Marketing experts like Jay Conrad Levinson, Joe Sugarman and Jay Abraham agree perfectly on ONE THING: The first thing you must do to promote your product or service is to identify your exact potential buyer. Here’s one way to find your ideal buyer online:

1.  Set up a free email account (hotmail, yahoo, etc.).

2.  Sign up for all the e-zines that match your business or consumers’ market by using this new email account. This website lists all the big and little ezines: http://ezines.nettop20.com.

3.  Compile a list of keywords for your business type in order to search out all potential ezines.

4.  Go to the websites of your clients and competitors and subscribe to their newsletters using the new email account.

5.  Read through the ezines each week to find out which ones are quality newsletters, who is writing articles for them, and how large each subscriber list is.

6.  Contact the best ezines to ask if the publisher would review your website or service.

7.  Post messages with your opinions and expertise to the subscribers.

8.  Write articles to share with the ezine publishers. Remember, they have to produce new content for each issue, so your offer is greatly appreciated.

9.  A great way to leverage other writers who are already contributing to these ezines is to email them and comment on their articles. Mention that their writing caught your eye because your expertise is in that business area and you respect their insights. You might create a great strategic alliance. Of course, visit the writers’ websites and sign up for the ezines.

10.  Consider placing ads in the best ezines. If you can, contact other advertisers who said they make money from their ads.

Just begin investing time to communicate with others in your marketplace and you’ll find a herd of buyers. And don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. You just might be someone else’s buyer as well.

Til next time,

Coach Mo

P.S. I just want to make clear that while this is a great way to begin and grow your online marketing, it is by no means an exhaustive list. Your marketing plan should be more comprehensive and inclusive of all your initiatives. Check in later for more offline marketing strategies.