10 Ways to Succeed With an E-Business

A large part of my consulting practice is developing and implementing marketing plans for e-commerce and organizations that depend on their Web sites to either sell products or promote their services. The company leaders have visions of leveraging the Web to be a major rainmaker.

These companies want anyone in the market for what they offer to think of them. At the same time, they want to know how to drive traffic to their Web sites, especially if they are on a meager budget. As a person who owns, operates and has partnerships with many online ventures, I wrestle with that problem daily.

Here are 10 relatively low-cost ways to develop traffic and drive new customers to your Web site.

1. Search Engines: A former client, who provides broadcast email and fax services for corporations, runs ads on Google (GOOG Quote) (google.com). They used Google Adwords. A person types in "broadcast email," and there are small ads on the side of the page of search results. When you click on the ad, it takes you to another site, and the owner of that site pays as little as a nickel or as much as several dollars. My client told me they get hundreds of leads each day. Go to Google and click on "advertising." You can also do this through overture.com, which is owned by Yahoo! (YHOO Quote).

2. Publicity: Editors receive press releases every day about new Web sites. The approach to take is sending a letter of two or three paragraphs to the business editor letting him know what makes your Web site unique, and why his readers would be interested in learning more about the site. Paste a screenshot of the site into the letter. If the picture shows a unique product, like an MP3 pen that has an FM radio, or the service is unique, such as learning a language via telephone, it may grab the attention of the media.