Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

In this new frontier of SOCIAL MARKETING, you can spike your traffic FAST, and if you do it right, you get LONG TERM search engine traffic too. It’s really the best of both worlds. Free traffic and higher search engine rankings!

Plus! Higher Conversions

Here’s the final key ingredient… and that’s the fact that social marketing means that the huge flood of EXTRA traffic you are going to get on your site is already PRE-SOLD. You already have a relationship with them… and they are going to convert into customers at a rate you haven’t seen since your grandmother visited your lemonade stand when you were a kid.

It’s this simple… people like to buy from people that they already know, like, and trust. And your social marketing campaign will give you the kind of presence so that people already KNOW you, LIKE you, and TRUST you before they even hit your web site. It’s not rocket science.

In a recent test performed by a well respected marketing analysis firm MarketingExperiments.com, a site that runs online tests and records the results in their newsletters. They recently concluded a 12-month test where they measured the results of social marketing versus buying paid traffic to a series of 4 sites.

Here is what they found…

Using social marketing, they were able to generate over 93,000 visitors to their sites, paying an employee to do the social marketing work for a total of $3600 during that time, resulting in a total cost per visitor of 4 cents.

Then they ran a one month test driving traffic from Google AdWords. Using that strategy, they obtained 2,057 visitors after investing $1,250 in click costs, resulting in a cost per visitor of 61 cents. Four 4 cents versus 61 cents – social marketing yielded a 1,427% better return on their investment. Not bad!

By now I’m sure that you’re foaming at the mouth, wanting to dive in and take advantage of the huge opportunity that Social Marketing presents.

My newest product devoted to applying the techniques of getting traffic from social networking, involves three sites that will get your social marketing off to a great start. They are MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. In my videos I show you why they work and how to set them up to get the fastest results.

There are no secrets! It’s all about creating a presence on each one, developing friends and a relationship with your friends! The rest (traffic) comes naturally when you use social networking the right way!

There are many small business opportunities right under your nose. But you have to look at the world around you with fresh eyes and listen with newly tuned ears. New local ordinances may help you come up with an unheard of business. Where others see trouble, look for opportunity to start a new service or to make an innovation in an old business model.

A small business opportunity may be waiting in the talent of your hands. Do you garden, fix your car, or do bead work? Whatever you know how to do there’s a market for it, especially if you add a new twist to your idea. You can sell those plants at auction sites like a friend of mine. How about starting an emergency car repair service and bring your shop with you. Expand that bead work talent into making and selling art jewelry. There are sites where you can sell your jewelry art.

As a small business entrepreneur the world is yours. The green industry is wide open. Do they have recycling where you live? If not, consider starting a recycling business. Or if there is a private one already, then start a pickup and delivery service for people’s recyclables. Are you inventive? Your invention could make a mint. A friend of mine has invented new tools for her craft and sells them online.

To help yourself with finding the small business opportunity that’s right for you think about these personality traits and see which is like you.

• Are you concerned with improving the things around you? Maybe you can modify some type of business to make it better.

• Do you like to give advice? Perhaps you can teach people to do something and sell your e-book. It could be a small business advice book.

• Do you have a dynamic personality? Then as a small business entrepreneur, you’re business will be branded by your charisma.

• Are you creative? Your small business opportunities are available on the internet at sites where you can sell, photography, music, screen savers, and your writing skills.

Many colleges offer a small business advice service so be sure to check out what is offered locally. These are usually free of charge. The internet offers a variety of advice that may help you. These cover areas like startup plans and marketing, forums, proposal writing, branding, various ways to use the internet to advertise and grow your business.

The Small Business Administration is chock full of help for the small business entrepreneur including a plan tutorial and outline, financial assistance, local resources, and a lot more. There are many ways on the internet to promote your small business online. You can post ads, talk in forums, join social marketing sites, use traffic exchanges, and banner exchanges, add your signature to all of your emails and so forth. Linking is a good way to get traffic to your site whether you’re promoting your internet business or using a site to promote your brick and mortar business. This small business advice should get you rolling and building your entrepreneurial future.

Websites develop with the personality of the business owner. So, how can you take your personal interests and use them to intensify the effect of marketing? This includes both the marketing of the site and the products or services you are making available.

If your personality has a bent toward humor perhaps your website may include humorous bits of trivia that deal with your industry. You might solicit humorous stories from customers (this strategies could also work to improve list building endeavors).

If your personality is one that enjoys art you might consider a site that has a bent toward the artistic. Perhaps the listing of personally selected art shows or concerts may provide the personal touch you are looking for.

If you are a car enthusiast you might find a tasteful way to incorporate design based on your automobile of choice with personal links to a forum dedicated to serving fans of a variety of car buffs. This approach, as with most, may be best linked to products you are selling that have something in common with the automobile you feature or cars in general.

Hopefully you get the idea that personality doesn’t have to be put on the backburner in every case when it comes to Internet marketing.

For instance many sites are incorporating an interest in social issues as a site design feature. Some sites may do this by promoting affiliate products that share a portion of the proceeds with a charity of choice. They may also highlight a social issues site that focuses on the issue closest to the personal interests of the site owner.

This doesn’t have to be (and shouldn’t be) obtrusive, but it can help your customers understand a little bit more about your personality and passion to help others in need.

Imagine a business that took on the idea of assisting in feeding the hungry. They choose a well-respected charity and set aside a portion of their sale proceeds to help feed the hungry.

The website benefits because they may have individuals with similar interests who will make a purchase simply because they identify with the motivation and view this as a way to help. Others will buy because they love your product, and the charity you are interested in receives publicity to help others take notice of what they are doing and how site visitors can help.

You can’t rely on social marketing to be the only way you improve site visitation so make sure you work on other means of getting the word out about your business, but infusing your personal interests can be a positive way to connect in an emotional way with some site visitors.

The key part to this idea is that because most individuals form an emotional connection with a product this approach could be the means of developing that connection for a segment of site visitors.

The growth of your website can happen in numerous ways, but the idea of personality marketing may not be something you have considered before, but should.

Remember I used the word ‘tasteful’. What that means is not overpowering the visitor with your personal interest while negating the marketing effect of the product you are trying to sell. If you’ve made your business site into a fan site of something you really love you might have gone too far. On the other hand if you enjoy something that much consider creating a secondary site and then include links to that site from your primary business site.

One of the most used blog traffic generation strategies is the PPP, or pay-per-performance method, which requires that you pay for the traffic generated only when that traffic results in some provable benefit.

The familiar PPC, or pay-per-click, form of traffic generation is a type of PPP, and with …

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Article Body:
You know all about search engine optimization as a blog traffic generation strategy, but is there anything else you can do to bring readers and potential customers your way.

One of the most used blog traffic generation strategies is the PPP, or pay-per-performance method, which requires that you pay for the traffic generated only when that traffic results in some provable benefit.

The familiar PPC, or pay-per-click, form of traffic generation is a type of PPP, and with Pay-per-click you are only charged if someone viewing one of your advertisements actually clicks it.

Google AdWords is presently the greatest server of pay-per-click ads, with a system which lets advertisers bid for keywords and then use them in small ads distributed on Google’s search and content networks.

Social marketing, while it does not qualify as a kind of pay-per-performance traffic generation technique, is nonetheless an effective means of generating blog traffic. You are engaging in social marketing any time you promote your service of product directly to other people social networking sites like MySpace, or do email or telemarketing.

Finally, there are literally dozens of viral traffic generation techniques; they include such things as providing the best possible service or product to your customers, doing everything you can to satisfy their needs, and letting word of mouth bring more traffic your way.

You can also practice viral traffic generation by offering free software or ebooks to but only to those individuals who have been referred to you. This approach to blog traffic generation depends on you’re offer successfully creating a “buzz’, although when something free is involved that is not difficult.

And by requiring a referral, nobody will get your freebie unless they first find someone else who has it. It’s a great way to exponentially increase the demand for whatever you are offering!

Of course search engine optimization is a necessity, but you can never have enough blog traffic generation techniques at your disposal if you want your blog to become a real money making tool!

Although it is typically described as interacting with virtual community members, social networking takes on new meaning when it becomes an offline approach.

Social marketing is certainly one of the buzzwords of the year. MySpace, Facebook, and a plethora of blog networks and discussion forums all fall under the umbrella of social networking. Although it is typically described as interacting with virtual community members, social marketing takes on new meaning when it becomes an offline approach.

The convenience and comfort of the online world has added much to business networking. However, is it possible that this virtual connection has also taken away from the benefits real-life face to face interaction offers?

Perhaps a healthy balance of online and offline networking is what it needed to take a business-even an online business-to the next level.

An Internet marketer can find numerous effective and interesting ways to connect with people offline. Keeping a stash of business cards to hand out to people you meet while out and about is one simple way to create interest and discussion about your business.

Every Internet marketer knows to always include signatures and links in e-mails, forum and blog postings in order to bring in business. The same techniques can be applied in the outside world by utilizing business cards or just your voice to bring your business and interests into conversation.

Getting involved in local business networking events is another effective way to enter offline social marketing. Attend chamber of commerce events, lunch and learns, or happy hours for professionals to get plugged into circles of people with whom you can swap business advice and learn more about what is going on in your area.

Nervous about leaving the security of your office chair and computer screen? If you have been able to be successful at online social marketing, you can succeed offline as well. Simply use the same social skills that have worked for you on forums and blogs: show a genuine interest in people, be friendly and thoughtful, and use honesty and integrity as you meet with people.

Internet marketing seminars are a great way to connect with people who have similar interests and goals. By using your people-skills, you can develop rewarding professional relationships that will benefit your business and perhaps even your social calendar. Furthermore, such seminars will provide you with information to build your business. You are basically doubling your money with this offline social networking option.

It’s all about avoiding the “stuck in a box” scenario. A true Internet marketer is always seeking out opportunities to connect with others, and the offline world provides many avenues for connection.

True, it may not be as easy or comfortable as an online forum. After all, in the real world we don’t walk around with our profiles, including hobbies, goals, and favorite movies, listed on our shirts, nor do we have our favorite song playing in the background. But by being honest and real and displaying genuine interest in others, you will find yourself succeeding in the offline world of social networking-no screen name required.

The key components of an Internet marketing program include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Paid Placement, Affiliate Marketing and Viral/Social Marketing. The goal of all of these is to increase a website’s traffic (number of people who visit) however each uses a different tactic to meet this goal. An effective Internet marketing program leverages a mix of these components to maximize their value at a particular point in the overall program.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an attempt to increase your website’s ranking in ‘organic’ (non-paid) search results in Google™, Yahoo!™ and other search engines. Search engines use complex, proprietary algorithms to determine how a page ranks. In general higher ranking is achieved by optimizing the actual website content to increase its relevancy to certain search words (keywords). Additionally, SEO attempts to increase the website’s perceived ‘authority’ by acquiring quality links to your website from other complementary sites (back links). Finally higher ranking websites are highly visible to search engines meaning most or all of their web pages are indexed by the search engines.

Many aspects of a complete SEO effort can be outsourced, but some aspects are more effective when controlled by those most familiar with the product or service. SEO generally has a longer-term ROI than other Internet marketing methods because a website’s authority is generally built over time. It is important to know that SEO is never truly finished. Competition and buyer preferences change and evolve over time, therefore, the authority of a website changes and must be re-evaluated routinely.

Effectiveness of a SEO program is measured in terms of search result rank, search engine saturation and overall visibility. Result rank is determined by how high a website appears in organic results. Saturation is an indication of how much of a website is indexed by search engines and overall visibility shows how many references are found for a website.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) essentially is a shortcut to increased search result rankings. By sponsoring links in search engine results, advertisers can ensure that relevant links are displayed along with search results whenever certain keywords are searched for. These are generally displayed above or in a separate column beside organic results. In these pay per click (PPC) programs advertisers bid to determine ranking and only pay when links are actually clicked by a visitor.

SEM can be, and probably is best, outsourced. Experienced SEM practitioners can maximize the results of a pay-per-click program by increasing the quality of website visitors. Additionally, knowledge of the bidding process and keyword selection can significantly reduce the amount paid per click-through over time.

SEM has the shortest term ROI as resulting traffic is immediate and measurable. The ability to tightly control expenses, all the way down to cost per click, makes the expense very predictable. Negatively, there is little if any residual value effect of SEM beyond potential relationships with new buyers. SEM is predominately a point in time exercise, although it can be very effective during a campaign.

Paid Placement is similar to traditional print or media advertising. Advertisers pay a fee to have their ‘ad’ displayed on a website or alongside search engine results. Ads are often ‘banners’ that include a marketing message that entices viewers to click the ad and be transferred to the advertiser’s website. Paid placement also includes sponsored links on content pages, paid reviews or ‘pop-up’ ads that appear before or on top of a content page.

Paid placement can include SEM tactics, but here the sponsored links appear on content websites rather than search engine results pages. Placement is based on relevancy of selected keywords and the displaying website’s content. The advertiser has limited control over where ads appear. Ads on content sites generally rank higher for lower bids than on search engine results.

Direct placement of ads on specific content sites is generally based on a set fee or per million impressions (displays). Direct placement allows an advertiser to specify specific website, durations and potentially exact placement on a page. This is most effective if a product or service would appeal to visitors of a specific website. For instance, Dell might place an ad on a computer buying guide website.

Purchase and management of direct placement ads can be outsourced, although it requires less expertise and oversight than SEM.

Affiliate Marketing allows website owners to resell products or services for a percentage or set fee commission. Commissions may be paid for sales, leads or even website visit referrals. Almost all major retail stores support affiliate marketing programs and generally use a third party service to manage the relationship with affiliates. While affiliate marketing allows a product or service provider to extend its marketing capability it is still responsible for all aspects of distribution.

Affiliate marketing can be outsourced in part or whole. Generally the affiliate marketer selects an affiliate management provider to handle acquiring and managing new affiliates.

Although not an absolute, Affiliate marketing tends to be most utilized by product or service providers who have a wide range of products to offer. This increases the likelihood that content site owners are going to assign valuable screen space to a product. Alternatively the provider may offer higher incentive commissions or target very specific content sites.

Viral/Social Marketing is similar to traditional ‘word of mouth’ advertising although done through websites. Marketers attempt create ‘buzz’ about their products by leveraging social networks, emails, blogs, videos or other venues that allow viewers to easily ‘spread the word.’ This form of Internet marketing is often associated with the term ‘Web 2.0′ because it tends to leverage more user driven venues and content rather than commercial content sites.

Viral/Social Internet marketing, much like SEO is an ongoing effort and similarly it is possible to outsource all or some efforts in this area. Development of complex marketing campaigns would likely be outsourced to a marketing firm specializing in leveraging the Internet, however, smaller campaigns and the tactical aspects could be handled internally or by your SEO/SEM partner.

In closing, an effective Internet marketing program will leverage some or all of these components in a complementary way. Each component brings visitors to a website through its own unique tactics, timeframe and cost. If planned and managed properly, each component can be utilized by the next one to create even greater value. A successful Internet marketing plan will consider the short-term, long-term and budgetary goals of the product or service provider, deploying the components that met those goals.

Customer relationship marketing is powerful in theory, but troubled in practice. We need to take time to figure out how and why we are undermining our own best efforts.

Perhaps we’re overlooking the fundamental elements of a good customer relationship program. With the means to connect with customers easily, maybe we’re rushing to cash in on the potential rewards, while forgetting the essentials of all relationships: intimacy and trust.

Close examination reveals that relationships between companies and consumers are suffering. U.S. satisfaction rates are at an all-time low. Complaints, boycotts and growing unhappiness with big corporations are strong indicators that most CRM isn’t working.

Ironically, the very steps marketers are taking to build relationships with customers are often responsible for destroying these connections. Companies may delight in learning more about their customers and providing services to please them, but customers are fed up. They’re tired of irrelevant survey questions, overwhelming product choices, features they’ll never use in phone plans and cars, and rebate-driven buyer reward programs.

The New Frontier: Mining the Internet

With the proliferation of online stores that complement traditional outlets, companies now have a tremendous source of information about consumers’ preferences. Because a traditional store may not always have a product on its shelves, purchase results are not always a good measurement of desires. Online stores can track consumer demand patterns more precisely, as they offer extensive ranges of products to national and global customers.

The web is more than a sales channel; it is a powerful means of collecting data in real time. The Internet is truly the new frontier in connecting with the customer, offering a huge opportunity for companies to improve customer relationships.

The New Social Marketing: Buzz and Word of Mouth

Where does marketing enter the mix? Some experts claim the old days of “push” marketing are over, where a company shoved a one-way message to customers via print or TV. Corporations are asking themselves just how much return on investment there really is from a 30-second Super Bowl commercial.

Consumers are turning away from media and, instead, tuning into each other. Engagement and word of mouth marketing are the buzzwords of this new era. Customers are doing their market research online and listening to each other. Unfortunately, many marketers continue to look at engagement in a one-sided way.

Corporate blogs have become an excellent resource for CEOs and others to connect with customers in a personal manner. In spite of the possible pitfalls in opening two-way communication between the public and employees, there is much to be gained by being personable, accessible, authentic and transparent.

Customers are already communicating with each other online about products and experiences with your company. If you can join the conversation in a real way, in real time, you’ll have an advantage over those who remain silent and inaccessible behind corporate doors.

Now there is finally a way to discover what customers want, and a way to connect with them authentically. But there are risks involved in being honest and transparent. Will you and your company take the risk?

Thursday, June 3rd – FREE Social Marketing Webinar with @BilleBaty! You can find the invite here http://twtvite.com/socialsmm and signup using the box on the left – the topics include Twitter and social media branding and strategy tips presented by Darren Williger, Bille Baty, Kristen Ruby, and Larry Wentz. There’s going to be some incredible things discussed so please try to attend.

June 3rd at 2:00pm Central SIGNUP NOW with box on left!

If the idea of starting a social media marketing campaign overwhelms you, the author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day will introduce you to the basics, demonstrate how to manage details and describe how you can track results.  Case studies, step-by-step guides, checklists, quizzes and hands-on tutorials will help you execute a social media marketing campaign in just one hour a day.  In addition, learn how to integrate social media metrics with traditional media measure (more…)

In the online world, there are tons of different ways that you can go about promoting your own business. It’s very important that you understand Internet marketing, or your online business will never make it. That is because people have to know that you are selling something before they can buy from you. There are tons of different online stores out there that are more than likely selling the same thing that you are selling. So what is the one thing that is going to make them choose your store over a different store? That is how well you market your online business. You have to get the name of your business out there, and you have to get it out there as much as you can. The more you can do that, the better chance you have of running a successful business.

The first and best way to get your name out there is to get it notice by Search Engine sites like Yahoo! or Google. These are sites that even have programs where you can add your business to different websites that are related to your product. This is called Google AdWords. They will help you place online ads all over the Internet. This is a great way to start out when trying to get your business noticed. Although this is a great way to start out, it’s not going to be the only thing that you need to do. After you get your online business noticed, you need to find other ways to market it. One great way is to visit online forums and have your business name and link in your posts. This can be easy to do by attaching it to the bottom of every post. However, for this to work, whatever site you join has to be related to what you are selling.

The next thing you need to do is look around at a whole bunch of social marketing sites. These are some of the biggest sites on the Internet to date. Some of these sites include places like MySpace, Yuwie, and of course myLot. These are places where you are going to want to place ads if you can. Talk to these sites about how you would go about getting ads placed on their site. Millions of people use these sites every day, and because of that, they are the prime area to place an ad. You will notice that your site’s hit counter is going to go through the roof after placing ads at these places.

Last, but not least, you need to keep up with what the stats are doing on your webpage. Make sure that you are getting quality leads to your site. This can be done by checking around and getting stat counters for your webpage. When you are talking about stat counters, you are talking about more than just Hit counters. Those are helpful, but you are going to need counters that are going to see how many people are coming to your site, how long they are staying, if they are buying anything, and what links they are clicking on.