http://tinyurl.com/5tbjvy

Mark

I agree that forums are good places to go but if you’re going to market effectively then authoritative presence is essential. That’s not for everybody but I’m mindful that sites like English Cut, Stormhoek, WigglyWorms and Tinbasher have all done great work in building what is sometimes called the ‘global microbrand.’

I also take the point regarding search but as far as I can tell, the only folk getting rich off that model is Google. PPC is far from proven and please don’t get me started on SEO.

I certainly take your point and can maybe see why the article comes across that way. The context of the article brief was to identify some very simple first steps that a small business could take online – and by small business I was very much thinking your local sandwich shop or barber, freelance illustrator or builder.

The article mentions advertising as a next step – to be taken after making efforts to find your target customers online and go where they are, listen to what they’re saying, and join in. If the article came across as online marketing = advertising, it wasn’t intended (and my colleagues would shoot me if that’s what I practiced!).

For many of these businesses, a deep and considered online marketing strategy maybe wouldn’t quite fit their bill. However, the power of search engines – and the huge reach they have right through the online public – means that such small businesses can improve greatly their chances of being found by potential customers, by taking those first easy steps.

I’m glad you agree with the power of online forums. For my worldly sins (or so it sometimes seems) I’m chairman of UK Business Forums. Hundreds of small businesses have gained many new customers through the forum simply by joining in discussions about the product or service that they provide, or around the problems that they solve.

Always impressed by your blog Dennis – a fantastic site.

Cheers for now,
Darren

On social networks, there is evidence. I attended a meetup where Nike, Dell, Intel and sony Playstation demonstrated clear success and value. What I will agree is that there is less evidence in B2B markets although the Big 4 have been moderately successful using FaceBook for hiring staff.

On Facebook, I don’t know any B2B player who takes it seriously as a long term marketing asset partner. We’re waiting for the train wreck.

social networks are a recent buzz and so far there is no valuable business model too see how to generate commercial value – that is the purpose of any biz.. Facebook is some car racing here, some vampire bites there and lots of fake names [aston martin???], drive-by malicious code injections etc. . . where do they generate value beside the wasting of time by posting youtube videos or playing low quality click-generating games?

adwords can make a lot of sense for you business. when you are big you can buy what makes most sense. when you are small you can buy the long tail and you are given decent tools [keyword suggestion tool for example] to do so.

last but not least i think the cornerstone of any successful online venture is high quality content targeted at your topic(s). of course their are TONS of other things you need to do to succeed – but no SEO Guru can ever make your sites a sustainable success with low quality general content blabla. having a long term plan to develop such content, define how to do it at what cost and how to market it would be a strategy. to discuss the means to make it more efficient or effectiv at different stages with certain actions is tactics. you can´t win a war discussing tactics only . . . I´m not pointing to any recent examples for that here