If you have a local business or a store, you can consider using search engine marketing to bring in more customers. After all search engine marketing is very fast & it costs less than advertising in magazines, newspapers, radio, television & billboards.
Simple Strategy
The overall strategy is very simple, you create your website, you use search marketing methods to get your website listed on search engines results. When someone search for you, they will end up on your website.
Physical Goods
If you sell any physical products, you can take orders on your website then you ship products to your customers. Alternatively, you can place a phone number on your website to allow customers to order products by calling you on the phone. All you need on your website is a simple shopping cart & an order page that can take credit card payments. The fastest way to do that is to simply sign up for PayPal.
Physical Store
Some people always prefer to go to a store to buy stuff rather than to buy stuff directly online. You can offer time-limited or quantity limited coupons on your website. Your customers can then print them out & present it at your store before making a purchase. You can see that you saved money on printing coupons, you created urgency for customers to come to your store & the discount you are offering is another additional benefit for your customer. After all, who can resist a discount on things that they want.
Business To Business
For business to business transactions, it is best to generate leads online then follow up with phone. You just need a simple form on your website to allow people to send you their details so that you can follow up. Just imagine this, if somebody is looking to purchase some industrial system for more than $100,000, will he enter his credit card to buy from your shopping cart? Chances are, you need to follow up, send quotations & all that before you seal the deal.
Summary
Search engine marketing is a simple process made complicated by academics & people who do not know better. As long as you understand how it works, you can use it for your business.