E-zine advertising is perhaps one of the most underused forms of promotion. It is a good idea to do your homework, before launching your viral marketing campaign. Article writing and publishing has become the latest buzz in the internet website marketing world. The name of the game as far as Internet marketing

Once your site is in place you are faced with several challenges that are going to affect not only how long your business lasts, but also how effectively you will be able to promote and market your product or service to a broad, narrow or specific audience.

The web today is a lot like popular competitions. The owners love their widgets, they dress them up, enhance their skill for the talent competition and travel all over to make sure that their widget is in the running for a really big prize. The key in this phase, probably the phase you are now in, is that it begins with tremendous passion for your product or service. You know what you are selling intimately. You either have been doing it for someone else for years, been working on the idea of starting something that will allow you to make your own hours, or want to share something great. But, what happens when your passion is actually out there and you haven't got a resource bank to put power it.

Think of a sail boat. They are so beautiful. You always see pictures of these beautiful boats and smiling people with a happy guy at the helm. If you love the sun, water, adventure, this is a wonderful picture and makes you really want to be there. But, what happens when there's no wind? Unless sitting in the middle of the ocean sharing the last can of beans is your plan (which we know isn't), you're going to need some gas in your engine to cruise into a port until the wind comes up. So let's talk about the first two steps in making sure you always have some gas.

Product and Service Growth List

You already know that your website is more than loving your product or service and knowing that it will be beneficial to others, or posting some articles about your product on your website, using the marketing features once and then waiting for the multitudes to arrive. The web is a constantly evolving medium so marketing and maintenance must be a continual evolving effort for you to stay alive in this market. If your goal is to have a constant flow of traffic that includes both new and return customers then posting information or updates at unscheduled intervals or not maintaining your site is not going to result in a thriving business. Without a lot of time, effort and some excellent resources to bounce ideas around with, enhance your marketing strategy and provide you with honest feed back, you're going to be in a leaky boat really fast. So first, take a moment to make a growth list.

Your growth list is what you currently have in place-Website, basic marketing package, sort of a contact list and anything else that you know is going to need to be updated on a regular basis, the things that will never go away. Next, list the resources you currently have. This would include any packages or pieces of packages that you have only tried once or not used at all.

The next column of your growth list will be "need but don't have." These are those things (skills, products, software) that you don't have but need. Do you know every detail about your product or service but can't write or present it in a way that excites others? If you have a product, is it one that can be easily shared with others? Does your full-time job keep you from having the time to write articles, create ezines or newsletters, or cultivate and grow your market? In the web culture marketing is one of the biggest factors in growing your business effectively.

Once completed, keep your list in a safe place. Review your list often and add to it whenever you have an idea or see something that you might like to explore later. Don't delete anything. Your growth list is a keystone in creating and growing your marketing strategy.

Marketing Resource List

You want to create a list of the resources that you currently have on hand. This list includes people you know who will provide totally honest and unbiased opinions, mentors and tools that you have (even if you have never used them). Be sure to include contact or purchase information for your resources. As your business grows you will continue adding to this list. I have resource books that I morphed from address books purchased from my local market. This list will grow at an astonishing rate if you stick to your action plan.

Resources come in many forms. When I find an excellent book, article or piece of software or happen upon a great website I always put the title, author and other information in my resource book as well as the reason that I'm putting it there. This is especially important for the long term since you will forget in a year or two why you stuck a particular name, book or site on your list and if you haven't made a little note about it's purpose you may have to re-invent the wheel to get information that you already have.

Don't be afraid to contact authors or website owners when you want more information or have a question. Most of us love to write, chat and share information. The few out there who are just trying to solicit customers are pretty easy to spot and if you happen to wind up on an email list you really don't want to be on, you can always block it. For the most part though, when I contact someone with a question they are more than happy to answer the question. Usually I also get some great information that I didn't know I needed and in some cases I make a really good e-friend. Again, be sure to put these in your resource book as well as why you contacted them and what you learned. (You've probably figured out that I have several resource books).

There are many steps to take in growing your new business but the two items discussed above are by far the most important to ensure that you have a successful and growing internet business.

To find out more about building and maintaining a successful website or marketing strategy send me an email or read my other articles.

Copyright Ellen Jackson and Website Maintenance and Marketing

You have permission to use this article freely in any publication as long as you do not alter or change the content and the byline is included as-is. For more information please email me at info@website-Maintenance-and-Marketing.com