Do you want to make the Internet work harder for your business in 2008?

If so, here’s a menu of tactics to choose from, divided into front-end marketing for customer and client acquisition, and a shorter list of tactics for relationship marketing, (communications with people who already know and do business with you.)

Note the following list is non-exhaustive (for example I’ve not mentioned telesales or field-sales), but the following tactics are important and you will probably need to test most or all of them for your own business.

First of all, here are 10 tactics you can use to attract and acquire new customers & clients:

1. Strategic Alliance E-Mails (especially to landing pages)
2. Google Adwords and other Pay Per Click channels
3. Article Marketing (on and offline)
4. Blogging (and blog only promotion activity).
5. Proactive Link Building.
6. Direct Mail.
7. Reader Offers.
8. Advertising.
9. Press Releases & other P.R. activities.
10. Search Engine Optimisation (Hint: This tactic is listed last for a reason!)

Then there are the ‘relationship’ marketing tactics directed at your existing list of customers or clients:

1. E-Mail Marketing.
2. Blogging (yes, blogging combines front and back end marketing).
3. Direct Mail (letters, postcards, fax).

Realise that probably just one or two of those tactics will bring in more results than all of the others combined.

So your mission in 2008, if you choose to accept it, is to find out which few they are, by testing them all.

Start small, then roll out.

Test each tactic in small ways first. Carefully measure the returns and profits generated versus the amount of effort and expense each tactic takes. Find the one or two tactics with the highest margins. Roll those out in bigger better ways as the year progresses.

For example I intend getting more leverage on my blogging activities, and also start article marketing regularly in 2008, but my main focus starting January 2nd is getting more strategic alliance partners, and running print campaigns in national (UK) business publications.

Because those two activities account for most of my list growth, (then blogging and e-mail marketing to the new customers those two activities generate is where it all happens for me.

Maybe those two activities could hold the key to phenomenal success for you too in 2008. Or maybe some other tactics. But until you try them, who knows?

-Ed.