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Although I highly recommend that you get a Web site if you're serious about making profits on the Internet, it's possible to market on the Internet without one and still succeed. I have been marketing online for over 2 years, most of that time without a Web site. I have sold well over $10,000 in product using nothing more than an e-mail account. To me, the Internet is an extension of mail-order marketing. It's simply an additional promotional tool for getting prospect leads and selling products (if used correctly). Here are 9 ideas for succeeding on the Internet without a fancy Web site. Essentially, in every case, you will direct people to your e-mail account to obtain more information. 1) Place classified ads (similar to print classifieds) in the commercial on-line services including America Online (keyword: classifieds), CompuServe (Go classifieds) and Prodigy (Jump classifieds). Do you promote a specific product or service offline? Advertise it with an online classified and have people contact you via e-mail for more information. Send sales info. by return e-mail or regular mail. 2) Place classified ads in Web classified malls. Check out http://www.imall.com for an example. Do a search in a search engine for "classified malls" to locate others. 3) Use autoresponders. These are e-mail robots that automatically send information to the person that sent e-mail to the autoresponder. You will also receive a digest of the e-mail addresses and the messages sent to your autoresponder. Save this information for follow-up marketing. Visit http://www.netopp.com/JS-2528 for information on reliable autoresponders at great prices. 4) Use Internet Newsgroups to network and locate target customers. Offer stuff for FREE such as a catalog, report or article. Be careful of blatantly advertising. You want to offer information of value to users. At the end of your FREE article or report, briefly tell people what you do and how to contact you for more information. Visit http://www.dejanews.com for information on over 15,000 Newsgroups. 5) Advertise in e-mail newsletters and online mailing lists. Just like a magazine or newspaper, you can advertise in other people's e-mail publications. This is a great way to reach your customers directly by e-mail. Visit http://www.liszt.com for information on thousands of e-mail lists. Send e-mail to adrates@infoback.net for advertising information in my e-mail newsletter. 6) Buy solicited e-mail lists. Just like direct mail, you can send advertisements about your products directly to people's e-mail accounts along with instructions on how to get more information. However, be careful about renting unsolicited e-mail lists. This can be very damaging to your business if done incorrectly. Visit http://www.postmasterdirect.comfor information on solicited e-mail lists. 7) Build your own "house" customer e-mail list over time. Save the e-mail address of anybody that contacts you via e-mail. These people are good prospects to contact again for follow-up marketing. They've already shown an interest in your business. When sending follow-up marketing messages by e-mail you incur no costs for postage or printing. Great! Integrate the building of your e-mail list with all forms of marketing you do, both on and offline. 8) Get FREE publicity online with press releases and articles you have written. At the end of an article, offer something FREE to readers via e-mail. Visit http://www.gebbieinc.com/presto.htm for information on blasting press releases online. 9) Host online Forums. In AOL and CompuServe there are tons of forums on different topics. Contact the administrators of these and propose to be a guest expert for a future forum. This establishes you as an expert. And people who participate in the forum are likely to contact you about doing business. By putting these ideas to work, you can build your business on the Internet with merely an e-mail account. Jeffrey Spencer
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