You own a business. You want to sell more of your product or service to make greater profits, but you don’t want to raise or lower your price - you just want more people to know about you.

You understand the internet pretty well and maybe even have a website for your business. You know businesses can make loads of money from people making purchases online, or from more people learning about a business online and then stopping by in person.

Okay, so you have a website, but nothing’s happening. You’re not even sure if people read it or if they can even find it. What do you do, and where do you start?

Start anywhere.

The thing about the web is that it’s, well, a web. It’s a network of interlinked documents that one can access via the internet.

There is no chronological "rite of passage" you have to go through - you don’t necessarily have to start by creating any certain website, nor do you have to start by making a blog, then a Facebook page, then a Twitter account. There is no secret website that that has all the answers that every successful business knows about except for you.

That’s why it’s so difficult to find resources on digital marketing. It’s because the information and tips are everywhere - some of it is good, some of it is too shallow, some of it is a bit contradictory, some of it is way too complicated for you and written in nerd-speak and some of it is just a repeat of the last "top 10 digital marketing strategies" list you found on the last site you clicked on.

So just jump right into it. If the first tip you see says "start a blog!" start with that. What blogs sites are out there? Google "top blog sites." Pick one and sign up. Poke around, change settings, fill in information - do this, and watch tutorials when you run into a roadblock or have a question. Look at other blogs and Google "how did they do that?" and then do it yourself.

Or you could start by making a Facebook page for your business or a Twitter account to share the latest news and sales. Make a YouTube channel and shoot a video with a video camera or a digital camera (many have video capabilities) and put it online. Introduce yourself. Make an account on Flikr and take photos of your business and the products/services you’re offering and put them up there.

Then link them all together. You can link your Twitter to YouTube so that every time you post a video on YouTube, an automated tweet with a link to the video will be sent out to your followers. You can link your YouTube to Facebook as well to do the same. On Twitter, put your blog URL as your web site.

Essentially, create your own little web, continuously directing people to your sites. Post the same thing on multiple platforms - but also post unique messages on each as well. And don’t just tweet out things - interact and engage! People think it’s the coolest thing to have their tweet re-tweeted by companies, which have traditionally had a wall of "professionalism" between themselves and their customers and tend to put information out, but ask for information in (like feedback) very rarely. Their tweet to you could be a test, to see if your Twitter account is just being used to shovel out information or if you’re a personable company who will answer questions and have a conversation with them - on Twitter.

The more you interact, the larger your web of influence will reach. And the more you play, the more you’ll learn!