There are more wrong ways than right ways. Most people will tell you to use all the Social Marketing sites, forums...like this, blogs and so on. They are correct. The problem is, they never tell you how...and when they do, it is a disorganized mess. It is critical to have all of these methods connected to each other and organized in such a way as to make it easy for you to manage. I found this site not long ago http://www.automateyourmlmnow.com/ and I use it for all of my online business. It is fantastic. It not only teaches you how and why to do all the online marketing systems, but organizes it all for you. It connects all of them together so your time is better used. I highly recommend this program for any online business...not just MLM's.

Joe Villeneuve, President
3VEnterprises, LLC
www.3VEnterprises.ws
joe@3venterprises.ws edit

Hi NC, I'm glad I found your post. A good portion of all the ecommerce packages out there I have consulted on such as Vevocart, DashCommerce, Commerce Starter Kit, Nopcommerce, litecommerce and even Magentoe.

Joe nailed a good portion on how to market, but since this is one of my fields of experties let me add a few more.

First get your services listed on the Magentoe site, or at least your demo site indexed there. Another way is to goto hosting site forums. Everyday there are people looking for a cart solution. You can also make additional income with an affiliate program such as commission Junction. And sign up with companies such as 1&! and FatCow.com. I get 100 bucks a pop for each person that registers through my site. Thats just an example. You could visit places such as microsoft Office Live small business. They offer free web hosting with purchase of a domain name, but the users who are looking for an ecommerce solution there are usually disapointed because they offer no database support. Good way to real in some fish edit

N.C., Chris also nailed some important items. As you can see, there are a number of places to go to get leads and to present yourself to the online world. What I have found, in the beginning of most online businesses, is to keep it as organized as you can...and as efficient as you can. That is why I recommended the site I use for all my start-ups. Actually, I never stop using it, but it is critical to me that this is the place to start. www.automateyourmlmnow.com One of the huge problems with any business is leads. You can buy leads that are pre-screened and clean, but you aren't the only one buying those names. How effective is that list if you are the 20th (or more) person that hit them up for a sale? You need to make your own list of qualified leads that come to you because of you. that is what this system does, and it incorporates all of the before mentioned marketing methods in the system. Take a look and let me know what you think. I know it works great for all of my businesses.

Joe Villeneuve, President
3VEnterprises, LLC
www.3VEnterprises.ws
joe@3venterprises.ws edit

Joe and Chris,

Thanks to both of you for the tips. edit

No problem, thats what this site is for edit

I started a clothing retail site a year ago, and have recently opened a small boutique at my home. I have contacted and recieved a few new clientele with my posting of flyers and handing out business cards. I also posted on Facebook, but the clients are not rolling in as I thought they would have. My site is easily found on any search engine, but if you do not put in the precise site address, it comes up further down the list.

My question is, how do I get new clients and retain my clients in this downturn economy? edit

Hi Sharon, With facebook you have to do 2 things. Build your friends list which is local usually, and also start a group.

Other things to consider is to get directory listings such as yellowpages.com. You build from local/cities/state. Build up a partnership, build inbound links.

Ok, about your actual question "My question is, how do I get new clients and retain my clients in this downturn economy?"

Some ways
1. A browser toolbar
2. RSS feed
3. Ask for them to bookmark your site
4. A site friend widget (get from google.com)
5. Newsletter/coupon
6. a forums/blog
7. Run a datafeed to google base, amazon, shopzilla, shopping.com etc
8. start as a advetiser on google affiliates, commission junction.

You have to think web marketing as biological warfare (a virus) How many people can you get infected?

edit

All of those things sound great. I have even set up on Merchant Circle, which was a waste of time and money, they have not yeided me anything. I will try your suggestions. edit

Sharon, go to www.automateyourmlmnow.com This site will take care of all of this for you, and instruct you on the hows and whys. In two weeks the first business I ran through this program started to make money, so now I run all of them through this system. Everything you are being told in this discussion is 100% correct. The problem is doing it, since it all can be very time consuming and very intimidating...especially if it is all somewhat new to you. This is the beauty of www.automateyourmlmnow.com they will educate you on the whys and hows, walk you through the process for all of these different networking sites/systems, hand hold you while you fill in forms and lines on the your master sheets, and makes the connections between them for you...so you have continuity between all of these sites and systems. That is very important. Also, it is VERY cheap to join. In fact, I think they still have a $1 special going on right now.

Joe Villeneuve, President
3V Enterprises, LLC
joe@3VEnterprises.ws edit

Thank you Joe, I love Norbert! But the $1 is only for two weeks and there will be automatic monthly billing. Is this monthly billing of only $1 as well? If so, for how long?
Toni edit