Scott Lindsay's Articles in Internet Marketing

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Internet Marketing And Free Advertising One of the more potent forms of Internet marketing is through the use of a press release. In many cases this is referred to as ‘free’ advertising. The reasons it is thought of in that way is because when the press release is distributed it is generally picked up by online and print magazines and published at no charge as a news item. If you have studied aspects of online marketing you already know that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a ‘free’ method of getting search e... Email Marketing And A Focused Conversation You have an interview scheduled. This means so much to you because you have been without a job for too long. You have a family and whatever money you had saved for emergencies like this is almost at an end. On the morning of the interview you ready yourself and dress in your best clothes. You sit in the waiting room and pretend to read a magazine while you hope you don’t sweat too much. You pretend to be mildly interrupted when your name is called. You lay the magazine dow... Internet Marketing Glossary The Internet has facilitated the need for an entirely new glossary that deals with all aspects of an online environment. This includes terms related to online marketing. While this is not a comprehensive list I’d like to take a look at a few terms and try to explain them in lay terms. SEO – These three letters are the abbreviated form of Search Engine Optimization. This term represents strategies to develop a website using proven methods to enhance your placement in sea... List Building And The Single Page Website Here’s a scenario for an online business that provides information and is in existence to help other succeed in their online ecommerce objectives. You should know up front that the ultimate goal for the business is to get you to purchase their marketing plan. Do they develop a flashy website with flash and animation? Do they flood the screen with video testimonials or podcasts? Do they pay a celebrity to provide a testimonial? There is a quiet awakening in a form of ma... Internet Marketing And The Art Of Practicality In times when the economy is in a downturn some business owners may conclude that there is the distinct possibility their business may be in jeopardy. Sometimes a marketing problem simply requires a change in perspective. Many of the most successful business owners found enormous success by learning new methods of marketing in a depressed economic market. If you own a custom car manufacturing company that charges hundreds of thousands of dollars for your vehicles I may ... The Road To Success – A Pep Talk I can get excited about online marketing because I know that when used properly it can help change lives. Everyday I hear of dreams people have for business. In some cases these individuals want a magical five-step plan to get them going, but it simply doesn’t exist. If you have a dream then you know the desire for easy answers. You’d like to be able to say that your dream has a 100% chance of success, but you just don’t know so you sit back and let the idea simmer whil... Internet Marketing – Vision Allocation Let’s see, if we go back far enough in time we find a car. This car doesn’t have an especially comfortable ride. Someone invests shock absorbers and markets the idea. Customers discover something they no longer want to be without. In time an in-dash radio is developed and the consumer moves that item from the “whodathunkit file’ to the ‘gotta have it file’. The same is true for air conditioning, electrical seats, windows and doors. This was followed by keyless entry, ke... Social Media And Full Court Marketing It would seem that the marketing potential of social media sites is a fairly open book. I came across a social networking site called Talent Database that seems to exist for the benefit of freelancers or business owners. The site directs new members to fine-tune their particular talent (skill) and then allow the category they select to help bring prospective fans and customers to you when they need your particular skills. The networking side of this social media site ... Autoresponders In The Role Of Servant Do you remember pictures of ancient Egyptian culture where the Pharaohs and other elite of Egyptian society had vassals who would wave palm braches to keep them cool? These same servants would shade the rich and bring them cool drinks. Virtually anything their masters needed these servants would respond immediately to satisfy. I remember a similar situation on the classic sitcom “Gilligan’s Island”. It seemed that no matter what The Howells’ needed they expected Gilligan t... Affiliate Revenue – Effective Marketing Spider bots creep through websites slurping up keywords and phrases. They check for back links to other sites and work to properly evaluate the site for ranking in their search engines. This process is taking place on a continual basis and demonstrates something potentially exciting for those who are participants in affiliate revenue programs. The fine strands that hold the web together for search engine data is representative of the multiple fine strands that can be creat... Autoresponders – The Other Wise Choice When answering machines were first introduced it was not uncommon for many individuals to simply hang up with the highly emotive vow never to do business with a company that would be so impersonal as to relegate their concerns to a recording device. Then they would discuss the matter with similar emotion to any who would listen. Today even the idea of an operator is an antiquated notion in some business as an automated voicing system guides you to the appropriate party to ... Rss Not Just Good, But Good For You The two primary dynamics at work with Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds are true subscribers and those who skim for specific content. True subscribers are those that wish to read new content from your site or new content specifically created by an individual writer. Specific content subscribers want information on a specific topic. RSS feeds can skim to locate topics that are compatible with the subscriber’s preference settings regardless of original writer. RSS re... Internet Marketing – Impulse Buyers May Be Lurking There is an interesting paradox in Internet marketing. This paradox may be attributed to a gambling impule, but it is something that seems to be more firmly entrenched in established shopping habits of many consumers. What is the paradox? Everyday there are consumers that never meant to make a purchase that will do so on impulse. They may simply stumble into an online shop and see something they suddenly have to have without a premeditated decision to make the purchase.... Email Marketing – To Emoticon Or Not, That Is The Question An article entitled, “For better or worse, adults learn to say it with emoticons” by Alex Williams points out the juvenile nature of emoticons, yet it also pinpoints the growing acceptance of the symbols among adults. For those unfamiliar with the term ‘emoticon’ you may recognize them by their smiley faces in email correspondence or in online forums, chat rooms or even instant messaging. Emoticons are blasted by critics who contend that using emoticons makes the full ... Forums – The Wonder Of Networking Forums are the quintessential meeting place for personal networking because there is an unusual balance of comradery and friction that can make it an interesting and entertaining place to connect. As a business owner you have the ability to empower your customers with the tools needed to network when you provide a forum – and the forum is primarily for their benefit, not yours. That’s not to say customers will make a mad dash to use the forum, but once the ice is broken yo... List Building – Developing A Coop Some of the primary ideas that are passed down for list building objectives include the use of free memberships to encourage sign-up. Many consumers will sign up for free memberships if they believe the benefits outweigh potential risk. In essence if the customer views the return on their investment of time and future email marketing to be worth the return on either a free gift or knowledge-based content they will likely sign up. Some marketers are proponents of ‘squeeze p... Internet Marketing For The One Man Show One of the byproducts of the Internet is the advent of a new position in the ranks of business. This position is called the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). While still in its relative infancy this position places multiple burdens on one individual. If you are a small home-based business you may be Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial officer (CFO) and CMO. It may even seem ridiculous to look at the sharing of duties when there are so few to lend a hand. If your... Email Marketing Is Impression Marketing Summary: Impression Marketing is a bit like Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In both cases you do a lot of hard work with very little in the way of results. In both cases these two marketing functions take a long-range view knowing there will come a time when the hard work will pay off. There is no such thing as 100% response to email marketing – even if you were giving your merchandise away (with free shipping). You have to understand that not even your most loyal cus... Everything I Needed To Know About Internet Marketing I Learned From The Farmer’s Market I went to a farmer’s market recently. Plates of wrapped pastries, pies, bread, cookies and other bakes goods were available for all who were unwilling to resist temptation. Produce was in abundance and people of all shapes and sizes met at this community market looking to find a bargain and left satisfied in knowing they were up to the ‘conscientious consumer’ challenge. This open-air market concept is not much different from a cyber market. Consumers flock to the web to l... Internet Marketing – A Good First Step If you’re anything like me you might log onto the Internet to check on restaurants in cities you plan to visit. You may check the price of an airfare, car rental or motel. You might even check online to see what shows are playing and what times might best fit in your plans. Traditional telephone advertising is much less effective than it once was. The advertising was designed to help you gain new customers, but most of those potential customers are online trying to find th... RSS – On Time Delivery The New York Times may be credited for the acceptance of Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. This newspaper was one of the first large scale adopters of the technology and paved the way for others to see the usefulness of RSS. RSS allows individuals to sign up for virtually any kind of new content feed from a website and permit that information to be downloaded to a ‘reader’ on the individual’s computer. Some of the earliest attributions of RSS were for Netscape users.... Email Marketing For Your Viewing Pleasure Email marketing comes in a variety of flavors. Some are sent in plain text, others are html enriched that allow text, graphics and background. There are even some email marketing campaigns that provide an abbreviated email edition with a full version on their business website. Of course business owners provide ample links throughout their email to give the recipient as many opportunities as possible to drop by. One of the more recent innovations in email marketing is video... List Building – How Important Is It? Sometimes I am asked questions that are brilliant in their simplicity. I consider them brilliant because they open a door to understanding that I may not have thought to explore or articulate before. For instance I have always said that list building is an important concept in email marketing, but I was asked the question, “How important is list building?” At first glance it would be easy to say, “It’s really important.” However, that expression simply provides a vague ... Email Marketing – Happy Endings There once was a world where Elfin delivery folk were commissioned to take packets of information to cities far beyond their elfin kingdom. The motto of the EPS (Elfin Postal Service) was, “Neither lame servers, rogue viruses or faulty connections will stop us from our appointed deliveries.” Needless to say some Elves had attitudes that caused their deliveries to be received with something less than enthusiasm, but beyond the realm of the Elfin Folk deliveries are being... Email Marketing - The Seeds Of Trust You put a lot of work into developing your email marketing plan. You want it to make an impact. How interested would you be in email marketing if you knew up front that the work you put into it would not result in positive sales? What if you know up front that your email marketing efforts would not be well received by the recipient? How would this information impact your decision to move forward? You may be surprised to learn how ineffective many email marketing plans a... Affiliate Revenue – Tapping Into The Cash Cow? Commercial radio stations will sometimes fill up their advertising slots with a type of commercial known as Per Inquiry (PI). This type of advertising guarantees absolutely nothing up front, but the radio station does receive a commission when a listener uses an individualized toll free number to purchase the advertised product. The reasons some radio (and television) stations accept this type of advertising is because there is the potential for revenue whereas that potent... Internet Marketing – Lemonade And Really Big Signs I think one of my favorite stories about taking life’s lemons and making lemonade has to do with a brick and mortar business that had been around for a very long time. Due to the law of supply and demand this business owner had the proverbial corner on the market for his product and commanded a sizable profit. As fate would have it a business moved into an empty storefront next to him and, unbelievably, the business sold the exact product he sold. On opening day a sign was... List Building – Trust Marketing Email marketing is ranked as the second most effective means of bringing customers to your online store. The practice of buying or renting a third party email list may result in being blacklisted by email service providers because they often view this form of distribution as spam. Perhaps you understand that email marketing is important, but you’re not sure how to build your list this article will attempt to highlight some of the ways to grow an organic (home grown) list ... Email Marketing – Are You A Gambler? In 2006 businesses spent nearly $400 million on email marketing. This figure is staggering, yet it proves just how important online businesses believe email marketing to be. Most marketing experts would likely rank Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies as the number one marketing mechanism for online businesses. However, it is email marketing that comes in second. The reason this marketing technique is so highly touted is because it doesn’t wait for business to trick... Social Media Etiquette Social media sites understand they are going to be used as a marketing tool. They are designed to accommodate marketing. Some users may bemoan the notion that a social media site has to be subjected to blatant marketing tactics and I do admit they can be annoying, yet it is this format that the world’s twenty-somethings are gravitating to. This is a marketplace of ideas, random thoughts and fun links in an environment that is in so many ways ‘connected’ in a style that is ... Internet Marketing – Stepping Out Of The Shadows When you engage in Internet marketing you may feel as if you are trying to sell people on yourself? This can be uncomfortable. Many people feel strange about trying to ‘sell’ themselves to prospective clients. They enjoy what they do, and they believe in their product, but it all feels a little egotistical to engage in marketing practices that include the ‘individual’ behind the screen. In the Wizard of Oz, the Great Oz really wasn’t all that great so he hid behind a cu... Internet Marketing – One Bite At A Time Internet marketing provides the ability to expand the possibilities of your website while giving a nod to your own dogged determination and mental quickness. Internet marketing is not simply a one-size-fits-all piece of clothing designed to allow you to simply apply one standard where you discover yourself on the same footing as every other online business. The financial empire of Smith Barney used to run an advertisement which read, “We make money the old fashion way –... Affiliate Revenue – Who To Invite To The Party Maybe you’re an owner of one of those online businesses and you have ventured into the world of affiliate marketing in an effort to grow affiliate revenue. You’ve visited the testimonial websites and have seen the claims of $200,000 annually from affiliate revenue and you’re interested in making some of that money for yourself. So maybe you’ve launched an all out search for affiliate programs and have signed up for several hoping that a full compliment of affiliates in on... Internet Marketing – Express Yourself Your Internet marketing strategies can be enhanced by the development of something entirely new for your consumers to consider. I’ve written many articles on delivering an existing product to the consumer or even becoming an affiliate for other products that can provide residual income. However, in this article I would like to appeal to the individual passion in every entrepreneur. Life is a great teacher and sometimes the lessons can be tough to swallow while other tim... Web Branding – Make A Name For Yourself There really are three different levels of marketing significance when it comes to your online business. There are three different levels of strategy that result in three different sets of results. 1) Advertising – This role is primarily designed to elicit short-term results on a specific campaign or site performance goal. 2) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – This role is designed for long-term growth by getting search engines to recognize your site and view you as ... List Building – A Better Way To Grow One of the keys to online business is effective list building. This may seem like a simple process, but for any business owner that has tried to develop a list they know that list building is a necessary, but difficult process. One of the first knee-jerk reactions business owners may experience is to purchase a third party list of email subscribers while others may rent a list. The evidence for success (or lack thereof) is in the number of recipients who consider your emai... Forums – The Establishment Cause When it comes to developing a forum as a means of marketing your online business one of the key components is the free flow of communication between members. You will discover there may be times when you need to work at initiating conversation between your members. If the site does not elicit conversation members will migrate elsewhere and may not be overly interested in returning. It may be to your advantage to hire (or offer) a moderator’s position to a motivated earl... Email Marketing – It’s All About The Content Did you know you could combine email marketing, list building and podcasting? This process allows you to work your marketing strategy on three separate fronts. I have always been an advocate of powerful content for your email marketing. The difficulty is attempting to blend quality content with the potential for interactive features. In most cases the more bells and whistles you have in your email the greater the possibility it will be rejected as spam or because the filte... Internet Marketing A Very Personal Journey Today someone will take their first steps toward making a fortune. Today someone will be content to make a living. Today someone will debut a website with inadequate focus. This ‘someone’ may fail. Today someone will make the hard decision to stop conducting online business. Today someone will decide there is something they can do to save their business – and do it. Where are you – today? The role of Internet marketing encompasses so many different discipli... Web Branding – Organic Buzz Radio stations tend to ‘get’ the whole notion of branding. In many cases they tend to call it “imaging”, but it is essentially the same thing. A radio station starts by defining their demographic. They attempt to understand the age group they will be serving. Then they develop a slog or tagline that will be used to brand their station. This can come in the form of custom jingle production and professional liners. If they do this right you will be able to sing along with th... Internet Marketing – It’s All Online The way the world looks at business and information has changed dramatically in the past decade. In order to survive, yellow pages are not only found in telephone books, but also online. If I want to know what’s playing at the local movie theater I am more likely to go online to find out than I am to give them a call and wade through a never-ending phone message. If I want to know of a certain city I am visiting has shops my family likes I take a tour online to find out which... Email Marketing – Organic Is Better Many online businesses look at email marketing as a viable means of directing traffic to their website. Buying lists from a third party can be expensive. This type of email marketing is often viewed as spam because the recipient did not ask to receive the material you sent. Most businesses that use this type of list will work to invite recipients to opt in to future listings with a promise to make this a one-time email unless they actually sign up. Some ecommerce merchants... Site Promotion Tools: One More Reason To Get It Right Website owners have a desire to get the word out about their website as soon as possible. This is an understandable desire. The feeling is a bit like knowing what you want in the “day after Thanksgiving’ sales and having to wait in line to get into the store. You want something to happen they way you want it to happen – and you want it to happen NOW. The problem with this line of thinking is that when you submit (or have someone do it for you) to search engines you have on... Internet Marketing Never Stop Talking If there is one thing that every online business should understand it’s that Internet marketing is a process that may have a beginning, but it has no end. Because you will continue to learn more about Internet marketing the longer you’re in business you will (and should) continue to find new ways to market your website. This could come in short-term Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, long-tern Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, the effective use of online directori... Internet Marketing: How Difficult Is It? Internet marketing is little different from any other form of marketing. How do you react to that statement? If you think it means you can apply the exact same marketing principles you would for a brick and mortar store you will likely miss the success that may be possible. If you think it means you can apply similar philosophies in a new environment then you have succeeded in understanding the statement. Common Parallels In many brick and mortar stores you... Internet Marketing: Do You Believe? Do you believe in the product you’re selling? Do you? In face to face marketing it is imperative to be so completely sold on the product you are ‘direct marketing’ that you can explain what the product is best used for and you can explain how you use the product. When interfacing with online customers you actually have the same opportunity through Internet marketing. In this case you can provide personal information and unique uses for the product through knowledge-base... Internet Marketing: Watch The Feedback Amazon does it, so does ebay and hundreds of other online businesses – now brick and mortar stores are finding online feedback to be an incredible tool in quickly locating the products that perform well along with products that may need to be pulled from the shelf. By allowing customers the opportunity to provide instant feedback in product reviews companies are gaining a much better picture of consumer buying habits than simply waiting to see if consumers returned for a r... Internet Marketing: Short-term Solutions Like many, you have been reading about the long-term marketing strategies that will help make a name for your online business. You might even see the wisdom in these approaches, and you might even believe it will be highly beneficial to your business – in the long run. But, what about right now? What about the short-term? You might be wondering if you’ll make it to the long-term’ portion of your entrepreneurial efforts. Any business startup is hard and you want to make ... Ecommerce: How Payment Gets From Here To There We’ve all heard the children’s song, ‘Dem Bones’. The foot bone's connected to the leg bone, The leg bone's connected to the knee bone, The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone, The thigh bone's connected to the back bone, The back bone's connected to the neck bone, The neck bone's connected to the head bone, Etc. This same concept can be applied to ecommerce. For those who may not fully understand how ecommerce works let’s try this: The Consumer’s connected... Entrepreneurialism: Doing The Wickipedia Four Step According to Wikipedia, "An entrepreneur is a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks. In the context of the creation of for-profit enterprises, entrepreneur is often synonymous with founder." Let’s see if we can break this definition down into bite sized chunks. Entrepreneur as an Undertaker This term indicates a certain amount of initiative that drives an individual to do something tangib... Internet Marketing: Which Shoe Fits? The discovery of niche keywords is an effective no-cost way to uncover marketing potential. Many online businesses simply rely on keywords or phrases they think best describe their product or service. By conducting a search to learn what niche keywords might bring visitors to your site you are likely to increase the number of unique visits to your site. There are several online tools to help you uncover niche keywords. This information is valuable for Meta title information a... Why Were Ebooks Developed Anyway? According to the Joint Study of section 1201(g) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act the ebook was advanced to "facilitate the robust development and world-wide expansion of electronic commerce, communications, research, development, and education in the digital age." In essence this document points to the fact that the ebook as we are seeing it today was designed as a means of deriving profit, facilitating an exchange of ideas, and providing an educational resource in ... Who’s Afraid Of Internet Marketing? It’s no wonder so many business owners have the ultimate desire to employee a marketing director. There are so many different means and methods to marketing a company to the public it can be difficult, at best, to mange them all and run a business. There are certain elements that share a commonality between traditional marketing and online marketing, but there are elements to Internet marketing that may seem foreign to the sensibilities of a traditional marketing specialis... Web Branding: Nobody’s Perfect – And That’s Good Web branding is antithetical to the notion of perfection. Sometimes the best web branding advice is to let your humanity leak onto the web page. Life’s messy and perfection is not a trait known to mankind. If you make a mistake admit it, laugh about it, make fun of it, allow others to comment on it – in the process you will find prospects looking at your website or blog with an appreciation for the voice of common humanity. So many businesses rely on a level of perfecti... What Is Web Branding Anyway? The whole idea behind web branding will find several differing viewpoints. For some experts the basis of web branding is a means of identifying your site by providing an image association. This is typically accomplished through a logo that is used liberally on your site as well as through all forms of advertising. This viewpoint is valid, but may be better understood as impressions. This would be the number of occasions that a person is exposed to your brand. There is a... If You Build It: An Ebook Portal Did you know that you could resell ebooks that others have published? Did you know that you could often sell the work for less than the original author? Did you know you don’t have to know how to write to start an ebook business? In an agreement that is very similar to that of an affiliate you can retain the rights to resell a wide selection of ebooks that can produce several hundred dollars in net profit each month. I suppose what makes this venture popular with home-base... Achieving Ebook Goals You have researched a topic and believe there is enough material to provide readers with a compelling reason to desire the information. The topic is universal in scope or is a niche idea with plenty of potential customers. In either case you discover you only have one problem; you don’t know how to write. I’ve touched on this idea in other articles, but I wanted to dedicate an article to the use of freelance writers to aid in the completion of your visionary idea. The e... Ebooks Meeting The Demand Do you have a hobby? Have you learned how to master a particular program or video game? Can you put together a step-by-step guide to help others gain similar understanding of the process? If you answered yes to any of the above questions you might have the beginnings of a home-based business. People are consistently looking for ways to make money using a variety of software products or through an understanding of online auction houses. Dozens of ebooks have been develop... Ebooks And Growing Residual Income From a consumer’s point of view the cost of ebook purchases are undeniably less expensive than their paper counterpart. Many of these ebooks can be downloaded to portable devices allowing consumers to read the material virtually anywhere they go. Mainstream publishers have caught the vision and have provided several high profile titles as ebook downloads. Some established authors are testing the waters by making new titles available exclusive by ebook download. This very a... Becoming A Published Author Is Within Reach The sale of information is a hot property in online business. Many highly successful websites are filled with informational articles that are beneficial in both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well as providing visitors with a reason to come back. There are entrepreneurs that would like to proceed with packaging the information they’ve compiled into a sellable ebook. Certain questions arise that have them wondering what they should do. Let’s take a look at each ques... Traffic Building: Integrity’s Impact The development of traffic building has everything to do with the use of fine surgical instruments that draw clean lines and expertly remove the debris from your presentation and design. Interestingly there are plenty of sites that would have you look to blunt force trauma as a primary method of traffic building. You could purchase lists from unknown third party sources and shoot off an email inviting these unknown prospects to give your site a try, however most of thos... Audio Streaming: Easily Captured There was a time when it was difficult to distribute audio effectively over the Internet because the software used for listening was hard to come by and hard drive space was limited. Today Internet users typically have three or more devices that can decode and play audio streams via the Internet. Further software applications can even allow that download stream to be captured for replay. Thousands of Internet only radio stations are available with thousands of additiona... Video Streaming: The Full Meal Deal The use of video streaming blends several complimenting media into one highly familiar media package. Your online customers are used to video presentations. In fact, they will tune into the Superbowl just to see the unique commercials. Many of those same commercials can be downloaded again online. Consumers are fascinated with clever and entertaining video. The advent of reality television may be an online marketers best friend. Entertainment consumers are conditioned to a... Affiliate Revenue: Client Relations When you develop a business that is ultimately released to other site owners in an affiliate program you can assist your affiliates by providing some tips on how to develop a customer base for your product. In the process you can help them improve their effectiveness in selling while enhancing your bottom line. The use of an ‘affiliate member’ area on your site can help your affiliates understand you are willing to help them become successful. Some of the tips you may w... Affiliate Revenue Develop A Franchise When your online business becomes established you may consider the development of an affiliate program for other businesses to capitalize on your success. There are many online businesses that utilize affiliate programs to meet a specific need they have in their company. You will pay a residual for every purchase derived from your affiliate websites, but this cost is often much less than other advertising techniques aimed at delivering customers to your site. By develop... Affiliate Revenue: Residuals One way that aspiring netrepreneurs can learn if an idea for an online business has merit is to begin by ‘selling’ information on the web. For a minimum investment a site can be developed that simply provides information. Essentially you will be marketing information. Test Development 1) Selected a product or service you are interested in selling. 2) Write informational articles about the product or service, if this is not possible use free-to-use articles to increas... List Building: Signing Bonus When you implement the strategy of list building into your website design you are likely to find that customers can be highly motivated to provide their email addresses if they can gain a comfort level in the information, products or services you offer. Maximize Affiliation Many netrepreneurs may become affiliates for complimentary products or services. This can give your site a ‘full-service’ feel that may appeal to many of your potential clients. The downside is wh... List Building: Free Stuff We’ve all hear about, read about or even been subjected to some of the amazing ‘free’ offers on the web. You know the kind where they offer an all expense paid trip to the Caribbean - all you have to do is click the link. You can get caught in an endless maze of offers and promises. In the end you click away from the site because you realize you rarely get anything for free and this tactic requires recruiting and an ultimate purchase from someone – and then the endless stream... List Building: 101 The process of list building may best be defined as a worldwide Rolodex. You have information to share, but it’s hard to let people know about it if your ‘Rolodex’ is empty. List building is the process of gathering email addresses for the purpose of sending information, offers and other marketing information to clients and potential customers. It might be tempting to gather all the email addresses you have in your email account and place them on a list to receive your ... Ezines And Ingenuity Even on a limited budget it is possible to create an ezine for your customers that is informational, well developed and on task in the area of marketing. In a perfect world individuals who have a complete understanding of how to write, edit and customize an ezine would develop every ezine. Since we don’t live in a perfect world it may be important to review services that can assist you in the development of your ezine at a price you can afford. There are experts in virt... Ezines With A Demographic Punch What is the feel of your ezine? Who will be reading the material? What do they expect? Every business tends to cater to a specific demographic. Television stations pick a targeted age and cater their programming to the tastes and preferences of that demographic. It is possible other viewers may enjoy the programming, but it’s not always geared to a wide audience, which is probably why we think television has little to offer as we get older. When you develop your marketi... Ezines And Customer Respect The primary purpose of an electronic magazine (ezine) is to market a product or service. OK, there, I’ve said it. If you are an Internet ‘publisher’ you want people to come to your site to see what you have or to fund the process by visiting advertisers. If you are an online ‘business’ you want to develop a comprehensive opt-in ezine that presents compelling information that in turn results in sales from an ‘informed’ customer base. When an ezine publisher pushes... Email Marketing: Reclaiming Lost Territory The statistics you receive on your email marketing campaigns can be a bit deceiving. The numbers of delivered emails may seem high, but you have to remember that some email accounts may view a bulk fed email as spam and send it to a file that is never visited by the email account holder and is ultimately and automatically discarded without the customer even being aware it arrived. The good news is many email service providers and email marketers are working together to increa... Email Marketing: Customer Respect “There is something to be said for reader exhaustion.” – Dana Blankenhorn Responsible email marketing remains a positive in developing your online business. The primary difficulty for legitimate business has everything to do with negative spam practices. This scourge has caused many email users to be wary of incoming emails. Unless they are very familiar with you even opt-in customers may view your email with either a bit of hostility of apathy. In one case they resent you... Email Marketing: Software Solutions If you wish to provide email marketing as part of your online business plan you might want to look at some of the email marketing software applications available. Certainly there are sources where you can develop an online group at little or no cost. By following this approach you may be well served at the startup of your online business, but as it grows you may want to invest in software that aids in the effective delivery of your email marketing messages while providing ... Ebooks Spur Ecommerce Cartoon strip creator Scott Adams self-published an ebook and found it connected with a larger audience than he expected, “"eBooks have been a substantial portion of my total book sales. I've reached a lot of readers who don't like the higher cost of hardcover books." Adams’ eBook sold a substantial volume of downloads and placed his work on the eBook Best Seller list. It is estimated that consumers spent in excess of 12 million dollars in eBook purchases in 2004 with a 20... Ecommerce: Logos And More Unless you are gifted in the area of graphic design it is probably best to develop a logo for your ecommerce site with the help of a professional. You should know that many local designers may charge as much as $1,000 or more for a unique logo design depending on the amount of time the logo takes to meet your specifications. These professionals will work with you to come up with a way to brand your name or product in the minds of your visitor. The importance of a quality l... Ecommerce: New Horizons In 2005 the largest ecommerce sites were for the following top five products or services: Travel Computer /peripherals/PDA Apparel & accessories Office supplies Consumer packaged goods The strongest advertiser in 2005 was Vonage Holdings Corp. who specializes in providing Internet phone options. It’s safe to say that when you look at the billions of dollars spent in ecommerce transactions there are lessons for brick and mortar stores that have resisted a move to ... Online Marketing Success Stories Buffalo, Oklahoma is a town with about 1,200 residents. If most people know anything about Buffalo it is mostly as a place to stop between locations they feel are more important. When the elementary school closed down in a consolidation move the town sat looking at an aging elementary school building and another reminder that perhaps an economic boom would never pass their way again. This is until Faye LaMunyon; a long-time resident of the area suggested the town sell the ... Seven Tips For Online Business Success In the fall of 2006, Business Week Online reported that a New York Jewelry store named “American Pearl” added an online store to their brick and mortar storefront in 1997. This may not be news, but what happened in the years since they launched into ecommerce is nothing short of astounding. Following the addition of online sales the growth of the company increased 20% annually. By the fall of 2006, more than three quarters of their business was conducted online with annual... Site Development: Extreme Online Marketing The key component to the web's best sites is ‘content’. These netrepreneurs understand the need to provide a professional site that is well developed, informational and error-free. For top websites quality content is essential. If you have a pit in your stomach as you try to come to terms with how you might develop content for your site there may be a solution. In the world of online marketing you have to consider the end goal. Once the goal is established, you can eith... Successful Online Business: Possibilities Building a successful online business is more than simply attempting to place a product on a webpage with the belief that visitors will be drawn to it like a moth to a flame. If you spend a little time on the web you will find many such sites with very little in the way of visual interest or compelling reason to explore the product any further. Many of these sites appear to have been created in the mid 90’s with only marginal skill in website creation. That’s not say they ... Autoresponders: Laying The Groundwork Autoresponder software has become a meaningful tool in plowing fertile soil for a marketing harvest. The whole notion of autoresponders has grown beyond a simple means of connecting with anyone who seeks to get in touch by email. One area of autoresponder growth that may be worth mentioning is a web-page autoresponder. In this scenario a webpage is developed that will list various free informational products you have available. Your visitor can check the appropriate box an... The E-Course And The Autoresponder Autoresponders are used as a means of promptly connecting with anyone that responds to your site. This is done at the very basic level by placing an autoresponder on all email received. However, this principle also applies to all sales made from your website. One unique approach to the utilization of autoresponders is the virtually hands-free approach to providing an educational series of articles about your product or an e-course about your service or the concepts behind ... Autoresponders 101 A difficulty that standard brick and mortar stores face is in providing follow-up to their customers. When you make a purchase a normal retailer your contact information might be used to send sales flyers or an invitation to a customer only event. There is very little personal contact with the customer although a growing number of these stores may ask for email address or other contact information to alert you to upcoming events. With online marketing this scenario is quic... Ezines: For Those Who Are Interested If you were to spend some of your valuable time searching the Internet you would find ezines for virtually every conceivable interest. Individuals who have explored the world on online marketing have come to see ezines as a productive tool in client connectivity. One of the primary reasons ezines are viewed with enthusiasm is that the subscriber base are opt-in members. In other words, the people you send the ezine to have asked you to send them your cyber publication. ... In Terms Of Meaning The world of online marketing may often seem to be speaking en entirely different language. Let’s work at demystifying some of the terminology. Disintermediation Have you ever heard of the term ‘disintermediation’? In online marketing this is a term that is an indication that the company providing the product for sale is doing so in a factory direct fashion. The elimination of a middleman allows for reduced costs and effective distribution. First-mover Advantage T... Objectives And Obstacles: Online Marketing “Do not make the mistake of treating the Internet as if it is simply an advertising medium. The Web has more in common with the telephone than print.” – Peter DeLegge The Internet is a means that many use to communicate everyday. Unlike the phone, the Internet ads a visual sense of communication and allows for the spread of consumer-based information. Because the premise of the Internet is communication website owners need to ensure a level of interactivity with visitors. ... Business Forums And Online Marketing As an individual with an interest in online marketing you are looking for a comprehensive plan to assist in your long-term objectives. I have taken an anonymous quote and reconfigured it below to help you gain a better perspective on using marketing to your advantage, Imagine there is a circus coming to town and you are seeking to find ways to promote the event and encourage people to take advantage of it. ADVERTISING: You paint a sign that indicates the time and locati... A Business Forum: Customer Experts “If you make a product good enough, even though you live in the depths of the forest the public will make a path to your door, says the philosopher. But if you want the public in sufficient numbers, you would better construct a highway.” - William Randolph Hearst One way many enterprising business owners are finding to construct that highway is through the use of an online forum. If you have clients who can create a buzz about your product there is likely to be more intere... What Makes A Great Web Business Great? Wouldn’t you like to have a successful website, as profitable as the “Giants” of the Web? Just take a look at Yahoo!, Amazon, Google, eBay, MSN and so many others. You’ll notice certain patterns you could follow to succeed. You hear often that you need a niche to have a successful online business. You also find plenty of “instant success” ebooks promising you the moon, the stars and a kingdom on the Internet. Nothing happens overnight. The Web giants don’t base their succe... Online Marketing: Connect The Boughts "A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies." – The Cluetrain Manifesto The explosive growth of many ecommerce websites may be directly linked to conducting business differently than their storefront counterparts. It is estimated that 17-20% of the earth’s popula... Online Marketing: A Path Of Most Persistence “Wisdom is knowing what path to take next. Integrity is taking it.” - Robyn Elpruhzlein The field of online marketing is a diamond with many facets – the trick is finding the right sparkle on a well-traveled path. Marketing your website An important tool is Search Engine Optimization. This is typically done through a targeted use of keywords or phrases that visitors may likely use when conducting an online search. By going directly to the source (in this case Google)... How To Get People To Trust Your Online Business You cannot have a successful business if you fail to inspire trust. People are very cautious when it comes to purchasing services and products online. They even feel threatened by giving away personal data (email address, phone numbers, company address, name). If you want visitors to become clients you have to show them you are running a serious business. Use the following techniques to build a trustworthy relationship with your potential clients: Always display a clear pr... Building A Successful Online Business In order to be successful in building an online business you must have many variables in place. Running any type of business, be it online or the traditional type, can be a challenge. It takes a lot of guts, ingenuity, perseverance, and so much more. You have issues to deal with on an ongoing basis. You may even have to make adjustments as you go along. Building a successful online business takes character and perseverance because you will have to face many obstacles in yo... How To Create A Successful Blog Nowadays it’s almost unfashionable for an online entrepreneur to not have a blog or two. Since the web abounds of personal blogs, informational blogs, art and poetry blogs, and so on, a business blog has to compete against all of the above-mentioned and business blogs for a high ranking in the search engine results pages. For a blog to be successful it needs to be well written, frequently updated, well designed and honest. A business blog needs to focus on a target and dis... Blogging For Money While most of the bloggers don’t care about money, but about exposure, there are some making pretty decent earnings with blogs. The question is: how much? Well, that depends on the method used by the blogger, the traffic he or she can attract to the blog, the value of the post and so on. If you are willing to win some money with a blog, there are a few possibilities. There are various ways to make money from a blog: advertising, including the famous ads by Google (AdSense)... Contextual Advertising - A Better Way To Advertise? If you run a business you must advertise. It doesn’t matter what size business you have, you must advertise to let others know what you are selling. Advertising is what gets people to your website or to your door. This is the only way you can make money with your business. As a matter of fact, advertising is so important, that companies allocate a huge amount of their budget toward advertising and marketing. They may use many ways to get their product to the eyes and ears ... Using Opt–In Email Properly If you run a business online you know how important it is to use email when you do your advertising and marketing campaigns. This is one of the most popular ways of reaching customers online. Those who engage in it know full well how vital it is to their marketing efforts. By engaging in email marketing, they know that email can catapult their sales through the roof. The thing about this is it doesn’t matter whether you are a small or large business, you have access to ema... Boost Your Business With Email Emails are quite a powerful marketing tool, if not misused. Misusing electronic mail is an actual trend. It happens to us all on a daily basis. You’ve received them: the very inviting email that suggests to visit a certain website where a wonderful Russian lady awaits to become the perfect bride, or to read news from a Nigerian magnate that wants to give us a few million dollars, etc… These are really annoying Spam emails, but these are not the only emails that are Spam. E...
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