Promoting your online business during the holiday season is huge.
Most businesses make up for lost profits throughout the year during the
three-month span of holiday shopping. But the holiday marketing mass is
more of a marketing mess if you don’t have a well-implemented plan.
These tips can be applied to just about every business type you could
imagine, and they will really put you in front of a large audience.
Create a Holiday-Focused Mobile App
This might sound very expensive, but thanks to the wealth of online
freelance job boards, you can get it done rather inexpensively. Your app
doesn’t even have to be advanced or complicated to shine.
Consider outsourcing the creation of an app that sends live alerts
for coupons and promotions. Sure, you’re going to have to consider
promoting other companies through this app for it to really be
appealing, but it gives you full control over pushing your own
promotions to buyers with an interest in your product.
It isn’t difficult to create an app that simply pushes content from a
RSS feed. You can probably get one created for less than $100. Schedule
a series of blog articles that are tied to the RSS feed and you can
have week’s worth of content loaded up in just an afternoon.
Use Press Releases to Get Featured on Google News
Press release distribution services, such as PRWeb.com, can provide
an easy way for you to gain some serious exposure during the holiday
season. You have to know the key phrases that people will be using in
their searches to take advantage of this service, though.
Think about phrases like “2012 Christmas Coupons” or “Holiday
Promos.” Tie these back into your specific offerings and hire a skilled
writer to piece together a stunning press release article. If it’s
optimized correctly it will be picked up by sites like Yahoo News, The
Associated Press, and maybe even the bigger newspapers (like the New
York Times and Washington Post).
If you get exposure in any of these sources, you can expect a huge
influx of holiday shopping traffic. But the real benefit is that your
press releases will show up on the first page of Google in the “news”
section. This is a definite shortcut to standing out in the holiday
marketing mess.
Use Facebook Ads that Promote Give-aways
This might sound like a bad idea at first, but consider what you’ll
get in return for your investment. If you promote specific products
through your ads, you will gain access to consumers with a direct
interest in what you’re offering.
For instance, giving away a free tablet PC can help you build a list
of customers that are interested in having one of these for the holiday
season.
Most of the entrants won’t win, because you’re only going to give
away one free gift. But, you will know exactly who to send your
promotions to after the give-away is over. Make sure that you budget for
this correctly, though, or you might find yourself spending a lot more
money than you make from the promotion.
What holiday promotion ideas did you use to help you stand out from
the marketing mess that hits the Web every season? Share your thoughts
in the comments below.
Kevin Gao,
Post from: SiteProNews
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Massive Marketing Mistakes You Must Avoid
Just the other day I was on a call with some of my clients who shared
some of the recent successes that have come their way: going from zero
to six clients, being able to leave a soul-sucking job, signing a
contract worth five figures and so much more.
To step into results just like they shared with me, it makes sense that you too want to have the practical aspects in place for business success.
The best place to start is to learn about the three massive marketing and selling mistakes most creative entrepreneurs make and, most importantly, how you can avoid them.
Massive Marketing Mistake No. 1: You never or barely ever ask for business.
If you spend a lot of time behind your computer, having pretty marketing tools but no direct call to action, then you aren’t really marketing.
Or maybe you do get out there to a networking event but you don’t invite anyone to have a potential client conversation with you. Maybe you’re embarrassed or think that you’re being pushy.
Or here’s my favorite sabotage story: “my marketing is going to be word-of-mouth. I want to be that type of entrepreneur.” Here’s the thing; “word-of-mouth marketing” actually has the least amount of energy according to the energetic spheres of marketing influence.
Or maybe you give a sample session — but that just gives away your service. You’ve got to stop that right now; that’s a lot of time and energy and no money. It’s no wonder you’re feeling exhausted and resentful and maybe even questioning your worth.
Let’s understand why and what’s really happening here. What I see with so many entrepreneurs is that success can be so scary that they invite in sabotage to blow it. The fear that if you have success, then you’ll lose it is great. You’d rather complain about not having the success than go for it and realize your worst fears: that you actually can’t have it. Does that make sense?
The key to move away from this mistake: change the story. Stop acting from a place of sabotage.
You can start right now by living your way into it by asking for business. This was tremendous for one of my clients who currently is a Spiritual Leader, private mentor client. When she and I first connected, she was super-super busy — she was exhausted.
She did not have income; she was barely making anything.
She’ll happily tell you now that was a hobby — her bank account
currently has mid-five figures in it and she just signed on a five-figure client. It’s super-super important that we are able to differentiate between being busy and being in business. One of the keys is asking for business.
Massive Marketing Mistake No. 2
You assume you understand your client’s problem.
When you speak to your potential clients, you’re trying so hard to get it right and not wanting to seem pushy that you miss what’s going on for your prospects. You assume you know why they are inquiring about the service you offer — because this is your area of expertise. Most of the language you use is about you, what you have to offer and how you can offer support.
But, a powerful connection is not happening, and then you’re right back to feeling frustrated when another client does not sign on. You may even be angry when that happens; any of this ringing true? If it is, just acknowledge it and write it down. That’s the first step to creating change.
Why is this important? The reason anyone buys anything is because of how they believe it will make them feel. If you have a true connection, it shows you value the other person, that you really want to understand what’s going on with them, which fosters feelings of trust and security. This is the bottom line.
When you can really master this, you can move from convincing energy to curiosity energy which is the direct route to true connection and true connection is the key to unshakeable confidence.
Massive Marketing Mistake No. 3
You avoid activating the client’s commitment.
This is about avoiding receiving payment right up front as part of your system, when someone says ‘Yes, I want to work with you.’
Bottom line, commitment is one of the highest energies of all and the way we activate commitment in our society is through financial investment. Without commitment you are fundamentally ambivalent. And, for your unconscious mind, this keeps everything at bay. You wonder why clients disappear or why prospects don’t follow through and show up for the call they said they want to have. Why are clients not following through? Because you let them.
If you do not receive a financial commitment, you are actually creating a disservice for your clients. You may tell yourself you’re being flexible, trusting, easy-going, but the truth is, you are being ambivalent. So if I haven’t made it clear already, it’s super important to activate the commitment. First and foremost, it raises your energy and when you raise your energy, people are naturally attracted to you and it starts to feel seamless and so easy. It’s the secret ingredient to marketing and selling, right there. You’ll begin to experience instant manifestation abilities.
When you hold standards, your clients rise to meet those standards, and again, your service begins before the first session. It begins in your marketing, it continues during your selling conversation and it completes when you render your service. When you go above and beyond, above and beyond results are brought back to you.
Your Call To Action:
1) Ask for business.
2) Be curious! Never assume you understand your client’s problems.
3) Activate commitment.
What needs to be in place to create a significant shift away from these mistakes and into prosperity all around? The key is a combination of the inner and the outer; it’s not one or the other, and this is a mistake that I see so many entrepreneurs make. They either wing-it or script-it but, the truth is, you need both.
Heather Dominick Post from: SiteProNews
To step into results just like they shared with me, it makes sense that you too want to have the practical aspects in place for business success.
The best place to start is to learn about the three massive marketing and selling mistakes most creative entrepreneurs make and, most importantly, how you can avoid them.
Massive Marketing Mistake No. 1: You never or barely ever ask for business.
If you spend a lot of time behind your computer, having pretty marketing tools but no direct call to action, then you aren’t really marketing.
Or maybe you do get out there to a networking event but you don’t invite anyone to have a potential client conversation with you. Maybe you’re embarrassed or think that you’re being pushy.
Or here’s my favorite sabotage story: “my marketing is going to be word-of-mouth. I want to be that type of entrepreneur.” Here’s the thing; “word-of-mouth marketing” actually has the least amount of energy according to the energetic spheres of marketing influence.
Or maybe you give a sample session — but that just gives away your service. You’ve got to stop that right now; that’s a lot of time and energy and no money. It’s no wonder you’re feeling exhausted and resentful and maybe even questioning your worth.
Let’s understand why and what’s really happening here. What I see with so many entrepreneurs is that success can be so scary that they invite in sabotage to blow it. The fear that if you have success, then you’ll lose it is great. You’d rather complain about not having the success than go for it and realize your worst fears: that you actually can’t have it. Does that make sense?
The key to move away from this mistake: change the story. Stop acting from a place of sabotage.
You can start right now by living your way into it by asking for business. This was tremendous for one of my clients who currently is a Spiritual Leader, private mentor client. When she and I first connected, she was super-super busy — she was exhausted.
She did not have income; she was barely making anything.
She’ll happily tell you now that was a hobby — her bank account
currently has mid-five figures in it and she just signed on a five-figure client. It’s super-super important that we are able to differentiate between being busy and being in business. One of the keys is asking for business.
Massive Marketing Mistake No. 2
You assume you understand your client’s problem.
When you speak to your potential clients, you’re trying so hard to get it right and not wanting to seem pushy that you miss what’s going on for your prospects. You assume you know why they are inquiring about the service you offer — because this is your area of expertise. Most of the language you use is about you, what you have to offer and how you can offer support.
But, a powerful connection is not happening, and then you’re right back to feeling frustrated when another client does not sign on. You may even be angry when that happens; any of this ringing true? If it is, just acknowledge it and write it down. That’s the first step to creating change.
Why is this important? The reason anyone buys anything is because of how they believe it will make them feel. If you have a true connection, it shows you value the other person, that you really want to understand what’s going on with them, which fosters feelings of trust and security. This is the bottom line.
When you can really master this, you can move from convincing energy to curiosity energy which is the direct route to true connection and true connection is the key to unshakeable confidence.
Massive Marketing Mistake No. 3
You avoid activating the client’s commitment.
This is about avoiding receiving payment right up front as part of your system, when someone says ‘Yes, I want to work with you.’
Bottom line, commitment is one of the highest energies of all and the way we activate commitment in our society is through financial investment. Without commitment you are fundamentally ambivalent. And, for your unconscious mind, this keeps everything at bay. You wonder why clients disappear or why prospects don’t follow through and show up for the call they said they want to have. Why are clients not following through? Because you let them.
If you do not receive a financial commitment, you are actually creating a disservice for your clients. You may tell yourself you’re being flexible, trusting, easy-going, but the truth is, you are being ambivalent. So if I haven’t made it clear already, it’s super important to activate the commitment. First and foremost, it raises your energy and when you raise your energy, people are naturally attracted to you and it starts to feel seamless and so easy. It’s the secret ingredient to marketing and selling, right there. You’ll begin to experience instant manifestation abilities.
When you hold standards, your clients rise to meet those standards, and again, your service begins before the first session. It begins in your marketing, it continues during your selling conversation and it completes when you render your service. When you go above and beyond, above and beyond results are brought back to you.
Your Call To Action:
1) Ask for business.
2) Be curious! Never assume you understand your client’s problems.
3) Activate commitment.
What needs to be in place to create a significant shift away from these mistakes and into prosperity all around? The key is a combination of the inner and the outer; it’s not one or the other, and this is a mistake that I see so many entrepreneurs make. They either wing-it or script-it but, the truth is, you need both.
Heather Dominick Post from: SiteProNews
Should App Marketing be a Part of Your Startegy?
The popularity of apps makes app marketing seem like a natural choice for many businesses.
Smartphone and tablet users may be crazy about their apps — 40 billion apps downloads from the App Store and Google Play confirm that — but that doesn’t mean they will download branded apps, according to a new study.
A Forrester study, “Mobile Apps for Marketing,” reveals certain factors should be considered before beginning app development.
Only 43 percent of American Smartphone owners have apps on their devices — roughly 39 percent of all online adults. Only nine percent of tablet owners use apps. Popular app categories are weather, navigation, social networking and games.
New apps in other categories would require an investment in marketing to promote an app.
So how do you decided if app marketing should be part of your advertising strategy? Find out if your target audience is using apps.
Approximately two-thirds of your potential app audience is those aged 50 and younger, the study shows. Only 19 percent of older adults use mobile apps.
Marketers should also consider if mobile users would use the app more than once, the report suggests.
Sixty-eight percent of Smartphone owners open only five or less apps at least once a week, Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project survey revealed earlier this year.
If you do decide to create an app, the Forrester study suggests marketers follow a four-point “addressability framework” to ensure your app isn’t used once and deleted.
First, determine who the intended app customers are: possible new users or brand loyalists in search of rewards, the study says. Then, decide on app context — where and when users will access it. Next, discover the need your app will fulfill before choosing the appropriate technology to suit the app. Lastly, you must decide whether or not you want to build a native app or use Web technologies like HTML.
When it comes to Smartphone versus tablet apps, the report stressed phone apps are great for shorter interactions while people are on the go. Tablets, however, offer a more relaxed experience for reading content.
Post from: SiteProNews
Smartphone and tablet users may be crazy about their apps — 40 billion apps downloads from the App Store and Google Play confirm that — but that doesn’t mean they will download branded apps, according to a new study.
A Forrester study, “Mobile Apps for Marketing,” reveals certain factors should be considered before beginning app development.
Only 43 percent of American Smartphone owners have apps on their devices — roughly 39 percent of all online adults. Only nine percent of tablet owners use apps. Popular app categories are weather, navigation, social networking and games.
New apps in other categories would require an investment in marketing to promote an app.
So how do you decided if app marketing should be part of your advertising strategy? Find out if your target audience is using apps.
Approximately two-thirds of your potential app audience is those aged 50 and younger, the study shows. Only 19 percent of older adults use mobile apps.
Marketers should also consider if mobile users would use the app more than once, the report suggests.
Sixty-eight percent of Smartphone owners open only five or less apps at least once a week, Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project survey revealed earlier this year.
If you do decide to create an app, the Forrester study suggests marketers follow a four-point “addressability framework” to ensure your app isn’t used once and deleted.
First, determine who the intended app customers are: possible new users or brand loyalists in search of rewards, the study says. Then, decide on app context — where and when users will access it. Next, discover the need your app will fulfill before choosing the appropriate technology to suit the app. Lastly, you must decide whether or not you want to build a native app or use Web technologies like HTML.
When it comes to Smartphone versus tablet apps, the report stressed phone apps are great for shorter interactions while people are on the go. Tablets, however, offer a more relaxed experience for reading content.
Post from: SiteProNews
Why You Should Use QR Code Marketing In Your Small Business
By now, we’ve all seen the little square bar codes known as QR (Quick
Response) Codes. Whether it’s in a magazine, a poster, on a bus or a
newspaper ad, they are becoming much more visible. But do you know what
they are, how they’re used and how they can benefit both businesses and
consumers?
Invented all the way back in 1994, they were originally used to track vehicles during the assembly process. Today, thanks to the internet, these codes can open up an astounding array of possibilities. All you need is your smart phone and a QR Reader (Apps are Free!) to enjoy this new world of content.
For businesses, a QR Code can link a consumer to the company’s mobile web site, a YouTube product demo or informational video, an online user manual, coupons, monthly specials, contact information and so much more. Even individuals can use QR codes to link to their Facebook and Twitter accounts or for a high tech resume. The options are limited only by your imagination. The Dutch Mint even put a QR Code on a coin in 2011 that connects to their web site.
The great thing about these little QRs is that they don’t interfere with your current marketing… they enhance it. A QR Code can be as small as 1/4″ or as big as the side of a building. The important thing about them though is where it takes your potential customer. The content on the other end of that scan has to be compelling and fit the screen of a smart phone.
Did you know that currently, there are over 6 Billion mobile phone subscriptions in the world today and by the end of 2013 there will be more subscriptions than there are people on the planet?… 7 Billion! Peoples’ lives are now on their smart phone. The best way to connect to them is through the use of this great technology.
While QR Codes offer tremendous opportunities, they can also be used incorrectly. A QR Code that connects to a non-mobile optimized site is a frustrating experience. Smart phone screens are 3-4″ diagonally compared to a laptop or desktop computer monitor at 15-24.” A regular web site on a phone requires lots of pinching and zooming and the buttons are too small for my big fingers! Always consider the end use when linking your QR Code.
As Bob Dylan said so many years ago… “The Times They Are A Changin?.” Today though, that change comes at a much faster pace. Consider this startling statistic from Google; “Every piece of content created from the beginning of mankind until the year 2003 is now being replicated every 48 hours!” That’s every cave drawing, piece of written word, music, photograph, etc. created over many thousands of years being recreated in volume every 2 days. Talk about information overload. It’s amazing that something as small as a QR Code can link you directly to an entire online encyclopedia, or a complete concert or movie.
Today, even with all this technology, we’re actually going backwards in terms of business/customer relationships to a more intimate time. Like when you walked into the butchers’ shop and he started cutting your favorite piece of meat without you saying a word or the milkman knowing to leave you 2 quarts on Friday. Everyone is sharing information these days… some probably too much. As a business owner, you should really get to know your best customers. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Find out what they’re up to, what they’re thinking, what gets them excited and then the next time you see them, you can connect with them on a whole new level that brings them even closer and creates more loyalty to your brand.
I understand all this technology scares many people. Hopefully this introductory article will open your eyes as to what’s possible these days and ease some of that tension. As businesses, we have to be engaged with our customers on this more “personal” level and continually share information. As consumers, you have no reason not to make an informed buying decision. Virtually all the information in the world is in your hands now! Use it.
Edward Deso
Invented all the way back in 1994, they were originally used to track vehicles during the assembly process. Today, thanks to the internet, these codes can open up an astounding array of possibilities. All you need is your smart phone and a QR Reader (Apps are Free!) to enjoy this new world of content.
For businesses, a QR Code can link a consumer to the company’s mobile web site, a YouTube product demo or informational video, an online user manual, coupons, monthly specials, contact information and so much more. Even individuals can use QR codes to link to their Facebook and Twitter accounts or for a high tech resume. The options are limited only by your imagination. The Dutch Mint even put a QR Code on a coin in 2011 that connects to their web site.
The great thing about these little QRs is that they don’t interfere with your current marketing… they enhance it. A QR Code can be as small as 1/4″ or as big as the side of a building. The important thing about them though is where it takes your potential customer. The content on the other end of that scan has to be compelling and fit the screen of a smart phone.
Did you know that currently, there are over 6 Billion mobile phone subscriptions in the world today and by the end of 2013 there will be more subscriptions than there are people on the planet?… 7 Billion! Peoples’ lives are now on their smart phone. The best way to connect to them is through the use of this great technology.
While QR Codes offer tremendous opportunities, they can also be used incorrectly. A QR Code that connects to a non-mobile optimized site is a frustrating experience. Smart phone screens are 3-4″ diagonally compared to a laptop or desktop computer monitor at 15-24.” A regular web site on a phone requires lots of pinching and zooming and the buttons are too small for my big fingers! Always consider the end use when linking your QR Code.
As Bob Dylan said so many years ago… “The Times They Are A Changin?.” Today though, that change comes at a much faster pace. Consider this startling statistic from Google; “Every piece of content created from the beginning of mankind until the year 2003 is now being replicated every 48 hours!” That’s every cave drawing, piece of written word, music, photograph, etc. created over many thousands of years being recreated in volume every 2 days. Talk about information overload. It’s amazing that something as small as a QR Code can link you directly to an entire online encyclopedia, or a complete concert or movie.
Today, even with all this technology, we’re actually going backwards in terms of business/customer relationships to a more intimate time. Like when you walked into the butchers’ shop and he started cutting your favorite piece of meat without you saying a word or the milkman knowing to leave you 2 quarts on Friday. Everyone is sharing information these days… some probably too much. As a business owner, you should really get to know your best customers. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Find out what they’re up to, what they’re thinking, what gets them excited and then the next time you see them, you can connect with them on a whole new level that brings them even closer and creates more loyalty to your brand.
I understand all this technology scares many people. Hopefully this introductory article will open your eyes as to what’s possible these days and ease some of that tension. As businesses, we have to be engaged with our customers on this more “personal” level and continually share information. As consumers, you have no reason not to make an informed buying decision. Virtually all the information in the world is in your hands now! Use it.
Edward Deso
12 Ways to Improve SEO and Traffic Through Video Marketing
Video marketing is one of the fastest ways to get top listings in the
search engines for your keywords. YouTube, DailyMotion, and Metacafe
videos seem to shoot to the top of the SERPS. Often the thumbnails are
conspicuously displayed directly in the natural search listings which
seem to jump out at searchers pushing viewers to click.
Many times relevant YouTube videos will outrank your main website for your keywords because YouTube has such authority in search. If you are ignoring video marketing you are ignoring a major traffic source for your website.
Here are some tips to maximize both the SEO and traffic potential of your website through video marketing:
1. Create Quality Engaging Content
Ok, this seems obvious. However, sometimes in our haste to get our videos listed in search we skimp on quality. Make the content relevant and useful to those in your niche. The videos do not have to be long. In fact, it is better to make videos that get right to the point and deliver high quality information quickly. Video marketing starts with a good video. If people like your video they are more likely to share and comment which will bring even more visitors to your video and to your website.
2. Embed Your Videos on Your Blog and Websites
Of course if you embed your videos on busy blogs and websites you will get more traffic to your video. However, there is something new going on in search with videos. Google is now indexing videos embedded on websites and sending traffic directly to the websites where the video is embedded.
This is important because previously if you had a video hosted on YouTube and someone found it in a Google search he/she would be re-directed to the video hosted on YouTube not to the blog or website where the video was embedded. To reach your website, searchers had to click the link in the description associated with the YouTube video or type out the URL provided in the video.
The moral of the story is that you want to start embedding videos in your blog posts and websites because you want Google to index the video and to send the traffic directly to your website from the video found in search.
For an example of this do a Google search for “videos sitepronews.” Then click the “videos” link on the left. Most of the videos that you will see are YouTube videos but, if you click on the links, the traffic is sent to videos.sitepronews.com not to YouTube. Here is an article which explains how Google is indexing embedded YouTube videos on websites.
3. Put Your Keywords in the Title – Fully Optimize Your Description and Tags
Google will look first for the keywords in the title. The title is the most important SEO information for search. Make sure you have your keywords right in your title. You should also try to make your title as catchy as possible. I know this is not easy to do, but this is the goal.
You might want to make several versions of your videos to upload to different accounts. Use variations of the keywords in the titles to see what works best. Sometimes I notice it can work very well to simply pick the keywords alone in the title. Experiment.
You should also fully optimize your description and tags. If you are embedding your video on a blog or website make sure you have plenty of quality content surrounding the video. Likewise for your descriptions on YouTube and other video hosting sites make sure you have unique, quality relevant content in the descriptions. Do not overdo it or stuff keywords. Keep it real, unique relevant and engaging.
You can also change the filename of your video to your keywords. Every little bit helps!
On YouTube and most video hosting sites there is a place for keywords or tags. Just add relevant appropriate keywords. Do not try to rank for every keyword on the planet. Keep focused on one phrase or basic set of keywords. It might not be a bad idea to use the YouTube keyword tool to do a little keyword research for your video.
Here is another optimization tip. Use the word “video” as much as possible in your description, tags, title and html surrounding your video. You want to make sure Google knows you have a video there. You want to give them every reasonable indication on how to index your video.
4. Create a Video Sitemap
Your videos can get indexed by Google without a video sitemap, but you want every edge you can get on your competition. I use a very easy to use tool called A1 Sitemap Generator to create a video sitemap as well as all my other sitemaps for my websites. Here is a short to the point video tutorial on how to use A1 Sitemap Generator to create a video sitemap. Matt Cutts says it is a very, very good idea to use video sitemaps. Here is a video where Matt Cutts talks about video sitemaps. If Matt Cutts says it is important, and it only takes a few minutes to set up, count me in.
5. Place a Link to Your Website Prominently at the Beginning of the Description of Your Video
The whole idea of all this SEO stuff is to get traffic to your website. If people cannot find your website, they will click away and never visit your site even if they liked the video! The best place to put your website link with most video hosting sites is right at the beginning of the description. This way they see your link immediately. Remember to include the “<http://www.>” On most websites the link will automatically hyperlink making visitors just one click away from your website.
6. Start Your Own Specific Tube Site On Your Domain Specific to Your Niche
Take a look at videos.sitepronews.com. The smart folks at SiteProNews have set up their own video directory on a sub-domain called “videos.” (Remember, I said to use the word “videos” as much as possible? This includes naming the directory where you host your self-hosted videos.) The end result is that their videos are getting indexed like crazy on Google and better yet when you click on the thumbnails you go directly to their site rather than to YouTube.
The software they use is called “Clip Share.” Why not consider setting up your own “Tube” site just for your niche. Do not try to compete with YouTube. Specialize. You should seek to target your niche. Open the video section of your site up for user generated videos but be picky. Only accept relevant informative videos in your niche. Imagine 1000s of keyword targeted videos being indexed in Google for your keywords and all of them sending direct traffic to your website! Not a bad problem to have at all.
7. Create Transcripts to go With Your Videos
You can now upload transcripts with your YouTube videos. Google is known to crawl these transcripts as well as your meta data. The more help you give Google the better. If you have keyword transcripts, and other videos do not, you will have an SEO edge over your competitors.
8. Don’t Just Upload Your Videos to YouTube – Upload Them to All the Major Video Hosting Sites
There are a number of high traffic, highly ranked video hosting sites besides YouTube. DailyMotion has an Alexa rank of 106! This means that there are only 105 sites out there with more traffic. Why not upload your videos to DailyMotion as well? Plus many of the other video hosting sites have major search engine juice. Now, not all of these sites have do follow links, but they can still drive traffic to your website. Here is a list of 35 video hosting sites where I actually submit my videos.
9. Know What the Goal of Your Video is and Tell People What You Want Them to Do
What action do you want viewers to take when they view your video? Do you want them to go to your website? Do you want them to embed the video on their blog? Do you want them to share the video on Facebook? Do you want them to visit your website or call you? Do not assume they are going to visit your website or magically do what you want them to do. You have to tell them very directly what you want them to do. If you want them to go to your website, then tell them very directly in your video to go to your website. You can do this by a title clip at the end, by a footer running at the bottom of the video or by actually telling people in the video to go to your site. You can even give people incentives to go to your site.
10. Promote Your Video and get Backlinks to it Like Any Other Webpage
Promote your videos like any other web property. Send an email to your list. Ask them to share, comment, and like your video. Of course, submit your videos to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. You can even consider using automation tools such as Contentbuzz to submit your videos. Contentbuzz is a network of users who use the system to automatically share each other’s videos on their social media pages.
You can even ping the RSS feed to your YouTube channel with pingler.com.
Your channel on YouTube has an RSS feed. Here it is:
<http://www.youtube.com/rss/
Just add your username where it says YOUTUBE-USERNAME and ping your YouTube video channel using pingler.com
11. Make Good Thumbnails – First, Last and Middle Frames
The first thing people will see when searching for videos on Google is your thumbnail. When you are creating your videos you might want to keep this in mind. If you are hosting your own videos, generally the first or last frames are picked up as thumbnails. On YouTube, it generally is the frame right in the middle of the video. It can be tricky to place attractive, relevant thumbnails in the right spot. However, an attractive thumbnail can be the difference between somebody clicking on your video or on the other guy’s video.
12. Allow Video Responses to be Automatically Approved and Use Your Videos for Video Responses
Video responses are when people comment on your video using a video instead of an actual text comment. You want to make sure video responses are automatically approved on your videos. I know this goes against the common wisdom but the more video responses the better. You see every time somebody leaves a video response on your video there is a link below their video back to your video saying “This video is a response to..your video link.”
You can get some nice traffic if people respond to your video from all these links back to your video. In addition you should use your video to respond to other relevant videos. Then a small link to your video will appear as a comment beneath their video. Check out the rap videos of Chris Brown and other artists. Their videos get millions of views. They know what they are doing. Most of them allow for automatically approved video responses.
I hope these tips help give you some ideas on how to use video to improve your SEO and traffic. If you have more tips to add or just some comments, please let me know in the comments area.
Post from: SiteProNews
Many times relevant YouTube videos will outrank your main website for your keywords because YouTube has such authority in search. If you are ignoring video marketing you are ignoring a major traffic source for your website.
Here are some tips to maximize both the SEO and traffic potential of your website through video marketing:
1. Create Quality Engaging Content
Ok, this seems obvious. However, sometimes in our haste to get our videos listed in search we skimp on quality. Make the content relevant and useful to those in your niche. The videos do not have to be long. In fact, it is better to make videos that get right to the point and deliver high quality information quickly. Video marketing starts with a good video. If people like your video they are more likely to share and comment which will bring even more visitors to your video and to your website.
2. Embed Your Videos on Your Blog and Websites
Of course if you embed your videos on busy blogs and websites you will get more traffic to your video. However, there is something new going on in search with videos. Google is now indexing videos embedded on websites and sending traffic directly to the websites where the video is embedded.
This is important because previously if you had a video hosted on YouTube and someone found it in a Google search he/she would be re-directed to the video hosted on YouTube not to the blog or website where the video was embedded. To reach your website, searchers had to click the link in the description associated with the YouTube video or type out the URL provided in the video.
The moral of the story is that you want to start embedding videos in your blog posts and websites because you want Google to index the video and to send the traffic directly to your website from the video found in search.
For an example of this do a Google search for “videos sitepronews.” Then click the “videos” link on the left. Most of the videos that you will see are YouTube videos but, if you click on the links, the traffic is sent to videos.sitepronews.com not to YouTube. Here is an article which explains how Google is indexing embedded YouTube videos on websites.
3. Put Your Keywords in the Title – Fully Optimize Your Description and Tags
Google will look first for the keywords in the title. The title is the most important SEO information for search. Make sure you have your keywords right in your title. You should also try to make your title as catchy as possible. I know this is not easy to do, but this is the goal.
You might want to make several versions of your videos to upload to different accounts. Use variations of the keywords in the titles to see what works best. Sometimes I notice it can work very well to simply pick the keywords alone in the title. Experiment.
You should also fully optimize your description and tags. If you are embedding your video on a blog or website make sure you have plenty of quality content surrounding the video. Likewise for your descriptions on YouTube and other video hosting sites make sure you have unique, quality relevant content in the descriptions. Do not overdo it or stuff keywords. Keep it real, unique relevant and engaging.
You can also change the filename of your video to your keywords. Every little bit helps!
On YouTube and most video hosting sites there is a place for keywords or tags. Just add relevant appropriate keywords. Do not try to rank for every keyword on the planet. Keep focused on one phrase or basic set of keywords. It might not be a bad idea to use the YouTube keyword tool to do a little keyword research for your video.
Here is another optimization tip. Use the word “video” as much as possible in your description, tags, title and html surrounding your video. You want to make sure Google knows you have a video there. You want to give them every reasonable indication on how to index your video.
4. Create a Video Sitemap
Your videos can get indexed by Google without a video sitemap, but you want every edge you can get on your competition. I use a very easy to use tool called A1 Sitemap Generator to create a video sitemap as well as all my other sitemaps for my websites. Here is a short to the point video tutorial on how to use A1 Sitemap Generator to create a video sitemap. Matt Cutts says it is a very, very good idea to use video sitemaps. Here is a video where Matt Cutts talks about video sitemaps. If Matt Cutts says it is important, and it only takes a few minutes to set up, count me in.
5. Place a Link to Your Website Prominently at the Beginning of the Description of Your Video
The whole idea of all this SEO stuff is to get traffic to your website. If people cannot find your website, they will click away and never visit your site even if they liked the video! The best place to put your website link with most video hosting sites is right at the beginning of the description. This way they see your link immediately. Remember to include the “<http://www.>” On most websites the link will automatically hyperlink making visitors just one click away from your website.
6. Start Your Own Specific Tube Site On Your Domain Specific to Your Niche
Take a look at videos.sitepronews.com. The smart folks at SiteProNews have set up their own video directory on a sub-domain called “videos.” (Remember, I said to use the word “videos” as much as possible? This includes naming the directory where you host your self-hosted videos.) The end result is that their videos are getting indexed like crazy on Google and better yet when you click on the thumbnails you go directly to their site rather than to YouTube.
The software they use is called “Clip Share.” Why not consider setting up your own “Tube” site just for your niche. Do not try to compete with YouTube. Specialize. You should seek to target your niche. Open the video section of your site up for user generated videos but be picky. Only accept relevant informative videos in your niche. Imagine 1000s of keyword targeted videos being indexed in Google for your keywords and all of them sending direct traffic to your website! Not a bad problem to have at all.
7. Create Transcripts to go With Your Videos
You can now upload transcripts with your YouTube videos. Google is known to crawl these transcripts as well as your meta data. The more help you give Google the better. If you have keyword transcripts, and other videos do not, you will have an SEO edge over your competitors.
8. Don’t Just Upload Your Videos to YouTube – Upload Them to All the Major Video Hosting Sites
There are a number of high traffic, highly ranked video hosting sites besides YouTube. DailyMotion has an Alexa rank of 106! This means that there are only 105 sites out there with more traffic. Why not upload your videos to DailyMotion as well? Plus many of the other video hosting sites have major search engine juice. Now, not all of these sites have do follow links, but they can still drive traffic to your website. Here is a list of 35 video hosting sites where I actually submit my videos.
9. Know What the Goal of Your Video is and Tell People What You Want Them to Do
What action do you want viewers to take when they view your video? Do you want them to go to your website? Do you want them to embed the video on their blog? Do you want them to share the video on Facebook? Do you want them to visit your website or call you? Do not assume they are going to visit your website or magically do what you want them to do. You have to tell them very directly what you want them to do. If you want them to go to your website, then tell them very directly in your video to go to your website. You can do this by a title clip at the end, by a footer running at the bottom of the video or by actually telling people in the video to go to your site. You can even give people incentives to go to your site.
10. Promote Your Video and get Backlinks to it Like Any Other Webpage
Promote your videos like any other web property. Send an email to your list. Ask them to share, comment, and like your video. Of course, submit your videos to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. You can even consider using automation tools such as Contentbuzz to submit your videos. Contentbuzz is a network of users who use the system to automatically share each other’s videos on their social media pages.
You can even ping the RSS feed to your YouTube channel with pingler.com.
Your channel on YouTube has an RSS feed. Here it is:
<http://www.youtube.com/rss/
Just add your username where it says YOUTUBE-USERNAME and ping your YouTube video channel using pingler.com
11. Make Good Thumbnails – First, Last and Middle Frames
The first thing people will see when searching for videos on Google is your thumbnail. When you are creating your videos you might want to keep this in mind. If you are hosting your own videos, generally the first or last frames are picked up as thumbnails. On YouTube, it generally is the frame right in the middle of the video. It can be tricky to place attractive, relevant thumbnails in the right spot. However, an attractive thumbnail can be the difference between somebody clicking on your video or on the other guy’s video.
12. Allow Video Responses to be Automatically Approved and Use Your Videos for Video Responses
Video responses are when people comment on your video using a video instead of an actual text comment. You want to make sure video responses are automatically approved on your videos. I know this goes against the common wisdom but the more video responses the better. You see every time somebody leaves a video response on your video there is a link below their video back to your video saying “This video is a response to..your video link.”
You can get some nice traffic if people respond to your video from all these links back to your video. In addition you should use your video to respond to other relevant videos. Then a small link to your video will appear as a comment beneath their video. Check out the rap videos of Chris Brown and other artists. Their videos get millions of views. They know what they are doing. Most of them allow for automatically approved video responses.
I hope these tips help give you some ideas on how to use video to improve your SEO and traffic. If you have more tips to add or just some comments, please let me know in the comments area.
Post from: SiteProNews
Pinterest Marketing Tools to Grow Your Business
Pinterest is being used more and more to reach out to consumers.
Basic use of this social media site is helpful, but special tools can
improve your visibility and the consumer’s experience. Familiarize
yourself with useful tools to become more efficient and effective on the
site.
Tools on Site
On the Pinterest site itself there are several good tools for posting and managing content. These are found on the Goodies section of the site. They include:
* Pin It Button: This button can be inserted into your website to encourage visitors to share your page.
* Follow Button: Putting a follow button on a website allows users to create a more lasting connection with you if they choose.
* Pinterest for Mobile Devices: This social media platform can be connected to iPads, iPhones and Android mobile devices so you can use the site on the go.
* Tag Business Locations: This tool allows you to use your mobile device to pin locations and activities to your virtual bulletin board.
Analytical Sites
Some sites have been established to measure Pinterest connections and effectiveness. These are third party sites that work with the social media platform for the benefit of businesses.
* PinPuff and PinReach: These sites provide in-depth analytics to help you gauge your influence and clout.
* PinAlerts: This site lets you know when people are repining, liking and commenting on your visual content.
* Pinerly: Pinerly provides a marketing dashboard that displays useful information to the business owner such as clickthroughs, repins and likes for marketing campaigns.
Content Creation
Pinterest is practically worthless if you do not create compelling visual content. Several sites help you do just that.
* Pinstamatic: This service can increase your influence and improve your posts by allowing you to add links to your Twitter profile and websites to your Pinterest boards.
* ShareAsImage: This site makes it easy to turn a quote into an attractive image for pinning.
* url2p.it and Snapito: Use these sites to attach entire webpages and websites to your pins.
* Pinvolve: Pinvolve increases the ability and ease of connecting with your followers on Facebook.
* WordPress Plugin: This lets you insert a Pin It Button to your WordPress blog to connect more easily to blog users.
Pinterest marketing tools can greatly enhance the discoverability of your content. They can help you understand your followers. Best of all, they can help you improve your website quickly and easily. Pinterest has a great potential for improving your business, so it makes sense to use it to your full advantage.
Article By Dee Marshall –
Tools on Site
On the Pinterest site itself there are several good tools for posting and managing content. These are found on the Goodies section of the site. They include:
* Pin It Button: This button can be inserted into your website to encourage visitors to share your page.
* Follow Button: Putting a follow button on a website allows users to create a more lasting connection with you if they choose.
* Pinterest for Mobile Devices: This social media platform can be connected to iPads, iPhones and Android mobile devices so you can use the site on the go.
* Tag Business Locations: This tool allows you to use your mobile device to pin locations and activities to your virtual bulletin board.
Analytical Sites
Some sites have been established to measure Pinterest connections and effectiveness. These are third party sites that work with the social media platform for the benefit of businesses.
* PinPuff and PinReach: These sites provide in-depth analytics to help you gauge your influence and clout.
* PinAlerts: This site lets you know when people are repining, liking and commenting on your visual content.
* Pinerly: Pinerly provides a marketing dashboard that displays useful information to the business owner such as clickthroughs, repins and likes for marketing campaigns.
Content Creation
Pinterest is practically worthless if you do not create compelling visual content. Several sites help you do just that.
* Pinstamatic: This service can increase your influence and improve your posts by allowing you to add links to your Twitter profile and websites to your Pinterest boards.
* ShareAsImage: This site makes it easy to turn a quote into an attractive image for pinning.
* url2p.it and Snapito: Use these sites to attach entire webpages and websites to your pins.
* Pinvolve: Pinvolve increases the ability and ease of connecting with your followers on Facebook.
* WordPress Plugin: This lets you insert a Pin It Button to your WordPress blog to connect more easily to blog users.
Pinterest marketing tools can greatly enhance the discoverability of your content. They can help you understand your followers. Best of all, they can help you improve your website quickly and easily. Pinterest has a great potential for improving your business, so it makes sense to use it to your full advantage.
Article By Dee Marshall –
3 Internet Marketing Mistakes To Want To Avoid
An article from esitesecrets.com
1. You’re Not Making the Sale.
The whole purpose of a business website is to compel your visitors to purchase your product or service. This means that you have to sell what you’ve got. You can’t just assume that your visitors are going to poke around your site and be so overwhelmed by the magnificence of what you have to offer that they’re just going to jump right in and buy. You have to motivate them to buy. You have to ask them to buy. So simply including a “Contact us” button or a “Request a demo” button isn’t going to do the trick. You need to have multiple offers on your website, offers that your visitors will have a hard time refusing. You need to have clear calls to action that motivate your customers to do something right now. And your landing pages need to be designed well so that visitors will see and respond to your offers and calls to action contained therein.
Make sure that you have plenty of offers, and make sure that those offers help your visitors make the connection between the challenge they are facing and the product you are offering. You compel potential customers by showing them that your product helps them go in the right direction.
2. You Haven’t Done Your Keyword Research.
Most business owners truly believe that they’ve done sufficient keyword research when they’ve really only scratched the surface. Keyword research needs
to be an ongoing process rather than a one-time endeavor. It isn’t enough to give your webmaster a list of keywords to use when creating your website and then call it a day.
Effective keyword research involves a number of factors. These include: identifying relevant keywords, identifying which keywords have high search volume, identifying which keywords are easy to rank for, constantly monitoring traffic generated by each keyword, and determining which keywords are turning into leads. If you do this regularly and rigorously, you may be able to increase your traffic up to tenfold.
3. You Don’t Know Where Your Leads are Coming From.
This is the key to internet marketing. When you know where your leads are coming from, you can determine what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong in your efforts to attract potential customers. The most important thing to do is to figure out which efforts are attracting the visitors who become your leads. What works most effectively for you? Keyword optimization? Social media sites? Focus on those and you’ll see that your leads increase. Avoid spending too much time worrying about how many page views you have or how long your visitors spend clicking around on your site. Those factors aren’t going to tell you anything valuable and they aren’t going to help you make the necessary changes that will increase traffic to your site.
Internet marketing professionals and SEO experts are invaluable when it comes to helping you figure out the kinds of mistakes you’re marketing in your internet marketing strategy, so don’t hesitate to solicit their input as you correct the errors you’ve been making so far. While the task of fixing your mistakes may seem overwhelming, these professionals have the experience and expertise to quickly determine how you can turn your internet marketing campaign around so that it works for you. Fix your mistakes quickly and see how your business grows!
1. You’re Not Making the Sale.
The whole purpose of a business website is to compel your visitors to purchase your product or service. This means that you have to sell what you’ve got. You can’t just assume that your visitors are going to poke around your site and be so overwhelmed by the magnificence of what you have to offer that they’re just going to jump right in and buy. You have to motivate them to buy. You have to ask them to buy. So simply including a “Contact us” button or a “Request a demo” button isn’t going to do the trick. You need to have multiple offers on your website, offers that your visitors will have a hard time refusing. You need to have clear calls to action that motivate your customers to do something right now. And your landing pages need to be designed well so that visitors will see and respond to your offers and calls to action contained therein.
Make sure that you have plenty of offers, and make sure that those offers help your visitors make the connection between the challenge they are facing and the product you are offering. You compel potential customers by showing them that your product helps them go in the right direction.
2. You Haven’t Done Your Keyword Research.
Most business owners truly believe that they’ve done sufficient keyword research when they’ve really only scratched the surface. Keyword research needs
to be an ongoing process rather than a one-time endeavor. It isn’t enough to give your webmaster a list of keywords to use when creating your website and then call it a day.
Effective keyword research involves a number of factors. These include: identifying relevant keywords, identifying which keywords have high search volume, identifying which keywords are easy to rank for, constantly monitoring traffic generated by each keyword, and determining which keywords are turning into leads. If you do this regularly and rigorously, you may be able to increase your traffic up to tenfold.
3. You Don’t Know Where Your Leads are Coming From.
This is the key to internet marketing. When you know where your leads are coming from, you can determine what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong in your efforts to attract potential customers. The most important thing to do is to figure out which efforts are attracting the visitors who become your leads. What works most effectively for you? Keyword optimization? Social media sites? Focus on those and you’ll see that your leads increase. Avoid spending too much time worrying about how many page views you have or how long your visitors spend clicking around on your site. Those factors aren’t going to tell you anything valuable and they aren’t going to help you make the necessary changes that will increase traffic to your site.
Internet marketing professionals and SEO experts are invaluable when it comes to helping you figure out the kinds of mistakes you’re marketing in your internet marketing strategy, so don’t hesitate to solicit their input as you correct the errors you’ve been making so far. While the task of fixing your mistakes may seem overwhelming, these professionals have the experience and expertise to quickly determine how you can turn your internet marketing campaign around so that it works for you. Fix your mistakes quickly and see how your business grows!
Submitting Articles to Web 2.0 Sites
There are many ways to get links. You can write awesome content that people will want to link to, submit your site to directories, submit press releases, comment on blogs, post on forums, syndicate articles, guest post, etc. But one of the most hassle-free and controllable ways of getting links is by submitting articles to Web 2.0 sites.
What are Web 2.0 sites or Web 2.0 properties? Web 2.0 was a phrase coined after the turn of the millennium to describe the second phase of the internet. The web stopped being a one-way conversation where users consumed information and turned into the social and dynamic space where users would contribute to the information available.
So blogs, wikis and social sites are all parts of the Web 2.0 phenomenon.
However, here we are talking about specifically posting to Web 2.0 sites for the purposes of getting links to your site. To do this you need sites where you can set up a blog or site and post articles with dofollow back links quickly.
Feeder sites: When you create Web 2.0 properties they should not always be created equally. You should create 3 to 6 “feeder sites” which will link into your money site and will have other Web 2.0 properties linking to them.
Here are the best Web 2.0 sites you can use for your feeder sites:
Hubpages - Once signed up with an account, it is very easy to set up a “Hub” or page.
WordPress.com – For those of you who have self-hosted WordPress.org blogs and are familiar with the WordPress interface, setting up and posting to these sites is as easy as pie.
Squidoo.com - One of the best Web 2.0 sites out there. Started by marketing genius Seth Godin.
So with your feeder site successfully set up and linking back to your money site, you can start linking both to the money site and the feeder sites with other Web 2.0 properties.
The relationship between Feeder sites and Web 2.0 properties
List of Web 2.0 Properties
Here is a general list of other Web 2.0 sites where you can publish articles – or blog posts – with links that can act as a “second layer” of links.
- Zimbio.com
- WetPaint.com
- Quizilla.com
- Tripod.Lycos.com – OK.
- Webs.com
- Xanga.com
- Gather.com – OK.
- Zoho.com – OK
- Jimdo.com – Difficult interface.
- InsaneJournal.com
- Blog.com – WordPress interface, super easy!
- WikiSpaces.com – Nice and easy!
- Thoughts.com – Nice and easy!
- WikiDot.com – OK
- Blogger.com – Google’s blogging tool, super easy!
What Articles Do You Need?
In order to post to Web 2.0 sites to get back links you are going to need some articles. I like to make these at least 450 words long although some post only 300 word articles. They should also be of good quality and readable.
You should always be posting unique articles.
Further Important Tips for Posting to Web 2.0 Properties
Here is a list of do’s and don’ts for posting to Web 2.0 sites.
- Don’t cram the articles with links. Say you have 450 word articles, only have one link to the money site on the feeder sites, but maybe two links (one to the money site and one to a feeder site) for a Web 2.0 site.
- Don’t always use the same anchor text. OK, you are targeting a particular keyphrase but don’t use it all the time, maybe only 40% of the time on the outer layer of Web 2.0 sites. Otherwise use the same keyphrase with words added on or taken away from it (as long as it makes sense) or other relevant keyphrases.
- Don’t always link to the home page. Don’t have all your links going to the home page particularly on the outer layers of Web 2.0 sites. Link deep. Google likes a site that has people linking to various pages within it.
- Link out to an authority site. Don’t just link to the same money site. Link out to Wikipedia – you can make it a rel=nofollow link if you want.
- Add images. Make sure they’re your copyright, relevant and with pertinent file names, captions and alt text.
- Don’t just post one article and then forget about it. These Web 2.0 sites weren’t set up for you to leave your dirty links on them. They want thriving, quality sites that are constantly updated. And they’ll delete the accounts of people who are obviously link building. Return to the Web 2.0 site a week or two later and post another article, maybe without any links. Keep on topping these sites up with quality, relevant text.
Article by Rob Cubbon.
FTC Legal Forms – FTC Liability Traps Internet Marketers Must Avoid With Affiliate Marketers
Internet marketers often ask: Am I liable if any of my affiliates
engage in deceptive marketing practices? The answer is, it depends. This
article will provide a checklist of practical points that will help
Internet marketers determine what is required for their specific
affiliate marketing program and FTC legal forms.
We only have to look to recent FTC cases to learn that affiliate marketers have been nailed for engaging in deceptive marketing practices involving false and unsubstantiated claims, false news reports, untrue claims of test results, and testimonials that were completely fabricated. And in one recent case, an Internet marketer with ineffective FTC legal forms was held liable for failing to monitor affiliates’ marketing practices.
Internet marketers should understand that the legal violations of affiliates may result in liability for the Internet marketer, particularly where an Internet marketer fails to monitor and terminate affiliates who engage in deceptive marketing practices. For this reason, it’s absolutely critical that Internet marketers who use affiliates understand how to avoid this liability.
Basic Truth In Advertising Principles
To begin to understand how an Internet marketer may be held liable for affiliates’ deceptive marketing practices, it’s important to understand four basic truths in advertising principles that apply generally to all marketers, including both Internet marketers and
affiliates.
* Claims by marketer regarding a product or service that would materially influence a consumer’s decision must be truthful, not misleading, and reasonably substantiated prior to publication. Being truthful is a no-brainer. However, if the claim is technically true, but it omits a material factor that a consumer would consider, then it would also be deceptive. And claims about objective,
specific results must be substantiated by tests prior to publication or else they’re also deceptive.
* Ditto for claims made by endorsers and testimonialists about someone else’s product or service. The same rules summarized above also apply to endorsers and testimonialists who make claims or statements about the products of others.
* If a marketer doesn’t have proof that an endorser’s “success story” experience represents what consumers will achieve by using the product, the advertising copy must clearly and conspicuously disclose the generally expected results in the depicted circumstances. Prior to December, 2009, it was OK to use an endorser’s “success story” endorsement, even if the endorser’s level of success was significantly greater than typical, provided that a “results not typical” disclaimer accompanied the endorsement. Beginning in December, 2009, the “results not typical” disclaimer will no longer be effective. Now, a statement regarding the generally expected results is required.
* If there’s a “material relationship” (family or employment relationship or payment or benefits) between the marketer and an endorser or testimonialist that would affect how people evaluate the endorsement or testimonial, it should be disclosed “clearly and conspicuously.”
The Problem With Affiliate Marketers
Affiliate marketers are engaged in performance marketing, meaning that they are compensated on a “performance” basis involving a completed action. In most situations, affiliates are compensated based on conversions originated through traffic driven to the advertiser’s website.
The problem with affiliates in terms of marketing practices is that their performance-based compensation creates an inverse relationship between maximizing conversions on the one hand, and on the other hand, providing marketing messages that comply with the truth in advertising rules discussed above.
What is Required If You Market Through Affiliate Networks
The FTC requires that Internet marketers have reasonable programs in place to train and monitor their affiliates.
The key question is what is “reasonable” according to the FTC? The FTC says that what is reasonable varies with the circumstances. According to the FTC, if the product or service at issue could cause consumer harm – either physical injury or financial loss – then a relatively high level of supervision would be required. For example, health products may require more supervision than the promotion of ladies handbags.
Core elements of an affiliate monitoring program should always include:
Conclusion
Internet marketers who do not monitor and manage their marketing affiliates regarding deceptive marketing practices do so at their peril. Both the FTC and state regulatory authorities are becoming increasingly more vigilant regarding online advertising and marketing, particularly regarding affiliate marketers.
At the very least, Internet marketers should implement programs consistent with the core elements discussed above. It remains to be seen whether the more stringent requirements implemented in the recent FTC settlement with an Internet marketer who was actively engaged in deceptive marketing practices himself will also apply to Internet marketers who have no past record of deceptive practices.
This article is provided for educational and informative purposes only. This information does not constitute legal advice, and should not be construed as such.
We only have to look to recent FTC cases to learn that affiliate marketers have been nailed for engaging in deceptive marketing practices involving false and unsubstantiated claims, false news reports, untrue claims of test results, and testimonials that were completely fabricated. And in one recent case, an Internet marketer with ineffective FTC legal forms was held liable for failing to monitor affiliates’ marketing practices.
Internet marketers should understand that the legal violations of affiliates may result in liability for the Internet marketer, particularly where an Internet marketer fails to monitor and terminate affiliates who engage in deceptive marketing practices. For this reason, it’s absolutely critical that Internet marketers who use affiliates understand how to avoid this liability.
Basic Truth In Advertising Principles
To begin to understand how an Internet marketer may be held liable for affiliates’ deceptive marketing practices, it’s important to understand four basic truths in advertising principles that apply generally to all marketers, including both Internet marketers and
affiliates.
* Claims by marketer regarding a product or service that would materially influence a consumer’s decision must be truthful, not misleading, and reasonably substantiated prior to publication. Being truthful is a no-brainer. However, if the claim is technically true, but it omits a material factor that a consumer would consider, then it would also be deceptive. And claims about objective,
specific results must be substantiated by tests prior to publication or else they’re also deceptive.
* Ditto for claims made by endorsers and testimonialists about someone else’s product or service. The same rules summarized above also apply to endorsers and testimonialists who make claims or statements about the products of others.
* If a marketer doesn’t have proof that an endorser’s “success story” experience represents what consumers will achieve by using the product, the advertising copy must clearly and conspicuously disclose the generally expected results in the depicted circumstances. Prior to December, 2009, it was OK to use an endorser’s “success story” endorsement, even if the endorser’s level of success was significantly greater than typical, provided that a “results not typical” disclaimer accompanied the endorsement. Beginning in December, 2009, the “results not typical” disclaimer will no longer be effective. Now, a statement regarding the generally expected results is required.
* If there’s a “material relationship” (family or employment relationship or payment or benefits) between the marketer and an endorser or testimonialist that would affect how people evaluate the endorsement or testimonial, it should be disclosed “clearly and conspicuously.”
The Problem With Affiliate Marketers
Affiliate marketers are engaged in performance marketing, meaning that they are compensated on a “performance” basis involving a completed action. In most situations, affiliates are compensated based on conversions originated through traffic driven to the advertiser’s website.
The problem with affiliates in terms of marketing practices is that their performance-based compensation creates an inverse relationship between maximizing conversions on the one hand, and on the other hand, providing marketing messages that comply with the truth in advertising rules discussed above.
What is Required If You Market Through Affiliate Networks
The FTC requires that Internet marketers have reasonable programs in place to train and monitor their affiliates.
The key question is what is “reasonable” according to the FTC? The FTC says that what is reasonable varies with the circumstances. According to the FTC, if the product or service at issue could cause consumer harm – either physical injury or financial loss – then a relatively high level of supervision would be required. For example, health products may require more supervision than the promotion of ladies handbags.
Core elements of an affiliate monitoring program should always include:
- Consistent with a marketer’s responsibility for substantiating objective product claims. Internet marketers should explain to affiliates the marketing message regarding the product or service, including what can be said and what can’t be said about the product or service. These explanations should be consistent with the basic truth in advertising principles discussed above.
- Set up and maintain a reasonable monitoring program to determine what affiliates are actually saying about the product or service.
- Follow up with questionable affiliate marketing practices, and terminate affiliates who willfully or repeatedly do not follow the rules.
- Clearly and conspicuously disclose in writing to each marketing affiliate that engaging in deceptive marketing practices will result in immediate termination of the affiliate relationship and forfeiture of all monies owed to such marketing affiliate.
- Routinely monitor and review, on at least a monthly basis at times not disclosed in advance to the affiliate and in a manner reasonably calculated not to disclose the monitoring activity at the time it is conducted, affiliate marketing materials, including websites, emails, banners, sponsored search terms, and pop-up ads.
- Promptly and completely investigate any consumer complaint regarding any affiliate.
- Immediately halt the processing of any payments or charges generated by an affiliate that the Internet marketer knows or should know is engaged in a deceptive marketing practice.
- Fully refund, within five business days, each consumer charged by any defendant whose sale originated from any affiliate engaging in a deceptive marketing practice.
- Terminate immediately any affiliate that is engaged in deceptive marketing practices.
Conclusion
Internet marketers who do not monitor and manage their marketing affiliates regarding deceptive marketing practices do so at their peril. Both the FTC and state regulatory authorities are becoming increasingly more vigilant regarding online advertising and marketing, particularly regarding affiliate marketers.
At the very least, Internet marketers should implement programs consistent with the core elements discussed above. It remains to be seen whether the more stringent requirements implemented in the recent FTC settlement with an Internet marketer who was actively engaged in deceptive marketing practices himself will also apply to Internet marketers who have no past record of deceptive practices.
This article is provided for educational and informative purposes only. This information does not constitute legal advice, and should not be construed as such.
A Mobile POS (mPOS) Must Provide Merchants What Square & PayPal Doesn’t
Square has soared up to over 5 billion dollars per year in payment
card transactions, a phenomenal figure for sure and PayPal has claimed
2000+ signups per day after their recent launch into the retail brick
& mortar marketplace.
The main reason for the huge dollar volume being processed by Square is that it was developed for P2P or person-to-person payments and it works without requiring a traditional merchant account.
PayPal’s sudden deployment and recent sign-up campaign success is due in large part to the existing infrastructure that PayPal has developed and has in place as a result of their ownership and operation by eBay.
Both solutions fulfill a need. However, they are not designed for a real business, a business requiring point-of-sale features that integrate with QuickBooks, SAP, Oracle, Sage etc. and that also enable reports, inventory and transaction monitoring and control and much more.
The foremost concern for a business is cost. A merchant is in business to make money and that business is their livelihood, that’s how they feed their family. Therefore, any business with significant sales volume finds the payment processing cost to be critical.
The basic cost for Square is 2.75%, and PayPal basic is 2.70%.
So lets do the math, a merchant doing $25,000 per month using Square and swiping card present transactions pays around $687.50 (keyed-in transactions cost 3.50% + $0.15 cents per transaction, anything accepted over $1000 is held for 30 days on keyed-in transactions).
$50,000 would cost $1375 and $100,000 in sales would cost around $2750. PayPal would be about $2700+ (plus additional monthly fees in 3 different versions; a virtual terminal is available at 3.1% + $0.30 cents per transaction).
PayPal can also link to an existing merchant account for a $179.00 set-up fee and $19.95 per month with 500 free transactions.
A merchant processing $100,000 or more can save $700-$750 per month when being charged a more reasonable 1.99%, which saves around $9000-$10,000 each year. That’s a lot of money, money that can be redirected elsewhere to inventory, marketing, or even a vacation.
If you search long enough you’ll find a PayPal tiered volume discount rate structure you can apply for starting at 2.9% + $0.30 up to $3000 per month, 2.5% + $0.30, $3000-$10,000 per month, $10,000 + 2.2% + $0.30.
Not having to qualify for a typical merchant account means more risk, which is why the pricing is higher, and there are parameters such as volume limitations and payment holds and much more when using Square or PayPal.
Today’s merchants should offer a compelling and differentiated service experience in their stores.
Mobile POS (mPOS) solutions such as the enterprise edition of ABC Mobile Pay support a variety of sales floor functionalities, including inventory lookup and management, customer data acquisition and line busting. The solution also facilitates remote printing and it can be used with legacy system printers or wireless printers.
Currently available peripherals such as bar-code scanners, printers, cash drawers, keyboards, mobile card readers, audio/video streaming devices and other accessories for Apple iOS and Android devices are sophisticated and operate intuitively. These devices offer a new option for in-store mobility, customer interaction and relationship development.
ABC Mobile Pay is a cloud-based POS solution, which can handle sales in the store and online. Because it shares the inventory database, all of the sales personnel have access to the same information and the database tracks sales and transactions in real time for inventory control, management and accounting purposes.
Freed up by the mobile devices, associates can roam the store for line busting inside or outside and can offer parking lot or drive-through checkout. Servers and employees are able to accept payments at the table in a restaurant or at the door in a retail or delivery environment.
A mobile POS payment solution should connect to the point-of-sale system based in the cloud. The mobile device is simply an extension of the POS, communicating with the central database regarding transactions and inventories. The payment should seamlessly integrate with the order the customer has placed, whether it’s online, in the restaurant or within the retailer’s four brick walls.
Merchants can accept payments at any time while developing deeper customer relationships. For instance merchants can capture the customer’s email address to send a receipt and the customer can opt-in to join a loyalty program or receive a newsletter. There are more things that merchants can do with the customer to provide a unique and satisfying buying experience that they couldn’t do before.
A busy merchant operating a thriving business now has a viable mobile POS (mPOS) payment option to Square and PayPal. By utilizing an enterprise level mobile POS solution such as the ABC Mobile Pay application on an iPhone, iPod, iPad or other mobile device merchants can increase sales and develop loyal relationships cementing emotional bonds that will have customers raving and spreading the good word about their favorite tech savvy merchant.
The main reason for the huge dollar volume being processed by Square is that it was developed for P2P or person-to-person payments and it works without requiring a traditional merchant account.
PayPal’s sudden deployment and recent sign-up campaign success is due in large part to the existing infrastructure that PayPal has developed and has in place as a result of their ownership and operation by eBay.
Both solutions fulfill a need. However, they are not designed for a real business, a business requiring point-of-sale features that integrate with QuickBooks, SAP, Oracle, Sage etc. and that also enable reports, inventory and transaction monitoring and control and much more.
The foremost concern for a business is cost. A merchant is in business to make money and that business is their livelihood, that’s how they feed their family. Therefore, any business with significant sales volume finds the payment processing cost to be critical.
The basic cost for Square is 2.75%, and PayPal basic is 2.70%.
So lets do the math, a merchant doing $25,000 per month using Square and swiping card present transactions pays around $687.50 (keyed-in transactions cost 3.50% + $0.15 cents per transaction, anything accepted over $1000 is held for 30 days on keyed-in transactions).
$50,000 would cost $1375 and $100,000 in sales would cost around $2750. PayPal would be about $2700+ (plus additional monthly fees in 3 different versions; a virtual terminal is available at 3.1% + $0.30 cents per transaction).
PayPal can also link to an existing merchant account for a $179.00 set-up fee and $19.95 per month with 500 free transactions.
A merchant processing $100,000 or more can save $700-$750 per month when being charged a more reasonable 1.99%, which saves around $9000-$10,000 each year. That’s a lot of money, money that can be redirected elsewhere to inventory, marketing, or even a vacation.
If you search long enough you’ll find a PayPal tiered volume discount rate structure you can apply for starting at 2.9% + $0.30 up to $3000 per month, 2.5% + $0.30, $3000-$10,000 per month, $10,000 + 2.2% + $0.30.
Not having to qualify for a typical merchant account means more risk, which is why the pricing is higher, and there are parameters such as volume limitations and payment holds and much more when using Square or PayPal.
Today’s merchants should offer a compelling and differentiated service experience in their stores.
Mobile POS (mPOS) solutions such as the enterprise edition of ABC Mobile Pay support a variety of sales floor functionalities, including inventory lookup and management, customer data acquisition and line busting. The solution also facilitates remote printing and it can be used with legacy system printers or wireless printers.
Currently available peripherals such as bar-code scanners, printers, cash drawers, keyboards, mobile card readers, audio/video streaming devices and other accessories for Apple iOS and Android devices are sophisticated and operate intuitively. These devices offer a new option for in-store mobility, customer interaction and relationship development.
ABC Mobile Pay is a cloud-based POS solution, which can handle sales in the store and online. Because it shares the inventory database, all of the sales personnel have access to the same information and the database tracks sales and transactions in real time for inventory control, management and accounting purposes.
Freed up by the mobile devices, associates can roam the store for line busting inside or outside and can offer parking lot or drive-through checkout. Servers and employees are able to accept payments at the table in a restaurant or at the door in a retail or delivery environment.
A mobile POS payment solution should connect to the point-of-sale system based in the cloud. The mobile device is simply an extension of the POS, communicating with the central database regarding transactions and inventories. The payment should seamlessly integrate with the order the customer has placed, whether it’s online, in the restaurant or within the retailer’s four brick walls.
Merchants can accept payments at any time while developing deeper customer relationships. For instance merchants can capture the customer’s email address to send a receipt and the customer can opt-in to join a loyalty program or receive a newsletter. There are more things that merchants can do with the customer to provide a unique and satisfying buying experience that they couldn’t do before.
A busy merchant operating a thriving business now has a viable mobile POS (mPOS) payment option to Square and PayPal. By utilizing an enterprise level mobile POS solution such as the ABC Mobile Pay application on an iPhone, iPod, iPad or other mobile device merchants can increase sales and develop loyal relationships cementing emotional bonds that will have customers raving and spreading the good word about their favorite tech savvy merchant.
16 Ways to Build a List of Money From Scratch
You’ve started a new business or you have an existing one that you
would like to be selling products to regularly. Either way, let’s
suppose you have no customer list, no group of interested people who
have asked you to stay in touch. According to most marketing experts,
you’ll be struggling to sell much of anything until you build a list and
begin contacting that list regularly with information and offers.
Where to start? Make sure your web site has a prominent signup box on every page. Then use at least six or seven of these 16 methods to build that crucial list.
1. Bait Piece. Create a free item that will tempt your ideal client to click to your site and request it. Whether that’s an audio, a written report, a video or something else, within the item make sure there’s a brief description of what you do and what you sell. People need to provide their email address and join your list to receive the giveaway item.
2. Online Article Distribution. Write useful, informative articles that are 400-600 words long and that have titles using keywords that the kind of people you want to sell to are looking for. End the article with a biographical paragraph that describes who you are and offers your free item. Post these articles at article distribution sites, many of which cost nothing to use.
3. Squeeze Page and Pay-Per-Click. Post a web page describing your giveaway item and inviting people to opt into receive it. What makes this a “squeeze page” is that it contains no general information about your business and no links to other pages for your business. Then send traffic there using pay-per-click ads.
4. Press Releases. Write press releases about the launch of your business, the availability of your giveaway item, useful tips and tie-ins with trends or breaking news. Distribute these through press release distribution services and email them to your local media as well as specialty magazines related to your industry. Getting coverage in newspapers, magazines and online news sites brings traffic to your site and should increase the size of your list.
5. Guest Blog Posts. Contact bloggers in your subject area, offering to write a blog post on a controversy or a set of useful guidelines. You’ll get a valuable link back to your site with each post along with coming to the attention of the bloggers’ established audiences.
6. Online Videos. Create one or more funny, opinionated or practical short videos, up to three minutes long, and post them at YouTube and elsewhere. At the end of the video, show your URL on screen. Be sure to tell friends and colleagues about the video, too, to get word-of-mouth publicity going.
7. Survey. Ask members of your target market for their opinions or experiences, using an online poll or a paper-and-pen survey sheet where you have a large group in one room. Tabulate and publicize the results with a press release and by contacting bloggers about the survey results. This positions you as someone who is contributing to your industry, in addition to generating curiosity that will get prospects checking you out online.
8. Free Teleclass. Announce a free teleclass on a popular topic using the other methods in this list. Let everyone know that when they sign up for the teleclass, they’ll also be added to your list (but can unsubscribe at any time). This is especially good for someone trying to grow a reputation as an expert. A teleclass also enables people to get to know and trust you in a way other methods don’t.
9. Online Forums and Discussion Groups. Find gathering places where people interested in your topic area communicate on message boards or email lists. Join these groups and participate in discussions when you have something relevant to add. This is free, but requires a time commitment and good communication skills.
10. Postcards. If you know exactly who your best prospects are and can obtain a low-cost list of them, postcards may be a great way to contact them. Invite them to visit your site and request your free bait piece.
11. Ezine Ads. If companies or individuals have an email newsletter or marketing list that reaches those you hope to sell to, buy ads there. Repeated ads work better than single-shot ones.
12. Your Own Blog. Start this only if you’re disciplined, enjoy writing and have a lot to say. Pay attention to the keywords in your blog post headlines, which gets you traffic through online search engines.
13. Content-Rich Web Site. Post resources, original articles, tools and other items people in your target market will search for, link to and recommend. This traffic-building method works slowly and gradually over time.
14. Radio Ads. It may sound crazy to advertise on the radio for Internet visitors, but I have one client who did this successfully. He ran repeated ads during commuting hours that invited listeners to download his free report, which had a very controversial title. He had carefully researched the audience of the radio station he chose and reached a group that was otherwise difficult to pinpoint.
15. Public Speaking. When you’re on the podium giving a talk to a local or industry group, you have great credibility. People who have seen or met you in person are more likely to remain on your list long-term. You can insert a list signup invitation on a handout for your talk, pass around a signup sheet or collect business cards from those who want to be on your list.
16. Networking. Use your business card as a signup tool when you hand it out at trade shows or conferences. This works best when you don’t simply list your web site on the card but specifically say something like, “Go to www.someplace <http://www.someplace>. com to receive a free whatever.”
Which of the methods above best fit your personal preferences and are easiest to implement? Get started today on the all-important task of building your list.
Where to start? Make sure your web site has a prominent signup box on every page. Then use at least six or seven of these 16 methods to build that crucial list.
1. Bait Piece. Create a free item that will tempt your ideal client to click to your site and request it. Whether that’s an audio, a written report, a video or something else, within the item make sure there’s a brief description of what you do and what you sell. People need to provide their email address and join your list to receive the giveaway item.
2. Online Article Distribution. Write useful, informative articles that are 400-600 words long and that have titles using keywords that the kind of people you want to sell to are looking for. End the article with a biographical paragraph that describes who you are and offers your free item. Post these articles at article distribution sites, many of which cost nothing to use.
3. Squeeze Page and Pay-Per-Click. Post a web page describing your giveaway item and inviting people to opt into receive it. What makes this a “squeeze page” is that it contains no general information about your business and no links to other pages for your business. Then send traffic there using pay-per-click ads.
4. Press Releases. Write press releases about the launch of your business, the availability of your giveaway item, useful tips and tie-ins with trends or breaking news. Distribute these through press release distribution services and email them to your local media as well as specialty magazines related to your industry. Getting coverage in newspapers, magazines and online news sites brings traffic to your site and should increase the size of your list.
5. Guest Blog Posts. Contact bloggers in your subject area, offering to write a blog post on a controversy or a set of useful guidelines. You’ll get a valuable link back to your site with each post along with coming to the attention of the bloggers’ established audiences.
6. Online Videos. Create one or more funny, opinionated or practical short videos, up to three minutes long, and post them at YouTube and elsewhere. At the end of the video, show your URL on screen. Be sure to tell friends and colleagues about the video, too, to get word-of-mouth publicity going.
7. Survey. Ask members of your target market for their opinions or experiences, using an online poll or a paper-and-pen survey sheet where you have a large group in one room. Tabulate and publicize the results with a press release and by contacting bloggers about the survey results. This positions you as someone who is contributing to your industry, in addition to generating curiosity that will get prospects checking you out online.
8. Free Teleclass. Announce a free teleclass on a popular topic using the other methods in this list. Let everyone know that when they sign up for the teleclass, they’ll also be added to your list (but can unsubscribe at any time). This is especially good for someone trying to grow a reputation as an expert. A teleclass also enables people to get to know and trust you in a way other methods don’t.
9. Online Forums and Discussion Groups. Find gathering places where people interested in your topic area communicate on message boards or email lists. Join these groups and participate in discussions when you have something relevant to add. This is free, but requires a time commitment and good communication skills.
10. Postcards. If you know exactly who your best prospects are and can obtain a low-cost list of them, postcards may be a great way to contact them. Invite them to visit your site and request your free bait piece.
11. Ezine Ads. If companies or individuals have an email newsletter or marketing list that reaches those you hope to sell to, buy ads there. Repeated ads work better than single-shot ones.
12. Your Own Blog. Start this only if you’re disciplined, enjoy writing and have a lot to say. Pay attention to the keywords in your blog post headlines, which gets you traffic through online search engines.
13. Content-Rich Web Site. Post resources, original articles, tools and other items people in your target market will search for, link to and recommend. This traffic-building method works slowly and gradually over time.
14. Radio Ads. It may sound crazy to advertise on the radio for Internet visitors, but I have one client who did this successfully. He ran repeated ads during commuting hours that invited listeners to download his free report, which had a very controversial title. He had carefully researched the audience of the radio station he chose and reached a group that was otherwise difficult to pinpoint.
15. Public Speaking. When you’re on the podium giving a talk to a local or industry group, you have great credibility. People who have seen or met you in person are more likely to remain on your list long-term. You can insert a list signup invitation on a handout for your talk, pass around a signup sheet or collect business cards from those who want to be on your list.
16. Networking. Use your business card as a signup tool when you hand it out at trade shows or conferences. This works best when you don’t simply list your web site on the card but specifically say something like, “Go to www.someplace <http://www.someplace>. com to receive a free whatever.”
Which of the methods above best fit your personal preferences and are easiest to implement? Get started today on the all-important task of building your list.
Six Key Elements in your Online Marketing Success
Life is simple when you have a plan for whatever you want to accomplish, right? I hope you agree with me on this point.
Since you are reading this, it means that you probably are a small business owner who is interested in marketing your business online.
So, let’s talk about what plan you need to have in order to get your business from A to B, shall we?
1. Be Clear About Your Business
You’ve probably heard people say “Clarity is Power.” Trust me on this one – it is SO TRUE. When I start my day and don’t have clear goals for it, I usually do almost nothing in that day. But when I have at least 5 goals scheduled, I do my best to do them – and I get them done.
My point is that when you have clear, written goals for your business it is easier to accomplish them and you have more chances to do all of them.
Examples of business goals:
My company will make $100,000 by the end of 2012.
I will add 10,000 new subscribers to my newsletter by the end of 2012 and so on.
Quick Tip: Make them S.M.A.R.T. ( Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timed)
2. Who is Your Ideal Client?
If you don’t know what you are searching for, you have no chance of finding it, right? It makes a lot of sense. Although there are small business owners who have some ideas about their target market, these ideas are usually not enough.
Write down everything , and I mean EVERYTHING that you know about your ideal client like age, location, hobbies, needs, desires, fears, problems and so on. Don’t miss anything.
You will see how powerful this is for your business. You will know what your next logical step is in helping your client.
3. Where Can You Find Your Client?
That’s a good question by the way. Why? Because it means that you need to go and search for your client. You can’t wait and hope that he will find you and then buy something.
Do a 15-minute brainstorming session by yourself or with someone from your team and put down on paper where your ideal client might spend his time.
When you have some answers, go out there and present yourself. Make them notice you and perceive you as someone who has some answers to their problems.
4. Get His Email Address
Now, here it gets really interesting and exciting!
After you’ve searched and found your ideal client and he has noticed you as well, there is little chance that you will make a sale right away.
I advise you not to try doing that. If you do it, be very careful. I will talk more about this in a future article.
For now, give your client something for free that can help solve his problem or something that interests him. Afterwards, you’ll have his contact details/ email and can follow up with him.
5. Start Building the Relationship
Think about it! After you have met a new person and you like him and he likes you and what you are doing, you can say that you have a new friend and a relationship.
Because of this, there are chances that in the future he will buy what you have to offer.
You must have heard about this: People buy from people they like and trust!
So, this should be your primary goal. Build a genuine relationship with your new client so that he likes you and trusts you.
6. Tell Him About Your Offer
After completing the above steps, you can talk about your great products.
Now is the right moment to present and talk about what you have to offer to your new client.
And if you do it in the right way, he will buy more than once from you. So – enjoy your sales!
Now that you know the six key elements to online marketing success, tell me – have you implemented them in your business? All of them or just a few?
Florentina Istrati is an online marketing expert who loves nothing more than seeing small businesses thrive. If you are a small business owner who needs help with online marketing, sign up to ‘Evolve’ (). You will get FREE and WEEKLY Online Marketing Tips that are specially designed to evolve your business. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Since you are reading this, it means that you probably are a small business owner who is interested in marketing your business online.
So, let’s talk about what plan you need to have in order to get your business from A to B, shall we?
1. Be Clear About Your Business
You’ve probably heard people say “Clarity is Power.” Trust me on this one – it is SO TRUE. When I start my day and don’t have clear goals for it, I usually do almost nothing in that day. But when I have at least 5 goals scheduled, I do my best to do them – and I get them done.
My point is that when you have clear, written goals for your business it is easier to accomplish them and you have more chances to do all of them.
Examples of business goals:
My company will make $100,000 by the end of 2012.
I will add 10,000 new subscribers to my newsletter by the end of 2012 and so on.
Quick Tip: Make them S.M.A.R.T. ( Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timed)
2. Who is Your Ideal Client?
If you don’t know what you are searching for, you have no chance of finding it, right? It makes a lot of sense. Although there are small business owners who have some ideas about their target market, these ideas are usually not enough.
Write down everything , and I mean EVERYTHING that you know about your ideal client like age, location, hobbies, needs, desires, fears, problems and so on. Don’t miss anything.
You will see how powerful this is for your business. You will know what your next logical step is in helping your client.
3. Where Can You Find Your Client?
That’s a good question by the way. Why? Because it means that you need to go and search for your client. You can’t wait and hope that he will find you and then buy something.
Do a 15-minute brainstorming session by yourself or with someone from your team and put down on paper where your ideal client might spend his time.
When you have some answers, go out there and present yourself. Make them notice you and perceive you as someone who has some answers to their problems.
4. Get His Email Address
Now, here it gets really interesting and exciting!
After you’ve searched and found your ideal client and he has noticed you as well, there is little chance that you will make a sale right away.
I advise you not to try doing that. If you do it, be very careful. I will talk more about this in a future article.
For now, give your client something for free that can help solve his problem or something that interests him. Afterwards, you’ll have his contact details/ email and can follow up with him.
5. Start Building the Relationship
Think about it! After you have met a new person and you like him and he likes you and what you are doing, you can say that you have a new friend and a relationship.
Because of this, there are chances that in the future he will buy what you have to offer.
You must have heard about this: People buy from people they like and trust!
So, this should be your primary goal. Build a genuine relationship with your new client so that he likes you and trusts you.
6. Tell Him About Your Offer
After completing the above steps, you can talk about your great products.
Now is the right moment to present and talk about what you have to offer to your new client.
And if you do it in the right way, he will buy more than once from you. So – enjoy your sales!
Now that you know the six key elements to online marketing success, tell me – have you implemented them in your business? All of them or just a few?
Florentina Istrati is an online marketing expert who loves nothing more than seeing small businesses thrive. If you are a small business owner who needs help with online marketing, sign up to ‘Evolve’ (). You will get FREE and WEEKLY Online Marketing Tips that are specially designed to evolve your business. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
About YouTube Marketing
Promoting a business can be extremely taxing, especially when you’re just getting started. If you’re into checking out marketing blogs, you’ve probably come across some information about YouTube marketing. This form of advertising falls under the umbrella of video advertising, which falls under the even larger umbrella of Internet marketing. Take a look at some specifics of this business strategy to deepen your understanding about its importance and utilize it to help popularize your products or services.
Why Online Video Advertising?
Video marketing is one of the leading advertising platforms on the Internet. People of all ages and from different backgrounds are taking advantage of this promotional opportunity in an effort to maximize the visibility of their business. It falls under the concept of showing rather than telling and continues to draw an abundance of viewers if done correctly. There are several types of video marketing. The primary kinds include article video marketing, viral video marketing and social video marketing. Individuals can utilize one or multiple forms according to their specific needs and intentions. If you’re not certain about how to implement videos, it’s a good idea to consult with a professional or consider audio production schools in your area that’ll provide thorough instruction:
Article Video Marketing
This type of video marketing typically interests those who prefer the less time-consuming practice of watching informational videos rather than reading articles. Video marketing involves businesses or individuals developing numerous short clips that display the contents of articles written beforehand. Most videos are between two and five minutes and cover a wide range of topics. After the videos are created, they’re uploaded onto popular video-sharing websites to target an audience.
Articles can be converted into videos in a number of ways. One of the most popular ways is to turn the written pieces into a PowerPoint presentation or animated slideshow. Pictures and a voiceover narration are usually added to the presentation before it’s recorded via screen capture software and put on the Internet for viewing pleasure. An alternative involves recording an article and saving it as an MP3 file. Afterwards, video layout software is used to change the audio to a video. The finished product is then exported and uploaded to relevant websites for exposure.
Viral Video Marketing
Another form of online video advertising is viral video marketing which contains humorous events, eyewitness incidents or clips from comedy sketches on television. Many clips are shot by amateurs on mobile devices and edited with the use of economical tools and software before being published on video sharing sites, social networking sites and personal websites.
Most viral videos are created as a dialogue and shared with the intention of entertaining family and friends, although many people use it as a way to engage prospective customers. This option has benefited word-of-mouth marketing and was preceded by email-sharing. These videos continue to increase in popularity in a variety of sectors, including education and music. However, fans of this concept must be careful not to violate copyright laws, as this has been a major downside to viral video-making and has been the result of several problems within the entertainment industry.
Social Video Marketing
Social Video Marketing
This choice is equally significant. Social video marketing (SVM) is similar to viral video marketing in that it engages a wide audience through the distribution of video. However, the notion of self-expression tends to be more evident. This form of video marketing relies heavily on social theory, consumer culture theory, and economic theory.
SVM also intends to leave a deeper contextual message, rather than simply being a pass-along model between sender and recipient. In other words, a more individualistic approach is taken and the finished product tends to have more depth as it forms solid relationships and builds trust between publishers and viewers.
Introducing YouTube
Despite the kind of video marketing used, many advertisers can attest to the benefits of sharing their clips on YouTube. This video-sharing site attracts millions of visitors on a regular basis and contains a large host of products, including music videos, TV clips, movie clips, video blogs, and original clips. Although mostly individuals upload videos on the site, several major corporations have been known to make contributions as well.
Content is constantly investigated by YouTube’s employees. Explicit or offensive material can only be viewed by registered users. This group also has the privilege of uploading videos, as well as watching them. Unregistered users, on the other hand, solely have the right to view distributed clips.
Besides uploading, YouTube also contains other valuable features. Playback is a major attribute on the site and enables users to view finished products if an Adobe Flash Player plug-in is installed on their computer. Browsers that support specific HTML5 versions, such as advanced video coding and WebM, also afford individuals the opportunity to view videos, although some clips are still inaccessible with this alternative. Additional features include 3D videos, various platforms and a new localization system.
How it All Began
At the beginning of 2005, YouTube was established by three former PayPal employees. The entire concept of the video-sharing website was developed over the course of a few months and started out as a technology start-up company. Its headquarters were initially located in San Mateo, California.
After its inception, the site grew faster than anticipated. By the summer of 2006, it was reported that thousands of videos were being uploaded every day and millions of viewers were watching clips per day. Numbers continued to increase and moved into the billions by 2010. Since then, YouTube has embarked on several new concepts, such as the ability to upload full-length videos and the free streaming of specific content. A new design was also launched to provide additional benefits to users.
Today, YouTube is headquartered in San Bruno, California. After being acquired by Google, the Google+ social networking site was integrated with YouTube which allow the site’s videos to be viewed from Google’s interface. YouTube is a dominant force in the online business market in the United States and it also ranks relatively high in other regions, including the United Kingdom. As of 2012, more than 4 billion videos are streamed per day.
Article by James Chapman. Learn more about YouTube marketing.http://AppliedOnlineMarketing.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Important Quotation from Best Marketter
- Adam Urbanski, TheMarketingMentors.com –
“Most people like to overcomplicate things and then they become
overwhelmed by too much information and the complexity of what they are
trying to create. My advice to all my clients and to everyone reading
this is this: map out a simple action plan and work diligently to
implement it.
My favorite saying to all my students is this: If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly to start with! It’s implementation over perfection!”
- Chris Knight, Ezine Articles Blog – “Set your goals higher than you think you can achieve and then don’t worry about the ‘how you’ll achieve it’… Whatever you think most about expands. If you’re committed, you’ll find a way to pull off the results you’re seeking.”
- Denny Hatch, DennyHatch.com – “If you do e-mails, remember 94% of e-mails are Spam. Your e-mail effort is one mouse-click away from oblivion. Make sure your FROM line is believable and spend a lot of time–hours and hours–on your subject line. Be sure to use the seven key copy drivers–the emotional hot buttons that make people act: Fear – Greed – Guilt – Anger – Exclusivity – Salvation – Flattery. If your copy is not dripping with one or more of these, said Seattle guru Bob Hacker, tear it up and start over.
Be sure to lace your copy with the 12 most powerful and evocative words in the English language: you – save – money – easy – love – results – health – easy – proven – safety – discovery – new. ‘Free is a magic word,’ said the late guru Dick Benson. However, use ‘FREE’ in a e-mail subject line, and the Spam filters will kill it.”
- Drew McClellan, Drew’s Marketing Minute – “Do Less. One of the most tempting aspects of marketing is the veritable smorgasbord of different marketing tactics that you can toss into a marketing plan. It’s almost overwhelming.
Many marketing professionals make the very understandable mistake of believing that more is better. But they’re wrong.
You will be vastly more successful if you do less, but do it better. Pick 3-4 marketing tactics that you think are really going to be valued by your audience and drive the behavior/action you’re looking for. Then, figure out how you can do them in an extraordinary way.
100% consistency. 100% relevancy. Do less. But do them better.”
- Jill Koenig, GoalGuru.com – “If you want to create massive changes in your life, you must arrange and design your life so that your Goals and Dreams are at the Forefront of your day, instead of them being an afterthought.”
- Jill Konrath, SellingToBigCompanies.com – “Do what you love. But that’s where many people struggle. They don’t know what that is. I always tell people to pay attention to what they’re interested in. If you’re online, what are you reading? If you buy books, what subjects are you exploring? If you volunteer for extra projects at work, what’s the common denominator? If you do way more on a work project than was expected/necessary, what pulled you so deep into the subject?
These are all indicators of our talents and interests. Follow them. That’s where you’ll find the greatest satisfaction & joy in life.”
- Jim Connolly, JimsMarketingBlog.com – “Learn how ‘The Law of Return’ works. Never try to take out from a situation, until you have put something in. Don’t expect the reward BEFORE the work. That abs machine won’t flatten your gut in 30 days – that diet won’t make you skinny in a week. You have to sow the seeds and tend the land before you can reap the harvest! Whenever you try to fool The Law of Return you fail.”
- Jim Connolly, JimsMarketingBlog.com – “You cannot promise the marketplace a high quality service and yet charge a bargain-basement fee! If you do, you will send people a mixed-message, and it will lose you business every time.
Everyone knows that quality never comes cheap – that if something looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true! Make your services as valuable to the marketplace as possible and then charge accordingly.”
- John Carlton, John-Carlton.com – “Find a source of info you can trust, and get busy with proactive movement. Few marketers succeed on their own — my own circle of friends, colleagues and co-marketers is vast, and includes everyone you’ve ever heard of. Even so, there are just a handful I consider “go-to guys,” who I call up first with a problem or question. It’s the concept of the “mastermind group” — don’t go it alone, but instead gather people around you who share your passions and ambitions.”
- John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing – “Become a journalist – no, I’m not really suggesting that you join the staff of some publication, but the acceptance of new media tools like blogs and podcasts has turned the marketing tables – so take advantage of the allure of a reporter and start a blog and podcast and request interviews with industry leaders, community leaders, authors and maybe even your biggest prospects. Instead of asking for a meeting to demonstrate your product, ask to feature your prospect in your next blog or podcast episode. You will automatically change your status in their eyes, enhance your role as an expert and create great content for your marketing materials.”
- Joy Gendusa, PostCardMania.com – “Keep learning and reaching for knowledge. The internet is constantly changing. Listen to others that have ‘been there done that,’ and make sure you make them clarify what the heck they’re saying! There is so much new terminology being created daily in regards to the internet, and it can be so daunting. Don’t think you sound stupid because you need to clarify data.”
- Matt Shobe, MattShobe.com – “Find and surround yourself with smart people you like and who complement your strengths, and good things will follow. I think this holds true whether you’re just starting out in an internship or summer job, an entrepreneur with a few partners, or a senior executive of a major corporation.”
- Michael Fleischner, MarketingScoop.com – “Marketing is everything and everything is marketing! The key to a successful marketing campaign, business, or even career, is knowing that you are always communicating. This is not to say that you have to be overly cautious, but rather think about the implication of your messaging.”
- Michel Fortin, MichelFortin.com – “Time and time again, I’ve told many aspiring copywriters and marketers that a USP is what distinguishes you from the pack. It increases perceived value, expertise, and credibility – without needing to state it outright.
Just by being 10% different, unique, original, or special is enough to make you stand out like a sore thumb in an overcrowded, hypercompetitive marketplace.”
- Robert Fitzpatrick, FalseProfits.com – “This research has shown that the MLM business model, as it is practiced by most companies, is a marketplace hoax. In those cases, the business is primarily a scheme to continuously enroll distributors and little product is ever retailed to consumers who are not also enrolled as distributors.
Financially, the odds for an individual to achieve financial success under those circumstances rival the odds of winning at the tables in Las Vegas.”
- Dr. Sabrina Schleicher, TapThePotential.com – “Lead with your strength. When it comes to marketing, choose one or two approaches that come naturally and easily to you. Don’t waste your time trying to force yourself to market in a way that feels forced. You’ll just procrastinate and become frustrated with yourself for not marketing yourself effectively. Focus on developing those approaches to marketing that you enjoy. Learn all you can about the ’secrets’ to using those approaches successfully. Be strategic in your marketing. It is much more effective to use one or two approaches with target markets, than to try multiple approaches.”
- Siamak Taghaddos, Grasshopper.com – “People don’t like to be sold. If they did, they would spend all their free time in car dealerships. Instead, people want to be informed, they want to be educated. You’ll find your best customers are those you educate about your product or service and who then decide to purchase it because it is a good fit for them.
Prospects who buy your product/service but are not educated about your offering will be disappointed. They will not be return customers. Worse, they will tell others how they got ’sold’ by you. In the Internet age, this can quickly be very destructive to your business.”
- Scott Shane, Author of Illusions of Entrepreneurship – “The data shows that most entrepreneurs compete on price, but doing this leads companies to perform worse. New companies are better off competing on service, quality or some other dimension.” (Source of above tips: SmallBizTrends.com)
- Tim Berry, Planning Startups Stories – “One of the most expensive myths in marketing is that lower price produces higher volume. That might be true for coal or gasoline, but not for most businesses. Lower price means, well, ask yourself: do you always eat at the lowest price restaurant? Buy the lowest price clothes? Do you drive the lowest priced car? Pricing is your best statement of value.”
- Tinu Abayomi-Paul, FreeTrafficTip.com – “Search engine traffic is fantastic when you can get it. But don’t rely on search engines alone for traffic to your site. If you added just one more traffic tactic that gets you as much traffic as you get from search engines, you’ve doubled your traffic. And if sales go up at the same rate, you’ve doubled your income too.”
My favorite saying to all my students is this: If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly to start with! It’s implementation over perfection!”
- Chris Knight, Ezine Articles Blog – “Set your goals higher than you think you can achieve and then don’t worry about the ‘how you’ll achieve it’… Whatever you think most about expands. If you’re committed, you’ll find a way to pull off the results you’re seeking.”
- Denny Hatch, DennyHatch.com – “If you do e-mails, remember 94% of e-mails are Spam. Your e-mail effort is one mouse-click away from oblivion. Make sure your FROM line is believable and spend a lot of time–hours and hours–on your subject line. Be sure to use the seven key copy drivers–the emotional hot buttons that make people act: Fear – Greed – Guilt – Anger – Exclusivity – Salvation – Flattery. If your copy is not dripping with one or more of these, said Seattle guru Bob Hacker, tear it up and start over.
Be sure to lace your copy with the 12 most powerful and evocative words in the English language: you – save – money – easy – love – results – health – easy – proven – safety – discovery – new. ‘Free is a magic word,’ said the late guru Dick Benson. However, use ‘FREE’ in a e-mail subject line, and the Spam filters will kill it.”
- Drew McClellan, Drew’s Marketing Minute – “Do Less. One of the most tempting aspects of marketing is the veritable smorgasbord of different marketing tactics that you can toss into a marketing plan. It’s almost overwhelming.
Many marketing professionals make the very understandable mistake of believing that more is better. But they’re wrong.
You will be vastly more successful if you do less, but do it better. Pick 3-4 marketing tactics that you think are really going to be valued by your audience and drive the behavior/action you’re looking for. Then, figure out how you can do them in an extraordinary way.
100% consistency. 100% relevancy. Do less. But do them better.”
- Jill Koenig, GoalGuru.com – “If you want to create massive changes in your life, you must arrange and design your life so that your Goals and Dreams are at the Forefront of your day, instead of them being an afterthought.”
- Jill Konrath, SellingToBigCompanies.com – “Do what you love. But that’s where many people struggle. They don’t know what that is. I always tell people to pay attention to what they’re interested in. If you’re online, what are you reading? If you buy books, what subjects are you exploring? If you volunteer for extra projects at work, what’s the common denominator? If you do way more on a work project than was expected/necessary, what pulled you so deep into the subject?
These are all indicators of our talents and interests. Follow them. That’s where you’ll find the greatest satisfaction & joy in life.”
- Jim Connolly, JimsMarketingBlog.com – “Learn how ‘The Law of Return’ works. Never try to take out from a situation, until you have put something in. Don’t expect the reward BEFORE the work. That abs machine won’t flatten your gut in 30 days – that diet won’t make you skinny in a week. You have to sow the seeds and tend the land before you can reap the harvest! Whenever you try to fool The Law of Return you fail.”
- Jim Connolly, JimsMarketingBlog.com – “You cannot promise the marketplace a high quality service and yet charge a bargain-basement fee! If you do, you will send people a mixed-message, and it will lose you business every time.
Everyone knows that quality never comes cheap – that if something looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true! Make your services as valuable to the marketplace as possible and then charge accordingly.”
- John Carlton, John-Carlton.com – “Find a source of info you can trust, and get busy with proactive movement. Few marketers succeed on their own — my own circle of friends, colleagues and co-marketers is vast, and includes everyone you’ve ever heard of. Even so, there are just a handful I consider “go-to guys,” who I call up first with a problem or question. It’s the concept of the “mastermind group” — don’t go it alone, but instead gather people around you who share your passions and ambitions.”
- John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing – “Become a journalist – no, I’m not really suggesting that you join the staff of some publication, but the acceptance of new media tools like blogs and podcasts has turned the marketing tables – so take advantage of the allure of a reporter and start a blog and podcast and request interviews with industry leaders, community leaders, authors and maybe even your biggest prospects. Instead of asking for a meeting to demonstrate your product, ask to feature your prospect in your next blog or podcast episode. You will automatically change your status in their eyes, enhance your role as an expert and create great content for your marketing materials.”
- Joy Gendusa, PostCardMania.com – “Keep learning and reaching for knowledge. The internet is constantly changing. Listen to others that have ‘been there done that,’ and make sure you make them clarify what the heck they’re saying! There is so much new terminology being created daily in regards to the internet, and it can be so daunting. Don’t think you sound stupid because you need to clarify data.”
- Matt Shobe, MattShobe.com – “Find and surround yourself with smart people you like and who complement your strengths, and good things will follow. I think this holds true whether you’re just starting out in an internship or summer job, an entrepreneur with a few partners, or a senior executive of a major corporation.”
- Michael Fleischner, MarketingScoop.com – “Marketing is everything and everything is marketing! The key to a successful marketing campaign, business, or even career, is knowing that you are always communicating. This is not to say that you have to be overly cautious, but rather think about the implication of your messaging.”
- Michel Fortin, MichelFortin.com – “Time and time again, I’ve told many aspiring copywriters and marketers that a USP is what distinguishes you from the pack. It increases perceived value, expertise, and credibility – without needing to state it outright.
Just by being 10% different, unique, original, or special is enough to make you stand out like a sore thumb in an overcrowded, hypercompetitive marketplace.”
- Robert Fitzpatrick, FalseProfits.com – “This research has shown that the MLM business model, as it is practiced by most companies, is a marketplace hoax. In those cases, the business is primarily a scheme to continuously enroll distributors and little product is ever retailed to consumers who are not also enrolled as distributors.
Financially, the odds for an individual to achieve financial success under those circumstances rival the odds of winning at the tables in Las Vegas.”
- Dr. Sabrina Schleicher, TapThePotential.com – “Lead with your strength. When it comes to marketing, choose one or two approaches that come naturally and easily to you. Don’t waste your time trying to force yourself to market in a way that feels forced. You’ll just procrastinate and become frustrated with yourself for not marketing yourself effectively. Focus on developing those approaches to marketing that you enjoy. Learn all you can about the ’secrets’ to using those approaches successfully. Be strategic in your marketing. It is much more effective to use one or two approaches with target markets, than to try multiple approaches.”
- Siamak Taghaddos, Grasshopper.com – “People don’t like to be sold. If they did, they would spend all their free time in car dealerships. Instead, people want to be informed, they want to be educated. You’ll find your best customers are those you educate about your product or service and who then decide to purchase it because it is a good fit for them.
Prospects who buy your product/service but are not educated about your offering will be disappointed. They will not be return customers. Worse, they will tell others how they got ’sold’ by you. In the Internet age, this can quickly be very destructive to your business.”
- Scott Shane, Author of Illusions of Entrepreneurship – “The data shows that most entrepreneurs compete on price, but doing this leads companies to perform worse. New companies are better off competing on service, quality or some other dimension.” (Source of above tips: SmallBizTrends.com)
- Tim Berry, Planning Startups Stories – “One of the most expensive myths in marketing is that lower price produces higher volume. That might be true for coal or gasoline, but not for most businesses. Lower price means, well, ask yourself: do you always eat at the lowest price restaurant? Buy the lowest price clothes? Do you drive the lowest priced car? Pricing is your best statement of value.”
- Tinu Abayomi-Paul, FreeTrafficTip.com – “Search engine traffic is fantastic when you can get it. But don’t rely on search engines alone for traffic to your site. If you added just one more traffic tactic that gets you as much traffic as you get from search engines, you’ve doubled your traffic. And if sales go up at the same rate, you’ve doubled your income too.”
There is competition in every industry today and small businesses are
fighting one another to keep from being eaten up by the giants.
Visibility is everything and never before has ‘out of sight, out of
mind’ been more applicable. Local search marketing is a digital
marketing strategy that helps improve the visibility of your business.
People, while doing online searches, may assume you don’t exist, because a lot of times they use different keywords to search for the same thing. It is rare that people look for information by directly typing the company name into the search engines; they usually do so by typing the location, or the service, or the feature.
Local search marketing helps people reach your business when they search for related terms, not just the name of your company. It involves having your company registered on various local search engines. However, just registering is not enough. All your details need to be filled in correctly, along with descriptions, keywords, links and maps. Many sites personally make a phone call to check the authenticity of your company before they register you. This phone call ensures that you are listed on their site and thus increases the visibility of your website.
For small businesses local search marketing plays an even more important role. Rarely are there budgets for large scale advertising, and yet it is essential to get the word out about your business. Most of your potential clients are looking for what you offer by searching online. Your company needs to organically be filtered into their searches whether they are searching for you by product or location. The world wide web has revolutionized the way business is conducted nowadays, and online visibility has become critical for the success of your business.
You will surprised by the amount of footfalls local search marketing can organically lead towards your site. A lot of small businesses are unaware of these tools and hence lose out on the many advantages of it. This kind of digital marketing is extremely essential for small businesses and cannot and should not be overlooked. Google is a very important aspect of local search marketing. There are many ways to help you turn up on the front page of Google search results. You need a very strong web presence to help you do this, not only on your own website but also on other search engines, on local search groups and on listings websites. The constancy and accuracy of your information helps your company legitimize itself as a reliable and recognized institution, irrespective of size.
Digital marketing strategies form a large part of marketing plans, especially for smaller businesses. No longer do people flip through yellow pages when they can find what they’re looking for with the simple click of a button. Local search marketing puts on you the map; literally and otherwise.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
People, while doing online searches, may assume you don’t exist, because a lot of times they use different keywords to search for the same thing. It is rare that people look for information by directly typing the company name into the search engines; they usually do so by typing the location, or the service, or the feature.
Local search marketing helps people reach your business when they search for related terms, not just the name of your company. It involves having your company registered on various local search engines. However, just registering is not enough. All your details need to be filled in correctly, along with descriptions, keywords, links and maps. Many sites personally make a phone call to check the authenticity of your company before they register you. This phone call ensures that you are listed on their site and thus increases the visibility of your website.
For small businesses local search marketing plays an even more important role. Rarely are there budgets for large scale advertising, and yet it is essential to get the word out about your business. Most of your potential clients are looking for what you offer by searching online. Your company needs to organically be filtered into their searches whether they are searching for you by product or location. The world wide web has revolutionized the way business is conducted nowadays, and online visibility has become critical for the success of your business.
You will surprised by the amount of footfalls local search marketing can organically lead towards your site. A lot of small businesses are unaware of these tools and hence lose out on the many advantages of it. This kind of digital marketing is extremely essential for small businesses and cannot and should not be overlooked. Google is a very important aspect of local search marketing. There are many ways to help you turn up on the front page of Google search results. You need a very strong web presence to help you do this, not only on your own website but also on other search engines, on local search groups and on listings websites. The constancy and accuracy of your information helps your company legitimize itself as a reliable and recognized institution, irrespective of size.
Digital marketing strategies form a large part of marketing plans, especially for smaller businesses. No longer do people flip through yellow pages when they can find what they’re looking for with the simple click of a button. Local search marketing puts on you the map; literally and otherwise.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
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