The Dynamic Duo of Digital Marketing:

Batman had Robin. Kareem had Magic. The Lone Ranger had Tonto. Great teams often have two parts. The two parts of your Digital Age marketing team are your web site and email.

Sure, you can make things work with just a web site. And you can make money with email. But if you put them together, great things can happen.

Your Web Site:

People go on the web for two big reasons. They want to solve a problem or answer a question. Your web site should give them the information and features to do that.

Information is the reason for the web. The World Wide Web was started as a way for people to find information more easily. Even with all the new Web 2.0 media, information is still what most people want on your site.

So give it to them. Make sure your site has a rich supply of information that matters to your customers. It doesn't cost much. Your web site's capacity is almost unlimited.

And it should be easy to do. If you've been in business for any length of time, you know what matters to your customers. You know what questions they ask. Answer them. You know what problems they have. Help them solve those problems.

Information is not enough. You need features on your site that help your visitors find and use information.

Start with a search engine. It's one of those tools that site visitors love. Add tools like calculators that help people use the information they get from you. And offer to send them more information, too. That's where email comes in.

Your Email:

Connection is the strength of email. But before you can connect, you have to give visitors a reason to give you their email address.

Do that on your site. People will give you their email address in return for something that benefits them.

Offer them a simple piece of desirable information. One way to handle that is to offer a free tool or report and have them use your shopping cart to give you information, make the request, and download the information.

Offer them a course of information. People love simple courses that come to them in daily doses, right to their email box. Your autoresponder system can handle that easily.

Offer them a subscription to your newsletter. In today's world, where free e-newsletters abound, you may choose to offer a free bonus for signing up.

Once you've got their email address you can stay in touch. Just remember that while everyone likes to buy, no one likes to feel like they're being sold. So make sure you send valuable information more often than you send offers to buy something.

The Team:

Here are the rules you need to make this Dynamic Duo work for you. Start by getting visitors to your site.

Use the tools of Search Engine Optimization and promotion to get visitors to your site. Then, dazzle them with the information and features that help them solve a problem or answer a question.

Get them on your list. Offer them several ways to give you their email address and get on your list. If they're on your list, they're an easily-reachable part of your market.

Keep on going. Stay in touch with email. Include links that get people back to the site. Help them sign up for courses and other information they get via email. The Dynamic Duo works best when they keep on working.