Focusing Your Internet Marketing Business for 2010

Have you set your goals and started to ramp up your internet marketing business for 2010? After a couple of weeks break over the holidays, with family visiting with us from Australia, I am in the middle of doing all this for our own IM business.

It seems to me, though, that it’s not just a moment for new and bigger ideas and goalsetting.  Along with all that it’s time to also hit “reset”.  Clear the decks.  Start the new year with a clean slate.

Let me suggest 3 important first steps you can take:

STEP 1: Clarify Your Target Market

Dabbling in a bunch of different niches with only vague focus will lead to lukewarm results, and is no way to build your online business.

Know and be crystal clear about your niche, your target market, and your typical customer

Doing this may seem limiting and it can be a tedious part of the work, but it’s essential. Clarifying your target market will:

• Make it easier to stay focused in your business.
• Enable you to sell more of your products to your readers.
• Help establish you as an expert voice.
• Make it easier to find joint venture (JV) partners.
• Enable you to cross-promote your online assets / real estate. (Which brings us to the next step…)

 STEP 2: Take an Inventory

In order to evaluate your business and where it’s going, it’s important to take a complete inventory of all your Internet marketing holdings. ALL of them. Yes, this may take some time, but what you’ll discover will be invaluable. 

What To Include Your Inventory:

1. Domains That You Own
2. Websites in Full Operation
3. Websites Under Development
4. Products You Sell
5. Products in Development
6. Your Mailing Lists / Autoresponders
7. Your JV Partnerships, and agreements in place with them

What to Do With Your Inventory:

• Get rid of the stuff that doesn’t fit your target market (see step 1)
• If you have unused domains, don’t be afraid to cancel them or sell them.  Not just to save the cost, but to clear the clutter.
• If you have websites that are partially developed or are not receiving the care and attention they deserve, get them off your plate.
• Quickly evaluate the products you’re selling & how they’re selling. (Should any be dropped, or set aside for re-development when you have time?)
• Consolidate where possible. If you have websites, mailing lists or any other pieces of virtual that seem to overlap and are making more work for you…for no apparent reason, consolidate. For example, don’t spread yourself thin by trying to have 4 different blogs that serve the same target market. As a blog owner, we want to increase readership and have plenty of interactivity through commenting, linking, etc. You’ll get a whole lot more if you don’t spread yourself too thin.

STEP 3: Change Your Ways

Once you’ve done your clean up, it doesn’t end there. Make a commitment to truly change your Internet Marketing ways to be more effective.  Here are some tips:

• Keep Your Inventory Up-to-Date
• Keep Your Inbox Manageable & Your Distractions to a Minimum
• Do Not Buy Domains until You’re 100% Ready to Start the Project
• Focus on the Profitable
• Maximize Every Piece of Virtual Real Estate
  • Web sites
  • Blogs
  • Thank you pages
  • Download pages
  • Autoreponder emails
  • Don’t forget your 404 error pages
  • Your opt-out page
  • Whatever else you got

Remember, nothing changes until you make a change. Take a day or 2 to evaluate and clear the clutter. Then you’ll be positioned for your thrust ahead in 2010.

Phil