what's the best way to promote a new online business?

[witelite59]

I'm planning on having a website, but would it also benefit me to join MySpace or Facebook too??? Or would that just be waisted time and energy?? what does one of these social networks do that my website cannot do?? if that IS the way to go, which one would be better for a business that makes custom made art work (that can incorporate pictures of your loved ones) that has a price point of $15.00-$20.00?

[Steven]

If you want to market your website effectively, linking it with Facebook and Myspace will help your Google ranking. Use all of them that you can: Twitter, Youtube, Flickr, the more the better.

Make sure you use plain text rather than a lot of Flash and images on your website so the search engines can read the content.

[Kimberly]

You may want to consider looking into having an
affiliate company to gain additional revenue while
the site gets notice. It can take up to 12 months
to get going. Look at Commission Junction and
LinkShare. I love these two affiliates. You would
only have other information on the site pertaining
to your site and you would earn money if they
look into the information. I am curious to see
the respond to MySpace, Facebook and Twitter
I too was wondering.

Have you checked into advertising with the
International Association of Funeral Directors,
they have a monthly magazine that is used within
the industry, you may be able to advertise through
them and within the funeral homes websites.

Very best to you.

[hung n]

you can advertise it on other forums such as http://myplacetotalk.com

you'll get unique visitors = traffic to your website

[sadec]

Hi There,

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http://www.make-money-on-internet-now.com

[saoceanblue]

Joining MySpace or Facebook is not a waste of time and energy. The social networks are all about connecting with people. People get to know you and your products. Twitter and Facebook are becoming so popular and successful for businesses. You need to learn more about social media marketing strategies and how they can help you promote your business.

[Tony]

Facebook, MySpace, and such sites are tools that can be used effectively to gain more traffic to your own site if you learn to use them properly.

However, before you get started, I highly recommend coming up with an online marketing plan and sticking to it.

To create a basic plan, you might want to answer the following questions:

1. What words are people using to look for your products?

This should influence your choice of a domain name unless your store is already so large that a lot of people search for it by name in the major search engines.

2. What domain name are you going to use?

A good domain name will include a strong keyword phrase that people use when searching for the types of products you offer. Ideally, the phrase(s) used would have relatively low competition and high search volumes.

3. How are you going to get people to find your site, specifically?

There are a huge variety of options, each of which works when properly understood and used. In addition to social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, you might want to look into:
* Directory Submissions
* Creating an xml site map
* Creating an rss feed
* Using feed aggregators
* Writing articles related to your products and putting them on your site.
* Using Squidoo, Hubpages, Wetpaint, and other such sites
* Using Twitter and Social Bookmarking sites
* Joining forums related to the products you offer

The main thing that MySpace and Facebook offer which a new site does not have is traffic, though targeting that traffic well can take some doing, especially if you are new to such things.

Rather than jumping in and trying things, you will almost always be better served by creating a plan and sticking to it. Of course, a plan requires researching your options...but it sounds like you are doing that.