Maybe you’ve heard of integration marketing…maybe even from me…but you’re not sure how to apply the principles yourself. How can the person who is just starting out…people with home based internet marketing businesses…how can they apply the principles and use them to grow their list, make money and build their business? There are a number of specific action steps you can take to do all three.

Find a related product or service

You have a product or service that you are providing…now you want to find a related…similar product or service…that you can connect with. Do some research and find maybe 4, 5, 6 different products that would be a good fit. Keep in mind that integration marketing is all about targeted traffic, so the fit is important. If you’re selling a dog grooming book, then it won’t fit well with a cat toy website… but a dog toy site might work, or a site about poodles or other dogs that require a lot of care, or a dog rescue site event. Use your imagination and think about the people who would buy your product… what other products are most likely to be of interest to them? Then see if you can find those products online.

don’t limit yourself

You don’t have to limit yourself to online products either…even if you’re 100% online and your product is a digital download…you can still use integration marketing with physical products that ship through the mail or even in stores.

It is common for direct mail companies to include in their mailing box offers of products and services that fit the needs of their customers. Sometimes they will be promoting their own products (which is a lower level of integration marketing) and other times they will be other people’s products (a higher level). So you can reach out to a direct mail company to be one of those offers… if it’s a good fit it doesn’t really cost the company anything to put you in the box and you split the revenue with them so it’s beneficial for all.

You can also approach physical stores that sell products that are a good match. If you have physical inventory, you could have an in-store display…or you could have flyers that sellers put in the shopping bag when someone makes a purchase that directs them to your website.

Again, use your imagination!

Contact the product owner

Once you’ve determined your best options for integration marketing, you’ll want to approach the product owner or marketer with the idea. Remember to keep it about them… how it benefits them and their customers.

Some of the points you can make are:

• Low cost (or free) for them
• The customer benefits from the related product that they would not otherwise know about
• They get a percentage of the proceeds from each sale.
• Why the product is a good fit

Create the offer

Whether it’s an email or a web page, you need to create the offer, have a way to collect names, emails or postal addresses, explain the offer to the customer, and be able to take orders.

With these specific action steps, home-based Internet marketing businesses can harness the list building and revenue-generating potential of integration marketing. The only thing that limits you is your imagination! So now, follow the steps!