Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts

20 June 2009

The Laws Of Creativity


By Mario Churchill

Creativity is the process of formulating new ideas and concepts. It is also associated to finding the connection between these thoughts. Looking at creativity from a scientific perspective, creative process (which is also called divergent thought) are said to be original and appropriate.



Another alternative perception of creativity is the simple truth that it is the action of generating something new. It may seem to be quite simple but creativity entails complicated procedures. A closer look on the creativity of a person has derived points of view from various sciences such as social psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, economics, business, management, design research, history, artificial intelligence, psychometrics, behavioral psychology and art.



These conducted studies tackled daily creativity that are both considered to be exceptional and artificial. The difference of creative standpoints to other scientific phenomena is that there is no one definition or perspective of a person’s creativity. This is way different from psychology because it has no standardized gauge when it comes to technique.



Creativity is also associated to the cognitive process of divine intervention involving personality traits, chance and the social environment. Some people claim that creativity is a trait lucky individuals are born with but there are those who believe that it can be learned.



Creativity is often connotated to art and literature because it is essential to invention and innovation. Nonetheless, professions involving economics, industrial design, engineering, science, architecture and business invest in creativity.



As multi-dimensional and ambiguous creativity is, industries have pursued innovative ideas of individuals who are blessed to have this trait. Undeniably, it is important to succeed in life.



Psychological literature has been trying to find the exact definition of creativity but the scope is so vast that it is hard to pinpoint only one. However, by using the etymological root, creativity comes from “creatus” which is Latin for “to have grown.”



More often that not, the first thought of people when talking about creativity is the production of a work such a novel or a movie. This is why a basic connotation is that creative people are found in the arts and entertainment industry.



Therefore the colloquial definition of the word is activities resulting to bringing something new to a basic idea. By imagining new possibilities that had not been thought of before, anything is possible through a creative mind.



There are still distinctions on the creative individual, the creative process, the creative product and the creative environment. These four factors are clearly present when creativity is entailed because these are the dimensions that will trigger results.

The factors affecting these dimensions are originality, unusualness, appropriateness, usefulness and intellect when it comes to coming up with creative output.



It is very necessary to differentiate ideas that are historically creative to those that are psychologically creative. The former are drew out from human history whereas the latter came from the individual mind. By drawing out the roots of these intelligence, creative ideas are resulted from the similar set of rules that are generating on both the historically creative and psychologically creative mind.



Creativity is the presence of insight and inspiration that triggers the thoughts and the actions of the inventor. In pop psychology, creativity is said to be rooted from the right side of the brain because it involves lateral thinking.



But there are those who believe creativity is dependent on chance. In order to come up with a creative work, scientific theories are still involved, therefore one comes up with so many ideas but throws what he would not use.



About the Author: Mario Churchill makes it quicker and easier for you to create profitable business ideas, develop your marketing strategy or start brainstorming on any topic. For a free trial of the ultimate innovation software, please v



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19 June 2009

PPC Marketing: Are You One of Those Who Have Lost a Fortune on Google AdWords?


By Serge Dandelin

When you consider PPC marketing, one of the things that you have to understand right off the bat is that as different forms of marketing go, it is perhaps one of the most fluid to ever exist. The internet tends to have tactics that are only good for a certain period of time and as far as PPC marketing goes, if you want to be successful at it you need to vary your tactics in order to flow with the tides.



When people start off with PPC marketing, what they tend to find is that they have some initial success. This success is usually short lived. As the successful methods they used on the first day tend to become completely useless within a few months unless they really hit on something that is good for the long term (quite rare in most cases) they start to loose money out of their Google AdWords campaign every day. In order to make steady profits out of your Google Adwords campaign you have to stay on the cutting edge of PPC advertising. When you realize that, then you really are in the right frame of mind to start having some long term success.



What you need to do to be successful with PPC marketing, simply put, is to leverage on what works and get rid of what does not quickly. You can continually try new ways of utilizing keywords and phrasing the language of your ads, but you need to be watchful on a consistent basis, removing the ads that do not perform well and pumping money into the ones that do. This is the only way to make money with PPC over the long term and it requires a time commitment of at least an hour every single day. During this hour, you have to at least examine the ads that you have, removing some and adding more resources to others, but ultimately you also need to experiment in order to see what works.



The main reason that people tend to lose fortunes through the use of AdWords, quite simply, is because they don't take the time necessary to ensure that their PPC campaigns are up to snuff. Most people want to just set and forget, hoping that a magical force will allow them to make money. While that worked five years ago, the game in today's world is far more complex and that is one of the things you need to understand if you want to move forward and make money through PPC advertising.



If you don't have the time or the resources to properly take care of your PPC advertising campaign it would be a good idea to hire a reliable PPC management company. If you only have 20 to 100 keywords you can handle your adwords campaign by yourself and perhaps be ok. However if you have to handle 100 to 1000+ keywords you should put your campaign in the hands of a professional PPC management company unless you are willing to work hours around the clock to optimize your campaign.



To Your Success!



About the Author: Do you want to learn more about Internet Marketing? I have just completed my brand new guide to Search Engine Marketing Success: ''How To Consistently Drive Thousands Of Targeted Visitors Every Day With Search Engine Optimization''. Download it free here: Search Engine Optimization Success. Affordable Search Engine Optimization Services.com Serge Daudelin is a Search Engine Optimization specialist and consultant who has written over 300 articles in print and 5 published ebooks.



Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=263712&ca=Marketing




Read More..PPC Marketing: Are You One of Those Who Have Lost a Fortune on Google AdWords?

18 June 2009

6 Tips on How to Fully Unleash the Power of Email Marketing


By Serge Dandelin

All persons doing business online use email. Those who are successful use it a lot and are very effective with this medium. The most sophisticated internet marketers use email to generate recurring website traffic. They are also generating good profits from their readers. The marketing of a web site is complete once you establish a form that will allow you to gather email addresses. Here are several email marketing tips that you can put in place to improve your sales and profits.



1 -The sender email address



It is vital that your e-mail address is part of your domain. What will your recipients think if they receive messages from your hand with the address Joeblow@aol.com? You have a domain name, then use it to its highest potential. Your credibility and image will suffer too if you do not give a professional look to your communications.



2 - The Signature



This trick may seem trivial, but spend five minutes studying the messages arriving in your mailbox to admit that few people are really aware of the power of the signature. Roughly, it is simply set your mail software to automatically include a text at the end of each of your emails. Unlike what many people do, it is advisable to put your full address. Try to stay below 5 or 6 lines. If your signature is too long, your correspondents will not grasp the essence.



3 - The Post-Scriptum



The PS is the most read section of a message. Automatically when a message is opened, you read the opening words (probably the title) and you'll usually at the end, read the author. And you fall on the PS and read it. The postscript is a good place to put an advertisement, not directly related to the subject of your message. For example, if you reply to a customer about a product for washing machines, you can have a PS like this:



PS: Have you seen the description of our anti-static brush? It is not yet available but you can take a sneak preview if you register on http://www.I-want-anti-static-brush.com



4 - Mailing lists (newsletters)



This is probably the best place to talk about you. These publications are targeted and read by people who have asked to receive them directly in their mailbox. Response rates are higher than the banner ads on sites and usually your message can be more detailed. Try to exchange, barter or buy advertising space in the lists.



5 - Your own newsletter



If it is cost-effective to advertise in other e-zines, it is even more interesting to have yours: not only your promotion will be free but you can withdraw advertising revenue. The secret is to provide quality content with a regular copy. Once your readers know and trust you, they will be faithful and become influenced by following your recommendations.



6 - Auto-responders



These are systems that automatically respond to emails. The power of this principle is that your prospects receive information automatically, while providing their email address. Spend time to create automatic messages. It is an investment that should not be overlooked.



The power of email marketing is obvious, but too many people do not use it completely. Follow the advice above and add a little common sense, you should be winning.



To Your Success!



About the Author: Do you want to learn more about Internet Marketing? I have just completed my brand new guide to Search Engine Marketing Success: ''How To Consistently Drive Thousands Of Targeted Visitors Every Day With Search Engine Optimization''. Download it free here: Search Engine Optimization Success. Affordable Search Engine Optimization Services.com Serge Daudelin is a Search Engine Optimization specialist and consultant who has written over 300 articles in print and 5 published ebooks.



Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=264476&ca=Marketing




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17 June 2009

Get the Best Submit Directory Strategy to Enhance Your Online Operations


By Goo-Keng

For exquisite web promotion, it is extremely important to make use of professional directory submission where one submits articles with back links so as to enhance the popularity of website. Given the huge popularity of ecommerce, it is extremely essential to make use of professional SEO service provider that helps you in availing perfect directory submission. It helps you in enhancing your search engine page results and brining the quality web traffic that converts into quality sales and growth rate of a web service provider. While using SEO service, it is a common question to ask the requirement of directory submission. Basically, the purpose of submit directory is to drive the web traffic to your website while indexing your webpage and providing a higher search engine result page to your website and garnering huge revenues while advertising and marketing your goods and services in the perfect way.



The basic difference between submit directory and search engine is the fact that the former is manual and the latter is done with the help of software. Well, it is well known phenomena that search engine spiders search the directories more often than the websites. In this way, all the promotional articles that carry useful information, keywords and links to the parent site will act as back link to the website and avail quality web traffic. This helps in enhancing the link popularity of your website while you attain high search engine page rankings. Well, while you are selecting a submit directory to promote your website and its goods and services, it is essential to choose the submit directory with great care and it helps you in providing promotional services. Many a times you will find that these submit directories have their own promotional packages that vary in features and various facilities.



Well, you might also find submit directories that provide easy article submission. One should always remember that SEO article marketing which comes with quality content and keywords placement helps in enhancing the optimization for a longer period of time. A good content that provides quality information definitely makes a good online promotional article. Submit directories are also known as link directories that provide easy links to the website by promoting its services and enhancing SEO strategy. So, the next time you plan to enhance the online advertising and marketing strategy of your website, make sure you choose the proper SEO strategy along with submit directory that helps you in choosing the best article submission and provides you with increased web traffic that comes with quality sales.



While submitting the articles, make sure they have genuine information and come with well researched keywords and backed by web link that act as promotional function to the website. In case of bulk articles, it is extremely essential to maintain the quality control so as to avail the best optimized results. No doubt, the above tips will surely help you in availing the best directory submission and helping you out with high search engine page rankings.



About the Author: http://www.sitmub.com



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How to Incorporate Viral Marketing Techniques to Your Internet Marketing Arsenal


By Serge Dandelin

Viral marketing is not the last disease found, nor a virus to your desktop ... Reading this article is not contagious and nobody has yet found a vaccine! Viral marketing is everywhere and in every corner of the cyberspace. Here's how the virus spreads and how to take advantage of its benefits. At the beginning it is discreet, he lives in secret and almost nobody knows, then it spreads more and more by the use of your resources, it is growing more and nothing can stop it!



Viral marketing on the Internet is the equivalent of word of mouth in everyday life. Your message spreads from an email to another, for example, or by another means. All strategies can be used to get your announcement to as many Internet users. The more your message will be visible, the most people will spread it. Some strategies, however, are more effective than others. Here's how you can include or modify your current strategy with a few new elements.



Be generous by offering something for free.



What is the most powerful and most used word in viral marketing? "free". The reason is simple: to attract the widest possible attention of all Internet users. Offer a few free quality products and services. For example, to download software, games, screen savers, free email services, e-books, the possibility of recommending your site to a friend ...



Be creative.



From a marketing point of view, your message must be as simple as possible for a better memory, pronunciation and transmission without being corrupted. Shorter is better, more people will remember. For example: ''Get your free personalized email today http://www.yoursite.com.'' This message is significant, simple, comprehensive and can be copied to all emails to be sent via your server.



Better Contamination



Cough when you approach someone for a better contamination of the virus. The viral marketing has a similar behaviour, it diffuses the best when it can be transmitted easily. Your message may look like an email, logos, graphics, books, files, site, software download ... All means of conveying your image should be used. In this way, viral marketing works very well because it is simple to use and inexpensive. Multiply therefore technical solutions and support to get the maximum efficiency, but make sure your logistics system can survive. It would be a shame if your site is inaccessible because of its success.



Become famous.



Put your message in all places you can. Use the resources belonging to other users. If you write articles for another publication or another site, ask what appears on the site to contain the address of your site. For more visits, you can use article distribution service for more viral marketing impact.



Even if you do not know your next-door neighbour, nobody lives totally alone and isolated from the world. Everyone is connected to a group of people such as family, friends, coworkers, friends, knowledge ... And that is where we should enjoy! The Internet also develop relations with the emails, instant messaging systems, virtual communities and the sites themselves. If you put your message in the right place and at the right time, you have great chances to increase its dispersion and therefore its impact.



To Your Success!



About the Author: Do you want to learn more about Internet Marketing? I have just completed my brand new guide to Search Engine Marketing Success: ''How To Consistently Drive Thousands Of Targeted Visitors Every Day With Search Engine Optimization''. Download it free here: Search Engine Optimization Success. Affordable Search Engine Optimization Services.com Serge Daudelin is a Search Engine Optimization specialist and consultant who has written over 300 articles in print and 5 published ebooks.



Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=264480&ca=Marketing




Read More..How to Incorporate Viral Marketing Techniques to Your Internet Marketing Arsenal

16 June 2009

Never Cold Call Again, And Get More Clients Into the Bargain...


By David Deakin

Okay, so that title sounds like a load of phoo-ey, right? (And yes, phoo-ey IS a technical term we marketing gurus use!) Everybody knows that the only way to get new clients is to cold-call, or cold-mail - how else do you find prospects that you might end up doing business with? That is at least how the accepted wisdom goes - and judging by the number of organisations in the UK currently selling lists of prospects carefully segmented by any number of weird and wonderful demographics, the accepted wisdom is still very much accepted. So how can I tell you that you'll get more clients by NOT cold-calling?



Here's something you might not have thought of before: Did you know that organisations like Sainsburys and Barclays Bank cannot cold-call? Now I'm not saying that there's some kind of law that prevents them. Rather, I'm pointing out that it's impossible for them to do so. How's that? Because pretty much anyone who might appear on one of their marketing lists (and that includes virtually everyone over the age of sixteen in the British Isles) has not only heard of them, but also quite likely knows where their nearest branch or store is. The point is that we're not cold prospects - we know them, we're familiar with their logo and their place of business, and we have possibly even had some experience of them. We've already been warmed to them by our previous dealings with them, to the extent that we likely view them as part of our community. And that can make the world of difference to our reception when being marketed to.



Of course, part of the reason for that is the immense marketing and operating budgets at the disposal of these commercial giants. They buy this exposure by running TV commercials and radio slots ad nauseum (or at least it can feel like it!) and by having a physical presence on nearly every High Street in the country. Very few of the professional service organisations we work with have anything more than a fraction of a percent of that financial muscle - but there is still a vital lesson we can learn from their success. The lesson is this: Never market to strangers!



You may notice that the lesson sounds very like our title, and with good reason - cold-calling and cold-mailing are first-rate examples of marketing to strangers. Why not market to strangers? Three reasons (well, four if you count the conclusion): They don't know you, they don't like you, they don't trust you - so they are not going to buy from you! You may want to remember this as the 'know, like and trust threshold' and test every marketing initiative against it. If a marketing initiative hasn't already scaled the 'know, like and trust threshold', keep your money in your pocket.



You're probably thinking 'I've worked every lead I already know, so without marketing to strangers I'm not going to get even one more customer!' We might debate just how effectively you've worked every lead you already know, but let's agree for the purposes of this article that what you say is true. Really, if you want to grow your business you have no alternative but to market to strangers, right?



Ah well, having told you what not to do perhaps I should now share with you what you must do to turn strangers into profitable customers. The answer lies in identifying connections which link you with the strangers you wish to market to. What's a connection? Think of it as an affiliation, a commonality you share with the individual you wish to engage in a marketing conversation. It really doesn't matter that much what the nature of the connection is - are you part of the same church-group? Do you share a hobby? Did you grow up in the same town or attend the same school? Are you subscribed to the same Chamber of Commerce? A connection may even be established by subscribing to the same periodical!



It's a fact that the single greatest human need is acceptance - a need to belong, to feel connected. In this twenty-first century world where the community values of our grandparents no longer have any kind of currency, we fulfil our need for acceptance through a bewildering range of virtual communities - some of them so virtual that they only exist in cyberspace! You would be making a dangerous mistake concluding that the connections we hold have little value - they are actually the most powerful marketing tools we have.



Don't believe me? Then consider this - if you can identify a connection to your prospects, they are no longer strangers! If you're still struggling to see this, perhaps you might want to tell me which of the following is a more persuasive marketing pitch:



o20% Discount on our services during December!



oProduce a Basingstoke and Deane Council Tax bill to receive a 20% 'community' discount during December!



Of course if you're thinking 'Who wants to live in a dump like Basingstoke?' you've just proved my point! We Basingstokers suspect how others feel about us (especially since that 'Crap Towns' book hit the shelves) but we know that we are part of a wonderful warm community and we look after each other. Which may or may not be true - but it's our perception, so nothing could be truer for us. We're connected, see? And we can't be connected to strangers - that's another impossibility.



I strongly urge you to do something right now that will have an immediate impact on your marketing success rates. Take a few minutes to consider where you might find communities with a high percentage of your prospects. Then consider how you might connect with those communities on the basis of joint participation, and frame a marketing campaign that emphasizes your connection.



Before long you'll have added another connection to some of those community members - they'll be profitable clients.



© David Deakin and Zee2A Limited 2008.



Would you like to reprint this article? You may do so as long as you include the copyright notice and the paragraph below.



About the Author: David Deakin, CEO of Zee2A, works with Professional Services Executives yearning to take their business to the next level. Through one-on-one mentoring he helps them create sustainable marketing strategies that attract more clients at profitable rates. To learn more, sign up for his e-zine, or enquire please visit www.zee2A.com.



Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=263852&ca=Marketing




Read More..Never Cold Call Again, And Get More Clients Into the Bargain...

Direct Mail: Here’s How You Increase Your Response Rate And Income By Using CDs And DVDs


By Tara Roitman

Almost every business has used direct mail to send sales messages to their prospects. In every campaign, one of the main objectives is getting your prospect to open the package instead of throwing it into the bin. How can you increase the open rate and the success rate of any campaign? Use CDs or DVDs!



For the past two or three years, the consensus is that the Internet is making physical media such as CDs and DVDs obsolete. Yes, internet download speeds are increasing and yes, there has been a steady decline (about 5% per year) in CD sales and DVD rentals and sales. However, the opportunities for businesses to use physical media and incorporate them into their marketing efforts are real and exciting.



Let’s consider the case of a hypothetical business called ABC Fitness Machines Ltd selling a piece of fitness equipment. Ordinarily, they would obtain a list of prospects based on demographics such as age, location and income. They might also obtain prospects who have bought similar products in the past or who subscribe to a fitness magazine. After constructing the sales letter, they would include some coupons for a time-limited discount on the machine and attempt to drive the prospect to a web page or store location to use this discount or complete an order form included in the package. Then, they mail out 50,000 or more of the letters and wait for the results. They might receive a 1% response rate or even less and this might be considered a success.



Let’s consider another scenario with this same business and same machine. This time, they include a DVD with the sales package. On this DVD, they show how the machine works and include video testimonials from previous clients who have obtained fantastic results. There is also store location information with directions to each location. They have also included an order form for the client to print out and mail or they can make the purchase online by clicking one button.



How many more sales do you think they would receive with this second package? Let’s think about it. First, studies have shown that “bulky” mail could double the chance of your package being opened by your prospect. By including an object that your prospect can feel through the envelope, they are less inclined to throw it away without at least having a peak at the contents. Second, you can have control over what content the prospect sees. For example, if the ABC Fitness Machines Ltd segmented their list, they could send the active subscribers to a fitness magazine to a page on their website featuring a more advanced version of their machine. You can track IP addresses and the paths the users take while on the site so you know how far into the buying process they went. Did they only visit one page of your site or did they get as far as the shopping cart? This additional information is invaluable in shaping the message for your future campaigns.



Finally, the interactivity that multimedia presentations and video allow is far beyond any sales chatter on flat white paper. You can truly engage your prospects and get their attention.



Next time you’re thinking of how to increase the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns, think multimedia, think interactivity and think CD and DVD!



About the Author: Tara Roitman is the marketing manager for Media Heaven Ltd - full service experts in CD duplication, DVD duplication and associated packaging



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Read More..Direct Mail: Here’s How You Increase Your Response Rate And Income By Using CDs And DVDs

Listen and Learn: A Lesson For Marketers


By David Deakin

I love my dad: it's necessary to make that clear before I tell you this story. My dad is always wondering when I'm going to give up this lark and get a real job. That's not the worst of it - the worst is that he's not at all sure what 'this lark' is! Yes, I've told him - and told him, and told him ... Those who are avid readers of The Marketing Edge will know that we here at Zee2A help our clients to craft a Verbal Signature - a brief statement which encapsulates who you work with, what problem you address and what the outcome is of addressing their problem. My dad has heard my Verbal Signature on many occasions - so why doesn't he know what I do?



The answer (I'm sure you've already guessed) is that hearing doesn't mean the same thing as listening. Perhaps you're wondering what on earth this has to do with marketing, so let me rephrase that: Speaking, telling, talking - none of them mean the same thing as listening! And yet we as marketers are always focused on telling, not so? We just assume that the person we are talking to has listened.



I'd like you to participate in a short experiment in case you're not convinced. Quickly write down the names of five people who are close to you but not people you do business with - family, friends, community members. Done? Right, now call them one by one and ask a simple question: 'What do I do?' If you got five accurate, congruent answers I'd like to hear from you - you'd be a world-first! You've told them (almost certainly) but how many listened?



I recently participated in a very interesting experiment under the direction of Maureen Scott of Mascott Training. Maureen wanted to graphically illustrate to a roomful of hard-nosed business people the challenges we face in accurate communication. She did so by splitting us into pairs and assigning one of the pair as the talker, the other as the listener. To the talker she gave an envelope containing a simple sketch, to the listener a pen and a blank piece of paper. Then, sitting back-to-back, the pair had to reproduce the sketch on the blank piece of paper. Get the idea? The talker cannot see what the listener is drawing, while the listener cannot see what the talker is seeing.



I was the listener in my pair but it wouldn't be difficult to imagine the challenge faced by the talker: how do you even begin to describe what you are seeing? (You may be interested in seeing what I drew, which you can do by going to www.zee2a.com/assets/listenandlearn.jpg) Do you describe the scene? Do you describe each line in detail and let the overall picture form as the process continues? What about colour? Positioning of the drawing on the page? Page orientation? (Our pair made the mistake of assuming that we were both holding the paper in the correct orientation, so the picture you see was inaccurate in that it should have been in portrait orientation.)



It is a deceptively simple experiment with so much meaning to be derived from it. Different people listen and visualise in different ways, so understanding whether the person you are talking to is a visual listener, an auditory listener or a kinesthetic (touchy-feely) listener is immensely useful in guiding how you present a proposition to them. Equally, as a talker you need to be a good listener too, because you should be sure to check regularly whether the person you are talking to is developing the correct image of what you are presenting. Maureen illustrated this concept by suggesting that the goal of communication is to create a shared vision, so we should imagine two 'thought-bubbles' emanating from the respective heads of the talker and the listener. If those two thought-bubbles are overlaid on one another, are they identical? If not, there is more (and perhaps also better) communicating to be done!



What can marketers take out of this? Here are three keys to effective communication:



oNever assume: Remember the mental exercise of overlaying your 'thought-bubble' with that of your prospect. Are they identical? Or does your communication need enhancement? If you don't know what is in your prospect's thought-bubble then you need to listen more!



oBe adaptable : Different people need the same information to be communicated in different ways. Are you talking to someone who seems to get frustrated when you try to talk detail? Chances are they are visualisers - start using verbal 'broad brush' strokes to paint an overall picture. (This type of person is vehemently opposed to presentations that rely on scores of Powerpoint slides - you have been warned!) Are you talking to a detail person (career engineers are a good example)? They are auditory listeners - break your proposition down to its key components and allow the prospect to build the picture as you supply the components. Touchy-feely listeners really struggle with a service proposition because they can't run their hands over it! Make sure that you provide lots of references (the closest thing we in the service profession have to a tangible offering) and offer to set up calls with or visits to satisfied clients. Some kind of demonstration of how your service works is also powerful if you are selling to a kinesthetist.



oListen more than you talk - Always! Yes, you are trying to communicate something to someone else, but never think that you don't need to listen. Only by listening carefully and diligently can you understand how your message is coming across to the prospect. A ratio of '2x listen : 1x talk' could be called the Divine Ratio - because we were given two ears and one mouth!



In conclusion we could perhaps say that rather than listening and learning, the goal of our decision to be good listeners as marketers is because listening leads to more profitable clients. Now that's music to my ears ...



© David Deakin and Zee2A Limited 2008.



Would you like to reprint this article? You may do so as long as you include the copyright notice and the paragraph below.



About the Author: David Deakin, CEO of Zee2A, works with Professional Services Executives yearning to take their business to the next level. Through one-on-one mentoring he helps them create sustainable marketing strategies that attract more clients at profitable rates. To learn more, sign up for his e-zine, or enquire please visit www.zee2A.com.



Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=263848&ca=Marketing




Read More..Listen and Learn: A Lesson For Marketers

09 June 2009

How To Get And Keep More Loyal Ezine Subscribers


By W.D. Crawford

When I noticed an automatically generated note from one of my email list hosting accounts at ProfitAutomation warning me that the account was approaching the 200,000 subscriber limit, and that I needed to increase its size, I realized that I finally had all of the subscribers that I really "needed." That account is one of five that I have with ProfitAutomation, and I also have one with Aweber.



So, while I still have a goal of building my database to over 1 million subscribers before the end of 2008, subconsciously I have to admit... that's somewhat for "bragging rights."



As I studied list building over the years, I eventually realized that a more important question than how to grow your list is "How do you keep loyal subscribers."



Growing a large list is fairly simple... depending upon your definition of large.



It's as simple as:



- Having a subscribe box on every page of your website



- Having a subscribe box somewhere in the backend of each sales processes



- Giving people a very specific reason for subscribing (telling them what benefit they'll gain from being on your list)



- Using testimonials from happy subscribers to prove that other already enjoy your ezine



- Focusing your ezine on a tightly niched topic that your audience has a real interest in



There are other things that you can do such as joint ventures, and finding ways to get in front of other publishers' audiences, but it all centers around answering the question of "What's in it for me?" that all of your potential subscribers have.



Once you get subscribers though, how do you keep them?



My friend Paul Myers, in his ebook, "The Amazing List Machine" taught me that you simply deliver to your subscribers what you promised them when they first joined your list.



If your ezine is on affiliate marketing, then your content teaches them affiliate marketing.



If your ezine is on website traffic generation then your content teaches them about website traffic generation.



If your ezine is on cooking (as one of mine is) then you teach them to cook.



Sounds fairly simple doesn't it?



If you give your subscribers what you promised them when you enticed them to join your list, they should stay on your list, and read your newsletters, provided their needs don't change.



For many ezine publishers, the tougher question becomes "How do I monetize my list without driving off subscribers." After all, isn't that why most of us started a newsletter?



Yes, it's fun writing something that people enjoy reading. It's nice getting emails telling you how long they've been a subscriber, and how much of a difference your lessons have made in their lives.



However, that won't put food on your table. So, how do you monetize your list?



The answer is that you offer them goods and services directly related to the topic of your list. If your list is on cooking, then you offer them cookbooks, and cooking gadgets, and perhaps cooking videos... or live workshops.



If you ezine is about list-building then you offer them supplemental courses on list-building. You offer them software that automates the process more. You offer them case-studies that show how others are building large, responsive lists.



The whole process is fairly simple when you step back and look at it. You entice subscribers to join your list by promising them exactly what they want (that you can deliver). You keep them by delivering what you promised. Finally, you monetize your list by selling them things that make it easier for them to get what they were looking for when they first joined your list.



Take a few minutes now and examine your process. Honestly look for weak points in your system... and then fix them. Then you too will one day realize the you no longer need to focus on growing your list. Then the challenge becomes deepening the relationship that you have with list members, although you should have been focused on that all along too :-)



About the Author: Willie Crawford has been running an online business, largely driven by email marketing, since late-1996. He is the author of the popular ebook "How I Boosted My Ezine Sign-Up Rate By 5200 MORE Subscribers Per Month - Virtually Overnight - And You Can Too." Get your copy now at http://TheRealSecrets.com/5200/



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Read More..How To Get And Keep More Loyal Ezine Subscribers

Micro Niche Finder 3 - Find Niche Markets


By Eric Knouse

What is a Niche? A niche in internet marketing terms can be defined as an untapped market undiscovered by other marketers.



How do you find a niche?



Not just any niche will do, it must be a hungry niche, people ready to buy what you have. To find a hungry niche you mine through keywords that are being typed into Google daily. Do this exercise, type a keyword into Google you will see how many results are returned, this is somewhat irrelevant. YEP, I said it, I can hear the moans and groans now and maybe the yelling at the screen. You see, that number is how many pages Google returned with that keyword somewhere on a page. Who cares? What we need to know is how many competitors are optimizing their webpages for that keyword. This will tell us who and how tough our competition is giving us insight to how much effort we need put forth to get to the top spot of Google. To do this we enter the keyword in quotes, ie.. "your keyword(s) here". Now we are getting somewhere.



The results you see now is a simple glimpse of what you are up against, the lower this number the better. A good range if your starting out is more than 3,000, but less than 10,000, anymore than 10K, your effort increases greatly and your weekends become filled with more research and less time cornering your niche and making money. At this point you could go create an ezine article with your keyword in mind, really just the title and a mention or two about the keyword and you should have a really good chance of having your article placed in the Google results, usually on the first page if you stay within that range I mentioned. So how do you know if that keyword is popular? This is key. Without traffic it doesn't matter what you do online, nothing will work, we have to use tools to determine their popularity.



Are there tools to find niche markets?



You better believe there are many tools and it takes a lot of time to research them, test them and apply what you learn from them to make any money online. I want to give you a shortcut, learn from my experience. I strongly believe the only tool that you need right now is very easy to find its called Micro Niche Finder 3. This tool has many tools inside, the interface is VERY user friendly, I taught my very non-technical Dad and friends how to use it in less than 30 minutes and now I have to bribe them to get off my computer so I can work... Yes, they have become overnight Internet Marketing gurus.



Micro Niche Finder version 3 automates the above method allowing you to find niche markets in a matter of minutes. This is one tool in a crowd of many that helps you find your niche easily. Another tool to compare to Micro Niche Finder is Nichebot, Wordtracker and Keyword Elite.



About the Author: Let the niche be with you! Find Niche Markets



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01 June 2009

Guaranteed Targeted Blog Traffic in 11 Easy Steps


By Robert A Kearse

You are going to achieve this goal by making comments on blogs closely related in theme to your own blog.



But there are several key steps that will make your goal of targeted blog traffic a lot easier to reach.



(1) EVERY DAY type the most important keyword you are trying to rank your blog for into Google Blog Search at http://blogsearch.google.com



(2) Make a comment on relevant blog posts if you can add something meaningful to the discussion/post.



The first comments get by far the most readership so it pays to be first to make a comment to maximize your blog promotion.



By using Google blog search you will often come across blog posts that are only minutes or hours old.



(3) Keep a blog post comment file in a handy place.



Record any comments you are likely to repeat on other blogs. Number the paragraphs.



You will find it easy to quickly mix and match and copy and paste your recorded comments to make relevant and meaningful blog contributions.



I keep my file in my email draft section.



Use ******************* at the start of the subject line so you can locate the file instantly



(4) Keep a file entitled "Blogs where I have posted a comment"



Enter this data for each blog you comment on



Blog name:



Post title:



Post url:



Alexa rank:(see #11 below)



Date:



The above data will prevent you from making the same comment twice on a

blog.



Also you definitely want to REVISIT highly rated blogs that get a lot of blog traffic. (The lower the Alexa number, the MORE traffic the blog is getting).



By making more than one comment on a continual basis on a blog you are establishing a RELATIONSHIP with that blog owner, and success on the Internet (and in business in general) is all about relationships.



Another reason you want to record the Alexa rank is for when you revisit the blog post weeks or months later, you can see how much progress that blog is making in attracting targeted traffic.



You want to increase your involvement with blogs that are showing significant improvement. Make sense??



Keep your comment file in your email draft section.



Use =>=>=>=>=> at the start of the subject line so you can locate the file instantly



You can set up multiple accounts at http://Backtype.com to help you keep track of your posts, but its spider does not reach all corners of the Web yet.



One of your Backtype accounts will be for your private reference, because the comments may be repetitive and so not very useful collectively to another individual.



(5) Repeat this process for your blog's second and third most important keywords



(6) Repeat this process for long tail keywords you have selected that have a high commercial value.



(These are the long tail keywords individuals use when they are looking to buy rather than browse.)



(7) If you don't have a direct hyperlink to your blog in the comment you offer, then be sure to use the critical keyword IN PLACE OF your name in the appropriate box of the comment form.



(8) The specific blog url (permalink, category url, etc.) goes in the url box of the comment form.



(9) Sign the comment with your REAL full name.



In other words, BRAND yourself.



(10) Do not susbstitute keyword for name on blogs that have the CommentLuv plugin. This plugin will automatically show your last blog post so you don't need another link to your blog.



(11) Download and install the Alexa Toolbar (5 minutes)



This is a very important research tool that you will benefit from every day you are active on the Internet. It is one measure of how much traffic any particular site is getting, and is solid knowledge you can make use of in many ways.



You should use Alexa to measure your own progress in blog traffic and blog promotion.



The key is DISCIPLINE.



Following these 10 steps above on a regular basis will dramatically improve your Alexa score over the long run, improve your targeted traffic, and help establish YOU as an authority in your blog's subject area.



About the Author: Robert A. Kearse's blog, TrafficNymphomaniac.com, focuses on blog traffic and link popularity. His weekly updated List of Blog Directories is the most complete source of blog directories and RSS submission sites on the entire Internet and contains over 300 entries with NO DEAD LINKS.



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Read More..Guaranteed Targeted Blog Traffic in 11 Easy Steps

Free Traffic Ideas for the Low Budget Online Business Entrepreneur


By Kanaga Siva

The predicament every new webmaster faces is "How do I get Free Traffic to my website?" This becomes even more critical when you work with a low budget.



Webmasters know the value and importance of traffic. They know only too well that the very success of their online business depends on the volume of targeted traffic they can generate and if they can find ways and means of obtaining free traffic, then why not!



There are several tried and tested Online and Offline methods that can generate free traffic to your website.



Online Free Traffic:



The easiest and simplest method is to include your website URL in your signature in e-mails.



Write articles and submit to article directories on the theme of your website and related topics that will display your expertise. It is important that you have a link to your website in the Resource Box at the end of the article. This is considered to be the best way of attracting free traffic especially if you are working on a low budget.



Regularly visit topic related Forums and make useful contributions, give valuable advice and ensure that you place your signature in the forum posts.



Actively participate in reciprocal link exchange with websites that are relevant to the theme of your website and preferably of higher page rank.



Optimize your website for the search engines especially Google, Yahoo and MSN with the most relevant keywords or keyword phrases that will ensure that your website will appear high in the search results when these keywords or phrases are searched in the search engines.



Have excellent and unique content and constantly update them. This will entice visitors and the search engines too, to make frequent visits to your site.



Submit your website to high quality topic related directories that accept free submissions.



Advertise in free classifieds sites that cater to the category to which your online business website falls.



Submit a press release every time you introduce a new product or make changes in your business which will create interest in your customers or attract new customers.



Submit your website to social booking sites whenever you update your site. Useful information is shared by people and this will bring you a stream of targeted traffic.



Start a Blog on your website. Search Engines especially Google love Blogs that are frequently updated and make regular visits to these Blogs.



Offline Free Traffic:



Word of mouth is considered to be one of the best offline methods of generating free traffic for your online business. Pass the round to your friends, acquaintances, colleagues and relatives about your business.



Put your website URL on all printed material that goes out of your office such as letterheads, envelopes, invoices, faxes, labels and anything and everything you can think of.



Print Business Cards with your website URL and exchange cards with others at seminars, conferences, trade fairs, parties and other functions. Business Cards project your image and credibility.



Distribute Flyers with a description of your online business, your physical address and your website URL. This is one of the cheapest and low budget ways of promoting your business offline.



Write articles about your business in the local community newspapers with your website URL in them.



Place bumper stickers or magnetic signs on your vehicles displaying your website URL and your phone number are a free or an inexpensive way of promoting your online business Offline.



Place your Ads in Community centers, Bulletin boards and other places that provide the opportunity to place free Ads.



All these methods will bring to your online business a stream of free traffic that will boost your confidence and keep you enthusiastic and motivated even if you working on a low budget.



About the Author: Copyright © Kanaga Siva. Kanaga Siva is an Expert Author and Marketer. You are welcome to his Free Home Based Business Website, Internet Marketing Blog for a useful and interesting Online Business experience.



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31 May 2009

More Web Site Promotion Ideas Than You Can Shake a Stick At!


By Mike Row

Do you feel you’ve been working hard on your website but not getting a lot of results for what you’ve done? Are you still trying to figure out effective methods of website promotion that will get your website seen by a larger audience and increase your profits at the same time? Are you still trying to find the best and most effective ways to promote your website but coming up short?



If your answer is yes to any of the previous questions then this article is exactly what you need to read. I’m going to give you so many ideas for website promotion that it’s probably going to make your head explode. Don’t worry though because each idea I’m going to share with you has been proven to be effective and ultimately profitable for each website owner that has put these ideas into practice. So let’s get started with the list, shall we?



1. Submit your website to search engines.



2. Submit your website to online website directories.



3. Contact other website owners in your market and see if they will trade a link with you.



4. Post your website to free online classifieds sites.



5. Sign up for free and low-cost Internet banners to exposure website to places they would not be normally exposed to.



6. Try pay per click advertising, one of the fastest ways to get traffic to your website.



7. Article marketing is a must, so if you aren’t already doing it then you need to start doing it now. Start submitting your articles to online article directories.



8. Do article swaps with other related websites in your market.



9. Search engine optimization is a must. You have to use the right keywords and keyword phrases to optimize your website in each and every search engine on the Internet.



10. Become involved in forum posting. Join and dissipate in as many forums related to your market as possible. Most search engines will recognize that each one of your posts equals equality link back to your website and this helps your search engine optimization.



11. Visit Yahoo! Answers and Google Groups and answer questions pertaining to your niche. In your reply, be sure to link to your website.



12. If you don’t have a blog, now is the time to create one. Blogs are highly effective in promoting your website and are becoming more popular with each and every day.



13. Write unique articles about your niche and submit them to quality article directories.



I have even more ideas that you can use to effectively promote your site but this list is more than enough to get you started. As a matter of fact, you really don’t need to do anything else until you start doing what’s in this list. As you start doing what’s listed here, more ideas will come and you’ll have another list of more site promotion ideas than you know what to do with!



About the Author: I bet you didn't know that there are many ways to earn good money online on the internet without even having a website and you can do it for free. I sell a very successful guide at the homepage of my site for $19.95 but if you act fast you can the exact same guide absolutely FREE. No seriously it's yours if you go to => http://www.make100perday.com/secret-page.html



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19 May 2009

Search Engine Optimisation Services


By Carolyn Clayton

If you’re reading this article you must be interested in knowing how SEO services can help improve your website. Well you’re on the right track as SEO is the best way to get more traffic and get high positions in the search engines.



As you probably realise SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website via a search engine via “natural” or “organic” search results for targeted keywords. When successful, SEO provides a much higher return on investment than any other kind of Internet Marketing campaign. SEO involves designing or adjusting parts of a website to rank it highly. This could include changes to the HTML code, changes to the Meta tags, changes to the text to include keywords and link building to help with your popularity.



SEO is the only way to get lasting "organic" or "natural" search engine results. Organic or natural search results are those found under the Google sponsored links. The benefits of being on the front page of Google under the sponsored ads are huge. 93% of internet users don’t look further than the first two pages of search engine results. Traffic from search engines is the most valuable kind of traffic as it is comprised of qualified visitors actively looking for a product, service information or solution.



To get your site listed in the natural results your website needs to be optimised. If you want your site to come up for the phrase ‘motorcycle servicing’ you need to have a page on your website dedicated to motorcycle servicing. You need to make sure you write the text on your website so that you or the search engines have no doubts that that particular page is about motorcycle services. You need to use H1 tags for your main title on the body of the text as well as ensuring your title tag has is describing what the site is about. This sounds simple and it is, but getting all aspects done correctly can only really be done by an SEO professional.



A good SEO company will offer services such as content optimisation, website design, link popularity campaign, SEO consulting, copywriting and SEO campaigns. You might find your site just needs a bit of re-designing and the content optimised to make it search friendly and get it showing in the results page for your chosen keywords. If you have quite competitive keywords to target you will need an ongoing SEO strategy or campaign.



Ongoing SEO campaigns should include activities such as regularly adding fresh and unique content, writing articles, posting on blogs and sourcing links. Also setting up social or business networking sites work is very beneficial. SEO specialist know that the more pages you have indexed the more chance you have of finding traffic to your site. Campaigns can be costly but you could search for SEO Freelancers which will cost you less. Either way you need search marketing expert to run your campaign.



About the Author: Carolyn Clayton is an SEO Specialist offering Search Engine Optimisation Services for the UK or International market.



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Read More..Search Engine Optimisation Services

17 May 2009

EBook Marketing: There Are Millions To Be Made


By Mike Ferris

Making an Internet marketing ebook doesn't have to be a painstaking, laborious, annoying task; however, it is far more important to understand that it shouldn't be as easy as most people treat it, either. Most people create Internet marketing ebooks in the following way: they read some low-quality articles, scan some forum posts, and then summarize the various conjectures and unverified information in the form of a bad ebook.



Next, they get started on a salespage that is brimming over with trickery and falsehoods. If they don't outright fabricate screenshots and testimonials, they find other, more subtle ways to do the exact same things. They'll accept bogus testimonials from people who want backlinks and flat out lie about the amount of money people can make performing some task. Usually, they'll extrapolate small earnings to massive earnings – even if they've never been able to take that process and work it through to the suggested possibilities.



You've seen this all before. You know the tricks. And you've been told to do the same thing. You've been told that the only way to make money with ebooks is to churn them out quickly; and spam-market them in any venue you can find. Of course, everyone saying this will try to be more subtle; however, the prescriptions they give you more or less amount to the same thing.



However, this should come as no surprise, but all of this spamming, lying, and plagiarism doesn't usually generate any money for the average person. Why not? Strangely enough, people generally tend to buy products that are known to be good (i.e. that they've heard about word-of-mouth), have a buzz, look credible – and that they have an actual purpose for. Low quality, dime-a-dozen ebooks generally do not fall on this list.



Instead of doing all of this, start by figuring out a good topic you can cover in an ebook. Think of something that you and everyone else really need to understand better in order to be successful (or more successful) as an Internet marketer. Take joint ventures, for instance. If you were able to find 4-5 strong joint venture partners for each product you launched, you'd have no problem selling them.



Next, get to work on your project. Using the "joint venture" idea, you could create a product that is titled "how I secured 5 top joint venture partners for a book that didn't exist yet." You could then go on to actually find those partners, explain the project – and then, once you were finished – create the book based on your joint venture partner-finding efforts. You could explain how you tracked down your partners and how you convinced them to partner with you. Once you've finished creating the document, simply turn it into a PDF file. Open Office is an excellent free way to instantly turn any document into a PDF file.



Next, you will have to create a strong, compelling salespage for your ebook. This is another project in itself. Once you've completed your salespage, you will want to search around for a good place to sell. If you want to use affiliates, you should also start an account with Clickbank. You'll have to pay an initial $50 fee, but from there on, you (and your affiliates) will be able to use their link-creation and payment services – and that will help you to save a considerable amount of time.



Of course, you can always forego the Clickbank route and simply sell your products through PayPal. This will allow you to receive payment instantaneously and transfer it to your bank account in 3-4 business days. Once you've setup the salespage and the checkout button, you can start selling at places such as the WSO forum at Warrior Forum. But no matter what you decide is best, you should always try to work on a long term – rather than short term – strategy. Don't spam. Don't ignore rules. And, most importantly, don't create low quality products.



About the Author: Want some killer marketing secrets absolutely free posted every other day? Check out my internet marketing strategies blog. You'll find strategies that they guru's would kill to keep from you. If you found this article useful go ahead and Twitter Me => http://twitter.com/secretimriches



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The Art of Leaflet Design


By Ungira Pandit

So you’ve spent practically your whole budget and life savings into starting up a brand new business on your own. You want to start running your business as soon as possible to get a return on investment and start making a profit. There’s barely enough pounds left for you to get the word out to the public that your business exists. With little money to spare, have you considered the idea of advertising with leaflets? A Leaflet is a cost effective, exclusive, personal and an easy direct marketing tactic to get the message out to your potential customers. You can mail out leaflets, distribute them door-to-door, or hand them out in person.



When people learn about your business, what it offers, the range of products, and other highlighted details from your leaflet, they will become interested and will be keen to visit your store. It is a chance to inform the public about established organisations, causes or companies your business may be affiliated with. Leaflets make people aware of your brand which helps the public gain trust in your company and associate with your business. In order to effectively promote your company using leaflet advertising, the first step is to ensure you have a good sense of leaflet design that would be appealing to people reading your leaflet.



A leaflet has several aspects dependent on the quality of the design. The top 3 inches of the cover of your leaflet are the most important. Those 3 inches are what people are going to judge your leaflet by, to determine whether they’re going to read the rest of your leaflet or not. It should be your utmost priority to attract a passer-by’s attention with a captivating headline and so they can comprehend the purpose of your leaflet at a quick glance. Since leaflet design has the advantage of having more space to work with as compared to flyer design, use it! Utilise the space on your leaflet to highlight a few key points of information.



Then take the time to select one or two images to incorporate into your leaflet design, in order to create the right impact in the reader’s mind and backup your information. You should be able to give out a clear concise message to the person reading your leaflet. Do not confuse them by including too much information printed on your leaflet. The standard leaflet sizes vary from 1/3 A4 and A3 or A4 sizes folded into A5 sized leaflets. These sizes are considered to be standard since they have the convenient feature of fitting into a person’s pocket. This convenience will allow a person to read your leaflet in depth at a later time. If you produce bulky leaflets which are difficult to store in a purse or pocket, they are going to be thrown out by people instead of read.



The ink and paper chosen for your leaflet should be sturdy enough to handle any type of weather conditions or external force factors. The ink should be a higher quality of ink which is less likely to run if the leaflet gets moist or wet. The paper should be strong enough so that it doesn’t tear easily and is able to maintain its presentable form. Nothing is better than a sale, discount or one time offer, to give the public a reason to visit your business, so make sure to mention these specifics. People get extremely turned off by bad grammar and spelling errors. It makes people think your business is not significant or serious enough to be worth their time or money. So verify that your leaflet design is free from any sort of errors. Many businesses that print leaflets, fail to request for a preview before printing their whole order of leaflets. Only when the whole order is printed, do they realise something needed to be changed. Get a preview printout to get an idea of how your leaflet will look. Once you have had a chance to examine the preview, any small enhancements or adjustments can be made, to have an excellent leaflet design to promote your business.



About the Author: Solopress is a printing and design UK company which is dedicated to helping you create the perfect leaflet design to successfully promote your business.



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13 May 2009

Increase Web Traffic With SEO


By Nick Pegley

In the last several years Google has become a widely-recognized brand, even recently ranked as the top-known brand name in the world. Anyone who is hosting a website, advertising online, or doing business should understand how to utilize Google services well. In short, over half of all Internet searches use Google.



Google's services can help searchers find your business in several different ways. Your site, like all the other public sites on the Web, is scanned often by automatic 'spider' applications which make an examination for the links and content of each web page. Google's index contains over ten billion pages; the company updates its indexes on a regular basis, a task that requires the use of almost half a million servers.



When users submit search terms at the site, Google will present a list of selected and ordered matches. The order in which they are presented is determined by several different factors. The factors of this search include the relevancy of the content on the page to the search terms, along with what Google calls the 'PageRank' of that particular page. Other factors probably play in as well, but these algorithms are secret.



PageRank is expressed as a number which is calculated during the process of indexing (0-10). Each web page that the spider examines will be assigned a PageRank number. Starting at zero, the number grows as the page receives links from other sites, either from the same host for from other externally-based sites. The Google policy here is that pages receive rank not from the amount of accesses they serve, but by the correlated relevancy of content and the amount of links that refer them. Google's description: "Google interprets a link from page A to B as a vote, by page A, for page B. Votes cast by pages that are themselves important weigh more heavily and help to make other pages important." So, increased site traffic won't improve your PageRank, but a better PageRank will probably result in increased traffic to your site.



Where Does Your Site Sit in Google's World?



To find out your site's PageRank, use Google's Toolbar in your Web browser. If you don't have it pre-installed, just search for it.



How Does a Site Increase Visitor Traffic?



There's an entire new field to address this question: search engine optimizers. These SEO companies are great for expert advice. There are also some things you can do to increase the amount of unpaid traffic at your web site.



1) Website Redesign - Make your site focus more on the issues that people search on more frequently.



2) Place Articles - These articles can feature incoming links to your web site.



3) Localize - By adding sections by geographic location, your content can feature info related to a particular place, including community events. Google gives favor to a search that includes a city name in it.



By implementing these simple suggestions, you could see your unpaid web traffic triple in short time.



About the Author: Nick Pegley is VP of Marketing at All Covered Inc, the only nationwide information technology (IT) services company focused solely on enabling the success of small businesses. Serving thousands of organizations across every major industry, the company helps clients achieve their business objectives by lowering the cost and maximizing the performance of their IT systems.



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12 May 2009

Online and Offline Real Estate Investing Marketing Strategies


By Peter Vekselman

You may have jumped into real estate investing with one eye on your dreams and the other on your potential to become fabulously wealthy in a very short time. While it’s true that it’s possible to become the richest person you know, the reality is that it will probably take time to happen. Another reality you may not have considered is that as a real estate investor, you also wear another hat: professional marketer. If you can’t devise a winning online and offline marketing effort, your dreams will be largely unrealized and your destiny will be held hostage by unfulfilled potential.



There are a number of offline marketing strategies you can employ to encourage possible buyers and sellers of residential real estate to contact you. Some of the most common ones are:



• Bandit signs

• Radio & television ads

• Brochures, flyers, and billboard signs



However, to turn the corner with your marketing, you can really ramp up your offline marketing strategies by establishing yourself as a noted real estate expert within your local community. There are three great strategies for doing this:



• Local media interviews – The best way of getting your name in front of News Directors and Program Directors is by issuing pertinent press releases. They need to be well-written and they need to discuss newsworthy issues of importance to their viewers. Once you’ve begun to establish yourself as an expert in your field your phone will ring more regularly. These media appearances can increase your exposure and improve your name recognition which can result in increased investing deals because of your perceived status as an expert. Many people with whom you’ll be trying to buy properties from or sell properties to will know your name – and be more willing to trust you – as a result of your prominence within your local community.



• Seminars – Giving free seminars in a real estate-related niche can increase the size of your portfolio. As a residential real estate investor, you could give a free seminar about topics as wide-ranging as “How to Sell Your House for Your Price in a Down Market” to “How to Buy a House with Bad Credit.” The key here isn’t to directly market yourself. Your goal is to come across much like a financial planner. Show your clients what you know – and how you can help them – and they’ll gladly show you their money later on.



• Public speaking – This may not seem like a natural offline marketing strategy, but it has potential you may not have considered. Most people aren’t natural public speakers; if this identifies you, don’t despair. Join your local Toastmasters club and learn the fine art of public speaking. While you’re learning, you’ll be exposed to business and community leaders (many with cash) who would be prime candidates as potential investing partners or sources of private cash for long term investments or down payment and rehab funds.



Online marketing strategies are like gifts that keep on giving because the overall costs are reduced. This allows you to cast a wider net and increase the area in which you invest. In addition, you’ll be able to build buyers lists and prequalify prospects without an investment of time, which is one of your most precious commodities.

Effectively reaching potential clients with online strategies increasingly demands that you have a website of your own, in order to prescreen prospects, build buyers lists, and to gather other vital information. None of these efforts mean a thing if you can’t figure out how to drive Internet traffic to your website. Your online efforts will generally revolve around two basic strategies:



• PPC – Pay Per Click campaigns are a good way of getting visitors to your real estate investing website. However, if you don’t carefully analyze your target demographic and get crystal clear about which words and phrases you wish to bid on, your expenses could explode and you’ll have nothing to show for it. Google and Yahoo have helpful analytic tools that can help you determine what words and phrases make the most sense for driving paid traffic to your website. In addition, they also offer the ability to target traffic based upon geographic location of potential clients, so your ads would only be seen by those most likely to be good targets.



• Organic placement – This form of marketing won’t cost you a penny, but the competition for top ranking can be fierce. The key to achieving top ranking is by having content on your website that is relevant to the needs of your site’s visitors. While SEO can play a role in your search engine rankings, you’ll have greater success by ensuring that your website has great content. Resources related to real estate investing – articles and ebooks about wholesaling, short sales, rent to own, or whatever areas in which you concentrate, can gain you improved ranking by the search engines. Concentrate on relevant, high quality written content and you’ll be rewarded with traffic. The increased volume of traffic will mean you’ll gain more prospects, which will generally translate into more buyers and sellers for your residential properties.



While your online and offline marketing efforts will differ, in many cases you can tie them together for maximum effect. For instance, any offline marketing materials will have physical contact information. If you can include a catchy and memorable web address, you’ll increase your exposure to potential clients while reducing the legwork necessary to pre-sell them on doing business with you.



Marketing your real estate investing business may seem like a waste of time and effort, but by paying close attention to these efforts you can win over potential clients, increase the size of your portfolio, and move yourself closer to realizing your dreams. If you’re not familiar with the marketing strategies you want to employ or you’re at all uncomfortable with your knowledge of specific real estate investing techniques, you should consider finding a good mentor that specializes in the type of investing in which you’re most interested. Their experience and guidance can set your mind at ease and their wise counsel can help get you on your way.



About the Author: Peter Vekselman has been successfully investing in real estate since 1996. He has completed over 1000 real estate deals, owned a construction company, been a private lender, and owned a property management company. Peter currently works with clients all over the US http://www.CoachingByPeter.com .



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Making Network Marketing a Habit


By Ainuddin Mohamad

As a network marketer, there are a number of habits you have to develop. Not only do you have to develop certain habits, you have to make network marketing a habit. Just as bad habits can constantly prevent you from doing things that are critically important, good habits can force you to do the exact opposite. But in order to have these habits and to employ them successfully, you first must spend the time to develop them.



Superb Salesmanship



One of the most important habits you must develop is great salesmanship. No matter how good your product is, no one is going to want to sell it if you can't convince them to do so.



The greater part of doing this is learning the art of salesmanship.



So what does sales entail? Primarily, salesmanship entails being able to communicate everything clearly and concisely.



While there are a number of important devices you can use as a salesperson, none is as important as being able to clearly explain what it is that you want your target audience to understand.



This will be important in two instances the first is convincing customers that your product is worth buying. In order to do this, you will have to clearly connect the product as a solution to a problem they have.



You will also have to clearly communicate the benefits and explain why it is different or better than similar products. Now, in the second instance, you must “sell” the opportunity to all of the members of your network. I personally suggest you do this in an honest and ethical way.



If they can't realistically earn $30,000/year the first year in your program, then do not tell them that. Rather, tell them what people actually have made and what was required. It is always important to clearly communicate to new network members.



Explain to them what it is that they are doing exactly and how you would suggest that they could best get it done. Above all, remember to employ salesmanship often and to develop it as a habit, not just a skill.



Helping Other People



Another habit you'll have to pickup is to like to help others, even before you attempt to help yourself. This sounds counter intuitive, especially if your goal is simply to make money at any cost however, as almost all network marketers learn, helping others and helping yourself often means the exact same thing.



The reason why this is so true with network marketing is because the best way to earn is to get others to do the work for you to gain leverage. Without gaining leverage, your best hope is to simply sell the product yourself through some type of direct marketing scheme.



Now, if you want to gain leverage, you have to find ways to teach others to do what you presumably know how to do yourself which is to find prospects, introduce them to the product, and then close sales. Conversely, if you are shooting for a network perpetuation model, you will want to be able to show people how they can recruit people just like you.



With this being said, there is a significant difference between knowing and doing. You might know how to teach people this process, but if you are unwilling to actually do so, the skill is useless.



So make a habit of helping others especially those in your network. Whenever someone sends you an email, make your best attempt to respond to it quickly and comprehensively.



Even if the person himself is unlikely to earn you any money, your simple act of kindness could stir him to spread the word about your network to his friends.



Additionally, remember that helping others is only one part of the equation the other is making sure you do it correctly.



If you can't come up with a workable model for people to replicate your success, then you may not want to begin building a network rather, you might want to stick to direct sales.



About the Author: Ainuddin Mohamad is the Webmaster of http://eBizZone.net - the place to learn how to make money online.



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10 May 2009

Six Tips For Writing a Sales Letter That Stands Out From the Crowd


By Deborah Carraro

Every online business owner knows the importance of a killer sales letter but not everyone knows how to write one that’s worth reading - one that draws in the reader with their story and makes them want to buy. A killer sales letter earns its stripes by converting readers into customers 99% of the time. That’s a pretty high conversion rate so let’s just say your letter should be so compelling that it will keep your reader reading every word and purchase products from you. Eben Pagan was once asked why he sends out long ezines and he said something to the effect that prospects won’t read every word, but customers will. The same thing can be said about salesletters.



Here are some easy to follow tips to learn how to write a sales letter.



- Harness the power of a attention grabbing headline: The most important element of your salespage is your headline. You have 3 seconds to grab someone’s attention before they click on to the next thing. That’s why the headline will capture the gist of your entire salesletter. I’ve often bought products on the power of the headline alone. Write your headline in such a way that when the reader reads it he stops dead on his tracks.



- Be friendly and approachable: You’re not going to win many friends (and convert sales) if you’re using technical jargon or difficult phrases. Instead be friendly and informal. Use everyday language (though slang is still a no-no). Look there are going to be grammar rules you can break in a salesletter that you wouldn’t be able to break if you were handing in your PhD thesis but you still want to take care to write well. Don’t be sloppy. Spelling errors and poor grammar always turn off prospective customers… even if they’re not English teachers.



- Think about FAQs or Q&As: Questions and answers are fun and clear to read and can help move your salesletter along quickly. They also work to make your letter interactive and self answering to the customers’ queries. A new trend is the psychic salesletter - which asks a series of questions and then generates a salesletter that is customized to the reader.



- Give a guarantee: Increase your trust factor (especially if you’re unknown) by offering a solid guarantee. Your guarantee should convince the reader that you consider him valuable and help eliminate barriers to buying. You could a extend money back or cash back offer to the customer to gain his trust.



- Keep your sales letter to the point: Cut down on those long sentences and boring phrases. Use bullets wherever possible as these are the simplest to read.



- Summarize your sales letter in the post script: I mentioned earlier that I’ve purchased products strictly on the strength of the headline. I’ve also purchased products solely on the strength of the PS. Joe Vitale refers to the PS as a ”powerful statement” (rather than the traditional post script). And he’s right. Often, I just glance at the sales letter and base my purchase on the PS statements.



Some other tips on how to write a sales letter are that provide trustworthy testimonials from other customers, cite your credentials, make your letter irresistible with discounts and free samples, and know all the different modes of payment so that you can offer them as options to your clients.



Now that you know how to write a sales letter which has a powerful headline, a compelling body, a polite post script, what is stopping you? Get down to drafting one right now itself.



About the Author: Deborah Carraro is a successful online entrepreneur who got started in the Inner Circle of top Online Entrepreneurs and now shares their business blueprints & article marketing secrets with you. Discover the secret science of earning passive income online at http://www.myvirtualpartner.com



Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=297679&ca=Marketing




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