As any entrepreneur will tell you, the gap of time between when you are ready to sell your product and when you actually start to sell it can be agonizing. We refer to this phenomenon as the Pit of Despair. For any business that relies on the internet as the primary marketing source, this difficult time can be even more pronounced. People assume that by simply uploading their fabulous website to the internet that traffic and sales will come. In fact, posting your website without marketing it is like writing your ad copy in the sands of Death Valley – if nobody can find it to see it, it might as well not exist.

Marketing via the internet is getting more complicated every day. It is estimated that there are currently more than 100 million websites milling around out there, and you must find a way for yours to be found by your target customers. Successful internet marketing is tougher than ever, especially because we are all overloaded with marketing messages. The bulk of the top internet sites are supported solely through advertising dollars, and we are so used to seeing ads across the top and down the sides of our screens that we barely take notice. In addition, a recent study showed that 90% of all emails are spam (read: advertisements), so the typical expected open rate of cold email blasts is dropping precipitously. Your best current options for marketing your websites are to implement extensive and continuing SEO (search engine optimization) and featuring your web address on every piece of marketing material you produce. Whatever additional promotional elements you elect to pursue, keep track of your success rates in terms of cost per contact or cost per sale – if one effort isn’t paying off, try another route.

If you do everything right, it can take several months for your new website to even appear on a search engine results list, much longer to land on the first page. Plan that reality into your sales forecasts and work schedule. Don’t be discouraged…the Pit of Despair won’t last forever!

Start here. Go far. LaunchX.com