What You Can Learn From Top Marketers
By Michael Fleischner
I don’t know about you, but I feel like there is a scarcity of good marketing today. What do I mean “good marketing?” You know the kind of marketing that sticks with you and drives you to take action. The only marketing that has really moved me in the last couple of years has been from Apple. How do I know? I own 3 ipods.
You might be thinking to yourself that it’s more the product that drives behavior than the marketing, and when it comes to the ipod I don’t necessarily disagree. However, I would argue that in some ways, the marketing has to be even better than it does with your run of the mill product.
Apple has maintained a certain level of success with their marketing and now that marketing must not only tie together with previous marketing campaigns, but convince current customers that their current products are no longer sufficient.
It appears that this is done, not through slight of hand, but by showing you what you can’t do with your current device. By illustrating this in a manner that is contradictory to your current satisfaction, it does make you feel like your ipod – which was fine until a moment ago has suddenly become inadequate. To me, that’s really good marketing.
So what can be learned from the tens of millions that Apple spends on advertising every year? I think the answer to that question is to work in lock step with your product development team to showcase developments and tap the emotions of those using your products. When I use my iTouch, I feel empowered, cool, and complete. I wouldn’t have reached that conclusion without the help of marketing to get me there.
The lesson that I’ve learned is that marketing, if done correctly, helps us to define how we feel about a product. Once you have prospects and customers attaching emotions to your products, you develop loyal customers. The next time that you’re thinking about a marketing campaign, consider how you want your customers to feel about your product.
Manage the entire purchase decision process in order to consistently manage the experience to reinforce or produce these desired feelings. Once you’ve been able to do that successfully, your creative, marketing messages and promotions should be relatively easy to produce. Now that’s what I call good marketing.
About the Author
Michael Fleischner is an author and Founder of MarketingScoop.com. If you're looking for SEO training or wish to Learn SEO with the help of leading search engine optimization experts, then check out the leading SEO software with MarketingScoop's SEO Elite Software Review and turbo charge your search engine optimization.
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Yahoo Search Marketing: Is An Effective Online Marketing Tool.
Yahoo! manages to utilize its huge network of websites and portals to provide Yahoo! Search Marketing services which provides you an opportunity to advertise your business in a number of methods. The methods are sub-divided in the following categories:
Sponsored Search: Display your ad prominently in leading search engines such as Yahoo!, MSN, Altavista, CNN and Infospace
Product Submit: Get your product listed in Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Buyers Guide and be found by millions of users
Travel Submit: Get your travel product or service listed in Travel Deals marketplace or Travel Deals listings and allow easy access of information to potential travelers
Directory Submit: Powered by the powerful Yahoo! Search, submit your business information in Yahoo! Directory.
Each category is defined to meet the requirement of a certain type of advertiser and you would need to first decide your category before proceeding further. Once you have decided which category suits your requirements best, you can proceed to set up your marketing campaign at Yahoo!.
Other than the above categories of advertising Yahoo! also provides the option for providing Local Advertising and Search Submit. Local Advertising is again split into two sub-categories of Local Sponsored Search and Local Listings. This is very beneficial for businesses having local presence and they can catch users who are searching for a particular service or product in a locality and the costs of advertising in this section is probably one of the most affordable for an online campaign.
Search Submit on the other hand provides Search Submit Express and Search Submit Pro both of which are purely related to getting your site put on the search results of a group of top search engines.
If you are confused with the various types of products being offered with Yahoo! Search Marketing, you can use their online tool to help you determine which product suits you the best. All you need to do is answer a few simple questions and the wizard will recommend the products which suit your requirement best. All products of Yahoo! Search Marketing provide detailed analysis of traffic coming to your website which helps you make further decisions on your online marketing campaign.
Should you have a budget of over $10,000 per month for online advertising, you can contact Yahoo! sales team for a customized package that better suit your business.
Though Yahoo! Search Marketing programme sounds a bit complicated, it has some excellent Marketing Tools to help you go through the entire programme with ease. The two components are a Marketing Console which tracks how effective your various campaigns are and provides you with detailed information on them. This is definitely a time-saving application as you can see the end results of your campaigns in a jiffy. The other application is Search Optimizer which helps you get the maximum return of investment out of a Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) campaign.
The sign up process requires you to create an account and deposit funds in the account via a credit card and choose one of the many marketing products described above. Read More .....
Sponsored Search: Display your ad prominently in leading search engines such as Yahoo!, MSN, Altavista, CNN and Infospace
Product Submit: Get your product listed in Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Buyers Guide and be found by millions of users
Travel Submit: Get your travel product or service listed in Travel Deals marketplace or Travel Deals listings and allow easy access of information to potential travelers
Directory Submit: Powered by the powerful Yahoo! Search, submit your business information in Yahoo! Directory.
Each category is defined to meet the requirement of a certain type of advertiser and you would need to first decide your category before proceeding further. Once you have decided which category suits your requirements best, you can proceed to set up your marketing campaign at Yahoo!.
Other than the above categories of advertising Yahoo! also provides the option for providing Local Advertising and Search Submit. Local Advertising is again split into two sub-categories of Local Sponsored Search and Local Listings. This is very beneficial for businesses having local presence and they can catch users who are searching for a particular service or product in a locality and the costs of advertising in this section is probably one of the most affordable for an online campaign.
Search Submit on the other hand provides Search Submit Express and Search Submit Pro both of which are purely related to getting your site put on the search results of a group of top search engines.
If you are confused with the various types of products being offered with Yahoo! Search Marketing, you can use their online tool to help you determine which product suits you the best. All you need to do is answer a few simple questions and the wizard will recommend the products which suit your requirement best. All products of Yahoo! Search Marketing provide detailed analysis of traffic coming to your website which helps you make further decisions on your online marketing campaign.
Should you have a budget of over $10,000 per month for online advertising, you can contact Yahoo! sales team for a customized package that better suit your business.
Though Yahoo! Search Marketing programme sounds a bit complicated, it has some excellent Marketing Tools to help you go through the entire programme with ease. The two components are a Marketing Console which tracks how effective your various campaigns are and provides you with detailed information on them. This is definitely a time-saving application as you can see the end results of your campaigns in a jiffy. The other application is Search Optimizer which helps you get the maximum return of investment out of a Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) campaign.
The sign up process requires you to create an account and deposit funds in the account via a credit card and choose one of the many marketing products described above. Read More .....
Making The Transition From Classic Marketing To Virtual Marketing For Artists.
So you have art you want to sell? Why not market it online? Here are a few tips on how you should proceed. You first step to creating a website should be to have the cleanest pictures you can of your art. Try using a high-resolution digital camera if possible, if not then you may want to shoot it on film, and scan it with a high-end scanner.
Classic film at this point still has a higher resolution than large format digital, but the digitization process could “cheapen” your end product. It’s your choice as a publisher. If you are looking into making film samples, or audio material as demos, then what you would want to do, is to render your files in the smallest format possible, for film I would recommend “multimedia-small 15 frames/second” as your render option, and for MP3’s I would use the lowest quality possible, as to take into consideration those with Low-end computers or slower internet connections. Make your product as accessible as possible. You never know who’s looking, and from where.
You should consult with your web-designer or your search engine optimization company so that your website can be search engine optimized. The reasoning behind this, is that once you put all this work into digitizing your media, you want your website to be seen.
If you aren’t familiar with web design, I would advise hiring an art friendly web designer to help you out with the creating the website. S/He can deal with the technical aspects of creation while you worry about the design. I cannot stress enough the necessity of using an HTML editor that is search optimization friendly. Not so much for the actual design of the website, but for everything that goes on behind the scenes.
When you’re creating a website, there are two aspects to take into consideration. What the viewer is seeing, and how the website relates to search engines. Although I believe what the viewer is seeing is entirely in the hands of the designer, and owner… how the website relates to search engines is where SEO comes in.
How does your website fare with Google, MSN, or Yahoo? This is the province of your SEO, and your web-designer.
This is where items like meta-tags, keyword density, and performance come into play. Your website should be optimized for your location, content, type of art/media. When a web search is run on a topic relevant to you, your website should come up in these searches. If you’re a political artist then you should be getting hits for “political art”, in my case “Toronto filmmakers” or anything specific to your art/media content.
How an SEO can work for you, is that with your search engine optimization company will be able to tailor make your keywords, and meta-tags; so that the closer the search terms are to what you do, the more likely you will get a visitor on your site.
The more visitors you get on your site, the more likely you are to sell your product. This brings you closer to becoming an independent artist who doesn’t need deal with large publishers that don’t have your best interests in mind.
Ultimately what an effective self-driven online marketing campaign will do for you is that it will allow you to sell your product at your price, and for minimal monthly fees you won’t have to sign over publishing rights or licensing, because all the fees, minus operating fees come directly to you.
SEO and online marketing campaigns are available at minimal investment, so if you’re serious about launching your art career, then an affordable advertising campaign may be what you’re looking for.
Simply by improving your site ranking, you attract more visitors. Every visitor is a potential buyer... If we want to use a retail analogy, the more people visit your store, the more stuff you’ll sell.
All it really takes is for someone to see your site when doing a web- search; this will bring you clients and contacts. A very small investment could bring you the artistic freedom you want and deserve. Read More .....
Classic film at this point still has a higher resolution than large format digital, but the digitization process could “cheapen” your end product. It’s your choice as a publisher. If you are looking into making film samples, or audio material as demos, then what you would want to do, is to render your files in the smallest format possible, for film I would recommend “multimedia-small 15 frames/second” as your render option, and for MP3’s I would use the lowest quality possible, as to take into consideration those with Low-end computers or slower internet connections. Make your product as accessible as possible. You never know who’s looking, and from where.
You should consult with your web-designer or your search engine optimization company so that your website can be search engine optimized. The reasoning behind this, is that once you put all this work into digitizing your media, you want your website to be seen.
If you aren’t familiar with web design, I would advise hiring an art friendly web designer to help you out with the creating the website. S/He can deal with the technical aspects of creation while you worry about the design. I cannot stress enough the necessity of using an HTML editor that is search optimization friendly. Not so much for the actual design of the website, but for everything that goes on behind the scenes.
When you’re creating a website, there are two aspects to take into consideration. What the viewer is seeing, and how the website relates to search engines. Although I believe what the viewer is seeing is entirely in the hands of the designer, and owner… how the website relates to search engines is where SEO comes in.
How does your website fare with Google, MSN, or Yahoo? This is the province of your SEO, and your web-designer.
This is where items like meta-tags, keyword density, and performance come into play. Your website should be optimized for your location, content, type of art/media. When a web search is run on a topic relevant to you, your website should come up in these searches. If you’re a political artist then you should be getting hits for “political art”, in my case “Toronto filmmakers” or anything specific to your art/media content.
How an SEO can work for you, is that with your search engine optimization company will be able to tailor make your keywords, and meta-tags; so that the closer the search terms are to what you do, the more likely you will get a visitor on your site.
The more visitors you get on your site, the more likely you are to sell your product. This brings you closer to becoming an independent artist who doesn’t need deal with large publishers that don’t have your best interests in mind.
Ultimately what an effective self-driven online marketing campaign will do for you is that it will allow you to sell your product at your price, and for minimal monthly fees you won’t have to sign over publishing rights or licensing, because all the fees, minus operating fees come directly to you.
SEO and online marketing campaigns are available at minimal investment, so if you’re serious about launching your art career, then an affordable advertising campaign may be what you’re looking for.
Simply by improving your site ranking, you attract more visitors. Every visitor is a potential buyer... If we want to use a retail analogy, the more people visit your store, the more stuff you’ll sell.
All it really takes is for someone to see your site when doing a web- search; this will bring you clients and contacts. A very small investment could bring you the artistic freedom you want and deserve. Read More .....
Multi-Level Marketing And Network Marketing: How To Identify Illegal Pyramid Or Ponzi Scheme
There are a tons of people that want to get rich fast, and they will do anything (and believe anything) to get rich. That is where the multi level marketing and networking schemes come into play. The two main types of schemes out here are the pyramid schemes and the Ponzi schemes. A Ponzi scheme is, of course, a fraudulent investment operation. Pretty much it involves paying very high prices to investors out of the money they get from other investors.
Of course, the Ponzi scheme is just another pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme is pretty much where you pay high dollar for the rights to sell a product that is not worth the money. Then you get people under you to sell that product as well. These schemes fall apart as people run out of people to market their fake product to.
So how do you avoid these scams? How do you know what is a real opportunity, and what is just an illegal scheme? A good way to be able to tell a pyramid scheme when you see one is to look at its business model. A lot of time these schemes have a non sustainable business model. That is because these models sometimes call for more people than there are in the world. So that would be impossible to have that many people selling the product. It's important to keep in mind that these schemes are illegal in most countries.
Another way that you know if it's a pyramid scheme is if you are not actually selling a product. A lot of times these schemes take either a very cheap made product or a product that does not even exist, and they market it to people. The only way that the scheme stays alive is if the people that they market to, markets the product to other people as well. The only people that really make any money off these schemes are the people at the very top of the pyramid. So if you never actually get to see the product you are marketing or trying to enroll people in, then it's more than likely a scam. Remember, these pyramid schemes only work, because you enroll other people that are willing to give you money to start selling what you are selling (which is really nothing).
There are some legit ways to make money out there, but these pyramid schemes are not one of them. So be sure to research anything you are thinking about joining first. Make sure that it's legit before you get involved. The last thing that you want to do is get involved with an illegal pyramid scheme.
I often do get asked how to start a profitable internet business. I would say that the best way to make money online if by finding a niche and develop a product or service around that niche. That way, at least, you are sure to have someone interested about whatever you are selling. Read More .....
Of course, the Ponzi scheme is just another pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme is pretty much where you pay high dollar for the rights to sell a product that is not worth the money. Then you get people under you to sell that product as well. These schemes fall apart as people run out of people to market their fake product to.
So how do you avoid these scams? How do you know what is a real opportunity, and what is just an illegal scheme? A good way to be able to tell a pyramid scheme when you see one is to look at its business model. A lot of time these schemes have a non sustainable business model. That is because these models sometimes call for more people than there are in the world. So that would be impossible to have that many people selling the product. It's important to keep in mind that these schemes are illegal in most countries.
Another way that you know if it's a pyramid scheme is if you are not actually selling a product. A lot of times these schemes take either a very cheap made product or a product that does not even exist, and they market it to people. The only way that the scheme stays alive is if the people that they market to, markets the product to other people as well. The only people that really make any money off these schemes are the people at the very top of the pyramid. So if you never actually get to see the product you are marketing or trying to enroll people in, then it's more than likely a scam. Remember, these pyramid schemes only work, because you enroll other people that are willing to give you money to start selling what you are selling (which is really nothing).
There are some legit ways to make money out there, but these pyramid schemes are not one of them. So be sure to research anything you are thinking about joining first. Make sure that it's legit before you get involved. The last thing that you want to do is get involved with an illegal pyramid scheme.
I often do get asked how to start a profitable internet business. I would say that the best way to make money online if by finding a niche and develop a product or service around that niche. That way, at least, you are sure to have someone interested about whatever you are selling. Read More .....
How The Viral Marketing Blackbook Stirs Up The Whole Internet Marketing Community
Stanley Tang's probably biggest coup is his recent e-book called The Viral Marketing Blackbook which causes a furor among all internet marketers, newbies and seasoned ones alike. When it comes to internet marketing and getting traffic to your websites and blogs the viral marketing aspect should never be left out as you're leaving serious money on the table or simply just could hand over your whole business to the competitors who are always one or two steps ahead.
Every online marketer knows that traffic is essential to success for every internet business. It doesn't matter at all how small or large a website or blog is, website owners need traffic in order to make sales, acquire leads, grow their business etc.
90% of all internet marketers don't know how viral marketing works and how to utilize it, let alone use it to its fullest potential. And that's what the Viral Marketing Blackbook is all about. It is about traffic and how to tap into its huge viral aspect, providing many different techniques and how to use them best.
One of the most common phrases (or rather mantras) among internet marketers is: The money is in the list.
Wrong.
Stanley Tang shows in his Viral Marketing Blackbook that building an opt-in list is just one way of generating and monetizing traffic. In fact, building your list is just a part of a much bigger picture. According to Stanley many so called "gurus" are quite hesitant to show that bigger picture to anyone and only give out some bits and pieces, giving the feeling of receiving a whole blueprint when in fact they only reveal a small piece of the puzzle.
The true "gurus" are those who created empires like Yahoo, eBay or Amazon. None of these made billions of dollars using an opt-in list. They made their billions by driving massive traffic to their websites and monetizing them. Read More .....
Every online marketer knows that traffic is essential to success for every internet business. It doesn't matter at all how small or large a website or blog is, website owners need traffic in order to make sales, acquire leads, grow their business etc.
90% of all internet marketers don't know how viral marketing works and how to utilize it, let alone use it to its fullest potential. And that's what the Viral Marketing Blackbook is all about. It is about traffic and how to tap into its huge viral aspect, providing many different techniques and how to use them best.
One of the most common phrases (or rather mantras) among internet marketers is: The money is in the list.
Wrong.
Stanley Tang shows in his Viral Marketing Blackbook that building an opt-in list is just one way of generating and monetizing traffic. In fact, building your list is just a part of a much bigger picture. According to Stanley many so called "gurus" are quite hesitant to show that bigger picture to anyone and only give out some bits and pieces, giving the feeling of receiving a whole blueprint when in fact they only reveal a small piece of the puzzle.
The true "gurus" are those who created empires like Yahoo, eBay or Amazon. None of these made billions of dollars using an opt-in list. They made their billions by driving massive traffic to their websites and monetizing them. Read More .....
Affiliate Marketing Training: Membership Club Tutorial on Marketing Affiliate Products
Marketing affiliate products online can lead to a most prosperous career, but not without it’s bumps and bruises. The path to beginning a successful affiliate marketing has a learning curve that without the proper training will leave you like 97% of most marketers. The fact is, finding reputable affiliate program networks on the web is rather simple. Choosing the right niche products and learning how to market will be your toughest task.
The road to finding a solid marketing plan can be time consuming without the proper direction. When I first started online, I was swayed by several free programs that promised unlimited amounts of traffic to my affiliate websites. These free programs are good for the new marketer that is starting out and wants to learn how to start marketing on the internet, but if you are looking for real results, they are for the most part ineffective.
If you are trying to gain success using free resources like traffic exchanges your would have to spend about 6 to 12 hours marketing everyday to receive minimal results at best. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place in your marketing for free sources like exchanges, but it cannot be your main form of advertising. Free traffic resources however are great for running your squeeze page in order to build your affiliate marketing leads for your future advertising.
The truth is if you are trying make money fast on the internet marketing affiliate products, you will need to invest in PPC advertising or some other form of paid advertising at one point or another. Affiliate PPC advertising gives you the best chance at succeeding online. With Pay Per Click advertising you will be able to direct large amounts of targeted traffic to your website through targeted keywords related to your topic.
The warning with PPC advertising is that it is an advance technique that should can be costly without the proper training. A proper PPC campaign will have to include a good keyword tool to target your products and separate yourself from the competition. SEO Elite will give a selection of hundreds of keyword suggestions to use in your affiliate PPC marketing campaigns. In the beginning all of this information may be to much to consume without any help, that is why I recommend anyone considering running a PPC campaign get some proper training.
Taking the time to educate yourself on the 3 online principles of where to market, when to market and what to market will help eleviate a lot of costly mistakes. There are several tutorials that can provide you with the proper training on PPC advertising and other affiliate marketing strategies.
If you are not sure of where to search for an good affiliate course online, I suggest you get a membership with Maverick Money Makers Online Club. The membership club provides its members with search engine optimization tutorials in addition to affiliate PPC training. With this particular program, you will have continuous affiliate management training that you can access at anytime with support. There is a fee to join the Maverick Money Makers Online Club, but It will save you a lot of frustration and take the guesswork out of marketing affiliate products online. Read More .....
The road to finding a solid marketing plan can be time consuming without the proper direction. When I first started online, I was swayed by several free programs that promised unlimited amounts of traffic to my affiliate websites. These free programs are good for the new marketer that is starting out and wants to learn how to start marketing on the internet, but if you are looking for real results, they are for the most part ineffective.
If you are trying to gain success using free resources like traffic exchanges your would have to spend about 6 to 12 hours marketing everyday to receive minimal results at best. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place in your marketing for free sources like exchanges, but it cannot be your main form of advertising. Free traffic resources however are great for running your squeeze page in order to build your affiliate marketing leads for your future advertising.
The truth is if you are trying make money fast on the internet marketing affiliate products, you will need to invest in PPC advertising or some other form of paid advertising at one point or another. Affiliate PPC advertising gives you the best chance at succeeding online. With Pay Per Click advertising you will be able to direct large amounts of targeted traffic to your website through targeted keywords related to your topic.
The warning with PPC advertising is that it is an advance technique that should can be costly without the proper training. A proper PPC campaign will have to include a good keyword tool to target your products and separate yourself from the competition. SEO Elite will give a selection of hundreds of keyword suggestions to use in your affiliate PPC marketing campaigns. In the beginning all of this information may be to much to consume without any help, that is why I recommend anyone considering running a PPC campaign get some proper training.
Taking the time to educate yourself on the 3 online principles of where to market, when to market and what to market will help eleviate a lot of costly mistakes. There are several tutorials that can provide you with the proper training on PPC advertising and other affiliate marketing strategies.
If you are not sure of where to search for an good affiliate course online, I suggest you get a membership with Maverick Money Makers Online Club. The membership club provides its members with search engine optimization tutorials in addition to affiliate PPC training. With this particular program, you will have continuous affiliate management training that you can access at anytime with support. There is a fee to join the Maverick Money Makers Online Club, but It will save you a lot of frustration and take the guesswork out of marketing affiliate products online. Read More .....
Online Internet Marketing – 3 Top Tools And Services For An Effective Internet Marketing Solution
Everyone knows the Internet is growing exponentially and continually evolving. The major players in the continual evolution of the Internet are the major search engines and consumer generated media such as blogs. Because of the continual changes, a well rounded Internet marketing strategy must include a variety of proven marketing options to ensure success. I will outline 3 of the most effective Internet marketing solutions available and how they relate to your marketing strategy.
SEO Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the first because the free advertising afforded by the search engines is partly determined by on-page optimization techniques. With thousands of new Websites being created daily, the competition for a listing on the first search result page is increasingly saturated for the popular keywords. Statistics show better than 75% of people only look at the first search result page, and a similar percentage only click on the top search listing.
In order to compete effectively, a Web page must be designed around a keyword or more effectively, a keyword phrase. The keywords should be included in the page’s title, keyword META tag, page’s description, the first heading (using the H1 HTML tag), throughout the body of the page and within the last 25 words on the page. These are just a few of the basic SEO on-page options that although will not guarantee a first page listing, are definitely required as a starting point in an effective Internet marketing strategy.
In most cases, there is too much competition for certain keywords such as “golf clubs”. A better strategy would be to use “golf clubs Chicago” or “handcrafted golf clubs”. The more specific you make your keyword phrase the better. A number of free tools are available that will show the popularity of keywords and how often they are used in the search engines on a monthly basis. These will allow you to customize your Web page knowing the keyword phrase’s popularity. If you get the first page listing for a keyword with less than 100 searches per month for instance, then it doesn’t matter because your traffic will be very limited.
Link Exchanges
Once the on-page optimizations are complete, the off-page optimization options need to be addressed. Link exchanges are perhaps the best off-page SEO technique available. Google uses an algorithm to determine a page’s rank, which is determined by the number of other sites linking to it; and the QUALITY of the link is a major consideration. Pages are ranked from 1 to 10. The higher the PageRank of the site linking to yours, the better. Sites with a PR7 and above are considered as authority sites and a back link from them will send Google’s spider to your page on a regular basis.
There are a number of ways to get a back link to your site. You can email a request to the Webmaster for a link exchange. If they agree, you would return the favor by placing a link to their site on your page. You can also purchase the link. A number of sites offer this service for a monthly fee. So if you want to quickly get your site listed by Google and the major search engines, then paying for a PR8 back link for a month or two might be well worth the investment in the long run; as new sites are placed in a “sand box” by Google for several months until they prove their longevity.
One back link from a PR8 site is worth hundreds of back links from PR2 or less sites. As a matter of fact, numerous links from low ranking sites will actually be detrimental to your site. Each back link is like a vote for your site. If you have too many low ranking sites voting for yours, Google will be reluctant to reward your site with a higher PR. You have to do your research on the site that offers to link to yours because if they were blacklisted by Google, your site will receive the same fate and you probably will never recover from this.
A PR 4 or 5 is relatively easy to attain. So your best bet is to limit your back links to PR5 and above for the best results. And by all means avoid link farms. Before Google upgraded its algorithm, just the number of back links was considered. But now the actual PageRank of your back link is considered AND the PageRank of the sites linking to THAT page. Links from link farms are now looked upon as basically spam links. You would be better off purchasing a listing in a major link directory like Yahoo or DMOZ. It’s definitely worth the investment as these are authority sites and are a major vote for your site!
Blogs
As previously indicated, consumer generated media is a major factor in the evolution of the Internet. Case in point is the enormous effect blogs had on the last Presidential campaign. A very large percentage of most searches will include blogs on the first page listing. Over 50% of purchases, online and offline are preceded by an online search for more information. And a large percentage of the information is offered by blogs. People are very interested in the opinions of others on their topic of interest.
The major blogs are updated on a daily basis, which is very important to Google’s algorithm, which uses the frequency of updates (daily, hourly and by minute) as a determining factor in the search result ranking. A powerful marketing method used by the major blogs is to submit articles on a particular topic to the major article hubs such as http://EzineArticles.com. The article hub benefits by having continually updated information (which Google likes) where they can place their money making AdSense ads. The blogger benefits by having a back link to their blog in the resource section of the article.
As numerous other bloggers and Webmasters access the article hubs for fresh information, the article can be syndicated virally to a number of sites on the Internet. This creates a number of back links to your blog or your site; generating an enormous amount of pre-qualified free traffic.
In Summary
These are just a few of the more effective online Internet marketing options available. Other options such as auto-responder email, EZine advertising and pay per click advertising should be included in a well rounded Internet marketing strategy. No matter what options you use, you definitely need to start with your on-page SEO techniques. Your listing in the search results will be enhanced by a properly optimized page.
Further optimization must include the off-page SEO techniques such as generating back links with the major site directories, link exchanges and articles submitted to the major article hubs. Using a blog for a reference in your article can be a good thing as people will be more inclined to visit a blog since it’s not a sales page. Once they have received enough information and you have generated their confidence in your opinions, you can end up with a lifetime customer. Read More .....
SEO Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the first because the free advertising afforded by the search engines is partly determined by on-page optimization techniques. With thousands of new Websites being created daily, the competition for a listing on the first search result page is increasingly saturated for the popular keywords. Statistics show better than 75% of people only look at the first search result page, and a similar percentage only click on the top search listing.
In order to compete effectively, a Web page must be designed around a keyword or more effectively, a keyword phrase. The keywords should be included in the page’s title, keyword META tag, page’s description, the first heading (using the H1 HTML tag), throughout the body of the page and within the last 25 words on the page. These are just a few of the basic SEO on-page options that although will not guarantee a first page listing, are definitely required as a starting point in an effective Internet marketing strategy.
In most cases, there is too much competition for certain keywords such as “golf clubs”. A better strategy would be to use “golf clubs Chicago” or “handcrafted golf clubs”. The more specific you make your keyword phrase the better. A number of free tools are available that will show the popularity of keywords and how often they are used in the search engines on a monthly basis. These will allow you to customize your Web page knowing the keyword phrase’s popularity. If you get the first page listing for a keyword with less than 100 searches per month for instance, then it doesn’t matter because your traffic will be very limited.
Link Exchanges
Once the on-page optimizations are complete, the off-page optimization options need to be addressed. Link exchanges are perhaps the best off-page SEO technique available. Google uses an algorithm to determine a page’s rank, which is determined by the number of other sites linking to it; and the QUALITY of the link is a major consideration. Pages are ranked from 1 to 10. The higher the PageRank of the site linking to yours, the better. Sites with a PR7 and above are considered as authority sites and a back link from them will send Google’s spider to your page on a regular basis.
There are a number of ways to get a back link to your site. You can email a request to the Webmaster for a link exchange. If they agree, you would return the favor by placing a link to their site on your page. You can also purchase the link. A number of sites offer this service for a monthly fee. So if you want to quickly get your site listed by Google and the major search engines, then paying for a PR8 back link for a month or two might be well worth the investment in the long run; as new sites are placed in a “sand box” by Google for several months until they prove their longevity.
One back link from a PR8 site is worth hundreds of back links from PR2 or less sites. As a matter of fact, numerous links from low ranking sites will actually be detrimental to your site. Each back link is like a vote for your site. If you have too many low ranking sites voting for yours, Google will be reluctant to reward your site with a higher PR. You have to do your research on the site that offers to link to yours because if they were blacklisted by Google, your site will receive the same fate and you probably will never recover from this.
A PR 4 or 5 is relatively easy to attain. So your best bet is to limit your back links to PR5 and above for the best results. And by all means avoid link farms. Before Google upgraded its algorithm, just the number of back links was considered. But now the actual PageRank of your back link is considered AND the PageRank of the sites linking to THAT page. Links from link farms are now looked upon as basically spam links. You would be better off purchasing a listing in a major link directory like Yahoo or DMOZ. It’s definitely worth the investment as these are authority sites and are a major vote for your site!
Blogs
As previously indicated, consumer generated media is a major factor in the evolution of the Internet. Case in point is the enormous effect blogs had on the last Presidential campaign. A very large percentage of most searches will include blogs on the first page listing. Over 50% of purchases, online and offline are preceded by an online search for more information. And a large percentage of the information is offered by blogs. People are very interested in the opinions of others on their topic of interest.
The major blogs are updated on a daily basis, which is very important to Google’s algorithm, which uses the frequency of updates (daily, hourly and by minute) as a determining factor in the search result ranking. A powerful marketing method used by the major blogs is to submit articles on a particular topic to the major article hubs such as http://EzineArticles.com. The article hub benefits by having continually updated information (which Google likes) where they can place their money making AdSense ads. The blogger benefits by having a back link to their blog in the resource section of the article.
As numerous other bloggers and Webmasters access the article hubs for fresh information, the article can be syndicated virally to a number of sites on the Internet. This creates a number of back links to your blog or your site; generating an enormous amount of pre-qualified free traffic.
In Summary
These are just a few of the more effective online Internet marketing options available. Other options such as auto-responder email, EZine advertising and pay per click advertising should be included in a well rounded Internet marketing strategy. No matter what options you use, you definitely need to start with your on-page SEO techniques. Your listing in the search results will be enhanced by a properly optimized page.
Further optimization must include the off-page SEO techniques such as generating back links with the major site directories, link exchanges and articles submitted to the major article hubs. Using a blog for a reference in your article can be a good thing as people will be more inclined to visit a blog since it’s not a sales page. Once they have received enough information and you have generated their confidence in your opinions, you can end up with a lifetime customer. Read More .....
Easy Marketing With Forum Marketing
Many people each day use the Internet as a form of communicating with others. They either do it through instant messaging, email, social networking sites or online forums. Most people visit at least one online forum each day as a place where they can communicate with people who have similar interests. This is a great place to go to for advertising because you are already going to be talking to a lot of people who are interested or are going to be interested in what your business is about and what you are selling. You will already have a base of people who will want to do business with you and you will have already built a relationship.
Using forums as a powerful marketing tool isn’t a new concept; people have been doing it for many years now. However many people still don’t realize how useful it is to use a forum as a place to gain interest in what you are doing. It’s great because the majority of the forums out there are free to join. Forums are a place where information is exchanged, ideas and tips, as well as a person’s thoughts and rants. You will find that just about anything is allowed on there, so why not use it as a marketing tool?
When first starting a business, you might not have all the necessary marketing skills needed to be successful at first. However, you probably have a good idea on what your business is about and what you are about to sell, so then you probably already know the type of customer you want to appeal to. If you do know, then the first thing you need to do with forum marketing is find that niche and join the forums that the customers are at. Go to your customers so then they can come to you.
When on the forum, it’s a good idea to introduce yourself first and slowly get to know and maybe even become friends with the people who frequent it. Don’t just start your first post as one that bombards everyone with your business and products, as that sort of behavior can get you banned from forums. Be subtle in your approach and use your signature file to maybe just sneak some information and a link to your website in. If it’s a popular forum, the link might even get picked up in certain search engines. Not only can you get the people visiting the forum to go to your website, but maybe possible outside users as well. At the very least you are creating back links to your site each time you post and this will help in search engine rankings for your site.
It has to be said that forum marketing is just an all round great way to promote your website and business and your products and services. You therefore don’t want to dismiss this easy and free way of marketing. Read More .....
Using forums as a powerful marketing tool isn’t a new concept; people have been doing it for many years now. However many people still don’t realize how useful it is to use a forum as a place to gain interest in what you are doing. It’s great because the majority of the forums out there are free to join. Forums are a place where information is exchanged, ideas and tips, as well as a person’s thoughts and rants. You will find that just about anything is allowed on there, so why not use it as a marketing tool?
When first starting a business, you might not have all the necessary marketing skills needed to be successful at first. However, you probably have a good idea on what your business is about and what you are about to sell, so then you probably already know the type of customer you want to appeal to. If you do know, then the first thing you need to do with forum marketing is find that niche and join the forums that the customers are at. Go to your customers so then they can come to you.
When on the forum, it’s a good idea to introduce yourself first and slowly get to know and maybe even become friends with the people who frequent it. Don’t just start your first post as one that bombards everyone with your business and products, as that sort of behavior can get you banned from forums. Be subtle in your approach and use your signature file to maybe just sneak some information and a link to your website in. If it’s a popular forum, the link might even get picked up in certain search engines. Not only can you get the people visiting the forum to go to your website, but maybe possible outside users as well. At the very least you are creating back links to your site each time you post and this will help in search engine rankings for your site.
It has to be said that forum marketing is just an all round great way to promote your website and business and your products and services. You therefore don’t want to dismiss this easy and free way of marketing. Read More .....
Injecting Internet Marketing Into Your Marketing Mix
A website and online presence is one aspect of the marketing mix for a business. For the small to medium business, there is no reason for a website to be the sole method of marketing – but by integrating a website into your marketing plan you can drive new leads and generate new business that you wouldn't ordinarily reach using a single avenue of advertising.
Web Address Inclusion
Your website can act as a point of reference for all of your leads and existing customers. Include your web address in all forms of your offline communication. If you post physical products, ensure that the packing slips and invoices have the URL of your website in a prominent position. Your website itself can be used to answer many questions that customers might have, reducing the time and even resource needed to respond to problems and questions posed by buyers.
Optimizing Landing Pages For On And Offline Leads
With any form of advertising it is vital to optimize your web landing pages. Optimizing a landing page means providing the content that your visitors expect. You should direct visitors to the most appropriate page on your website to answer their questions or to make a sale. If you use direct mail advertising and are promoting a specific product then direct visitors to the purchase page for that product. If you are offering your website as a place to get answers to questions or to resolve issues, direct them to the knowledge base or customer service page.
Using Online Advertising To Advertise Offline Business
While some businesses are run predominantly online, many websites are used to promote a bricks-and-mortar business. Whatever the purpose of your business, a website usually offers some form of advantage. The Internet is a global marketplace and provides a genuinely affordable method to promote even the smallest business. Very few other methods level the playing field so clearly between small businesses and large corporations.
Using Other Forms Of Offline Advertising In Your Advertising Mix
Newspaper and radio advertising provide a very direct form of marketing. Few websites can realistically afford television advertising but flyers, direct mail, and less expensive advertising methods are a genuinely viable alternative. Again, the key to success in using these forms of advertising is integrating them within your online marketing mix. Only through good integration, directing visitors to the most appropriate page, and optimizing that landing page.
Summary
Every business requires a good marketing mix. As well as considering the various forms of online marketing, such as SEO and PPC, the website owner should consider integrating offline advertising into their mix. Direct prospective leads to pre-sell and sales pages to improve conversion rates or, alternatively, direct existing customers to support and technical pages to improve your customer relations and therefore enhance customer retention levels. By getting the balance of offline and online advertising right, your marketing mix will help provide everything you need to gain leads, increase sales, improve customer retention, and rocket your profits. Read More .....
Web Address Inclusion
Your website can act as a point of reference for all of your leads and existing customers. Include your web address in all forms of your offline communication. If you post physical products, ensure that the packing slips and invoices have the URL of your website in a prominent position. Your website itself can be used to answer many questions that customers might have, reducing the time and even resource needed to respond to problems and questions posed by buyers.
Optimizing Landing Pages For On And Offline Leads
With any form of advertising it is vital to optimize your web landing pages. Optimizing a landing page means providing the content that your visitors expect. You should direct visitors to the most appropriate page on your website to answer their questions or to make a sale. If you use direct mail advertising and are promoting a specific product then direct visitors to the purchase page for that product. If you are offering your website as a place to get answers to questions or to resolve issues, direct them to the knowledge base or customer service page.
Using Online Advertising To Advertise Offline Business
While some businesses are run predominantly online, many websites are used to promote a bricks-and-mortar business. Whatever the purpose of your business, a website usually offers some form of advantage. The Internet is a global marketplace and provides a genuinely affordable method to promote even the smallest business. Very few other methods level the playing field so clearly between small businesses and large corporations.
Using Other Forms Of Offline Advertising In Your Advertising Mix
Newspaper and radio advertising provide a very direct form of marketing. Few websites can realistically afford television advertising but flyers, direct mail, and less expensive advertising methods are a genuinely viable alternative. Again, the key to success in using these forms of advertising is integrating them within your online marketing mix. Only through good integration, directing visitors to the most appropriate page, and optimizing that landing page.
Summary
Every business requires a good marketing mix. As well as considering the various forms of online marketing, such as SEO and PPC, the website owner should consider integrating offline advertising into their mix. Direct prospective leads to pre-sell and sales pages to improve conversion rates or, alternatively, direct existing customers to support and technical pages to improve your customer relations and therefore enhance customer retention levels. By getting the balance of offline and online advertising right, your marketing mix will help provide everything you need to gain leads, increase sales, improve customer retention, and rocket your profits. Read More .....
Article Marketing As A Method Of Internet Marketing For Your Home Based Business
Working at home can be a challenge but making use of article marketing as a form of internet marketing can make your job a whole lot easier. If you have a website and want to bring more traffic to your site then one way to make this happen is to write articles relevant to the subject of your business and then submit these articles to article directories over the web that are free. People searching for free content will then take your articles and use them at their site and this means you get free publicity for your work at home business.
In this case your articles can be reproduced a number of times which is good news for your developing business. Be aware too that often article directories are connected to other free article directories so your articles could end up on many websites. Your articles will feature resource boxes at the bottom that includes information about the author and also a link back to the author's site. Here is where you can write about your business. If your articles are interesting, informative and even entertaining and sometimes amusing you will send traffic in the direction you want it- to your website and to the products and services you offer.
Both quantity of the articles you write as well as quality is important. The more articles you write and submit the more you expose yourself to potential customers. The quality of your articles matters too. Write well and write in a manner that appeals to the reader. Do not write about your business per se but write in an enlightening, appealing manner that shows you know what you are talking about and have something to offer your readers. Focus on them, not yourself or your business and you will generate the greatest amount of interest.
Write articles that speak to an audience of ordinary people and do not get too wordy. Write with authority but write in an easy to understand and easy to follow manner. Make sure your articles are not too long and don't use too many adverbs or adjectives and avoid big, complicated words. Be very careful about your spelling and punctuation. Make sure you write in a professional way that demonstrates that you know what you are talking about. If you choose a topic that you only know a little about then do plenty of research before you write the article.
It is a good idea to use keywords in your articles because this makes it easier for people interested in your articles to find them. Also use headings and lists if possible because when reading over the internet people often scan the page to find exactly what they are looking for. Read More .....
In this case your articles can be reproduced a number of times which is good news for your developing business. Be aware too that often article directories are connected to other free article directories so your articles could end up on many websites. Your articles will feature resource boxes at the bottom that includes information about the author and also a link back to the author's site. Here is where you can write about your business. If your articles are interesting, informative and even entertaining and sometimes amusing you will send traffic in the direction you want it- to your website and to the products and services you offer.
Both quantity of the articles you write as well as quality is important. The more articles you write and submit the more you expose yourself to potential customers. The quality of your articles matters too. Write well and write in a manner that appeals to the reader. Do not write about your business per se but write in an enlightening, appealing manner that shows you know what you are talking about and have something to offer your readers. Focus on them, not yourself or your business and you will generate the greatest amount of interest.
Write articles that speak to an audience of ordinary people and do not get too wordy. Write with authority but write in an easy to understand and easy to follow manner. Make sure your articles are not too long and don't use too many adverbs or adjectives and avoid big, complicated words. Be very careful about your spelling and punctuation. Make sure you write in a professional way that demonstrates that you know what you are talking about. If you choose a topic that you only know a little about then do plenty of research before you write the article.
It is a good idea to use keywords in your articles because this makes it easier for people interested in your articles to find them. Also use headings and lists if possible because when reading over the internet people often scan the page to find exactly what they are looking for. Read More .....
E- Marketing 101: Exploring The Power Of Online Email Marketing Services
Why choose an online email marketing service?
The vast majority of online email marketing services can be found exactly where you use them -- on the Internet. Whether you’re new to email marketing or a veteran, online email marketing services can help you streamline your email marketing campaigns and get the word out on your goods and services. The most immediate advantages to an online email marketing suite, when compared with an offline one, is that you no longer have to worry about access. As long as you can power up your computer and get access to the Internet, you can manage your permission-based email marketing campaigns 24/7, anywhere in the world. Still not convinced? Keep reading.
Online email marketing -- the features
Few online services are as robust and user-friendly as online email marketing. But that is just the start of using an online email marketing service.
They usually require no downloads and no setups
Worried about what exactly you’re downloading onto your hard drive? With a email marketing service provider, everything is hosted online. This means that you usually won’t have to download a single file to your computer.
You can manage and store your contact lists online
Tired of digging around to find all your contact lists on your hard drive? With online email marketing, you can upload your list and store it to the service’s Web server. This allows you access to your customer information from anywhere in the world. Not to mention an extra layer of protection just in case your computer crashes and you lose all your data.
Your real-time campaign statistics are immediately viewable
If you’re interested in getting data as quickly as possible on how well your campaign is doing, the top email marketing services offer real-time reporting that’s available for viewing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means that as soon as a customer clicks on a link in your email, you can view that customers’ info down to who they are and which link they clicked on. Customer statistical analysis is a great way to improve your overall ROI (return on investment ).
You can create plain text and HTML emails and newsletters via Web portal
One of the best benefits of using an online service is the availability of templates and online editors that come with your monthly service fee. Imagine uploading your own HTML template, using one of many available through your service, or simply creating your own via a user-friendly online editor.
You can segment your lists by custom characteristics
Why send a mass-market email to everyone on your list it the info only really pertains to certain email marketing customers? With online email marketing, you can effortlessly segment your email list based on customer likes and dislikes, geographic location, age and other info.
So in a nutshell, online email marketing, is cheaper and more flexible than offline email marketing. When it comes to true convenience in regards to your bulk email marketing campaigns, nothing beats online marketing. Read More .....
The vast majority of online email marketing services can be found exactly where you use them -- on the Internet. Whether you’re new to email marketing or a veteran, online email marketing services can help you streamline your email marketing campaigns and get the word out on your goods and services. The most immediate advantages to an online email marketing suite, when compared with an offline one, is that you no longer have to worry about access. As long as you can power up your computer and get access to the Internet, you can manage your permission-based email marketing campaigns 24/7, anywhere in the world. Still not convinced? Keep reading.
Online email marketing -- the features
Few online services are as robust and user-friendly as online email marketing. But that is just the start of using an online email marketing service.
They usually require no downloads and no setups
Worried about what exactly you’re downloading onto your hard drive? With a email marketing service provider, everything is hosted online. This means that you usually won’t have to download a single file to your computer.
You can manage and store your contact lists online
Tired of digging around to find all your contact lists on your hard drive? With online email marketing, you can upload your list and store it to the service’s Web server. This allows you access to your customer information from anywhere in the world. Not to mention an extra layer of protection just in case your computer crashes and you lose all your data.
Your real-time campaign statistics are immediately viewable
If you’re interested in getting data as quickly as possible on how well your campaign is doing, the top email marketing services offer real-time reporting that’s available for viewing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means that as soon as a customer clicks on a link in your email, you can view that customers’ info down to who they are and which link they clicked on. Customer statistical analysis is a great way to improve your overall ROI (return on investment ).
You can create plain text and HTML emails and newsletters via Web portal
One of the best benefits of using an online service is the availability of templates and online editors that come with your monthly service fee. Imagine uploading your own HTML template, using one of many available through your service, or simply creating your own via a user-friendly online editor.
You can segment your lists by custom characteristics
Why send a mass-market email to everyone on your list it the info only really pertains to certain email marketing customers? With online email marketing, you can effortlessly segment your email list based on customer likes and dislikes, geographic location, age and other info.
So in a nutshell, online email marketing, is cheaper and more flexible than offline email marketing. When it comes to true convenience in regards to your bulk email marketing campaigns, nothing beats online marketing. Read More .....
Small Business Marketing -- Three Tips To Infuse More Style Into Your Marketing Strategies
“The Bold and the Beautiful” isn't just the name of a daytime television show. It also describes how you must put your personality to work if you want to grow your business into six and seven figures.
Take a look at the superstar women entrepreneurs in your industry and you'll see what I mean. They aren't wall flowers when it comes to flaunting their quirky personalities’ strengths in their marketing strategies.
In fact, these women entrepreneurs have cleverly discovered that by shining a spotlight on their innate characteristics they put their business in the spotlight...and reap the rewards.
So how does the woman business owner know which parts of her complex personality will help create winning impact marketing? What if she chooses the wrong parts and ends up looking foolish?
That's where the Branding with Archetypes™ system comes in. Once you have discovered your business archetype (which a Branding with Archetypes ten-minute assessment helps you easily do) you start to see how traits you've possessed all along are now an important part of your marketing strategies.
Let's look at woman business owner, Helen, for example. Before Branding with Archetypes, Helen knew she had a quirky sense of humor and a cheerfully contrary way of looking at things. But she thought those traits were faults that needed to be hidden away in favor of being "business like."
Problem was that by hiding away her authentic nature, Helen was also hiding her gifts, talents and the opportunity to build a money-and-soul-style business. In short, she was hiding away a vital part of her soul.
Her business was practically nonexistent. (No wonder, since if SHE wasn't showing up in her business, how could she expect her clients to?!)
Helen wasn't surprised to discover that her archetype was the Wise Jester. After learning this she realized she had a talent for writing marketing copy that was infused with humor and that created a sense of camaraderie with her reader.
Not long after these discoveries she started her web-based copy writing business, dubbing it Cracker Jack Websites. (Now, doesn't that name say "Get it done and make it fun!" to you?!)
Helen specializes in soft-topic copy writing preferred by coaches, holistic practitioners and other from-the-heart business owners. Her business is booming and she's having fun. Her clients are relieved to find someone who can write from the heart without being hard sell.
Even if you don't know which archetype you are in your business, you can start to infuse more personality and style into your marketing strategies. Here are three simple tips to get started now:
#1. What part of your personality do you most often try to hide?
Quirky sense of humor? Maybe your love of risky sports like hang-gliding over mountain peaks? Or you're known for being bold and ahead of the pack. Or perhaps you secretly channel spirit guides but fear your corporate clients will find out.
Whatever personality trait you possess that got you in trouble when you were a kid in school is probably precisely the one that needs to show up as a key branding component in your impact marketing.
#2. Brainstorm a list of words and phrases that represent that personality trait.
Remember, “tame is lame” so go for words and phrases that may feel outlandish or outrageous.
#3. Cut loose and let your personality show in your next email, newsletter, web page sales letter or flyer.
Now, now, don't gulp. This is actually pretty easy once you give yourself permission to cut loose a little. A little goes a long way so you won't have to do too much to have your personality really stand out.
The basics of marketing a small business are pretty simple to figure out but it takes a bold and beautiful soul to reach deep within and let the innermost being speak through in her marketing! Read More .....
Take a look at the superstar women entrepreneurs in your industry and you'll see what I mean. They aren't wall flowers when it comes to flaunting their quirky personalities’ strengths in their marketing strategies.
In fact, these women entrepreneurs have cleverly discovered that by shining a spotlight on their innate characteristics they put their business in the spotlight...and reap the rewards.
So how does the woman business owner know which parts of her complex personality will help create winning impact marketing? What if she chooses the wrong parts and ends up looking foolish?
That's where the Branding with Archetypes™ system comes in. Once you have discovered your business archetype (which a Branding with Archetypes ten-minute assessment helps you easily do) you start to see how traits you've possessed all along are now an important part of your marketing strategies.
Let's look at woman business owner, Helen, for example. Before Branding with Archetypes, Helen knew she had a quirky sense of humor and a cheerfully contrary way of looking at things. But she thought those traits were faults that needed to be hidden away in favor of being "business like."
Problem was that by hiding away her authentic nature, Helen was also hiding her gifts, talents and the opportunity to build a money-and-soul-style business. In short, she was hiding away a vital part of her soul.
Her business was practically nonexistent. (No wonder, since if SHE wasn't showing up in her business, how could she expect her clients to?!)
Helen wasn't surprised to discover that her archetype was the Wise Jester. After learning this she realized she had a talent for writing marketing copy that was infused with humor and that created a sense of camaraderie with her reader.
Not long after these discoveries she started her web-based copy writing business, dubbing it Cracker Jack Websites. (Now, doesn't that name say "Get it done and make it fun!" to you?!)
Helen specializes in soft-topic copy writing preferred by coaches, holistic practitioners and other from-the-heart business owners. Her business is booming and she's having fun. Her clients are relieved to find someone who can write from the heart without being hard sell.
Even if you don't know which archetype you are in your business, you can start to infuse more personality and style into your marketing strategies. Here are three simple tips to get started now:
#1. What part of your personality do you most often try to hide?
Quirky sense of humor? Maybe your love of risky sports like hang-gliding over mountain peaks? Or you're known for being bold and ahead of the pack. Or perhaps you secretly channel spirit guides but fear your corporate clients will find out.
Whatever personality trait you possess that got you in trouble when you were a kid in school is probably precisely the one that needs to show up as a key branding component in your impact marketing.
#2. Brainstorm a list of words and phrases that represent that personality trait.
Remember, “tame is lame” so go for words and phrases that may feel outlandish or outrageous.
#3. Cut loose and let your personality show in your next email, newsletter, web page sales letter or flyer.
Now, now, don't gulp. This is actually pretty easy once you give yourself permission to cut loose a little. A little goes a long way so you won't have to do too much to have your personality really stand out.
The basics of marketing a small business are pretty simple to figure out but it takes a bold and beautiful soul to reach deep within and let the innermost being speak through in her marketing! Read More .....
The Importance of Great Website Content
Mark Etinger
When it comes to developing a strong SEO presence for your site, there are a number of different ways to attack the situation. Improving URL structure, performing quality linkbuilding and optimizing your META tags are all effective tools used by businesses that want to reach the top of Google and Yahoo.
But when it comes to getting top search results AND turning your business into a real web presence, there is no substitute for outstanding website content.
Website content refers to articles placed strategically on your website and use keywords and phrases that are relevant to your target audience.
Why is content so important?
There are a number of reasons why website content is so important to search engine optimization, including:
* Google loves expert content. Gone are the days when you could simply load up your landing pages with the same keywords over and over again. It’s 2009 and Google has gotten WAY too smart for that. Now, the search spiders look for relevant, authoritative content that actually means something to those who read it. A volume of articles about your industry go a long way toward jumping you up in the ranking.
* Relevant keyword placement. Article content is the ideal place to implement the keywords you believe people are using to find your business. Get enough well-placed keywords in your content and you’ll be heading for the front page of the search results in no time!
* Building your reputation. Every compelling article you add to your site builds your reputation as an authority. People will find these articles via search, and then stay at your site for an extended period of time. If you’ve got the right conversion elements in each article, it can result in additional leads or sales.
What NOT to do with your website SEO content
Creating and implementing solid SEO content is a mixture of art and science. Getting this synthesis wrong will lead to frustration and a lack of good search performance.
Here are some things NOT to do with your articles:
* Don’t plagiarize. Copying and pasting article content from other sites that have a higher ranking than you may seem like a good idea, but it will actually have an adverse effect on your organic search standing. Google “hates” duplicate content and you’ll quickly be branded a sketchy, unethical player in the online world.
* Don’t cut corners. While it may be tempting to simply throw some short, remedial keyword-loaded articles online and call it day, don’t fall into that trap! The articles that Google responds to the best are those long-form, authoritative pieces that really get into detail about their subject matter.
* Don’t try it yourself. SEO content development is a skill-and-trade. Understanding how to strike the perfect balance between keywords and content is something that the professional SEO writers do every day – and they do it well. Work with a search engine marketing company that offers SEO content development as part of the package.
Ajax Union is your marketing and business development partner – a comprehensive agency with an emphasis on customer service that takes the time to get to know its clients and their industries. From search engine marketing to full-on business development planning, Ajax Union is your single-source for identifying new markets, gathering qualified leads and increasing sales. For more information, visit www.ajaxunion.com today. Read More .....
When it comes to developing a strong SEO presence for your site, there are a number of different ways to attack the situation. Improving URL structure, performing quality linkbuilding and optimizing your META tags are all effective tools used by businesses that want to reach the top of Google and Yahoo.
But when it comes to getting top search results AND turning your business into a real web presence, there is no substitute for outstanding website content.
Website content refers to articles placed strategically on your website and use keywords and phrases that are relevant to your target audience.
Why is content so important?
There are a number of reasons why website content is so important to search engine optimization, including:
* Google loves expert content. Gone are the days when you could simply load up your landing pages with the same keywords over and over again. It’s 2009 and Google has gotten WAY too smart for that. Now, the search spiders look for relevant, authoritative content that actually means something to those who read it. A volume of articles about your industry go a long way toward jumping you up in the ranking.
* Relevant keyword placement. Article content is the ideal place to implement the keywords you believe people are using to find your business. Get enough well-placed keywords in your content and you’ll be heading for the front page of the search results in no time!
* Building your reputation. Every compelling article you add to your site builds your reputation as an authority. People will find these articles via search, and then stay at your site for an extended period of time. If you’ve got the right conversion elements in each article, it can result in additional leads or sales.
What NOT to do with your website SEO content
Creating and implementing solid SEO content is a mixture of art and science. Getting this synthesis wrong will lead to frustration and a lack of good search performance.
Here are some things NOT to do with your articles:
* Don’t plagiarize. Copying and pasting article content from other sites that have a higher ranking than you may seem like a good idea, but it will actually have an adverse effect on your organic search standing. Google “hates” duplicate content and you’ll quickly be branded a sketchy, unethical player in the online world.
* Don’t cut corners. While it may be tempting to simply throw some short, remedial keyword-loaded articles online and call it day, don’t fall into that trap! The articles that Google responds to the best are those long-form, authoritative pieces that really get into detail about their subject matter.
* Don’t try it yourself. SEO content development is a skill-and-trade. Understanding how to strike the perfect balance between keywords and content is something that the professional SEO writers do every day – and they do it well. Work with a search engine marketing company that offers SEO content development as part of the package.
Ajax Union is your marketing and business development partner – a comprehensive agency with an emphasis on customer service that takes the time to get to know its clients and their industries. From search engine marketing to full-on business development planning, Ajax Union is your single-source for identifying new markets, gathering qualified leads and increasing sales. For more information, visit www.ajaxunion.com today. Read More .....
Web Promotion Tips and an Effective Internet Marketing Strategy
Having a Web site is great, but it is meaningless if nobody knows about it. Just like having a brilliantly designed product brochure does you little good if it sits in your sales manager’s desk drawer, a Web site does you little good if your target market isn’t visiting it. It is the goal of this book to help you take your Web site out of the desk drawer, into the spotlight, and into the hands of your target market. You will learn how to formulate an Internet marketing strategy in keeping with your objectives, your product or service, and your target market.
4 Step to promote your website
- Designing Your Site to Be Search Engine Friendly
Creating a site that is search engine friendly should be an objective of every company that wants to do business on the Internet. Search engines are the most common way for Internet surfers to search for something on the Net. In fact, 85 percent of all people who use the Internet use search engines as their primary way to look for information. By using keywords relating to your company in appropriate places on your site, you can improve how search engines rank you. You want these chosen keywords in the keyword meta-tags as well as in each page’s description meta-tag. Some of the other places where you want to have these keywords are your domain name if possible, your page titles and page text, your Alt tags for graphics, and your page headers. Many search engines place a lot of emphasis on the number and quality of links to a site to determine its ranking. This means that the more Web sites you can get to link to your site, the higher your site is shown in search engine results.
- Search Engine and Directory Submissions
There are billions of Web pages on the World Wide Web, so how can you increase your chances of being found? One method is submitting your Web site to the many search engines and directories. Once you’ve optimized your Web site to be search engine friendly, you are ready to face the challenge of submitting it to the most important search engines. By “search engines,” I’m referring to the combination of search engines, directories, spiders and crawlers. You need to be within the first two pages of search results to ensure your best possible success online.
- The E-mail Advantage
E-mail is rapidly becoming one of the most crucial forms of communication you have with your clients, potential customers, suppliers, and colleagues. E-mail is now a widely accessible and generally accepted form of business communication. We are seeing a huge increase in commercial e-mail volume. The reason for this significant increase is understandable given that e-mail is a very cost-effective, time-efficient tool that has a high response rate. E-mail is used to build your community online, sell products and provide customer service, reinforce brand awareness, and encourage customer loyalty.
- Add Value with Affiliate Programs
Another way of benefiting from links to your Web site is by developing an affiliate program. Affiliate programs (also called reseller or partnership or associate programs) are revenue-sharing arrangements set up by companies selling products and services. When another site agrees to participate in your affiliate program, it is rewarded for sending customers to your business. These customers are sent to your site through links on your associates’ or affiliates’ Web sites. By developing and offering this type of program, you generate increased business and increased links to your site and increased link popularity for search engines. Read More .....
4 Step to promote your website
- Designing Your Site to Be Search Engine Friendly
Creating a site that is search engine friendly should be an objective of every company that wants to do business on the Internet. Search engines are the most common way for Internet surfers to search for something on the Net. In fact, 85 percent of all people who use the Internet use search engines as their primary way to look for information. By using keywords relating to your company in appropriate places on your site, you can improve how search engines rank you. You want these chosen keywords in the keyword meta-tags as well as in each page’s description meta-tag. Some of the other places where you want to have these keywords are your domain name if possible, your page titles and page text, your Alt tags for graphics, and your page headers. Many search engines place a lot of emphasis on the number and quality of links to a site to determine its ranking. This means that the more Web sites you can get to link to your site, the higher your site is shown in search engine results.
- Search Engine and Directory Submissions
There are billions of Web pages on the World Wide Web, so how can you increase your chances of being found? One method is submitting your Web site to the many search engines and directories. Once you’ve optimized your Web site to be search engine friendly, you are ready to face the challenge of submitting it to the most important search engines. By “search engines,” I’m referring to the combination of search engines, directories, spiders and crawlers. You need to be within the first two pages of search results to ensure your best possible success online.
- The E-mail Advantage
E-mail is rapidly becoming one of the most crucial forms of communication you have with your clients, potential customers, suppliers, and colleagues. E-mail is now a widely accessible and generally accepted form of business communication. We are seeing a huge increase in commercial e-mail volume. The reason for this significant increase is understandable given that e-mail is a very cost-effective, time-efficient tool that has a high response rate. E-mail is used to build your community online, sell products and provide customer service, reinforce brand awareness, and encourage customer loyalty.
- Add Value with Affiliate Programs
Another way of benefiting from links to your Web site is by developing an affiliate program. Affiliate programs (also called reseller or partnership or associate programs) are revenue-sharing arrangements set up by companies selling products and services. When another site agrees to participate in your affiliate program, it is rewarded for sending customers to your business. These customers are sent to your site through links on your associates’ or affiliates’ Web sites. By developing and offering this type of program, you generate increased business and increased links to your site and increased link popularity for search engines. Read More .....
3 Things You Must Do If You Want to Be an Internet Marketing Success
So you've got the vision. You know that with this thing called 'the Internet' you can earn money and get better and better at it as time goes by until one day you'll be able to fire your boss. With so many people online and more and more getting online all the time, somehow you know you'll be able to get enough of them to buy stuff from you for you to make a living, but how do you get started? What are the essentials to making money marketing on the Internet? Below I've listed what I believe are the 3 most important essentials to Internet marketing and the good news is, they're all within your reach!
1. Have your OWN website.
Don't be discouraged if you think you cannot successfully accomplish this because you probably can. This Internet marketing essential is listed first because it's the most important. If you think you can't afford it or that learning to design your website will be too difficult, then you're probably mistaken. Hosting can be had for between free and extremely cheap, and there are free templates and free html editors readily available on the net as well. Now that I've quelled your fears somewhat, let me tell you why having a website is so essential.
If you intend to be successful at Internet marketing you need a foundation upon which to build. Having your own website accomplishes just that. With it you have a base of operations on which you can build a reputation and a customer base akin to your brick and mortar counterpart. In this way your success can (and probably will) start out slow and increase over time as you become more and more well known and build traffic and a reputation. Which brings me to the second essential of Internet marketing; traffic.
2. Get qualified, targeted traffic to your website.
Everyone knows what Internet traffic is even if you've never considered marketing on the Internet, but not everyone knows how to best obtain traffic. If you're just starting out in online marketing, you probably have little hope of gaining traffic by getting listed on page 1 or 2 of Google (or any search engine for that matter) without paying a lot of money to contract the job out to an SEO (search engine optimization) company.
So, how do you do it on a shoestring budget? In a word, 'articles.' Simply put, you write short articles (400-700 words), put your name and website URL in the resource box at the bottom and submit them all over the net. The search engines will eventually index them, so you might get some traffic that way, but what you really want to try for is getting an online publisher to pick up your article and publish it on their website with your resource box included.
3. Build an ever-growing list of prospects.
Having a list is about equally as important as having your own website and traffic, the only reason I listed it last is because you need to have the others before you can begin to build a list. When I say 'list' what I'm talking about is a list of people who are going to be more interested in buying YOUR product than the general public.
How do you build a list? Again, to put it simply, you get an autoresponder (which can be obtained for free) and you exchange something that a person interested in YOUR product would highly desire for his email address. This thing must be of high perceived value, but need not cost anything. Excellent freebies to give in exchange for email addresses are free reports, e-books (which can be as short as 10 pages) and e-courses. All of which you can create by yourself for nothing more than the time it takes you to create them.
To summarize, when you have your own website you can better reap the fruits of any labor you put into your marketing efforts by building on past successes. Any traffic you may have had in the past may return and you'll be able to increase the chances of that happening by getting them to subscribe to your list, which is another way you can build on past successes. When you put these three things together, you have the makings of a solid long term business that's potential is almost limitless. The bounds of your imagination and the time and effort you put into it are the only things holding you back, so get out there and make it happen! Read More .....
1. Have your OWN website.
Don't be discouraged if you think you cannot successfully accomplish this because you probably can. This Internet marketing essential is listed first because it's the most important. If you think you can't afford it or that learning to design your website will be too difficult, then you're probably mistaken. Hosting can be had for between free and extremely cheap, and there are free templates and free html editors readily available on the net as well. Now that I've quelled your fears somewhat, let me tell you why having a website is so essential.
If you intend to be successful at Internet marketing you need a foundation upon which to build. Having your own website accomplishes just that. With it you have a base of operations on which you can build a reputation and a customer base akin to your brick and mortar counterpart. In this way your success can (and probably will) start out slow and increase over time as you become more and more well known and build traffic and a reputation. Which brings me to the second essential of Internet marketing; traffic.
2. Get qualified, targeted traffic to your website.
Everyone knows what Internet traffic is even if you've never considered marketing on the Internet, but not everyone knows how to best obtain traffic. If you're just starting out in online marketing, you probably have little hope of gaining traffic by getting listed on page 1 or 2 of Google (or any search engine for that matter) without paying a lot of money to contract the job out to an SEO (search engine optimization) company.
So, how do you do it on a shoestring budget? In a word, 'articles.' Simply put, you write short articles (400-700 words), put your name and website URL in the resource box at the bottom and submit them all over the net. The search engines will eventually index them, so you might get some traffic that way, but what you really want to try for is getting an online publisher to pick up your article and publish it on their website with your resource box included.
3. Build an ever-growing list of prospects.
Having a list is about equally as important as having your own website and traffic, the only reason I listed it last is because you need to have the others before you can begin to build a list. When I say 'list' what I'm talking about is a list of people who are going to be more interested in buying YOUR product than the general public.
How do you build a list? Again, to put it simply, you get an autoresponder (which can be obtained for free) and you exchange something that a person interested in YOUR product would highly desire for his email address. This thing must be of high perceived value, but need not cost anything. Excellent freebies to give in exchange for email addresses are free reports, e-books (which can be as short as 10 pages) and e-courses. All of which you can create by yourself for nothing more than the time it takes you to create them.
To summarize, when you have your own website you can better reap the fruits of any labor you put into your marketing efforts by building on past successes. Any traffic you may have had in the past may return and you'll be able to increase the chances of that happening by getting them to subscribe to your list, which is another way you can build on past successes. When you put these three things together, you have the makings of a solid long term business that's potential is almost limitless. The bounds of your imagination and the time and effort you put into it are the only things holding you back, so get out there and make it happen! Read More .....
Hiring a Word of Mouth Marketing Company
There is a lot of buzz today around word of mouth marketing. Many companies offering many different types of what they consider word of mouth. This article is my opinion of what to do and what not to do.
Let us this at the different forms you can choose from. There is company blogging. Here you can decide on whether to blog or not for your company. Be careful here what you decide and who you listen to. There are companies like Brains on Fire and their main character Spike Jones who are pushing developing what they call movements or as I like to call it fantasy land. They do not really explain what they mean by a movement but focus on not developing a project or campaign. This is unnerving as they are in a very hard to explain area of return on investment. My opinion is to avoid hiring a company like Brains on Fire. Sales are obviously important and make pretend land is something a company can not risk.
Ultimately you want to build your brand and the best way to do that is working with a branding agency or marketing company. But if word of mouth marketing is something you think you must have consider some more things.
You can use YouTube, twitter, social networking like Facebook and many other marketing tactics. You really need to choose the one that is right for you. Remember the biggest investment in most of these marketing tactics is time. Do you have the time to dedicate to any of these?
Viral marketing is also something that many individuals and large corporations are really developing. This means you develop a video in hopes that it will be placed throughout the Internet on blogs and websites. The more people that put your video on their site the better you do.
Then there are some companies that have many users signed up and you send them a product. They then tell their friends about your product and report back to the buzz company. Be careful on the motives of the buzz people on this one. Most of these buzz people are in it for the free stuff and will say and do almost anything to remain a buzz person.
Right now one of the best tactics you can do is setting up a blog on Wordpress. This will open up the lines of communication between you and your target market. The key here is to be open an honest. If people leave a negative response use that to your advantage by learning from it and responding back to the user.
Blogging can be a slow process so do not worry about whether people are commenting or not. Many people read but never comment. Read More .....
Let us this at the different forms you can choose from. There is company blogging. Here you can decide on whether to blog or not for your company. Be careful here what you decide and who you listen to. There are companies like Brains on Fire and their main character Spike Jones who are pushing developing what they call movements or as I like to call it fantasy land. They do not really explain what they mean by a movement but focus on not developing a project or campaign. This is unnerving as they are in a very hard to explain area of return on investment. My opinion is to avoid hiring a company like Brains on Fire. Sales are obviously important and make pretend land is something a company can not risk.
Ultimately you want to build your brand and the best way to do that is working with a branding agency or marketing company. But if word of mouth marketing is something you think you must have consider some more things.
You can use YouTube, twitter, social networking like Facebook and many other marketing tactics. You really need to choose the one that is right for you. Remember the biggest investment in most of these marketing tactics is time. Do you have the time to dedicate to any of these?
Viral marketing is also something that many individuals and large corporations are really developing. This means you develop a video in hopes that it will be placed throughout the Internet on blogs and websites. The more people that put your video on their site the better you do.
Then there are some companies that have many users signed up and you send them a product. They then tell their friends about your product and report back to the buzz company. Be careful on the motives of the buzz people on this one. Most of these buzz people are in it for the free stuff and will say and do almost anything to remain a buzz person.
Right now one of the best tactics you can do is setting up a blog on Wordpress. This will open up the lines of communication between you and your target market. The key here is to be open an honest. If people leave a negative response use that to your advantage by learning from it and responding back to the user.
Blogging can be a slow process so do not worry about whether people are commenting or not. Many people read but never comment. Read More .....
Top 5 Internet Business Myths
When you want to start your new career as an online venture capitalist, you should always be keenly aware that there are classic mistakes that most newcomers all do. These are actually common in offline businesses as well, it's just that many times people have more realistic expectations for an offline businesses. Especially when you want to raise money for your online businesses, there are several things to consider. Many potential entrepreneurs believe in self created myths about starting their own business, and end up banging their heads against the wall for that reason. Here are the top 5 Internet business myths:
Myth 1) A great idea is all you need to get rich.
In reality though a brilliant idea is never enough to start a successful businesses. Think about McDonald's Could you make a better burger than McDonald's? Most people would say they probably could or they know someone who does. Now ask yourself, could you replicate that process, think it out and teach it to thousands of branches across the world in a profit maximising way? Not likely, which is why McDonald's is a huge success and you should stick to your grill. Having a great idea is only the beginning, it is just as important to know how to run a business.
Myth 2) Someone will copy your idea if you don't patent it.
In reality no one will be bothered by stealing your idea, until they have seen it make money. And then it will probably be too late for them to get in on the product. Patents have their place though, it makes it easier to sell an idea to investors if a patent is obtained. But otherwise you are better of putting that time and money into your business. Many aspects of Internet business are cover by international copyright.
Myth 3) What you think of something is the truth.
Lose the ego if you want to be successful in businesses. It is easier to find a market and sell something, than to create a market yourself. Always keep your eyes on the ball, which means: Focus on what the customer wants, not what you want.
Myth 4) Financial Models are useless.
It is true that financial models are not something you can base your future earnings on but they do serve a purpose for taking to the bank or investors if you want to borrow money. A good financial model should be able to point out difficulties before your project goes live and so save you and the investors a lot of money.
Myth 5) Focus on delivering a quality product and you will get customers.
It is true that if you have a good product then you will also find some customers, but who is to say how many? The competition in most niches areas is fierce and without marketing you will find it hard to get enough sales for your business to become truly viable. It pays to be creative here, think about offline marketing for your online business. Get cheap flyer printing services and spread the word to as many people as you can whenever you can. Read More .....
Myth 1) A great idea is all you need to get rich.
In reality though a brilliant idea is never enough to start a successful businesses. Think about McDonald's Could you make a better burger than McDonald's? Most people would say they probably could or they know someone who does. Now ask yourself, could you replicate that process, think it out and teach it to thousands of branches across the world in a profit maximising way? Not likely, which is why McDonald's is a huge success and you should stick to your grill. Having a great idea is only the beginning, it is just as important to know how to run a business.
Myth 2) Someone will copy your idea if you don't patent it.
In reality no one will be bothered by stealing your idea, until they have seen it make money. And then it will probably be too late for them to get in on the product. Patents have their place though, it makes it easier to sell an idea to investors if a patent is obtained. But otherwise you are better of putting that time and money into your business. Many aspects of Internet business are cover by international copyright.
Myth 3) What you think of something is the truth.
Lose the ego if you want to be successful in businesses. It is easier to find a market and sell something, than to create a market yourself. Always keep your eyes on the ball, which means: Focus on what the customer wants, not what you want.
Myth 4) Financial Models are useless.
It is true that financial models are not something you can base your future earnings on but they do serve a purpose for taking to the bank or investors if you want to borrow money. A good financial model should be able to point out difficulties before your project goes live and so save you and the investors a lot of money.
Myth 5) Focus on delivering a quality product and you will get customers.
It is true that if you have a good product then you will also find some customers, but who is to say how many? The competition in most niches areas is fierce and without marketing you will find it hard to get enough sales for your business to become truly viable. It pays to be creative here, think about offline marketing for your online business. Get cheap flyer printing services and spread the word to as many people as you can whenever you can. Read More .....
Free Web 2.0 Marketing Analytics Tools
• Free tools to find high traffic keywords on major search engines
• Free tools to track what people are saying about your product or company online.
• Free tools to obtain detailed traffic measurement of other websites
Today's consumers don't just rely on traditional media for information; increasingly, they are turning to the Internet for help them to make their purchase and decisions. With forums, product websites and blogs, the Internet is a savvy consumer's playground.
The online advertising landscape however is extremely fragmented with hundred of millions of websites. In order make informed decisions regarding audience profiling and targeting, web analytics has become an indispensable tool.
These resources below will help you learn more about your audience, measure your campaign's success, keep abreast of the latest market trends and new platforms to reach out to your target audience. In addition, it helps you make a more informed decision on media placement. This is especially important as media owners may not always have the same aligned interest as you in disclosing their traffic details.
Use these tools to produce your winning combination:
• Google Traffic Estimator is great for quick traffic estimates for new keywords, clicks and spending.
• Utilize Google Web Optimizer to test for the components that make up the best website.
• Use a good site analytics package like Google Analytics, Omniture or Webtrends.
• BLVD Status is an easy yet comprehensive analytics tool that tracks your referrals and conversions with live stats, RSS and form conversion tracking and outgoing link conversions, even from “Digg This” and social media sites.
• CrazyEgg, Google Analytics will tell you what links your visitors click…but Crazy Egg shows you which parts of your pages your visitors click on. There’s a subtle difference: Crazy Egg shows you clicks even if they weren’t on a link.
Analysis and Research
• Keep in the loop with Google Alerts to receive email updates whenever there are new Google results for the keywords or topic you choose.
• Get your Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a simple yet effective gauge of customer loyalty that sorts them out into either promoters, passives or detractors, and from there you know how your company is faring.
Market News
• Search Engine Land – my preferred source for the latest and most comprehensive search engine technology news and trends in the market.
Social Media Marketing
• Social media sites are visited by millions of young people every day, and this is an excellent platform to connect with them, right where they spend a lot of their time; be it uploading a video ad campaign to Youtube or being part of the Facebook or Twitter (the next big thing after Facebook) or MySpace network, which can give you a lot of information about your target customers.
Advertising
• Use sites like Quantcast and Compete.com to obtain detailed measurements of your audience reach, composition and traffic, then peg it against your competitors’ to see where your company stands.
• In my opinion, affiliate marketing is an excellent way to gain exposure and new leads by using a partner website or ad to drive traffic to your website in return for a small commission.
Read More .....
• Free tools to track what people are saying about your product or company online.
• Free tools to obtain detailed traffic measurement of other websites
Today's consumers don't just rely on traditional media for information; increasingly, they are turning to the Internet for help them to make their purchase and decisions. With forums, product websites and blogs, the Internet is a savvy consumer's playground.
The online advertising landscape however is extremely fragmented with hundred of millions of websites. In order make informed decisions regarding audience profiling and targeting, web analytics has become an indispensable tool.
These resources below will help you learn more about your audience, measure your campaign's success, keep abreast of the latest market trends and new platforms to reach out to your target audience. In addition, it helps you make a more informed decision on media placement. This is especially important as media owners may not always have the same aligned interest as you in disclosing their traffic details.
Use these tools to produce your winning combination:
• Google Traffic Estimator is great for quick traffic estimates for new keywords, clicks and spending.
• Utilize Google Web Optimizer to test for the components that make up the best website.
• Use a good site analytics package like Google Analytics, Omniture or Webtrends.
• BLVD Status is an easy yet comprehensive analytics tool that tracks your referrals and conversions with live stats, RSS and form conversion tracking and outgoing link conversions, even from “Digg This” and social media sites.
• CrazyEgg, Google Analytics will tell you what links your visitors click…but Crazy Egg shows you which parts of your pages your visitors click on. There’s a subtle difference: Crazy Egg shows you clicks even if they weren’t on a link.
Analysis and Research
• Keep in the loop with Google Alerts to receive email updates whenever there are new Google results for the keywords or topic you choose.
• Get your Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a simple yet effective gauge of customer loyalty that sorts them out into either promoters, passives or detractors, and from there you know how your company is faring.
Market News
• Search Engine Land – my preferred source for the latest and most comprehensive search engine technology news and trends in the market.
Social Media Marketing
• Social media sites are visited by millions of young people every day, and this is an excellent platform to connect with them, right where they spend a lot of their time; be it uploading a video ad campaign to Youtube or being part of the Facebook or Twitter (the next big thing after Facebook) or MySpace network, which can give you a lot of information about your target customers.
Advertising
• Use sites like Quantcast and Compete.com to obtain detailed measurements of your audience reach, composition and traffic, then peg it against your competitors’ to see where your company stands.
• In my opinion, affiliate marketing is an excellent way to gain exposure and new leads by using a partner website or ad to drive traffic to your website in return for a small commission.
Read More .....
Top 5 Business Books to Read in 2009
Those who want to stay successful in business understand the need to stay updated and constantly push themselves in new directions. Every year there are new books on business and marketing published. Some of these offer great new perspectives, while others are just rehashes of older classics.
Sometimes older books can be just as valuable as new books. Just think of classics such as Dale Carnegie or Napoleon Hill. These books are timeless in that the advice they offer is about human interaction and human nature, which hasn't changed much for the last 10,000 years when we discount changes in technology. This year there are 5 books which are must reads for any serious business man or women:
1. Good to Great
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins is an impressive book on corporate culture, that is based on rigorous research of over 1400 companies and what made them successful or not. It includes learning from top CEO's of American businesses and other notable people from the business world. The learning taken from this book, through theory and examples, is that above technology and other external factors, a strong, disciplined corporate culture is the key to success.
2. Positioning:
The Battle for Your Mind: A marketing classic form 1981, which shook the world with its direct approach to sales and marketing. Now available in a new edition, this book describes why it is so important to position your brand in the consumers mind and how to do it.
3. The Tipping Point:
How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell, discusses how events become trends and go onto global phenomena. A very eye opening book for all who want to get the word out. This book is particularly fascinating to read, considering the exponential growth in web 2.0 and social groups online. Gladwell argues that trends are created, not just random. It is about knowing exactly who to tell exactly what to.
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Another true classic from Stephen Coldwell deals with everything from raising your children to becoming successful in business, by incorporating 7 habits of success into your life. A bestseller for many years, this book is still as relevant now as it was when it was first published.
5. The World Is Flat 3.0:
A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century: Thomas Friedman could be called a futurist, that is he makes predictions of what is to come. In this book though he focuses more on what wonders have already happened and makes us reflect upon their significance. In that respect, he actually teaches understanding of the present to prepare for the future. The title of the book is a reference to globalization and breaking down political, economic and cultural barriers. A truly inspiring read on how we went from leaflet printing to spread the news of the world to online social groups that transcend borders, age and cultures. If we are to understand the future of globalization this is a great starting point. Read More .....
Sometimes older books can be just as valuable as new books. Just think of classics such as Dale Carnegie or Napoleon Hill. These books are timeless in that the advice they offer is about human interaction and human nature, which hasn't changed much for the last 10,000 years when we discount changes in technology. This year there are 5 books which are must reads for any serious business man or women:
1. Good to Great
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins is an impressive book on corporate culture, that is based on rigorous research of over 1400 companies and what made them successful or not. It includes learning from top CEO's of American businesses and other notable people from the business world. The learning taken from this book, through theory and examples, is that above technology and other external factors, a strong, disciplined corporate culture is the key to success.
2. Positioning:
The Battle for Your Mind: A marketing classic form 1981, which shook the world with its direct approach to sales and marketing. Now available in a new edition, this book describes why it is so important to position your brand in the consumers mind and how to do it.
3. The Tipping Point:
How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell, discusses how events become trends and go onto global phenomena. A very eye opening book for all who want to get the word out. This book is particularly fascinating to read, considering the exponential growth in web 2.0 and social groups online. Gladwell argues that trends are created, not just random. It is about knowing exactly who to tell exactly what to.
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Another true classic from Stephen Coldwell deals with everything from raising your children to becoming successful in business, by incorporating 7 habits of success into your life. A bestseller for many years, this book is still as relevant now as it was when it was first published.
5. The World Is Flat 3.0:
A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century: Thomas Friedman could be called a futurist, that is he makes predictions of what is to come. In this book though he focuses more on what wonders have already happened and makes us reflect upon their significance. In that respect, he actually teaches understanding of the present to prepare for the future. The title of the book is a reference to globalization and breaking down political, economic and cultural barriers. A truly inspiring read on how we went from leaflet printing to spread the news of the world to online social groups that transcend borders, age and cultures. If we are to understand the future of globalization this is a great starting point. Read More .....
Marketing Strategy For Niche Marketing Success
Large companies provide minimal investments in a niche marketing strategy, if at all. Niche marketing success pertains mainly to smaller companies willing to establish meaningful relationships with their consumers. Bigger companies focus interest on generating immediate, large amounts of profit over small amounts of time. However, companies or organizations dedicated in a marketing strategy to develop smaller, more meaningful relationships increase their return investments for guaranteed profit over longer periods of time.
A Product or service marketing strategy requires obtaining specific information on the consumers in the targeted group for niche marketing success. Any company can find a niche to promote a product or service in. Just because you find a niche, doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to gain their business. Members of the targeted group know their stuff. A sales representative doesn’t stand a chance in establishing niche marketing success if they don’t know how to ‘talk shop’ with members in the targeted group. Take some time to get to know the details about your niche and why they’re so passionate about a certain hobby or interest. First, do your research; then, form trust with members before developing a marketing strategy.
Part of a marketing strategy for niche marketing success needs to include a time period for establishing trust with prospective clients. This will be a period where your company isn’t trying to sell its products or services. Share the targeted groups interest by getting involved in their community. Most communities post through forums online or have weekly to monthly gathering in order to participate in their activity of interest. Start by showing up to events and getting to know your niche’s community. Get to know inner-circle conversation by identifying and using jargon. Obtain niche-marketing success through first establishing your right of passage in the community. Be patient with this process. It could take anywhere from 2 to 3 months to fully establish yourself in the community.
Once you’ve established personal acceptance within the group, you’ll need to focus on a marketing strategy for niche marketing success. Plan out how you’re going to establish great service throughout the sale. Never make a sale within the niche and discontinue your interest in their satisfaction. Niche marketing success depends on word-of-mouth references and repeat buyers.
A marketing strategy for niche marketing success takes time to develop and establish. You will need superior customer service representatives, trusting buyer to seller relationships and solid, dependable products or services. Never skimp on quality for quantity when working within a niche.
Along the way, it will seem like a lot of work without any immediate payoffs. However, this is where smaller, more personalized organizations make better profit over large corporate businesses. A marketing strategy for niche marketing success gathers lifetime buyers and provides company security for many years. Corporate business last and thrive on their next successful marketing campaign and only guarantee business until the popular product loses public interest. Secure, meaningful and lifelong success thrives on niche marketing success and relationships developed within your marketing strategy make the company’s existence stand for a greater purpose. Read More .....
A Product or service marketing strategy requires obtaining specific information on the consumers in the targeted group for niche marketing success. Any company can find a niche to promote a product or service in. Just because you find a niche, doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to gain their business. Members of the targeted group know their stuff. A sales representative doesn’t stand a chance in establishing niche marketing success if they don’t know how to ‘talk shop’ with members in the targeted group. Take some time to get to know the details about your niche and why they’re so passionate about a certain hobby or interest. First, do your research; then, form trust with members before developing a marketing strategy.
Part of a marketing strategy for niche marketing success needs to include a time period for establishing trust with prospective clients. This will be a period where your company isn’t trying to sell its products or services. Share the targeted groups interest by getting involved in their community. Most communities post through forums online or have weekly to monthly gathering in order to participate in their activity of interest. Start by showing up to events and getting to know your niche’s community. Get to know inner-circle conversation by identifying and using jargon. Obtain niche-marketing success through first establishing your right of passage in the community. Be patient with this process. It could take anywhere from 2 to 3 months to fully establish yourself in the community.
Once you’ve established personal acceptance within the group, you’ll need to focus on a marketing strategy for niche marketing success. Plan out how you’re going to establish great service throughout the sale. Never make a sale within the niche and discontinue your interest in their satisfaction. Niche marketing success depends on word-of-mouth references and repeat buyers.
A marketing strategy for niche marketing success takes time to develop and establish. You will need superior customer service representatives, trusting buyer to seller relationships and solid, dependable products or services. Never skimp on quality for quantity when working within a niche.
Along the way, it will seem like a lot of work without any immediate payoffs. However, this is where smaller, more personalized organizations make better profit over large corporate businesses. A marketing strategy for niche marketing success gathers lifetime buyers and provides company security for many years. Corporate business last and thrive on their next successful marketing campaign and only guarantee business until the popular product loses public interest. Secure, meaningful and lifelong success thrives on niche marketing success and relationships developed within your marketing strategy make the company’s existence stand for a greater purpose. Read More .....
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