Marketing your online business is never an easy task. There is so much competition out there, and a lot of Internet marketing is far more costly than you can possibly afford. You have only yourself to rely on, and don't know where to start. Here are a couple of ideas as to how you can market your online business, while sticking to a budget…

1. Know your niche
If you haven't yet decided on your product or service, consider what people really need, and how you can fit in. Look into your own life and think about what you need - will other people need it too? Consider then what competition you might have - are there already hundreds of other businesses offering the same thing? Find yourself a unique niche to fit into that will fill a gap in the market.

2. Know your product
Once you have decided on your product or service, make sure that you educate yourself in full on it. Do your research and be prepared for any question - after all if you are passionate about your business, your clients will pick this up in your attitude and will become enthusiastic too!

3. Use your website for content, not just marketing
People are immune these days to the hundreds of adverts on websites today, and usually ignore them. Simple sites that merely try to push a product may receive a once off hit from a customer, but is unlikely to bring them back or lead to a sale. Give potential customers a reason to visit you. Think about what information they might be interested in alongside your product. For example, if you sell baking equipment, consider having a recipe section with a contributor's corner.

4. Have attractive features on your website on a regular basis
You want to get clients to keep coming back and recommend your site to other people. Consider adding a regular feature on your site that will keep them coming back to see it. For example offer a "recipe of the month" competition with a small prize - not only will people keep coming back to see winning entries, but you will be able to collect a database of email addresses from customers interested enough to enter - your ideal target market.

5. Make interaction simple
Give your customers a choice of how they want to communicate with you. Allow them to either click on a simple visible email link and write their own comment, or give them an online form that they can check appropriate answers. On this form ask questions that will help you get to know your customers better, for example ask if they are a professional cake-decorator or if they do it for a hobby.

6. Build your community
Keep in touch with customers who have already found you, and build up their loyalty. Consider creating a monthly newsletter to keep them up to date with what you are doing, without it coming across as obvious marketing, and try to get these people to come back to your site, and provide their feedback. They might even offer some useful advice that will help you build on your product, drawing more customers. Customers will also appreciate the fact that you listen to them, and will feel more loyal if they know that they are important to you.

7. Interact with other communities
Visit newsgroups that might contain customer who fit your profile, and post answers to questions that they might ask, offering your services to assist them. Not only might they become a customer, but also onlookers to the postings who don't necessarily post themselves.

8. Be an expert in your field
Know one knows your business better than you do, so don't be afraid to offer advice. Write articles for your newsletter and extend your expertise, and offer your advice on newsgroups. Customers will become loyal to you if they know that they can trust your knowledge.

9. Be professional, honest and polite
While the Internet is a great tool to get your message across to a large number of people, remember to treat people with respect, as you would want them to treat you. Never write an email in anger or frustration - it can backfire very easily. Rather sit down calmly and write down your main points in a professional manner. Don't make promises you can't keep, especially via email as customers will have proof of everything you said. Be polite and offer solutions or alternatives where possible, and always be prompt in your replies - a fast response to a query will always win loyalty over.

10. Add your signature to your emails
Most email packages allow you to create a simple signature that will appear on all your emails, with your name, email address, and motto, etc. Keep it short and simple - nobody will read anything too long and it doesn't look good either. Word-of-mouth is one of the cheapest and best marketing means, and adding this small signature to your email will help people remember you, and if your email, or particularly your newsletter, is of interest, it may be forwarded to other people.

Marketing your Internet business needn't cost a fortune, as long as you keep it professional and remember to stick to the basics!

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