Online Marketing today involves deploying multi-stage programming and search engine marketing strategies in order for your web site to gain proper positioning and unique brand identity in the search result lists.

Today, becoming an industry segment leader via the internet is not a factor of how much money you are able to pour into your marketing budget for the next several years. The most important factor will be the expertise level of your internet marketing company.

Over the last several years Online Marketing has become a very popular subject. Small wonder since the internet is by far the largest intercommunication phenomena since the invention of the telephone. However, internet online marketing is very different than the traditional marketing practices established during the past few decades.

Back in the 1950′s when TV advertising was in its infancy, it took more than a decade to perfect the marketing strategies for this medium. Aside from program demographics, most of these strategies are based on the “shot gun” approach in that it launches one specific message to a target of thousands or even millions of viewers.

The biggest mistake that traditional marketers have been making was to attempt to apply these old concepts to the Internet. Simply put, online marketing is not a “shot gun” approach, it is a targeted “rifle” approach.

Traditionally, direct-marketing has by far always yielded the best results, however, the costs were often exorbitant and unaffordable by most companies. Today, the internet is completely changing this equation, and an effective online marketing strategy and execution plan makes direct marketing an immediate and extremely cost-effective reality that can quite literally catapult even the smallest of companies to the head of the pack.

Marketing companies are increasingly being challenged to differentiate themselves from their competitors. This is becoming more and more difficult as the variances in product, feature, functionality, service and price narrows.

As this occurs, competitive advantage and positioning needs to come from other areas, namely, online marketing. Basically, your message needs to get to your customers first and at the time that your customer is specifically looking for your type of product. Unless you are the first or second company contacted, your chances of getting the sales is virtually none.

One of the fundamental aspects of direct and relationship marketing is to be able to ensure that your prospective customer is able to instantly find your company and obtain an immediate understanding about the products you provide. Internet marketing is making this a reality, and as the internet continues to penetrate all aspects of consumers’ lives, online marketing is rapidly becoming a fundamental requirement for today’s businesses.

Almost anything in society can be marketed and sold. This component to business creates an industry that centers on the functionality and marketability of products from start to finish. Online career training in marketing and sales can be gained from a number of online schools and colleges that prepare students to work with business products and services in order to produce a profit.

Marketing professionals perform different tasks that all lead to the same focus, which is to promote a product or service. Work in marketing consists of estimating product demand, identifying possible markets, supervising development, and monitoring the need for new products. Sales professionals focus on the product after it has been marketed. This approach is a direct extension of marketing. The work done in sales is focused on distributing the product and analyzing statistics. Duties include appointing sales territories, working to meet sales goals, and training employees on the best way to represent the product or service. These traditional responsibilities go into the distinctive work provided by a marketing and sales team.

There are three main educational paths that can be followed in this field. Students can enroll in a program for a joint degree in marketing and sales or enroll in a program for one or the other. Most working professionals gain an education in a degree program that offers both marketing and sales. Whether students want to work in advanced careers or want to know the basics of marketing and sales, program options from an associate’s degree to a PhD supply them with their needs.

Students that want to gain entry-level positions or obtain a foundational understanding of the field to apply to their personal business should consider entering an associate’s degree in a combined program. This provides curriculum that covers the most up-to-date information on business theories and procedures. A program like this helps students gain the necessary skills to effectively market a product and then sell it. Instruction in sales principles and public relations prepare students for the workplace. An online associate’s program will teach students about statistics, economics, and group dynamics. Obtaining further education is a good choice for students that want to increase their salary and work in higher-level careers.

A bachelor’s degree or higher in marketing and sales prepares students to work directly with business communications. This degree helps students train for careers where they will work with a businesses marketing and sales team to direct inside and outside communications, while developing solid promotional programs. Marketing research, management, intercultural communication, and business writing are courses that establish crucial understanding of how to communicate issues that affect business and global marketing. Continuing education teaches students management level skills with advanced study on how to perform work related duties.

Career training in marketing and sales covers every aspect of the field like how to promote a product, create a product, and most importantly how to sell a product. Students who want to work with product creation and delivery may discover an online marketing and sales degree program that fits their aspirations. Accredited online training provides a unique and personal experience that prepares students for the workplace. Become a part of the fast paced field of marketing by researching online degree options today.

Quoting Tom Peters, “economic success is based upon the creation, design, manufacturing, distribution, sales and services of goods”. We have allowed many of our inventions and designs to be stolen or freely given away without thought or concern to the long term consequences. We find our manufacturing base primarily now in China and India. Even segments of our distribution has been handed over to Mexico. The bad news is those jobs are not returning.

So out of the five primary components of a healthy economy, we are left with distribution and sales. Service sector jobs can never be considered a base for a strong economy; There’s always someone who will do it for less money and the unlawful employment of illegal aliens as another area in which our government has conveniently turned a blind eye.

It seems apparent to survive we must hone our skills and learn to provide more efficient avenues of distribution and sales, which dove-tails nicely with Multi Level Marketing (MLM) and Direct sales via Network Marketing. Getting the product to the customer in an efficient manner allow those in the sales channel to be rewarded for their respective efforts is becoming a more popular and acceptable way of doing business.

The Internet has become the open channel where shoppers can easily and rapidly find products and services at competitive prices and through a variety of sales portals. Individual entrepreneurs can generally ‘set up shop’ inexpensively and address a specific market in literally just a few days.

Many on-line courses are available to the first time entrepreneur providing step-by-step education for marketing and sales. Several of these courses provide real time webinar training sessions that are held daily in addition to extensive back-office resources that run the gamut from developing realistic goals, assisting in setting up a branded web site, advertising suggestions, implementing additional social media and handling merchant transactions.

We may have lost our manufacturing base but one foothold we still maintain and continue to further develop on a daily basis is the ability to better market and sell items efficiently. Network, MLM or direct sales will contribute to the GDP even as other markets and industries wither and disappear.

“I just can’t seem to make any more money. I’m doing everything I can but I don’t seem to be getting anywhere… what do I do?”

The 3 simplest things you can control to increase your direct sales revenue are…

Leads, Conversions and Duplication.

Let’s take a closer look at each one of these to show you how you are going to get on the right track.

· Leads: Leads are the easy part. You can literally turn them on and turn them off. I’m going to assume you are utilizing most of the FREE traffic tools available to you.

Tools like: Social Media, Web 2.0, Articles, Videos, Press Releases, SEO. Let me give you a simple and quick way to drive traffic to your site. Create a piece of content (good content). This can be a video, article, report, etc. Post that content to your Blog. Head over to Facebook or Twitter and distribute that content. If you have 3,000 followers on Twitter, you just sent your message to 3,000 people.

By far the simplest way to send FREE traffic to your site. Paid Advertising is even easier. Simply begin to scale out existing campaigns or begin to build new campaigns. Of course, you have done your market research and you are sending your message to qualified prospects. That way, your Tweet to 3,000 people is relevant to them and your message.

· Conversions: When learning how to increase direct sales revenue, the easiest component to tweak is your conversions.

You can ALWAYS tweak your conversions. Something can ALWAYS be tested. You can split test your call to action on a certain piece of content that is pulling good traffic. You can split test your opt-in offer. Which offer gets more opt-ins?

For paid advertising you should always split test your ads. When you get an ad that pulls well, split test your landing page. On your landing page(s) you can split test everything…headline, sub-headline, copy, offer, opt-in, etc.

After enough time you will have increased your direct sales revenue without adding anything new and without spending any extra dough. In the sales world it’s A.B.C. (Always Be Closing). In the Marketing/Advertising world it’s A.B.T. (Always Be Testing)

· Duplication: The often talked about but often overlooked aspect of your business…Duplication.

It’s funny when we talk about how to increase direct sales revenue, we always talk about how to increase you direct business. In this industry you can make a substantial income by duplicating your business in others. The goal here is to have your team Duplicate your success. Here’s a quick and easy way to do that.

EVERYTHING you work on in a given week becomes training material.

If you found some new tool that makes Article distribution easier…share it. If you found the Holy Grail combo of Ads, Landing Page and Offer…share it. After spending hours on the phone with qualified prospects you have finally figured out how to recruit effectively…share it.

Now you have a TON of content to share with your team during your team trainings…You are doing team trainings AREN’T YOU!? All of this will increase the success of your team and decrease the road blocks…which will set you up for long success. There is the quick and dirty on how to increase your direct sales revenue. It really isn’t that tough.