Internet Revenue
Revenue from Internet sales have increased right along with the growth in Internet users. In 2000, sales through Internet sources increased more than 30 percent worldwide over the previous year. Sales over the Internet in North America alone, have experience a phenomenal growth. Forrester Research Inc., a national research firm, has published the following international sales forecast numbers. Notice that over half of the sales accrue in North America.

Your Website
A well-focused website is the electronic version of an attractive reception area in your office or factory, or an inviting window display in your store. People who want to know if you have anything to offer them can come in and browse at their leisure, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, getting to know you and your products or services - without costing you additional full-time staff or over-time hours.

While a website won't go out and drag people in off the net, selective positioning can put you high on the list of sites potential clients visit in their search for the products you carry. More importantly, a website makes you instantly available to your regular customers and establishes a base of operations from which you can provide information to clients, receive their orders and inquiries or efficiently handle customer service questions. Information of all types can be permanently or temporarily stored on your website, reducing the expenditure on print advertising, catalogs, spec sheets and promotional materials. As an adjunct to your regular marketing program, a website is an incredibly cost-efficient way of maintaining an up-to-the-minute connection with your customers.

A website also provides a great deal of flexibility. Compared to tearing down walls at your business or putting up partitions in your office, modifications to a website are quick and easy, allowing you to tailor the site content to meet the growing needs of your business and your customers. Regular updates about your newest products or the latest innovation in the industry can also put you well-ahead of your competitors. When clients discover that you are an ever-expanding, cutting-edge source for the products and information they need, they will return time and again to see what you have to offer.


E-mail
Nothing is as direct, as immediate or as inexpensive as e-mail communication. Think about it - there are no printing, paper or postage costs. According to New Century Communications and AdRelevance, the average cost of permission-based direct e-mail in 2001 was $0.20 each, while direct mail was between $0.75 to $2.00 and telemarketing ranged from $1.00 to $3.00 each call. Additionally, direct e-mail provides quick sales lead generation at no extra cost. According to a new DoubleClick study, 88% of people replying to permission-based e-mail have also made purchases in response to that e-mail message.

As an interactive medium, e-mail lets you establish a dialogue with new and present customers. Regular messages can create brand awareness or elicit continued responses from your clients. E-conversations with your customer base contain invaluable information that you can use over and over to meet their needs and boost your sales.

E-mail is also a highly trackable way to communicate. You get immediate notification of the changes that are necessary to update your contact list. You can see what sales techniques work - and what doesn't - and you can easily run tests utilizing different messages to small group, seeing the results generated by each message. Every prospect can be treated as a unique individual so that you can continue to provide personalized, relevant marketing campaigns and collect an astounding amount of helpful marketing information from your e-mail system.

The biggest plus may be that e-mail provides an incredibly easy way for customers to respond - and buy - since they are already on line. According to eMarketer, 80% of e-mail marketing messages elicit responses within 48 hours and generally no longer than a week, versus six to eight weeks for a traditional direct mail piece.

Newsletters
The Internet newsletter is really the up-and-coming player in sales and marketing. They are one of the best ways to remain in contact with people and establish your credibility as an honest and knowledgeable individual or company. You can report on subjects such as legislative issues that affect your industry, new developments and new ideas, informational shorts and calendar items, as well as many others.

When you share your information and expertise, customers also become receptive to hearing about your new products and important events specific to your company. Demonstrating that you are focused on their needs and are willing to share information, also creates the perfect opportunity to include business updates, announce new products and services, survey your subscribers to learn what they are looking for, offer "subscriber only" bonuses and printable coupons. Potential customers are much more likely to purchase from you, rather than a stranger, because they have an established connection with your company. With that ongoing relationship, your clients become receptive to a wide variety of promotions and your opportunities are limited only by the imagination.

Promotional Pages
Advertising by promotional page is an extremely effective way to highlight a single product and is rapidly becoming the product presentation form preferred by store buying departments. Especially when combined with e-mail or newsletter programs, it offers terrific versatility in adapting your advertising to specific interest groups and retail customers. Promo pages have been routinely used in print media to introduce a product, but the electronic version can be used and reused for as long as needed without additional printing expense. It is clean, focused, concise and detailed, and by including a high-quality digital photograph, is the next best thing to putting a product sample in their hands.


Affiliate Programs
If you are a qualifying business, an affiliate program may be perfect for you. It allows you to multiply the exposure of your products and services through the use of many websites operated by others - people who are interested in your industry or a related field. While the affiliate receives a cut of each sale or referral, this method lets you reach hundreds or thousands of potential buyers at a rate you alone could never achieve. With several types of affiliate programs to choose from, at least one of them could provide the new marketing leads or sales growth you have been looking for.

Classified Advertising
Internet electronic classified ads are an electronic version of the classified ads you see in your newspaper everyday. If your product or service lends itself to classified advertising, then this method can be an extremely powerful sales tool, especially when you can use the speed and flexibility of electronic media to your advantage.

Press Releases
Electronic press releases are easy to do and they cost next to nothing to distribute. A press release carries with it the intimation of importance and immediacy. Newspapers and magazines routinely receive press releases and are usually very anxious to publish them. Your event, whether it be a business anniversary or the unveiling of a new product, can be advertised broadly or to focused groups and can also reap the benefits of being printed in prestigious or authoritative publications.