Your strategy should be to build your presence online, rather than expect quick results. The longer you maintain a presence, and keep it up to date and interesting, the better positioned you are to reap the rewards of online marketing.
As more and more people online come to know you and respect what you're doing, you'll start to see results.
To establish your initial presence you'll need email, of course, to communicate with everyone else online. As soon as possible, you'll also want to put your own home page on the World Wide Web.
For a home page, you have many alternatives. You can rent space in an online "mall". You can develop your own extensive Web site, with lots of links and advanced features. There are hundreds of companies that can advise you on the technical details of establishing your presence on the World Wide Web. Many Internet access providers will include your own pages on the Web as part of your basic service, but you'll need some technical know-who to properly format the information and get it in place. We won't get bogged down in the technical details here -- just be aware that there are plenty of people available to help you achieve whatever level of presence you can justify. And shop around -- prices for putting together a presence on the Web vary widely.
Whatever you begin with, whether it's just one page or a complex Web site, you need to provide useful information. A simple listing with your name, address, phone, email address and type of business will not do you much good. You need to at least give a short explanation of why you are unique -- what sets you apart from everyone else online.
© 1995 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All rights reserved.