Embracing online customers is more a matter of commitment and strategy than financial expenditure. It does not need to be expensive to reach online customers effectively. Using a market-led approach to Internet marketing, you can build an effective website and attract customers through various Internet-based marketing tactics.

Every business, small or large, will be more successful with a business plan. And the key component of a business plan is the marketing plan. A good marketing plan summarizes the who, what, where, when, and how much questions of company marketing and sales activities for the planning year:

This section of the marketing plan outlines each marketing event or action planned to increase sales. The plan will generally cover a calendar year, broken down by month or by quarter. For example, it may contain a summary of quarterly promotion and advertising plans, with spending, timing, and share/shipment goals for each program.

This section of the marketing plan outlines major company goals, marketing, and financial objectives. All objectives should be carefully quantified, where possible, especially in terms of an achievable time or date. Objectives should be reasonable and attainable.

The marketing strategy portion of your business plan presents the approach you plan to take in providing products or services to your customers. It explains, at a high level, what you've determined to do to get your customers to buy in the desired quantities. Someone who reads your market strategy should come away with a "big picture" view of how your business will present itself to the market segment in which you will compete. You should assess both the merits and the risks of your enterprise in the marketing strategy.

The attached file contains a simple, easy-to-use form designed to aid in the development of your objectives and strategies for your Internet marketing initiatives. Be sure to consider how short- and long-term goals will work together, and don't forget to consider any alternatives to your ideas.

I work for a small, Web-based company (FlatDoor). What is the best marketing scheme to promote our website? We have gone through many grass-roots marketing campaigns with limited success and are now investing in many online campaigns. In case this affec

I'm an early start up that expected to utilize forum participation as an initial "word of mouth" marketing strategy. I identified several active forums on the topic (Internet Security) and proceeded to sign up only to read their rules to find they don't al

Sending email is fast, free and far-reaching. This is why email marketing has become a popular way for businesses to communicate with existing and potential customers.