Internet Marketing Tip of The Day: GLOBALIZATION IS A REALITY. Why not make it work for your business? To make your online business more global, first see which countries you are already attracting visitors from and use them as a test audience. How do you know? Ask you webmaster to provide those statistics. Then, create some products or services that meet the needs of your international audience and use the test results to expand to other countries. By the way, if you aren’t receiving good, detailed visitor data from your webmaster, you’re missing huge business strategy opportunities. Learn about upcoming internet marketing workshops.

A consumer asked: What would you do to attract the right [social media] leaders?

HERE’S ONE STRATEGY – Listen, then engage: First listen. Start by joining groups that attract your target audience. Monitor group discussions and determine who the unofficial leaders are. These are the people who seem to naturally influence others in the group. These are the people who seem to inspire others and get them to take action or to voice a relevant thought or question. Get a 360 view of these individuals. Listen to their discussions. Identify their interests. Look for a common thread with those individuals.

Engage them with sincerity and transparency. Look for opportunities to invite them into your discussions. If they appear receptive, friend or follow these thought leaders. When possible, engage them offline with a phone call or in a face-to-face meeting (a lunch discussion perhaps).

Remain sincere in your discussions but share your expertise while learning theirs. Look for opportunities for strategic partnerships. Become a part of their sphere of influence and let them become a part of yours. Create opportunities to help them achieve their goals. In other words, show added value. If you’ve chosen the right thought leaders, you should see proof of their impact on your sphere of influence in a relatively short time. Learn about upcoming internet marketing workshops.

Internet Marketing Tip of the Day: Does your website look… credible? When visiting a website, a consumer’s internal conversation often includes the question, “Is this website a reliable source?” This is especially important when they are looking for resource material or doing some online shopping. If looking for resources, consumers want to get information from an expert. If shopping, most only give credit card information to a website that looks like it is from a solid, professional business, not an overnight project built by someone’s niece. Keep these factors in mind as you make a choice about how to get your professional website developed. Learn about upcoming internet marketing workshops.

Internet Marketing Tip of The Day: CONSUMERS INCREASINGLY USE MOBILE PLATFORMS: In 2012 and beyond, expect attention to your advertising to shift as people in front of televisions frequently — and simultaneously — reach for two additional screens: tablets and smartphones. What does this mean for your business? For one, you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage if your website streams videos or other content that are in formats that cannot be displayed by smartphones of tablets (for example, Flash). Although it’s safe to assume that this is an issue, there are ways to prove this to yourself. Start by having your webmaster send you statistics about your website visitors. The statistics should include information about the number of visitors who come to your website using these types of technologies/platforms. You may also want to consider your overall marketing spend and redirect more funds into mobile and internet marketing. E-marketing is often much more affordable, reaches a broader market base and your influence (and often sales) can be easily tracked and managed.