Learn Internet Marketing

If you are marketing online for the first time, there are many places that will help you to learn Internet marketing from scratch. The simplest start is the 'For Dummies' book on Internet Marketing (Frank Catalano & Bud Smith). Also acclaimed is work by Al Ries and Jack Trout, who have written numerous well-received books on the subject of marketing.

If you wish to attend learn Internet marketing with the help of a course, the United States Small Business Association (www.sba.gov) has many free online courses relating to marketing and associated business practice. The American Marketing Association - marketingpower.com - also sponsors a number of professional development programmes and events throughout the year.

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is also good for providing information useful to less experienced marketers: it contains a purchasing and service guide, a library of statistics and white papers and useful government information to help marketers identify the privacy laws that they must adhere to.

Otherwise, there are hundreds of sites online that provide you with free downloadable courses: quality varies (and many are arranged by self-proclaimed 'experts' of dubious pedigree), so if you find navigating them something of a minefield, enquire about courses taking places at your local university.

If your Internet marketing learning strategy involves some web development, you'll need to know the basics of HTML (Hyper-Text Mark-Up), the language which creates websites. There are many books on HTML, plus web design programmes like Dreamweaver and FrontPage (both of which are available for a couple of hundred dollars each); alternatively, you can see what simple web development tools come free with browsers like Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Using tools like these bring web development expertise in house - an asset when it comes to making changes to your site.

There's also much to be gained, of course, from learning about Internet marketing 'on the job': your own site's performance will tell you what strategies work and what doesn't - and it's well worth contacting your existing clients to find out what they think of your product or service. Industry trade shows are a good way to eavesdrop on the competition, too - pretend you're a customer interested in their service or product, see what strategies they are using to market their product or service, and remember that imitation is often the best form of flattery