What makes a successful online business? Is it a great web site or an awesome product?

Well they both help, but; the main ingredient is persistence. Allow me to use an anecdotal piece of history to illustrate my point.

A Scottish king named Robert Bruce was fighting the English at the battle of Bannockburn and not doing very well. Whilst sat in a cave considering his options he saw a spider building a web. The spider kept falling down, but; kept going back again, until eventually it successfully spun its web. Robert saw how the spider had persisted in its task, so he then did the same and beat the English. The moral being Try, Try and Try again.

So what has does this tale teach us? If we keep applying the same tactics (providing they are the right ones) we will succeed!

So what are the right tactics when marketing your online business? What should you be doing persistently in order to achieve long-term success?

Firstly, build your subscriber list. There is nothing better than having a list of 1000s of e-mail address from people who want to hear from you about your product.

One of the most consistent ways to grow your subscribers is to write and submit articles such as this one. At the end of it you can insert your resource box with your details in it including your web site address. Many more benefits of Article writing can be found in my article Do I really need to write articles for Ezines? Once you have written your article(s), spend time submitting your articles to ezines or if you prefer you can use an automated ezine announcement system.

Another way to build your subscriber list is to use opt in mail List provider. There are plenty of them on the net so shop around and look for testimonials to make the right choice.

Once you build up the trust with those people on your list then its a bit like a money tree. Just like ordinary trees they do not grow overnight and they need nurturing. A simpler method is to have an online form on your web-site where prospects can provide you with their name & e-mail address.

Optimise your pages for search engines. Do this regularly and use PPC search engines selecting targeted keywords or phrases. This is a long term tactic and its here where persistence really P.A.Y.S., if you keep repeating the task over a sustained period and you will reap the rewards.

Join and participate in online forums. Whilst you can use forums to meet other entrepreneurs and gain help and assistance, get used to providing it. Take part in the forum offering advice and get your name known around the forum(s). People will remember it and start looking for you.

There are those that will have you believe that you can just set up online and make 1000s within in days. Heres the reality check, this doesnt happen. You have to persist to get where you want to go, you should give yourself at least a year for your marketing strategies to do their job.

Dont get disheartened keep working, be persistent, dont give up at the first hurdle.