Small Business Internet Marketing Strategies

I recently attended a business get together sponsored by the Adirondack Regional Chambers of Commerce (ARCC) in Cambridge, New York in southern Washington County. I spoke to a few small businesses presenting on how they use Internet Marketing Strategies. I learned the majority of small businesses still rely on WOM - word of mouth as their main media channel.
A word of mouth channel is important and provides quality leads but will not be able to support a business over the long term. This was also substaniated in a survey I conducted with local businesses. This will be presented shortly.

Small businesses today still do not realize or have developed a strategy to promote their business effectively online. This mainly due to not understanding how to leverage the many options available such as:

• Site Optimization - What is the best approach?
• Pay per Click - What is the cost? What Keywords should I use?
• Press Release Optimizaton - Unsure of how this works
• Linking Strategies - Getting sites to link to yours is good
• Submission - There are many directories and search engines to submit to
• Email Marketing - How do I start a customer email list?

Small Businesses today are confronted with many options on how to effectively navigate the online media channel. Selecting the right Internet Marketing Strategies is key for a successful online campaign.