| When you find yourself struggling to make things | | | | course, "metrics" in just means the act of measuring |
| work in a fledgling Internet business - or if you are | | | | something. In the case of Internet traffic, you will |
| just getting started in making online sales - one | | | | want to measure visits to yours and competitor |
| natural impulse to have is to look for an online | | | | websites (Alexa.com), how many websites are |
| marketing consultant to lend you a hand. | | | | competing with yours for a given keyword search |
| After all, a good interactive marketing consultant can | | | | results list), and number of backlinks to a site (also |
| help to diagnose your problems and put together a | | | | Alexa.com). |
| series of recommended solutions for you. | | | | 3. Get access to free site optimization tools: |
| The downside of this idea, though, is the cost. | | | | Optimization tools are those that help you figure out |
| Usually, when one's business is not going so well or | | | | how to optimize your website for the right |
| has not had time to generate a cash flow, cash can | | | | keywords. Check out the free Google AdWords |
| be tight. Spending big money on a consultant just | | | | keyword research tool to find out how many |
| may not be the best use of your cash. | | | | searches each keyword gets. And, go to Keyword |
| What is a viable alternative to hiring a consultant? | | | | to run free keyword density analyses of each page |
| Become your own consultant. By getting connected | | | | of your site. |
| with the kinds of tools and techniques that | | | | 4. Research your top 3 competitors: |
| professionals are using every day to make $100K or | | | | Figure out which 3 competitors are "taking" the most |
| more online each year, you can avoid having to pay a | | | | traffic from you by ranking above you for important |
| consultant and get right to the strategies that work. | | | | keywords. Then, go through their sites with a |
| Before spending the money on online marketing | | | | fine-toothed comb to find out what they are doing |
| strategy consultation, here are 5 ways to be your | | | | right. |
| own online consultant: | | | | 5. Write down your top 5 business challenges - then |
| 1. Understand how traffic flows across the Internet: | | | | research the answers: |
| When things are not working well online or you just | | | | Finally - and this one is a bit more abstract - but write |
| need some new ideas, it can be helpful to get back | | | | out the top 5 things that are standing in your way of |
| to the basics. One of those basics is familiarizing | | | | success. Each one could be as simple as "I'm not |
| yourself with how traffic flows on the Internet, and | | | | getting enough traffic to my site" or "I'm not sure if I |
| more importantly, how to drive that traffic. A great, | | | | am selling the right thing online." Then, go about |
| free way to do this is with article marketing. Write | | | | researching the answers to these questions, as if you |
| and post 10, 50, 100 or more online articles. Do so, | | | | were your own consultant. You can research |
| and you will learn more about online marketing than | | | | answers online or ask trusted business colleagues for |
| any book could teach you. Look for eZine-style | | | | their input and ideas. |
| article websites to post to. | | | | The next time your web business needs a shot in |
| 2. Start using free Internet metrics tools: | | | | the arm, try each of these 5 ways to be your own |
| Another type of tool you should be using is any type | | | | online marketing strategy consultant. |
| of free Internet metrics tools and services. Of | | | | |