I'd like to know the top 5 most effective tactics for online marketing a business,

Blogging which serve as a platform for so many other tactics including SEO, archiving newsletters, blogger relations, PR, viral marketing, a compliment to the corporate site, a touchpoint for social networking and a place to promote webinars.

Article marketing, Seo, Social Networking, Video Marketing, Forum Posting, Blog Commenting, Email Marketing, Just To Name A Few!

I think jayorban hit on the mark with his top five (and then some). I can tell you this; becominig invisible is definitely NOT a marketing strategy. Good luck to you.

Hello,

You might like this blog about online branding too:

http://www.strategybeach.com/wordpress/2010/01/building-your-internet-brand-with-your-website/

Agree with the above. I think that Ebooks particularly ones that are shared on Scribd.com can work very well. I am getting some great results from it.

One of the most effective ways to grow your business

is creating a community for your target market.

Good luck with your business,

Tresaca

http://www.EmpoweredBusinessNetwork.com

I will agree with all the above posts, my problem with Marketing and Advertising which most of you may have experienced as well is the fact so much of the information is fragmented.

Asking for the best 5 practices I think is not completely practical because your product or service may not lend itself to the same strategy that may work for one business owner, but not another.

I created this article with the basics you should consider to put together your strategy simple and quickly, Then i provided 15 Online Advertising Methods with links to the most helpful sites and 25 Offline Advertising ideas and methods. It would be a real time saver and I hope you all find it helpful.

Article Link: The Magical World of Marketing and Advertising

'

I agree with the statement above

But my favorite marketing tactics are

Ezine solo Ads

Article Marketing

Content Network

PPV (Pay Per View)

Banner Advertising

those are my top 5 i use

"Learn How To Get 37 Checks Per Month, Earn Upwards Of $4,954.55 Per Day.
While Generating 2,143 Leads PER DAY For Your Home Business!
Click Here FREE Videos

I agree with Mike, and I also noticed that most people seem to be focused on traffic and not the website.

Of course you need lots of qualified visitors to your site, but what about when you get them there, how will you quickly build rapport with them and engage them enough to keep them there and get them to take action? So the first step in my opinion is to research and understand your target market inside out, that way you know exactly what language to use with them in order to start building that critical relationship.

I don't believe there's a single magic solution to successful Internet Marketing and it's such a dynamic forum that news ways to market your business online are appearing all the time and things that were really effective a year ago may not be so now! And as Mike says each business is different and requires a unique approach.