Marketing your company online requires patience and persistence. Like every worthwhile investment, you need to plan on a long-term commitment to reap a good return. Many Internet marketers pour tons of money into their online business and expect the returns on their investment to be lightning fast. There was a boom time when quick profits were possible. But now it's very much a competitive game and the time tested strategies of traditional marketing apply to ecommerce too. Here are some strategies to help you market your business online:

When possible, use free or low cost online services to build, host and promote your site.

Keep your business overhead as low as possible by staying debt free.

Keep up with technology as Internet technology continues to change. Use it when possible to expand your ebusiness to a bigger market.

Target your audience. Untargeted mass email campaigns don't work. Most people view this as a form of spam and are turned off by it. It's really a waste of time and money and may in fact, be detrimental to your business.

Create a newsletter that existing customers can 'opt-in' to receive. Use it to keep them up to date on new products and specials you are offering. Send it out regularly. Make sure you provide useful articles or information in your newsletter. If you don't, you'll lose your subscribers.

Buy relevant targeted advertising from other Web sites. For example, if you carry a line of dance shoes, buy advertising on sites that sell other types of dance things.

Try and get reciprocal links with sites that have related products or services to sell. This way you can build your user base.

Make sure the text on your Web site includes relevant key words so that you will have high relevant positioning in search engines and directories.

If you display images on your Web site of your products, make sure the images are high quality.

To minimize page loading time, use thumbnail photos so users can decide what images to enlarge and look at.

For each image, provide text that is descriptive and answers potential questions customers may have about the product.

Make sure your Web site is easy to navigate so that your visitors can find what they are looking for quickly.

When planning your Internet marketing strategy, don't forget to include your Web site address in your traditional print media. Direct visitors to your Web site as often as possible. Remember, your Web site is never closed for business; it's working for you 24 hours a day!

Scott F. Geld is the Director of Marketing for MarketingBlaster.com, a company providing targeted traffic that often beats the major search engines in conversion ratio and ROI (the metrics that really count). For more info, visit: Marketing Blaster, Inc.