Marketing Tips and Strategies

5 Tips You Should Consider In Choosing Affiliate Marketing Software

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:40:00 +0000

Starting an affiliate program is a fairly intimidating proposition for anyone, especially those new to affiliate marketing and the software necessary to operate the program. Simply put, affiliate software (also referred to as affiliate program software, affiliate management software and affiliate marketing software) is the technology that enables sites to create affiliate programs. The relationships created by affiliate programs must be tracked organizationally in some method so each side knows how that relationship is working. Affiliate software can vary from small, one-function scripts to multi function applications to complete solutions that include access to an existing database of affiliates, also known as affiliate networks.

Adding affiliate tracking software to your site is one of the most effective ways to achieve more sales, more traffic and more search engine ranking!

Since competition in affiliate program software is fierce, the landscape is full of providers eagerly awaiting your business. But, how do you choose? Choosing the right affiliate software is simple once you've determined what you need and want from your affiliate program. Asking yourself the following questions will lay the foundation necessary to make an informed decision.

Is the software easy to use?
The last thing you need to do when starting a program is to spend huge amounts of time trying to learn a complex solution. Choosing an application that is self-explanatory or very well documented for the layperson is ideal.

Can I brand it to my domain?
Few affiliate software solutions come with the ability to match the look of the software to your site. Those that do generally charge considerable fees for branding your affiliate program, but there are exceptions. For instance, we offer direct linking as an affordable option for branding your program as well as increasing link popularity.

Is the affiliate software stable?
Whether you buy or lease an affiliate software, it must be stable enough to handle large amounts of traffic when necessary. Reliability and uptime are key factors to determining a solution's stability. iDevAffiliate.com has 99.9% uptime, having only been down for maintenance.

Can this affiliate software accommodate my growing needs?
There are those who use their affiliate software to track banner ads, link trades and ppc advertising as well as some email marketing campaigns. As your comfort level in both your affiliate software and the management of your affiliate program increase, you may feel confident enough to branch your advertising out into other media buys. If you feel this may be on the horizon, you'll need a solution that can accommodate you when the time is right.

Is the cost reasonable?
Starting an affiliate program should not be a bank breaking investment. Shop around for feature-rich solutions that target small to mid-sized companies working on a budget. Don't settle for poorly equipped solutions just because the price is right. Trying to add necessary features or expand the scope of such solutions could prove to be costly, and ultimately more trouble than it is worth.

10 Tips for Making Your Affiliate Marketing Program More Effective

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:39:00 +0000

Marketers with successful affiliate marketing programs know that the affiliate channel is a cost-effective way to drive incremental revenue.

But as with any marketing strategy, if you don't consistently apply best practices to your tactical efforts, you're likely to have disappointing results. Here are ten things you should focus on to improve the performance of your affiliate marketing program:

Effective Creative: Publishers spend time and money promoting your products or services, so you need to make sure you provide effective creative to help them sell your products. Effective creative has consistent brand messaging and a consistent look and feel every place the consumer interacts with it in the buy-or-try conversion funnel, from the banner on a publisher's site to your landing page to your shopping cart or lead form. Effective creative also has a clear and highly visible call to action and a compelling offer.

Competitive Offers: Are your offers in line with your vertical or industry? Take a look at what your competitors are offering for similar products or services and evaluate whether or not your margins allow you to provide a comparable or better offer. The trend of offering free expedited shipping proved successful for online retailers during the 2008 holiday shopping season and is continuing to be popular with consumers in 2009.

Deep Linking: It's well known that deep linking (linking directly from your offer on a publisher's site to the landing page where the product or service can be ordered) converts better than linking to your home page. The fewer pages a consumer has to click to before reaching the item, the more likely that shopper will complete the purchase. An easy way for online retailers to provide publishers with their complete and up-to-date product catalogs is through the use of data feeds, which we can set you up with.

Optimized Landing Pages: Your publishers can drive quality traffic for you all day every day, but if your landing pages aren't optimized, then your conversion rate will suffer. Make sure that there's visual consistency between your ads and landing pages, that your copy resonates with your target audience and that you follow through on the promise of your ad by making it clear what shoppers need to do next to get the special offer.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)/Search Engine Optimization (SEO): If you're not using paid and/or natural search campaigns to test the effectiveness of your ad copy, you're essentially just guessing at what works. Often the success you see in search can be the best indicator for the success of your affiliate program.

Simple Checkout Process: Streamline your checkout process to reduce the steps required to purchase a product. To prevent shopping cart abandonment, list shipping charges early in the checkout process and include thumbnail images of items next to their descriptions to provide a visual reminder for customers returning to their carts from previous visits.

Incentives: Top-performing publishers drive the majority of your revenue and expect to be compensated accordingly. So don't let them down by offering the standard commission you give to all your publishers. By offering special incentives that you tie to a specific product or to a volume or time-based goal, you're letting your best publishers know that you'll reward them for achieving the results you need.

Communication: Lack of communication with your publishers is the cause of many failed relationships. Make it a priority to communicate frequently and clearly with your publishers using the methods they prefer. Many publishers rely on email or instant messaging, but there may be times when they'd appreciate it if you picked up the phone or visited in person – this especially applies to your top revenue-producing publishers.

Professionalism: What you communicate to your publishers can be just as important as how. If you don't have marketing copywriters on staff, make sure to run your affiliate program description page and publisher newsletters by your company's corporate communications or documentation teams so they can flag typos and make sure the copy reads well.

Quality Online Presence: When was the last time you looked critically at your Web site? If it takes forever to load, has confusing navigation or amateurish graphic design, then consumers are likely to perceive your products and services negatively. Invest in a graphic designer or user interaction designer (or a talented intern) who is skilled at presenting information from a consumer's point of view rather than from a corporate perspective.

Marketing Tips : Use The Law Of Attraction

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:26:00 +0000

Successful people are using the law of attraction in every aspect of their lives. These same principles can be used in marketing. Attraction marketing has a lot to do with mindset.

Here are fours tips from people who have successfully integrated the law of attraction into their marketing campaigns.

Seek Clarity First
The most important thing to remember is to get clear on who you are and why you want what you want. Wallace D. Wattles warned against having only a 'vague and misty notion' of your goals. If you can see clearly, then you can move with certainty. You won't have to rely on others to tell you what to do. You won't need to look outside yourself to know what fits, what clicks, what energizes you and makes you pop out of bed in the morning. Once you have a firm understanding of what motivates your life you can easily and effortlessly connect with the right people, at the right time, and in the right ways.
- Phillip Davis branding and naming expert

Don't Forget the ACTION in Attraction!
Don't forget that ACTION is a part of the word "Attraction". We can create happy thoughts, work up positive feelings, envision the ideal customer, and even create vision boards for high sales figures, swelling bank accounts, and all the things that we will buy with our profits. But without adding the actual action to the overall process, we're really doing nothing more than day dreaming. For me, the action step isn't about "forcing" what I've attracted but it is my way of saying to the universe, "I am expecting to receive what I have asked for and I am proving that by taking these steps to prepare myself to receive it." As I write my ad copy, create my email messages, and follow-up with prospects, I do it with a sincere gratitude and expectation that the steps I am taking are working to manifest the intentions I have set in my mind.
- Brian Rooney autoresponders expert

Dare to Own Your Special Gifts - Now THAT's Attraction!

A big part of Attraction Marketing is daring to own your own special gifts. You do have them. You have a unique style of bringing your work into the world. There are people out there who can only hear what they need to hear from you! Attraction Marketing is not about backing down and being modest. It's about stepping into your greatness because when you step into this powerful place--opportunities, synchronicities, and all sorts of help truly show up. And so do the clients, media opportunities and speaking events! People want to work with confident and successful people. This has been the hardest area for me in the evolution of my business and I know it's the one of the biggest growth areas for my clients. Owning your greatness so that you can create the best experience for others! As Marianne Williamson is often quoted, 'It is not our darkness that frightens us, but our brilliance.' Get your free Business Attraction Success Kit

- Laura West attraction marketing expert

Develop a Prosperity Mindset to Attract Business

Unsuccessful people only focus on price and the immediate expense they have to incur to take the next step. They make decisions based on whether or not they can afford things. Successful people think differently. They focus on the reward of taking the next step! They keep in mind what they want to achieve in life and business, and look for opportunities to invest in themselves or to get the resources they need to reach their goal. When considering new investments they ask questions like: 'If I make this investment, what kind of return can I expect and how fast?' and 'What will it cost me not to make this investment?' That's Prosperity Mindset!"
- Adam Urbanski information marketing expert

Following the advice of these experts will help you use the law of attraction in your marketing. Give it a try, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

How To Drive Traffic To Your Site Without Spending Big Bucks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:52:00 +0000

The first thing that you have to consider in building a business online is sending traffic to your site. How would you be able to obtain this traffic without paying that much money then? You have to look into several ways on how to generate free traffic through the web.

Let's face it, even if you have all the money in the world, you still would like to avail of that free stuff that you can get from the web, as long as it's going to help you keep up with this fast paced industry, that are filled of challenges and competitions. It is true that it is somehow difficult to be able to generate traffic, but if you follow methods to help you out on how to go about doing it the easy way, then it wouldn't be much of a problem for you.

There are several strategies that you can use to drive traffic to your website without costing that much money. You may even combine them according to your preference, so you can get more traffic that you expect. Let's say for instance using article marketing and email marketing at the same time.

Article marketing allows you to drive traffic to your website through article submission, while having it go together with an email campaign would work out perfectly. After your online users read your article they are interested with it and will be clicking on the resource box linked to your website. From there you get traffic, and then you have them opt in to a weekly newsletter for free for more information, then you will be able to capture their email addresses.

Being able to acquire their email addresses would now allow you to contact these people. You then send them newsletters as you have promised, together with your sales pitch for the product that you are offering. Eventually you will gain their trust and they will buy your product.

But of course for you to be able to send those emails in a shorter period of time, you will need assistance for it. You may opt to use a bulk email sender software that could help you organize your mailing list, and send out those emails for you.

How To Get Clients To Buy Your Products and Services In This Market

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:38:00 +0000

by: Kendall Summerhawk
Small Business Coaching
heidi@sandramartini.com

The number one question I'm asked in every interview I give is, "Kendall, HOW do I get my clients to buy my products or services in this market?"

First of all, I have both GOOD news and even BETTER news for you. The good news is that this problem IS solvable IF you know how to wisely position yourself and your services.

Even BETTER news is that by brushing up on a few simple skills right now you'll actually make your business stronger than ever, which means that as the economy begins to turn around, you'll be sitting pretty.

So what do you do when your clients seem to be clutching tight to their purse strings? Well, what you're NOT going to do is panic. In fact, I recommend taking several deep breaths because you need to be clear headed, creative and focused.

Your clients haven't stopped searching for help in solving their problems, they've just gotten a lot choosier in WHO they select. They're also expecting some extra attention and service, which, using my marketing tips, will be a snap for you to provide, without breaking your budget or requiring you to burn the midnight oil.

So let me help you out here by sharing THREE simple secrets for getting clients to choose YOU as their solution so cash and clients flow steadily into your business.

Small Business Secret #1: Focus Your Client Conversation On The "What" And The "Why" - NOT The "How"

Okay folks, I'm not going to pull any punches here. If you're talking to your prospective clients about HOW you work, you're going to lose them. This is your opportunity to brush up on your "values based" conversation skills.

What this means is a full 98 percent of your prospective client conversation is focused on WHAT the problem is they want to solve, WHAT the solution is they want to see and WHY it's important to them.

Here's a great question I love to ask (from my "7 Money Mindset and Pricing Strategy Secrets" home study course):

"So tell me, what's the problem you REALLY want to solve?" followed up with, "And how do you know that's a problem?"

Yes, these questions sound simple but I promise they'll help you uncover the rich, juicy information you need to help get your clients focused on YOU as their solution . . . and keep you from getting side tracked talking about features.

Small Business Secret #2: Add In Additional Services and Bonuses

Clients are expecting either discounts or deals right now. Sure, you won't make quite as much by pampering your clients but you WILL make more sales.

This is not the time to penny-pinch! Going to extra lengths for your ideal clients will secure their business. Look for where you can add additional services and bonuses they'll value. Even better, choose items not dependent on your time (such as gifts, books, samples, templates or even services provided by a complimentary vendor). This way, you'll be the hero without working harder.

Small Business Secret #3: Keep Your Money Flowing Too

Money is like water -- it needs to flow or else it damns up, stagnates and goes septic. Ugh!

If you want your clients to spend their money with you, YOU need to be a model for spending your money with others. Period. Now, I'm not suggesting going into debt. But what I AM recommending is you continue to invest wisely in your business.

Yes, I know that right now can seem like a scary time to let loose of some funds but truthfully, it's the people who invest in learning HOW to improve their business who will still be IN business, stronger than ever as the economy turns around.

Plus, on an energetic level there is no way you'll get prospective clients to invest with you if you're not walking your talk. The trick is to invest in products and services that add VALUE to your life or business. Once you practice this for yourself, you'll understand first hand what it feels like so you can authentically guide your prospective clients to do the same.

My Platinum clients understand this principle well and are experiencing some of their best months ever.

In upcoming articles I'll share with you how to pay attention to the clarity of your message, how to create a clear "brand personality" and how to create packages focused on solving the problems your clients WANT solved.

In the meantime, focus every client conversation, marketing article or presentation you have this week on WHAT problem your prospective clients want solved and why it's important to them. By doing so you'll be creating a values-based conversation with them that's much more likely to turn into a new client for you!

Plan Your Marketing Today and Earn Forever

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:46:00 +0000

Kenth Nasstrom
Affiliate Marketing info@kndata.com

Most people starting with online marketing work hard to decide what to do next. Each day is filled with problems, decisions and obstacles that must be overcome to reach a level of success where sales and extra money begin to flow.

Lack of knowledge, money and resources most often results in things being done in a last minute fashion.

As a result, the marketer will never benefit from the synergy effect a planned marketing can bring him.

Stop Crisis Marketing

Marketing based on solving problems as they arise will not lead to success very fast. Problems will, of course, be in your way every now and then, but they can be reduced by planning. The faster you begin planning your efforts, the faster you will profit from it.

Plan and Document Your Way to Profit

An old saying from chess is, "better to have a bad plan than no plan at all." This goes for marketing as well. A plan, however simple, will let you do a number of things, one after the other with a clear purpose. Once you have a purpose with what you do, you can make logical connections with other plans you have.

Here's an example.

You create a mailing list with a number of emails talking about dog training (because you saw a nice dog-training product you want to promote). You also work on a new site about golf (as you have heard people saying how much money can be made from golf as a niche). Finally, you write several articles about internet marketing to get your name out there.

Let us break it down a bit. There are three niches targeted. Dog training, golf and internet marketing. None of the three niches are directly connected and none of the work done can be used outside its own niche. As you evolve and create more sites, more mailing lists and a more diversified portfolio, you will find more ways to re-use work. However, when starting up this will not help you get anywhere.

Instead, set up a site in a niche, write articles related to the niche and create a newsletter/auto responder series also related to the niche. All of it works together towards the same goal. This way you can profit from the synergy effect from having three parts of a complete marketing plan working together.

Know What You Already Have

Equally important is to know what you have up and running. If all your marketing efforts have been documented, you will find connecting them together for increased profit will become much easier. Inventory and Planning.

If you already have marketing campaigns running, products online and newsletters or auto-responder setup, now is the time to make a complete inventory of everything you have going on.

Once you know what you have, your next step is to decide how to best use it as well as what the next step will be. This can be new investments, new domains and sites or simply re-doing parts of what you already have up and running.

Study methods like these and you have a much better position in the online marketing war.

Get The Fastest Way To Rank In Google With Zero Hassles - Zero Obstacles - Zero Limits

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:43:00 +0000

Having a good ranking on major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN is crucial to the success of our websites or blogs.

Out of the hundreds of factors that search engines use to determine page rankings for different sites, inbound links is one of the most important.

Inbound links are simply other sites that are linking to yours, and the more quality inbound links you have, the higher your page ranking with search engines like Google and Yahoo.

The simple fact is that the more inbound links you have pointing to your site, the more important your site looks to search engines, and the higher they will rank you. And, the higher your rank, the more quality visitors you will have to your site.

Linkserp.com Triangular LinkCampaign Technology was created for site owners just like you that need search engine traffic, but can’t get it on their own.

How Does It Work?

Our Quality Real Links are generated on low traffic time. This way your website will receive up to 6 links randomly every day, so that your links grow slowly. This is the best method for SERP improvement. Growing your links slowly over time will ensure that the search engines give much more credibility to your site.

Nothing on your site will link back to Linkserp.com. There will be absolutely no trace of our network on your site. It will look as if you manually added the links yourself. Only you will know that you used our easy and FREE system, and that you didn’t spend countless hours responding to link requests.

All of our Quality links come from different domains owned by webmasters with their own IP’s. This ensures that your links are spread worldwide in a natural flow. Search engines like to see links that are real and natural, and that’s just how your links will be using the Linkserp.com Triangular Link Campaign Technology.

You will be in complete control over the look of your link campaign. You can even add your own header and footer code to make your campaigns match your websites current look.

The best part is, it’s EASY - FUN - FREE!

Once you have your link campaign set up, it only takes 5 to 10 minutes to upload a php or asp file on your server, link to it from your websites main index page, and Voila! You’re on your way to receiving High Quality Inbound Links!

Get Linkserp Free Account Now... Click here!

Learn How To Boost Your Credibility and Visibility Through TwitterFeed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 14:37:00 +0000

by: Nancy Marmolejo
www.VivaVisibility.com

Twitter can be both an amazing marketing tool and an exhausting pursuit of keeping up with the constant stream of new "Tweets". Not everyone has the ability nor the desire to stay plugged in 24-7. If that sounds like you, then you'll love this great tool that allows you to maintain online visibility and stay relevant with fresh content.

TwitterFeed is a site that allows you to import any RSS feed into your Twitter stream. Through a simple set up, you can automate the process to bring high quality content to your Twitter stream. I suggest you start off with your own blog to let people know what you're publishing. Then you can find other blogs, podcasts, or anything on an RSS feed that offers complementary content. Because Twitter can be connected to so many other social networking sites like Facebook or FriendFeed, it doubles as updates to all those sites too.

Save yourself time and boost your credibility with these simple steps:

Go to http://www.TwitterFeed.com and open an account. You will need to create something called an OpenID which is a secure way of logging in to TwitterFeed. Follow the directions on the site to get that part set up.
Once you've gotten a TwitterFeed account, click "Go to My Twitter Feeds or Create a New One". When you click on Create new feed, select Twitter from the drop-down menu.
Enter your Twitter username and password. For example, my Twitter name is NancyMarmolejo, so that is what I enter. It's the name that shows up next to your picture on your Twitter stream.
Enter your blog's RSS feed. (If you don't have one, go to http://www.Feedburner.com and follow the instructions to get one).
Select how frequently you want it to search for new posts and whether you want it to have a short statement before each post, for example "New blog post:"
After you get yourself set up, start importing the RSS feeds of other blogs you love. Pick content that supports your credibility as an expert. For instance, let's say you like my blog and want to share those posts with others. You'd put my RSS feed http://feeds.feedburner.com/VivaVisibilityBlog into your TwitterFeed. Create a prefix that says "Retweet @NancyMarmolejo" to credit the source. (Do this with any feed you bring in from the outside. It's good Web 2.0 karma!)
Look at ways you can use TwitterFeed to create community, support clients, and continue as a top name in your field. I like to import feeds that have to do with social media, good business advice, trends, and time management. Find the right balance for you!

Twitter is a great PR tool and using TwitterFeed allows you to maintain a high level of online visiblity . . . without adding any time to your busy schedule. Give it a try and watch how easy it is to stay visible!

How you can Start Making Money from Internet Marketing with Less Than $100

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:17:00 +0000

by Mandeep Anand

There is no smarter way to make money online than internet marketing, not just because you can make a lot -and I really mean a lot- of money, but you can do that with little or no money in your pocket.

There are many ways to approach the internet marketing business, and some of them involve paying for advertising like Google Adwords and other similar PPC services.

However, there are many ways to market online without the need for you to spend a dime in advertising while still reaching a great number of targeted prospects for whatever you are selling or promoting.

This means that you can put together a very efficient marketing operation where all your earnings will be profits. However, the downside of the free internet marketing methods are:

You will not attain immediate results. Internet marketing through article marketing (one very effective free technique), will take some time to deliver results, but make no mistake, it will.
It will take some work. Free methods usually involve building a network of content throughout the internet that will slowly start driving traffic to your site. This is a slow process, but has the advantage that once you have a huge network in place it will stay there and will keep driving traffic to your site forever.
It will take some studying. It is not enough to spread a lot of content over the internet, you also must learn how and where do you need to place that content in order for you to achieve actual results. Therefore, you need a source of knowledge which can be found in several good internet marketing courses.

Therefore, in order for you to make money from internet marketing you really do not need money, as the only essential that will demand an investment is your internet marketing education, which you can access usually for less $100. After that, all can be achieved with zero money in your pocket.

Now, how much can you honestly make from internet marketing using free marketing techniques?

If you take your time to learn and work consistently and systematically for a 3 month period you might well be putting an extra $1,500 - 2,500 per month in your pocket by the 3rd month, and by the 6th to 12th month you could be making a very relaxed living from your internet marketing operation. It all will depend on the kind of program or system you use and the dedication you put into building your business, so choosing a truly useful internet marketing course is crucial.

Believe me, internet marketing is a fascinating business in which you will always keep discovering new ways to make more and more money, all you need to do is start, and from there you will only go forward.

Email Marketing Strategies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:33:00 +0000

by Brian Rooney

When you see or hear the term "Email Marketing" chances are that you have a variety of ideas about what Email Marketing is and what it isn't.

To be clear, Email Marketing is not the sending of unsolicited commercial email. Some refer to it as unsolicited bulk email or spamming.

Responsible Email Marketing is a great way to get your message out to customers, prospects, and members.

The idea is to gather, consolidate, and manage information on prospects, customers, members, etc... and then efficiently manage that information.

This allows you to:

1) Increase web site visits.
2) Boost repeat business.
3) Attract new clients.
4) Drive memberships.
5) Improve communications.
6) Train sales reps and affiliates.
7) and much more...

Let's look at some of the ways that various groups might benefit by using effective Email Marketing strategies:

Restaurants and Email Marketing:
Restaurants thrive by continuing to bring customers in the door. Every restaurant has its "regulars". Restaurants can use effective Email Marketing strategies to turn casual or walk-in restaurants into regulars by simply adding Email Marketing technologies to existing efforts.

Most of us have seen the little fish bowl at the cash register. Restaurants often offer a free lunch to be given away each week. To be considered for the drawing, patrons are asked to drop a business card in the fish bowl.

Each week, someone wins a free lunch. I've won a few myself. But what about all those other cards? Restaurant owners and managers could add the information from those cards to their Email Marketing database. Just be sure to mention on the fish bowl that they will be receiving email updates from you.

When you have entered the information in to your database, you can then use Email Marketing strategies to send out coupons, special offers, an online menu, announcements about live entertainment, new menu items, and more.

Email Marketing helps restaurants stay in front of patrons and potential return customers long after they leave.

Entertainers and Email Marketing:
Most entertainers have a product table where fans can purchase CD's, T-shirts, and other goodies to remind them of their entertainment experience.

Like restaurants, entertainers can add a fish bowl and/or a signup sheet on their product table. Maybe the prize could be a drawing for a t-shirt or CD. The same concept applies here as with the restaurants. Entertainers can enter the data into their Email Marketing database and then send out special announcements about CD release parties, live shows, television appearances, media write-ups, upcoming performances, and more.

Send out announcements that direct fans back to your web site and get even more bang for your Email Marketing buck.

Home Based Businesses and Email Marketing: The Internet is a competitive market. Home based businesses typically lack the resources available to larger corporations. But by leveraging effective Email Marketing strategies, home based businesses can level the playing field and even give themselves an advantage over the big stores and retailers.

By combining effective Email Marketing strategies with an online web site, home based business owners can:

Generate online leads
Follow up with prospects
Broadcast special offers
Promote back-end offers to existing customers
Reward customer loyalty
Conduct market response tests
and more...

Email marketing can work for a variety of industries and segments including religious groups, clubs, non-profits, affiliate marketers, retailers, and more.

The key is to use Email Marketing responsibly to get your message out and draw your market in.

Brian Rooney is the co-founder of TrafficWave.net LLC. TrafficWave.net provides Email Marketing tools such as AutoResponders and AdTracking services to thousands of clients worldwide.

Learn How To Make Money 24 Hours A Day, 7 Days a Week and 365 Days A Year

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:06:00 +0000

Excerpt from Brian Rooney article
Internet Marketing brian@trafficwave.net

I would like to share this marketing strategy that Brian Rooney is using in his business.

"For years now, I've been playing a game with my kids. It's called "Guess What Daddy's Doing!" and it goes like this:

I could be at a restaurant with my family, at a basketball game, driving down the road, standing in line somewhere, laying on the couch, or playing a video game (I'm a big 'Rock Band' fan). Sometimes, I might actually be working!

Every once in a while, without warning, I'll turn to one of the kids and say, "Hey! Guess what Daddy's doing!" Of course, now they already know the answer and they pretty much roll their eyes at me when I ask, but it's still fun.

Can you guess the answer?

The answer is: "Making money!"

No matter where I am... No matter what time it is... No matter what I'm actually doing at the time... I could be on vacation, at the beach, sitting at my desk, coaching basketball, playing music... it just doesn't matter.

I am making money 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

How do I do that?

I use AutoResponders to generate, manage, and follow up with my sales leads.

AutoResponders are quickly catching on with online marketers as a "must have" tool for success. And it's easy to see why. They make life and sales much easier.

The simplest way to understand AutoResponders is to think of them as a system that automatically responds to requests for information. You can set up your AutoResponder to send out sales messages, follow-up messages, price updates, training information, special announcements, weekly articles, and more.

My favorite way to use AutoResponders is as my personal sales assistant. As my advertising works for me around the world and around the clock, I am receiving requests for more information. Some days, it may be a couple of requests here and there. Other days, it can be dozens of requests. I love what I do for a living but the thought of managing and replying to each request one at a time would just be insane.

Instead, I let my AutoResonder handle it.

Here's how it works for me:

My websites all have a form that visitors can fill out to request more information from me. When someone fills out my form, my AutoResponder collects their information. The first thing my AutoResponder does when it receives their information is send a confirmation request to their email address. This protects me from spam complaints and makes sure that the person whose email address is entered in to the form really wants my info. Once the new prospect confirms that they do want to receive my information, my AutoResponder sends my first sales message out to them. The message is personalized with the prospect's name. This helps my messages get through and helps me build credibility and rapport with my prospects. From there my AutoResponder will continue sending follow-up messages to my prospects every few days. The best part about this system is that it's all 100 percent automated.

Once I set up my messages, the AutoResponder just handles all my follow-up and list management tasks. All of my sales messages include information on how to order. Most of my customers just place their order directly without ever actually talking to me. Every once in a while, a prospect may email me with a question. It takes me just a moment or two to answer a question when the prospect is already familiar with me and my offer.

My AutoResponder works on autopilot. I don't have to remember to send a follow-up message. I don't have to remember which message is next or when. I don't have to worry about managing the list. If someone wants off my list, they just click a convenient link and they're gone. Meanwhile, as prospects are responding to my ad, my AutoResponder just keeps working like a little personal sales assistant. And the best part? My assistant never talks back, never complains, never calls in sick, never asks for a raise, and never forgets to do their job!

Now THAT is what I call a good assistant!"

Brian Rooney is the co-founder of TrafficWave.net LLC. TrafficWave.net provides Email Marketing tools such as AutoResponders and AdTracking services to thousands of clients worldwide. For more information, please visit here

The Best, Cheapest and Most Effective Way To Promote Your Online Business

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:55:00 +0000

There is no better, cheaper, now more targeted way to promote your product or service than by ezine or newsletter advertising, because ezine ads reach people who wants what you have to offer, directly in their in boxes.

The "small ads" have always been highly effective way to sell your items. Now that people get much of thier news and information online, it just makes plain sense t place your classified ads in the places where they are reading.

Next to search engines, ezine ads are the best traffic generator, but it is getting more difficult to get a good search engine listing: search engines are getting picky and some even want to charge. For the small business, ezine ads provides a better option. Prices are affordable - often FREE - and the rewards are guaranteed if you know ho t write a good ad and where to use it to the best effect.

You have to begin with a good ad if you want to get results. That may seem just like common sense, but do you know what works or worse, which ads are good as throwing your time and money away?

Most people, who don't get the results they want, do not even realize that they got this fundamental information wrong. We've gathered together some the the best articles and tips on ezine advertising and packaged them here for ease of reference.

7 Tips You Should Consider in Pay Per Click Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:29:00 +0000

by Cash Miller

There are some very important things to consider for someone that has decided to try a pay per click campaign. Pay per click campaigns are expensive to run and if you are not careful you can lose your entire marketing investment without much of a return. Any pay per click campaign needs to be considered an investment because you spend your funds on such a campaign in the hope of generating new sales. And if you fail your investment can be wiped out. A successful campaign takes careful preparation.

Here are 7 things you need to consider for your campaign:

You need to know your product. There are many products out there for you to sell. But to sell a product successfully you should know it well. Your sales page needs to reflect that knowledge. Your goal is to build trust with potential customers. If you don't know your product well then how can you be convincing enough to sell that product to others?
Set a budget for your pay per click campaign. A budget is important to your campaign. Just like any other marketing efforts you may conduct it is important to be able to measure success. Many pay per click campaigns fail but by sticking to your budget you have the opportunity to cut your losses if necessary instead of continuing to throw good money after bad.
Make sure you have a professional looking website or sales page. Many people fail in this area. The money you spend on your campaign is meant to entice someone to click a link that will take them to your website. Once they have done that then it is up to you. They will often stay or go based on how well a website is designed. If it is easy to navigate and gets to the point quickly visitors are more likely to stay. But if the design is poor and the website loads slowly then they probably won't stick around.
Your ad is everything. If you are trying to attract visitors to a sales page then that page needs to have a clean design. Your job is to persuade your visitors to either purchase a product or sign up for something. But you can either win them over immediately or lose them forever. A poor website will lose them. And make sure your ad copy does the same thing. That little bit of text that is attached to your keywords can go a long way.
A successful pay per click campaign needs the right keywords. To start you should find about twenty or so keywords that you can test the effectiveness of. If possible check out what keywords other websites are using. Also consider niche keywords. And make sure you develop some key phrases. Many campaigns actually do better by focusing on niche areas for keyword bidding. This is because the pay per click cost is lower than it is for primary keywords.
Know how to bid for the keywords you need. Bidding high can drain your cash before you really have a chance to get started. Of course bidding too low won't help you either. Bidding on keywords is a balancing act and you need to actively manage your campaign to maintain the proper balance.
Pay attention to the bottom line. Not all pay per click campaigns make money. And some don't make enough to justify the effort. You need to know when to cut your losses. On the flip side you also need to know when it is prudent to invest more money into an already successful campaign. Because you want to build upon your success.

Running a successful pay per click campaign is not easy but it does offer many people and companies the best chance to succeed online. For companies that are serious about growing their online presence, pay per click is a very necessary part of the marketing process. You can do it but you need to be properly prepared.

To learn more about pay per click marketing as well as other keys to business success please visit http://smallbusinessdelivered.com.

Recommended eBooks for your PPC Campaign:

Top Secret PPC Tactics - Complete Guide To Dominating PPC Markets

Learn How to Manage Pay per Click Campaigns Like a Pro - Scientific Search Engine Marketing

Get Google Ads For FREE - Secrets REVEALED On VIDEO! - Discover How To Get Google Adwords Pay Per Clicks For FREE!

5 Different Ways to Get Traffic For Your Website

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:38:00 +0000

"My website is on-line now. I don't see any visitors. Submitted the site URL to some search engines, but nothing seems to happen! How am I ever going to get that traffic you talk about?"

Yes, getting that initial traffic is not very difficult if you already have another established website. But what if it is your very first website? Here are five different ways to get started!

Before doing any of these make sure that your site does have something substantial to offer. Otherwise the site will just fall back into obscurity after an initial burst of traffic. What you need, is to turn your first set of visitors into evangelists who will talk about your site on forums and their blogs. If your site is just another "Me Too" site, this is not going to happen. There has to be some thing unique or different about your site. A good "Wow!" factor will also help!

Get Links
Get one or more established websites to link to you. If it is a well known site and you get featured at a reasonably prominent location on that site, you will get a quick flood of traffic. A blogger friend or some one with an established website can help you. If you don't have any one to help you, you will need to be a little creative. If your site is software related you can submit your product to one of the known software download sites.

Get Help from an On-line Community
Get involved at a related on line forum and talk about your interests. Make sure to follow the forum rules. Most forums will allow you to include a signature at the end of your post. Ensure that you also contribute something of value to the forum.

Write Articles
There are sites that accept articles for publication. Write a series of good articles about your field and submit it to such sites. Include information about your site at the end. You can even get articles written for you for a fee. Make sure that your articles are original and provide valuable information.

Issue a Press Release
This is probably the best method to get your site noticed. Create a good newsworthy press release and submit it using one of the on-line PR sites sites like prweb.com or PRNewsware.com. Again, you can get experts to create a good press release for a fee.

Do PPC Advertisements
Create PPC advertisements and use Google Adwords or Yahoo advertising network.

Pay per Click and PPC strategies will be covered next posting.

Related Post:

Ten Things You Should Do To Make Your Website Optimized For Humans and Search Engine Spiders!

Tips On How To Optimize Your Keywords

Tips On How To Optimize Your Keywords

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:23:00 +0000

To get listed correctly in the search engines each page of your site that you want listed needs to be optimized to the best of your ability. Since the keywords that you decide to target will be used throughout the optimization process choosing the right keywords is essential. If you choose the wrong keywords you will not be found in the search engines. If you are not found in the search engines how will anyone find your site?

Since the keywords you choose to optimize your pages with are so important we have put together some tips to help you make sure that you make the right choices. You should utilize these tips when selecting keywords for each page that you plan to submit to the search engines.

Think "specific keyword phrases" not "keywords ". Why? Due to the extreme amount of competition for general terms in the search engines, if your keyword phrases are too general it is very unlikely you will rank well in the search engines. You stand a far better chance to rank well for specific phrases where there is less competition. The resulting traffic, since it is more highly targeted, should also be much higher quality too! Here's an example for a site selling shoes:

Try to think like your target audience. What would they search for when looking for the page you are optimizing? It is very easy to fall in the trap of coming up with a short list of what YOU would search for, but what about everyone else? They will not necessarily use the same keywords as you. You should try to come up with as many keyword phrases as you can think of that relate to the page you are optimizing. Try asking a few friends and family what they would search for when searching for a site like yours.

Check out your competition for ideas. Do a search using keywords that you already know you want to target and click through on the top sites that come up. Once on the site view the source HTML code and view the keywords they have in their meta tags - this should give you many more ideas! Make sure to only use keywords that relate to YOUR site or page. To view the HTML code simply click the 'View' at the top of your web browser then select 'Source', or 'Page Source'.

You should develop a list of keyword phrases, following the tips on this page, for each page that you optimize for the search engines.

Related Post:

Why Creating a "Target Market Snapshot" Will Help You Develop Better Performing Web Pages
Ten Things You Should Do To Make Your Website Optimized For Humans and Search Engine Spiders!
Learn How To Create a Powerful Web Page Headlines

Ten Things You Should Do To Make Your Website Optimized For Humans and Search Engine Spiders!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 07:08:00 +0000

I came across this article which i find very interesting for all webmasters improve their websites especially those who are beginners in online business.

I have made mentioned in my previous post that keywords is important. Keywords are the means by which your customers find you and the first step towards identifying the right keywords is knowing your target market.

If you are done finding the keyword research, here are 10 things you should do to make your website optimized for humans and search engine spiders!

Improve Web Page Titles and Remove Duplicates

Look through your web pages. How many of them have no titles or titles that are too generic / duplicates? There are software that can generate a list of all titles and description tags . Simply type in a URL to get a list of the titles and description tags of every page linked from that URL. It just takes a few minutes! Modify your titles to include important keyword phrases and get rid of duplicate titles.

Improve The Web Page Headings

Do the same with your web page headings. Use a good page structure that includes , , tags. Don't over use the h1 tag. Make sure that the headings are natural and contain the important keywords if relevant. Simply don't stuff keywords into headings.

Check Web Page Copy

Use keyword phrases in your web page content. Keywords when used properly as part of web page text can really increase your traffic from long-tail keyword searches. However, don't over-stuff keywords and make your web pages spammy.

Make Effective Use of Anchor Texts

Use keywords in link texts (anchor text). Replace the links that say click here to more relevant ones that have the keyword in it, if possible. Use good anchor texts even if you are linking to pages on your own sites (internal links) . You can quickly get a list of all anchor texts used in any web page with a single click after entering the URL!

Create Good Alt Tags for Images

Use keywords for image tags (img alt tags). Many images may not even have an alt text. Look through your web pages and add them wherever possible. The "Anchor" tab in the lower panel will display links with an image as IMG [Anchor Text]

Check Your Competition

Do a Google / Yahoo / Live search for the keywords and then study the top competitors. Improve your products, services and web pages based on your research. The blog post linked above has some tips. Find and research your competition.

Write Articles or Blog

Write an article that contains some of the important keyword phrases and post it to your blog. Don't have a blog? Start one. If you don't want to mess with technical things you can easily start a blog by signing up at Blogger or Typepad.

Start a PPC campaign

Start a Pay Per Click campaign and Bid on the keyword phrases. Create new Adword groups if required. Make sure that your landing pages have good quality score before you create new ad-groups.

Learn From Your Log Files

Study your log files and pick all the long-tail keyword phrases used by your visitors. The advantage of studying long-tail keywords is that the intention behind the search is more easy to understand. Do you think your product or service can help such visitors? Optimize your web pages so that you offer what they are looking for.

Get Inbound Links

Try and convince others to link to your web pages using relevant anchor texts. While this may not be always possible, you can and should ask your affiliates and friends to use relevant and useful keyword phrases while linking to you.

Here is a free software program that will help you generate ideas of keywords. These will help pick more keywords. You basically put one keywords and it comes out with all kinds o keywords phrases that were searched on for the pay per clicks.

Why Creating a "Target Market Snapshot" Will Help You Develop Better Performing Web Pages

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:18:00 +0000

A very common question we get asked is... How do I know which keywords to target?

Keywords are the means by which your customers find you. So, knowing your target market is the first step towards identifying the right keywords.

Do you know who your ideal customer is?

Perhaps you do... Do you take that into account when you create and plan your website marketing strategy?

Here is a simple tip...

Create a snapshot view of your ideal customer. Always keep it handy and make use of it whenever you do any keyword or SEO research.

Here is what you do...

Write down the description of the product / service including the customer problem the product attempts to solve.

Define the market, including the demographics

List the direct and indirect competition.

The basic sales plan - How are you going to reach the customers

List the top sales implementation plans you will be executing. Take a hard-copy print of everything.

Try and think like your customer and check if your web page headlines and copy makes sense.

What Next?

Create a list of 10-20 keyword phrases that relate to your product or service. Make other lists containing the top competing URLs and web page titles for these keywords.

Check if your own web pages contain these keyword phrases. These should be in page titles and the main headings. Modify your web pages accordingly or create new pages. Make sure that your web pages answer the questions your customers may have about the problem your product/service will solve.

Eight Ways To Reduce Your Web and Blog Page Bounce Rates

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:16:00 +0000

Are you familiar or do you subscribe to Google Analytics?

Google Analytics shows you how people found your site, how they explored it, and how you can enhance their visitor experience. With this information, you can improve your website return on investment, increase conversions, and make more money on the web. Don’t have an Analytics account? Sign up now.

One of the component of Google Analytic on your website or blog profile is Bounce Rate. Bounce Rate is the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page. Use this metric to measure visit quality - a high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance pages aren't relevant to your visitors. The more compelling your landing pages, the more visitors will stay on your site and convert.

If your bounce rate is below 20 or 30% you probably have a very good entry page. In some cases you may want only a precisely targeted visitor group to proceed beyond the entry page. If not, a bounce rate of over 50 or 60% requires immediate attention. Here are eight ways to reduce the bounce rates...

1. Improve your web page headline

Most times a wrong web or blog page headline can make the visitor quickly click the back button. Your headline should make the visitor want to continue reading. See creating good headlines.

2. Add Videos, pictures or screen shots that will catch attention

Adding a nice screen shot of your product or a photo will cause visitors to give a second look. Use a good caption below the picture to grab their attention and make them interested.

3. Change your website design

If your bounce rates are way too high, a new web site design may help. Go for a simple, practical but decent looking design.

4. Improve the web page load time

Is your web page loading too slow? Remove unwanted images or optimize the images. Get rid of all unused style elements

5. Target the right visitors

Are your site visitors coming to your site with the wrong expectation? You may have optimized your web page for the wrong keywords or others may be linking to your site with an incorrect anchor text. Use a software like Secret Keywords (for semantic keywords) and Good Keywords to find better keywords. If you are using Pay Per Click, make sure that your advertisement text is precisely targeted. Try different ad combination till your bounce rate improves.

6. Remove Annoyances

Does your web page have anything that annoys your visitors? What is annoying is highly subjective. So you should have a good understanding of your target customer. A simple rule is to always make everything very easy for your visitors.

7. Change from hard-sell to soft-sell

Are you trying to hard-sell your product when a soft sell is more ideal? This is a very common reason for customers to leave immediately. Your product pricing is also an important factor that contributes to a high bounce rate. The way you present your product is very important if it is an expensive product.

8. Provide more choices

If you have other products or services provide links to those. Add a prominent button, make a nice looking graphical banner or stamp that will catch their attention and so on. Be careful with this though. Too many choices can cause visitor confusion and make genuine prospects click away to a different but wrong product.

Five Types Of Products That People Will Always Want To Buy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:40:00 +0000

Is keyword research based on search volume counts and number of search results in Google the right method for deciding the type of product or service you want to offer? Good products that fill a need will always do well.

Here are five types of products that always find buyers! Combine these product types with a unique idea and decide the kind of Internet business you wish to create. This is even more important when marketing during times of recession.

1. Products that make or save money
People always want to make more money. If your product or service will help them earn more or save money they will always buy it. Even if your product is not directly connected to making money, it is always a good idea to explain how it can save money for them.

2. Products that help people learn
People are always looking to learn something new. "How to" guides are always popular for this reason. This is also the reason why there are so many ebooks out there. Be careful about this because it is one of the most competitive niches on the Internet. However, this is also one of the easiest niches to enter.

3. Products that entertain
It is no surprise that the top searches on Yahoo Buzz are almost always about TV shows, actors and sports. This niche does require some unique expertise. Go for it if you have a good talent for creating entertaining videos, cartoons, etc.

4. Products that make life healthy and comfortable
People want to live as comfortably as they can, without any aches and pains. Do you have an idea for a product that will help them do that? This niche is often abused and may have a bad reputation because of all the spam associated with magic herbs and pills.

5. Products that save time and effort
People love pressing a button and getting things done! Do some research on popular topics and make your work available to your customers for a price. You could also create a software that will save your customer hours of work.

Learn How To Create a Powerful Web Page Headlines

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:56:00 +0000

Your web page headline is the most important factor that determines if your site visitor stays or bounces away. A compelling headline will have him or her wanting to read more. An uninspiring headline will cause him or her to immediately go away!

But how do you write a good headlines? The truth is, powerful headline creation ideas are all around you. It is very easy to improve your existing headline to one that really works! Here are the simple tips:

Before you decide to change your headline, you should determine the target market the headline is meant for.

Write down the most powerful benefit your product or service offers. Think your product has too many benefits? Learn about the different types of headlines to decide which benefit should be highlighted in the headline.

Be specific and avoid generality. A headline that says some thing very general is not going to attract any one because they would have seen it all before. There should always be a unique or specific benefit mentioned in the headline.

A headline should make the reader want to continue. Create multiple headlines and do an A/B test to find the best one. Then create new ones and try to beat the old headline.

11 Types of Sales and Marketing Headlines

Here are the simple yet effective different types of headlines you will normally encounter in sales and marketing. Use this list to decide what benefit should be highlighted in your web page headlines and how!

A. Headlines that enumerate a list (People like to read lists!)

Five ideas to improve your ----
Top Ten Reasons To ...
Four Things You Absolutely Must Know To ....
Ten Reasons Why ---

B. Headlines that ask about a problem the reader will identify with

Do you suffer from ...?
Are you threatened by ...
Do you often find yourself struggling...

C. Headlines that offer to teach you or make you an expert

Learn How To ...
Discover The Top ...
A Guide To ...
Every Thing You Wanted To Know About ...

D. Headlines that offer to reveal secrets

They Tried To Ban This ...
Secrets Uncovered ...
Exposed For The First Time Ever ...
The Real Secrets To ...
The Ugly Truth Behind ...

E. Headlines offering instant gratification

Instantly Transform ...
Instant Strategies To Create ...
You Can Do This In Five Minutes ...
Get An Instant 35% Boost ..

F. Headlines offering to simplify things

Simple Ideas To ...
This is Not For The Experts ... ...
For The Rest Of Us ...
Any One Can Do In Their Spare Time!

G. Headlines announcing something

Releasing Shortly...
Announcing The...
Now Available For The First Time ...
Offer Closing Soon ...

H. Headlines that offer a guarantee

.... 100% Money Back!
Guaranteed To...

I. Headlines that contain a testimonial

I started using ...
The results have been fantastic ...
I could never believe ... ...
Amazing!Thank You ....

J. Picture / Graphic Headline

Screen shot with a caption, Illustration etc. Use this if a picture is more likely to immediately grab the attention. However you will still need a compelling sub-heading orcaption.

K. Headlines that shock

No examples! Just read a tabloid!

Apply the above tips in creating your blog titles and see how is the result in page ranking. Keep posted with my marketing tips and strategies blog and there will be a lot more to post for the improvement of our blog's page ranking and increase traffic.

Ten Marketing Strategies that will Energize Your Business in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:05:00 +0000

by Joel Sussman

Marketing Strategy #1:
Perhaps the single, most important marketing strategy that should be practiced by all small business owners is to make marketing a daily routine. Granted, there may be 101 different priorities vying for your attention at any given moment, but if you neglect marketing on more than just an occasional basis, then you risk losing potential sales, being overtaken by the competition, and placing self-imposed limitations on your income growth. In a challenging economy it's more important than ever to be known as a company that provides value, dependability, and great service. Without some sort of regular marketing program, your existing and prospective customers may find themselves to be unexpectedly interested in your competitor's latest offerings -- which may have been brought to their attention through a postcard mailing, a trade show exhibit, a blog posting, a phone call, a press release, or a well-written sales letter. (It's the old "out of sight, out of mind" principle.)

Marketing Strategy #2: Develop a "marketing consciousness". If you can get yourself to become just a little "obsessed" with marketing, then you'll tend to read more marketing books, attend more marketing seminars, and discover more marketing websites, newsletters, and blogs that will provide you with valuable ideas and inspiration. Of equal importance is becoming more attuned to how other people are marketing their businesses, and learning from their successes and marketing blunders.

Marketing Strategy #3:
Continually ask questions, re-evaluate what you're doing, and be flexible. If your website isn't converting the way it ought to be, try to pinpoint its weaknesses and correct them. The same holds true for print ads that are not generating responses. If the solution doesn't jump right out at you, ask your associates, acquaintances, neighbors, or spouse what their initial gut reaction is to your latest print ad, website landing page, a marketing postcard, or a radio ad. Instead of asking them what they think of it, ask them the more pointed question of how they think it could be improved (and assure them that you won't be offended by their constructive criticism). Useful feedback can often come from unexpected sources.

Marketing Strategy #4:
Start a blog related to your area of expertise about solving or preventing problems or making the most out of the products or services you offer. Then, invite your customers and prospective customers to check our your latest blog posts. Blogging will help give you more credibility as an expert, and it will also help keep your name and company in the forefront of your customers' minds.

Marketing Strategy #5:
Email a press release to your local media whenever you have anything newsworthy to announce. It's a free way to keep your name in front of the public, and it should be a part of an integrated marketing strategy. Two tips:

Insert your press release into the body of your short, introductory email message. The reason for doing that is many reporters and editors don't like to open email attachments;
Only send press releases if you have something newsworthy to announce. That could include hiring new employees, getting a government grant, organizing a successful fund raising event, a grand opening, a new web site, being a keynote speaker at a seminar or graduation ceremony, a business expansion or relocation, and that sort of thing.

Occasionally, it may pay to use one of the online press release distribution services for greater exposure and coverage.

Marketing Strategy #6:
Speaking of media relations, another strategy worth exploring is to let the media know that you're an expert in your field and are available as a company or industry spokesperson. Depending on your credentials, as well as your comfort-level with being interviewed by a reporter, you might want to send a brief letter outlining your accomplishments and expertise, and mention that they can feel free to call you if they need comments, quotes, background information, or opinion on a news article or feature story they're working on. The positive publicity, credibility, and recognition you could potentially get from this kind of coverage can potentially give your business or practice a real boost.

Marketing Strategy #7:
Business cards can either by a waste of paper or an effective bridge between a prospect and their potential as a long-term client. Business cards are an integral element of your company's branding strategy, and can sometimes make or break you when it comes to getting prospects to take you seriously. A lot of companies skimp on business card design, concept development, and printing; and that lackluster image is conveyed directly to prospective clients. Bottom line is: Your chances of favorably impressing prospects will improve substantially if your business cards are printed on high-quality paper, display a professional-looking logo, and use a font style that's easy to read and is representative of the nature of your business. Your business cards should also contain either a well thought-out slogan or a short bulletted list that capsulizes your services, your expertise, and your commitment to excellence.

Marketing Strategy #8:
Anticipate why a prospective customer might be reluctant or ambivalent about doing business with you, and then make sure to address their concerns in a clear, deliberate, and confident way. Guarantees of satisfaction, believable testimonials from satisfied customers, and assurances of dependable customer service after the sale are a few of the ways that you can reduce sales resistance.

Marketing Strategy #9:
If you find yourself chatting with a blogger who's in your profession or industry, but does not directly compete with you, offer to fill in for him, occasionally, as a "guest blogger". Blogging can be a pretty arduous undertaking, so they might welcome the chance to take a break and present their readers with a slightly different point of view. Make sure, of course, that you are allowed to include one or two links back to your website. This will accomplish two objectives:

You'll probably draw in at least a trickle of additional traffic to your website, and
Inbound links to your site from other relevant, high quality sites can help improve your search engine positioning (ranking) in Google.

Marketing Strategy #10:
When developing a marketing plan, don't forget that there is a huge range of marketing ideas you can employ, many of which are free or inexpensive. Marketing ideas and techniques include yellow pages advertising, Pay Per Click advertising on Google and other Internet portals, exhibiting in trade shows, networking at local or regional professional conferences and business groups, direct mail, distributing coupons, sponsoring contests, and of course, traditional media advertising, such as radio, TV, newspaper, and magazine display ads. That's just the short list of marketing strategies you can pursue as part of a planned marketing campaign, so devise an exhaustive list of possibilities, target your audience, and then plan a campaign based on your budget and your goals.

Resources and Tools

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:58:00 +0000

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

Web Analytics: An Hour a Day

Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords: How to Access 100 Million People in 10 Minutes

Blue Ocean Strategy: How To Create Uncontested Market Space And Make The Competition Irrelevant