Today I had the honor of interviewing Catherine Seda, author of How To Win Sales & Influence Spiders. She's been in Internet marketing for over ten years and has made millions of dollars for her clients. If you're ready to take your Internet business to the next level, listen up...

A little about you - who you are, where you came from, what you hope to accomplish with this book.

I first started using the Internet in 1994. I know! That was a long, long time ago. In an Internet class at UCSD, I learned how to use e-mail and build a website. After college, I served as a marketing director at several agencies. Now, I'm an entrepreneur.

I share as much of this information as I can in my books and seminars. My first book, Search Engine Advertising, focuses on pay-per-click. My newest book, How To Win Sales & Influence Spiders, reveals how to attract new customers on the web while at the same time getting free search engine rankings and free media coverage.

Today, there are so many free ways to reach clients online! That's why I wrote this book. I want to help entrepreneurs seize these opportunities.

Everyone's told to "brand" their business, but what does branding really mean?

Branding is the process of creating and reinforcing an identity for your business. Your brand can include your personal or company name, logo, slogan and design elements.

Although many definitions of "brand" focus on equating a symbol with a company, that's limiting in my opinion. I think a brand is a message that you associated with you or your company. Think of Starbucks®. Yes, you might see the green, white and black circle logo for an instant and recognize it. But you may walk into a Starbucks®, without knowing it's a Starbucks®, and know where you're at by the décor. And when someone says "Starbucks®" I bet you immediately think coffee. Hopefully for Starbucks®, you think "good coffee." Personally, I think "yummy pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream" and start salivating. Whatever you think about Starbucks®, it's got brand recognition.

What message do you want associated with you or your company? Which words? What feelings? It's your customers' experience that gets the word out about your business and helps create awareness for your brand.

Many small businesses use contests to attract potential customers, but rarely reap the benefits. What are contests really good for?

Contests are great for building buzz! Leverage this attention to build your e-mail list and business...FAST. Here's how:

First, brainstorm contest ideas. A contest must connect to your company in some way, or it won't bring you business. For example, if you own a travel-related company, giving away a travel kit or free trip is a great idea. That's relevant. Giving away a computer isn't. There's no connection.

Once you choose what prize the winner(s) will get, create contest rules. Sure, you could offer a general "enter to win" contest. But to generate buzz on the web, get creative. Sticking with my travel example, why not ask participants to enter their funniest vacation photo? Or, you could ask participants to submit a fun name for a new tour you'll offer? Of course, they'll have to read all about your upcoming tour to participate in the contest. What an effective way to tell people about your new service. And if you really want to up your buzz factor, you could invite participants to submit their most creative travel video, which you'll use in your company's marketing materials. Promote your contest, or let participants vote on the "Top 3", on a video-sharing site such as YouTube (www.youtube.com). This is one of the hottest buzz-building sites on the web. People love it.

Now, it's list-building time. When participants enter your contest, tell them they'll be opted in to your e-mail list. This gives you permission to send them special offers or your newsletter. Getting them on your e-mail list is critical. Just be sure they know they're signing up.

When small business owners hear the word "advertise" they often run for cover. They've tried placing ads in the local paper, they've bought advertisements in e-zines, and they've even wasted big dollars for television or radio campaigns that failed. What's the best tip you can offer small businesses when it comes to placing advertisements?

I'm all for pay-per-click advertising! It's the perfect first step for local-only companies as well as large corporations. By advertising through search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN Search, you can bid on as many relevant keywords as you want. And, you'll only pay for clicks on your ad.

Because you can set your daily budget, you control your total cost. Want to start with $5 a day? That's fine. Although the search engines will show you an estimated daily cost for your keywords, set any budget you want. When you exceed your daily budget, your ads will stop running until the next day.

Because your ads are live within 3-5 days (maybe even within 15 minutes!), pay-per-click is one of the fastest ways to drive hot prospects to your web site. And, you'll find out which keywords and which ads work. You'll know which words bring you business. Use this information in all of your Internet marketing campaigns.

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