OFFLINERS: How would you explain basic Online marketing to your clients?

Online Market Research (this should come before website design)
SEO - on page and off-page (based on the research findings)
SEM - advertising on other websites and using ppc
Web 2.0 - Using sites like high traffic authority Wikipedia to establish authority
Social networking - leveraging sites like linkedIn, Twitter, Facebook for advertising and customer aquisition
Email Marketing - Many aspects to this, follow-up, relationship building, sales etc.
Viral marketing - videos, books, ebooks, audio etc..

But to be honest - I usually don't talk about these things to clients - I just talk about raising brand awareness, customer aquisition, increasing customer retention, effectiveness and profits.

Andy

Andy is 100% right - these aren't things to talk about.

Why do you want to give them this list? It will become a menu for them to pick and choose from as well as compare with others?

Specializing in "service oriented" offline businesses, Here's my pitch, just off the cuff:

"Look ________ these other web designers talk alot of technical mumbo jumbo, but they arent marketers they are designers, and poorly trained sales recruits. Let me be honest with you, I have been in this game awhile, dont let anybody make you think this has to be complicated.

The first thing you need to do is just get online and establish your presence PERIOD. You need a basic 4-5 page SEO'd site with the clear cut purpose that every single word of content is designed to perform single function... Drive a person to your contact form to take action. Thats all it is.

(Customers leans back and starts listening now, He is comforted already. Its simple and its not gonna cost 4 figures to start).

Thats what you want right? You want people to contact you?

You need a simple clear message that drives people to the contact form on every page... so many people miss the simplicity of that______. They have bells and whistles all over their sites... and the sites do everything but get people to take action".

Then I explain why 90% of websites dont work because they are busy, disorienting, and they dont navigate people straight to a contact form.

It makes sense to the business owner...

Is there alot more I could say? Yes, but I dont want to lose him.

I dont get too technical because a disoriented small business man does not write a check...I keep it real simple... then after the check is in hand upsell later.

Say only what it takes to get them to write the intial $500 bucks or whatever... now they are your customer and you can sell them anything you want.

Overselling is the number one killer of business!

You want to prolong their decision? Here's how: Talk too much.

They want to hear somebody say "This is simple. This is a no brainer" Not a bunch of technical nonsense that says "You dont know what the hell Im saying, and Im asking you to give me money for speaking greek to you, and I could easily take advantage of you because you are so disoriented that you arent keeping up with me, and you cant tell which end is up..."

Small business men dont make decisions when they are scratching their head... you have to be simple and clear

If you go the route of trying to unload an IM encyclopedia of words on them, you will not get a check , you will get "Let me think about it" or an "I have a friend who does this stuff... let me run these ideas by him and get back to you..."

Say your peice and close the damn sale! Get the check on the table! Baffle em with bull**** later and upsell whatever you want, but first you have to make them a customer.

Business men want help, they want a support network, but they DONT want to think somebody else has control of any facet of their business or understands it more than they do...

You have to spoon feed them.

You cant ask them to walk ten miles with you, you have to ask them to walk one... then when you get to the end of it ask them to walk another...

Keep your pitch concise and simple to understand, dont ever let your prospect feel out of control... Dont impress him with what you know, rather make him feel understood.

Once again, the more simply he can grab the concept the better... you dont have to lay all your cards on the table at once just because you have them.

If you wear him out... you wont get a check. Leave him feeling energized and close down your pitch in a reasonable amount of time.

At the close:

When he says "What do I need to get started say "A check for _____ will get me started today, and I can have you up and running withn 72 hours" and shut up.

First one to talk loses.

Thats my 2 chickens.

Thanks Andy and others who have replied.

Points taken re:speak to them in a language they understand.

Apologies, but my OP was not clear. Here's what I had in mind. Internet Marketing 101
for DIY-type clients. Model will be give them the product that teaches how to catch fish and them sell them the fish on the backend.

Regards,

Sam