As a home based internet business owner you need customers. More specifically, you need an internet marketing strategy that will generate qualified leads who you can convert into customers.

A qualified lead is a person who has an interest in, and is eligible to purchase, what you are selling. The current methods many business owners use to get leads from the internet revolve around cold selling techniques such as: purchasing lists of email addresses and sending out sales letters about their products or posting sales messages on every social networking site they come across. The problem with this type of internet marketing strategy is that it is unproductive. Your prospect will just ignore you or, worse, label you as a spammer.

Thankfully, there is an internet marketing strategy out there called Attraction Marketing that is vastly more effective at generating qualified leads. Attraction Marketing is a pull method that takes your personal brand and combines it with targeted marketing tactics to reel in people who need what you have to offer. You don’t push your sales message on them. Instead, you simply show them that you are the person they want to buy from.

This type of internet marketing strategy sets you up as a person of authority on your subject matter. People don’t like the hard sell process any more than you do. It makes them feel like they are being manipulated into getting something they don’t want. They prefer to make an informed decision to purchase from someone whom they know and trust will provide them exactly what they need. As a perceived authority in your field, people will naturally look to you as that person.

Using this internet marketing strategy requires that you focus on being a problem solver. Look at your target customer and brainstorm what issues they may be struggling with. For example if you’re targeting people who want to lose weight, they would probably need help figuring out what type of foods they should be eating.

This is where you would use your knowledge and expertise to establish yourself as an authority on your subject. Going back to our weight loss example, you would present an eating plan that maximized nutrition and promoted weight loss to your target customer. By focusing on solving the customer’s problem rather than “selling” to them, you show that you care about them and that you can be trusted to help.

Done enough times, you will eventually build a reputation as the person to go to for advice and information which in turn gives your customers the confidence they need to buy from you. Think about it. Who do you go to when you need help with a problem? Chances are you go to people who have a proven track record for solving problems.

There are several ways you can execute this internet marketing strategy. You can write articles that address your client’s problems and post them on your blog or distribute them through article directories. You can use YouTube to upload video presentations that provide solutions to issues they’re wrestling with. You can sign up for a social networking service, like Twitter, and post helpful tips. As long as you focus on providing value and solving problems you will get results.

While using an internet marketing strategy based on building authority requires a little more time and effort, it is well worth it. The effects are long lasting and will allow you to focus on servicing the customers you need. People who want to buy from you.