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| The 4 Ps of Marketing Do Not Include Philanthropy! by Audrey Burton When you are in the start-up stages of your business, you will need to spend 85% of your non-producing time (when you’re not actually providing your service or creating your product) MARKETING! Yes, I said 85%. We will talk more about what that includes, but what it doesn’t include is bookkeeping, filing and educational activities. Focus is one of the biggest issues my clients face in running their own businesses. Working out of our homes is difficult enough (the dishes call my name all day – I have learned to ignore them.), we also perform all the business functions a corporation does – administration, sales, finance - and marketing. However, if we successfully ignore the dishes and the laundry and spend all our time getting perfectly organized, answering every email we receive and analyzing every piece of data to which we have access, we won’t have any clients. OK, I hear you, so what are the 4 Ps of marketing? They are: promotion, product, price, and place. Most people focus primarily on promotion, but the other 3 are equally important. Product: Knowing that there is a market for your product and offering it to the right target is key. If the current marketplace is saturated with products in your category and you have not differentiated your product in any significant way, you will fail. If you market your product to the wrong people, you will fail. If you have more than one product, make sure you are selling each product to the right segment of the marketplace. Price: You should know everything about your target market and your product. This research will guide you in setting your price and knowing if your price is too high or low. Look at what your competition is doing. Are you selling a commodity or is your product completely different from anything on the market? Pure commodities, like white sugar for example, compete strictly on price. If you are distinctly different from everything else, like Splenda, you set your price where your target will pay. (Don’t think too small.) Also, what image are you projecting? Is your product the only one available to this market? Price accordingly. Place: If you have done your research as mentioned above regarding your target, you will know where they are. Go there! Sell there! With some products, place determination will influence your price. If you are selling a grocery product and want to have a space on the regular grocery shelves, be prepared to invest a lot of cash. Specialty products have other avenues, but may not get the exposure. Selling on the internet? Where do your prospects gather virtually? Are they in chat rooms? Promotion: The active marketing piece includes networking, advertising, telemarketing, face-to-face sales, direct mail, brochures, websites and more. Without the other P’s, this part of marketing falls flat. You must be able to connect with your future clients, which is impossible if you do not have the right product in the right place with the right price for your ideal customer. But what about Philanthropy? Do you find yourself giving away your product or selling it much cheaper than anyone else? In case nobody ever told you, you are supposed to make money when you’re in business! Giving away a little is good marketing. Giving it all away will not only bankrupt you, but it will also give you a bad reputation. If you don’t value your product enough to receive payment for it, why should anyone else? Give a taste – make it enticing. In the beginning of my practice, I gave away a lot of second complimentary sessions. I learned a lot and needed to do this at the time to hone my craft, but realized after awhile that I wasn’t getting a good return on my investment of time from a marketing perspective and stopped. (Wisely, I had put a deadline on this particular offer.) I have experienced that if it’s free, it’s not valued. Pro Bono and trade clients often don’t show up for appointments or do their homework. Now I give one complimentary session, a common practice among coaches, and I often call it a demonstration, because that’s what it is. I give a good taste of what my services might include, and each taste is different. This also gives me the opportunity to see if I want to work with this person. Although it’s rare, I have had to kindly inform people that this is my business and I cannot do it for free. This is a difficult conversation to initiate, but the success of my business is more important than hurting the feelings of a very nice person who will not likely hire me. As I often say – it’s business, not personal. |
| How To Make Your Market Throw Their Money At You! by Stephen Pierce The use of free, relevant and meaningful content can single handedly grow your business into seven figures while making you the star of the lives of thousands of raving fans (customers and clients). Using free content is not a new concept. However, out of the thousands who actively send out free content to their list, less than 1% actually get it right. Building a Learning Relationship with your market by offering free relevant and meaningful information and content can take you to the higher ground of outstanding profits. One of the most effective ways to prove your expertise, showcase your skills, toot your own horn, and prove that you're not just good …you're the best (and your not only deserving of their paid business, but at a premium price) is to invite your market into a "learning relationship". A learning relationship is designed to scratch an immediate itch without providing total relief. You do this by providing meaningful information and content that they can use immediately to experience some level of satisfaction. [Note: All of the basics of identifying your market, targeting a niche within that market, identifying an existing problem and understanding the desired solution must already be done.] It's critical that you deliver meaningful and relevant information to your market. Not all information is created equal. Information that is theoretical, pitchy, vague, and incomplete and doesn't give specific action steps will not work well for this strategy. For a learning relationship to be an effective marketing strategy for you, the information and content you provide should… Excite - Make your information compelling and interesting. This will keep their attention and gives you the opportunity to capture that "mental real estate". How often do you pay attention to anything that doesn't excite you? Not often, right? Your market is no different. From the very first word, you need to grab them and hold them captivated with what they are getting. To do that, you need to quickly answer three questions…
One way to create instant excitement is to make a big compelling promise of what they can expect after they read, digest and use your content. Educate - Make your information informative and educational. Make them say "Wow, I didn't know that!" The world is drowning in information and yet it craves more knowledge… so give it to them. However, give it to them in a way that they get it… they understand it and they can use it. And where possible make a huge impact by sharing something that will make them say, "Wow, I didn't know that!" Encourage - Your information should provide actionable steps that you can encourage them to take to experience a measurable difference. The best kind of information is usable information. Telling is not helping. You need to break down your information into useable, actionable steps that are clear, concise and doable. Give your readers a cookbook, how-to recipe for accomplishing one simple task that your information suggests. When you do this, and they use it and they get a small win from it… you become their hero… you build up the expert status that will move them from free to fee. Endear - Your information should close gaps, build bridges and bring attunement between you and your market. Build in any personal stories that they can possibly relate to. Allow them to experience emotion and feel like there is synergy with you and attunement with your mission. When your readers feel like you understand them and you are like them you build bridges that can bring together a very long lasting mutually beneficial relationship. So be sure to deliberately aim to connect with your market on a heart level and not just on a head and wallet level. Entice - Your information should entice them to want more from you. This will make scaling them up from free information into premium paid products and services much easier. Leave your market wanting an encore… wanting another appearance from you. Leave them chanting your name standing in there chairs pumping their fist in the air in celebration of you and what you have given to them. Like 50,000 raving fans at a rock concert that don't want the show to end… have your readers begging for more. So much so they decide to purchase your products and services …bright eyed and smiling. |
| The Shocking 100 Million Dollars Secret Marketing Book That Few People Know About by I-key Benney, Ceo Why Your Website Is Not Making Money And How To Turn It Around: Learn This Unique Nitty Gritty, High Octane Marketing “Secret” From A Little Known Guy Who Made 100 Million Dollars In 2 Yrs By The Age Of 28…. Send a floodgate of traffics to your website and explode your sales. Hundreds of millions of people have websites today that are not making any money for them. They have tried many different types of promotions such as search engine optimization and promotion, banner ads, ffa ads, e-mail marketing, linking, e-zine ads but failed. Are you one of these people? Do you have a website? Are you promoting any product, program or service? Have you tried various types of promotion and you’re yet to get rich from promoting your product or services? If you answer yes, cheer up because at last, you may now have the ultimate solution to your marketing problem. The one problem that all website owners or marketers have in common is the difficulty in locating the people who are interested in buying their products, programs and services. By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll discover how I stumbled unto a powerful book that has a solution to this serious marketing problem. 5 years ago, I stumbled to a very powerful secret way to make money, known to only millionaires and billionaires. After testing it, I created a program from it and called it “Mscsrrr: the millionaire secret cash system, generate $1500 weekly for life”. You may have seen one of my websites on the internet. I was so excited by this powerful money making “secret” that I decided to make it available to the public to help others. But after setting up a website to promote it, I was hit by the harsh reality of internet promotion. I was getting zero traffic! No traffic, no sales. I was not a huge success in all the internet promotions that I tried: search engine optimization and promotion, banner ads, ffa ads, e-mail marketing, linking, e-zine ads and others. I was making sales but not enough to get rich from! What I mean by rich is generating $100,000-$1,000,000 in sales. For this reason, I embarked on a 1 yr research on internet marketing. You may have seen any of the several hundreds of my articles on internet marketing, online promotion, website promotion, online marketing and website sales posted at hundreds of thousands of websites all over the internet. A week a go, I had some free time, so I decided to continue to do this internet marketing, online promotion, website promotion, online marketing and website sales research. That was when I stumbled unto the most powerful marketing “secret” I have ever known during the past 20 yrs. I discovered a little known guy (VJ) who used this insiders’ ultimate marketing weapon to rake in 100 million dollars in 2yrs by the age of 28 yrs. Not only has this guy (VJ) made 100 million dollars with this exciting powerful “secret”, but he is crazy enough to share this sizzling hot “secret” with the rest of the world. After reading his letter, I could not eat or drink or sleep until I blasted my order out to him. Within 3 days, he rushed this heavy package containing his book to me. It is as big as the telephone book, very neat, very impressive, very well written, concise, to the point and over flowing with fantastic secrets on how he used this ultimate marketing “secret” to create 100 million dollars fortune in 2 yrs. Yes, you guessed right. I had to drop everything I was doing to devour this book. Usually it takes me forever to read a small book. But in 2 hrs, I surprised myself by how fast I devoured this 310 page book brimming with the most fantastic secret marketing information I have ever been lucky to find anywhere. There are many people who claim to be internet marketing guru (sorry, I will not name names) or offline marketing gurus. They are full of talk. Talk, talk. And little to show for it. And they invite you to their seminars and try to charge you $1000, $2000 or even $5000. Most of them are full of fluff. Very cheesy. I know all of them and may be you do too. I don’t know any of them who have personally made 100 million dollars with his/her marketing secrets by the age of 28! (Another Bill Gates in the making?) I have never thought it wise to pay them $5000 no matter what internet marketing secret they may have. Perhaps I have been a fool. Or may be not. However, what I can tell you is that, at last, I have found a guy who not only talks the talk, but has walked the walk and made 100 million dollars as proof that he knows what he is talking about. What other proof do you need? (As for me, 100 million dollars proof is good enough for me.) This is the kind of money that gets my juice flowing real fast. What about you? To illustrate to you the power and the genius of the writer, VJ, the creator of this ultimate marketing “secret”, here is an excerpt of his letter, in his own words: “No matter how hard I tried, it always seemed like I wasn't going to amount to anything real important in life. And this really sucked because I had a passion for the finer things. I wanted the gold Rolex, the sporty Mercedes, and the Million-Dollar Mega Mansion! But when I looked in the mirror, I didn't like what I saw. I was convinced the good life I wanted was just a dream. But that was all about to change. Seriously- by the time I was 19, I had a brand-new Corvette. At 20, I had 2 brand-new Mercedes Benz automobiles. And at 21, I was the proud owner of a Rolls Royce Silver Spur! By the time I turned 28... I made over $100 Million in gross sales. I profited over $50 Million. I owned two homes- one of them was 14,000 square feet and had a seven-car garage, a billiards room and a resort-style pool with an underwater bar! And I paid cash for the home! In my garage, I had a red Lamborghini Diablo, a yellow Ferrari 360 Spider, a white Bentley Arnage Red Label, about 4 Mercedes, and a 12-passenger Lincoln Town Car Limo! My checking account had over $10 Million in it. I was earning $400,000 in pay each and every week. That breaks down to $80,000 a day... or $10,000 an hour! And those figures were if I worked 5 days a week for eight hours a day, which I didn't! In the year 2002, I made more money than the CEOs of Federal Express... eBay... Amazon.com... Time Warner... Apple Computer... McDonalds... Microsoft... Nike... Yahoo... Ford Motor Company... General Motors... and Goodyear Tire- COMBINED! Yes-COMBINED. In the May 12th, 2003 issue, Forbes Magazine listed their top paid 500 CEOs in America. Of their prominent and prestigious list of the 500 CEOs, I made more money than 483 of them. $17,549,000 MORE than the CEO of Starbucks. $13,030,000 MORE than the CEO of Target. $17,225,000 MORE than the CEO of Motorola. Now, this may all seem like I'm some rich (&zxc$3@) bragging about how rich I am... and you're partly correct. I am bragging! But more importantly, the reason why I'm telling you about all this is that this course is about getting rich very quickly. If the talk of obscene money makes you feel uncomfortable, or even angers you, maybe you do not really want to be rich. The reason why I'm telling you about all the toys I had when I was just 28, is to prove to you that if a guy like me... with a learning disability... a bad childhood... and no formal education can get filthy rich by the time I was 28... you can absolutely follow in my footsteps and build yourself your very own empire of wealth!” Even Gary Halbert says, "……believe it or not, much of this information is so electrifying; it was unknown even to me." Gary Halbert is recognized all over the world as America’s numero uno marketing authority. Can you imagine Gary admitting in writing that VJ’s book and marketing power secrets are electrifying to him? I need not say more. So, if you’re tired of having websites that are not making any money or tired of making nickels and dimes and tired of all the lousy promotional secrets from the so called internet gurus (that don’t work), and you’re finally ready to turn over a new leaf and get serious about creating real wealth from whatever products, programs or services you currently promote, may be you should consider finding out more about VJ’s super secret marketing book, the ultimate sales generator and marketing engine. In this unique powerful book, VJ has been very kind to reveal so many dynamic marketing secrets he used (never before revealed in one book) : the products he sold to make 100 million dollars in 2 yrs, how he promoted it, when he promoted it and how you can duplicate his success. Do you have a website? Do you sell any product, program or service? Would you like to know the exact “secrets” on how to find hundreds of thousands and even millions of buyers for your products and services? Would you like to get your paws on how to market any product to hundreds of thousands and even millions of people who really need them? If you answer yes, rejoice because VJ’s book has the ultimate “secret”. If you know the “secret” on how to locate hundreds of thousands and even millions of people who are hungry and thirsty for your products and services, you can generate millions of dollars easily and get rich, like VJ! If after reading this revealing article you don’t hear about me again for the next 1-5 yrs, you should be able to guess why. Excuse me, I have just decided to take VJ’s book and powerful “secret” and create a billion dollar empire. So, I am going to be very busy! Forbes 400 billionaire’s list 2010, here I come. How about you? Please feel free to copy and use this article at your website, e-zine or e-mail it to your friends and please retain the author’s resource box below. Thank you. Hasta la vista baby. Warmly, I-key Benney, CEO |
| 4 Reasons Why Having Your Own Product is Essential for Serious Marketers by Paul Kleinmeulman I know what you’re thinking, "Why is having your own product essential?" Quite simple really, without your own product you will never market to your full potential. We all want to make as much money as possible. That is the nature of business and because of this I have listed below my favourite and most powerful reasons why you need your own product to promote as opposed to be an affiliate for somebody else’s product. Please read and understand these reasons because they make a whole lot of sense. 1. Affiliate Program - Without your own product it is impossible to have your own affiliate program. Big deal, what’s so fancy about having your own affiliate program? I’m glad you asked because it is a BIG DEAL. When you sell online you are only one person and your results depend completely on you but when you have your own affiliate program other people do the work for you. They make you sales and your sales are muliplied expontially without any additional effort on your behalf. The best part is they only get paid when they have made a sale. Having an affiliate program is more than a good idea, I would go so far as to say, it’s essential. The best and only affilate software that I would recommend is JVManager (http://www.PrivateRights.com/JVManager.html), so flexible and worth every penny. 2. Product Packaging - I would like to see you package together a whole lot of products via an affiliate link. The word, impossible, comes to mind because normal affiliate programs just don’t work that way, you have very limited contol. But why would you want to do that anyway? Primarily because people love a bargain, and in addition to that your product/offer will have a lot more impact when it is combined with related items/bonuses. More about this later in another post. 3. Special Offers - One of my personal favourites that is only possible with your own product (unless you have very good relationships with a product owner and you have some major clot as an affiliate), is the ability to offer people a lower/special price. If you own your own product, you control the price so you decide whether you want to reward your customers for their loyalty or just infuse your cash flow if it is a little low with a firesale. 4. Joint Venture Partnerships - Only with your own product is it possible to wheel and deal with other product owners and put together a joint venture deal that will knock people’s socks off. Joint ventures or JV’s can allow you to reach a target market that will only be possible with other partners. I’ll spend more time on this in another post. I could keep on going but these are my favourite benefits of having your own product and why I strongly suggest you do everything possible to get your own product. You don’t have to spend a fortune or a lot of time creating your own product Private Label Resell Rights are the easiest and cheapest solution to this problem. |
| Marketing, Lead Generation, and Research: A 3-in-1 Solution. by Jay Gilmore I Hate Cold Calls Long before I started my business, I realized that I wasn't good at telephone sales and that I would need to generate leads in another way. I developed a sure-fire way to generate those leads, interest in me, and my business, through the use of telephone market research. There are many benefits of doing market research including the ability to learn more about my target market's behaviors and opinions, honing messages and presentations based on real, first hand responses, as well as, to test out new messages or theories prior to wide release. As a website developer and consultant, my large market is businesses and my main target group is small business owners. In order to contact these owners I would need access to their contact information. For my target market, I found a regional business development directory to be very complete including names, addresses, phone numbers and website information. Some of the information was a little out of date but it was going to be far better than just cold calling to reach "The Owner or Manager" and get successfully past the front desk person etc. For other Business-to-Business companies I might suggest the local Chamber of Commerce or Business Association. Contact lists may be purchased or leased from outside sources, however, that is beyond the scope of this article. For a client of mine, who is in the property care and landscaping industry, I was able to suggest hitting the phone book in the areas he wanted to generate business in and call every twentieth or thirtieth name in the book. The only criteria his respondent had to meet, was that they are a homeowner or property owner. In his case, my client is located in a small town and most respondents would be homeowners. If he were in a major city I would recommend that he be calling property management companies and target areas of the city with a high concentration of houses. Most cities still have their phone books broken down by community or borough. Developing the Survey The first step in this process was to develop the survey. To do that you first need to determine the subject of the survey. This should also relate directly to the message you wish to communicate to the lead. For my company I wanted to find out one of two things, if the respondent had a website what were the circumstances, experiences and opinions of having it or if the respondent didn't have a website the circumstances and reasons for not. Tuning in the Respondent As you can see, these questions relate to only one specific service - websites. This allows the respondent to easily understand what subject area you are talking about so that when you switch to providing your message they are already thinking about that subject. In my case, the respondent could easily tell that I was asking questions about websites, they probably figure that my business has something to do with websites. Keep Questions Open Ended The survey questions should be as open ended as possible. This is not scientific, as it cannot be quantified in small sample sizes, but it is the best way to avoid leading the respondent to a perceived answer. They may feel that you are looking for a particular response. This can happen when you use a scaled response survey such as ratings of 1 to 5 or 1 to 7. In my own personal experience this type of survey is best left to academics. In most cases you are looking for opinions and experiences of an individual. Ask questions like, "Could you explain how you felt about the experience when you last purchased a car?" Keep Things Brief There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information. The Wrap Up At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more information about my company and services they already have an idea of what to expect and are more likely to be open to hear and receive my message because there is no surprise and I was not beating them over the head with message. I merely made them think about their website or lack thereof. Script = Professionalism Once you have developed your survey you should write a script. I know - I can hear your sighs now - you don't want to sound like a robot or just another telemarketer but the use of a script will ensure that you sound like a professional. The danger with a script is that it might not be conversational or may not consider the person on the other end of the phone. To avoid sounding robotic and like you are reading a script you should read it aloud to yourself. If you are unsure about how it sounds try it out on someone in your home or office. The worst thing you can do is to call up someone and start in with, "Uuuhhmmm, could I speak to - uuuhhmmm�" Your script should include a brief introduction. In my case my introduction went like this, "Hello, Mr. Adams. My name is Jay Gilmore. The reason I am calling is that I am doing some market research for my business services company in your area and I wanted to get some feedback from fellow business owners, like yourself." Note that I didn't mention the name of my company. This shows the respondent that I am a person calling to talk to another person - people like to talk to people and not businesses. Removing the Common Objection The next words that come off the script are very important, "I am not going to try to sell you anything, and I just want to ask a few questions to help in planning my business." This has worked every single time to break through the, "I'm not going to listen to a sales pitch" instinct that so many business owners and consumers have developed over the years. Ask for Their Time Now that I have broken through their resistance I am able to request permission and their time to do the survey. Be respectful of the respondent's time by making sure that the survey may be completed in less than five minutes. Tell them how long it will take - and be honest. It is not very professional to lie or mislead people about the time you are asking them for. Once the survey is complete you should conclude by thanking the respondent for assisting you with your research. The Marketing Starts Now - Actually it Already Started The marketing part is next. In closing you should briefly introduce your company and the service being marketed. An example would be, " Thank you Mr. Adams for all your help. I would like to let you know that my business, Joe's Flowers is a local flower shop that specializes in arrangements and designs from North American plants and flowers. Would you be interested in receiving more information about our services and our company?" After answering questions in your survey about flowers and their buying habits they are probably ready to find more information about your company and its products or services. Get their mailing address and / or email address and any other information you require to send them the information you want. What to Send Sending the information about your business can make or break this relationship. You have already gotten willing permission to send information to the respondent - now you have to send them something that will lead them to choose to buy your product or service or refer a friend or colleague. The contents of the information package - be it electronic or print- should be a letter of introduction and thanks for the participation in the survey and some free and useful information that they will relate to regarding your product or services. This information package is a first step to an ongoing relationship that will allow you to nurture goodwill and relationships with people who are actually interested in your business. The respondents will be expecting some form of marketing message but don't overdo it. Pushing too hard to close a sale at this stage will not work with this piece. This is not a direct mail promotion so don't treat it as such. That being, said don't hesitate to place importance and urgency on the message. Use benefit oriented copy to entice readers to take some form of action. Follow-up Will Make the Sale - Well Some Anyway As you bring the respondents closer to your business's products and or services by providing valuable information and examples of how it can better their lives many will choose to buy your products and services. Give Up The Cold Call You have now just read a great way to expose you business to new markets, new people, learn more about those markets and people, and get your message out - all with nothing more than a telephone and a list of phone numbers. What is best is that you were able to get people to willingly accept your message without the anxiety and resistance of a sales cold call. |
| Marketing Plan Considerations by Jinky C. Mesias In any marketing endeavor it is important to consider the company’s credibility. A company should show that they have a purpose and that very purpose is directed towards the understanding of their customers’ needs. After the company’s purpose is established it will not be hard for the company to gain the trust of its customers. However, there should be sincerity on the part of the company or else trust will be destroyed and that would really hurt its finances. Another way of how customers determine the authenticity of the intentions of a company is through the products offered. The selection of the products will determine if a company has really understood the needs of its customers. Wrong selection of products is a clear indication that a company is not really that concern when it comes to providing solutions for the various needs of its customers and that will reflect a bad image for the company. And customers are likely to shun away from taking hold of any product or services that company is offering. Likewise, in developing a marketing promotional product the primary consideration should be the customer that is if a company wants its advertising endeavors to succeed. Another consideration when developing a marketing promotional product is the product itself. The product must not only function as an advertising item but must possess a real value and a degree of usability for the customers or else your promotional product would just be piled with those items that are rubbish. Remember that it is important to maintain the trust and credibility not only in your company but more on the products and services you are offering. Moreover, marketing is a business process that involves researching, informing and persuading customers in taking hold of products and services in an effort to increase sales as well as to increase the sharing or the transfer of ideas between the business and its customers. Although the process of marketing may take a great amount of time nevertheless a well planned marketing solution will result to a more stable influx of sales revenue most especially when customers’ trust in your company is built. All future marketing endeavors will promise sweet success. |
| The Importance Of A Marketing Plan by Joy Gendusa There aren’t many things in life that you would get into with out a plan. Marketing is no different. Your overall marketing plan should cover about a six month period, and should be made up of weekly and monthly marketing schedules. This is how you do it: 1. Figure out how much money is in your budget. As we all know, marketing of any kind costs money. How much money you are willing to commit to the cause is going to determine some key factors about how that money can be best spent. Remember, you want to be economical but you also need to be realistic on what it will take to pull in the leads you need to close new and repeat business. 2. Determine your target market. Who is most likely to buy your product? Are they married? Are they business owners? What is their income level? These are the people that you want to target. One of the most common mistakes in marketing is answering "Everyone" to the question "Who is your target market?" It may be that you have more than one target market, but there is no product in the world that appeals to each and every person. Even Coca-Cola targets different people with different messages. Decide who is MOST LIKELY to buy what you have to sell and target them. Your message to teenagers will be different than your message to housewives even if the product is exactly the same. Different markets may require different mail pieces or advertisements. 2a. Using the Right Mailing List. In making sure that your message is getting across to the right people - people who are in the market for what you’re offering – it usually comes down to finding the right mailing list. There is a great deal to know about mailing lists. There are pointers you could follow when buying a mailing list that tell you what to watch for in a mailing list company to make sure they’re reputable. They are: i) Get references. Talk to other people that have purchased mailing lists from that company. ii) Do they guarantee on delivery? That means due to the inevitable number of bad addresses there are in a list, can they still guarantee a high percentage of deliverable addresses. That number should be 90% or better. People move all the time so a mailing list company cannot guarantee 100% deliverability – but they should guarantee at least 90%. iii) How often do they update their information? They should be able to answer this question and should be updating their information monthly. You can get burnt on mailing lists – it is the most expensive part of your campaign. Ask friends who own businesses. Don’t just purchase from the first person that tries to sell you mailing lists. Do your research. 3. Select what media to use. (i.e., Direct Mail, Television, Radio, etc.) This decision will depend on both your budget and your target market. If you have not done a good deal of marketing in the past we recommend picking one media to start. This is much easier to keep track of and you will better be able to tell whether or not it is working. Also, since repetition is the key to marketing success, using one media to begin with will help you reach the same people multiple times. If you run a newspaper ad and send out a postcard, you run the risk of the majority of the people only seeing your ad once. However, if you send out the postcard twice you can guarantee that you get your message to the same people twice and you will start to build recognition. Once you are getting the returns that you want from the first media, or if you decide that it is not working for you, you can branch out into another form of advertising. Over time you will build up a very diverse marketing plan. 4. Make a Schedule and Stick with It. Figure out how many people you have in your target market. For this example we will use Direct Mail Marketing. If you have a mailing list of people in your target market that has 1500 names, figure out how many times per month you can mail a postcard to them and still stay within your monthly budget. Once you come up with this number, do it! The importance of having a marketing plan cannot be stressed enough. Create one and follow it and you’ll start seeing the benefits. |
| There’s More To Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) Than Meets The Eye by Joy Gendusa All too often people look at marketing ROI in terms of response rate: in other words, “I sent out 10,000 pieces of direct mail and only got 39 responses which is terrible.” This is wrong think. When it comes to marketing ROI, you have to realize that the term means Return On Investment and the return is measured in dollars (or your local currency). Let’s say you spend $2,000 to get out a bulk mailing of 5,000 pieces and you get 10 calls as a result. Doesn’t look like much. But of these 10 calls you close 6 and get immediate sales of $12,000. That’s marketing ROI! And that’s not even taking into account the future sales to those 6 new customers. It could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The same simple mathematics apply to any other marketing efforts: radio ads, press releases or articles in magazines, print ads, yellow pages, web site, etc. Obviously you need to keep track of response from each marketing campaign you do so that you can weed out unsuccessful campaigns and strengthen successful ones. Case in point: Jeff Lee, CFO of a very successful consulting company, Measurable Solutions, has adopted a successful small business marketing strategy based on direct mail marketing. Key elements are mailing out a newspaper and full color postcards. The design is done in house and the printing and mailing is done by a specialized postcard printing company. In his own words... “We get our best response from mailing out a newspaper and back it up with postcards. Depends on the postcards. Some postcards have pulled better than others. “The professionalism of the postcards is something that is effective: it gets attention, it keeps the image that we want to keep, it creates the reach, it creates the response and keeps our leads in a very high range. “We probably average around 7,500 post cards per week. Out of 7,500 post cards we’ll get in an average of 15-20 leads. Of the 15-20 leads at least a third of them come to our introductory seminar. So say 5 or 7 people show up and they pay $1,700 a piece. Off of that we close a further $30-40,000 for services. “The money we have put into the postcards is like a drop in a bucket compared to what we get back. We know that the more promotion we send out, the more return we’re going to get. It always works.” That is excellent marketing ROI. Measurable Solutions spend about $2,275 for 7,500 full color post cards. That includes printing, postage, mailing (including the mailing list). From that they get between $8,500 and $11,900 in immediate response for an introductory seminar and an additional $30-40,000 follow-up sales. Spend $2,275, earn $40-50,000. You don’t need to have majored in advanced math and rocket science to work that one out: that is what is meant by marketing ROI! Results of direct mail marketing vary from business to business but the principle holds and always works: if you send out enough promotion, you will make sales and maximize your marketing ROI. Don’t worry about response rate if your marketing ROI is high. |
| Aggressive Marketing by Bryan Quinn If you get an email with a title like ' Don't Ever Trust Me Again!’ and continues along the lines of '... then you don't have to take my advice ever again!' My advice is - Don't * Perhaps it's because I'm skeptical of the number of "miracle" products, "great deals", 'limited time offers' or 'incredible packages' that are advertised online every day. Perhaps it's because I have bought more products than I can possibly use for now. Perhaps it's because there are probably more people trying to sell this particular package than the number of packages that are available. Or, perhaps it's because I received an email with almost identical content from too many different sources. Whatever the reason, don't make the same mistakes as I have in the past. * It may be a good deal. It may be exactly what you are looking for. But if you receive emails with exactly the same content from different sources, think carefully before you buy. There are some good internet marketers that I have every respect for. However, there are an increasing number of ‘marketers’ that show little thought or consideration for others. They will take from you but offer nothing in return. You may disagree with the last statement. If you buy a product from them and you are happy with that product and they are happy with the money earned from selling you that product it's a win-win situation. That's all well and good until you look more closely at the process. To do this, other factors must be taken into account. These include cost, value, convenience, time, and most importantly trust. You've probably heard of the phrase. "The money is in the list". I wouldn't disagree with that and it's easy to see why many of the "big list" hitters are successful in the percentage game. But unless they offer you something more than somebody else’s 'sales pitch' ignore them. Many of these people come and go. Make sure they don't go with your money. With regard to the email in question, here is a quote from a 'trusted' ezine that I subscribe to "This is only of interest to you, Bryan, if you really need some brand new products to sell. If not, don't bother." At least, this is honest and straight to the point. I know who I'd buy from. On occasion, time may be more important than trust. If this is the case, then make sure you have a use for the product before you buy it. We are all guilty of impulse buying. It can be all too easy to buy something that will seldom, if ever, be used. If you subscribe to an ezine or newsletter, it's often useful to keep tabs on the sender. By doing this you will learn to recognize if the content is original or simply a copy of someone else's work. You'll also quickly discover if the sender is only interested in using you as a means of earning a 'fast buck'. This is obvious if there is little or no content, excessive affiliate URLs, or emails that are repetitive or delivered more often than necessary. If you like the newsletter or email subscription, that’s great. If you don't, you can usually 'unsubscribe'. If this fails, then try 'whitelist' filtering to weed it out. If you think the email is from a spammer, then be careful. Don't click on any URL or 'unsubscribe' option, and unless you are absolutely sure of the originator, never open an attachment. If you use eBay or PayPal, you will no doubt be aware of the fake or spoof emails that are periodically blasted out. Well, the spin cycle has begun again. A good tutorial on spoof emails and how to recognize them can be found at http://pages.ebay.com/education/spooftutorial/index.html Tip - If you have your own website, don't use your default address for your PayPal or eBay account. Use a different address and you will quickly spot the spoof email in the 'To' line of the email. |
| Wise Man Marketing by Martin Day It’s a sunny morning and you’re sitting in your office. With a cup of hot coffee by your side and memories of your last holiday still fresh in your mind, even if you say so yourself, today at least, life is sweet. You take a sip of new blend coffee and then feel a rush of cool air and a movement catches the corner of your eye. As if from nowhere there is now an impeccably dressed stranger sitting in the chair opposite. Sure you're surprised; you didn’t hear anyone knock and just as you are about to say something he begins in a calm and measured voice. ‘Here's the deal’ ‘I am going to advertise your product on a billboard at the busiest junctions in every city of the world.' ‘I will tell you how many people see this advertisement and I will tell you their age, nationality and gender.' ‘I will tell you what they think of your product and in many cases I will give you their contact details. While they are reading the billboard I will make it possible for them to view your website and, if they feel the urge, make a purchase.' ‘I will have all this ready in two days and it will cost you less than a small advertisement in your typical trade journal.’ He pauses. ‘Interested?’ Now you might think that such an offer was too good to be true, you might think that you are going to wake up soon or maybe that it really is time to get a lock on that office door. But let's just take a minute. If you are still reading this I am that man who has come from nowhere and offered you a deal. The advertising site is on the Internet and the billboard I'm offering is the humble online survey. Stop for one moment and start to associate an online survey not with 'market research' but with 'marketing'. Not any type of marketing but 'Marketing' with a capital 'M' and in flashing neon lights. Marketing that is quick, direct, effective and low cost. Publish an online survey and advertise it on a website, or via email, and like a billboard by the side of a major road junction, your message will appear in front of people. But unlike a billboard where the number of people that see an advert has to be estimated (based on an arbitrary percentage of total volume of traffic), the online survey records the number of times a survey is started. Surveys can ask demographic questions such as gender, age and nationality and in doing so you are obtaining metrics about the effectiveness of your promotion and are interacting with the respondent on a one-on-one level. Unlike billboards where the message is often subliminal, or maybe just trying to achieve brand awareness, with online surveys you have the opportunity to connect with the public to find out what they really think about your product, how it relates to them, how it is perceived. Using a website like http://www.surveygalaxy.com it takes only minutes and hours to create a survey and using the power of the Internet an online survey can reach hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis. Throw in a prize as an incentive for people to complete the survey, maybe some Pay Per Click advertising to capture an even wider, or more focused audience and you are still talking low cost effective marketing. "So tell me. Do we have a deal?" |
| Autoresponse Plus, The Email Marketing Solution To Increase Sales by Matt Bacak Autoresponders in General Autoresponders have been around for quite some time. The Internet is overflowing with companies offering them packaged up with various features at various monthly fee levels. As more and more people do business on the Internet, autoresponders will take a special place in the overall marketing plan of any business on the net. They are the number one mechanism that helps businesses stay in close touch with customers or reach potential customers continuously. Like everything else in this world, autoresponder providers charge fees for the service that they provide. This usually means a monthly fee is required and sometimes the fee can be on the high side. In exchange for this fee, they will host your autoresponder on their servers, which may not necessarily be a good thing. Why” Simply because you are at the mercy of these providers if there server goes down. If that happens, guess what? Your autoresponder messages do not get sent to your customers, which could cause a loss in potential sales. To further compound the problem, if the provider's server is down often or for long periods of time, it could be catastrophic to your business. There is an alternative to the above scenario in the form a “free standing” autoresponder package called Autoresponder Plus. Autoresponder Plus does not rely on installation on someone's server; rather it is installed on your own web site or dedicated server. No third-party intervention is needed at all. As long as you have a reliable hosting service, you can add Autoresponder Plus to your business site and be in total control of customer communications. It's a fact that if you don't successfully manage your follow up marketing process effectively, you will lose potential customers. The power of Autoresponse Plus Let's take a look at how powerful Autoresponder Plus is. It is an autoresponder and mailing list software for your web site. You can send out an unlimited number of follow-up emails and target thousands of prospects. You send out follow-up sales campaigns, courses, newsletters, and ezines from an intuitive browser. Once it is setup, it runs on autopilot! Create unlimited autoresponder accounts with unlimited messages any time. Why use Autoresponse Plus? By using Autoresponder Plus as your mechanism to reach thousands of potential customers, you will benefit in many ways. Take for instance the benefits of: No more monthly fees for autoresponder services. Pay a “one-time” fee and your own the package! No more reliance on the reliability of the servers of other providers. The convenience of having the ability to take total control over your email campaigns staying in touch with prospects and customers around the clock. The convenience of installing Autoresponder Plus on your very own site. The extra flexibility in maintaining Autoresponder Plus and the dramatic cost savings. The ease of installation and level of full technical support from ARP3 professionals that includes a fully staffed “help-desk” and tutorials. Capturing email addresses of prospects so you can immediately follow-up and turn them into customers. Delivering your message, over and over, to your target audience to get a sale. How is Autoresponse Plus the email marketing solution to increase your sales Autoresponder Plus acts as your personal marketing spokesperson, only better because it never takes time off! You can dramatically boost your sales through its use by giving you the freedom and flexibility to follow-up with prospects consistently and turn them into paying customers. It is a fact that if you want to turn “window shoppers” into buyers, you need to have constant contact with them. People need to get to know and trust you before they will buy from you. Autoresponder Plus helps you achieve this through its simplicity and convenience. Autoresponder Plus offers an opt-in email marketing solution and follow-up marketing solution that are the best tools possible for building credibility and trust quickly. You can take charge of your marketing campaign by: Building an opt-in list of prospects that you can follow-up with and convert into customers. Using this opt-in list to market to this audience over and over again, after all, by opting-in, they give you permission to do so. Fully automate your email and follow-up marketing efforts and run effortlessly on autopilot. Eliminating annoying ads in your email campaigns that are planted there by other autoresponder providers. Gaining the ability to send unlimited attachments such as .pdf files in your marketing campaigns. Taking advantage of one of the most “user-friendly” programs on the marketplace. Having your own autoresponder package installed on your business site not only makes a lot of sense but in such a competitive business climate as the Internet, it is a necessity if a business is going to survive. You are in control of your business; you need to be able to oversee every facet, especially the most important one, marketing. With the advent of such great marketing tools such as Autoresponder Plus, you can literally boost your sales many times over. It's definitely worth exploring. |
| Seminar Business Marketing and Promotion by Matt Bacak Seminar Business Marketing and Promotion When you feel like you're always busy working on your business, but not getting where you want to go, it can be frustrating trying to figure out how to get your marketing on track. It can easily become a “not seeing the forest for the trees” feeling. Here are three big barriers I regularly come across with business owners and how you can avoid them. 1. No Clear Definition of Success For some, the word Success brings thoughts of fame and fortune to mind. But for small businesses, I'd caution against this definition being your guiding light. When clarifying your own definition of success, I suggest starting with success from your client's point of view. What is it that you are trying to do for your clients? What is it that they'll have or be able to do as a result of buying your service from you? Match this up with what you are passionate about. What is it that you love doing for your clients? I'll know I'm successful when my clients no longer have to struggle with how to consistently attract more business. 2. Not Clarifying Who Your Ideal Clients Are When you can clarify who your ideal clients are, you are better prepared to know where to find them and how to market to them. You can develop messages that will appeal directly to them. What do you know about your best clients? Spend some time to put together as complete of a profile as you can on the clients you enjoy working with the most. What are the demographics and characteristics? How would you describe them to someone who has never met them? Without clarity of your ideal clients, you're likely to waste time, effort, and money marketing to the wrong crowd(s) and/or not getting your message across. 3. Not Spelling Out Your Unique Value You must be able to clearly define what differentiates you from your competitors. If your prospects can't differentiate you from all the competitive alternatives in the marketplace, then why would they come to buy from you? Often for small businesses it's not that they're not unique, it's just that they haven't spent the time to evaluate and clearly describe how and why. What is it that you do better, faster, cheaper, or more effectively - whatever? Maybe it's a unique model you've developed or the unique niche of clients you serve. Maybe it's your satisfaction guarantee offered to clients. Most important here is to spell out why your uniqueness is so important to your clients and prospects. Why should they care? What is it that they'll get by coming to you for services? Spend some time critically looking at these items for your business. It will be time very well spent. If you find you can't see the forest for the trees, don't hesitate to get some outside help. Over the years that I've been involved with web marketing and ecommerce, I've had the pleasure of communicating with many of the real small business "movers and shakers" - the guys and gals earning 6 figures plus annually from their ecommerce ventures. I've learned much from the good and bad that online business strategy has to offer; especially regarding the mindset of people who claw their way to the top. I've mentioned before that success in web marketing, or any marketing for that matter, is applied basic psychology, responding to the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) motivator of your target market. The more involved psychological strategies come into play when convincing a person who doesn't want or need a particular product or service that they actually do. Successful marketers would probably also make very good (or very evil) psychologists :) . Often I'm asked questions like, "how do I succeed in online business" or "How did X make so much money?" or "how do I promote my sites effectively, for next to no capital outlay, while working only 2 hours a day in my underwear?" No doubt you've also come across many products and services touting that you can generate a six figure income by using them - and in many instances, you can. We've all seen the "Make $x In Just 2 Months While You Sleep" type blurbs. What isn't mentioned on many of these sales pages is one very important element in order to make the tool successful - you. Regardless of the amount of money you invest in tools and the number of people you employ, if your head isn't in the right space or you don't have the personality traits that accompany success; your ecommerce venture will more than likely fail. The following are some tips I've jotted down based on the common traits and strategies that I believe have been the major reasons for some marketers and site owners achieving massive success in online small business. Determination If you're a person that's easily discouraged, shy, or someone who retreats when told something can't be done; then the online world is not for you. You must have total faith in yourself and your goals. If you're not prepared to forego a lot of "normal" pleasures in life while pursuing your goals, it's better to stick to a salaried position - although bear in mind that at the end of your days, you may be left feeling unfulfilled and bitter. The 2nd job Almost everyone I know who has a successful home based online business started out working two full time jobs - one being their salaried employment, the other their biz. The salaried employment provides a source of funding and security, and sometimes experience, until the online business is generating real revenue. Sure it's tiring, but it's better to spend a couple of years like this than to lose everything you have and then have nothing to fall back on. Those couple of years can set you up for life. My business was funded through cleaning toilets in a club early in the morning, 7 days a week for a couple of years, plus a job in administration where I could hone some of my computer skills. The toilet cleaning wasn't a particularly pleasant job as you can imagine, but it was humbling and strengthened my resolve to make things work. So many times I've come across people who dream of having an online business but just can't make this sort of time commitment or aren't prepared to do "menial" labor to get kick-started. Due to their tertiary qualifications, or self perceived competence, they expect success to come served up on a silver platter and try to take all sorts of shortcuts to get there. It usually backfires. Passion for success Being passionate about your products and services surely helps in creating a positive vibe with your prospective clients. Being passionate about customer support is a fine thing too. Equally important is the passion to succeed, for *yourself* - not so much as a "head" thing (determination), but in your heart. It must be a burning desire. Endurance/discipline Very important - most of the marketers who say that they earned 6k in 6 days selling X product fail to tell you something - they may have spent hundreds of hours in prepping the product and promotion *before* it was released. The most successful marketers I know get "in the zone" and then keep going until the product has been released, which cuts down the duration of the ramp up stage. For example, you should only sleep as much you really need to. Sleep is beneficial and necessary of course, but a great robber of time when you are building a business. Think about it - the average person spends 1/3 of their life in an unconscious state. Some people need 8 hours I guess, but imagine what you could achieve with 365 extra hours of productivity each year. In the words of the great philosopher, Jon Bon Jovi - "gonna live while I'm alive and sleep when I'm dead" :) . Get yourself into good working habits and stay in them - routine is essential, especially when your business revolves around you. It's so easy to let things slide for a couple of days because you're tired or you've been kicked around a bit - and then so hard to get back into routine again. Lighten up the pace a little if you need to, but never totally ignore your business, even for a single day, unless it's absolutely necessary. Focus There will be many time-burglars along the way. Recognize them and drop them quickly. Examples of time burglars include too much time spent on hobbies or recreational pursuits (although some R & R is essential); people who suck up your time without giving anything back, and as mentioned, excess sleep. Sometimes tasks in your online biz are better farmed out to others - outsource where you can, which will leave you to focus on your core strengths; but do endeavor to gain some experience in each area of your business. No-one will give the level of attention to your business that you can. Leadership You may not have many staff, or any at all to start out with, but you will have service providers to deal with and yourself to lead. Be a good leader; listen and act on solid counsel, give clear instructions, and draw the line when someone you are dealing with oversteps their mark or fails to deliver. Research Many people fail in online business simply because they've had a really good idea, but no-one else, especially their target market, has shared their optimism. Just because you think something's great and should sell, it doesn't mean that will translate to sales. The only people who can take a product that addresses a yet to be existent need and sell it successfully are the well established marketers, often using what I call "The Inner Circle" strategy. For everyone else, solid researching skills must be in place before launching into ecommerce - the ability to gauge actual need, pricing points, required features, associated costs and target market demographics. Family co-operation/planning Family issues have killed so many potentially successful business. Before you embark on your journey, ensure that your family is there with you; supporting you, or at least tolerating you while you strive for success. Have a timeline that you can relay to them - i.e. "I will be working this way until X date, please hang in there with me until then". Don't just have a plan in your head - write it down, broken down into milestones. By putting a dates on your milestones, it will let your family know that the ridiculous hours you may be working has a definite end date - to leave it open ended causes a great deal of stress on all. Explain to them what it will be like during that time, don't try to deceive them, but at the same time relay to them the benefits that will come as a result. By having a written plan it can also help you to stay on track and pat yourself on the back as milestones are achieved. Realism balance Be optimistic, in fact, be very optimistic about your venture - but season your optimism with a dose of realism. Sure, the guy selling you a marketing tool or service says you can make 6k in 6 days - but he's a pro; realistically you'll take a lot longer than that. Set *achievable* goals, not pie in the sky targets - you'll feel more fulfilled along the journey that way. Dollars and sense Treat your venture a little like responsible gambling - only spend what you are prepared to lose - if that's everything, that's probably a little over the top, but a personal decision. Also bear in mind that as the revenue does start coming in, given the nature of the Internet, it can also dry up literally overnight. Put a decent percentage away for emergency use; ideally maintain 3 - 6 months living and business expenses in reserve at all times. Wherever possible, do not get into debt to finance your online business, get an extra job if you're short on funds. Action There's millions of people with millions of good ideas, but only a very small percentage have the drive to be able to execute them and see them through to the end. Procrastination in the online world is very dangerous as things move so quickly and trends appear/disappear every other day. Do your research and once you are satisfied that a particular strategy or tool will work - implement it immediately. If you engage the services of ecommerce or marketing consultants, follow their instructions and counsel closely. Remember that consultancy is a two way street - if you're not providing your consultants with the information they require in a timely manner and then acting upon their recommendations; you'll run into major problems. A good analogy to illustrate this is when a doctor prescribes you antibiotics, he tells you that you must take them all within a certain amount of time and in the proper way. Failing to do so can mean the infection flairs up again. Promote, promote, promote At every available opportunity, promote your business to others, even to the grocery store checkout person you are on semi-familiar terms with. Don't be shy - you'll be surprised in where you can generate interest. Even if the person you are talking to you about your business isn't really interested, they may know of someone who will be. Sow seeds wherever you can, without being overbearing of course - try to talk about other things with people too ;) . Networking The ability to network is a very important skill. Networking is essentially about communicating with clients, suppliers and others within your industry with a view to personal gain. But it isn't all about taking - don't bleed your contacts dry for any information of benefit to you; ensure you give something back. Firstly, network with your clients through regular contacts, requesting and acting on their feedback. Remember that word-of-mouth is still one of the most powerful forms of referral. Get clients to network for you by implementing affiliate/referral software and compensating them for their efforts. Many good quality shopping carts also contain affiliate functions. Once your affiliate program is in place, then lead by example by providing your clients with the tools and advice they need to refer others, plus relay the strategies you used to attract them to you in the first place. Sometimes small business owners tend to get very paranoid about what the competition is doing, but will also shun communicating with competitor merchants. This can be quite counterproductive. There's a whole swag of profits to be made through what I term "co-opetition" and the "Inner Circle Strategy". I hope these points have given you some insight into what makes some of the well known online small biz entrepreneurs so successful. Good luck to you in your in ecommerce venture - "have a dream, then make it real" |
| Do You Make These Terrible Internet Marketing Mistakes? by Peter Geisheker I have been involved in Internet marketing since the world-wide-web began and I consider myself to be an Internet marketing expert. From my experience helping clients build successful websites, I have learned what works and what does not work when selling on the Internet. To help you avoid costly mistakes, I have listed what I have found to be the biggest Internet marketing mistakes. Mistake 1: Using too much Flash. If your website is one big Flash presentation, you are making a huge mistake! Why? Because consumers go to your website to seek information, not to watch an "I'm so cool" Flash presentation. Ask yourself, when you go to a website, do you sit there and watch their ego-building Flash presentation or do you click the "skip flash" link to get to the real information? If you are like most people, you click the "skip flash intro" link as quickly as you can find it. Another major problem with Flash is that it is only "interesting" the first time a visitor goes to your website. If they actually return to your website, they will do everything they can to skip your Flash presentation so they can quickly get to the information they want. In my experience NOTHING kills Internet sales more than Flash. That is why you almost never see the world's top websites like Google, AOL, MSN, and Yahoo using Flash as the basis for their web pages. If you are making this mistake, get rid of the Flash immediately and make your website a valuable source of information, because that is what consumers want. Mistake 2: Letting your webmaster write the text for your website. This is another huge mistake that companies make. On nearly a daily basis I get a call from a company that has spent a fortune building a website and they cannot understand why they are not generating any sales. My first question is, "who wrote the text for your website?" In nearly every case they tell me their webmaster wrote it. Why is it a mistake to have your webmaster write your website marketing text? Here is a hint: webmasters are programmers, NOT a professional marketing copywriter who know how to write text that sells. If you want your website to generate sales, you must hire a person who is an excellent copywriter and knows how to write words that make people want to buy! Would you hire your webmaster to write a display advertisement for you? Of course not! Then why on earth would you allow them to write the text for your website? By having your webmaster write the text for your website, you are ensuring your website will be a poor sales tool. To solve this problem, hire a professional marketing copywriter to write the text for your website. Mistake 3: Making your website hard to navigate. Have you ever been to a website where you have to click on various generic graphics or parts of a flash picture to try and find a link to the information you are looking for? Why on earth do companies do this? It is not fun, it is not clever, it is STUPID AND ANNOYING! When designing your website's navigation (links to information) use the acronym K.I.S.S., which stands for KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! Simple sells. Complex does not. If your webmaster tries to sell you on using parts of a Flash picture for links or some other complex navigation system, FIRE THEM IMMEDIATELY! Mistake 4: Not having a telephone number on your website. People rarely trust companies that do not have a telephone number. I certainly don't. If I am considering buying a product from a website and they do not have a telephone number, I don't buy. And I know others feel the same way. For example, I have had several clients hire to develop their marketing program because I had a telephone number on my website and the other marketing consultant websites they were looking at did not. Therefore, if you want customers to buy from you, make it easy for them to contact you by having a telephone number on your website. In fact, you should have your telephone number on EVERY page of your website. If you want to make sales on the Internet, make it easy for your customers to buy. |
| Writing A Business Website Sales/Marketing FAQ by Joel Walsh Everyone on the web thinks they can write a FAQ. But then why are so many FAQs so lacking? How often have you read a FAQ and thought, "that didn't tell me anything I needed to know!"? Two Worst FAQ Writing Faux Pas
Tips for Writing a Pre-Sales/Marketing FAQ:
In the end, remember this: your web visitors who read your FAQ are among the most qualified, interested prospects on your site. If your FAQ lacks your site may lack sales. |
| Short Term vs Long Term Marketing Efforts by S. Housley Short Term Vs Long Term Marketing In order to create consistent sales cycles and a positive growth trend businesses usually engage in both short and long term marketing efforts. Short-term marketing efforts tend to cause sudden sales spikes which rarely last. These sharp sales increases are usually the result of a targeted marketing campaign or time limited offer. While short-term marketing produces sales, long-term marketing efforts must be mixed in to sustain sales. Short Term Online Marketing Mentions Positive product mentions in forums, newsgroups or within trade organizations can result in a traffic or sales surge. Product endorsements and newsgroup conversations are difficult for marketers to control and time, so while product mentions in forums are short-term marketing, they lack the organized exposure necessary to maintain sales momentum. Discounts Marketing campaigns that involve coupons, discounts or time-limited offers can also generate product interest. It is important to use promotional offers sparingly or long-term sales could be jeopardized by having customers "wait" for the next offer to purchase. PPC / Advertising The easiest and fastest way to generate product interest is, of course, to pay for it. Pay-per-click campaigns are known to drive significant targeted traffic. Sadly, when the campaign funding ends, the traffic and sales generally do, too. Regardless, it is important for marketers to realize that with short-term marketing, sellers can often control sales and infuse cash into a fledgling product, service or business. Short-term marketing is also useful for test-marketing new products or split-testing to find the appropriate price point. With pay-per-click advertising marketers can control the ebb and flow of site visitors and make a determination about what banners, keywords, text copy and graphics convert at the highest rate. The lessons learned in short-term marketing can then be implemented in the long-term marketing strategy. Marketers can determine the effectiveness of sales copy and landing pages, implementing them in a long range of marketing activities. Long Term Online Marketing Search Engine Optimization Undoubtedly the most time consuming, yet important aspect of long-term marketing involves preparing and optimizing a website for search engines. Currently the majority of Internet surfers seeking a product or information look to search engines. Most Internet surfers use keywords to search for the product, service or information that they are looking for. Knowing your audience and optimizing a site for keywords and phrases that potential consumers would use in their search for a product or service is critical to being found on the Internet. Search engine optimization pays long-term dividends, but is an ongoing process, as the search engines themselves are constantly evolving their algorithms. The goal of search engines is to provide web surfers the best sites suited to the web surfers' search terms. Often, changes implemented will not be "seen" by search engines for several months. It is important to follow search engine guidelines and be patient. Fresh Content & Communication A stream of fresh content like newsletters, tips or blog posts will result in long-term quality traffic. Fresh content that is posted and updated on a regular basis will encourage visitors to return. Archived content will build a base for a variety of related keywords. Syndicated Articles Related industry articles will result in genuine interest from a very targeted audience. Providing related content articles that are available for syndication will result in links back from websites that contain similar content. Over time, articles can define a company's expertise on a subject area. Ultimately, syndicated articles can build confidence with prospective customers and a level of trust. When designing a marketing campaign, consider threading long-term and short-term marketing efforts so that sales are stable and consistent. By implementing a marketing plan that involves both short and long-term efforts, sales success can be achieved. |
| Search Engine Marketing Trends by Itai Levitan Search engine marketing is on constant evolution The world of search engine marketing is in constant evolution. With increase in the number of search engines and evolution in the techniques and technologies used, search engine marketing is becoming a tool industries cannot afford to do without. Trends all over the world show that the pressure for search engine marketing services is starting to come from below – for the individual clients and organizations themselves. Indeed, search engine marketing is quickly evolving as the buzz word in a new, technology-driven advertising and marketing space. As a result, companies that are serious about their online marketing are incorporating search marketing into their branding and direct response marketing efforts. Meet the search engines Google, Yahoo, MSN are the search engine big boys, with Google being the strongest. AOL, Ask Jeeves and Altavista lead the SEM scenes, while a number of other geographically-specific and market-specific search engines are also successful. In a study conducted in July 2005, Nielson/Netratings reported that the search engine marketing share was highest for Google at 48%. Yahoo and MSN had the market shares of 22% and 12% respectively. MSN and Google were also the top destinations for most online purchases, reported a study conducted by comScore Networks (June 2005). The study highlighted that in, MSN searchers were 48% more likely to buy online than the average Internet user. Google users were 42% more likely to buy online than the average Internet user. It also came to notice that while Google searches looked for more sophisticated search terms, simple broad term searches occurred for AOL, Yahoo and MSN. Demographically, more men searched on Google at 55.1% while AOL was female dominated at 52%. Search engine marketing - another bubble? One thing is becoming clearer today: Search engine advertising is not another Internet bubble, even if certain shares may be trading higher than they should. It is not only happening in the Silicon Valley either. It is driven by users and the fact that people, everywhere, need to go somewhere to search and find information. Take China for example - who's heard of Baidu.com? Not too many people. It's a Chinese search engine that has been around for 5 years and is the World's 6th most-visited Internet site, thanks to China's fast growing internet market, currently with more just over 100 million Web surfers. Baidu is approaching an IPO and according to eNet.com.cn, a Chinese news site, will list on the NASDAQ on August 4, planning to 3.7 million shares of stock at between US$19 and $21 per share. And what about Google? It recently reported quarterly revenues of $1.4 billion. Google's revenues excluding its payments for other websites in its advertising network jumped to $890m, an increase of 110 per cent from a year before and above the expected $842 Million. "Business is very good here at Google," said Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. Search engine marketing forecast US Online Marketing Forecast: 2005 To 2010 by Forrester Research (May 2005) revealed that the arena for search engine marketing is all set to rise and will show growth of 33% in 2005. Forecasts reveal that the figures will reach $11.6 billion by 2010. Display advertising, which includes traditional banners and sponsorships, will grow at the average rate of 11 percent over the next five years to $8 billion by 2010. Total spend on US online advertising and marketing will reach $14.7 billion in 2005, a 23 percent increase over 2004. Trends also showed that while SEM is set to become more effective than traditional marketing channels, barriers include a lack of online advertising standards and hands on experience that prevent marketers from embracing them fully. Search engine marketing in Europe Search engine marketing (SEM) trends in Europe reveal a positive picture too. A study conducted by Forrester Research, entitled “Europe’s Search Engine Marketing Forecast, 2004–2010”, predicts that by 2010, European marketers will spend almost 3 Billion Euro on search marketing. This will be a rise from EU856 million in 2004. Research also shows that SEM is set to increase by 65% in 2005 with EU1.4bn being spent on sponsored links and search engine optimization (SEO). This growth spurt may however cool down to a simmer by 2007 as rich media ads begin to dominate the Internet marketing landscape. The UK continues to be the largest online ad market in Europe with SEM forecast to grow to over EU1bn in 2010, up from EU763m at the end of 2005. France is the biggest growth market with 19% of search marketing spend by the end of 2005 and 31% by 2010. Germany follows second with a spend of EU165m in 2004. However spending in Germany will slow down and reach EU399m in 2010 from EU165m in 2004. Growth will be lead by marketers in the travel, finance, auto, and retail sectors. Search engine traffic is only a means to an end Besides all these big numbers and back to the customers, it is important to note that for advertisers, search engine traffic is, typically, only a means and not an end. Lots of targeted traffic from active users in real time is great only if users perform the target action/s of the website (e.g. fill out the contact form, download the demo, register to the newsletter, complete the purchase online, make a comment with the forum, etc.). The few companies that are already engaging in search engine marketing at a professional level know this well and are putting in significant efforts in integrating conversion rate improvement mechanisms and work processes into their web marketing efforts. Surprisingly or not, there are too many times where marketing managers do not know if one channel generated a higher return on investment (ROI) than the other. Furthermore, they usually don’t know how to measure their channel-specific cost per action (CPA) or cost per customer acquisition. The leading companies in the web marketing space have already learned that it is more efficient and ROI-effective to identify how to raise an existing conversion rate from, say, 2% to 4%, rather than paying to buy 100% more incoming traffic. |
