Words of the Week: Internet Marketing

The term Internet marketing might have a different connotation, depending on who's using the term. For example, if you have a home business that involves selling items or information online, you would say that you have an Internet marketing business. However, a large corporation, like IBM or Apple, for example, would consider Internet marketing to be only one aspect of their overall marketing strategy.

It probably doesn't help that there are so many available synonyms for Internet marketing, including terms like online marketing, eMarketing, web marketing, etc. It also doesn't help that the lines between marketing and advertising are always blurry. It may help to keep in mind that:

• Advertising is just one form (a subset) of marketing
• Internet marketing is just one form (a subset) of marketing
• Search engine marketing, blog marketing, affiliate marketing, email marketing and article marketing are all subsets (forms) of Internet marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click(PPC) advertising are subsets of search engine marketing (SEM)

When the Internet turned from being primarily a research and defense tool to being primarily a commercial outlet, the field of Internet marketing exploded. Once companies began selling goods and services online, search marketing began getting discovered as a way to improve an online company's visibility to potential customers.

Because the Internet makes it possible to market to a huge, global audience and because the Internet has greatly improved the ease of entry into entrepreneurship, there's no question that Internet marketing will be important to both large and small businesses for many years to come. If you are an online entrepreneur or at least have an online market for your business, then the more you know about Internet marketing and the more highly skilled you can become in it, the more likely it is that you will be able to increase your profits and improve your home business' chances for success in the years ahead. If you're not yet an entrepreneur and you've been thinking about starting an online business, the more you know about Internet marketing can give you a distinct competitive advantage over those who try to make money on the Internet without first learning the tricks of the trade.

Internet Marketing Defined
Related term: Viral Marketing


Topics Related to Internet Marketing

• Internet Marketing: Basics
• Strategic Internet Marketing
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Overview
• Blog Marketing for Home Business