Internet Marketing

Online Internet Marketing – 3 Top Tools And Services For An Effective Internet Marketing Solution

2008-04-28T01:07:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows the Internet is growing exponentially and continually evolving. The major players in the continual evolution of the Internet are the major search engines and consumer generated media such as blogs. Because of the continual changes, a well rounded Internet marketing strategy must include a variety of proven marketing options to ensure success. I will outline 3 of the most effective Internet marketing solutions available and how they relate to your marketing strategy.

SEO Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the first because the free advertising afforded by the search engines is partly determined by on-page optimization techniques. With thousands of new Websites being created daily, the competition for a listing on the first search result page is increasingly saturated for the popular keywords. Statistics show better than 75% of people only look at the first search result page, and a similar percentage only click on the top search listing.

In order to compete effectively, a Web page must be designed around a keyword or more effectively, a keyword phrase. The keywords should be included in the page’s title, keyword META tag, page’s description, the first heading (using the H1 HTML tag), throughout the body of the page and within the last 25 words on the page. These are just a few of the basic SEO on-page options that although will not guarantee a first page listing, are definitely required as a starting point in an effective Internet marketing strategy.

In most cases, there is too much competition for certain keywords such as “golf clubs”. A better strategy would be to use “golf clubs Chicago” or “handcrafted golf clubs”. The more specific you make your keyword phrase the better. A number of free tools are available that will show the popularity of keywords and how often they are used in the search engines on a monthly basis. These will allow you to customize your Web page knowing the keyword phrase’s popularity. If you get the first page listing for a keyword with less than 100 searches per month for instance, then it doesn’t matter because your traffic will be very limited.

Link Exchanges

Once the on-page optimizations are complete, the off-page optimization options need to be addressed. Link exchanges are perhaps the best off-page SEO technique available. Google uses an algorithm to determine a page’s rank, which is determined by the number of other sites linking to it; and the QUALITY of the link is a major consideration. Pages are ranked from 1 to 10. The higher the PageRank of the site linking to yours, the better. Sites with a PR7 and above are considered as authority sites and a back link from them will send Google’s spider to your page on a regular basis.

There are a number of ways to get a back link to your site. You can email a request to the Webmaster for a link exchange. If they agree, you would return the favor by placing a link to their site on your page. You can also purchase the link. A number of sites offer this service for a monthly fee. So if you want to quickly get your site listed by Google and the major search engines, then paying for a PR8 back link for a month or two might be well worth the investment in the long run; as new sites are placed in a “sand box” by Google for several months until they prove their longevity.

One back link from a PR8 site is worth hundreds of back links from PR2 or less sites. As a matter of fact, numerous links from low ranking sites will actually be detrimental to your site. Each back link is like a vote for your site. If you have too many low ranking sites voting for yours, Google will be reluctant to reward your site with a higher PR. You have to do your research on the site that offers to link to yours because if they were blacklisted by Google, your site will receive the same fate and you probably will never recover from this.

A PR 4 or 5 is relatively easy to attain. So your best bet is to limit your back links to PR5 and above for the best results. And by all means avoid link farms. Before Google upgraded its algorithm, just the number of back links was considered. But now the actual PageRank of your back link is considered AND the PageRank of the sites linking to THAT page. Links from link farms are now looked upon as basically spam links. You would be better off purchasing a listing in a major link directory like Yahoo or DMOZ. It’s definitely worth the investment as these are authority sites and are a major vote for your site!

Blogs

As previously indicated, consumer generated media is a major factor in the evolution of the Internet. Case in point is the enormous effect blogs had on the last Presidential campaign. A very large percentage of most searches will include blogs on the first page listing. Over 50% of purchases, online and offline are preceded by an online search for more information. And a large percentage of the information is offered by blogs. People are very interested in the opinions of others on their topic of interest.

The major blogs are updated on a daily basis, which is very important to Google’s algorithm, which uses the frequency of updates (daily, hourly and by minute) as a determining factor in the search result ranking. A powerful marketing method used by the major blogs is to submit articles on a particular topic to the major article hubs such as http://EzineArticles.com. The article hub benefits by having continually updated information (which Google likes) where they can place their money making AdSense ads. The blogger benefits by having a back link to their blog in the resource section of the article.

As numerous other bloggers and Webmasters access the article hubs for fresh information, the article can be syndicated virally to a number of sites on the Internet. This creates a number of back links to your blog or your site; generating an enormous amount of pre-qualified free traffic.

In Summary

These are just a few of the more effective online Internet marketing options available. Other options such as auto-responder email, EZine advertising and pay per click advertising should be included in a well rounded Internet marketing strategy. No matter what options you use, you definitely need to start with your on-page SEO techniques. Your listing in the search results will be enhanced by a properly optimized page.

Further optimization must include the off-page SEO techniques such as generating back links with the major site directories, link exchanges and articles submitted to the major article hubs. Using a blog for a reference in your article can be a good thing as people will be more inclined to visit a blog since it’s not a sales page. Once they have received enough information and you have generated their confidence in your opinions, you can end up with a lifetime customer.

By: Sydney Nelson

Affiliate Marketing Without a Website

2008-03-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

Having your own website to promote your affiliate products is a good option. But it is not necessary. There are many methods available that can be used to do your affiliate marketing business. The list is long, but the most important methods are email marketing, writing articles to e-groups, joining online discussions etc. Let us discuss some important methods that can be used to promote your affiliate products without having your own website.

Email Marketing

In this method you can promote your affiliate links and you don’t need your own website. People can click on your affiliate links present in your emails and can go directly to the merchant website to purchase the products.

Your email should contain the introduction about the product you are promoting and your affiliate links. Try to make your emails interesting and brief.

Try to expand your contact list. Use as many methods as you can to grab the email addresses of new people. Use online forums, chat forums etc to make new friends. Your email list must contain a few hundred contacts, at least. But don’t spam. Don’t send emails to the people who don’t know about you or who don’t want to receive your emails. Otherwise they will just block your emails and you will lose your contacts. As I said, your emails should be interesting to get the reader’s attention.

Offline Promotion

You can use the offline methods of promotion, like the classified ads, flyers etc. The best choice is the classified ads because its exposure is largest.

Writing free e-books

It is similar to email marketing. But in this method you will write the informative and interesting e-books and will send to the people via their email address. These e-books should be easy to read and helpful for their readers. The topics should be related to your affiliate products so that you can recommend the products in the body of e-books. Alternatively you can add a brief note about your affiliate products and affiliate links for promotion. If the readers like your e-book, they may visit the merchant website and make a purchase.

Writing in Forums

Search for some forums, at least three, that are related to your product and have high page rank. Register on these forums and start some discussion in the forum where maximum people are involved. Just post your questions there or answer some questions of other members. But don’t add any promotion text in the body of your posts. You are allowed to put your signature at the end of your post. Here you can write you name and your affiliate links.

When you become an active member of this forum then you may get some traffic from these forums to your merchant website through your affiliate links. This will ultimately result in more sales of the products you are promoting.

Writing Articles

You can write articles and publish them in the free article directories. You can embed your affiliate links in the text of your articles. If your articles are well formatted, informative and the article directory has large traffic then you can expect some good traffic to your affiliate links. And you know that more traffic on your affiliate links will result in more sales through your affiliate links.

Conclusion

The use of a website to promote your affiliate products is a good idea but it is not necessary. You can use the alternate methods to promote your affiliate products and links. The most popular among these methods are email marketing, writing to forums, article writing and offline promotion like classified ads. The main idea is that instead of promoting your website you will directly promote your affiliate links and people will directly go to the merchant website by clicking your affiliate links to purchase the products. This way you do not have to pay extra for your website creation and maintenance.

Affiliate MarkeAffiliate Marketing - How to Get Started In 6 Easy Stepsting - How to Get Started In 6 Easy Steps

2008-03-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

Affiliate marketing is an easy to start online business. It is really easy to start but requires hard work to become successful. In this article you will learn the six basic steps that are required to enter in this business. The steps are brief and quite simple. You must follow these steps in order to become successful; otherwise you would not get the desired results.

1. Choose a Market

Why to choose a market instead of product? The reason is quite clear that you would like to put more products in your pipeline. You have to choose a market which suits you. You must obtain detailed information about it.

2. Choose a Product

When you have chosen a specific market, it is now time to select a product. You will definitely want to add all of the products at the beginning, but it is advised not to do this in the start. If you choose too many products in the beginning, you will not be able to focus. Your attention will be diverted to different products. So it is better to choose one product to get best out of it. When you have started getting the sales you desire, then you can add more products.

3. Build an Autoresponder Series

After you start your business, you must create a follow up series, which is also called an autoresponder series. This series must have the information about your product. There you can add content about your product. If you are selling golf clubs, you can build a series having some basic information about them. There you can tell your visitors how they can purchase golf clubs. You can also add some advantages or the profiles of some major golfers in the world. You should try to be more and more creative. It is observed that during the first few months affiliates do not get reasonable sales. But after six months, they expect to gain much better sales.

4. Build a Page to Capture Emails

Create a page in your website where you will capture information about your prospects so you can send them your follow-up series. If you are building a business, having your own website is a necessity. This website will be needed to show your affiliate products to the website visitors. You will grab the visitor’s emails to promote your email campaigns.

5. Use Traffic Generation Techniques

Once your website is up, use some traffic generation techniques. After applying the traffic generation techniques, you should wait for some time to get the results. Try different techniques and see what gets you the best results. Then on the basis of your experience, continue with the technique that shows best results.

6. Find additional related products

Once you have started to make a good and reliable income with a single product, then you should add some new products to your products list. But you must carefully select new products to put them in the list.

Always start with a single, hot and demanding product to gain good results. Concentrate on this single product, make your website to display the product and capture the email addresses of visitors. Use these email addresses and your website to start a powerful advertisement campaign. Use the techniques to drive maximum traffic to your website. Once you have started earning with a single product, add more products and repeat the process.

Marketing Budgets Move From Offline Marketing To Internet Marketing And Search Engine Optimisation

2008-03-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

Companies have and are increasingly moving their marketing budgets to internet marketing and search engine optimisation. The main reason for this is natural progression due to people using the internet more and more every year.

Due to the large increase of broadband users last year and the predicted increase over the next 5-10 years people are taking search engine optimisation and internet marketing more seriously and spending more money on it. The main cause of this is the competition between the big broadband suppliers driving down the price. With more people having fast internet access it allows them to spend more time on the internet going from site to site in minutes seeing dozens of sites. It is also proven that most of the users go through search engines to find their results so it is important to have your site visible there.

Offline marketing is becoming less effective due to several reasons. One of the reasons is the over use of telesales, this has happened over years which has meant that they are less effective now as people are less willing to listen to what the sales person has to offer. People are also purchasing more online so are not going to stores and shops, which means that no matter how much you advertise for a store offline it is losing sales to online websites.

The older more traditional techniques like using leaflets, newspaper advertisements, billboards etc are becoming less affecting due to; people not reading them and reading online newspapers, people not seeing the billboards due to not going near the shops and purchasing online and putting the leaflets straight in the bin with out reading them due to so many irrelevant ones.

As more and more sites go online and the more complex the search engines get, it is harder and harder to rank on the big search engines which also means more time and money has to be put into getting high rankings. However, this pays off as there are more users so you should see more sales for your money. Companies are realising this and concentrating on gaining and not losing trade to online competition.

Search engine optimisation has developed over the years in line with the development of the search engines. This means more research has to be done by the search engine optimisation consultants to allow them to provide the best results for their clients. This can only be done by people investing more money into it and this would only be provided if their where customers to purchase goods and services to make it worth while. So this shows that people are moving their marketing priorities to online.

Some companies split their budget in different ways for their internet marketing and one way is to pay search engine optimisation consultants to deal with it for you. This is affective when using the correct company and you will see results but the problem is there are a lot of con artists also offering the service. The other option is to employ an in house search engine optimisation consultant which will run things from inside the company. A lot of companies have chosen to do this as this allows them to keep control. The problem with this is that the in house consultant may soon get out of date with their techniques if they don’t get enough time to do their research.

By: Jon Harrison

Article Marketing As A Method Of Internet Marketing For Your Home Based Business

2008-01-23T00:40:00.000-08:00

By: Michael Molloy

Working at home can be a challenge but making use of article marketing as a form of internet marketing can make your job a whole lot easier. If you have a website and want to bring more traffic to your site then one way to make this happen is to write articles relevant to the subject of your business and then submit these articles to article directories over the web that are free. People searching for free content will then take your articles and use them at their site and this means you get free publicity for your work at home business.
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In this case your articles can be reproduced a number of times which is good news for your developing business. Be aware too that often article directories are connected to other free article directories so your articles could end up on many websites. Your articles will feature resource boxes at the bottom that includes information about the author and also a link back to the author's site. Here is where you can write about your business. If your articles are interesting, informative and even entertaining and sometimes amusing you will send traffic in the direction you want it- to your website and to the products and services you offer.
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Both quantity of the articles you write as well as quality is important. The more articles you write and submit the more you expose yourself to potential customers. The quality of your articles matters too. Write well and write in a manner that appeals to the reader. Do not write about your business per se but write in an enlightening, appealing manner that shows you know what you are talking about and have something to offer your readers. Focus on them, not yourself or your business and you will generate the greatest amount of interest.
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Write articles that speak to an audience of ordinary people and do not get too wordy. Write with authority but write in an easy to understand and easy to follow manner. Make sure your articles are not too long and don't use too many adverbs or adjectives and avoid big, complicated words. Be very careful about your spelling and punctuation. Make sure you write in a professional way that demonstrates that you know what you are talking about. If you choose a topic that you only know a little about then do plenty of research before you write the article.
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It is a good idea to use keywords in your articles because this makes it easier for people interested in your articles to find them. Also use headings and lists if possible because when reading over the internet people often scan the page to find exactly what they are looking for.

Kick Off Your Holiday Marketing Campaign With These 5 Strategic Internet Marketing Tips!

2008-01-23T00:38:00.000-08:00

By: Derek Gehl CEO Internet Marketing Center

NOW is the time to launch your strategic Internet marketing plan for the upcoming holiday season.
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If you think it's too early, consider this: A recent study by BizRate found that 34.9% of online holiday shoppers will start their shopping by Halloween this year!
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In order to capture their attention, you want to make sure the first fold of your web site is full of the information holiday shoppers need to know before they'll decide to buy. (For those of you who aren't sure what the "first fold" is, it's the portion of your web site people see before they scroll down or click on any links.)
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If you want to maximize your holiday conversion rates, make sure your top fold includes...
- Holiday-ready headlines and sales copy: In order to make your headline really speak to your visitors, make sure it addresses the need they're trying to solve: choosing a gift for a friend or family member.
- Be sure to explain exactly what kind of benefit they'll get from your product or service -- and then also mention the benefit the giver will receive from offering it as a present!An opt-in offer that speaks to the needs of holiday shoppers. For example, you could put together a "Holiday Buying Guide" that tells people more about your products and explains why they'd make great gifts.
- Holiday specials and discounts: Make sure you offer some special deals on your products to entice your visitors to buy! How about an early-bird deal if your customers make a purchase before a certain date? Or a special discount for those panicky last-minute shoppers?
- Your shipping information: If you're able to offer free or discounted shipping, be sure to include some mention of it in the top fold of your site.
- Provide an ironclad shipping guarantee and return policy so customers know their gifts will arrive in time. Put both at the top of your right- or left-hand sidebar so your customers won't miss them.
- Free gift-wrapping service: It's another great way to give your customers an extra perk without much additional cost to you. For the cost of some paper and ribbon, you can make any humble package look like a fabulous holiday gift!
- Urgency builders: Another thing you could include in your first fold is a little "countdown" box that tells your visitors exactly how many days are left to Christmas, or to the shipping deadline for gifts to arrive in time.
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Or try installing a Hover Ad with an urgent holiday message that lets them know right away exactly how long they've got to make a gift purchase.
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You could also use the Hover Ad to advertise your holiday specials and encourage your visitors to sign up for more info, or offer a special discount coupon to people who join your mailing list.
Now that you've got some quick and easy ideas to get your marketing plan underway, don't let your competitors beat you to the punch!
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Remember, it's never too early to launch your strategic Internet marketing plan for the holidays. Give yourself the gift of a boost in profits this season!

Email Marketing Lesson: Your Marketing Reminds Me Of My Grandmother's Saggy Underwear

2008-01-23T00:36:00.000-08:00

By: Joan Pasay

I moved into a new office recently and was unpacking when I realized I was fading fast and needed a caffeine fix. Seems my Starbucks cappuccino machine had gotten lost with the movers. I panicked.
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"Now what?" I thought. I had never gone a full afternoon without a latte. I knew something would happen if I didn't get one, and it would probably be the kind of thing that would come up with my therapist, so skipping my caffeine fix was not an option. I already had two pages of issues we were covering. I guess the unpacking would have to be put on hold.
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I set my Starbucks radar on full alert and followed the trail of casual business attire. Sure enough, two blocks later I found a Starbucks on the corner. As I pulled open the door, a tiny gentleman whisked in under my arm. And that is how I met Mr. Pibs.
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Mr. Pibs had been coming to that particular Starbucks since it opened. Every afternoon about the same time as my current 'mind fade,' he too needed a fix. We got our coffees and made our way to the comfy chairs.
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Mr. Pibs told me he was in wholesale pet supplies and owned his own manufacturing facility. He started up 25 years ago with a tiny shop in his garage and now leased a 200,000 square foot facility and employed over fifty workers. We sipped our coffees and chatted about business. I asked him how he marketed his products to potential retail outlets.
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"We have a subscriber-based mailing list," he said. "About 2500 quality pet stores across the US."
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I was impressed! 2500 leads does not sound like much but these stores had asked to be contacted. The stores were real, potential buyers looking for product. "So do you keep in touch monthly or do you find seasonal works better?" I casually asked.
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"Monthly!" Mr. Pibs exclaimed in horror. "That would be $50,000 of postage a year! No, we send our full color brochure on an annual basis, costs us about $4000 in mailing fees. I pull a few ladies off the assembly line and get them licking stamps and stuffing envelopes. We've been doing our marketing like this since the second year we started. Sure is great that printing is a lot cheaper these days. Saves us a bundle!"
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I gagged on the foam in my cup and felt a familiar feeling come over me. Before I knew it I was standing and waving my arms around my head in large circles.
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"Mr.Pibs, are you insane?" I yelled at the top of my lungs, and started to rant, arms waving.

"What marketing cave did you just crawl out of? Why not put your catalogue online? Why not use a regular Email Marketing campaign to keep in touch with the pet stores on a regular basis? Are you anti-technology? Why are on earth are you sending all that stuff by mail?.." And then I realized I hardly knew this man and was basically telling him he was a buffoon. But I didn't have time to compose myself because at that very moment, when I was in mid-sentence of my Email Marketing rant, in walked my grandmother.
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Crap! I had forgotten Grammy was going to meet me at my new office! She quickly spotted me and made a beeline in my direction. As she got closer I noticed she had a very odd looking hat on her head. It was all bumpy and sort of looked like a bag. I noticed a familiar looking label:
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Victoria's Secret.
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Since when did Victoria's Secret make hats?
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But I did not have time to ask, I had to make Grandma think we were supposed to meet at the Starbucks and I also had to make up quick with Mr. Pibs before my new friend thought I was a lunatic.
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I turned to Mr.Pibs, and noticed he was frozen, mouth hanging open in shock at my Email .

Marketing, arm waving, soapbox speech.
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Grandma grabbed the vacant seat next to Mr. Pibs and plopped herself down, scooching her behind, desperately trying to get it past the arm rests.
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Mr. Pibs thawed and whispered in horror, "That women has a pair of underwear -- on her head."
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And sure enough my Grandmother did indeed have a pair of Victoria's Secret underwear on her head, covering up a mass of curlers.
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I gasped.
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"Child," my grandmother said, "I have been looking everywhere for you!" Noticing Mr. Pibs, and unaware he and I had been having a conversation, Grandma looked a little alarmed at my tiny frozen friend. No surprise; the lack of color in his face was hard to miss. "Tiny man," she said,

"You look ill, is the coffee too strong for your tiny stomach?"
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"Grandma," I spoke slowly, turning toward Mr. Pibs. "This is my new friend, Mr. Pibs." Then: .

"Mr. Pibs, I apologize for my Email Marketing rant, this is my Grammy. We had a coffee date this afternoon."
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My grandmother stretched out her hand in a gesture of welcome. Mr.Pibs sat still, staring at my grandmother's hair curler cover."Woman, why is there underwear on your head?"
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"Oh this?" she said, as she whipped off the over-stretched skivvies, uncovering an array of pink and white curlers. "These are old and all stretched out of shape from too many years on the rear. This pair works great to keeps my curlers in place. I upgraded to organic cotton underwear years ago."
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And with that we, or rather Grandma and Mr. Pibs, laughed and chatted away the afternoon. Those two hit it off so well I found myself a little bored. Just as well, I could not get Mr. Pibs''marketing strategy' out of my mind.Well, at least the US postal service would not go out of business anytime soon with Mr. Pibs around. I sat there watching those two laugh it up, and shook my head in disbelief at my grandmother's Victoria's Secret curler coverer. Mr. Pibs' marketing strategy was a lot like those underwear. Old, out of shape, and all sagged out.
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I met Mr. Pibs again for coffee (without the distraction of Grammy and her head gitch) and mentioned to him that any company that was not active online and using Email Marketing might want to retire. He agreed that his whole approach should be put in a rest home. It was kind of tough explaining allthat Email Marketing stuff to Mr.Pibs; he was a real Email Marketing newbie.
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I struggled for a bit with analogies and realized the image of those saggy underwear on my Grandma's head was a perfect place to start. I kept going with the gonch theme and Mr. Pibs slowly began to understand the difference in each type of Email Marketing approach. We talked Email Marketing strategyand how a drawer full of a variety of underwear styles was truly the best option for total marketing support.
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If you are having a tough time explaining Email Marketing to your antique boss or your clients, feel free to try on some of these. They worked with Mr. Pibs so I am sure they will work for you.
Broadcast Messages are like Thongs: These little numbers work great at announcing, "Hey look at me,look at all the stuff I have to offer...right now!" You do want to exercise some restraint, however. Just like you don't want to be wearing a thong everyday, neither would you send a broadcastmessage everyday.
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Auto-Responders are like Full Figured Women's Petty Pants: If you are not up on full-figured petty pants, they look more like a pair of long tight shorts. Large figured women wear petty pants to prevent the thighs from rubbing together. Similarly, auto-responders prevent the chafing away of your time and resources due to answering the same queries over and over andover. Women's petty pants make all figures, regardless of size, look like a million bucks. Auto-Responders make you look like a hero with timely helpful responses no matter if it is just you running the show or a whole office full of customer service reps.
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Regularly Delivered E-Newsletters are like 100% Cotton Briefs: For regular wear you can't beat a pair of 100% cotton briefs and for customer retention you can't beat a regularly delivered e-newsletter. Everyone prefers a different cut of brief depending on the amount of desired coverage, and it's no different in the email world. Every company has a different idea of what their regular e-zine will cover and what kind of promotion it will give their products and services.
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Mr. Pibs and I still meet at the Starbucks once a week or so for our afternoon caffeine fix. His company has really taken off since he got on board with Email Marketing. I think he will probably be moving into a larger warehouse in the New Year just to keep up with orders. He even launched a new product line (via email, of course)to celebrate - Pudgy Puppy PettyPants.
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And the infamous curler cover? We did not realize it until later that day but Grandma's saggy underwear got left on the table at Starbucks along with a business card I had whipped out during my Email Marketing rant. I wonder who discovered the saggy gonch? Would I ever find out? Would the discovererof those skivvies become a future client? I'll keep you posted if anything materializes.
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And me? My Starbucks cappuccino machine surfaced after three months of traveling around the western states but I still find my way down the block most afternoons. I've also been reworking my own regular email marketing campaign in light of my decision to try a lower cut brief for regular wear. Revealing more product details is proving to be very effective. My conversion rate indicates my customers are really appreciating the increased exposure I'm giving my products and services.
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Is your marketing approach a little sagged, over stretched and worn out? Try Email Marketing on for size. It comes in all sorts of cuts and styles guaranteed to boost your bottom line.

Internet Marketing Strategy News: 6 Tips To Put Your Web Marketing On Steroids

2008-01-23T00:35:00.000-08:00

By: Sally Falkow

The Internet has changed and will continue to change the way we do business. It has also created amazing marketing opportunities which should be incorporated into your Internet marketing strategy.
The rules of the marketing game have changed big time. The new reality:

Over 80% of all web traffic is coming via search engines.
88% of economically active Americans go online everyday
A recent study showed that 85% of users research products and services on the Internet before they purchase
77% get their news online through Google or Yahoo news
80% of all business on the Internet goes to the first three listings on the first page of a search result
Research shows that searchers (your customers) regard good placing in the natural search results (as opposed to pay per click or sponsored links) as an indicator of a company who is tops in their field
99% of reporters start their research for a story on the Internet.The bottom line is that your potential customers are researching their purchases online before spending their money. This also includes big-ticket items like cars and houses.

In a recent study, "Search Before the Purchase" from DoubleClick and comScore Networks notes half of all online purchases are preceded by multiple product-specific searches.
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For the brick and mortar retail world keep in mind for your internet marketing strategy that consumers are using the search engines like product catalogs to research products and services--then printing out a map on how to get there. Yellow pages may become a thing of the past.
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Use these tips to take advantage of the ever-increasing influence of the World Wide Web:

Do your homework on key words. The huge majority of people use search engines to find products and services that they are looking for. Find out what key words they are using. This is the heart of an Internet Marketing strategy. Consider it a mandatory form of survey and market research. Once you have determined the key words that people are searching for, and then check the number of competing pages. Create you key word strategy from your research.
Tune up your web site. Re-structure the content of your site so it attracts the users you want. Change the keywords in your title, description and keyword tags. Rewrite the home page and interior pages text using the key words that people are searching on. Remember search engines can't read pictures so includes lots of text on your site. The home page should have a minimum of 250 words of text. Keep in mind that your web site has to firstly attract the search engine before anyone can find it. The design, content and programming of your site all influence your search rankings. A well-written and designed web site is the foundation of your Internet marketing strategy. No matter how great your product is, if the public can't find you the sales are lost in the second it takes to click the mouse. On the flip side, an effective web site is the key to quality leads and volume sales.
Create regular online newsletters and encourage all visitors to the site to sign up for the free newsletter. A newsletter is an excellent and cost effective way to stay in touch and build a relationship with prospects and customers. Get an email distribution program that tracks the stats i.e. quantity sent, opened and clicked through to your web site. Use the free offer to build your list--you want to get a large volume of subscribers. Add the newsletters to your web site to increase content.
Start a blog to raise search visibility and create page one search results. A cover story in Business Week magazine was "Blogs Will Change Your Business, Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up...or catch you later."
Syndicate your content via RSS (really simple syndication) feeds so that you get exposure in other places on the Web. This also increases the number of links to your website. Syndication is a process of providing your content to others, doing updates of information and generally spreading your content from one place to another. One example is syndication in newspapers. You sometimes see a column that appears in several papers at once. It is syndicated. Syndication online allows you to share your content with your visitors and other websites.
Online syndication has many advantages: It vastly improves your site's visibility; makes your content available in a more convenient manner; feeds your content directly to interested parties; broadens your reach on the Internet and best of all, costs almost nothing to implement. An inexpensive must item for your internet marketing strategy.
Send out optimized press releases about your products or services- this will attract visitors and increase the number of links back to your website, which will raise your ranking in the search engines. Your audiences are actively online searching for news, products and services. It is no longer enough to send out press releases--or pitch journalists and hope that you will reach the right audience.

As consumers are actively searching for you using key words, then you need to put your press releases where they're looking--on the search engines and news engines.
The vast majority of economically active people are Internet savvy today and are using the Net to research products and services before they buy. Use these effective tools as key elements of your internet marketing strategy or you will simply be cut out of the picture.

Article Submission Versus Hosted Marketing Pages: An Internet Marketing Comparison

2008-01-23T00:33:00.000-08:00

The quest for high search engine rankings (and the traffic that comes along with them) has spawned some new search engine optimization techniques of late, two of them being article submission and hosted marketing pages. Although these techniques are similar in appearance, each has advantages and disadvantages. Before we delve into the heart of the issue, a couple of definitions are in order for newcomers to the internet marketing realm.

Submitting articles requires quite a bit of unpleasant work. First you have to be an expert about your chosen subject (or have the ability to fool others into believing you’re an expert). Next you must be able to write about your subject in at least a coherent manner. Then you must find article directories in which to submit your work, giving them and any possible viewers the authority to freely copy and distribute your creation.

A hosted marketing page is a cross between purchasing a one way link from a website and submitting an article to a directory. The website in question allows you to purchase a complete page from their site along with a professionally written article that has multiple one-way links to your site.

The main advantages to both techniques are the SEO-friendly links. Whether you submit your article to a directory or purchase a hosted marketing page, you will get one-way links pointing to your site. Because search engines love one-way links, your website will undoubtedly receive a boost in your search engine ranking. But, the biggest boost will come from links using keywords relevant to your site coming from pages written about a subject relevant to your site.

Here’s something you should remember. In most cases, a hosted marketing page text link from a relevant, high PR website will be much more important to the search engines than a text link from a posted article in a directory. But, if you’re a talented enough author to have your writing approved, it may show up in several directories as well as multiple authority sites. This influx of links could potentially outweigh the few links from a single hosted marketing page.

The disadvantages are pretty obvious. Writing and submitting articles, although free, can consume a considerable amount of time, especially if you are not comfortable writing professionally. On the other hand, purchasing a professionally written hosted marketing page can be very expensive. You should be prepared to shell out anywhere from fifty dollars to several hundred dollars per month, depending on the popularity of the site.

Here’s the bottom line. If you have little time, little writing skill, and a large marketing budget, hosting marketing pages would be most beneficial to you. However, if you have some free time, some copywriting experience, and little to no advertising dollars, writing and submitting articles to article directories would be most beneficial to you.

20 Major Marketing Mistakes - No1. Failing To Understand The Nature Of Internet Marketing

2008-01-23T00:32:00.000-08:00

By: Donald Saunders

A surprisingly high number of people who are new to the world of online marketing believe that it is a simple art. If only this were true!

I’m not saying that they believe that all they need to do is find themselves a product, build a website, plug-in an order system, place an advertisement or two and then wait for the money to roll in, but many people simply fail to appreciate the significance of the use of the word Marketing in the phrase "Online Marketing".

A quick look at the index of any online marketing course will an indication of just what is involved in setting up your own internet business with such headings as, "Building a website", "hooking-up your order pages", "Setting-up a newsletter", "Winning the search engine war" and a great deal more. Now, each of these elements is important in its own right, but together, they simply create the framework necessary to allow you to start marketing your products or services.

However, even once you’ve dealt with all of this, people aren't going to start flocking to your website with their credit cards in their hands. You are going to have to go out and find your potential customers, get them to your website and then persuade them to buy your product or service.

So, the first question you need to ask yourself before you try and sell anything online is whether or not you are a salesperson?

Before you invest even one single penny in setting-up your online business, you have to understand that your principle role will be that of salesperson.

Now, many people have a problem when it comes to seeing themselves as a salesperson, often because of the stereotype that paints all sales people as dishonest and ready to do just about anything that they have to get us to part with our hard-earned cash.

Naturally, the problem with stereotypes is that they are often very wide of the mark. The vast majority of sales people are simply ordinary people doing a job and, like most of us, they are decent, hard-working and honest people. Despite this the many of us have been brought up to distrust the salespeople and that makes your job as an online marketer that much harder.

So, how do you jump this particular hurdle? Well, there are really only two ways to deal with the marketing needs of your business.

The first is to accept your role as salesperson for your business and learn as much as you can about selling online. In practice, this means doing your homework and seeking out some of the more successful internet marketers and following their example. There are too many to list them here but, as you do your research, you will discover names such as Jim Edwards, Jay Abraham, Ken Evoy and Terry Dean that come up time and time again. Each of these successful marketers has his own particular style and you will warm to some immediately and find that there are others that you simply can’t get in tune with at all. All are however extremely successful online marketers and have a great deal to offer by way of help and advice.

The second approach is to accept the fact that you are not comfortable filling the role of salesperson.

Now this doesn't mean that you can merely ignore the problem of needing a salesperson in the hope that it will go away, because it won't! Like it or not, marketing is crucial to your success and it must take the prime spot in your online business plan. However, if you really feel that you can't take on this role then don't. Simply get somebody else who can fill the role.

This might mean taking on a partner, or employing someone to take care of your marketing for you, both of which are major, and possibly costly, steps. Nevertheless, your business will suffer badly if you don’t put marketing at the centre of your operation and this in one bullet you are going to have to bite.

Of the many hundreds of new businesses that appear online every week the majority will fail and, of those that do make it, only a tiny proportion will be truly successful. In almost every single case the secret to their success lies in will be the importance that the business owner places on the role of marketing and on his own role as a salesperson.

Affiliate Marketing Versus Network Marketing (MLM): Income Formula Revealed!

2008-01-23T00:30:00.000-08:00

By: Evelyn Lim

Both affiliate marketing and network marketing pay people for referring a product or service. What then is the difference between affiliate marketing and network marketing?

The difference is best explained in terms of the way compensation is structured to pay for performance. Because of the many hybrid forms of compensation payments available now on the internet, to a newbie scouting for business opportunities, it is easy to get confused over the many terms and definitions used. In evaluating compensation plans, it is essential to understand the subtle difference between the two models. Ultimately, you want to understand…which model yields more income?

What is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing is usually done online. In its simplest form, affiliate marketers are compensated on a one time transaction only. Unlike products offered in a MLM business, affiliate products are often ones that a customer would only need to purchase one time. Thus, the more the affiliate marketer sell, the more they make. This is quite akin to direct sales albeit made via the internet.

Affiliate marketing has a compensation plan based on performance measures. For instance, if the affiliate marketer is successful in the form of sales, clicks, registrations, etc, he/she gets rewarded. The desired action as a means of compensation is already pre-agreed upon by the affiliate merchant and him/her.

In a short space of time, the affiliate marketing model has also evolved to a 2 level (or in some cases, up to 5 levels) compensation plan. In the popular 2-tier version, for instance, you (as an affiliate of a particular e-book merchant) will earn commission when you sell a book to person A and if person A signs up to be an affiliate and manages to sell to person A1, you get compensated too, in addition to person A.

Let’s now go on to talk about what network marketing is. In the network marketing model, the compensation plan works in a similar fashion, except that compensation by the sponsoring company can be paid up to several, several or unlimited levels. The number of levels and restrictions in terms of payout is very much dependent on the arrangement offered. As arrangements can vary from one company to the next, this makes comparisons of the various compensation plans available out there difficult. So be sure to read all the fine print!

At any level, a network marketer has the potential to earn a direct referral fee for directly recommending someone and a leverage fee when one of his/her “downlines” is successful for referring friends to the same network. In the popular binary plan adopted by many network marketing companies, each person in the network has two “legs” or “downlines”. If more people get referred to the network, they automatically go below the “legs”.

Ongoing customer use is what creates the real residual income in network marketing. The MLM business can generate earnings for a very long time even after the initial years of hard work and investment. With a solid network, residual income is assured at each renewal period of a “downline”. If the product or service involved in is one that has to be reordered at each renewal period, income should just keep coming in like clock work.

How does the difference in affiliate marketing and network marketing translate into in terms of building your customer relationships and your earnings power? In the network marketing model, to ensure that your “downlines” renew at each period, you must ensure that you build up a good relationship with them. It is essentially a people-build-people and a leader-build-leader business. The ability to generate huge sums of money is increased exponentially when the network grows. The potential to make huge sums of money is thus greater here if you can employ the efforts of others to help grow the business vis-à-vis the affiliate marketing model. In affiliate marketing, your earnings ability is limited by your own direct sales plus an additional of 1, 2 or up to 5 levels of leveraging efforts.

Having described the above, it would seem that to maximise your income, it is best to join online network marketing programs as opposed to affiliate programs.

Nope...I don't think that's really the case either.

Affiliate marketing is best described as an entry to online network marketing. Affiliate products are easier to sell, likely to involve one rather than an array of products and therefore, less expensive. For instance, an e-book is likely to have an associated affiliate program while access to a membership site of digital products is more likely to pay for recurrent renewals of membership.

In conclusion, there is always no harm in joining different programs whether affiliate or network marketing ones. Just be sure that you understand how you are paid and channel your efforts accordingly. Afterall, your goal is to build multiple sources of income. You have a choice to represent what or which combination of products/programs work best for yourself.

Marketing Budgets Move From Offline Marketing To Internet Marketing And Search Engine Optimisation

2008-01-23T00:28:00.000-08:00

By: Jon Harrison

The Power of Email Marketing for Generating Leads

2008-01-21T01:44:00.000-08:00

By: Rob Parker

The age of the Internet has opened up entirely new avenues for businesses to reach their customers on a broader and more focused level than ever before. In this article we are going to take a look at just how powerful an email marketing campaign can be in several different categories important to any business.

Price

An email marketing campaign can beat the costs of a traditional marketing campaigns by anywhere from 50 to 90%! Think of it this way; almost all businesses today use the Internet in some form or other, and this means email access. The Internet connection is part of the cost of any email campaign and thus the costs accrued for distribution are already incorporated in the business.

Next, an email marketing campaign stands to save costs when it comes to the information distribution itself. A traditional mail out campaign will incur costs in design, printing, colouring, and postage, but an email campaign will only require one graphic template saved and sent out with the click of a button. Even with the costs of management by a professional email marketing company factored in, email campaigns are guaranteed to save a business a lot of money.

Very sharp focus

One of the problems with traditional mail out marketing campaigns and other marketing campaigns is that businesses are never quite sure if they are reaching a focused and targeted traffic or if their expensive endeavours are just ending up in the trash.

An email marketing campaign will mean that your efforts are only focused on potential customers who are more likely to take advantage of the offers due to the fact that they have used the services before, and have indicated that they are open to additional products or services. Not only does this increase the likelihood of a successful transition to a sale, but it also provides your customers and potential customers with a strong sense of choice.

A cost efficient and results producing approach means that email marketing is a very powerful approach for any business, whether online or off. If you have not yet had the opportunity to take advantage of the benefits an email campaign has to offer, it is time to act!

How to Effectively Market Your Website Offline

2008-01-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

When you think about marketing your website, the majority of you ideas may all be internet-based. But there are many other ways that you can get your website out there without even using the internet. It may seem impossible, but many people are having success with their marketing efforts without even connecting to the internet. There are many great ideas, you just need to find what works best for you and your business.

One of the first places to start marketing your business's website is in the newspaper advertisements. If you feel like your local paper is not going to get you the hits you are looking for, try advertising in nationwide papers such as The Wall Street Journal or USA Today. These and other nationwide papers are read by over thousands of people daily and will get you the kind of traffic you are looking for quickly and easily.

Another great option is to look at all your signs and look into the cost of a billboard. In your town and other large cities you could post the billboards and put signs all around. If there is any type of sign outside your business location, post the website on that sign. When designing a website try and pick one that is easy to remember for all those who will look at the signs, etc.

Any printed material that you have should also include your website. Whether it be business cards or company stationary. If your company decides to print on hats, pens or even coffee mugs, add your website along with everything else. Every time that your customers look at that particular item, they should be reminded of your website.

Whenever you send out an e-mail to all those on your e-mail list, include your website at the bottom. Don't have an e-mail list for your customers? You can start creating one by collecting names and e-mails from all of your customers at your business location. If there is not much traffic at the business location, ask all of your employees to start collecting e-mail addresses from all of your clients. And don't forget to add your website address to every e-mail you send out.

One more idea is to leave your website address on you voice mail or other messaging services. That way if they can get a hold of you and need assistance, your website may be a great resource for them to get some answers. Put your website address on all outgoing faxes by placing in on the fax cover sheet. You should also invite all your employees to put the website on the signature part of their e-mails.

The first step you can make to start your off-line marketing ideas is to put away your doubts. Try a few different things and see what works best for your business. And be creative. There are much more ways to market your business if you can get good ideas.

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Author: Court Tuttle

Helping Your Business With a Blog

2008-01-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

Whenever you own your own business, there are always many concerns and problems that arise and need to be solved. Having and maintaining a website for your business can just be an added stress and a lot of work. A lot of people these days are opting for blogs for this business for several different reasons.

One major benefit of having a business blog is that it is a lot more cost effective. A lot of blogs are free to start up and easy to run. If you are not sure how to manage your website, keep in mind that blogs are much more manageable. When you have a blog, it leaves the dirty work to someone else. And every time you want to add a new post, you don't have to call your web designer, you can do it from your own home if you'd like.

Another benefit of having a blog is that you are able to allow interaction amongst your readers and customers. This is a great way to get your customers show their loyalty and is also an easy way for them to invite others to learn about your company. Don't forget that word of mouth is a great way to get your name out there. Having a blog for you business will not only improve your current business but also attract new customers.

Whenever you have a blog over a website, it is much easier to be found by search engines than just any old website. Blogs have a special ping that notifies search engines every time that you make a new post or add new content. Any changes will be quickly updated to search engines. Most blogs automatically do this without any effort on your part. If this is not part of the service of your blog, than there are several different services available to help you out. This is a huge benefit over having a website as opposed to a blog.

A personal benefit to keep in mind is that as you blog about new and interesting topics, you will gain a great knowledge of your field. People are always looking towards bloggers to stay on top of the latest and greatest in their field of expertise. Having a blog will force you to learn more and progress more. It's almost a guaranteed way to make sure that you become an expert in your field and with your business.

Staying current with your blog is very important. If you are constantly making new posts and adding to your blog is important for your readers. They will start looking to your blog for news and current events and so you need to stay on top of it and do your part to make it as good as you can. Remember that all in all, you will probably spend less time on your blog than you would on a website.

There are always more benefits but you may have to go out there and find them. Always put forth your best effort and you will see the benefits. Everything that is worth it requires time and patience and a little effort.

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Author: Court Tuttle