Michele PW, our official Marketing Online Expert
As you may know, I am on a MISSION to shine a great big TRUTH spotlight on all the Big Fat Lies you're most likely telling yourself about Internet Marketing right now. However, I can only do so much. I can tell you what the truth is. And you may even believe it. (In your head that is.) But then, come the darkest part of the night, you'll wake up in a sweat. And you'll be thinking: "What if Michele is wrong? What if the reason why I'm having so much trouble succeeding on the Internet really IS all about me?"
During the day it's easy to be rational. We understand in our heads that some marketing strategies will succeed, some will fail, and the best way to grow a successful business is to analyze why the failures failed and use that information to create more successes. But in the dead of night, all of those good, objective intentions can fly away, leaving us alone with our doubts, fears, frustrations and anxiety.
Read Michele's entire article Why do we believe the Big Fat Lies about Internet Marketing?
Ruth Kettler, our official eBusiness web development and marketing strategies for online success Expert
If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur, viral video marketing provides you with the most powerful and effective method of connecting with your market. A quality video that establishes your credibility and professionalism is a hot ticket to reaching your market in the best way possible. Most website and blog visitors do not like to read volumes of information. They will scan headlines and sub-headings, look at images and if the overall design and content get their attention, they will eagerly click on a video to get the full scoop. Marketing videos can be one of the most effective viral marketing techniques online.
There are three considerations for making your video presentation create a viral marketing effect online. These include:
Read Ruth's entire atricle Capturing Your Market Through Viral Video Marketing and Other Viral Marketing Techniques
Jessica Swanson, our official Shoestring Marketing Expert, helps you discover the top 10 most powerful, yet free plugins for your Wordpress.org blog or blogsite.
Watch more of Jessica's videos
Brian Rooney, our official Autoresponders Expert
More and more businesses are turning to Email Marketing. In today's economy, it is more important than ever to make sure that any advertising money spent results in good return. Email Marketing has been proven to be tremendously cost-effective and efficient.
Recent figures from the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) indicate that email marketing is now overtaking direct mail in terms of volume.
Regardless of the size of your business, you should consider using email marketing to begin reaching more prospects, attracting more business, and improving customer retention.
Here are a few of the top reasons your business should be using email marketing:
1) The Personal Touch: Email messages can be personalized to include the recipient's name. When someone gets an email addressed directly to them, they are much more likely to open it.
2) The Fast Track: Direct mail campaigns can be very time consuming and quite complicated. Typically, a direct mail campaign can take weeks or months to execute. Then there is the added waiting for delivery via postal mail.
Read Brian's entire article Reasons To Use Email Marketing
Brian Rooney, our official Autoresponders Expert
If you've spent any time studying online marketing, chances are pretty good that you've come across a version of this phrase:
"The Profit Is In The List".
I wholeheartedly believe this. So do many prominent online marketers.
Want to know the secret behind Robert Allen's "Make $24,000 in 24 Hours" program? It's the list! He sends an offer to his lists and the money starts coming in.
Go to virtually ANY online marketing seminar and I will guarantee you that a good portion of that seminar is going to be aimed at telling you to build and manage your own lists.
Look at your own email inbox. My bet is that you are subscribed to many lists. I know I sure am.
The folks that own those lists know that their profits are tied directly to how well they do two things:
Build their subscriber lists. Manage their subscriber lists.
Read Brian's entire article List Building Strategies For Fun and Profit
Michele PW, our official Marketing Online Expert
On the surface, starting an internet-based business may seem like a dream come true. A business owner can start a business out of her home, selling her products and services everywhere and anywhere in the world without big marketing budgets or lots of advertising. However, once she puts up her first web site, that dream often comes crashing down -- it's not nearly as easy as it first looks. So, she does her research. She starts learning everything she can about Internet Marketing. But it's still not as simple as what the "gurus" say. Maybe the business owner is still stuck at her current revenue goals and she knows she could be making more. Maybe she feels uncomfortable or "icky" around her marketing. Maybe she agonizes over every negative email and feedback she gets. And maybe she feels like there must be a better way. Here are 3 tips to use to get more success through Internet Marketing:
1. Pull up those big girl panties and get some business training. People start businesses for all sorts of reasons that have really nothing to do with owning their own business. They want freedom, to provide for their families, to not have a boss, to get their message out into the world, to make a difference. None of those reasons started with the words, "I love business." So it only stands to reason they have little to no training or experience in business. If that's the case, it's unlikely that business will come naturally. Learning to run a business is like learning to do any skill. Learn to run an effective, profitable business, and put Internet Marketing in its proper place, which is . . .
Read Michele's entire article 3 Tips to Internet Marketing Even if It's Not Your Cup of Tea
Ruth Kettler, our official eBusiness web development and marketing strategies for online success Expert
Turn Stress into Leads and Customers through Professional Web Design and Development
Television ads depict the ease with which all businesses could be online earning big bucks. All you need is an instant website where you pick a theme, add your logo, a little bit of page content and you're all set to begin making money online. These ads are misleading and fail to explain the entire picture. Producing a highly effective web presence is much more than a professional website theme and a handful of content pages.
Your Business Goals Must Match your Web Design and Development
An effectual web presence that's created to appeal to targeted visitors, convert them into leads and consumers and facilitate viral sharing is one important part of a proven marketing plan. One size doesn't fit all in web design and development and each type of business has to be matched to your business model and goals. Projects for eCommerce, business branding, lead generation, affiliate marketing, directories or online memberships will each require a unique type of design and development.
Read Ruth's entire article Turn Stress into Leads and Customers through Professional Web Design and Development
Jessica Swanson, our official Shoestring Marketing Expert
A few years back, I was one of the very first people to begin using Twitter as a marketing tool.
I was generating dozens upon dozens of quality leads every day, so you can imagine how thrilled I was with this brand new marketing platform.
Against by better judgment, I l spent hours a day on Twitter; I was busy as a bee connecting, following, unfollowing and Tweeting. I was addicted to this newfangled little marketing platform. (OK, it's probably safe to say that I was a bonafide Twitteraholic.)
As the months flew by, I had gathered a significant following of over 36,000 small business owners.
Ah, life was good!
But, in an instant, disaster struck.
In the middle of the night, my account was hacked and the hacker sent out hundreds of spammy and inappropriate Tweets to my followers. Of course, they complained.
The next morning, I logged in to get my daily "Twitter fix" and my account was gone.
Twitter had shut me down.
Read Jessica's entire article How to Recover From a Small Business Marketing Disaster
Brian Rooney, our official Autoresponders Expert
When done correctly, email marketing can be an extremely powerful and cost effective marketing method. No other medium allows such easy, inexpensive, and measurable access to help your business build value and credibility.
You should also realize that when email marketing is done incorrectly, it quickly becomes one of the most destructive things that can happen to your business. Irresponsible email marketing will quickly erode your brand equity, alienate customers, and virtually guarantee that your prospects never buy from you.
This guide is designed to give you some insights on how you can use best practices to allow your business to make the most of your email marketing campaigns, maximize your return on investment, and truly profit from permission-based email marketing with TrafficWave.net.
It is my goal and sincere desire that you and your business effectively implement and benefit from this guide to effective email marketing best practices.
Top Ten Tips For Email Marketing Success:
1) Only send emails to people and businesses who have requested to receive them. Otherwise, you are spamming (sending unsolicited commercial email) which will undoubtedly get your emails blacklisted, blocked, and trashed.
2) Only send content that is relevant to what the receiver has requested. When someone requests information from you, they are placing their trust in you that they will receive relevant information. Violating that trust can quickly cause your prospects to unsubscribe.
3) Be consistent with your sending schedule, whether daily, weekly, bi-weekly. As your subscribers become familiar
Read Brian's entire article Top Ten Email Marketing Tips
Michele PW, our official Marketing Online Expert, gives tips for identifying the problem with your web site - why isn't it selling? From the Women's Business Empowerment Summit (part 4)
Watch more of Michele's videos