Online Marketing Tip: Work Smarter Not Harder

Monitor, Rinse and Repeat is where the magic of “working smarter, not harder” begins. Monitor is made up of the systems, analytics, measurements, and data that will help you make better marketing decisions. In order to work smarter (not harder) you need to have systems setup to consistently monitor your online marketing activities. If you’re not doing this, you are missing a huge opportunity to get better results. Big, small or one man show, you can not afford to skip this step!

Note: This post is an excerpt from the 30 Days 30 Ways Free Online Marketing Program

**Why Monitor is Important**

Without Monitor, your marketing will always be in “fly by the seat of your pants” mode. You’ll never understand where to invest your time, where not to invest your time, what’s working and what’s not working.

Remember, the smaller your business the less time and resources you have to invest in online marketing activities that do not work. Monitor helps you use your resources wisely.

“Always remember, there is an opportunity cost in everything you do…

when you go one way, you give up the opportunity of going another, possibly better way.”

– A wise old guy

Understanding the components of Monitor

Monitor is made up of all components of your online presence that do one of two things:

Collect data;
and, provide valuable information to help you make better marketing decisions.

Monitor considerations that will need to be made…

Where does my traffic come from?
Which of my traffic sources brings in the best traffic?
Where are lead and sale opportunities within my referrer traffic?
Which traffic sources are “dead” traffic where I am wasting my time?
Am I tracking all incoming traffic sources in the best way?
Which of my landing pages is producing the most qualified leads?
How do I track each marketing channel from point of contact to the sale?
How do I collect data to monitor all marketing channels and incoming traffic?
What data is important for me to make better marketing decisions?

Monitor is the system(s) you put in place, combined with Convert to optimize, test, and improve… over and over and over.

**What Monitor means for your business…**

Along with Convert, Monitor will help you optimize your lead generation and sales. When you set up the right systems to Monitor, you’ll be able to understand your success, your failures, and discover opportunities for further growth in your business. You’ll know what works, what doesn’t work, and how you can leverage the positive while decreasing the negative. Corporate marketers call this ROI (return on investment). With Convert and Monitor strategies you’ll dramatically increase your ROI in every area of your online marketing.

About the Author...

Maria Reyes-McDavis is a colossal geek brainiac, certified genius IQ with university degrees in Finance, Economics, Business Management and an MBA. Maria has served over 300 pro-level, digital marketing clients as founder of online marketing firm Digital Peas & Carrots. Maria is Founder and Editor of Hyphenated Americans, a conservative politics blog and Proverbs 31 Project an online women's ministry. Most importantly, Maria is a wife to her king, mother of 3, lover of basketball (Go Lakers & Clippers!), classic cars and is currently training for professional women's roller derby!