26th August 2005 witnessed the dawn of a new era in internet marketing. Alex Tew came up with an idea which would rewrite the nuances of internet advertising and increase traffic like never before.... and thus was born "Pixel Advertising". Alex Tew put up a website with one million pixels of advertising space for $1 a pixel and use that money to pay for his education. His goal - a million dollars. This so called "silly idea" turned out to be a "brilliant idea" and as I write this article...the search for brilliant idea in google displays the website of Alex Tew within the first three results. Pixel Advertisements have arrived with a bang and has given a new meaning to "Micro Advertisements" in particular and internet marketing in general.Alex Tew launched his inspiration in August 2005 after dreaming it up at his home in U.K. His objective was to make a million dollars through the million pixels. His site has a grid of 10,000 boxes made up of 100 pixels giving an area of approximately 4mm x 4mm each. The idea is that people can buy a 1 or more block/s of pixels, place an image on it and link the image to their site. The cost at his website is $1 per pixel with a minimum of a 100 pixel order.
Pixel sites are internet websites that people have formed to sell pixel advertising space to help market other websites or blogs. The pixels are usually available in 100-pixel 'blocks' (each measuring 10x10 pixels). You will see most homepages divided into 10,000 of these 100-pixel blocks (hence there are 1,000,000 pixels in total). Internet Marketers have dabbled with traffic exchanges, banner exchanges, link exchanges and to add to the internet marketing arsenal we now have a new baby in a pixel advertisements.
Since Alex Tew.... (the originator of "Pixel Advertisements"), several websites have come into existence....and some are still cropping up. Some pixel websites are just playing "me-to" to the original idea of Alex Tew while there are others who have brought about innovative changes in the whole concept. There are websites which are asking buyers to click on a particular number of images and visit other websites on the pixel page before their purchase order is processed. This of course...reminds you of traffic exchanges which still provide free traffic with little effort. Then we have pixel websites taking the concept of link exchanges and asking visitors to put up a link to their pixel website in exchange for a limited number of free pixels. There are pixel websites which are giving away free pixels with the hope that they will get free traffic in the process. However, it goes without saying that there are some pixel advertising websites which are selling pixels ranging from 1 cent a pixel to $ 1 a pixel ....and some of them are making money.
The pixel advertising industry will continue to evolve with more and more pixel websites coming up with innovative ideas enticing visitors to part with their money to buy a pixel or two. The outcome of this "Pixel Advertising phenomenon" is difficult to predict. Perhaps...any of these three things can happen....
1) People will come up with several interesting and innovative ideas based on pixel advertising to keep the pixel advertising industry going
2) People will run out of new innovative ideas and the industry will stagnate but advertisers will continue to use pixel advertisements as a part of their internet marketing strategy
3) The initial euphoria gathered by the pixel advertising industry will slow down and a few years from now....pixel advertising will be dead and no one will remember the concept of pixel advertising in internet marketing
All said and done...the decision has to be taken by the advertiser as to whether the return on investment on pixel advertisement is sufficient enough to warrant such an investment...and even if the advertiser decides that pixel advertisements will be the future, the more difficult decision is to identify the pixel website which will give the maximum ROI.
Check out whether you can be a part of internet history by checking a list of pixel websites providing pixel advertising at http://www.eatsleeptraffic.com/pixelsites.htm and you can also have a glimpse of how Alex Tew is doing right now.
Jayadeep Rath is the founder of a manual traffic exchange - http://www.eatsleeptraffic.com and believes strongly in the power of manual traffic exchanges to make your internet marketing strategy go places. He has a newsletter for sharing internet marketing ideas, innovations, strategies,opportunities and resources with EatSleepTraffic.com community members. EatSleepTraffic.com is a free to join community.
(This article can be published on any newsletter, website, blog or ezine only if the entire article along with live links are placed as it is and no changes are made to the resource box. This article cannot be posted in any site or publication that contains any inappropriate content and this article has to always remain a free article.)
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Pixel Advertisements Redefine Internet Marketing To Provide Free Traffic
Friday, January 30, 2009
Duplicate Content Isnt The End Of The World
So many people are running out buying this software and that software to make private label content unique. Well, it's time to put your credit card away and listen up. You don't have to buy any software or membership. There are just a few things you need to do to protect pages that you place articles or private label content on.
The first thing you should do is always design your own site layouts. Don't use templates that have been used by 100's of other people. This way it ensures that your layout is original, and the search engines wont see it as duplicate content. You'll also need to make sure that the meta tags for each page are different. Have a different title for each page is very important.
Now that you know what to do with the actual pages of your sites, let's talk about making the content unique to your site.
If you're using an article you only have reprint rights to, you can't change the article, but you can: 1. Add your own introduction to the article. If you need more keyword density than the article has put those keywords into the introduction you write for that article.
2. Put text advertising in the middle of your article. Design it so that there is a box around the advertising. By doing this it makes the advertising stick out from the article so there is no doubt it's NOT part of the article to your visitors.
3. Add a comments box under the article where visitors can comment on the article. This allows your visitors to build your unique content for you. Their comments will become part of the pages content.
4. Add your own conclusion to the article. Again, this is another great place to add your targeted keywords to.
If you are using content that you have private label rights to on your sites, you still need to do the same changes that we just talked about to it also. It's easier to change private label content because you can edit it however you would like.
Using already created content is great, but to really succeed with it, you need to take the time to make it unique to your site. Yes, it does take time, but it will pay off for years to come. It will give your sites staying power and those that don't follow the advice here will continue to struggle as their sites get dropped from the search engines.
Liz Tomey is the owner of http://www.AdsenseGirl.com where she reveals several adsense secrets that hundreds of people are using every day to make their sites profitable with Google Adsense ads. Visit her site for the free report!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Consumer Crusader Asks Can Netflix Save America A Lot Of Gas Each Year
With gas prices soaring, reports about global warming increasing in number and foreboding, I'm asking myself how I can save some energy, if only for my own piece of mind?
In a separate article, I mentioned that yesterday was Car-less Tuesday. I gave my ride a day off and did my business by phone and by mail. Today, I carpooled and together, we got our errands done very efficiently.
But there are other ways we can do it.
One of them is by renting our videos through sources such as the Internet company, Netflix.
I don't own an interest in this company and I'm not on their payroll. I am a subscriber to their service and I like it for several reasons:
(1) The cost per video rental is about a buck each;
(2) There are no traditional late fees; and
(3) I'm saving time and fuel by not schlepping to and from my video store.
Let's discuss the last item.
Typically, I'd visit my video store about six times per week; a minimum of three round trips. The store is about 4 miles away, so that means I'd put on 24 city miles per week, burning at least two gallons of premium gas, at a cost of $7, more or less.
Of course, you have to add the time I wasted in driving and in searching the shelves for suitable titles to rent, and that consumed another three hours of my time. Plus, rushing back to return a rental isn't fun or convenient.
The store charges $3.75 per video rental, and half-price on Tuesdays.
Netflix will charge me about $27 a month for the privilege of checking out 4 titles at a time from their collection of 60,000 DVDs. All I have to do is open my mail to receive titles and either leave them for my letter carrier to pick up, or I can drop them in any mailbox, when it suits me. Then, upon receipt of my prior rentals, Netflix will send me four more.
So, for the price of my gas alone, I'm able to rent roughly from 16-24 videos per month, from Netflix.
I love their business model because it's a win/win situation for them and for consumers.
Already, I understand they are one of the largest U.S. Postal Service customers.
If more of us used services such as theirs, can you imagine how much money and gas we could save each year?
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books, over 600 articles, and the creator of numerous audio and video training programs, including "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant-a favorite among salespeople and entrepreneurs. For information about booking Gary to speak at your next sales, customer service or management meeting, conference or convention, please address your inquiry to: gary@customersatisfaction.com
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Keyword Tracking
Keyword tracking allows a site owner to know what keyword searches are resulting in sales. Search term information can be logged into a database and presented to web site owners in a meaningful format. This data can be used to see which keywords are producing the most sales per search and to determine where to focus web marketing.
What Search Engine or Web Site
Knowing what search engine a sale has originated from allows site owners and marketers to know where their efforts are paying off the most. Good tracking and analysis software will also show what web site referred visitors. Knowing what sites are sending the most visitors allows site owners to give special attention to ensuring this traffic continues and increases. Knowing what referrers are generating the most sales further allows a site owner to hone his or her marketing efforts toward site referrals that result in the most sales.
What Keyword Was Searched For
Knowing what keyword searches are resulting in sales on a site allows the owner to focus more on those words. Perhaps you are marketing your site for two main keywords, "air hook widgets" and "air hooks." Using keyword tracking that traces keywords down to the sale ensures that you will know if searches for "air hook widgets" convert into sales more often than visits resulting from searches for "air hooks."
Sales Conversion Ratio of Keywords and Return on Investment
Tracking keyword searches through to sales allows site owners to determine the return on investment. If a web master spends $100.00 on the pay-per-click keyword "air hook widgets" and sells $1000 worth of product, his or her return on investment is likely very good. If the same web site owner spends $100.00 on the keyword "air hooks" and sells $200 worth of product, it is likely that the return on investment was not as great. Of course, if the markup or profit on one product is greater than on another, this must be taken into account.
Cost of Keyword
If a web marketer is using pay-per-click engines, knowing exactly what has been spent on a keyword, and what the return was, allows money to be put where it will do the most. Keyword searches, unlike many advertising mediums, are targeted by the viewer. For this reason, in addition to the accurate return on investment feedback, keyword marketing can be very worth the cost.
Added Benefit of Branding
Marketing your site by keyword in pay-per-click engines means that you will only be charged if a person clicks through your ad to your site. Pay-per-click ads and organic search listings have the often overlooked added value of showing the ad or listing many times over in addition to the clicks the ad or listing receives. Only a small percentage of people are likely to click on a keyword ad or search result listing, yet your ad or listing will be visible time and time again to people searching for terms you have bid on or marketed, increasing your site branding. Nonetheless, care should be taken to generate a compelling key word ad or page description, since in most cases you will want to receive as many clicks as possible.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you are spending money on search engine marketing, it is often well worth the effort to track your keywords through to sales. Without tracking your keywords, you will not know where your efforts are paying off. By tracking your keywords, you are able to put your efforts where they are paying off the most.
Halstatt Pires is an Internet marketing consultant with http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing firm in San Diego offering automated web site systems through http://www.businesscreatorpro.com
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
How To Increase Your Google Adsense Income Overnight
Did you know that the standard Google Adsense advert is not the best and most effective one?
If you've been using Google Adsense already, you'll know that there are different advert formats that you can try on your website.
The most important thing that you can do to improve your Google Adsense income is to increase the click-through rate or CTR
For example,
- 1000 pages visits, with a 1% CTR, is 10 clicks
- 1000 page visits, with a 10% CTR, is 100 clicks
Which would you rather have?
Google Adsense does not allow detailed discussions of actual CTR's but implementing the following hints and tips improved my Adsense income, literally overnight.
If you are using the Leaderboard, Banner or Skyscraper adverts, then you are not using the most effective advert, in terms of CTR.
By using the 336 x 280 Large Rectangle and 250 x 250 Square, you will instantly improve your CTR.
Changing the colours of the text and background of your Google adsense advert can also improve CTR. You can do this by visiting colour palettes on the "Adsense for Content" page.
The standard colour for the Linked Title is a royal blue and the advertiser-url is a green. By changing the Linked Title to a dark blue and the Advertiser URL to a light grey, you will also improve your CTR and hence your income.
If your page background is coloured, then changing the background colour of your advert to match, making the advert blend in on the page, once again improves your CTR.
For further hints and tips on improving your Google adsense income, visit Google Adsense Secrets
This article was submitted by Jennifer Carter, author of How to become an Internet Millionaire
Monday, January 26, 2009
Free Content I Think Not
A lot of websites use ads to make it worth their while to continue, but I have noticed that more and more are starting to rely on donations from their readers. This confused me some-what, because I have always thought of a donation as giving money to a charity (eg. Cure Cancer, Flying Doctors, and Hospitals), and it seems that someone else agrees with me: The Oxford Dictionary. It states that a donation is:
Something that is given to a charity, especially a sum of money.
A charity, not a website that tries to convince people to take their personality test! This made me think that maybe my perspective of a charity is wrong, and that blogs whos entire existence is dedicated to people showing pictures of their children is a charity. So I looked up the definition of charity:
An organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need.
So unless the owners of these sites are homeless, or have some crippeling condition, the word donation is misleading. By giving money to one of these sites you are not 'donating' anything at all. If you have some great desire to hand over your cash to a complete stranger, then give it to something worthwhile, like the Red Cross.
If anybody is any good at web design and scripting, and is willing to create a button to try and promote the ban (not legally, but socially) of phony donations, then I would be happy to support them.
Russ Egan http://s-bend.blogspot.com
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Search Engine Marketing Optimising Your Website For Msn
SE optimisation is a hot topic in internet marketing, so we have written a series of primers on the important factors in getting high search engine rankings. Each search engine is different and different search marketing techniques need to be used to get good rankings on them all.
MSN is the easiest of the search engines to get a competitive listing on. The important factors that need to be considered for MSN are as follows.
On Page
MSN reads and uses meta tags when ranking sites, so proper keywords at an appropriate density should be included. Title and descriptions should also include the keywords prominently and in the exact phrase that you want to rank on.
MSN also looks for keywords in the text and measures the same factors of prominence, density and close to links that Yahoo does.
Off Page
MSN has a high tolerance for reciprocal links and does not seem to apply any ageing or stability criteria to them.
When Microsoft finally decide that they are in the search engine business, things may change. But for the moment the fact is that you can put together a new site, add a few low quality reciprocal links and get a high ranking on MSN relatively easily. That is not always a bad thing. In fact, it is healthy to give new site some traffic and some exposure, to avoid an internet where the rich get richer, in search engine terms.
However the pitfall that I have seen is where sites get a good MSN ranking and then feel that the good Yahoo and the good Google ranking are only a matter of time. Each search engine places importance on different criteria and it measures them in different ways. Some links that get picked up by MSN will never be added by Google. So, celebrate your MSN ranking, but persevere with the search for top quality backlinks. Remember, this is a long term program and it will produce results in the long term.
Mark McCormack is a twenty year veteran of B2B marketing with extensive experience of internet marketing. His business, Markmedia, offers interim managment and consultancy advice in the UK. Their website is http://www.markmedia.org.uk and Mark can be contacted at mark@markmedia.org.uk.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Why Not Using Viral Marketing Could Kill Your Business
Creativity is the one virtue a site must possess to win the race in internet based business competition. With so much competition, many methods of marketing must be employed to stay in the race and win. It doesn't matter if you have a killer product or a web site with awesome web design, if people don't know you exist, you're "dead in the water."
While there are many methods used by e-commerce sites today, one method that's come into its own is called viral marketing which has helped many a site gain an extra boost in popularity ratings. Though the term viral depicts virus in the worse possible way, it isn't what you may think. You do not use a computer virus to spread your business.
Viral Marketing also known as viral advertising is a marketing technique used to build the public's awareness of your product, company, or web site. Many forms of the media are used to reach out to the public without actually promoting the product. The premise is to use methods that are somewhat addictive in nature to get people "hooked" and obligated or amused enough to actually "pass it on" along with the product, company, or web site advertisement.
Basically, marketers ride on the idea that if people like the content of a media enough, they will "pass it on" to their friends, family, prospects, or customers. They sponsor the particular media such as cool flash games, funny videos, amusing stories, or informational reports, which are passed on with the company brand, logo, product description, or any other content to help promote the company or its product.
Viral marketing has become a popular means of marketing and advertising because of the relatively low cost. To avoid being labeled as "spam mail", viral marketing counts on the eagerness of people to pass on the product. If the person sees the name of the person they're familiar with as the sender, they won't block it but, open it instead.
Many companies offer incentives such as rebates and discounts when prospects or customers help in spreading their viral marketing. They rely on the number of recipients viral marketing gets from one person, in determining the amount of incentive they can be attributed with.
The foremost advantage of viral marketing is the publicity and public awareness your site or company receives. You get to generate a traffic flow of potential customers. With a little imagination, some incentives, you can reach out to a great number of people and announce your existence.
Many web sites are now aware of the effectiveness of viral marketing. Along with other promotional methods such as search engine optimization, viral marketing could easily push you ahead in the ratings game. Consider the benefits, increased traffic flow, customers, and revenue increase that could incur from this one marketing resource alone!
As mentioned earlier, viral marketing is a great way to make people aware of your online presence as you get them to pass your advertisement along, like a virus. Many affiliate programs and webmasters offer reports and ebooks centered around their product and in many cases, they offer free branding rights which permit you to "brand" your website and affiliate link into the report or ebook. As you pass these on to your customers, prospects, you increase awareness of your online presence and hopefully increase sales and revenue in the process. As you can see the potential can be phenomenal!
Consider this, many big companies have used viral marketing successfully. A classic example is Hotmail. They were the first known company to employ viral marketing and the rest, as they say, is history. Why not incorporate viral marketing into your marketing and advertising arsenal, imagine the wonders it could do for your web site traffic and revenue!
Copyright 2006
Looking for effective internet marketing tools that work? Maxine Hough has created the ultimate web site of "cutting edge" internet marketing tools designed to increase your site's traffic flow and revenue significantly! => http://www.the-internet-marketing-tool-site.com
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Easy Way Of Getting Free One Way Links
Fact: One way links push your site up the rankings in Google as well as many other leading search engines. Reciprocal linking are by no means 'dead', however when it comes down to using your time effectively, then you will find that you will get many more rewards with greater results in the serps with one way linking.
So now you know that it's going to help, I want to show you a few ways that you can get a head start.
Articles: This is one of the best ways to get inbound links as it also helps to build you a solid and well formed reputation. You can submit articles on a whole range of topics on thousands of article directories all over the internet. For each article that you post you can place at least one inbound link in it that points towards your site. This link can be palace in your 'Author Bio'. Any articles that you submit will want to be 'keyword enriched', which means that it will have to mention several times a term that you think people will use to search for you site. Once you have your article you will need to submit it to some online directories. For this, quantity is just as good as quality. For a better distribution that is done automatically for you I suggest that you use http://www.isnare.com
Directory Submissions: Directories can be found all over the net and they certainly should not be ignored as they are a very important part of any linking strategy. Just like article directories there are thousands out there. I suggest that if you can't be bothered submitting yourself than you can use http://www.best-web-directories.com
One thing to remember is that each link that you get, helps to push you up the Google ranks. Don't go over the top and sit there for days at a time as this will only lead to burnout and you will not get anywhere. Set yourself a goal of submitting to say 10-20 directories and in no time you will have thousands completed.
Richard MacKenzie is an online marketer with a twist. His abilties have been shown in the marketering of his two great sites, one on Hypnotherapy and one on Hypnosis Downloads
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Amazing Power Of Articles To Drive Traffic To Websites
Most experienced marketers are in awe of the amazing power of articles.
Distributed in a consistent and structured submission pattern, they provide a force to drive insane amounts of traffic to any website.
And yet some online enthusiasts shy away from article submission in the mistaken belief that the process is tedious and time consuming whereas nothing could be further from the truth.
Certainly there is something of a learning curve to be negotiated in the matter of creative writing but with the amount of assistance available online nowadays, that is not a problem for anyone requiring tuition.
A sound practice for beginners is to examine how knowledgeable writers tackle the procedure.
1. How they craft compelling headlines
2. How they relate the story seamlessly from the start to the finish
3. How they interlace the text with core keywords
4. How they break up forbidding blocks of copy with bullet points and numbers
5. How they use short chunky paragraphs for ease of reading
6. How they couch the all-important resource box
Studying the output of experienced practitioners opens the gateway to the prime source of creative writing in its application to article composition.
Twenty six funny looking little characters that come together to provide 1984 pages of The Chambers Dictionary with 300,000 word definitions and 215,000 references; they are the fodder for countless millions of letters, books, poems, plays, and articles down the ages and in perpetuity.
They are the colors in the virtual paint box that can be mixed and matched to produce hundreds of thousands of words to communicate and illuminate thousands of online articles.
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
No one can steal a march on beginners when they use these characters creatively and wisely; no one can cheat by adding to or subtracting from the list. And no one can staunch their creativity when beginners capitalize on the amazing power of words to compose articles.
There is no gain without some pain but here is what is in store for beginners who take the trouble to master article composition and distribution:
- Articles establish writers as experts in their particular areas of skill
- Articles help increase sales
- Articles generate floods of website traffic
- Articles increase Google Page Rank
- Articles to boost Alexa ratings
Of equal significance to the aspiring article writer is the choice of submission software; choose the right one and success in attracting traffic is all but guaranteed; chose the wrong one and the result could labelling as an amateur – or worse still, a spammer.
Jim Green is an online enthusiast and bestselling author with an ever-growing string of niche non-fiction hard copy titles to his credit. He has thousands of articles circulating in cyberspace. http://articlesubmitter.howtoproducts-xl.com
Jim Green is an online enthusiast and bestselling author with an ever-growing string of niche non-fiction hard copy titles to his credit. http://articlesubmitter.howtoproducts-xl.com
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Its Evolution Baby
There are those people who come to the web with a solid business plan, a large amount of investment capitol, and a precise strategy for how they are going to leverage the internet and exploit the incredible revenue potential of the cyber-age. Then there are the rest of us.
Millions of people have arrived on the www. with the notion of making their fortunes, and millions more will arrive in the next two years. These hopeful masses hail from the full spectrum of financial status, from six figure earners to minimum wage employees. Likewise, the newbie-networker can be an individual with an extensive background in traditional business, or a high school graduate with no clue about the dynamics of commerce and marketing.
I've observed an interesting progression among those net-marketers who came onto the scene without a road map, and with little idea of how the micro cosmos of internet marketing worked. Or maybe I've just watched my own journey, and it makes me feel better to assume others have shared my experience.
Either way. Indulge me a few more paragraphs, if you will, as I lay out what I like to think of as the evolution of a net-marketer.
Stage One: Easy Money... Not!
Right out of the gate, most people seem to think the internet "levels the playing field", or allows anyone with fingers and a keyboard to generate staggering riches with just a few hours of busy work each week. It usually takes a couple of months for this bubble to pop, but when it finally does, the majority of newbies don't survive the event.
However, when that dark day of realization comes, and it looms evident that one must actually work this business if he/she hopes to see any results, the strong of the networking gene pool sprout their working legs and move beyond the fog of delusion. Supremely confident in the knowledge they have surpassed those lazy sluggards who squeeled and fled at the suggestion of buckling down and putting some hard work in, the survivors of Stage One move onward and upward, where surely they will be rewarded for their tenacity.
Stage Two: Hard Work Doesn't Pay the Server Fees
In Stage Two, our post primordial networkers are laboring tirelessly through the deep thickets of website-construction, traffic-generation, email-list-building, and all manner of grueling and structured tedium. Their behinds sore from being glued to a worn out office chair, and their eyes bloodshot and bleary from the all night clicking sessions, they push on day after day, certain of their forthcoming vindication.
But they still aren't making any freakin' money. And what's more, they are starting to see past the free web hosts, free classified ads, and free trial memberships. All the good stuff seems to cost money, but our Stage Twoers had hoped to put off any kind of monetary investment until they could create at least some kind of income to offset such expenditures.
And so another enormous batch of inferior networkers dies out. The thought of putting some cash into their web-business was more than their fragile little hearts could bear.
But, as always, those more suited to the challenge live on. With a deep breath, and a good look at their monthly budgets, the survivors of Stage Two determine they will invest as much money as needed to keep their operations afloat until they are able to become self-funding marketers.
Stage Three: Throwing Money at it Doesn't Work Either
Enter the golden age of upgrades and paid memberships. Five bucks a month for this. Ten bucks a month for that. Anything with a Paypal button is fair game.
No longer clueless newbies who think this can be done for free, our marketers are in full stride. Buying every ebook that comes down the pipe, upgrading in programs they login to once a month, and hitting every buy now button they can find, they cruise through cyberspace on a mission to buy their way right to the top. "I'm not afraid to spend money on *my* business." they tout.
Lots and lots of money goes out. Considerably less revenue comes back in.
Inevitably, the moment arrives when those who have made it to Stage Three see the folly of their current direction. Maybe it's when the credit card bill comes, or perhaps it happens when they are balancing the checkbook.
Once again, the brutal process of selection strikes down those without the heart for further trials. Uncountable numbers of washed-up, would-be internet marketers sink beneath the sludge of this stage.
And once again, that fraction of the whole with the guts and gumption to keep going grow stronger than ever before. More than a regimen of hard work and the willingness to invest money is needed here, they resolve. On the verge of a real breakthrough (they can feel it in their bones now), those who have thus far refused to fall decide a well devised plan for all future endeavors is in order.
Stage Four: Plan to Fail, Fail to Plan, and All that Other Crap
Plans are drawn up to cover every possible aspect of the game from here on out. A strict but healthy budget is imposed. Daily tasking is fine tuned for maximum effectiveness. Projections are made prior to each ad campaign, and results are measured afterwards. Tracking, testing, brain-storming, and constant attention to the hows and what-ifs become paramount.
This carries on for some time. Until another moment of clarity is reached.
A question is posed...
"Is all of this work really worth the small amount of money I am generating?"
Or, more often...
"How is it that I'm still not making any @#$%! money?!"
This stage progresses rapidly into the next. Many specimens are lost in the transition, but due to the great speed with which Stage Four becomes Stage Five, a surprising number of marketers actually make the jump.
Stage Five: "What the Hell am I Doing Here?"
Here's where it gets ugly. Stage Five is more of a bitter quagmire than part of the evolutionary journey.
Typical phenomenon exhibited by specimens at this stage include verbal outbursts like:
"Lousy bunch of @#$%! stinkin' #$@%!!! I can't <***bleep***> believe I've wasted three @#$#*& years of my @#$%$# life with this <***bleep***> bunch of @!!#$% silly @#$%#@!!!, and still don't have @#$%## <***bleeeeep***> to show for it!"
As you might readily imagine, droves and droves of networkers die out over the course of this stage.
But those who are able to survive this particularly crucial stretch of development will find the arduous journey has paid off. For in the breathless, weary aftermath of their well earned tantrums, an epiphany is born.
Stage Six: The Cold Hard Facts
For the love of cheese fries, this is a business like any other. Hard work, monetary investment,and sound planning are required, but all of these combined are not enough to put you into profit.
You have to know what works, and you have to understand to some extent why it works. Real Knowledge of the market, the methods, and the meaning behind the apparent madness is what makes the difference between a person who works their butt off for nothing, and a person who makes a big, sweaty fortune with the same or less effort.
Nobody cares how much money we invest, or how many hours we spend each day in front of our computer. Competition is fierce, expectations are high, and the only thing that matters is whether or not we can penetrate, deliver, and get the sale.
This is a pretty far cry from what most of us want to hear. But lessons that are worth learning usually have a bitter taste.
Seek out people who are successful in this field, and find out what they are doing. Watch them. Ask them questions. Take notes. Absorb as much knowledge as you can, then put that knowledge into practice.
Tim Whiston is a full-time entrepreneur and internet marketer. He publishes a monthly ezine, and is the author of a popular e-book entitled From Zero to Profit.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Online Business Success Its All Within Your Grasp
Despite any failures or slow starts you may be experiencing or rebounding from right now, don't focus too much on the people you listened to who may have contributed to your current state.
We all rely on "experts" to get ahead. Problem is you never know for SURE if the expert you just listened to is right until what she told you pans out in hard results.
Case studies are nice, but results in your bank account would be better. So there is always a leap of faith when deciding on a plan of action for your online business based upon the input from an "expert."
Many times you fall flat on your face. Whether it is a marketing test, new sales copy, or a new product or service, you can do everything that was recommended to the best of your ability, and sometimes it still doesn't work out.
I will tell you a secret that most experts won't admit: everyone, even the "experts," go through the same exact thing from time to time! We are all in the same boat when it comes to trying and failing. Or trying and succeeding.
Here's what is important when you hit the bottom of a fall from grace: that you dust yourself off and realize that a recent failure has nothing to do with whether or not "it was meant to be" or "this online business thing will never work for ME" or "it's all the "expert's" fault I failed!"
None of the statements above do a thing for your future success. What you need to succeed is out there. All the knowledge you need. All the tools and tactics. All the ideas you need to turn your business 180 degrees and get it back on track for eventual success.
Whether or not you should have listened to the last "expert" is immaterial. What matters is that you learn from what happened and take steps to avoid the same mistake in the future.
The answers or ideas you are seeking are very close. They can be one search away. One "chance" meeting with someone who will be crucial to your business success. Most people get stuck on failure or setbacks and miss the opportunity that was created by that failure.
They take no notice of the opportunity in front of them because of the fog of blame and shame, or the feelings of doubt about whether or not you should even be trying this online business "thing" at all.
Believe me, it is hard to stick to your dreams when everyone around you thinks you are nuts for even trying. It takes a real steadfast resolve to stick it out in the face of failure.
But the people who do, come out on top. Take that to the bank because when failure strikes, and it always does, most people run right back to the security of a paycheck without a backward glance.
These are the bitter folks who stick around the forums and write about how big a "pie-in-the-sky" all this online business success stuff is.
Yeah, tell that to the hundreds of people I work with who are singing an entirely different tune. I work around content site publishers and have associates who are making $20,000.00+ per month without serving a single customer or having to man their business with support people around the clock.
They don't ship products and thus have no inventory headaches. They simply provide a network of information sites and make money with the advertising space on those sites. Good money. Very good money.
Publishing content on a multi-site network scale is something sort of new out there on the net, in internet time. Certainly in real-world time! It is constantly evolving and is still truly in its infancy for potential growth. Growth in billions of dollars, not millions.
The point is this: There are not only the standard, regular opportunities for successful online business models that are still making millionaires right and left. There are also constant developments on the cutting-edge of internet business models.
The opportunity bubble in online businesses of all kinds is expanding at an amazing rate of speed. Like the Big Bang, opportunity is spreading in all directions, across hundreds of online industries.
We all sometimes need to be reminded of this fact in order to get past failures and keep working hard to find our niche. I can assure you that if you work, learn, and stay involved in your online business interests, whatever they may be, that big day will come when certain things fall into place which will change your life dramatically.
Everything you need to succeed is within a few clicks of where you are right now. You just haven't found the RIGHT links yet. But you will if you keep your eyes open for the opportunity when it presents itself.
Copyright 2005 Jack Humphrey
Jack Humphrey is managing partner at Content Desk, Inc. and an online information network publisher. For more information on the new trends in the information publishing industry, check out http://www.contentdesk.com/mardigras
Monday, January 19, 2009
5 Powerful Tips To Beat The Biggest Problem All Marketers Face
I bet you can't tell me... the single biggest problem facing Every Direct Marketer, new and old.
It's not generating traffic, nor building an O'pt-In list, nor is it finding products to market and it's not a lack of Cash.
You can buy traffic, you can buy O'pt-In list members, you can make or buy products and you can even borrow Cash.
The biggest single problem for any Direct Marketer is How To Earn Your Prospect's Trust.
Learn how to earn AND keep trust and you open up huge new Marketing possibilities.
Too many salespeople of doubtful credentials, and too many adverts promising so much and delivering so little have hardened consumers, they no longer trust Marketers and Marketing claims without a great deal of convincing.
So how exactly do you turn a skeptic into a believer ?
Tip #1 - Make Your First Contact Count
Your initial point of contact with prospects is typically
* An advert, in a PPC, a banner exchange, a classified or solo campaign
* An entry in a Search Engine directory,
* Or an article you have written.
Unfortunate as it may be, people do judge others by first contact. If your initial impression of someone is poor, chances are that you will not give them a second look, be it in business or your personal affairs.
Make sure your initial point of contact with all prospects is to your advantage.
This does NOT mean expensive, glitzy or superficial.
It means make your initial contact Sincere.
Keep that one word in mind as you design all your sales and marketing strategies and your Initial Contacts will always be positive.
Tip #2 - Products, Pricing, Promises and Personality
Sincerity in your contacts with prospects comes from applying the (modified) 4 p's of marketing.
* Products
Market the best products you can and never settle for second best. Add value and benefit to your prospect with quality merchandise. Resist the temptation to market "Cost Cutting" alternatives that are in fact more expensive due to their poorer real value.
* Pricing
Price your merchandise at a fair value for the producer, the consumer and the marketer. Over pricing your products is a self defeating tactic because prospects learn to avoid your pitch and with over high pricing you invite competition to under cut your cost and price base.
* Promises
Your sales literature and copy must be accurate and reflect the true benefits of your products and services. This does not mean you should be unduly modest, by all means make big claims, but make sure you can prove and demonstrate anything you promise.
Remember, in this context, any guarantee you give must be more solid than any Banks Vaults and worth as much as the contents of Fort Knox
* Personality
Inject your personality into your contact with prospects.
People love to do business with people they know. Avoid doing things you feel uncomfortable with, but do tell people about yourself, your failures, your wins, your hopes and your fears. Be the human face of you business and build a sincere relationship with prospects.
Tip #3 - Communication
When you get past the initial contact, the next hurdle in building trust is communication with your prospects.
There are several ways to do this
* A sequential autoresponder with relevant messages sent to your O'pt-In prospects at regular AND frequent intervals.
* An e-zine sent out to subscribers with useful information and not just an excuse for another advert.
* Articles showing your prospects how YOU manage your business and personal tasks, tactics and strategies.
Communication is two way traffic. Ask your prospects for input into your professional relationship and how they think you can improve it. Listen to your prospects.
Tip #4 - Credibility
Prospects always seek comfort that they are doing the right thing.
It pays to use "borrowed" credibility if you are not a world recognised expert in your field. This is where testimonials enter the picture.
Here are a few ways in which you can obtain testimonials and build credibility with a new product or service :
* Give a few samples away to a test group in return for the testimonial
* Use functionally disabled or time barred samples as demo versions which you can give away to prospects
* Develop fully functional modules with less features than the standard product and give those away to prospects.
* Develop e-courses and other training programs showing prospects the benefits and training them in how to use and consume your products and services.
Tip #5 - Service
Your prospect's Trust is very hard earned. But this is as nothing when compared to retaining their Trust.
Once a prospect becomes a customer, too many marketers make the fatal mistake of taking that customer for granted.
Post sales service is a crunch time for cementing the Trust you have managed to win with such effort.
Make sure you stay in touch with your new customer. Offer them advice and help in the use of their new product or service. Make sure any potential issues are dealt with before they escalate.
Be available and within easy contact for your customers and prospects.
Relevant Resources
http://www.simplyeasier.com/me.html
Conclusion
As a direct marketer you can buy traffic, you can buy O'pt-In list members, you can make or buy products and you can even borrow Cash.
You cannot manufacture or in any way manipulate trust - Trust is the one thing in your business that must be earned the Hard Way.
Be sincere, do the right things as shown here and build trust with your prospects.
(c) 2004 Charles Kangethe
About The Author
Charles Kangethe of http://www.simplyeasier.com is a leading new wave Netpreneur and a published author from England. The "Simply Easier" brand name is your guarantee of high value, quality Marketing Products, Services and Resources.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Internet Advertising What Is More Effective Expensive Ads Or Cheap Ones
People opt for internet advertising methods because practically half of the world's population knows HTML. If you have your own business, you have to decide on what internet advertising method works for you. Ask yourself what are you going to avail of: the expensive internet advertising methods or the cheap ones? Others will pipe in "expensive!" immediately, but they don't know cheap internet advertising method attracts great benefits as well.
Here's the lowdown and a comparative look on the cheap and expensive internet advertising methods:
The Expensive:
1. Pop-ups. Not only is this expensive, but also outright annoying that visitors close pop-up windows without even bothering to know what they're all about. This is an internet advertising method that you can do without.
Fly ads are derivatives of pop-ups which are also equally irking to the visitors.
2. 1. Pop-ups. Not only is this expensive, but also outright annoying that visitors close pop-up windows without even bothering to know what they're all about. This is an internet advertising method that you can do without.
Fly ads are derivatives of pop-ups which are also equally irking to the visitors.
2. Pod casts.
Broadcast is to TV as pod cast is to internet. It's one sophisticated internet advertising method that can somehow hamper your budget. But if you're thinking results, pod casting is worth the money.
3. Paying the search engines.
How does this one work? When someone types in a keyword related to your site, your URL is automatically included in the first page of the top results. Fixed payment for the search engine allows just that. Expensive, yes, but if we're talking about Google and Yahoo search engines here, then don't give it a second thought.
This is associated with another internet advertising method: the pay-per-click system.
The Cheap:
1. Blogging.
Go along the bandwagon and blog about your website. This is an internet advertising method that is popular as of the moment, so you never have to worry that this will never spur outcome. All you have to do is sign up for a blogging account, post and voila! You don't even need to pay!
2. Submit to not-so-big search engines.
This is cheap and dependable. If you submit your site to smaller search engines, you have bigger chances to get bigger results. Remember that the search engine giants can dwarf and overlook your site easily, so this internet advertising method might just be the right one for you.
3. Text links.
This is not just cheap...this is virtually free! Let someone text link your site and return the favor.
Cheap versus expensive, that's always the question that hounds on whenever we're trying to get something. In the field of internet advertising, just be wise enough to figure out what will suit your needs. Go for what you want as long as there are visible results.
Dr Sami Fab is the founder of OnDemand Ltd dedicated to creating time-saving solutions for the home based, small and medium sized businesses.
You can obtain a valuable series of training emails, completely free of charge, on how to market any home based, small and medium business at: http://www.Autopilot-Business.com
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Planning For Success A Positive Approach
Are you a good or bad planner? Do you cringe at the very mention of the word 'plan'? If you do then you are not alone. Thousands of online (and offline) marketers find themselves in the same position.
A good many of these people may well have never considered a plan of action as part of their daily marketing activities. Others may think they are too busy to spare any time for planning. Still others may feel they do need to plan, can see the benefits to be gained from planning, but don't think their skills or personality are suited to this task.
It seems perfectly clear to me that without planning, the long term success of any business,large or small, is unlikely to be realised!
A plan need not be elaborate. It need not be detailed, but you should at least commit something to paper.
Start off by taking a positive view of planning. Don't just look at it as 'another boring chore I've got to do'. Say to yourself 'This is my plan for success.'
Also consider the following benefits to be gained from good planning:
* you can meet deadlines
* you can meet or even exceed your targets
* you can create a feeling of achievement for each step you fulfill
* you can monitor and control your marketing activities to greater effect
* you can initiate improvements
* you can achieve personal growth and success
Once you have accepted that planning for success is a positive thing, it is then time to think about your goals. And just what do you want to achieve? Why are you marketing this or that product in the first place? Do you know what your short term and long term aims are?
Answering these questions accurately will enable you to take a big step forward to achieving whatever goals you ultimately set yourself. So what are your goals? And how do you plan to achieve them?
The great thing about targets is they give you a way to measure your performance and give you a sense of direction - you are going somewhere. It is important also to consider that in order for your goals to have substance and meaning they should satisfy the following criteria:
* they should be achievable
* they should be measurable
* they should be challenging though NOT impossible
Here are THREE achievable, measurable and challenging goals that Bill, an Ezine owner, has set himself:
* to get 200 subscribers within the first three months following launch * to ensure that AT LEAST 70% of subscribers are still in place after 6 months * to increase the number of subscribers by 800 in the year following the initial 6 month target
What three goals relating to your business can you think of that meet the above criteria? Write them down.
Now let's look more in depth at each of Bill's goals to see how he can evolve an Action Plan that will enable him to meet each goal in a systematic, cost-effective way.
In order to work out the Action Plan he should consider a set of specific questions he should ask. These questions are:
When should this happen? How is it going to be carried out? Who is going to do it? How much is it going to cost?
GOAL ONE: To bring in 30 subscribers
WHEN: Within the first 30 days
HOW: By advertising in Ezines, on PPC Search Engines, via opt-in email lists, and via other media such as Classified Ad sites and also offline via magazines and periodicals
WHO: In the first instance Bill himself and then by others as the subscriber base grows
HOW MUCH: The budget is under $50 a month
Bill's next step is to start to put together the Action Plan in more detail. This is a very important stage of the overall plan because it focuses on specifics:
* how many hours is he going to devote?
* which specific advertising media is he going to use and how often?
* which advertisements is he going to use?
When getting down to the nitty gritty of executing his plan, Bill will try to keep in mind:
* his daily advertising routine (stick to it)
* whether he is keeping to the budget
* his target
When considering your own marketing campaign always think to yourself that EVERY day you follow your Action Plan is a step closer to the achievement of your goal!
Copyright 2005 Robert Evans
Bob Evans has been doing business online since October 2000. He utilises a powerful marketing action plan of his own to generate targeted traffic to any website: http://www.market4profit.net/marketing-action-plan.php
Friday, January 16, 2009
10 Highly Effective Strategies To Grow Your Online Business
You came up with excellent online business ideas, and you have now executed them, launching your online business. It has been your goal for a long time to have your own home based part time business. Now that you have it, it is time to make it grow. The best way to make your home-based online business grow is through a strategy that will enable you to know your customers and market, and gradually build on that to expand your business.
If you chose the option of selling products as your business, or promote other people's products there are several important issues to consider.
1) During the early days of your online business, do not overwhelm yourself trying market too many products/services. Try to focus on a single product or two to sell, or at least a niche of related products. It may me tempting to take huge steps at first, but try the less risky approach first just in case you want to change your plan. You will profit and benefit better if you implement your overall business plan in small gradual steps. By starting in a small and concentrated way, you are able to have a good idea of the real market potential, the specific targeted customers, and thus identify ways to grow the business, based on what you have tried and tested.
2) Once you have a product that is a big hit with your customers and the market potential looks favorable, begin to expand on this product. Offer items that give diversity to your product line, or offer similar items that are targeted for a different but related customer group.
3) When you expand your product line, try to keep your existing customers, as well as consistently getting new ones. Your existing customers already know what to expect from you. If you keep on offering products that still appeal to them, this will help your online business. It is also equally important to constantly build a long list of potential customers, as these are critical for your business' future success. You can do these through various means, for example, having a newsletter on your website to which potential customers can subscribe to.
4) Do not hesitate to ask someone for help in operating your online business or getting some specific aspects of your business organized. They can be an employee of yours, an intern, an online business expert, an independent contractor, or even your children. This will help free up some of your time to concentrate on other aspects of your business. This gives you an opportunity to begin looking into online network marketing.
5) Your web site must effectively promote and advertise your home based online business. The internet has many different avenues to advertising, and you will need to choose which marketing strategy is best for you.
6) Join forces with affiliate programs. Affiliate programs are simple. Sellers offer a basic percentage of the sale, or a flat fee, to people who refer a customer to them. You will receive an affiliate ID so you know where the referral resource came from and receive appropriate remuneration as stated in the affiliate agreement.
7) Target other markets. If you market mostly to teenagers, begin to market to college students. Or you can begin to sell your items wholesale and in bulk. Even though the price of the items will be lower, you will be able to sell more products.
8) Try various online and offline strategies to market your business. You may want to try e-mail newsletters or doing guest speaking functions.
9) Consider transforming your business into a franchise or a business opportunity for other people to join you. If your business is one that can be converted into a business format that someone else could operate, you may want to consider it being a franchise. If it is one that you only have standardized products or services that someone else could resell multiple times, then it may be a business opportunity.
10) 'Get the word out' about your business or website as much as you can. Advertise, participate in related forums or write some articles in order to create links to your business' website.
By following these simple measures, you can see a growth in your business.
Copyright 2006 Nikki Mhlanga
To find the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: http://www.Smart-HomeBiz.com
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The High Cost Of Not Having An Online Marketing Strategy
B2B and industrial companies are slow to embrace online marketing. It's a curious reluctance given that online marketing is performance-driven, pays for itself, and consistently delivers new, qualified business that can mean dramatic increases in sales and growth.
So, why are some companies sometimes reticent about using online marketing when the benefits in terms of exposure and revenue are so substantial? We thought we'd seek out those with the answers.
Direct From the Source
We talked to CEOs and Marketing Managers of companies that have embraced online marketing. These industry leaders are quick to confirm that Internet marketing more than pays for itself. In addition, in a short period of time online marketing has become a critical, indispensable channel for generating customer awareness and sales directly enhancing the bottom line.
The message from industry insiders clear: The risk involved with online marketing is small. The rewards are infinite.
We asked a number of your B2B colleagues what it would have cost them to delay embracing the power of online marketing. This is what they had to say.
Lost Business
Experts agree that online search has become the primary source of information for those making B2B buying decisions. Most business consumers first turn to a search engine during the investigation phase of their buying process, and just about all of them will use the Internet at some point during the decision-making process. That's right. Nearly all of them.
That's a staggering fact, and those who have taken advantage of online marketing know this trend is some of the best news in decades for companies willing to exploit the new ways businesses do business.
The reliance on search in the buying process means your company has never had a better opportunity to reach and capture new business. But it also means that every day you wait means business lost to your competitors.
Online Marketing Pays for Itself
Industry pros understand the bottom line and the need for measurable returns on any investment, especially when it comes to spends for advertising and marketing. They also understand that online marketing is one of the few methods guaranteed to pay for itself.
Online marketing, specifically paid placement and search engine optimization, have a proven track record in giving companies the highest returns of any vehicle in their marketing mix.
In addition, online marketing is a low-risk proposition because it's based on performance. You pay only if a potential customer clicks on your ad. Utilizing that system, the cost of acquiring a customer is dramatically reduced.
Those in the know insist online marketing generates 20-50% of the qualified sales leads in industries that have traditionally relied on sales prospecting, word-of-mouth and trade shows.
The numbers don't lie. What is your company waiting for?
Competition
Everyone wants a competitive advantage, but even tried and tested methods can't keep pace with the monumental strides being made with online marketing.
With online marketing, you can fend off your competitors and dominate niche markets. The Internet creates a level playing field where businesses of all sizes can compete. Anyone can stake a position as a leader. What would it be worth to your company to be in that position?
And here's another insight we heard from B2B pros. One of the unique benefits of the Internet is that is affords smaller businesses the chance to appear bigger than they are. Online, a three-person operation can look slicker than an international conglomerate. You can turn this to your advantage with a minimal investment of time and money. Indextree can show you the way.
So, why is it important to dive into the world of online marketing now? The hard fact we hear from B2Bs is that once a company entrenches itself in a certain arena online, it's hard to dislodge it. At the moment, in most industries, search rankings and market dominance aren't set yet. They will be, and it will cost you more down the road to accomplish what you can accomplish now with far fewer resources.
As in most areas of business, in the realm of online marketing, it pays to act decisively..
Online Buyers are Ready to Buy
Those who have reaped the rewards of online marketing will attest to the fact that customers who research and compare products and services online are much more predisposed to buying. It's just the nature of the medium. Much of your job of selling is done by the time someone reaches your Web site.
In the world of online marketing, your customer is already looking for your product. They're actively looking to do business with someone. That someone should be you.
New competitors
It's not something you like to think about, but they're out there, and they're after your business. New players are entering your market every day, and they're capturing your market share.
The tools we're talking about are a double-edged sword. If you don't capitalize on the benefits of online marketing, do you think your competitors will hesitate to do so? Aggressive, upstart companies are pulling out all the stops, exploiting economies of scale and using online marketing to extend their reach.
Don't just wait and watch while these companies erode the fiscal health of your company. Can you really afford to have these competitors encroach on what you've fought so hard to build? It's time to reclaim what's yours, and online marketing is the answer.
Commoditization
Trust us, we don't just throw around big words because it makes us feel smart. The Internet has given customers an unprecedented ability to shop and compare, often reducing the buying decision to price alone. But this "commoditization" of products doesn't do your company justice, and your bottom line may already be suffering because of it.
What's the answer to the problem of commoditization? How do you distinguish yourself? How do you communicate your differentiating qualities to potential customers?
Online marketing provides an excellent vehicle for branding and also allows you to capture potential customers earlier in the buying process.
Quality business interactions are more than just a price point. Be heard. Stand out. Reap the windfall.
Build Buyer Awareness and Drive Traffic
Here's the ugly truth. Many manufacturers and distributors don't do a great job with their Web sites. We hear this time and time again not only from the CEOs and Marketing Managers, but also from consumers.
Site visitors are often frustrated by poor online marketing practices. In fact, studies show two-thirds of B2B site visitors complain they don't find what they are looking for, and almost half never return to the site as a result. Now, we're not saying yours is one of those sites. But are you sure you're turning Web site traffic into sales consistently? What impression are you giving potential customers when they visit your site? Are your customers telling other potential customers how professional and easy-to-use your site is?
Online marketing has a lot more to do than simply having a visually appealing Web site. It's more than simply buying keywords and hoping they'll bring you more business. Buying unqualified leads from unknown sources is often like putting your money into a kiln.
Effective online marketing requires knowledge, strategy, implementation, monitoring, and follow-through. Those are the skills and qualities we pride ourselves on at Indextree.
The High Cost of Waiting on the Sidelines
As you read this, there's a good chance your competitors are working on their online marketing strategies. It's even possible they're making inroads into capturing key customer segments you may never be able to recapture.
Is business good right now? Sure. Is it great? Could be better. With an effective online marketing strategy, it could be great.
So, what's it costing you to wait?
Take it from those who have seen the benefits of online marketing firsthand. Standing on the sidelines has never been so costly.
By Lawrence Johnson, the CEO of Indextree, Inc.
Indextree helps manufacturers and distributors dominate their markets by designing and implementing winning lead management, online marketing, search engine optimization and pay per click strategies. Call 1.800.670.9950 to speak to an Indextree Online Marketing Expert.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Benefits Of Internet Press Release Distribution
Press releases have always been a great way to get your name in front of media professionals. With the internet, however, your press releases can be exposed to even more readers. Entire websites are devoted to press release distribution and these services provide an affordable, even free, method of injecting your information into the internet.
Realistically, many press releases do not generate big front page articles or become the latest buzz on the internet, but the internet remains an important outlet for press releases. A great aspect of issuing a press release on the internet is that even if it does not prompt a reporter to write an article, the information will get published at various websites and be read by hundreds or perhaps thousands of people. This certainly is an awesome improvement upon simply sending a press release to a newsroom where it might be read by an editor or reporter before being forgotten.
Major benefits of distributing press releases online are enhancement of your chances of being picked up by search engines, other websites and bloggers will publish your press release, and the best part is that your press release will contain your website address. Spreading links to your website is important to grabbing the attention of search engines. It will even generate additional traffic to your website as readers click on the link.
Companies that offer online press release distribution can be located by doing internet searches for press release distribution or news release distribution. The cost of using these services ranges from an option to submit a press release for free up to paying hundreds of dollars. Examples of such companies are www.free-press-release.com and www.prleap.com.
Having some type of news to announce is essential before issuing a press release, but any business should have something new and important happening at some point. Otherwise, business is pretty bleak. Examples of news items that a business can announce are release of new products, good sales growth, landmark anniversaries, hiring of new talent, winning of awards, and expansion or redirection of business activities. Or, maybe you just have some good timely information to offer.
Press releases provide good content to add to your website as well, and with a little care, they can even be keyword rich for search terms you are trying to capture. Press releases also make your organization look important and exciting. And your news always has the potential to catch the eye of a journalist and generate additional publicity.
Tracy Falbe is the author of both fiction and non-fiction books and ebooks on a variety of topics. Her latest ebook Creating Publicity with Free Online Press Release Distribution explains how to write press releases, how to integrate them in a marketing plan, and the ebook identifies companies that offer free and low cost distribution. http://www.falbepublishing.com
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Relation Between Internet Marketing Education And Profits
Many people join internet business opportunities online blindly. By this I mean they join everything that promises them fast bucks and then one to two years later are dejected and unhappy at their dismal returns online with regards to their capital outlay in terms of time and money. Thus the most important thing you need to do today is to get a proper education in internet marketing. The co-relation is clear the internet is all about information and by learning how to package information online you will make more profits from your internet business no matter what you are promoting.
Now before you start running of to purchase a course online from any of the internet marketing gurus you need to know what kind of knowledge you need to pick up. Ask an internet marketer and many answers will come out. This article will highlight some of the more important skills that you can start reading up on. Always figure out first what area of marketing you want to do and focus on that area. Learn how to succeed in one area then proceed to another area to diversify your internet income.
Copywriting
The art of direct response marketing online as taught by the Gurus like Dan Kennedy are actually adopted from Direct Response Marketing offline. Before you go and purchase a product from some of the best internet marketing gurus online. A simple solution to this would be to head down to your library and read up all you can on this subject offline. Once you gain a good appreciation of the underlying concepts behind the "headline, the body, the Call to action" then you would be able to appreciate online salesletters much better.
That said, if you have no product that you are promoting at the moment, then copywriting will have no relevance for you. Promoting Affiliate products with sales letters may not be that good as Ken Evoy says if your visitor reads two salesletters in a row, your sales clickthroughs will plummet.
Search Engine Optimization ("SEO")
Once you have a website that has good ad copy, you want to learn how to drive good quality and targeted website traffic to your website. A good website that any aspiring internet marketer can spend time learning and reading from is http://www.seochat.com. A good grasp of SEO can boost your online profits many fold.
Spend time learning the difference between single links and reciprocal links. It may be actually worthwhile sometimes to pay for someone from India to do SEO work for you so that you can spend your time doing other things. Someone recently gave me a quote for US$400 per month to do link exchanges for several websites at a time. This SEO actually could do 500 links in day as he heads a team of workers who live and breathe SEO work in India. Outsourcing can reduce your bills and give you better value if you find the right SEO to work for you.
Niche Adsense Portal Building
Some people conclude that they do not want to molly cuddle downlines and do not want to write sales letters. They then start purchasing software which allows you to build keyword specific websites. Satya's program like Niche Portal Builder and Arnand Morin's directory Generator are such programs. Google and the other search engines started delisting these websites after a while because of repetitive content. So the solution is to mix rss feeds with these websites. All this is very high level marketing and the best way to figure all of these things out is to go to the various internet marketing forums to read all you can and ask questions.
Internet Business Opportunity
The reason why I put this here in the list of things you would want to learn about is that internet business opportunities like internet mlms are good in that they provide you with the sales letters and followup systems. Your focus in these programs to make money therefore is to work on generating good amounts of website traffic to the company given websites. Such income is residual so that is why internet marketers like Stone Evans promotes his website so that he gets more and more money each month from his online business. Total automation is what you are looking for and website promotion is what you have to learn.
In conclusion, internet marketing is a very wide area, by spending one weekend per topic mention above, you will be able to get a good overview of what area of internet marketing you want to venture into and start making money from that particular area. No one is a generalist, always be a specialist in one area and you will see your internet marketing income skyrocket.
Joel Teo is the successful owner of several successful internet business ventures.Click here to learn how you can start your own successful internet business today. http://www.massive-profits-online.com
Copyright © 2005-2006 Joel Teo the Coolest Guy On The Planet
Monday, January 12, 2009
Web Site Incentives And Visitor Optin Your Vital Followup Opportunity
Carve this in stone.
Stamp it on your forehead.
Repeat after me...
"My primary marketing goal for my web site is to provide visitors with a strong reason to opt-into my email list."
Yes, you'll have additional goals and objectives, but this one is first. Always.
Why? It's simple. No matter how well your site is designed. No matter how well it is written. No matter how long or short is it. No matter how good your products or services are... visitors RARELY buy on their first visit.
They also don't remember your website for very long.
Sorry, but that's the nature of an environment where it is so simple to 'move on' to something else in a matter of seconds.
Think about it. How many times have you found yourself on a web site, and you had no idea how you got there. Now, add to that, what do you remember about the 6 or 8 or 10 web sites you visited in the previous 30 minutes? Not much probably.
Geez... that sounds rather hopeless doesn't it?
It can be, IF you don't have:
* A clear priority objective (getting them to opt-in)
* A compelling headline/copy to STOP prospects from clicking away
* A strong offer in order to earn their email address for follow-up
Even if they only stay for 30 seconds (and that's good), IF you get an email address, you have been successful. Now you can follow-up with them, invite them back to the site with an offer, and simply have a way to stay in touch.
9 times out of 10 this is how visitors become customers - by building a relationship sharing valuable information via email.
Now before there's any confusion, this isn't unsolicited email or SPAM, as it's commonly referred to. Remember, they gave you permission by opting-in. There is a MAJOR difference. In fact, it is THE difference.
On top of that, you will always provide in your follow-up email an option to 'opt-out' if they want. In this way, you not only play by the rules, you let your email list recipients know that you respect their privacy.
Tim Genster is a 20-year marketing communications professional, Certified 'Guerrilla Marketing' Coach and Certified Master Web Copywriter, based in Connecticut. Get his FREE, Proprietary, 34-Point Evaluation of your current website's 'selling power' at: http://www.local2global.biz
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Accelerate Online Sales
Many companies believe that the process of optimizing your website by adding keywords to the content, title, and meta tags is the silver bullet to generating sales leads.
That isn't an optimized site.
Driving prospects to a website is only the first step in a successful search-engine-optimization program. Unfortunately, 90 percent of businesses only focus on this first step, while a successful online campaign actually has three critical components:
- Drive prospects to your website.
- Keep them there by creating a compelling benefit-based message.
- Generate sales leads, ensuring the site turns visitors into customers.
Search engines provide an opportunity to increase sales leads by 25%-50% in the first months provided your website follows site optimization and web usability best practices as outlined below
Assess your audience and identify what actions lead to sales.
- Success lies in understanding your customers. Who are you trying to attract? What content would attract each of these key audiences? How can you encourage website visitors to interact with your company?
Talk to sales. Identify the best type of lead for the sales team. Take into account how the salespeople describe your products and services to prospects, and the objections they receive.
- Evaluate customer buying cycles and potential "call-to-action" items that could be incorporated onto the site to engage prospects. Do you have relevant content for prospects that are in the early research stages? Do you also have relevant content for those ready to engage with your sales team?
Assess your site.
- Evaluate the content on your website based on the needs of your audience. Do you have content for all audiences? What types of content will keep prospects on your website?
- Research the competition. Review the websites of your top competitors and assess how well they rank in the search engines for your top search phrases. Identify competitors that you may not even know about by using the "similar sites" feature in Google. Search engines know what sites are similar based on the site's content and the links pointing to a site.
- Assess your website traffic activity. Where is the traffic coming from? How many visitors leave after viewing the home page? How long do visitors stay on your site? What are the top search phrases used to find you? What is the most visited content?
Identify the right keyword phrases.
- Identify the most valuable keywords for your company based on relevance and popularity. Being found for unpopular search phrases is of little value.
- Think like your prospects. Understand how they would conduct searches for your products and services. There are several ways to identify the right keyword phrases:
- Brainstorm with existing customers.
- Analyze website statistical data.
- Review site search results.
- Research keywords with special tools and search engines.
- Explore competitors' websites.
- Test with a Pay-per-Click (PPC) campaign.
- Research the popularity of your search terms and the competition for those same words. Good tools for this are Wordtracker and Overture.
Optimize your site.
- Create keyword-rich title and meta description tags.
- Optimize each web page for two to three keywords, using your keyword phrases in a natural way.
- Include keywords in internal anchor text links.
- Include an extensive site map and link to it from the homepage.
Track performance and re-evaluate.
- Your company will spend considerable resources creating its online lead-generation program.
- There are multiple ways to evaluate effectiveness including the:
- Number of unique or new visitors
- Increase in the rankings of your site for top keyword phrases
- Opt-in email sign-ups
- Information requests by phone or email enquiries
- Visitors taking online product tours or signing up for webinars.
Getting a prospect to click on your listing in a search engine is only the first step in an effective online lead generation program. What happens after they arrive on your website is just as important as how they get there.
Rosemary Brisco of ToTheWeb, LLC creates customer-oriented websites designed to attract qualified sales prospects from the search engines. Their clients include venture capital firms such as Mohr Davidow Ventures, Selby Ventures and Mayfield Fund, as well as organizations such as Stanford University, Adobe, Kodak and numerous Silicon Valley start-ups.
Written by Rosemary Brisco © 2005
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Why Would I Want To Market On The Internet
When starting a business or looking into an area to market to it is essential to investigate that market. You are saying ya ya I have heard this over and over. So why the internet?
From the reading that I have done to date (2005) regarding the internet and the number of businesses and users who use it, I must say it is nothing short of incredible.
The internet boasts some 55 million web sites on line. That number is supposed to hit the 600 million mark by the year 2010 and beyond. Incredible. And the actual user/buyer base will be well beyond 600 million. Do you understand what this means. That kind of market is astounding. The potential of accessing it and marketing to it is very great.
With some decent regulation and policing which is needed to protect businesses and indivduals from fraud, the sky is the limit you might say. So why would you want to market on the internet. Aside from what I stated above which are very good reasons, here are some very powerful reasons that are to be considered as well.
A biggy here is the cost to get started. You can put together a very small budget to start with and if you stick to it and stay consistant you will see results. One of the best ways to get started and get your feet wet is to become an affiliate and market an affiliate business or product. This way you can learn alot of the things you need to know and do in order to be successful online. Once you have mastered some strategies and you have gotten to know your way around you can apply what you have learned to other project businesses of your own creation.
Another very good reason is the amount of people that can be targeted with your advertising. You would be hard pressed to get hundreds thousands or even millions into your hardware store in a month or your candy store or pet store. But an online store could have millions visit it in one month.
And then there is the selling factor or face to face networking with potential customers. Alot of people will not take the step into owning thier own business because they can not or do not do well marketing or selling to other people. So the internet is a great place to build a presence that does not rely totally on ones selling abilities alone. In fact some people might build a presence that reflects a personality that they could otherwise never pulloff face to face with a customer.
One of the best reasons which goes along with the small budget aspect is that you can test your ideas quickly and inexpensively on the internet. This is key because you do not sink alot of your money in until you see that it will work.
So the point is that the internet is a very large (and getting larger every day) arena for business. It is dynamic and fun. It takes work like any thing else worth doing and the potential for success is huge and not just monetarily either. It is a great place to share information and ideas too.
To Learn More Home Business Tactics Visit:
http://home-business-tactics.blogspot.com
About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
Copyright © Bryon Zirker Bryon Zirker is an Entreprenuer who is interested in
starting internet businesses. Bryon has owned offline
and online businesses for over ten years.
http://home-business-tactics.blogspot.com
http://www.easyworkathomebiznow.com
--------------------------------------------------
Friday, January 9, 2009
Sending A Joint Venture Proposal
When forming a joint venture with another business, your most important step is the approach you use when contacting your potential business partner.
Participating in a joint venture with another prominent business can be extremely beneficial to ones business. The biggest reason why most webmasters do not get a reply back when sending a proposal, is the approach they use.
I cannot begin to tell you how many proposals I personally have received that get deleted almost instantly. There are some that address the proposal with "Dear Webmaster" or as simple as just "Hi". Some do not tell me anything about themselves or their business (I guess I'm suppose to guess at this one). While others may be run-on, have misspellings, or just plainly unprofessional.
A joint venture is not as simple as lets say a link exchange. It requires a little more research and commitment by both parties.
Although you can send a joint venture through standard mail, consider sending your proposal by email in your first approach. If they have provided their phone number in their contact information, let them know that after a few days, you would like to follow up with a personal phone call to go over the details. Stipulate a time frame that you would like to call and asking them to reply back if the time frame is inappropriate.
Here are some guidelines when sending a proposal by email:
Be precise and clear with your proposal.
Make sure to personalize your email by using their name.
Write an email that shows professionalism and trust.
Complement the positive points you found on their website.
Include information about yourself, your website, your customer base and the services and products you offer.
Point out how you feel your customer base would have an interest in his/her products or services, as well as their customers having an interest in yours.
Highlight how both of you can benefit financially from this joint venture as well as gain added exposure.
Be sure that all spelling and grammar is correct.
When contacting a potential business owner on a joint venture, the key is to highlight the financial benefit to both parties.
If you are approaching a joint venture whereas the other party is just an endorser of your products, (such as an ezine publisher) a larger percentage of each sale should go to the publisher. In this case you have to keep in mind that they are doing all the work while endorsing your product to his/her established customer base.
Once you have found a party that is willing to form a joint venture with you, you may want to consider putting an agreement in writing and getting it signed by your new business partner. Just make sure you outline each of the terms in the agreement, such as precisely what you both agree to, terms, commission, time frame of the venture, how each of you are to get paid, etc.
John Kovacs is the CEO and founder of "A Home Business Opportunity". His website mainly focuses on supplying free marketing tips, resources and support for home startup businesses and Internet marketing. To get a step-by-step guide in building an online business, visit http://www.ahomebusinessopportunity.net
Thursday, January 8, 2009
4 Reasons Why You Need Testimonials To Sell More
The other day I was writing a sales brochure for a West Coast manufacturer. As I got to what I'll call the "proof" section of the brochure, I was rummaging around for testimonials. The company already had a full-blown Web site and a solid PowerPoint presentation. So I was hopeful that I'd find some ready made testimonials or at least some material I could use to create some.
As it turned out, they had one case study with a couple of customer quotes. I pieced together the material to create one measly testimonial. It was less than adequate.
Well, maybe it's no big deal. After all, I wrote strong copy. Why even bother with testimonials? I'll give you four good reasons.
1. Credibility
Testimonials give your company, product, or service credibility. Everyone is bombarded with advertising messages every day. It's a brutal marketplace. If you want to sell something to somebody, you stand a much better chance if you can convince them that you're credible. Testimonials are like references on a resume. They're the people who vouch for you.
2. Identification
Your prospects identify with your customers who are providing the testimonials. They have similar concerns, problems, hopes and desires. They commiserate. This is good. You want this in your marketing. (Sorry, but your prospects don't identify with you. Not really. You're trying to sell them something!)
3. Proof
Proof, alone, is reason enough to gather and use testimonials. This is where your customers say, in effect, "They're right, Mr. or Ms. Prospect. They can save you 50% ... or make you feel 18 again ... or make you enough money to retire at 50. They did it for me and I'm thrilled!" Testimonials notarize your marketing speak.
4. Closure
Testimonials help close the sale. Sure, they can be used throughout a marketing piece. But they definitely come in handy toward the end. You've introduced the problem or need, your product or service, the features and benefits, and more. Then you line up your testimonials, all the customers whose heads are nodding and saying, "Yep, it worked for me." Soon after, you ask for the order.
For many reasons, testimonials give your prospects the confidence they need to buy from you for the first time. And once your prospects turn into new customers, the door to repeat sales swings wide open.
(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel
Neil Sagebiel is a veteran copywriter who has served clients such as Microsoft, The Seattle Times, Lucent Technologies, March of Dimes, Airborne Express and Unisys. To sign up for his FREE expert tips to help you write better and sell more, visit http://www.neilsagebiel.com
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
10 Rarely Used Bonuses That Can Triple Sales
1. Announcement Alerts - Give customers e-mail alerts about critical information or product releases before your non customers find out about it.
2. Discounts - Allow your customers to get lower prices on your products and other related products other businesses sell.
3. Expert Call Ins - Set up a date and time when your customers can call up and talk directly with experts that are related to your industry.
4. Private Invitations - Give your customers private invitations to customer events that non customers cannot attend.
5. Online Rolodex - Compile a list of web sites or online contacts that are related to the product. You could publish it on CD-ROM or on the web.
6. Archived Information - Bundle together some older information that's no longer available. It could be e-zine back issues, articles, transcripts, etc.
7. Mentor Program - Give your customers unlimited consulting with their purchase. Allow them to contact you by e-mail, phone, fax, in person, etc.
8. Audio/Video E-zine - Give customers an upgraded version of your e-zine in online audio or video format. Non-paying customers could only get it in e-mail.
9. Freebie Announce Board - Offer your customers a message board were they can announce freebies they offer from their web site.
10. Barter Discussion List - Offer your customers the option of joining a barter email discussion list. They can barter goods and services with others.
About the author:
Rojo Sunsen is a specialized bounty hunter who prefers to work quietly/confidentially for the benefit of her clients.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Show And Tell Your Visitors
Often site owners ask the question and wonder how they can increase the conversion of their website visitors to sales and/or leads. The answer is pretty simple in most cases.
Call to action elements on your site in the right places can help tremendously.
Website visitors are similar to traditional consumers, they want a quick fix and they want to find things easily.
If you've ever been to the grocery store and noticed that the "hot" items or impulse items are strategically placed at the end of the aisles and near the checkout counter you are probably getting the idea of where this is going.
Those items are placed prominently and in specific locations of the store for a reason. They are seen! And more times than not, they are sold. This is the exact same principle that should apply to your website.
Placing a "Buy Now" button or similar at the top and bottom of your pages is good. Placing "Click Here" links within the text of the pages is also helpful. You see, it is these call to action elements that entice visitors into becoming sales and/or leads. Just like the placement of the impulse items in a grocery store. Show and tell your visitors where and what you want them to do.
For optimal opportunity at turning your website visitors into sales and/or leads, I recommend placing these call to action items on your site. Make it easy for your visitors to find the "Buy Now" button. Place these items high and low on the page and within the text of the page as well. Doing so will allow you to capture your website visitors eyes no matter where they are looking on the page. You might just convert a few more visitors too!
About The Author: Kevin Gee is a certified SEO specialist through Coastal Carolina University and has been performing SEO strategies since 1998. He is currently employed as Internet Marketing Manager at JUMP Internet Marketing.
RSS Feed (xml)
