You have decided to start an online business. You have a website ready to go but now you have no idea what to do next.
Businesses do not become successful overnight, even on the internet. It takes time, work, commitment, perseverance, dedication and belief in yourself and your products.

One very important thing you need to do is to establish an online presence. This will take time so don't expect sales to start pouring in by the end of the week!

Once you start to create your reputation and build a solid foundation for your business, it will start to grow and sales will increase.

Below are 10 ways you can help accelerate this:

1. Appreciate Your Customers - Customers do not come easy so you need to show them you appreciate them and deserve their trust.

Be available to your customers when they have questions or need help. Answer all emails as quickly as you can and as efficiently as you can. Be willing to go the extra mile to make their experience with you more than satisfactory. Customers are not always right but you can make them feel like they are!

2.

Join Groups and Forums - Join email discussion groups, message boards and other forums to help build your business. Participate as much as you can. Offer advice, help, guidance, and ask questions as well. Do not just advertise and leave!

3. Blog, Blog, and Blog - Blogs have become very popular in a short amount of time.
Blogging is very much like writing a newsletter or ezine. You want to post helpful information, resources and more. Update your blog regularly and make it interactive. Wordpress is a good place to start your blog.

4. User-Friendly Website - Make sure your website is simple, user-friendly and straightforward.

Don't fill your site full of flashy animations, music, and other annoyances. Make sure your website is easy to navigate and let your customers know what your site is about. If your visitors can't figure out what you offer, they will just close you out.
Always have your contact info available for your visitors. Be honest, straightforward and provide a good product or service. Unless you are a casino in Vegas, you don't need the flash and glitter!

5. Social Networking - We all know the sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., but not all of us use them to their full potential.

Getting and staying active on these powerful sites are highly proficient ways to expand your contacts, increase your sales, and intensify your online presence.

6. Optimize for Search Engines - Research ways you can improve your site for the search engines.
Use relevant keywords, bold headlines, effective meta tags, a site map, and update regularly. All these things can greatly increase your search engine ranking.

7. Article Marketing - The power of article marketing has increased over the years. If you are not yet writing and submitting articles, I would recommend you get started as soon as you can. Writing articles does not have to be hard.

You do not have to use big, technical words. Write like you are letting a friend know how to do something. Make your article straightforward and helpful. Once you get an article written (include your resource box at the end), start submitting it to article directories such as Ezine Articles, Go Articles, Idea Marketers and more.

8.
RSS Feeds - RSS is a means of letting your subscribers know when you update your site with new information, sales, resources, etc. Your subscribers will receive "feeds" which are short summaries of the updates. This is a great way of getting all these potential customers back to your site.

You can do this for free with RSSFeedReader.

9. Your Business is Not a Hobby - So many people start a business because they mistakenly think they will not have to work a lot to make money. When I first started online, I was working 12 - 14 hours a day to build my reputation and online presence.

After several years I am able to slow down a bit but I must be sure to always be on top of things and to not let my business grow stale. I know not all of us have 12 - 14 hours a day to work but if you stay committed and treat your business as a business and not a hobby or something to do, than you can make your business a success!

10.

Video Marketing - Learning how to market yourself and your business with videos can have a big impact on your online presence. In this day and age, we do not need a complicated camera and crew to make a video. You can simply do this at home. Put a little planning into your video, dress appropriately and brush up on your speaking skills.
You want to effectively get your message across and you want people to take you seriously. Once you create your video, post it on your site, blog or social media page and amplify your online presence.

Take some time to research these marketing methods and be prepared to follow through.

Rushing into things can sometimes backfire and do read more damage than good. So, always be learning, expanding and testing your techniques and you will surely escalate your online presence!