One of the biggest parts of an online business is getting traffic to your site. Once you have a good product and an effective website, the higher volume of traffic you can get to your site, the better.

You may be on Twitter and Facebook, have PPC ads coming out your ears, have a popular YouTube channel, and come up on the first page of various search engines. But to bring in more traffic, more customers, and more revenue, you may want to consider starting a podcast.

A podcast is an audio file you record in advance and allow people to download. It can be long or short, and talk about whatever you want to talk about. By regularly updating your podcast with new episodes, you’re able to consistently provide your listeners with the latest on your business, the industry, or just your life.

Here are some tips to consider for your podcast:

• Make It A Revenue Source While there’s nothing wrong with just chatting up your listeners each week, there’s no reason not to make your podcast a source of revenue. Talk to other businesses to see if any would be interested in sponsoring an episode.
• Make It A Resource For Your Listeners Your podcast is a chance for you to talk to your customers about your product, what it can do, and how it can help their lives. A podcast isn’t a sales pitch; it should be more casual than that. But you want to be providing your listeners with valuable information.
• Make It Consistent Both in frequency (once a week is usually good) and in length (anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour).
• Make It Easy iTunes is probably the most popular way to submit your podcast, making it instantly available to your listeners whenever you update.
• Make It Unique Occasionally, have a promotional offer or give out a coupon code on your podcast and nowhere else. This will give others the incentive to tell others about your podcast and help it grow.

Podcasts can be a great way to expand your business and bring in more revenue. With a minimal up-front investment and almost no ongoing costs (other than your time), there’s no reason you shouldn’t start your podcast today.

The evolution of technology in recent years has meant more people are using their mobile phones to access the internet. Accordingly in 2005, the .mobi domain – a domain designed specifically for access by mobile devices – was approved. So what does this mean for your business? What exactly is a .mobi domain? And do you need one?

            The idea behind a .mobi domain is to create a website that can be easily accessed and viewed by a mobile device. If you already own a phone with internet access, you know that you can already view pretty much any website on your phone (.com, .net, .org, etc.) regardless of the domain. A properly-designed .mobi site simply makes the site easier to use and navigate; the site is intended to be viewed on a smaller screen with a mobile connection.

Once advantage to .mobi sites is that search engines know if you’re searching on a mobile phone, and will give preference to sites using the .mobi domain. This means the search results are more likely to include a .mobi site than a non-.mobi site.

So do you need a .mobi site? It depends on your current website and your business, and will take some research to figure out.

First, try visiting your current website from a mobile device. How is the experience? Is it difficult to navigate? Are you able to see things clearly enough? If it’s an awkward experience (and feel free to enlist friends to do the same thing) you have a few different options.

1. Maybe you don’t do anything. Look at your target demographic; are a significant portion of them using mobile devices to access your website? How much revenue do you think you’re losing by not having a mobile-friendly site? If you’re not alienating a key demographic, you probably shouldn’t worry about it.
2. Maybe you try to improve your current site. Like was mentioned, mobile devices can already access your .com site, but maybe it’s just a little cluttered. Try some design changes, or have contact information prevalent so they can call you (you know, use the “talky” part of their phone) if they have questions. But keep track of the data; if the changes don’t bring greater revenue, you may want to stick with what you had before.
3. Maybe you invest in a good .mobi site. If your customers need a better experience when visiting your site on their mobile devices, and your current site is hurting the bottom line, you should probably make the investment. Plus, this may give you an advantage on your competition when people search for your product on their phones.

Weigh the pros and cons, then make an educated decision about creating a .mobi site. If it’s not going to directly help build your business, there’s likely not a pressing need to create one.

If you don’t have an email list for your online business, it’s like someone taking the time to build a beautiful brick and mortar store and then not having a cash register. A solid email list is an incredible asset that helps your sales go through the roof! Did you know that most people don’t make a purchase from a website until they’ve visited it at least five times? This means that when a potential customer visits your site, it is likely that no matter how long they spend, they are not going to make a purchase during that visit. By collecting their email you have the opportunity to stay in contact with them and market to them in the future. If they visit your website once and then leave, they may never return again. In that case, you’ve not only lost a sale, but the potential of continued business from that customer. This is why an email list is so crucial. You simply can’t effectively market without it!

Every person on your email list is a potential customer. You need to tell them why they need your emails and how it will benefit them. Doing so will help you build a loyal email list of people who understand who you are and what you will be providing them. A huge benefit of having an email list is that you can be proactive with information. For example, you can send out an email to new signups that answers a handful of frequently asked questions. This allows you to give them the information they may have been wondering about and also answers questions they didn’t even know they had! Taking this approach provides them with helpful information and drastically cuts down on your incoming calls and emails.

When it comes to their personal information, most people are understandably protective and wary of giving it out unnecessarily. Be absolutely certain that you clearly state your privacy policy. Everyone hates spam. In fact, many people are actually afraid of it, because it can be accompanied by viruses and other nasty things. Let your subscribers know from the get-go that their information is safe with you. Your policy could state something like this, “We will never sell, trade or share your email with a third party.” Make your privacy policy easy to see – people shouldn’t have to click a link to see it. For one thing, linking to it may lead people to think that you have something to hide. Additionally, some states actually require you to put include your privacy policy right at the point of opt-in, so you should stay on the safe side and make it obvious. This transparency and openness will help people trust you and boosts your email marketing success!

When you purchase computer software from a store or download it from a website, it comes in a “compiled” format. This means that the source code created by the developer has been run through a program which translates the code into a format your computer can understand. This compiled code is nearly impossible to modify, which protects manufacturers from others stealing their products. Another name for such software could be “closed source,” because the source code is protected and inaccessible to common users.

On the flipside you have open source software, which makes the source code available to the public. This means that users can modify it and distribute it freely. In fact, this interaction is encouraged by the creators. So why would anyone take the time to create software and then give the public the opportunity to alter it and distribute it free of charge? Software developers who support the open source model believe in a collaborative effort and welcome the improvements and corrections that will come from the technological community. In this way, open source software is a direct response to the tightly guarded, and often flawed, software created by commercial companies like Microsoft.

Although some people might fear rampant abuse from such free reign, open source software is valued and respected by the programmer community. Contributors aren’t motivated by financial gain and sincerely attempt to improve it for others. This peer review system produces bug-free products that rival commercial software in their design and capabilities.

All companies know how expensive it is to market themselves to new customers.  TV spots, print ads, web space, and radio ads are some of the most popular, effective, and expensive ways to get the word out about a new company.  Retaining customers once they are found, however, is an inexpensive and proven way to build business.  One of the best ways to market a business to existing customers is through email marketing.

Many companies that have email lists use a voluntary double opt-in system that allows customers to sign up for email newsletters.  This way, companies can be sure that they aren’t pestering customers when they send email messages.  Also, by making email newsletters an opt-in feature, companies develop a list of engaged and interested customers that will be receptive to email marketing and could potentially become their most valued and loyal patrons.

With a focused list of interested customers, email newsletters are a great reminder in a personal venue (their inbox) to valued customers that the company is still there, still offering great products.  Newsletters are great places to announce sales and provide links to new products or special offers.  Companies that reach out to their customers build trust and brand loyalty. 

Email marketing is extremely cheap and very easy to gather information from.  There are programs that companies can download for free or for a small fee that allow marketers to track how many of their delivered emails were opened, which links were clicked, and ultimately how many sales were made from the email.  With this kind of information, sales campaigns can be focused and strategized with ease.

If you aren’t taking advantage of the inexpensive and focused marketing opportunity that is email, you are doing your company a disservice.  Start designing, sending, and tracking marketing emails now and reap the benefits of building relationships with your valued customers.