NLN - Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Where Everybody Knows Your Name ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name recognition. That is the 'name' of the game. Every big corporation spends millions of dollars to obtain it. All the 'little guys' want it.
Advertisers have even been known to compare two of their own products in advertisements. They will claim that product A is better than product B. That way, you get two of their products' names presented to you for the price of one.
If you ever shop for that type of product, you will be much more likely to choose either product A or product B. You probably won't even remember which one was supposed to be better. But, the names stuck, so you pick one of them.
That is the power of name recognition.
So, how do you apply that to internet marketing?
The obvious question is, "Does name recognition translate to more business on the internet?" The resounding answer is, "Maybe."
We can all think of big names in retail marketing that have tried to make a go of it online and have failed. Why? Certainly not because nobody knew who they were.
However, those big names were not known for online know-how. Their in-store expertise did not translate well online.
So, how are we, the little guys, supposed to succeed where the giants failed? Name recognition. Yep, it's back to that.
BUT, the name recognition you need online is very different from that which you get in 'the real world'. Online you need 'niche name recognition'. You don't need to be a big name in general. However, you DO need to be a big name in your niche.
Here are a few suggestions for getting name recognition:
---> Decide what product or group of products you want your name to be associated with. You can start with just your name and append the products later.
---> Use your name as one of the keywords on each of your webpages and each of the articles that you submit to other websites.
---> Make frequent posts to appropriate forums. Include your name and product.
Don't think that you have to do all this at once. Start where you can, but make sure that you have a plan of action. Continue to get your name in front of your target audience. Don't just rely on your website.
Once people start to associate your name with your product and your niche, much of your marketing battle has been won.
Until next time, Ron McCluskey http://www.netloot.com
About the author: Ron McCluskey has been writing online for over 20 years, starting out with a BBS on an old Apple IIe. He now provides beginning entrepreneurs the tools to get started, and the experienced marketer gets the latest updates.