Archive for Internet Marketing
My Top Twelve HIGH ROI To Do’s For Your Business in 2010, by Sheri McConnell
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Sheri McConnell is a successful entrepreneur I admire greatly. Here I share with you her latest article:
Create a Timeless and Focused Marketing Plan for Your Business
As you probably have heard by now—you aren’t in the business of (fill in the blank here). You are in the business of marketing. Your marketing must be automated and systemized. Period.
Create Passive, Income Generating Information Products
Create your own advances and get paid to create information products. Many, many target markets are considered “information hungry”.
Build Your Most Important Asset… Your List
Success on the Internet is about providing high-quality information, solving problems AND the list.
Use Social Networking Sites Such As Facebook, Linked In, My Space, and Twitter
Used strategically, social networks extend your brand and funnel thousands of new leads into your business funnel each and every quarter.
Create A Very Profitable Internet Launch for Your Information Product or Book
Set up correctly, these launches generate thousands and tens of thousands dollars of income, new leads for you, and all your partners.
Create Your Own Certification Program
Certification programs aren’t just for large companies. Solo online entrepreneurs can also benefit from building and creating a certification program within their company.
Build Your Own Virtual Team
Learn how to find, build, and manage a virtual team. The key to “leverage” is the team. We all have weaknesses. Don’t make the most common entrepreneurial mistake: thinking you can do it all.
Approach, Create, and Solidify Long-Lasting Joint Ventures
All successful businesses are built on thriving relationships–on and off the Internet. And with all relationships, you should focus on who and how you attract partners.
Know Which Publishing Options Are Right for YOU
Learn what your publishing options are and make a choice based on the path that is right for you based on your personality, strengths, and weaknesses.
Double Your List Size With A Virtual Event
One of the best strategies for growing the list is an online virtual event with multiple partners or joint ventures. Give customers free access and structure the event correctly and it is a huge list builder.
Develop Your Intuition
Most entrepreneurs spend so much time focusing on all the “outside” stuff that they forget to get help on learning how to “think” like a CEO. Your success and ability to run a profitable company depends on your leaning how to develop your CEO intuition.
Use Visual Tools To Set Goals and Stay On Track
All successful entrepreneurs incorporate visual components into their strategy planning. They spend as much time planning as they do in the marketing, operations, finance parts of their business.
Sheri McConnell is the CEO of Sheri McConnell Companies, Inc. and the president and founder of two national organizations, the National Association of Women Writers-NAWW and the International Association of Web Entrepreneurs-AWE. Under the same corporate umbrella she is also the owner of two high-level product and consulting companies: Create Your Group and My Millionaire Friends. You can visit Sheri, access her free article archive, and find out more about all four of her companies at www.sherimcconnell.com. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, their four children, a weenie dog, and two cats.
Advantages of Online Reputation Management for Companies
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Constantly maintaining online reputations is one of the reasons why Online Reputation Management exists. In real sense, Online Reputation Management (ORM) was created to help business owners and professionals deal with bad press.
Even a large company or a small one could not get rid of the receiving end of negative publicity. Remember that the internet never fails to forget. Everything we do online leaves a digital mark that will never go away. This gives a reason why Online Reputation Management serves as a necessity in the field of business today.
See the advantages of Online Reputation Management for companies:
- It improves customer satisfaction by gaining insights from consumers about what is good and bad about their product or services. This increases perceptions of brand/ product by creating opportunities to listen to and engage consumers.
- It helps on gaining insights about their competitors and their customers’ perceptions about their products and services. This helps in the understanding of the relationship between user generated content and traditional forms of online media, e.g. news, print, etc.
- It maintains shareholder value by mitigating risk by having ears close to the ground where opinions about a business are being formed and propagated.
- They’re likely to be engaged in more effective Public Relations by understanding who the real influencers are.
- ORM takes a role in providing early warning systems for reactive and defensive PR.
- This may also help in reducing marketing dollars by learning how to reach out to customers more cheaply.
- May reduce internal costs by employing services which save time and effort, as well as money.
- ORM helps to identify gaps for products and services which can be developed for profitable niche markets.
- It gains insight into online networks and keywords and key phrases found in user-generated content, which can help to bolster natural search results about the person, product, or business.
Tips for maximizing the efficiency of your online reputation management endeavors:
1. Set up your social networking sites with your own name.
In other words, you need to create an interlinked “web” of these powerful social networks – that all point to you. This is profoundly important because it establishes your presence in the major search engines like Google. Using aliases, pen names or otherwise will not help establish your branding effectiveness.
2. Try to get the same username set up for all of your social media engagement profiles.
3. When you add any type of content to your social networking sites, keep your online reputation management plan in mind. You should add relevant materials.
Seeing the advantages of Online Management training, I can say that it’s a mistake for companies to launch an online reputation management campaign after the damage of bad press has already spread which is a mistake. Everyone must take a preventative approach to protect business.
This great post was contributed by Eleanor Marks Prior, Wordpress Whiz and Social Media maven.
Virtual Event specialist certification
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Heike Miller has successfully completed the Virtual Event Specialist Certification Program, a 4-week training program that equips Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals with the key skills and tools necessary to offer their clients important Virtual Event Management services.
In these tough economic times, more and more companies and small businesses are choosing to hold Virtual Events rather than the more expensive offline events and conferences. In fact, “Virtual Meetings and Events [will] replace 2.1 million airline seats by 2012” (Gartner, Feb. 2009).
76% of businesses say they have already begun using or plan to start using Virtual Events in 2009, while 70% of Corporate Event Organizers predict a reduction in live events in 2010 and forecast significant growth in virtual conferences and webinars. Consequently, it is vital that Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals offer skills in Virtual Event Management to fulfill their clients’ needs.
That is why Heike Miller is excited to be adding Virtual Event Specialist Services to their business, including the setting up and delivering of Tele-events featuring one or many speakers, Webinars and Webcasts, Online Radio Shows, Live Weekly Podcasts and Live Streaming TV Shows.
In VAClassroom’s Virtual Event Specialist Certification Program, Heike learned strategies, best practices, tips and techniques for efficiently and effectively creating great events for her clients using the leading technologies like Instant Teleseminar, GoToWebinar, Camtasia, Ustream and more.
Heike is pleased to announce that several of her team members have also finished the course and received the certification.
Do You Know What Your Market Really Wants? by Bernadette Doyle
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Before ramping up your marketing when sales are disappointing, take a step back and ask yourself, “Do I know what my market really, really wants?” Being able to answer that question is the key to growing your business. By focusing on what people want, rather than on what you hope to sell them, you can begin to see the kind of success you desire.
If you suspect you’re wasting time by marketing something people don’t really want, here are some principles to ponder:
People buy what they want, not what you think they need.
You’re going to get a lot of resistance to your marketing if someone thinks they’re being shoehorned into buying what they don’t want. No matter how loudly you proclaim your product’s benefits, your market won’t respond if they don’t want the product. To continue doing so is a lot like speaking a different language and shouting to be understood.
People need to feel good about what they’ve bought.
One way to zero in on what your market wants is to develop empathy with that group of people. You must connect emotionally with how they feel about purchasing. When you’ve put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you begin to understand how they feel. What are their hopes and dreams? What do they fear? What keeps them awake at night?
If you’ve done a good job of pinpointing a target market, you should be able to learn these things easily. Until you do, you’re wasting time on marketing that won’t work, because you don’t yet know what products they’ll feel good about buying.
People buy products when they feel they’ve been understood.
No matter what logical explanation someone can give for buying a product, underneath it is the belief they’ve been understood. Someone knew enough about who they were to make a product that fits them.
So, how will you know when you’ve learned what your market really, really wants? You’ll know, because that’s when it all becomes easier. There’s no need to push or shove someone into buying, because they want what you’re offering. It will be such a revelation to learn how easy selling your products can be when they’re what your market wants.
Once that happens, you’ll begin to hear from your clients how grateful they are for your products. Everything about how you do business will be transformed, because you’ve taken the time to learn what your market wants. You’ve made the effort to step into their shoes and understand what makes them tick. And that effort pays off in products that really meet the needs of your market.
So, if you’re still struggling to sell your products, or it feels as though you’re pushing people into buying what they don’t want, it’s time to take inventory. Here are five questions to answer before trying again to sell your products:
- What is most important to the people in my target market?
- What problems keep them awake at night?
- What is the desired end result they’re hoping for?
- Does my product help them solve their problems and reach their goals?
- Do I need to change my products so that they do?
The process of stepping closer to your target market and understanding that group of people may take time and effort, but it will definitely be worth it. Once you know the people in your market very well, the products you offer them will meet their needs. And that’s what people really, really want.
Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then sign up for her weekly e-zine now at http://www.clientmagnets.com © Bernadette Doyle, 2009
Affiliate Marketing
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Affiliate marketing is like ‘word of mouth’. If you like a product or service you tell your friends about it. Affiliate programs were invented to give people an incentive to tell other people about their positive experience with a product or services. Affiliates receive a portion or percentage of the sales price of an item as a reward.
It is recommended to only recommend products or services that you either personally use or you know the person well who offers the product and you know they always offer a good service. You need to be familiar with what you promote and happily endorse it. If you promote lower level products, your own reputation will suffer and people won’t easily believe your recommendations anymore.
I consider affiliate programs as essential online, especially when the affiliates are familiar with the product. One excellent example of a well functioning program is that of www.vaclassroom.com. Craig Cannings, the co founder, has created a large following with his quality training programs for virtual assistants and other online professionals. Craig’s customers happily spread the word about the training and earn a reward when someone signs up through their affiliate link. I would go as far as saying that VA Classroom wouldn’t be what it is today if there wasn’t an affiliate program and so many happy customers.
When you have a great program, service or product, why not ask your satisfied clients to spread the word for you? As any promotion always costs an effort, a little (or bigger) reward can work wonders in the willingness of people to refer you. Setting up an affiliate program needs some thought and shouldn’t be taken lightly, otherwise you might as well do nothing.
First of all, you need to be sure that there are happy customers who love your product or service. If you get lots of complaints you better forget it! Finetune your offerings and find happy customers first.
Once you get positive feedback, you can set up an affiliate program in a system such as 1shoppingcart. This process can be a bit difficult, so it might be advised to ask a skilled virtual assistant to help you with the set up as there is also some work on the website required. You need to create ‘thank you’ pages and affiliate centers with information for your new affiliates. Many people sign up for an affiliate program, but don’t know how to promote your services, where to promote them and how to go about it. Then they simply give up and don’t promote you.
A dedicated affiliate center will help them with these initial worries. You can give your affiliates advice on where to promote you, to which target market, which medium to use and even supply them with copy for their Twitter tweets and blog posts. Additionally, you may wish to create attractive banners that your affiliates can use in their email signature and on their blog.
Often affiliates start strong and promote a service and then forget all about it. They are just as busy just as you are. It helps when you regularly contact your affiliates, encourage them and help them with any queries. Different promotions can also reactivate the interest of your affiliates. Craig Cannings, for example, frequently runs special promotions and offers additional prizes for his best affiliates. It works a charm and people get a renewed motivation to get the word out.
Managing the contact to your affiliates doesn’t need to be hard. You can set up autoresponders in the shoppingcart program so that your affiliates receive regular updates and reminders without you actually doing anything. All you need to do is have it all set up well right from the start.
Affiliates are valuable when you are launching bigger programs. Many entrepreneurs wouldn’t be able to fill their training classes without affiliates. When you start planning a bigger launch, make sure you set up the affiliate program early on and recruit a little army of likeminded people who mix and mingle with your target market. Social Media is a great realm to recruit affiliates because people like to sign up for programs from people they know, like and trust. Don’t forget your existing clients: send out a broadcast and ask them to sign up for your affiliate program.
Don’t be shy when it comes to affiliate programs. If you have services or products that are of good quality, ask your happy customers to help you spread the word. Many people love helping out and earn a bit of pocket money while doing it.
If you are interested about affiliate programs, talk to us. We are able to help you setting it up.
Get more sales with these 5 proven headlines
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Headlines are the most important part of your articles or web copy.
If you have a great headline, you draw the reader in and compel them to read what you have to say. If your headline is boring or irrelevant to your reader’s problems or situation, chances are your cleverly created text will not be read, so you waste your time and knowledge.
This is sad, but unfortunately most of us nowadays suffer from information overflow. We quickly scan the headers of every email that comes in and we discard every email we don’t resonate with or feel it’s boring.
You could have the greatest information in the body text of your ezine or homepage, without a great headline you won’t get anybody to read it. So don’t bore anybody with your headlines – do it right!
Who else than Ali Brown can comment on this? Please read this article about 5 proven headlines from the master of internet marketing, Ali Brown:
In the world of marketing, your first impression — your headline — can lead to either sales success … or failure.
It’s important to realize that headlines work best when they appeal to your reader’s interests (not yours). And not only can they “grab attention”, they can also make your message easy to read, convey your main selling points, and lead your customer to a sale.
Over the years copywriting pros have used several headline formulas that always work well. Here are my fab five:
A question headline automatically gets your readers involved in your message, because they answer it in their minds. Many people will read further into your letter, ad, or Web site copy just to find out what answer or solution you provide. Again, make sure the question focuses on the reader’s interest, not yours. A bad example would be: “Do You Know What New Product We’ve Created This Year?” (No one cares but you!)
2. The How-to: “How to Get Thinner Thighs in 30 Days.”
How-to headlines work very well, because people love information that shows them how to do something. (Thousands of book titles begin with “How to….”) Think of the benefits your product/service offers and then try creating some “how to” headlines.
3. The Testimonial: “Jane Smith’s Consulting Is Pure Magic — Our Sales Have Increased by 30%!”
Why not let your clients do the selling for you? Their commendations can go a long way in convincing others to use your services. Tip: To appear credible, always include your clients’ full names and the cities they live in.
4. The Command: “Boost Your Business Today!”
Turn your most important benefit into a commanding headline, such as “Make More Time for Your Family,” “Look Younger Instantly!” and “Get 7 New Clients This Month.” (By the way, throwing a number into your headline is another good tactic. And readers seem to like odd numbers as opposed to even.)
5. The News: “Introducing Our New ‘Rest-Assured’ Tax Service!”
Caution: This only works if you truly have something big to announce that is of interest to the reader. (Something that will make her life or business better.) Don’t try to make news out of something that’s not.
Once your readers know you have something they’re interested in, they’ll take the time to read your entire article, brochure, letter, ad, e-zine, or Web page. So put some TLC into creating headlines that entice!
Online entrepreneur Ali Brown publishes the award-winning ‘Highlights on Marketing & Success’ weekly ezine with 36,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your marketing, make more money, and have more fun in your small business, get your FREE tips now at www.AliBrown.com
