When you find yourself struggling to make things work in a fledgling Internet business – or if you are just getting started in making online sales – one natural impulse to have is to look for an online marketing consultant to lend you a hand. After all, a good interactive marketing consultant can help to diagnose your problems and put together a series of recommended solutions for you.

The downside of this idea, though, is the cost. Usually, when one’s business is not going so well or has not had time to generate a cash flow, cash can be tight. Spending big money on a consultant just may not be the best use of your cash.

What is a viable alternative to hiring a consultant? Become your own consultant. By getting connected with the kinds of tools and techniques that professionals are using every day to make $100K or more online each year, you can avoid having to pay a consultant and get right to the strategies that work.

Before spending the money on online marketing strategy consultation, here are 5 ways to be your own online consultant:

1. Understand how traffic flows across the Internet:
When things are not working well online or you just need some new ideas, it can be helpful to get back to the basics. One of those basics is familiarizing yourself with how traffic flows on the Internet, and more importantly, how to drive that traffic. A great, free way to do this is with article marketing. Write and post 10, 50, 100 or more online articles. Do so, and you will learn more about online marketing than any book could teach you. Look for eZine-style article websites to post to.

2. Start using free Internet metrics tools:
Another type of tool you should be using is any type of free Internet metrics tools and services. Of course, “metrics” in just means the act of measuring something. In the case of Internet traffic, you will want to measure visits to yours and competitor websites (Alexa.com), how many websites are competing with yours for a given keyword (Google.com search results list), and number of backlinks to a site (also Alexa.com).

3. Get access to free site optimization tools:
Optimization tools are those that help you figure out how to optimize your website for the right keywords. Check out the free Google Adwords keyword research tool to find out how many searches each keyword gets. And, go to Keyword Density.com to run free keyword density analyses of each page of your site.

4. Research your top 3 competitors:
Figure out which 3 competitors are “taking” the most traffic from you by ranking above you for important keywords. Then, go through their sites with a fine-toothed comb to find out what they are doing right.

5. Write down your top 5 business challenges – then research the answers:
Finally – and this one is a bit more abstract – but write out the top 5 things that are standing in your way of success. Each one could be as simple as “I’m not getting enough traffic to my site” or “I’m not sure if I am selling the right thing online.” Then, go about researching the answers to these questions, as if you were your own consultant. You can research answers online or ask trusted business colleagues for their input and ideas.

The next time your web business needs a shot in the arm, try each of these 5 ways to be your own online marketing strategy consultant.

Author Bio: Ready to go to the next level with your web business? Ramp up your online sales with an all-inclusive set of tools to promote your content and your website at: Next-Level Online Marketing Solution.

Category: Internet
Keywords: Online Marketing Strategy Consultation, 5 Ways to Be Your Own Online Consultant