15 Quick Tips to Grow Your Online Business

    /24-7PressRelease/ - FLETCHER, NC, April 16, 2006 — Today's Internet offers unique opportunities to start and grow a business online. It also results in a long list of competitors you didn't have before. Proofreader Ellen McNeill, founder of Website-Proofreader.com, recommends 15 Internet marketing strategies to help you gain a competitive edge online.

1. Provide outstanding customer service both on- and offline. Be thankful for every customer and treat each one as an asset to your business.

2. Create a compelling tag line for your online business. Use a short phrase that describes one of the benefits of choosing your company over a competitor's (e.g., Wal-Mart uses "Always low prices. Always.").

3. Maintain a specific theme and purpose for your website. You can't be all things to all people so don't even try.

4. Write website copy that focuses on a prospect's needs. Your website copy must answer the prospect's question, "What's in it for me?"

5. Offer only high quality products and services. High quality goods and services help to avoid returns, dissatisfied customers, and a waste of internal resources.

6. Simplify your purchasing process. If your customer has to jump through hoops to complete a purchase, you stand the chance of losing that sale.

7. Survey your prospects and customers to keep current. Never assume that you know all there is to know about your target market.

8. Write news releases when your business has something of interest to share. Free publicity is a gift so treat it as such.

9. Write and distribute articles on your area of expertise. Articles can establish you as an expert and help you gain visibility through viral marketing.

10. Offer something for free. You can offer something as simple as an e-book (there are free e-book sources), a sample of your product or service, or a newsletter.

11. Educate yourself on Internet marketing. There's so much to learn so just start where you are and focus on one strategy at a time.

12. Strengthen your soft skills. Continuous personal development on topics such as increasing productivity, leadership, or time management is important to the growth of your business.

13. Make sure your website is error-free. Errors are a turn-off. They break concentration, they are distracting, and they "water down" your website message.

14. Don't rely on online marketing alone. Put your URL on everything you create such as business cards, promotional items, brochures, letterhead, etc.

15. Ask for referrals from existing customers. This is a sure-fire strategy that can increase sales because you will gain instant credibility with a prospect when you're personally recommended by someone they know.

The company was launched in April 2006 by Ellen McNeill, a proofreader and copyeditor with 25 years experience and a B.A. in English Literature. She started the company in response to a trend for online businesses to "professionalize" their online image so they can compete more effectively in a global market. McNeill specializes in proofreading websites, e-books, and eBay auction listings.

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