Online Business Optimization - 5 Tune Up Tools

Congratulations if you have dived into the ocean of the online business world - and many kudos if you are one of the very few that found instant success. The realm of online business and marketing reminds me of the first time I dove into the ocean with a surf board. Thirty minutes later I was caught in a current drifting out to sea with my daughter - and only avoided disaster through a caring local surfer rescuing the howlie (term for non-native Hawaiians.)

Like with any new culture (surfing or online business) most of us we need to focus on online business optimization. Here are 5 essential tools that will optimize any online business, or business that markets online.

1. Attraction Marketing. This is the way of the future in online business optimization. The old world of SEO (search engine optimization) or paying for advertising (ppc - pay per click, banner ads, etc.) WITHOUT providing value for your target market BEFORE the sale - is dead. Dead. Gone. For most industries just having the best and great site that ONLY sells, won't cut it anymore. Attraction Marketing is not a quick fix, but learning and implementing attraction marketing concepts, strategies, and venues to your business is the future for your online business optimization.

2. Sending out Cards using off-line mail. Things come full circle. Even if it seems paradoxical, the second most potent tool for online business optimization is the offline postal system! Sure - the internet and its power is here to stay, and any online business or those marketing online must embrace and maximize its potential. Having said that though, people are also looking for something tangible. Those who blend in offline follow-up marketing and customer relations and retention will find their effectiveness increase. There is a
service that makes this business optimization much easier
than you may think - and it is very low cost.

3. Healthy Foundations. A healthy foundation is essential for online business optimization. Things are changing quickly. If you only have a site that "sells" and haven't integrated the Attraction Marketing paradigm into your online business, you have only more money to spend with less results ahead. I had a friend with a fish pond in his estate that was dying. He brought in an expert for advice. The answer? He dug another pond right next to it. As the healthy pond then begin to mix with the sick pond, he ended up with a bigger healthy pond. Hopefully the analogy is clear. If your web business or marketing is only selling, and not providing valuable information to potential customers or clients, it is sick. You need to wisely add another "pond" to your online business optimization strategy. One pond expert we use is
Sbi - Site Build It.

4. Contact Management. The lessons were learned the hard way for many in the dot.com bust of a few years back. Just because you build it - doesn't mean they will come. If you do get them to come, it doesn't mean they will stay or buy. It is so much more than getting traffic, or even first time sales! Online business optimization requires integrated lead capture, follow-up, and management. If you get 100 people to your site, but optimize your online business for higher retention, that is much easier than getting the another 100 people to come!

5. Coaching. Don't feel bad if you are working hard for results. It is work - and it takes skill, regardless of what you were told. If you have a huge budget you can outsource some of the marketing, BUT so many so called experts are behind the times, selling what worked in the past few years. One on one business coaching for online business optimization can save enormous amounts of time, money, and effort. In ancient internet history (1 or 2 years ago) you used to be able to throw $100 or $1000 into some online ad campaign and get a return. That same return can cost you 10 times or more now. Find an online business optimization coach that is current with the times.

Surfing looked easy. Rent a board and jump in the ocean. It almost got us killed. After wasting hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in our first online business and marketing ventures, we also learned the hard way to invest in the coaching and tools for online business optimization.

If you were hoping to find a few quick tweaks to make your old school marketing methods optimize your online business, sorry if I burst your bubble - but maybe I saved you from drifting out sea never to be heard from again.

Curt Johnson, or Coach Curt, provides tools and training for online business optimization or implementation.
http://www.coachcurt.com