I get very skeptical when I come across language about giving back to the Internet as a reason why the owner is making resources available, unless it’s a nonprofit org. But, in the commercial world, I want to know how an operation supports itself because that will tell me what its bias is and how I should judge the information before me.

Not making it obvious to the end user what your game is only makes people suspicious of your motives. In fact, being up front and transparent right from the get-go actually helps build credibility.

Let’s face it. There’s good reason for people to be suspicious on the Internet, whether on a website or within the walls of a Social Media platform.

The Internet has taken down many barriers between marketers and the people they market to. But, a psychological barrier often has to be overcome with a forthright interface if any transaction is to be had later down the line. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

Carol was the assistant creative business manager at DDB Needham when I was there in the ’80s. In contrast to many of the larger-than-life characters in that department, she was very quiet. But, man, I knew she was a presence. She was previously a nun and was one of the most intense listeners I ever met.

Carol sat in my office a number of times and listened to me go on about my dad, who had just passed away. She was a healer.

I speak little of 9/11. I don’t want it to turn into a series of rote stories. But I can pay homage to a deep soul I knew whom we lost that day.

I listen for her name when they call out the list of those who died during the memorial service each year. Writing this is the best way I can memorialize her. Thank you, Carol. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

Gord Hotchkiss, founder of Enquiro and now SVP of Mediative, points out that the B2B buyer seeks to avoid risk. Remember the saying, “No one ever got fired for buying IBM?” That speaks directly to the B2B buyer’s risk-avoidance instinct.

Furthermore, there is the all-important chemistry between prospective vendor and client. What runs through the client’s mind very often is, “Am I comfortable with this person? Can I work with him/her on a day-to-day basis, especially when something goes wrong?”

Online, you can set a tone with your site and marketing campaigns that anticipates what your prospective client will want next. Call this intuitive design and marketing.

There are a lot of dollars on the line with each B2B conversion, a lot more than a low-involvement B2C sale like package goods. The more homework you do in making your campaigns, sites, and F2F contact relevant and timely, the better your chances of converting B2B leads to prospects, and onto conversions thereafter. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

A classic direct marketer would look for conversions of some sort. How many people ultimately subscribe to your newsletter from your list of followers? Of course, the quicker you can connect followers to sales, the better.

But this is where things get dicey. It’s often hard to tell if a Twitter follower bought something from you because of your last Tweet, or a mounting positive impression over weeks, months or years, or because of social proof by his or her peers.

In other words, this is a very inexact science. But, despite the murky numbers, it is in your best interest to allocate budget to SocMed and watch for patterns sooner than later. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

For example, on FB, you can select not only geography, you can also designate interests, age, sex, birthday, profession, etc. FB can zone in on keywords that are on your wall or in your messages. So, an FB user can express interest in something and get an ad shortly or immediately thereafter. Timing is everything, as they say. Talk about relevance.

How long will it be until web marketing companies market specific audiences to advertisers that otherwise would go unused? That may be the next frontier of Internet marketing, namely Audience Marketing. Here’s an audience; who’s the advertiser most likely to pay the most for that opportunity? LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

A cheaper price isn’t necessarily going to seal the deal. In fact, if the price is really low ball, it can raise doubts about quality. You have to raise concerns or make buyers aware of risks that they might not be considering.

Gord Hotchkiss points out a B2B sale is more about risk avoidance than about reward. In a B2C sale, the prospect weighs the risk/reward ratio. But with B2B, companies generally don’t hold parties when they purchase more rack space. It’s typically more about keeping operations running smoothly and protecting your job. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

While Twitter itself hasn’t figured out its own ad model at the time of this writing, there are some firms that are good at lead gen, conversions, and sales now. For example, F-Commerce is taking off big time. Groupon and LivingSocial are all about the offer and making the cash register ring.

Ads that employ tighter Facebook targeting will most likely drive actions due to their increased relevance and timeliness. Display or brand ads are dirt cheap in Social Media, as in less than $10/cpm typically when not targeted.

Bottom line: In the long run, look for purposeful ads that drive offers in Social Media and for loyalty programs to gain momentum. But, I don’t think warm-and-fuzzy, general branding ads are ever going to be welcomed in the midst of social interactions taking place in the context of Social Media. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

You can also look for a direct response in a job interview. One way to get a positive response is to do something unexpected. Most candidates in a job interview want a job.

I know someone who offers to freelance in the position the employer is looking to fill. She gets very high response rates. She tells me the interviewer often is relieved at not having to make a long-term commitment to hire someone right off the bat. In short, it takes the pressure off.

You may or may not want to freelance ongoingly. Either way, offering to freelance first allows both potential employer and candidate to “date” first. It makes sense. Both parties aren’t going to be able to predict if the chemistry is going to work out because they both have their game face on. But, over time, during the course of a freelance stint, both parties can see how well or poorly such a long-term commitment would work. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

My experience shows people are typically comfortable with and maybe even appreciate brevity and obviousness. In other words, give it to me quick. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]

You can imagine that these offer feeds have a pretty good response rate. After all, recipients of those offers have already taken one action by signing up in the first place; so, it’s likely they’ll take another action thereafter.

“Do Not Track” browsers filter away unwanted ad feeds. More and more users will be able to opt out of receiving ads which are targeted via surreptitious means.

Marketers will have to come up with a way to make the target audience actually want to allow tracking, receiving ads that compensate them for sharing their identities and usage data.

In the end, it will be a mutually advantageous system for user and marketer alike. The marketer has a no-waste channel to reach target audiences while the user gets obviously valuable offers and content from the marketer. Not a bad proposition. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.[Terms and Conditions]