In your pursuit of the ultimate Internet marketing experience have you considered that maybe the simplest approach is best? I’m not saying that you should ditch everything but one method of marketing online. What I am saying is Internet marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. Particularly for small businesses with limited resources, the more complicated your marketing plan is then the more difficult it will be for you to stay interested and maintain it over the long term.

That’s why I advocate that small businesses keep it simple.

What exactly is “simple”, however? Well, it doesn’t mean limit your visibility to one or two social networks and leave it at that. It does mean that you don’t need to prove your mojo by signing up for every social network that rears its head.

The best approach to figuring out your Internet marketing needs is to take inventory of your business and what’s available in the marketplace, not to mention who your customers are and what they expect of you. Here’s a short checklist to help keep your eyes set in the right direction as you plan your Internet marketing strategy:

1. How big is your company in terms of annual revenue and number of employees?
2. What is your competition doing?
3. Do you already have social media profiles?
4. Where are your customers spending their time?
5. How about your target market, those non-customers you’d like to reach?
6. What is your monthly/annual marketing budget?
7. How is your SEO strategy working?
8. When visitors arrive on your website, can they find what they need quickly?

This is just a start, but it should give you some idea as to where you might start your Internet marketing. The best place to begin is where you’re at and don’t go overboard with signing up for every site that offers you a free membership. There’s only so much that you can manage. Stick to the tried and true channels and add more as you are able to fit them into your framework.

Do you really need to plan your Internet marketing campaign or can you just “wing it?”

Believe it or not, many companies end up just winging it because they don’t really have the time to plan their Internet marketing. The small business owner tries to save a dime by doing it herself, but in the short shrift she fails to plan because there just isn’t time. You might think you are saving money, but the fact is you are LOSING money.

Effective marketing, whether it be Internet marketing or traditional marketing, takes planning. You can’t just wing it. And to plan properly you need someone who has experience planning and executing good marketing plans, specifically Internet marketing plans.

If you think that doing it yourself will save you money, try outsourcing what you’re not good at and see how much money you can make with a solid investment in your future. To successful at marketing, you need a plan.