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A brief overview of the main types of marketing that you can do online:

Pay-Per-Click: This is the equivalent of classified advertising in the real world, however unlike traditional advertising models you pay only on results, usually based on ‘unique visitors’. This kind of advertising/marketing only last as long as you are paying for it, however the results are immediate.

Banner or similar advertising: This is similar to ‘display’ advertising in traditional media such as magazine. Again this advertising is only effective as long as you are paying for it, as soon as you stop paying the advert is removed, however it has the advantage of offering almost immediate results. Unlike pay-per-click, banner ads are usually sold on a CPM basis (Cost per thousand impressions).

Affiliate Marketing(*): This is where webmasters and other site owners promote your products in exchange for a commission. This is an extremely effective way of marketing as your costs are directly tied to sales. Once you have setup your affilliate network it will require a few hours work to manage it each week (depending on success), however it will should not be an ongoing cash-drain.

SEO (search engine optimisation)(*): This involved developing a website which has been optimised for search engines, contains relevant keywords, relevant content and is easily readable by search engines. This however is not the only factors that Search Engines take into consideration PR (Popularity Rank) which is incoming links to your site, Alexa Ratings (how many visitors you get compared to competitors) are both big factors.

Viral Marketing(*): essentially word of mouth marketing, using electronic media to encourage dissemination of your ‘message’. This is extremely powerful. Viral marketing depends on a high pass-along rate from person to person. If a large percentage of recipients forward something to a large number of friends, the overall growth snowballs very quickly. If the pass-along numbers get too low, the overall growth quickly fizzles. This type of marketing can include articles and press releases.

Newsletter Marketing(*): If you run a newsletter you are able to offer your visitors a reason for supplying you their email address. Thi is the single best way to stay in regular contact with your visitors. Have an opt-in form on your main page and offer an incentive for subscribing, something free or enticing to generate sign-ups.

Email Marketing: Paying to email opt-in lists

Offline: Advertising in Magazine, Radio, Newspapers, TV etc