Want to Be Sold, But They Love to Buy

No one wants someone to talk them into buying something.

Most people know what they want and they are online doing millions of searches to find what they need. Your job is to be found by people who are looking for what you have to offer.

Your business can be found on Google, social media, forums, paid ads and in other ways. The best way to advertise is to inform, educate, and in certain cases add humor and parody.

Don't make your advertising look like advertising. Add something of value that your customers can use to make their lives better.  

4. Add Value for Existing and Potential Customers

Until you understand your ideal customers, you won't know how to provide valuable content that will help them.

Knowing what your ideal customers want and need will make it easier to zero in on what they need to solve their problems and reach their goals and provide content they will want to consume.

If you're having to guess what to write and promote, you're taking a hit or miss approach to your business. You'll waste a lot of time, energy and opportunities connecting with the wrong people.

5. Create a Sales and Marketing Strategy

It gives you templates you can use to write a short or a long plan, based on your needs. Chapter 6 shows how to help your ideal customers naturally find your products and services.

Use social media, your blog and any video or audio channels to take your customers on a journey that will help them understand how using your product(s) and services will help them solve their problems.

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Why You Need Training

There are many people who are searching the web for what you have to offer. The goal of advertising is to get your brand, your products and services in front of as many of these people as possible. You can accomplish this using social media and other resources. 

Once you're in front of those who are looking for your offers, the next step is to make a connection with them.

The problem with social media is that many entrepreneurs, when starting out, have no idea how to get in front of the right audience.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs go about advertising on social media using methods that work to repel and run away the people they are trying to attract.

They contact everyone they know, including complete strangers to talk (practically beg) them into buying their products and services. That is, until they learn better.

I recommend several training courses in the resources section of this post that will show you how to promote your business in a way that attracts an audience of raving fans

Why You Need a Social Media Presence

According to Statistica, the time spent on social media worldwide each day in both 2019 and 2020 was 145 minutes or almost 2.5 hours.  

So it's worth it to have a presence on social media. Find the best places to post your content, based on where your ideal customers hang out online. This includes social sites, forums, classified sites and groups.

Free Advertising

One of the most overlooked forms of free advertising is email marketing.  Building a list enables you to get your products in front of the right people and create a long lasting relationship.

When it comes to social media, you want to go where the masses are and attract an audience of people who can't wait to consume your content.

Given that Facebook is the largest social platform on the planet (at the moment), I would say that at least a portion of your ideal customers are hanging out there.  

YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google, so that is also where you want to have a presence. 

Pinterest has a user base that has now increased to 459 million monthly active users as of March 2021. Some of your ideal customers are probably hanging out there too!

For example, 80% of U.S. moms are on Pinterest. If your products or services can help moms, Pinterest is the place to be. 

You'll want to have a presence on social sites like Tik Tok, Clubhouse and any other platform, if that is where your target audience is spending time.  

There are classified sites, and other free sources of advertising you can use to get the word out about your products and services.

Don't just drop links and run when using these sites.  Many of these social sites have groups. Find relevant groups in these platforms and contribute value to the conversation. 

Paid Advertising

Most social media sites will allow you  to pay for ads that you can use to get your content in front of their users.

For example, using Facebook ads and putting their pixel on your blog or website can help you build an audience quickly.

The problem with paid ads is that if you don't know how to use them correctly, you can spend a lot of money and never receive a return on your investment. 

Since Facebook has such a large number of users, (roughly 2.8 billion monthly active users as of the fourth quarter of 2020) in my opinion it's a great way to get started with ads.

Let's face it, you probably have a Facebook profile, right? Why not create a Facebook business page (for free) and use it to create an audience that you can use to grow your business.

One of the best benefits of Facebook ads is that it allows you to target ads to a specific audience. Once you have identified your ideal customers, you will be able to use this feature to your benefit.

Every online marketer needs an audience of people who want what they are promoting.

Did you know that Fiverr offers courses tailored for your professional needs? If you prefer video instruction, take Facebook Ads Techniques: Increase Your Campaign Results, a Fiverr course for $42. This course is led by a handpicked, industry expert.

Take the courses you need on Fiverr, pay one low price with no monthly fees.  Fiverr is having a Flash Sale on all courses where you'll save 25% until 3/23/21. 

Things to Avoid When Promoting

1. Sending advertising to potential customers without asking for their permission first. This is considered spamming. 
2. Providing a link and asking people to click here for your products, or buy my products here without helping them understand who the products will help them reach their goals or solve a problem. 
3. Splashing the name of your company and/or product in your ads. People will just google your product and if they like it they will buy, but they may not buy from you. 
4. Starting with paid ads before you understand how to properly use them. Read books that guide you through key terms, strategies and ways to get the most for your advertising dollars. 
5. Not building a brand or establishing a company of your own regardless of any other firms you may choose to partner with.
   

Resources

Scheduling Apps and Software

These apps will take your productivity to another level. Use these apps to schedule your content on social media today, tomorrow and well into the future. Just set it and forget it. 

I take one day each week to schedule posts using Tailwind and Post Planner. 

1. Tailwind - use Tailwind to schedule posts on Pinterest and Instagram.

2. Hootsuite - use this app to post to most of the popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. 

3. Buffer - it works the same as Hootsuite, and the reason I am recommending it is because the pricing and features are different. 

4. Post Planner - post planner will help you post on a schedule. I like it becaue it  and they gives you the ability to easily repeat posts that are most effective. You can also create content streams that will help you get ideas and share the content of others.

Great Page Design Tools

You'll need the right tools to promote your online products and services. 

Design great looking, interactive, conversion focused web pages.

You'll need things like sales and landing pages, lead generation and contact forms, quizzes, countdown timers,  and eCommerce functionality.

Thrive Suite, Canva and PlaceIt are the tools I used to create this site.  

Thrive Suite - for conversion focused page design for blog posts, attention grabbing CTA's, sales and landing pages, lead generation and contact forms, quizzes, countdown timers,  and eCommerce functionality all in one marketing tool.

Canva - this is a free tool that you can use to create images and designs of all kinds, for social media, blog posts, products, services and more. You can upgrade to a paid plan that allows you to add your team and access a larger selection of tools, photos, graphic elements, and more. 

Place it - use this tool to create great looking mock ups to display your products and services in realistic settings. Check them out for mock ups for everything from t-shirts to mugs. You can use their templates to design logos, graphics, gaming images and video intros and outros.

Training Resources

To get the best results, it's important to understand the fundamentals of online marketing. Use the tips provided here and take a few courses from the resources below.  

These courses available in various formats from books to video training, covering different aspects of online marketing. If you're short on cash, choose the one that will provide training based on the platform you will use to promote your online business.

For example, if you want start advertising by creating a video channel, choose a training course that will show you the best way to advertise using video. 

In another case, you might be feeling frustrated with the responses you're getting from friends and family when you talk to them about your products and services. If so, attraction marketing might be the best place to start. You'll learn to use the internet and automation to build your business. You'll have people contacting you about your business instead of the other way around.

These courses are online, so you can take them at your own pace. Each one costs less than $150, and some are even free. 

1. Influencer Enrollment Method: Grow Your Business Using Video - Network marketers, use videos to grow your team and sell more products. 
2. The Attraction Marketing Formula - Use the internet and automation to attract an audience of raving fans.
3. Facebook Ads Techniques: Increase Your Campaign Results - How to use Facebook ads to grow your business.
4. Blogging Basics - How to start a self hosted WordPress.org blog.
5. Social Media Enroller - How to grow your network marketing business using social media.
6. Business Basics - How to start and grow an online business.
7. Social Media Marketing Fundamentals - How to promote your online business with social sites.
   
8. Grow Your Audience with Youtube Marketing - how to set up, customize and optimize a YouTube channel to attract a wide audience for your brand.
   
9. Thrive University - register for Thrive University to learn how to create websites, landing pages and opt-in forms that are built for maximum conversions.
   
10. Masterclass List Building in 2021 - discover lead generation techniques to avoid, the best tips for building an engaged email list, and how to set it all up.
    

Using the tips and resources in this post will give you the tools your need to build an effective sales and marketing strategy that you can use to promote your online business and get results.

Make sure to implement what you've learned and test different scenarios to see what works best for your business.