The great effort it takes to get a new visitor, and then persuade them to buy from you, is a fact of life on the Internet. Just as much as it is in traditional markets.

But there are some things you can do to make the job a little easier.

Here’s three you could try from your web site.

1) Give away a mini-course

A mini-course is a useful set of notes and resources, broken up into five or six parts, and emailed out automatically each day (or at whatever frequency you want) to those who sign up.

While he educates his readers during each lesson, the writer also promotes his products or services.

Everyone likes this.

The reader, because he’s getting valuable education in a manageable stream and small chunks, for free.

The writer, because for several days in a row he is able to gently remind his reader about his web site and the benefits of his product. And also because he has a name and an e-mail he can use again, sensitively, in the future.

This is so simple and effective we MUST all do it.

The Firebirdpro autoresponder will deliver these courses for you. Just set it up and let it run on automatic.

2) Use tiny web sites to get good search engine rankings … then link them to your main site

It is possible to build a tiny 10–page web site with interesting content, highly optimized for one or two key search terms.

A tiny site like this stands a better than average chance to rank high on the search engines, because:

- it has useful content

- it’s been very carefully written, keeping in mind those two search terms (and a few other significant things.)

Link one of these highly ranked sites to your site, and you have a stepping stone for an extra stream of visitors who might not find you otherwise.

A tiny site like this is not a trick to try and fool the search engines. Everything about a tiny site is legitimate.

So, they have a large potential to bring an endless stream of good quality visitors to your site.

I said ‘potential’. Because building them is an art as well as a science and there can be no guarantees.

The secret of why the micro site works so well is the content. It’s carefully written, specific content, of considerable value to people searching for your services.

Of course, your main web site pages will also be optimized for the search engines. But those pages are general, and it will never be possible to optimize them as effectively as a tiny, precision site.

I recommend you develop several at appropriate times in your product and budget cycle.

3) Get relevant sites linking to your site

How do the search engines know your site is valuable? One way is to listen to what your peers say. And they do that by seeing if your peers are linking into your site. Because a link is like a vote of confidence in the content on your web page.

The experts agree on this.

Some people actually do it. You can do it with free tools like Directory Submitter. Click and pick up the free version

Running a small business, and especially an online one, will put you in close touch with customers.

You don’t always want to be exposed like this. Indeed, a clever autoresponder strategy ought to be one of the foundations of your online business.

Here’s two things you might like to try to make your customer connection really sweet. They are two simple tactics that will keep a small business well ahead of big competitors who will never be able to offer fast, personal customer service like this.

First one: keep your promises.

That means, only promise what you can deliver. Sure. But it also means make realistic commitments on things like quality and delivery times — and bending over backwards to meet your commitments.

Just a few days ago I told a US client, on the phone, that I would complete some work by ‘this time tomorrow’. Well, that turned out to be a little harder than I had anticipated. Never-the-less, I had a time zone difference that worked in my favor a little (I work from down here in New Zealand) and I was able to put other things aside to meet my deadline. (Actually, I missed it by about half an hour, but that was almost certainly close enough.)

Big companies find this difficult. You can differentiate your business right here.

Another thing: fix problems right away.

Customer absolutely love this. If you can find a way to do it you will quickly rise to hero status in the eyes of your clients. And they will recommend you to everyone they meet.

Problems will arise in any business. If you have caused them, then certainly you need to make corrections quickly. But even if you didn’t, there are many problems that can be put right quickly. Fix the mistakes fast and you will have a lot of happy customers. And customers who know you know your work are on top of things, and can act when you need to.

They will have no trouble seeing your service is better than the sluggish, bigger businesses who have departments dedicated to work and (usually) no-one allocated to problem solving. Your business will shine.