Monday 29 March 2010
Saturday 27 March 2010
How Article Marketing Can Help Even in a Recession
It looks like it's time to forget about the career you planned on and start seriously thinking about the next stage in your professional life-namely, the recession-proof job that's going to put supper on the table for the next decade or so. Times are changing. If you had dreams about becoming an oilman, a real estate agent or running a lemon car dealership, then you're going to have to put those plans on the back burner, that is, if you believe all that talk of recession by the government. (Trust me, it's all mostly true)
It's important to keep a balanced perspective of the recession and a realistic outlook on your own budget and lifestyle. Despite whatever doomsday philosophy you have heard out there, the end isn't nigh. America is not going to turn into pre-Nazi Germany. America is not going to go bankrupt. We're not going to be sold back to the U.K. nor is a civil war going to break out any time soon. The entire world is not going to collapse in on itself, and we are not going to revert back to mob rule.
Oh yes, things are going to get tough, but if you are frugal with your money and approach your long-term future with caution, you can survive this crisis. One nice thing you can say about the recession is that it is teaching American consumers the value of good financial strategy. It is making people think twice about impulsive buying. The recession is helping reckless people to treat life a little more respectfully and focus just a little bit on tomorrow, rather than splurge it all for one day.
You might have read a little bit about "recession-proof businesses" in recent months. The more you analyze these lists such as the "10 Recession Proof Businesses" at HowStuffWorks.com, the more you start to sense a pattern.
The best recession-proof businesses included:
* Candy
* Cosmetic
* Contraceptives
* Luxury Retail
* Repossessions
* Government Jobs
* Education
* Vices
* Discount Retail
* Information Technology
* Healthcare
* Non-cyclical Businesses
Why were these businesses elevated above powerhouses like the real estate industry and the automotive industry? Because these businesses, not so coincidentally, were far closer to the mindset of the majority population. When there's a recession the luxury businesses are the first ones to suffer. The industries that sell risky investments suffer. Meanwhile, people still follow their hearts and spend money on what really matters most.
how then, you can't really make the argument that people are so afraid of the recession that they're not blowing money on instant gratification. They do want their candy, they want their vice and they want their horror movies on Saturday night. They are definitely spending their hard-earned money, and they don't care about the consequences if this "vice" (literal or symbolic) can give them a few moments of happiness, enough to forget about the worries of next year.
What seems to be happening is that people are only spending recession money on what they perceive as their absolute needs. Whatever they can rationalize as a "want" is being postponed or dismissed altogether. Of course, the things they are not totally sold on are quickly seen as "wasteful expenses." As a retailer, you should take this to mean that your audience is not going to buy your product out of boredom, out of sheer novelty, or even out of curiosity. (Maybe in the 80s and 90s, but not today)
Now more than ever, it is vitally important to the success of your business that you create a "need" in your audience to buy your products and services. You probably already know how to tap into this subconscious yearning, so we won't bore you with the details. However, we are going to talk about one marketing avenue that can benefit your business and even help to "recession-proof" your business.
Article marketing! Yes, yes, we know. We SEO firms tend to think of article marketing as the next miracle cure for just about everything. I admit that there's no evidence to suggest that article marketing can add 10 years to your life, but then again, there's no evidence against that claim either.
Seriously, let's consider eight good reasons why investing in Search Engine Optimization (articles optimized for search engines) and article marketing (directory submissions) can help your business in a recession. These eight reasons, as you will see, actually correspond to some of the points made by Harvard Business School professor John Quelch in his recent article entitled "Marketing Your Way Through a Recession."
In a time of financial recession you really need to focus on learning your customer's needs. Article marketing and SEO are considered one some the best ways to get inside the head of your prospects. After all, you are tapping into their ego and id (forgive my Freudian reference) by taking the exact keywords they are searching for and using them in your sales copy. You are also tracking their every move via web analytics. You can see where they lose interest, what pages bring them to your site, and what particular articles captivate their attention. You can even collect demographical information regarding their web browsers, their referral pages, or their country/state of origin. Stopping short of taking an in-person survey, SEO is one of the best ways to "learn" your customer.
2. Focus on family values.
John Quelch wrote about the importance of returning to family values in times of financial stress. While this point didn't exactly correspond to an SEO strategy, it does make you think of social media marketing which is quickly become the next evolution in our business. Quelch said "When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village." That certainly explains our desire to hang around popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, doesn't it? Hey, making more friends and friendly acquaintances online never hurts.
3. Maintain marketing spending.
Quelch next refers to maintaining your marketing campaign. This makes sense to anyone who is a businessperson because you can't expect to profit if you're not putting any "noise" out there on the market. The great thing about Search Engine Optimization and article marketing is that these venues remain two of the cheapest ways to advertise your business, and yet the best ways to get maximum mileage out of your investment. SEO articles can build traffic indefinitely and continue to bring in new customers while improving search engine rankings (after all, the more relevant content you have, the better). Directory articles also influence ranking, especially when regularly submitted over a period of time.
4. Adjust product portfolios.
Quelch stated that "tough times favor multi-purpose goods over specialized products." He also foresees a time when "Gimmicks are out; reliability, durability, safety and performance are in." Now more than ever consumers are looking for good value in every single purchase. I personally like to think of the SEO articles we do as a polished presentation and quality product that has been sold to a client. This is a product I am confident will provide high Return On Investment, not only because of the informational value presented, but also because of the organic optimization process that ensures higher and longer-lasting top 10 rankings. Honestly, you have to do good work to stay in business these days!
5. Support distributors.
There is no distribution channel when it comes to article marketing, but I tend to think of an SEO firm as the distributor and the clients we work with as the manufacturer and supplier. Clients are not buying their base needs from the SEO firm. They are buying our services so they can better sell their products to the public. This is why client satisfaction is paramount in SEO work. In this business, you are not just a freelance writer looking for a check or a webmaster working by project. Your goal is to form a long-term relationship with every client. We help each other out and we combine forces to create that all-important need in the public. That's what makes the money go around and that's what will help end this recession someday. One of the best things about working with an SEO firm is that you are not just paying for services rendered but are actually working with a virtual business partner in this particular campaign-someone who's just as vested in your success as you are.
6. Adjust pricing tactics.
Quelch's next point was about pricing. Right now is really the best time to get involved with an SEO firm, because during recession, return on investment is crucial. While quality SEO firms are not cheap, they do offer discount rates for bulk orders. More importantly, article marketing doesn't charge you by the ad or by the click. You are only paying for the content to be written and for the article submission. Search Engine Optimization (both web copy and article submission) is largely seen as the less expensive alternative to Pay-Per-Click or banner advertising, since your articles run forever at the small price of maintaining a website. In a recession, every saved dollar counts. That's another plus worth mentioning: when you work with an article marketing firm you are actually conversing with a human being and you can work pricing arrangements out. It's much harder to negotiate a friendly contract with Google Ad Words, if you know what I mean.
7. Stress market share.
Quelch's next point was on market share. The statement he made was, "Knowing your cost structure can ensure that any cuts or consolidation initiatives will save the most money with minimum customer impact." Cost structure is definitely an important factor but that's more related to the managerial side of running a business. What stuck out in my mind is the whole point about the "battle for a market share." It made me think of how much opportunity some small "niche" companies have right now, considering the fact that reaching just a portion of "the big market" can still make them big profits. (And all for a minimal investment) Article marketing and SEO are very effective for niche businesses because the whole focus of small businesses is on target marketing. I like this statement by the SBA.
"It's important to remember that the focus of marketing is people. If you're concentrating your efforts on your product or profit only, you'll miss the mark. The term target market is used because that market - that group of people is the bull's eye at which you aim all your marketing efforts."
8. Emphasize core values.
Quelch ended on a positive note saying that the best companies stress loyalty amongst their workers and that "Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them." That's an interesting fact to ponder on. How do you, the self-starter, the entrepreneur who is struggling financially maintain loyalty and emphasize core values when you don't really know what the future holds? Simple solution-you retain valuable professional relationships but you take advantage of modern cost-saving technology. Investing in article marketing and telecommuting technology saves you from having to hire or fire an entire sales staff.
You don't have to hire new workers if you have an SEO firm working for you on a project-to-project basis or on a long-term basis (which involves constantly feeding search engines with even article submissions, the most effective way to maintain a top 10 ranking). You don't even have to pay for a temporary staff or an outsourcing firm, because you are quite literally able to manage your company through email, a web browser and a cell phone.
The advantages of choosing article marketing over hiring a sales staff are numerous. You save on salary, on multiple types of insurance policies, on office supplies, and on day-to-day operating expenses. This is one of the major reasons why companies are outsourcing work-to avoid the physical costs involved of running an office. With article marketing, you can even one-up the idea of outsourcing work to a call center or accounting service. You are not paying an outsourcing firm to handle your work load. Rather, you are paying for web content that runs forever and handling the work yourself. Just think about it like this: you value professional contacts but save on the expenses involved in running a traditional company. Now that's what we call adapting to the market!
Article marketing and Search Engine Optimization are recession-proof venues of marketing that cannot be ignored. You cannot afford to be ignorant about today's massive online market. These are two solid and cost-effective ways to advertise, brand your company name, test and experiment with new markets, and most importantly, to motivate your customer base to buy. Remember that there is a worldwide market out there ripe for the picking. The U.S. may be in a recession, but that doesn't necessarily mean the rest of the world is also flailing. You have the ability to work in local markets or to reach out to foreign markets if your business calls for it. Consider it a form of "offshore marketing"; protecting your company from whatever happens with the U.S. economy. There are no limitations on what you could do with article marketing, and that is another reason why this technology can rightfully be called recession-proof.
In closing, just think for a moment if the recession happened but you didn't have all the power of the Internet and SEO technology at your disposal. Now that would be the time to panic!
Words You Want is your one stop resource for all of your writing needs. Words You Want offers a variety of services including SEO packages, article directory submission, SEO article writing, ghostwriting, eBook writing, travel writing, equine writing and more.
It's important to keep a balanced perspective of the recession and a realistic outlook on your own budget and lifestyle. Despite whatever doomsday philosophy you have heard out there, the end isn't nigh. America is not going to turn into pre-Nazi Germany. America is not going to go bankrupt. We're not going to be sold back to the U.K. nor is a civil war going to break out any time soon. The entire world is not going to collapse in on itself, and we are not going to revert back to mob rule.
Oh yes, things are going to get tough, but if you are frugal with your money and approach your long-term future with caution, you can survive this crisis. One nice thing you can say about the recession is that it is teaching American consumers the value of good financial strategy. It is making people think twice about impulsive buying. The recession is helping reckless people to treat life a little more respectfully and focus just a little bit on tomorrow, rather than splurge it all for one day.
You might have read a little bit about "recession-proof businesses" in recent months. The more you analyze these lists such as the "10 Recession Proof Businesses" at HowStuffWorks.com, the more you start to sense a pattern.
The best recession-proof businesses included:
* Candy
* Cosmetic
* Contraceptives
* Luxury Retail
* Repossessions
* Government Jobs
* Education
* Vices
* Discount Retail
* Information Technology
* Healthcare
* Non-cyclical Businesses
Why were these businesses elevated above powerhouses like the real estate industry and the automotive industry? Because these businesses, not so coincidentally, were far closer to the mindset of the majority population. When there's a recession the luxury businesses are the first ones to suffer. The industries that sell risky investments suffer. Meanwhile, people still follow their hearts and spend money on what really matters most.
how then, you can't really make the argument that people are so afraid of the recession that they're not blowing money on instant gratification. They do want their candy, they want their vice and they want their horror movies on Saturday night. They are definitely spending their hard-earned money, and they don't care about the consequences if this "vice" (literal or symbolic) can give them a few moments of happiness, enough to forget about the worries of next year.
What seems to be happening is that people are only spending recession money on what they perceive as their absolute needs. Whatever they can rationalize as a "want" is being postponed or dismissed altogether. Of course, the things they are not totally sold on are quickly seen as "wasteful expenses." As a retailer, you should take this to mean that your audience is not going to buy your product out of boredom, out of sheer novelty, or even out of curiosity. (Maybe in the 80s and 90s, but not today)
Now more than ever, it is vitally important to the success of your business that you create a "need" in your audience to buy your products and services. You probably already know how to tap into this subconscious yearning, so we won't bore you with the details. However, we are going to talk about one marketing avenue that can benefit your business and even help to "recession-proof" your business.
Article marketing! Yes, yes, we know. We SEO firms tend to think of article marketing as the next miracle cure for just about everything. I admit that there's no evidence to suggest that article marketing can add 10 years to your life, but then again, there's no evidence against that claim either.
Seriously, let's consider eight good reasons why investing in Search Engine Optimization (articles optimized for search engines) and article marketing (directory submissions) can help your business in a recession. These eight reasons, as you will see, actually correspond to some of the points made by Harvard Business School professor John Quelch in his recent article entitled "Marketing Your Way Through a Recession."
In a time of financial recession you really need to focus on learning your customer's needs. Article marketing and SEO are considered one some the best ways to get inside the head of your prospects. After all, you are tapping into their ego and id (forgive my Freudian reference) by taking the exact keywords they are searching for and using them in your sales copy. You are also tracking their every move via web analytics. You can see where they lose interest, what pages bring them to your site, and what particular articles captivate their attention. You can even collect demographical information regarding their web browsers, their referral pages, or their country/state of origin. Stopping short of taking an in-person survey, SEO is one of the best ways to "learn" your customer.
2. Focus on family values.
John Quelch wrote about the importance of returning to family values in times of financial stress. While this point didn't exactly correspond to an SEO strategy, it does make you think of social media marketing which is quickly become the next evolution in our business. Quelch said "When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village." That certainly explains our desire to hang around popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, doesn't it? Hey, making more friends and friendly acquaintances online never hurts.
3. Maintain marketing spending.
Quelch next refers to maintaining your marketing campaign. This makes sense to anyone who is a businessperson because you can't expect to profit if you're not putting any "noise" out there on the market. The great thing about Search Engine Optimization and article marketing is that these venues remain two of the cheapest ways to advertise your business, and yet the best ways to get maximum mileage out of your investment. SEO articles can build traffic indefinitely and continue to bring in new customers while improving search engine rankings (after all, the more relevant content you have, the better). Directory articles also influence ranking, especially when regularly submitted over a period of time.
4. Adjust product portfolios.
Quelch stated that "tough times favor multi-purpose goods over specialized products." He also foresees a time when "Gimmicks are out; reliability, durability, safety and performance are in." Now more than ever consumers are looking for good value in every single purchase. I personally like to think of the SEO articles we do as a polished presentation and quality product that has been sold to a client. This is a product I am confident will provide high Return On Investment, not only because of the informational value presented, but also because of the organic optimization process that ensures higher and longer-lasting top 10 rankings. Honestly, you have to do good work to stay in business these days!
5. Support distributors.
There is no distribution channel when it comes to article marketing, but I tend to think of an SEO firm as the distributor and the clients we work with as the manufacturer and supplier. Clients are not buying their base needs from the SEO firm. They are buying our services so they can better sell their products to the public. This is why client satisfaction is paramount in SEO work. In this business, you are not just a freelance writer looking for a check or a webmaster working by project. Your goal is to form a long-term relationship with every client. We help each other out and we combine forces to create that all-important need in the public. That's what makes the money go around and that's what will help end this recession someday. One of the best things about working with an SEO firm is that you are not just paying for services rendered but are actually working with a virtual business partner in this particular campaign-someone who's just as vested in your success as you are.
6. Adjust pricing tactics.
Quelch's next point was about pricing. Right now is really the best time to get involved with an SEO firm, because during recession, return on investment is crucial. While quality SEO firms are not cheap, they do offer discount rates for bulk orders. More importantly, article marketing doesn't charge you by the ad or by the click. You are only paying for the content to be written and for the article submission. Search Engine Optimization (both web copy and article submission) is largely seen as the less expensive alternative to Pay-Per-Click or banner advertising, since your articles run forever at the small price of maintaining a website. In a recession, every saved dollar counts. That's another plus worth mentioning: when you work with an article marketing firm you are actually conversing with a human being and you can work pricing arrangements out. It's much harder to negotiate a friendly contract with Google Ad Words, if you know what I mean.
7. Stress market share.
Quelch's next point was on market share. The statement he made was, "Knowing your cost structure can ensure that any cuts or consolidation initiatives will save the most money with minimum customer impact." Cost structure is definitely an important factor but that's more related to the managerial side of running a business. What stuck out in my mind is the whole point about the "battle for a market share." It made me think of how much opportunity some small "niche" companies have right now, considering the fact that reaching just a portion of "the big market" can still make them big profits. (And all for a minimal investment) Article marketing and SEO are very effective for niche businesses because the whole focus of small businesses is on target marketing. I like this statement by the SBA.
"It's important to remember that the focus of marketing is people. If you're concentrating your efforts on your product or profit only, you'll miss the mark. The term target market is used because that market - that group of people is the bull's eye at which you aim all your marketing efforts."
8. Emphasize core values.
Quelch ended on a positive note saying that the best companies stress loyalty amongst their workers and that "Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them." That's an interesting fact to ponder on. How do you, the self-starter, the entrepreneur who is struggling financially maintain loyalty and emphasize core values when you don't really know what the future holds? Simple solution-you retain valuable professional relationships but you take advantage of modern cost-saving technology. Investing in article marketing and telecommuting technology saves you from having to hire or fire an entire sales staff.
You don't have to hire new workers if you have an SEO firm working for you on a project-to-project basis or on a long-term basis (which involves constantly feeding search engines with even article submissions, the most effective way to maintain a top 10 ranking). You don't even have to pay for a temporary staff or an outsourcing firm, because you are quite literally able to manage your company through email, a web browser and a cell phone.
The advantages of choosing article marketing over hiring a sales staff are numerous. You save on salary, on multiple types of insurance policies, on office supplies, and on day-to-day operating expenses. This is one of the major reasons why companies are outsourcing work-to avoid the physical costs involved of running an office. With article marketing, you can even one-up the idea of outsourcing work to a call center or accounting service. You are not paying an outsourcing firm to handle your work load. Rather, you are paying for web content that runs forever and handling the work yourself. Just think about it like this: you value professional contacts but save on the expenses involved in running a traditional company. Now that's what we call adapting to the market!
Article marketing and Search Engine Optimization are recession-proof venues of marketing that cannot be ignored. You cannot afford to be ignorant about today's massive online market. These are two solid and cost-effective ways to advertise, brand your company name, test and experiment with new markets, and most importantly, to motivate your customer base to buy. Remember that there is a worldwide market out there ripe for the picking. The U.S. may be in a recession, but that doesn't necessarily mean the rest of the world is also flailing. You have the ability to work in local markets or to reach out to foreign markets if your business calls for it. Consider it a form of "offshore marketing"; protecting your company from whatever happens with the U.S. economy. There are no limitations on what you could do with article marketing, and that is another reason why this technology can rightfully be called recession-proof.
In closing, just think for a moment if the recession happened but you didn't have all the power of the Internet and SEO technology at your disposal. Now that would be the time to panic!
Words You Want is your one stop resource for all of your writing needs. Words You Want offers a variety of services including SEO packages, article directory submission, SEO article writing, ghostwriting, eBook writing, travel writing, equine writing and more.
How to Decide What Product Or Service to Offer in Your Next Social Media Online Marketing Campaign
What to consider when Promoting a product or service using Social Media Online Marketing Campaign
Personally, I have to have a good fit with my online marketing plan, as I am not just in it for the money. You have so many options for your online marketing campaign; I find it a tough making decisions. I say carefully analyze the stats provided the certain internet marketing strategies you have outlined for your business, then follow your gut.
Here are some online marketing tips...How you develop relationships and how you play social politics lays the foundation for your marketing branding in online communities. In Your campaign strategy you must provide value to people's lives.
It took me 8 months to get a good grip on the massive complexity of online marketing education, SEO- SEM strategies, site structure, various online marketing tools, social protocol- SEO2.0 and marketing branding. All the while I was applying these theories to my target market and intended service I was planning to promote to create an effective online advertising and marketing campaign.
Notice I did not mention programming, html, web design, IT, fulfillment /e commerce... If I did not have my partner Glenna Branham to do the excellent job she does covering those areas, I would be burnt toast.
Well sometimes the rush of it all.... feels like the possible rush one would feel having their skin seared from a branding iron...literally... yikes.
Seriously, Daily I asked myself...is this what branding marketing and online advertising is all about. Do I have what it takes to survive in such a stressed, high paced and demanding environment?
Choosing a niche is what you do in the first 3 days the thirty day challenge. After completing my online marketing search with my new Market Samurai tool, the results made me feel a bit defeated. Then doubt of success began to creep in..... again.
So what made me feel defeated with Market Samurai's results?
The results said do not waste your time." However, prior to my experience with Market Samurai, my online marketing research results provided by another search strategy and set of tools said "go for it"
Hence my confusion...
One of the many things I do love about the thirty day challenge, aside from its name, is that it encourages consistency. It so far is the most brilliantly delivered online marketing programs I have ever received, for free. These guys are amazing. Their accent rocks...which I find an additional treat... You have got to check them out.
Back to my dilemma...
So I decided to ignore my findings with Market Samurai and continue on with my original online campaign strategy
Am I wasting my time, will I loose money? We shall see... however I do not believe so.
What I want to share is this...
1. If you are planning to start an internet business, go at it like it is a REAL business, consistency is one of the key components to your online marketing plan if you expect to pull this massive gig off enough to produce an income, just like any other business.
2. The tasks required to maintain this online marketing mix with Research& Development is daunting.
3. Keep in mind; marketing is only 20% selling or less. Your main goal needs to be focused more on marketing branding and relationship building. So it takes a lot longer to build a solid foundation of trust.
4. Applying social media online strategies affords value beyond belief if approached correctly. That is why there is much room at the top, yet at the top there is fierce competition. This is where branding saves your butt, stay true to yourself.
5. Staying true to yourself could be dangerous to your health, as it requires self examination in preparation for a new level of transparency in seo2.0. Again, plenty of room at the top, cause for most of us... to be honest...we do not like what we see in ourselves.
6. If your online research results do not line up with your product/ service choice, dig deeper if your gut tells you too. I did and found the demand is there for my service and products. The only problem is that the audience does not know how to search for it yet! When they do, they will find me... because I know the internet marketing strategies to correctly plan the advertising campaigns to advertise on line and drive my audience to it.
7. You have to have a system and a clear action plan that is orderly and daily maintained if you expect to survive in the social media online marketing arena.
Personally, I have to have a good fit with my online marketing plan, as I am not just in it for the money. You have so many options for your online marketing campaign; I find it a tough making decisions. I say carefully analyze the stats provided the certain internet marketing strategies you have outlined for your business, then follow your gut.
Here are some online marketing tips...How you develop relationships and how you play social politics lays the foundation for your marketing branding in online communities. In Your campaign strategy you must provide value to people's lives.
It took me 8 months to get a good grip on the massive complexity of online marketing education, SEO- SEM strategies, site structure, various online marketing tools, social protocol- SEO2.0 and marketing branding. All the while I was applying these theories to my target market and intended service I was planning to promote to create an effective online advertising and marketing campaign.
Notice I did not mention programming, html, web design, IT, fulfillment /e commerce... If I did not have my partner Glenna Branham to do the excellent job she does covering those areas, I would be burnt toast.
Well sometimes the rush of it all.... feels like the possible rush one would feel having their skin seared from a branding iron...literally... yikes.
Seriously, Daily I asked myself...is this what branding marketing and online advertising is all about. Do I have what it takes to survive in such a stressed, high paced and demanding environment?
Choosing a niche is what you do in the first 3 days the thirty day challenge. After completing my online marketing search with my new Market Samurai tool, the results made me feel a bit defeated. Then doubt of success began to creep in..... again.
So what made me feel defeated with Market Samurai's results?
The results said do not waste your time." However, prior to my experience with Market Samurai, my online marketing research results provided by another search strategy and set of tools said "go for it"
Hence my confusion...
One of the many things I do love about the thirty day challenge, aside from its name, is that it encourages consistency. It so far is the most brilliantly delivered online marketing programs I have ever received, for free. These guys are amazing. Their accent rocks...which I find an additional treat... You have got to check them out.
Back to my dilemma...
So I decided to ignore my findings with Market Samurai and continue on with my original online campaign strategy
Am I wasting my time, will I loose money? We shall see... however I do not believe so.
What I want to share is this...
1. If you are planning to start an internet business, go at it like it is a REAL business, consistency is one of the key components to your online marketing plan if you expect to pull this massive gig off enough to produce an income, just like any other business.
2. The tasks required to maintain this online marketing mix with Research& Development is daunting.
3. Keep in mind; marketing is only 20% selling or less. Your main goal needs to be focused more on marketing branding and relationship building. So it takes a lot longer to build a solid foundation of trust.
4. Applying social media online strategies affords value beyond belief if approached correctly. That is why there is much room at the top, yet at the top there is fierce competition. This is where branding saves your butt, stay true to yourself.
5. Staying true to yourself could be dangerous to your health, as it requires self examination in preparation for a new level of transparency in seo2.0. Again, plenty of room at the top, cause for most of us... to be honest...we do not like what we see in ourselves.
6. If your online research results do not line up with your product/ service choice, dig deeper if your gut tells you too. I did and found the demand is there for my service and products. The only problem is that the audience does not know how to search for it yet! When they do, they will find me... because I know the internet marketing strategies to correctly plan the advertising campaigns to advertise on line and drive my audience to it.
7. You have to have a system and a clear action plan that is orderly and daily maintained if you expect to survive in the social media online marketing arena.
Online Marketing Advice For Beginners
Introduction - In simple terms, Internet Marketing or Online marketing, describe a set of business strategies and marketing techniques that are employed to represent a company's overall online marketing objectives. It describes the practical methods of analysing the market, performance testing and promotion to ultimately sell products and services using the Internet. The first step is to research and analyse your target market to be in a position to make decision regarding online objectives and tactics....
Market Research and Analysis - the first stage in any form of online marketing is to find out as much as possible about what your prospective customers want. By reviewing market research information, reviewing competitors web sites, industry surveys, obtaining online feedback, obtain company reports, research search engine usage and so on; a qualified business strategy can be formulated. Without collection of unknown information to discover and learn from, creation of business strategy is nothing more than guess work. The main areas of information to qualify and quantify are; target market size, industry conversion rates, website traffic, distribution channels, purchase behaviour, sales copy testing, price elasticity, regulatory and legal restrictions and company product testing. By far the best form of market research and analysis is primary feedback from prospective customers (as opposed to general secondary research from 3rd party industry surveys); these secondary surveys results are usually out of date and data collection, analysis and conclusions questionable. Practical ways to get customer feedback when testing new product ideas could be asking for feedback via Online Feedback Surveys, Free Prize Draws, Free Product Samples, Special Offers on the Confirmation Pages of Contact Forms, Newsletters, Contentious Forums, Competitions and Quizzes.
Setting Goals and Targets - if you don't know where you are going, how do you know when you have got there? Without previous experience or good quality market research, it is extremely difficult to quantify and forecast how much you will to sell in the future, by when and at what profit margin. However, use your market research to put numbers against the elements you can quantify. Look at the realistic boundaries for your online marketing projections... if your competitive analysis shows the average product value, market size and search traffic volume, you could make some realistic sales assumptions if a top engine ranking were to be achieved. Similarly, if you knew of the average number of sales per affiliate (see below) could send you, you could plan the number of affiliates you need to recruit and how quickly you need to recruit them. If you want buy into a market quickly via online pay per click advertising you can test return on investment very quickly. By test spending on pay per click in search terms using various sales copy, it is easy to begin to develop some useful metrics to project future sales volumes and profits. Download the company reports of the top three competitors in your target market to check sales revenues... then apply some common sense to the situation... If your top three competitors only turnover X per year it would indicate a certain ceiling in that particular market. Most importantly, understand your predicted conversion rates and average product margin associated with your product or service. Without those two numbers it is difficult create a spreadsheet business model to forecast sales and profit targets.
Choosing The Right Business Model - now that you have created a quantifiable set of objectives, the next step is to decide how this is going to be achieved online. In most situations websites can be categorised as using one or a combination of the following business models...
- Dominating 'Natural Organic' Rankings - Getting to the top of a search engine is every company's number one priority when we talk about organic rankings. 80% of surfers only bother to visit the first three results related to any given search term; and in most queries you are provided with millions of search results and hundreds or even thousands of competitor websites to choose from. Once top rankings have been achieved across a range of highly relevant search terms, the ability to make money scales to a point at which the market demand for at search term is reached. So how long does it take to get to the top of a search engine? There is no quick way to get to the top of search engine. There is no quick way to get the to the search engine. Yes that is right, we have repeated ourselves. Do not believe any of so called to search engine optimization company that claims they can provide you with a new secret method to get your site there in weeks or even months. Everybody seems to be an 'expert' and a little information is sometimes dangerous as you can just as easily get your website banned from a search engine, as listed. Speak to people who have achieved results as opposed to other people who want to risk your money. It is true that the ability to dominate rankings varies according to a range of factors; we will expand on how top rankings are achieved and what these factors are in our section on search engine optimization. SEO covers a whole range of inter-related areas that include professional website design, affiliate marketing, pay per click advertising, email marketing, user interactivity, social networking, blog marketing, viral marketing, and conventional forms of advertising. Essentially, factors include the market competitiveness of any given search term, site content relevancy, website age, link buildings effectiveness, to name but a few.
- Selling Using an Affiliate Channel - by sharing the profits of a sale with other websites it is possible for webmasters to generate higher sales volumes . By devising an attractive affiliate scheme and promoting and implementing that scheme in a professional manner, it is possible to generate thousands of website visitors using an affiliate of channel online. Affiliate marketing is a very well established method of selling online. Thousands of affiliates schemes already exist from multinational brand names to locally based niche online shops - all designed to motivate entrepreneurs, portals, etc, to promote their products and services. The main advantage of affiliate marketing is high sales volume with nominal sales effort. The main disadvantage is much lower margins as affiliates need paying commission to remain motivated. This business model relies on a sensible amount of available margin to be divided between the website owner and its affiliate on each sale. In addition, critical to success is patience/ time to recruit the desired number of motivated affiliates. Also, a thorough understanding of online affiliate tracking software and services to ensure affiliates are paid on time, sales are allocated fairly and automated new affiliate recruitment can be initiated. Ask yourself basic questions... if it takes 6 months to recruit 100 affiliates who generate 200 sales equivalent to £100,000 profit in that time, could you have generated more than 200 sales in that time (and at what profit) if you had concentrated on direct selling only. Please visit our section on affiliate marketing to find out more.
- Advertising Driven Sales - Using this business model, webmasters drive visitor traffic to the web site by on spending advertising alone. By raising website brand awareness either through conventional means such as newspapers radio or online, visitors can be enticed to visit the website and buy something. This simple model relies on deep pockets and a thorough understanding of margin, product break even point and good old fashioned marketing skills. For instance, the sales copy must be compelling and have unique selling points related to target buyers needs. To find out read our section on online advertising. The Global market for online advertising (predominately pay per click advertising) now stands at a staggering $40 billion per year and expected to double to $80 billion dollars per year over the next 10 years. For webmasters, the various methods of advertising potentially available means instant website visibility and access to thousands of prospects almost instantly. The key questions a new webmaster should ask are how much I spend on advertising?; How and where should I best my budget? and How do I calculate the return on investment of any advertising spend. Unlike hugely expensive TV advertising (which is normally used to raise brand awareness), online advertising can provide a level playing field for nimble flexible webmasters, with smaller budgets to compete in niche sectors.
Types of Websites - the type of business model preferred somewhat dictates the type of website that is build to achieve your profit objectives. The main types of web sites are as follows...
- Brochure Only Sites - the purpose of a Brochure only website is to promote and organisations image. This is the most common form of website and is usually static nature in that it doesn't actually do anything (other than provide marketing information). Most small businesses prefer this type website, as most customers expect some information about the company. When a prospective customer uses a search engine to find the telephone number of a local tradesmen, having well presented and professional looking Brochure website is a given in today's paste it to market place. Brochure only sites also include information regarding products and services, history and background, employees, how to find the business. Designing a brochure only website is possible for the complete novice using basic software becomes of most personal computers.
- Portals - Portals of a single point of contact for a web user interested in particular information. They usually do not own the products and services but instead provide added value services around those products (either in order to resell these products, or offer passive advertising to their site visitors). Good examples of portals of our Property Advertising websites such as Rightmove.com or Realtor.com. These sites charge property agents to advertise their properties for sale or to let on this site and provide an integrated, clear and unified searching mechanism what to help users find property or accommodation quickly and easily. Some smaller portals do not charge advertisers (or cannot justify the charge) and so choose to simply write their own content. Critical to the success of website portals is the level of unique textual content, compelling technical opinions and interesting information. The ability to collate fragmented and difficult to obtain information, from a range of sources - all presented on easy to navigate website is particularly compelling. For instance, a directory of fine antique dealers and interesting articles on antique restoration provides a niche single point of contact for a range of different types of users.... dealers, restorers, shop owners, collectors what and homeowners may all have an interest in this type of niche portal. The portals provide a great way of sharing information and typically use forums or discussion groups to allow people to post relevant articles, questions and answers. Engines love portals because the content of the website focus on a particular topic. This means algorithm (a formula utilized by a search engines to determine the ranking of web pages), is ranking the site in terms of the content of for all of the pages, delivers highly relevant search results to its user base.
- E-commerce Shopping for Consumers - the main goal of an e-commerce website is to sell products and services (whether physical or online service such as a subscription or membership). Users expect to be sold to with the promise of special offers and quality of friends. They expect to be able to enter their credit card quickly in encrypted shopping basket check out page. To build an ecommerce online shop requires knowledge of local banking laws and usually require companies to authenticate their credentials before being given her approval to trade online. Amazon.com was the first example of global e-commerce success providing users what they want quickly and cheaply, with a clear delivery process and customer service policies. The critical success factors for e-commerce websites varies depending upon the local geographic market and general competitiveness of the product of or service. Users of expect a clear sales offers, cheaper deals and a high street, brand names, a clear delivery and refund a policy and someone to talk to on the telephone. There are many online vertical directories concentrating on specific consumer products. In addition, search engine applications such as 'Froogal' provide a new and huge channel to market that the traditional high street shopping could not possibly reach.
- Community Networks - a community network is a consortium of users and web sites all sharing ideas and information. There are brought together by a common interest in a particular topic. Leading examples of online community social networks are Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, Friends Reunited and so on. There are thousands of other example in niche areas where uses are coming together to have fun, share ideas, or make money. They are usually highly interactive with messaging passing between users and may include blog functionality, forums and discussion groups, PC file sharing, videoconferencing, instant messaging, chat rooms, secure e-mail and led to communicate using mobile technology such as PDA's or mobile phones. These networks are great places to ask questions to like minded people or companies. It is probable someone has the answer or is experience the same problem as you have. If you're planning to create a community network, critical to success will be the level of niche content and information regarding contentious and complicated issues that every interest of great many people.
Market Research and Analysis - the first stage in any form of online marketing is to find out as much as possible about what your prospective customers want. By reviewing market research information, reviewing competitors web sites, industry surveys, obtaining online feedback, obtain company reports, research search engine usage and so on; a qualified business strategy can be formulated. Without collection of unknown information to discover and learn from, creation of business strategy is nothing more than guess work. The main areas of information to qualify and quantify are; target market size, industry conversion rates, website traffic, distribution channels, purchase behaviour, sales copy testing, price elasticity, regulatory and legal restrictions and company product testing. By far the best form of market research and analysis is primary feedback from prospective customers (as opposed to general secondary research from 3rd party industry surveys); these secondary surveys results are usually out of date and data collection, analysis and conclusions questionable. Practical ways to get customer feedback when testing new product ideas could be asking for feedback via Online Feedback Surveys, Free Prize Draws, Free Product Samples, Special Offers on the Confirmation Pages of Contact Forms, Newsletters, Contentious Forums, Competitions and Quizzes.
Setting Goals and Targets - if you don't know where you are going, how do you know when you have got there? Without previous experience or good quality market research, it is extremely difficult to quantify and forecast how much you will to sell in the future, by when and at what profit margin. However, use your market research to put numbers against the elements you can quantify. Look at the realistic boundaries for your online marketing projections... if your competitive analysis shows the average product value, market size and search traffic volume, you could make some realistic sales assumptions if a top engine ranking were to be achieved. Similarly, if you knew of the average number of sales per affiliate (see below) could send you, you could plan the number of affiliates you need to recruit and how quickly you need to recruit them. If you want buy into a market quickly via online pay per click advertising you can test return on investment very quickly. By test spending on pay per click in search terms using various sales copy, it is easy to begin to develop some useful metrics to project future sales volumes and profits. Download the company reports of the top three competitors in your target market to check sales revenues... then apply some common sense to the situation... If your top three competitors only turnover X per year it would indicate a certain ceiling in that particular market. Most importantly, understand your predicted conversion rates and average product margin associated with your product or service. Without those two numbers it is difficult create a spreadsheet business model to forecast sales and profit targets.
Choosing The Right Business Model - now that you have created a quantifiable set of objectives, the next step is to decide how this is going to be achieved online. In most situations websites can be categorised as using one or a combination of the following business models...
- Dominating 'Natural Organic' Rankings - Getting to the top of a search engine is every company's number one priority when we talk about organic rankings. 80% of surfers only bother to visit the first three results related to any given search term; and in most queries you are provided with millions of search results and hundreds or even thousands of competitor websites to choose from. Once top rankings have been achieved across a range of highly relevant search terms, the ability to make money scales to a point at which the market demand for at search term is reached. So how long does it take to get to the top of a search engine? There is no quick way to get to the top of search engine. There is no quick way to get the to the search engine. Yes that is right, we have repeated ourselves. Do not believe any of so called to search engine optimization company that claims they can provide you with a new secret method to get your site there in weeks or even months. Everybody seems to be an 'expert' and a little information is sometimes dangerous as you can just as easily get your website banned from a search engine, as listed. Speak to people who have achieved results as opposed to other people who want to risk your money. It is true that the ability to dominate rankings varies according to a range of factors; we will expand on how top rankings are achieved and what these factors are in our section on search engine optimization. SEO covers a whole range of inter-related areas that include professional website design, affiliate marketing, pay per click advertising, email marketing, user interactivity, social networking, blog marketing, viral marketing, and conventional forms of advertising. Essentially, factors include the market competitiveness of any given search term, site content relevancy, website age, link buildings effectiveness, to name but a few.
- Selling Using an Affiliate Channel - by sharing the profits of a sale with other websites it is possible for webmasters to generate higher sales volumes . By devising an attractive affiliate scheme and promoting and implementing that scheme in a professional manner, it is possible to generate thousands of website visitors using an affiliate of channel online. Affiliate marketing is a very well established method of selling online. Thousands of affiliates schemes already exist from multinational brand names to locally based niche online shops - all designed to motivate entrepreneurs, portals, etc, to promote their products and services. The main advantage of affiliate marketing is high sales volume with nominal sales effort. The main disadvantage is much lower margins as affiliates need paying commission to remain motivated. This business model relies on a sensible amount of available margin to be divided between the website owner and its affiliate on each sale. In addition, critical to success is patience/ time to recruit the desired number of motivated affiliates. Also, a thorough understanding of online affiliate tracking software and services to ensure affiliates are paid on time, sales are allocated fairly and automated new affiliate recruitment can be initiated. Ask yourself basic questions... if it takes 6 months to recruit 100 affiliates who generate 200 sales equivalent to £100,000 profit in that time, could you have generated more than 200 sales in that time (and at what profit) if you had concentrated on direct selling only. Please visit our section on affiliate marketing to find out more.
- Advertising Driven Sales - Using this business model, webmasters drive visitor traffic to the web site by on spending advertising alone. By raising website brand awareness either through conventional means such as newspapers radio or online, visitors can be enticed to visit the website and buy something. This simple model relies on deep pockets and a thorough understanding of margin, product break even point and good old fashioned marketing skills. For instance, the sales copy must be compelling and have unique selling points related to target buyers needs. To find out read our section on online advertising. The Global market for online advertising (predominately pay per click advertising) now stands at a staggering $40 billion per year and expected to double to $80 billion dollars per year over the next 10 years. For webmasters, the various methods of advertising potentially available means instant website visibility and access to thousands of prospects almost instantly. The key questions a new webmaster should ask are how much I spend on advertising?; How and where should I best my budget? and How do I calculate the return on investment of any advertising spend. Unlike hugely expensive TV advertising (which is normally used to raise brand awareness), online advertising can provide a level playing field for nimble flexible webmasters, with smaller budgets to compete in niche sectors.
Types of Websites - the type of business model preferred somewhat dictates the type of website that is build to achieve your profit objectives. The main types of web sites are as follows...
- Brochure Only Sites - the purpose of a Brochure only website is to promote and organisations image. This is the most common form of website and is usually static nature in that it doesn't actually do anything (other than provide marketing information). Most small businesses prefer this type website, as most customers expect some information about the company. When a prospective customer uses a search engine to find the telephone number of a local tradesmen, having well presented and professional looking Brochure website is a given in today's paste it to market place. Brochure only sites also include information regarding products and services, history and background, employees, how to find the business. Designing a brochure only website is possible for the complete novice using basic software becomes of most personal computers.
- Portals - Portals of a single point of contact for a web user interested in particular information. They usually do not own the products and services but instead provide added value services around those products (either in order to resell these products, or offer passive advertising to their site visitors). Good examples of portals of our Property Advertising websites such as Rightmove.com or Realtor.com. These sites charge property agents to advertise their properties for sale or to let on this site and provide an integrated, clear and unified searching mechanism what to help users find property or accommodation quickly and easily. Some smaller portals do not charge advertisers (or cannot justify the charge) and so choose to simply write their own content. Critical to the success of website portals is the level of unique textual content, compelling technical opinions and interesting information. The ability to collate fragmented and difficult to obtain information, from a range of sources - all presented on easy to navigate website is particularly compelling. For instance, a directory of fine antique dealers and interesting articles on antique restoration provides a niche single point of contact for a range of different types of users.... dealers, restorers, shop owners, collectors what and homeowners may all have an interest in this type of niche portal. The portals provide a great way of sharing information and typically use forums or discussion groups to allow people to post relevant articles, questions and answers. Engines love portals because the content of the website focus on a particular topic. This means algorithm (a formula utilized by a search engines to determine the ranking of web pages), is ranking the site in terms of the content of for all of the pages, delivers highly relevant search results to its user base.
- E-commerce Shopping for Consumers - the main goal of an e-commerce website is to sell products and services (whether physical or online service such as a subscription or membership). Users expect to be sold to with the promise of special offers and quality of friends. They expect to be able to enter their credit card quickly in encrypted shopping basket check out page. To build an ecommerce online shop requires knowledge of local banking laws and usually require companies to authenticate their credentials before being given her approval to trade online. Amazon.com was the first example of global e-commerce success providing users what they want quickly and cheaply, with a clear delivery process and customer service policies. The critical success factors for e-commerce websites varies depending upon the local geographic market and general competitiveness of the product of or service. Users of expect a clear sales offers, cheaper deals and a high street, brand names, a clear delivery and refund a policy and someone to talk to on the telephone. There are many online vertical directories concentrating on specific consumer products. In addition, search engine applications such as 'Froogal' provide a new and huge channel to market that the traditional high street shopping could not possibly reach.
- Community Networks - a community network is a consortium of users and web sites all sharing ideas and information. There are brought together by a common interest in a particular topic. Leading examples of online community social networks are Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, Friends Reunited and so on. There are thousands of other example in niche areas where uses are coming together to have fun, share ideas, or make money. They are usually highly interactive with messaging passing between users and may include blog functionality, forums and discussion groups, PC file sharing, videoconferencing, instant messaging, chat rooms, secure e-mail and led to communicate using mobile technology such as PDA's or mobile phones. These networks are great places to ask questions to like minded people or companies. It is probable someone has the answer or is experience the same problem as you have. If you're planning to create a community network, critical to success will be the level of niche content and information regarding contentious and complicated issues that every interest of great many people.
Business Idea: Online Marketing Services as a Work-From-Home Opportunity
Offering online marketing services is certainly an opportunity to
consider if you are interested in starting an internet business
that will enable you to work from home. Internet business is
booming, no doubt, and there are many people venturing into
e-business who haven't a clue how to go about marketing on the
internet. Online marketing services are not exclusive to
e-business; they can also be beneficial to brick-and-mortar type
retail or wholesale companies. Thus, there are many different
target audiences to choose from when offering online marketing
services. This enables you to identify and pursue a niche market.
There are a few things to do before launching an online marketing
services company:
1. Familiarize yourself with online marketing services
2. Conduct market research to identify a niche market
3. Decide which online marketing services you will offer
4. Become an expert
The next phase of launching your online marketing services
company involves:
1. Preparing your business plan and marketing plan
2. Developing your policies and service procedures
3. Marketing your online marketing services
4. Providing exceptional customer service
5. Building a base of repeat customers and referrals
for your online marketing services
With the internet, it is easy to review online marketing services
and to find out about your competition. A competitive analysis is
essential to differentiating and positioning your online
marketing services company. In your review of online marketing
services, you will get some great ideas about what services you
can offer and how to professionally present them.
Market research is the key to identifying a niche market to
target for your online marketing services company. For instance,
you may market your services only to attorneys, only to wholesale
grocers, only to work-from-home moms, etc. With an online
marketing services company, truly the world is your playground.
However, by narrowing the scope of your target market by finding
a niche to market to, you're advertising will have a stronger
impact as you can become known as an expert in online marketing
services for whatever field or niche you choose to market to.
Once you have reviewed other online marketing services, analyzed
your competition, and identified your target market, you are
ready to decide which online marketing services you wish to
offer. This is another opportunity to define a niche. For
instance, you may offer only pay-per-click management services
and you can position yourself as an expert in that area which can
be credible if that is the only service you offer. You can also
offer a whole menu of online marketing services with various
mixes in package deals which can be appealing to clients.
Whichever online marketing services you choose to offer, if you
are presenting yourself as an expert, make absolutely sure that
you are one before you take on your first customer. The
reputation of your online marketing services is at stake. If you
present yourself as an expert in search engine optimization for
instance, and you cannot achieve good ranking for your clients,
your credibility will be lost and this can frequently result in
your reputation being ruined via discussions about your company
through online marketing and business forums.
Preparing your business plan and marketing plan should be a
first-step before you launch your online marketing services
business. Writing a business plan just makes sense because it
helps you to put your ideas down on paper, to set your goals, to
think through issues and to define your budget. Your marketing
plan is equally important as it will serve to keep you focused on
the important aspects of your online marketing services business.
For suggestions about what should be included in a business plan
and marketing plan, visit the website for the Small Business
Administration . There you will find excellent guidance for
business planning.
Policies and service procedures are important for two reasons.
One, to protect your business; and two, to ensure that you
provide excellent service to your customers and that they
understand up front what your services entail. When marketing
your online marketing services business online, you should at a
minimum have a terms-of-use policy and a privacy policy. Through
your terms of use, it is a good idea to disclose your policy
regarding refund requests or your service guarantees as well as
any limitations to your service.
Taking customer service a step further, your service policies
will govern how you do business. Your systems will enable you to
provide the services. Starting out, you don't necessarily need
anything fancy, but as your company grows, automating some of
your sales and service features is a good idea. An example of an
automated customer service tool is an autoresponder that confirms
you have received an order. Repeat customers will come to you if
you offer excellent online marketing services.
It is easier to retain a customer than to get a new one, so
always keep that in mind when working with your customers. Happy
customers are also extremely valuable to an online marketing
services company because they will refer you to their friends and
associates. To encourage referrals, you may offer your customers
some type of incentive (like a 10% discount) if they refer a new,
buying client to you.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope, fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing advice you're getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing, or a website owner who wants to make more money from your website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your internet business at http://BiznessTips.com
consider if you are interested in starting an internet business
that will enable you to work from home. Internet business is
booming, no doubt, and there are many people venturing into
e-business who haven't a clue how to go about marketing on the
internet. Online marketing services are not exclusive to
e-business; they can also be beneficial to brick-and-mortar type
retail or wholesale companies. Thus, there are many different
target audiences to choose from when offering online marketing
services. This enables you to identify and pursue a niche market.
There are a few things to do before launching an online marketing
services company:
1. Familiarize yourself with online marketing services
2. Conduct market research to identify a niche market
3. Decide which online marketing services you will offer
4. Become an expert
The next phase of launching your online marketing services
company involves:
1. Preparing your business plan and marketing plan
2. Developing your policies and service procedures
3. Marketing your online marketing services
4. Providing exceptional customer service
5. Building a base of repeat customers and referrals
for your online marketing services
With the internet, it is easy to review online marketing services
and to find out about your competition. A competitive analysis is
essential to differentiating and positioning your online
marketing services company. In your review of online marketing
services, you will get some great ideas about what services you
can offer and how to professionally present them.
Market research is the key to identifying a niche market to
target for your online marketing services company. For instance,
you may market your services only to attorneys, only to wholesale
grocers, only to work-from-home moms, etc. With an online
marketing services company, truly the world is your playground.
However, by narrowing the scope of your target market by finding
a niche to market to, you're advertising will have a stronger
impact as you can become known as an expert in online marketing
services for whatever field or niche you choose to market to.
Once you have reviewed other online marketing services, analyzed
your competition, and identified your target market, you are
ready to decide which online marketing services you wish to
offer. This is another opportunity to define a niche. For
instance, you may offer only pay-per-click management services
and you can position yourself as an expert in that area which can
be credible if that is the only service you offer. You can also
offer a whole menu of online marketing services with various
mixes in package deals which can be appealing to clients.
Whichever online marketing services you choose to offer, if you
are presenting yourself as an expert, make absolutely sure that
you are one before you take on your first customer. The
reputation of your online marketing services is at stake. If you
present yourself as an expert in search engine optimization for
instance, and you cannot achieve good ranking for your clients,
your credibility will be lost and this can frequently result in
your reputation being ruined via discussions about your company
through online marketing and business forums.
Preparing your business plan and marketing plan should be a
first-step before you launch your online marketing services
business. Writing a business plan just makes sense because it
helps you to put your ideas down on paper, to set your goals, to
think through issues and to define your budget. Your marketing
plan is equally important as it will serve to keep you focused on
the important aspects of your online marketing services business.
For suggestions about what should be included in a business plan
and marketing plan, visit the website for the Small Business
Administration . There you will find excellent guidance for
business planning.
Policies and service procedures are important for two reasons.
One, to protect your business; and two, to ensure that you
provide excellent service to your customers and that they
understand up front what your services entail. When marketing
your online marketing services business online, you should at a
minimum have a terms-of-use policy and a privacy policy. Through
your terms of use, it is a good idea to disclose your policy
regarding refund requests or your service guarantees as well as
any limitations to your service.
Taking customer service a step further, your service policies
will govern how you do business. Your systems will enable you to
provide the services. Starting out, you don't necessarily need
anything fancy, but as your company grows, automating some of
your sales and service features is a good idea. An example of an
automated customer service tool is an autoresponder that confirms
you have received an order. Repeat customers will come to you if
you offer excellent online marketing services.
It is easier to retain a customer than to get a new one, so
always keep that in mind when working with your customers. Happy
customers are also extremely valuable to an online marketing
services company because they will refer you to their friends and
associates. To encourage referrals, you may offer your customers
some type of incentive (like a 10% discount) if they refer a new,
buying client to you.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope, fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing advice you're getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing, or a website owner who wants to make more money from your website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your internet business at http://BiznessTips.com
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