Traditional sales and promotional methods such as "newspapers" and "yellow pages" ads no longer provide the same return on investment that was once achieved by most anyone in business. Certainly, many diverse factors have contributed to this dilemma. Yet, it is not the intention of this document to address the causes of slumping sales and ineffective promotional methods. Generally, the actual reasons for these poor economic conditions are clearly understood and now faced by everyone in need of promoting any economic activity today. The developing remedy comes out of an interesting combination or blend of time tested "word of mouth", "one-on-one", sales techniques and new internet/web based technologies and software applications which allow us to analyze, test and refine offers and sales methods almost at will. It is to a clear understanding of the skills needed and the tools available to take advantage of current technological developments that the following series of articles as well as future posts will address.

Caution: Using a web site to promote a product or service has become the most cost effective means of selling just about everything. While indeed being the least expensive it can on the other hand be the most labor intensive. Just like all things in life that are new there is a period of time needed for learning new information, acquiring additional skills, and developing useful techniques. These times are often accompanied by periods when it is necessary to form appropriate goals and habits which help us to avoid becoming overwelmed by the task at hand. It can be said that none of the skills or techniques to be discussed are particularly difficult. Yet, it should be recognized that in combination they can be complicated in their interactions and confusing in their results. Consequently these methods should be learnerd individually and applied seperately.

This policy will minimize any difficulties in determining the specific usefulness of any given technique or skill. Once the determination of usefulness has been made then the application can be automated, out-sourced, or discontinued. Before exploring further, be aware of your own mindset and make sure you are truly ready to proceed. Being overwhelmed when the time comes to take action is always a terrible waste of time and should be avoided. The goal is to effectively learn all the techniques while successfully integrating them to form a comprehensive and complete tool kit from which to promote and sell your products and/or services.

Begin: It is important then to recognize there are in actuality many different ways to promote a website using Internet Marketing. Some people think of website promotion as Search Engine Marketing and Optimization. Others are more inclined to think in terms of more traditional skills and techniques, such as Copy Writing and Article Marketing. While the discussion continues as to which methods are the most effective for driving traffic and and making sales - for our purposes as Internet Marketers - we should safely assume that both are necessary in order to compete effectively in the Market Place. Online Marketing is more about Creative Marketing as opposed to SEO and a dependency on the Search Engines or writing articles and creating link popularity. Integration Marketing is the overall term given to the philosophy of developing a healthy mix of these combined skills and techniques.

#1 Tool - FREEBIES: The most important aspect of any tool developed by an internet marketer is its ability to bring traffic to a website where a product or service can be promoted. The "free offer" is the primary tool used in what is called "Lead Generation Marketing". This promotional method does one essential thing. It separates the people that are interested from those who are not. This works right from the start to weed out those who would never make a purchase from those who would be a waste of time, energy and effort. This would appear to be counter intuitive in that you would think that offering free stuff would not do this. In and of itself offering something for free does not identify someone who is willingly and admittedly interested in a purchase. In order to complete the free offer and make it a legitimate and valuable exchange for both parties, the element of "a call to action" must be introduced. There must be a "pre screening" process involved which will eliminate uninterested people.

So, what is the missing "ingredient" in this process that results in valid leads, or sales prospects? It is not an attempt to sell anything to anybody. Nor is it some sneaky attempt to disguise an ad in some way by listing the features and benefits of a product/service. In fact, it is not even describing a product or service or explaining it in any way. Instead of money, right now, one merely wants the prospects attention. We want them to be as curious as possible. The missing ingredient is a specific "call to action" generated from a "free offer" and by enough curiosity to respond to that offer - a response that involves either a phone call, sending an email, visiting a website, or filling out a web form. Thus the prospect acts on a recognized interest in a product or service. The act of requesting a free related product or service is an admission of interest.

Determining and knowing what people want is absolutely essential to developing a successful free offer. Providing potential customers something free that is truly what they want is the best way to establish a trusting and respectful relationship. The freebie should help them either avoid pain or gain pleasure. Ideally, the freebie should also educate the customer as to the features and benefits of a continued relationship to the product or service which will provide for their undisclosed needs. When prospects recognize that receiving what they wanted also satisfies an important need, they become ongoing customers as well, and everyone wins.

Providing quality information for free and subtly selling future benefits and features go hand in hand as a natural result of a successful market relationship. What makes "lead generation marketing" so effective and efficient? First, giving something away that is of good quality and helpful, breeds more respect when asked to buy later on. The feeling has been developed that the merchant is knowledgeable in a particular field of interest. The "unique selling position" becomes a helpful product recommendation instead of an unwanted "sales pitch". The objective has been met. A repeat customer is born! A name, an email address, and perhaps even a phone number and/or a physical address has been captured. It is now possible to develop and maintain a healthy, satisfying relationship. The customer is no longer resistant to being sold.