It’s becoming difficult to visit a single website without seeing the effects of internet marketing. From banner ads to affiliate commission links, the entire internet has been monetized to a degree where efficient business and important information have blurred into one form.

While some ‘net surfers want to escape the extensive advertising and occasionally invasive advertising, most small businesses are looking to establish themselves online and get their piece of the online pie. With offline small business advertising losing effectiveness and value, the online world is quickly becoming an attractive option for local businesses, online-only companies, and small businesses worldwide.

If you operate a small business and want to use the internet to your advantage, it’s important to have at least some knowledge of the playing field. Before you commit to an online marketing campaign, use this guide of seven internet business advantages to change, shape, and influence your online marketing efforts.

1. Online leads cost nothing to acquire.

If your business is tired of paying expensive overheads to acquire prospective clients, the internet could be the best option for your future lead generation efforts. While cold calls and direct mail marketing carry expensive per-minute and per-mail costs, online lead generation costs nothing but the fees for web hosting.

For businesses that are focused on long-term marketing, an online lead generation presence can be a real asset. With a powerful search-powered website, you could find leads coming to you, rather than your business having to chase them down.

2. There’s no countdown timer online.

Tick-tock, tick-tock. That’s the sound of the amount of time you have available to win over the client, and it’s ticking away every time you make a cold call or market your services in person. While cold calls and in-person meetings can generate some good long-term business relationships, they often pale when compared to the limitless, pressure-free sales that can occur online.

When a prospective clients seeks you out online, the ball’s in your court. When you seek them out personally, you’re immediately at a disadvantage. With a powerful online presence, you could have clients and customers lining up to contact you, and not the other way around.

3. Online marketing scales effectively.

Human-driven marketing doesn’t scale. While a business can always hire more marketers, there’s a clear glass ceiling hovering above each marketer, always limiting the amount of business that they can bring in, the amount of leads that they can generate, and the amount of potential income that they’re worth.

Online, things are different. Instead of direct marketers, you have a business sales page. Instead of time-based communications like phone systems and mail, you have stress-free email. If your business is built to scale, a move online could dramatically increase its growth potential.

4. Local customers don’t look in the phone book – they look online.

When presented with the amount of search terms specifically tailored for their area, most local business owners are stunned. The assumption that the internet is used only for national-level or city-level commerce is dead wrong. Customers are rapidly moving away from the phone book or local business guide, and are using Google, Yahoo, and Bing as their business directories. Instead of investing in expensive and ineffective offline marketing methods, many local businesses would be best off marketing their business towards local search results.

5. Offline, multimedia is expensive. Online, multimedia is free.

TV advertising is often outside the budget of many local businesses. While a multimedia advertisement could be an effective sales tool, the cost of local airtime outweighs the potential effects that it could bring in.

However, when posted online multimedia and advertising materials take on a new life. Using free services such as Youtube or Vimeo, businesses can show their TV ads to millions of potential viewers, all without spending a cent on broadcasting or airtime.

6. Online marketing can be risk-free.

The most stressful part of any marketing campaign is the waiting game. Most business owners know the feeling well – the stress that comes after a campaign is launched, but before it begins to show any effect. All doubts kick in, and even the smallest concern pre-launch is amplified to a horrible, crippling worry.

Online, that feeling isn’t there. Using per-sale or per-action based online advertising, businesses can make their product available without any risk to themselves. Rather than risking their own capital on advertisements or marketing materials, their effort and risk is outsourced to affiliates and online marketing partners, who offer risk-free advertising in exchange for a small commission.

7. Creating a free online PR platform is easy.

Thousands of businesses waste money on an ineffective offline PR firm every year. The structure of offline media – limited space, limited value, and limited room for businesses – makes every PR effort a battle rather than a negotiation. Businesses compete for page space and airtime, and money is spent on competition rather than real value.

Online PR couldn’t be more different to its offline counterpart. Rather than fighting for limited attention, businesses target the long tail of limitless, value-added space. With the simple addition of a company blog, most businesses can move from PR dinosaurs to online PR masters within days.

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Social media is no longer an oddball marketing tactic, it’s a proven marketing method for thousands of businesses worldwide. With small businesses, major corporations, and Fortune 500 companies all rushing to create their own social media presence, we’re seeing significantly more social media successes.

However, alongside those successes are some embarrassing mistakes. From fake grassroots marketing to paid-for reviews, big brands occasionally make some major errors in the transition to social media marketing. These five mistakes seem to pop up embarrassingly often, so we’re put them together as an anti-template for social media marketers.

1. Online astroturfing

Normally reserved for “grassroots”political campaigns, astroturfing is the process of creating a marketing campaign that appears spontaneous and audience-driven, but is really planned out well in advance by the advertiser.

A standard practice for some offline advertisers, astroturfing rarely ends well in the online world. Social media moves fast, and users can quickly find details about online personalities and so-called “genuine” movements. Create real social media movements, not manufactured enthusiasm.

2. Being a brand, not a person.

People use social media platforms to connect with other people, not other brands. As valuable as an @Microsoft Twitter account could be, it’s unlikely to provide any direct interaction with customers. If your company is using social media for customer support, assign each employee a personal account, not just an anonymous company brand.

3. Moving too slowly.

A large number of offline-only companies are amazed at the speed of online business. Social media moves incredibly quickly, with major news stories traveling across the world in mere minutes. There’s no greater proof than the massive reliance on Twitter for recent news stories and world events. While traditional outlets take hours, sometimes even days to report, Twitter users have pieced stories together in minutes.

There’s a downside to this, especially for small businesses. While social media can promote you rapidly, it can also bring your business down without careful attention. Respond immediately whenever negative feedback hits the airwaves, and don’t let stories travel without your side out there.

4. Spreading your influence.

Social media is all about influence. When given the choice between 100 semi-valuable profiles or one ultra-influential profile, which would your business choose? Obviously, the choice is in the single profile, but thousands of businesses, intentionally or not, end up choosing the hundred.

For businesses with multiple employees, it’s unwise to spread influence across each and every account. Using individual accounts for technical support and customer assistance is a worthwhile strategy, but it’s especially wise to keep one brand-only account for major announcements, promotions, and business events. Ensure that your followers only need to listen to one account, and enjoy greater online influence.