Are you trying to crush your goals like the girl-boss you are, but maybe not seeing the return on your efforts as quickly as you’d expected? Let me guess: Part of the problem you are experiencing links back to the fact that you’re just not finding the right people who need what you’re offering. But let me ask you this: Are you using the right internet marketing tips for your brand to your advantage?

There’s no formula to “making it” in the online business world (and anyone who tells you there is such a formula is someone you should RUN FROM because they’re probably after your $$$) — but there is something very powerful about finding the best positioning for yourself and your brand and putting a plan behind it.

When used properly, good internet marketing tips like the ones here aren’t seen as sleazy sales tactics; they’re effective tools at your disposal to solidify your brand as an influencer in today’s booming online entrepreneur space.

Find the right internet marketing tips to accelerate your brand!

Know Your Niche

Your niche is basically like an umbrella category for your business. It tells people what they are going to gain from following you. Finding your niche isn’t an overly complicated process; it only takes a little bit of critical thinking.

What do you do? – What exactly is it that you’re bringing to the table? Are you selling a physical product, or are you offering a service? Be as specific as possible — for example, knowing that you’re a blogger is good; identifying that you’re a holistic mommy blogger is better.

What’s your story? – How did you find your YES? What is the inspiration behind your brand? Knowing why you love your brand and being able to authentically communicate that to people is essential in building loyal followers that will turn into leads.

Who is your audience? – The most important detail in finding those leads is knowing who it is you’re trying to reach. You should know the general specifics: age, gender, interests, values, occupations, etc., and you should also know whether you’re seeking individual clients or whether you should be directing your attention toward other businesses and organizations. Are you B2C or B2B, or a little bit of both?

As you can see, these “minor” details are completely crucial when you’re trying to maximize your work efforts. Knowing the answers to these questions tells you who to speak to and how to speak to them effectively.

Get Branded, Baby

The branding of a new business is usually an exciting time for entrepreneurs. It’s a chance to put a face to the name of the idea-baby you’ve been baking. There are opportunities for creativity, with logos and color palettes and web design and pretty fonts. But with that creativity comes a science that takes psychology, advertising principles, and art, and smashes them all together to birth your idea into something marketable.

MARKETABLE being the operative word there — you might have an amazing service to provide and all of the knowledge in the world, but if your branding lacks a certain level of quality, you’re doing yourself and your business a disservice. When you’re ready for the branding phase, find a high quality visual branding consultant to work with you.

Pro tip: Make sure they have a portfolio that matches the style you’re seeking. A graphic designer can be incredibly talented in their art style and still not be a great match for your brand. Don’t be afraid to invest a little extra money in your branding budget to give yourself the highest quality visual image possible.

Practice Your Elevator Speech

Your elevator speech is the short and sweet mission statement behind your brand; it is a quick speech that could be delivered in an elevator ride if you found yourself conveniently planted in front of the right person of influence for your business. Having a practiced elevator speech helps you build confidence in your own brand and knowing its message. Knowing your elevator speech also gives you the Reader’s Digest version of your brand message for when you’re networking in person and online, so you don’t bombard someone new with all of the details right away.

Bonus points if you practice your elevator speech out loud! Manifest that positive energy around your biz!

Find the Right Social Media Spots

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to have your business pushing content out of every social media outlet possible at every minute of the day! In fact, this is usually counterproductive and seen as “spammy” or salesy.

Now that you know your niche, you know your audience. Where do they spend their time on social media? Lucky for you, these are statistic-driven questions that can easily be answered if you know your ideal audience well. For example, if our holistic mommy blogger is looking for fellow moms in their mid-20s to early 40s, Pinterest would be the best place to start. A fashion photographer might fare better on Instagram, however. It all depends on you and your specific business.

Netwerk, Girl

When you’ve found the right social media outlets for your biz, it’s time to study up. Each network has its own set of rules of engagement, so to speak, and you can’t succeed without knowing how to use the network properly.

The crucial thing to remember when networking, especially online, is to remain as transparent as possible. You don’t need to share everything in your life, but you do need to be honest about your business and business practices. People crave authenticity and will connect emotionally with it when they find it. Be your truest self, and you will become attractive to your ideal audience.

Use a Sales Funnel

You’ve seen them before: There’s a sponsored post on Facebook that tells you to click on their link for a free copy of their latest business tool — all you have to do is enter your First Name and        E-Mail Address for it to be delivered! Before you know it, you’ve got sales pitches in your inbox and reminders about discounts coming to an end soon everyday. Yep, you’ve found your way into the cone of a sales funnel.

This is one of the internet marketing tips that can turn sleazy fast, so you have to do it right. The trick with a sales funnel is to offer something of real value and specifically market it to the people who need it. That Facebook ad found you because Facebook knows you’re an entrepreneur looking for the types of business tools in that advertisement; it wasn’t on your screen by chance. The business owner who is promoting that sales funnel specifically targeted you on some quantifiable level, and you can do the exact same thing with your business.

The art of the sales funnel is so effective because you’re putting yourself in front of your potential audience over and over, in their inbox, on their social media sites, etc. to increase exposure. The more they see your offer, the more they will have it on their mind and feel like they need it.

Establish Authority with a Blog

Having a regularly updated blog hosted on your website is undeniably one of the greatest uses of your internet marketing strategy. A blog full of information that is necessary and/or interesting to your target audience is an especially effective way to keep them coming back to your website frequently.

Blog posts are easily shareable, which is the real key to success when blogging. Make your posts worthwhile, so people want to share them with their friends. When that happens, you’re crossing networks and reaching people you’d never have reached before without paid advertisement.

Not only are blogs great for sharing, but they also help your brand to establish authority in your niche. People will see you as the go-to source for information on the topic you’re mastering, building trust with your audience over time.

Never Stop Learning

As cliche as it sounds, learning never goes out of style. Internet marketing tips will continue to grow and change and evolve with the pace of technology. Don’t get left behind! Keep studying trends in your niche and do what you can to stay ahead of the game while maintaining that realness.

What are some of your essential internet marketing tips? Let me know in the comments!