Archive for the ‘marketing’ Category
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24
Dec
2009
Drafting A Sales Letter For Web Design & SEO Customers
A lot has been written in professional Web design circles about acquiring clients via SEO. It is obvious to those in the Web design and search marketing profession that one of the best ways to acquire new clients is to take advantage of your own skills and increase traffic to your website. What is less abundant is how to reach those potential clients that don’t even know that they need you. One technique that I have recently employed is the sales letter (also known as the marketing letter) to attract potential clients for my Chattanooga Web design & SEO business.
After I qualified and put together my mailing list, I spent several hours pondering the letter and another couple of hours drafting the letter. This isn’t the first sales letter that I have written, but it has been a while. I have come to realize that there is an art to this and it does take a great amount of crafting to put something down that will be effective. After I finished my draft and sent the first batch of letters off in the mail – yep, the postal service – I thought that others could avail from my effort.
Let’s have a go.
The first thing that you should know is that the folks that you are sending this letter to don’t care to hear from you. Having said that, you have to make the most of your communication from the hook at the beginning to the call to action at the end. Here’s the simple structure I used:
1. The opening – Acknowledging the problem. This is the most important part of the letter. If you don’t get this right, the rest of your letter will be unread. So, your opening should be empathetic to the problem of your reader (a.k.a. potential customer). After all, your first sentence should be written to get the reader to read the next sentence.
2. Solve the problem. Once you have the reader hooked with your opening, you should offer them the solution to their problem with your services. Break the offerings down into a bulleted list for quick digesting.
3. Engender confidence. Now that you have explained how you can solve the reader’s problem, you should now convince them that you are the right person for the job. Tell them about your experience, accolades, or anything that will give them belief in you.
4. The close – Call to action. You have them were you want them, now get them to do something. Ask them to contact you. It’s that easy.
This basic prescription should have you own your way to acquiring new clients that didn’t even know they needed you. Here are a couple of hints to help you get your message across. You should be empathic and understanding of what the reader’s problem is throughout the communication. You should too much detail. If you write short paragraphs and bulleted lists, the chances of the reader making it to the “call to action” is vastly increased.
Of course, these tips work for more than just contingent Website design clients. Try it with whatever service you offer.
Shortcut to useful knowledge in the sphere of internet marketing – please go through this web page. The times have come when proper info is really within your reach, use this chance.
18
Dec
2009
When Marketing Always Go Manual
This article brought to you by the webmaster of Internet Marketing and Edgar Allan Poe.
There are many different ways which you can market your website and the majority of webmasters on the web today agree that building backlinks is still the best way to reach the top of Google and other major search engine sites. Building backlinks is an extremely tedious task and most will give up before they even begin seeing a payoff for their efforts. Others opt for the easy road which is the auto submitters,which of course leads their website being placed on very poor quality web presences which are link farms. Any website which does not have a review process and whos main priority is to increase backlink counts is considered a link farm. These are the type of presences which you should be avoiding when marketing and if they are giving you links for free and by the thousands then I highly recommend not using them.
If you would like to have a successful website then taking the time to submit your presence to each and every directory, article directory, and blog is crucial. The only exception I have seen to this rule has been the free traffic system which I have used and seen no adverse affect. On the other hand when I have used link farms I saw no positive affect on my website and luckily since Google only frowns on the links pointing out from a site I saw no negative affect. Take your time when marketing and if you are willing to put in the hours and submit to high quality websites then you will receive high quality traffic and start seeing a rise within the SERPs.
So automatic marketing tools are out (except for the free traffic system) what else is left? There are many diffrent places which you can gain both high quality links and traffic. First go to the webmaster forum v7n and Digital Point. These forums allow you to place a link in your signiture and will help you get traffic and links. When on the forum ask the webmasters in the community for a list of directories which they will give freely then start spreading your presence throughout social networking and bookmarking sites. It is also good to write articles and submit them to high quality article directories. My favorite markeitng is video markeitng (since I don’t have to type) and one nice thing about you tube is they are in the top hundred most visted websites in the world so having a few hundred videos will bring you an audience quite large. If you are a big talker then starting a pod cast and submiting it to i tunes is a good way to go. Remember though when internet marketing it will take 6 months of work before you begin seeing a pay off for your work so don’t give up just because you are not seeing an instant pay off for your marketing. Also you should learn the basics of SEO which you can do by searching Google for a free SEO tutorial and learn what black hat seo is so you can avoid it.
Shortcut to important information in the sphere of internet marketing – read the publication. The times have come when concise information is really at your fingertips, use this opportunity.
16
Nov
2009
4 Must Use Secrets To Dominate The Market
Every business man and woman has a company in mind that symbolizes successful business to them. For me, it’s Microsoft and Bill Gates. I know that not everyone likes Microsoft, but hey… I remember the virtual Stone Age that ruled in the world before Windows!
Microsoft has literally impacted the entire world’s lifestyles and economies. That spells S-U-C-C-E-S-S to me. Maybe that’s why I was so shocked to find out that this “Super Company” was losing money on one of its newest and high-demand products.
The very idea had me scratching my head. Microsoft and profit losses go together about like boxing gloves and fine china. When I think of the computer giant, I automatically associate it with big bucks and success. It caught me by surprise to find out that the Xbox 360 has cost Microsoft millions of dollars!
Why would this globally recognized business be willing to lose millions of dollars on just one product? It’s a simple idea known as market dominance, and they’re interested in being king in a brand new market of video game consoles.
Market dominance works like a word association game. For example, I say department store. What pops into your mind? There’s a pretty good chance it was Wal Mart. If I say computer, you’re likely to think Microsoft – unless you’re a hard-core Macintosh or Linux fan.
The goal to market dominance is to have your business name pop into the minds of your potential customers in direct association with the product or service that you offer. Now, don’t sweat it. You don’t have to sink millions of dollars into a profit losing product to do it.
It really can be as simples as these four easy steps…
1. NEVER allow a customer to leave without getting contact information.
Capturing contact information is crucial whether your business is online or offline. It can be as simples as a questionnaire on your counter or a pop-up box on your web page. Do whatever it takes to get the information you need to stay in contact with them.
2. Use Direct Mail
I’d suggest using flyers and post cards about 18 times each year to keep your potential customers linked. After a while, they’ll become familiar with your business and know your logo and message by heart. After all, the kids don’t even write home from college that often!
3. Use the Telephone
As the popularity of telemarketers hits an all-time low, businesses tend to shy away from using it. Don’t forget that it is still a valuable tool that can keep you hooked up with potential consumers.
4. Email
If you haven’t invested in an email campaign this would be a good time to start. Email is a great way to effectively build a solid bond with your audience. Ezines, or online newsletters, are perfect for setting yourself up as the expert in the field. If you feed your consumers a weekly tidbit of valuable information, they’ll soon come expect excellence in association with your business.
Gaining market dominance can be as simple as keeping in constant touch in a variety of ways with potential consumers, but one of the most profitable investments you’ll ever make.
More On: Safelists
More On: Email Marketing Lists
More On: Video Screen Capture
30
Oct
2009
Website Marketing: What You Need To Know Prior To Beginning (Part 4)
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Part 4 of 4. As such, your overall website marketing strategy looks like this. First, build a website of several pages, linking them together. Next, choose a domain name and a web host. Finally, place the website on the host and link it with the domain name. When all these steps are performed, a user can type your business’s memorable domain name into their address bar and learn all about your offerings.
When a customer does this, they view your site’s pages, images and other multimedia content in their browsers. This content, stored on the web hosting company’s computers, is delivered up via the web servers which they run and maintain on your behalf.
More often than not, the web browser or ?user agent? is one of the commonly available Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari or Opera. The user navigates between pages and content on your and other sites by clicking on hyperlinks. If the link includes the domain, users can ?surf the web? by connecting to sites and resources hosted worldwide.
With such a vast wealth of information from which to choose, finding a specific site can be a challenge. You can of course type a domain name into the address bar, but this helps little if you aren’t sure which domain to type. You may also wish to find websites on a specific topic rather than navigating to them individually by name.
It was this problem which search engines were created to address. Many such engines exist, of which Google, Yahoo! And Bing (formerly MSN Live) are the most influential. Because many users turn to these three engines for their online search needs, many webmasters make them key players in their website marketing strategies. Inclusion in all of these engines generates a great deal of free traffic which, in turn, translates into profit.
Additionally, consider using email to market your Website and business. Email is “a store and forward method of composing, sending, storing, and receiving messages over the internet. Email predates the Internet [and was a crucial technology in its creation.
Email was quickly extended and became a highly useful tool for the online marketers because it costs nothing to send. Plus, an auto-responder system only costs a few bucks a month and makes it’s very easy to build a list of current or potential clients. When you have a list like this, you can then email them automatically with special offers, send them a newsletter and keep you at the top of their mind.
And keeping you at the top of their mind is important to your “viral” success. Take our business, for example, we have a free weekly newsletter that we send out (sign up yourself) to current and potential clients. This gains the trust of our readers such that when people ask them for a Website design or SEM company, they frequently recommend us. To be sure, about 40% of our traffic comes from the three major search engines but the other 60% comes from thousands of other sites, from our newsletter or from our newsletter being forwarded to others. Be sure to check out Parts 1-3.
Since you read all the way through this page and are reading this right now, we understand you want the top Search Engine Marketing… That’s Ace SEO & Web Design! for Web Search Engines 6092VZBC
22
Oct
2009
Becoming A Partner With YouTube.
YouTube is an emerging market, a place for a newer kind of media driven on democratic popularity. As the viewership of a video increases, the money generation for the host increases.
The question is, how to get in on this market?
Just start working on what appeals. What do people want to see? How can you contribute?
Try to monopolize on a market. See what sells and what it is that people watch often. There is a variety of content available on YouTube. Some is just for giggling and laughing, merely for fun. Aome can be historic in nature or about current affairs, carrying excerpts of famous speeches or rare videos. It is just about getting access to the right videos and the right content. However, we must ensure that the material is not illegal and that it does not violate copyrights. Otherwise, YouTube will refuse to place its advertisements next to yours. Think of innovative ideas such as the Obama girl. Consider an idea that creates its own market. There are several online TV entertainment shows that have created their own market through innovative ideas. Additionally, you can share your own material about how you perceive current affairs and perhaps drawn on conspiracy theories a little. Give people what they want to hear and spice it up a bit, and you have got a video that will attract a crowd. It is not a responsible media, but it is one driven by opinion.
Keep the creativity flowing. Put more videos on your website. See and analyze which videos sell online and put them on your page accordingly. Try to make this relationship long term and get as many people as possible to subscribe to your pages. Also, never let your page become redundant. Invest for future entertainment as well. Make this your business. There are many people who have started earning their money through this avenue. It’s now your turn. Finally, don’t let your ideas be nipped in the bud. Always try to materialize them. Video making is a small investment without much risk. So experiment with your ideas and become a partner with YouTube.
Youtube is a great way to make money.
The Money making idea – like starting a restaurant with no money and other ideas for making money.
19
Oct
2009
Logoed Notebooks And Note Pads To Promote Your Business
Give your marketing campaign a big boost with high quality wholesale logo notebooks and post-its. These are very practical advertising specialty products.
Notebooks and sticky cubed pad paper are perfect handouts to help staff workers, buyers and business executives in their organization needs. Not only are you helping your staff workers be productive, you are also showing them that you acknowledge all their contributions to the company.
Post-it notes are helpful for people who constantly need to be reminded of their prior commitments, obligations and work schedules. As for notebooks, their spacious flat covers allow you to have a big imprinted logo that is more apparent your brand name, company logo and trademark are, the easier it will be for your customers to be aware of your company and the products and services you offer.
On the other hand, an important benefit firms can not ignore from the distribution of imprinted note pads, sticky notes and cubed paper is having their brand name, company logo, or phrase displayed to the user each time they write something down.
These items are easily transportable and can be brought anywhere. Your brand name, contact information and trademark printed on personalized notebooks and sticky notes will be exposed to everybody everywhere they are taken. Imagine your corporate logo being seen by thousands of people in schools, libraries, on office desktops, in trade shows and nearly everywhere. Not to mention, notebooks and paper are regularly used and reused. This gives you utmost brand and logo exposure.
As always you can use these items to say thank you to people attending a promotional event like a trade show. Not only does the attendee leave with great business gifts, they will give your brand name and corporation a good first impression on those prospective buyers.
No matter the reason behind the circulation of customized notebooks paired with sticky note pads nor the recipient, they always express gratitude and appreciation while leaving a lasting positive impact about your business to the receiver that will give you the edge over other businesses.
Vladimir Escueta is a tradeshow giveaways professional on Cheap Promotional Notebooks and blank trade show advertising specialties.
13
Oct
2009
Marketing Your Products Through Paper Bags
Durable paper bags bearing the company’s brand name can grab attention of potential customers. They are great for advertising, and placing a bulk order for these bags slashes the manufacturing cost drastically, which makes this process economical too.
Consumers have a natural inclination towards noticing and grasping text and pictures on paper bags when they are out shopping. Businesses can cash in on this natural behaviour of customers and dole out paper bags with the business logo stamped on them.
There are numerous other factors behind paper bag printing being a successful business venture. These bags can be carried anywhere easily and offer unmatched convenience. The mobility of paper bags means a greater reach for your logo and brand as well, ensuring much wider visibility.
These bags are fit for reuse for several times due to their toughness and their utility, and for as long as people keep using them, your brand gets recognition. Companies can display their support for environmentalists by getting these bags manufactured from recycled paper, and this ethical approach towards the environment will generate a positive image of the company in the minds of consumers.
Paper bags can be given away at gatherings like seminars and conferences attended by your potential clients or partners, to help carry any documents or brochures back home. The bag will help reinforce the name of the company in the mind of the person who owns it and even others who get to see it.
However, a business should never compromise on the quality of these bags, as a poorly made bag would damage the business’ reputation, which is opposite of what the initiative is supposed to achieve. There are several paper bag printing organizations in the market, which can manufacture top quality bags, managing all aspects, and they are not very expensive either.
About the Author:
Discover more about Brochure Printing and Paper Bag Printing services from a trusted printing company in Singapore.
13
Oct
2009
Use Lanyards To Publicise Your Company At Corporate Events
Companies often end up allocating a lot of money on their promotion strategy. At several events, they use their merchandise to develop a feeling of belongingness for all the participants. The form of merchandise may change but the objective remains the same – they must be pleasant to look at and create a strong recall of the company. One such merchandising item is lanyards.
T-shirts have for long been a preferred option at corporate events as they are known to be very effective in promoting the company. But lanyards are not to be ignored and they are already catching up with t-shirts. They are widely used throughout the world, as people often instinctively end up reading the business’ tagline and name printed on them.
If used properly, lanyards prove to be very effective in corporate events such as industry fairs and conventions. They can be circulated among the attendees who are participating in the event. Along with the organization logo, you can also have the name of the event printed on it so that it can even play the role of souvenir for the participants.
Lanyards, since they are lesser expensive than printed t-shirts, can be a much more economical marketing tool. They develop goodwill among potential customers and it is a well known fact that they have a very good recall value.
Lanyards are not just cheap and effective in promoting a company’s brand; in fact, there are several other reasons why you should be using them. You can use lively colours on them without irking people’s eyes, which allows them a high visibility and draws attention. They can be used for attachments like ID card holders, which means that their utility value is high. Moreover, prospective clients can take them home for personal use, and this will develop a constant recall of your company in their minds.
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13
Oct
2009
Key Benefits Of Printing Flyers
As if paucity of funds were not enough, smaller organizations now have to do an even tougher tightrope walk due to the onset of global recession. With a scarcity of funds and resources, the small organizations should invest carefully so that maximum benefit is generated from their initiatives. Adopting promotional options that are within the means and yet competitive is a good solution for such organizations, and herein lies the importance of flyer printing.
You would spend your nights tossing in your bed if you have to pump in your hard-earned money on costly promotional plans, when all you want to advertise is a small organization like a restaurant or a garment store. Big and expensive marketing campaigns are generally not suitable for smaller setups.
Flyer printing costs less than other advertising methods, and if done correctly, it can significantly enhance the reputation and visibility of your organization. It is one of the most eye-catching ways of promotion, and of generating a spontaneous recall in the consumer’s mind.
Several factors should be taken into consideration before deciding to go for flyer printing. Extremely thin paper or one that is too thick should not be used. The final design of the flyer and its contents, must be carefully studied to avoid even the slightest error. An inaccurately printed flyer is embarrassing for your company and generates a bad impression about your business. Colours and tones should be balanced in a flyer and should neither be too pale nor too dazzling. The graphics printed on the flyer should be picked with care and should have enough resolution to come out well in the print.
It is important for local establishments to try out flyer printing and see the results speak for themselves. It is a effective marketing strategy. It will save you money and effort, which you can channelize in running your organization more effectively.
About the Author:
Find out more about Name Card Printing and discover unique designs and available Printing Services at 2BPrinting Singapore.
13
Oct
2009
Packaging Design – Let The Professionals Create It For You
The final opportunity of influencing a consumer and attracting him to your product, which is lying with competing products, is through the packaging. It makes your product stand out among other products and popularizes your brand. It is because of these reasons that packaging design is crucial. It is the last piece in the marketing jigsaw, and many studies have yielded that careful changes in packaging design can significantly boost consumers’ response.
Therefore, it is vital to have a professional take care of your product’s packaging design. A person with good experience in this field understands what goes well with a particular product and what the customers are looking for – in terms of aspects like graphic design, shape, material etc.
A specialist designer has knowledge of both graphic design and packaging design as he possibly would have received specific training in it. They can tell you how to create attractive packaging for your products, which simultaneously will be functionally superior as well. This will lead to greater customer satisfaction once they have purchased the products and have started using them.
Customers will respond more positively to the product if the graphic designs on the packaging are eye-catching and have been used with great consideration, keeping in mind the type of the product. A well chosen graphic design also ensures that the consumer is conscious of your brand name while purchasing and while using the product, which is important for creating a favourable brand image. A pro packaging designer understands these finer details, and by making skillful use of graphic design, he will see that your product surpasses the competition.
Thus, you must avail the services of a pro designer in order to give your product an edge and enable repeat purchases. Remember that a failure to make a good impression with packaging may cost you dear.
About the Author:
Discover how creative Brochure designs can accelerate your business growth using qualified Graphic Design professionals.