Marketing should be easy, and it is- which is why there are so many people out there who are trying their hand at it day in and day out. However, to market well takes real talent and savvy, which is why there is only a small number of people out there doing this well. If you are a business owner-especially during these rough economic times, then coming up with a marketing plan should be one of the first things on your checklist. Not only is marketing important to the survival and thrival of your business, but it helps to start a frenzy around your name or brand. This media 'frenzy' will be what attracts people to your product or service. Why, just think back to all of those popular and world-famous television commercial jingles from the seventies and eighties. If you can still remember the jingle to a commercial from back then, then someone on the marketing team has done their job correctly.

There are even some commercials out now that people cannot stand, but because they have a catchy tune, people tend to remember them regardless of how annoying the salesperson was. Marketing is about being smart. It is about knowing what the consumers are looking for and then making it available to them with some savvy and know-how. Nowadays, especially with the current economic crunch, more and more people are turning towards online marketing to save money (it is considerably less expensive than other forms of marketing and in most cases is actually free) as well as to make themselves more appealing to the billions of people who log onto the Internet each and every day.

On the Internet, visibility is crucial. How exposed or out in the open is your company to other people when they search the Internet? What would make someone like you or me interested in what you have to say? How are you going to say it? How are you going to make it presentable? Why should I be excited to be a part of what it is you are trying to do or sell? Marketing is all about knowing your customers and what their needs and wants are. You can't expect to run a successful business without some sort of marketing action plan. From pens with silly logos on them to business cards with silly designs and shameless self promotion, the best marketing tool to have in your arsenal is still, to this day, word-of-mouth advertising. If you create a product or provide a service that people are happy with, then chances are that they are going to tell other people about it, and on the social web, this is exactly what is happening.

Online marketing can include anything from paid banner ads that scroll across the top of the screen or vertically along the sides of the screen to something else that Google runs called Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertisements in which you get paid for every time someone clicks on an ad to Google's AdSense (which is similar to PPC). The Internet is magnanimous, and there is no end to the possibilities for how you can market yourself. One positive thing to take away from marketing is that it really allows you to stretch those creative legs of yours. Of course, Twitter is still the king of social media right now (and probably will be for some time). Additionally, there are other clever ways to market yourself. For example, guest blogging is a great way to get your name out there- especially if you can write a guest blog for a site in which there are a lot of visitors. Be interesting. Capture your readers' attention. Be inspiring.