Marketing By Any Other Name...

Marketing By Any Other Name...
by: Trish Lambert



What does the word "marketing" mean to you? When you say "we need to do some marketing" or "we need a marketing plan," what is the end result you are picturing?

Of all the functions that contribute to business growth, marketing has got to be the least standardized. Not only do the activities associated with marketing vary from company to company, but the purpose and goals of marketing differ widely. In many cases, marketing is a synonym for sales, which in my opinion is one of the biggest strategic mistakes a company can make.

Marketing is not sales. But marketing better be contributing to revenue generation or you're wasting time and money. And probably lots of both.

Here is a simple way to think of marketing: your marketing activities need to make your sales process easier. How they do that will vary depending on your company and market. Product marketing is very different from service marketing. Business to business marketing is very different from business to consumer marketing. Marketing high cost goods and services requires a different approach from marketing commodities.

Even in the same industry and marketplace, how one company markets will differ from the way its competitors market. Just watch a couple of beer or car commercials on TV and you'll see what I mean. This is because company culture, personality, and brand will impact marketing activities and messages.

So, I ask you: Is your marketing program making your sales process easier? Be careful when answering. There are nuances to marketing that are important to consider. Some activities are more direct than others and so are much easier to gauge. An example is direct response marketing. Another is e-commerce web sites with incorporated shopping carts. In both cases there is a clear link to the sales side. This type of marketing can be very easily quantified and its impact on sales can be accurately measured.

Some activities, though, are more subtle. Things that get your company better known in the marketplace will help the sales process, but not as clearly as direct response or "click here to buy" activities. They are qualitative in impact but no less important.

Effective public relations, for example, will certainly influence your target market by keeping your name top of mind in the people you want to buy from you. This type of activity, of course, is nowhere near as measurable as more direct things. Does this mean you shouldn't do it? Absolutely not!! It does mean, however, that you need to stay awake and find ways to gauge how successful these more subtle activities are in making the sales process easier.

Here's the bottom line. Take time to clearly and accurately define what marketing means specifically for your company, and define how it can make the sales process easier. Don't just accept any published definitions, no matter how exalted their sources.

Is Your Content Actually Connecting?

Is Your Content Actually Connecting?
by: Trish Lambert



The written word is king of the marketing hill these days. Between the intangible nature of services and the intangible marketing challenge known as the Internet, having content that increases interest and drives sales is a service firm imperative.

When selling services, content is your "free sample," the equivalent of the people in supermarkets giving out little cups of various kinds of food products for you to try before you buy. OK, well, maybe not exactly like that, but thematically the same. Your content conveys your company's personality (known in more stuffy business circles as your culture) as well as your expertise, which are both part of the criteria applied by prospects when making buying decisions.

So here's the question that constitutes the title of this article: Is your content actually connecting? You can have loads of articles, white papers, web pages, and email messages, but if the words in those pieces aren't making a strong connection to your market, all that content is worthless.

Here are some suggestions for creating connections with content:

Be context specific. A piece of content needs to talk to a specific audience at the right level. If you market to financial advisors, for example, assume that your reader understands the financial planning field at least at an intermediate level if not higher. Don't write "Finance 101" stuff for these folks. If, on the other hand, you are a financial advisor selling your services to small and solo business owners, assume that your reader is knowledge-deficient in the exact areas where you shine. Content for the first group would be way beyond the second set of readers, while content for second set would bore if not insult the first group.

Write like you talk. Said another way, write like your company talks. The style, voice, and tone of your content will be very different if you have a more informal "shorts and t-shirt" way of doing business than if you are operating out of an urban high-rise and "dress for success" in designer duds. Keep your language and style consistent with how you want to be perceived.

Stay away from the third person. Use first and second person in your content. If the piece is authored by one person, as with an article or a white paper, use first person singular; if the speaker is the company, use we and us. Talk directly to the reader using you and your.

Be inclusive and at the same level. Involve your reader. Instead of saying "if one looks at this situation," say "if we look," or "let's look." And instead of being instructive or positioning yourself as the guru on the mountain, stand next to the reader. "The challenge we face is..." is far more attractive in the reader's mind than "the challenge facing you is..." Avoid potentially condescending or patronizing phrases like, "You need to understand..." or "It should be obvious that..."

Finally, be passionate. We are all passionate about what we offer, and we need to be proud to show it. I, for example, think that good, authentic content will pave the way to quality relationships with great customers. That's why content is a practice all by itself at 4R, why I talk about it so much, and why I enjoy creating the right content for my clients.

The Impact Of Niche Marketing

The Impact Of Niche Marketing
by: Wonder Nyatanga

Marketing a home business is a lot of work. One way to make things easier is to try niche marketing. Niche marketing is about finding a very specialized market to sell your products to.
There is a lot of competition in business. With so many businesses now going online, the competition is even more fierce. That is why so many business owners use niche marketing.
Niche marketing is a specialized technique of marketing where a business finds a small segment of the market that is highly focused and they advertise to this segment.
A niche market is more than a target market because it includes some very specified characteristics. More than just a general area of the market, it focuses on a smaller segment of the market.
When finding a niche market a business owner has to find the characteristics of their niche market. The niche market should have certain qualifications. It needs to have a very specialized need.
A niche market needs to be easily defined. All the people in the niche market need to be similar. They should be in the same general financial bracket and with the same general needs.
When compared to a larger market, a niche market is going to be able to be clearly defined. The niche market will have a specified need for the product. It will include people that are similar and it will allow a business owner to produce targeted marketing and avoid heavy competition.
Niche marketing is a very important aspect of marketing a business. It will give focus to a marketing campaign and it will allow a business owner to advertise to the people who are the most likely to buy their product. It can really help a business owner to get their business off on the road to success.

Copyright © Wonder Nyatanga

About The Author
Wonder Nyatanga is the owner of http://www.profitenaires.com/ To find the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: http://www.profitenaires.com/

The Best Pulling Ad Ever

The Best Pulling Ad Ever!
by: John Arrington

How this little ad increases your inquires.

I still use this style ad to test the response I’ll receive from ebook or sales letter. I guarantee this ad will pull if you place it in front of the right prospects.

My best ad reads “Free ebook” followed by “enter your name and email address” to receive your Free ebook. This ad has always been my best pulling ad.

In addiction to sending them the Free ebook I also send them to my website. Once I collect their name and email address I also send them follow up emails offering my other products to them.

This works like crazy.

Your best customers will be those who are just starting out online. They are active and seem to be buying everything they come across.

Who are the people who buys the most online?

It is the people who are known as opportunity seekers these are the easiest to sell your products or service too. So make sure you collect their names and email addresses. So you can continue to send them your other offers.

Remember the rule of thumb here. They have to see your advertisement at least 7 times, before they will respond and buy your product.

Many people fail to follow up with their customers with their other offers. And this is like leaving your money on the table. And what happens, their customer will go to another website to spend their money.

In the online business follow up sells is where the big bucks are made. Those who don’t follow up with their other offers will soon be out of business..

Copyright © 2007 & Beyond All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

About The Author
John Arrington has been in the marketing business since 1995. John is dedicated to helping others to become successful with their business. You may visit his website at: http://tiptopwebsite.com/johna

What Is Affiliate Marketing and Is It For Me?

What Is Affiliate Marketing and Is It For Me?
by: John Farina

Affiliate marketing can be defined as a widespread method of promotion in which an affiliate is rewarded for every view, sale, and/or registration produced through the affiliate's efforts (depending on the type of affiliate program).
It's similar to collecting commissions as a typical salesperson would. The more the affiliate sells... the more the affiliate gets paid. It's as simple as that!
Compensation calculations vary but are typically based on one of the following:
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) - a specific amount is paid for each visitor the affiliate sends
Pay-Per-Lead (PPL) - where the affiliate is paid for registrations or sign-ups
Pay-Per-Sale (PPS) - a specific commission per sale is paid to the affiliate
If your goal is to generate your entire income online you can drive traffic from your subscriber lists, your websites, and from other marketing methods to affiliate links.
What About Product Sales and Marketing?
You'll want to watch for great products and services with the potential to benefit your niche market and your mailing lists. To build trust and income, it's best to recommend only those products that will be of specific interest to them. It's a win-win situation for everyone that way.
When an affiliate is marketing any product, the cost of marketing the product is absorbed by the affiliate, so it's important to keep that cost in mind when promoting products. Typically the higher the percentage of affiliate commissions possible from any quality product, the more that product is worth promoting. When a product is sold through the affiliate's personal link, depending on the service used, the total sale is divided up among the vendor, the affiliate, the taxing authority, the shipper (if any), and the payment processor.
It is common and expected that all affiliate details be spelled out in the affiliate sign-up process. However, you shouldn't be afraid to contact any vendor to clarify their affiliate program if you have questions. Often you can telephone or email for a fast reply. If they are not willing to answer your questions then you should stay away from them. There are plenty of other quality affiliates programs that would love to have you!
Is a Digital Lifestyle for Me?
Many standard retailers offer very small commissions for affiliate sales while most internet marketers offer around 50%-75% of the sale for being an affiliate of their digital product. This is why being an affiliate of digital products can be very lucrative in a relatively short period of time.
Although the number of affiliate programs for tangible goods and off-line services is rising, a completely digital lifestyle can be developed solely from digital or downloadable affiliate products that may never take physical form.
Of course it's important to note that as an affiliate of any tangible product, you generally never do more than promote a link to the product online. So in that sense it's basically the same as a digital product. One of the best places to find digital products to affiliate with is ClickBank.com. They have an automatic affiliate program built into their payment processing service so that affiliate payments are not left up to the product owner to process.
Three other good affiliate programs to check into are:
CJ.com (Commission Junction)
Amazon.com
LinkShare.com
Staying with reputable, well-known internet vendors makes a great deal of sense because you know you will get paid, you know when to expect a check or bank deposit, and you can see your account details online at any time. Plus, if you do have a problem they are more than willing to take care of it.
How Do I Get Started?
There are many ways to start with affiliate marketing, but a basic starting point is to have a web site with text or image affiliate links to products you want to promote. Generally you want to stay focused within a niche or interest group to increase your sales potential. In other words, you don't want to have many different affiliate links to variety of completely different markets on your website. Stick to a similar theme.
If you have used the products, your promotional efforts could include a product review based on your own experience along with images and other supporting information.
Developing an email opt-in list is helpful in affiliate marketing because it gives you the opportunity to find the products and information with the most potential benefit for a group of like-minded individuals (your subscribers) and tell them about it. A targeted list of subscribers, that you have built a good relationship with could be worth thousands of dollars over time.
By promoting affiliate products to several targeted niche markets, it is possible to create a substantial income over time. Especially when the affiliate marketer is only promoting quality products with a real potential to benefit customers within the niche.
In conclusion, affiliate marketing is a great way to build an income without having a product of your own, and without having to do much more than get interested people to view product information through your affiliate links. It's very easy to get started and can eventually put a lot of money in your pocket. But be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort. Making money online through affiliate programs is not easy. If it was everyone would be rich.
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This article may be reprinted providing it is published in it's entirety, including the author's bio and link to the URL displayed.
About The Author
John J Farina is a successful affiliate marketer. He provides expert reviews on which affiliate programs to join and which ones to avoid like the plague. He shows people how to actually generate substantial income on-line using very simple, easily modeled systems. An example of such a system that you can study and duplicate is at: http://www.johnnysreviewsite.com/

Good Nameplate Design: The Rules

Good Nameplate Design: The Rules
by: Steve Begor

New businesses need a logo that speaks, that is easily recognizable, that has style. Good nameplates are an extension of a good logo.
Manufacturers often try to emulate the nameplate design of the most recognizable brands in their respective industry, often at a great expense: quality design. While a brand might have a strong identity and a legacy of quality, a closer look at its branding techniques may reveal conceptual flaws that new businesses must avoid. Take Marshall Amplification, the gold standard of the rock n roll sound: its nameplate is one of the worst—a white, cheap plastic nameplate with the company name in cursive. In imitating a nameplate with poor design and construction such as Marshall’s, competitors look cheap and lack the cutting edge; it is more difficult for these fledging products and companies to stand out.
So what are the rules of good nameplate design?
Use a medium that compliments the packaging of your product. Labels and even domed labels are run-of-the-mill—they do not speak with any authority. Three-dimensional plastic or metallic nameplates, however, not only present your brand visually but also allows the user to actually touch your brand, creating a visceral, multi-sensorial attachment between product and consumer. Customization options for 3-D plastic and metal nameplates allow for greater design control in the configuration of your nameplate.
Give your copy/logo room to breathe. On a nameplate, just as on a printed page, white space is a critical part of design. Make sure there is enough background so that the background adds depth to the logo. The right perspective between copy and background is key.
Emphasize color. A nameplate with a spot of color instead of just black and silver will always have more pop. But monochromatic nameplates—i.e. black-on-black or contrasting shades of silver—remain iconic and cool.
Complement your copy with an appropriate background design. Square corner backgrounds, for example, work best with block style lettering and script or italic copy look better with radius corners, or ovals and circles. You should always layout your copy in several different background shapes to get a feel for the best aesthetics for your nameplate/logo.
Mix materials and manufacturing processes. For a look that will make your nameplate/logo stand out from the crowd, mix mediums and materials in the manufacture of your nameplate. Domed nameplates—especially those with four-color intricate design—look great in bezels or as a part of the nameplate. When you combine the color of doming into a molded or metal nameplate, the branding takes on a totally different look. Molded logos in etched metal nameplates can also add splash or vice versa.
For additional information about nameplates and examples of customized designs, visit http://www.id3logos.com/.

Using Hand-Written Notes to Build Your Business

Using Hand-Written Notes to Build Your Business
by: Kristine M. Lewis

Recently, I attended a networking event for my company. The speaker that night spoke about good networking practices. One of the practices she referred to was making sure to follow-up with everyone you meet at these events. She aptly referred to it as “pinging”.
The word “ping” takes its name from a submarine sonar search -- you send a short sound burst and listen for an echo or a “ping” coming back. So, in networking terms, when you send out a ping, whether with an email, a phone call or a hand-written note, you’re inviting that person to “come back” and communicate with you thus beginning a relationship with that person…one that will hopefully benefit you both long term.
I always make it a practice to send out hand-written thank you notes to everyone I meet at these events. I like hand-written notes, because they’re a physical manifestation of your company (your brand) to that potential client, strategic partner or referral source. A hand-written note sets the tone for your company. Hand-written notes also differentiate you from most other businesses. Ask yourself when the last time you received a hand-written note from someone you met at a business setting was?
Quite simply, hand-written correspondence is a wonderful way to build your business. When I say build your business, I am not just referring to acquiring new customers. I am also referring to keeping the customers you have!
According to a study conducted by the Technical Assistance Research Project in Washington DC, 68% of customers leave because of “perceived indifference”. In other words, customers don’t think you care about their business. As Sir William Jones said, “The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated”. Our customers and clients want and need to be appreciated, remembered and thanked.
Another great advantage in sending a personal note….people tend to keep these cards. Whenever I receive a nice note from someone, I display it one my desk for awhile. Every time I see the card, I am warmly reminded of that person or business.
So, when should you send a hand-written card to someone? Here are a few suggestions:
* Every time you meet someone new and get their contact information (i.e. a networking function, a business meeting, a training session, on the plane, a social party, waiting in line at the grocery store, etc.)
* When a customer makes a major purchase from you or sends a referral your way.
* When you embark upon a joint venture with a new company.
Here are some other suggested but not mandatory times to jot a quick note:
* A birthday greeting to your clients and associates.
* A congratulatory note when you hear about something great that customer or business associate did. For example, one of my customers published a new book, so I sent her a congratulatory note.
* If you see an article that might be of interest to that client or associate, send them the clipping with a quick note.
* An encouraging note to members of your staff or team.
Remember, every card is a “ping”. It is likely that your message will echo back to you in some way soon!
Writing a hand-written note does not have to be a difficult exercise! When networking, make it a practice to take notes about the people you meet on the back of their business cards, so you have something to reference when you go to correspond with them.
Hand-written notes should only be 3-5 sentences in length. In other words, be short and to the point. If it is your first correspondence with this person, remind them where you met and what you do for a living. Thank them for taking the time to speak with you and perhaps suggest another meeting. Make sure to enclose another business card.
Your personal correspondence should be written on high quality stationery. Remember, your stationery represents your brand. If you are a veterinarian for example, a note card with a cute dog might certainly be appropriate. If you’re an image consultant, you might want something more refined and sophisticated. Personalized note cards with your name and/or company already printed on them are great for establishing a consistent brand or image. Make sure to give your correspondence that extra personal touch by hand-addressing the envelope and using a real postage stamp.
Set aside some time every day to write your notes. I prefer to do this practice at the end of the day. It gives me time to reflect upon the day and allows me to give this practice my undivided attention. It also helps me to end my day on a very positive note…energy which transcends to the following day.
For remembering customer’s birthdays, I have created an Excel spreadsheet with my customers’ names, addresses and birthdays. Once a week, I refer to this sheet to remind myself of the birthday notes I need to send out for that week.
Don’t get me wrong, emails, instant messages, phone calls and the like are all wonderful communication tools! However, taking the time to write a hand-written note really sends the message that you care and you have taken the time to think about your relationship or potential relationship with that person. Those 3-5 sentences can make a mighty impact. And, that ping will come back to you in the mighty echo of increased opportunity. Grab your pen and stationery and get writing today!

New Social Network Marketing Secret

New Social Network Marketing Secret
by: Grant Soosalu

Using the power of Social Networking websites like MySpace or other blogging sites is a great way to promote your business. However, because most of these sites are free, they tend to provide a 'value-less' experience. Instead, a new type of Social Networking website - A Social Reward and Recognition space - can provide an incredibly valuable sales and marketing tool for a very small financial outlay. Let's illustrate this claim by examining a very real example.
Being a nominee on the1000best, a new social reward and recognition website is turning into a marketing dream for Helen Van Den Berg, a tour guide operating from a small remote town in Australia. Helen's profile as 1 of the1000best has seen her inundated with tributes and boosts from her clients, all with one very clear message that Helen is the best tour guide in the world.
Helen's nomination as 1 of the 1000 best tour guides in the world was gifted to her by friends as a way of rewarding, recognising and saying thank you. This gift gave her a Personal Space page on the1000best where Helen profiled herself, her own newly launched web site and her Tour Guide business.
As well as the profile, the website also encourages ongoing positive reinforcement for nominees by giving people the ability to boost' their favourite nominees on a daily basis and to send tribute messages. It is the tribute messages that are paying off handsomely for Helen. "I have been overwhelmed by the tributes I have received and I have been on a constant high with all the positive feedback. This website has to be the ultimate marketing tool - this type of marketing is priceless and it's lead to an amazing amount of traffic to my own website".
The1000best.com takes social networking in a totally new direction. Rather than just providing a platform to connect people, the1000best.com goes the next step by offering a gift of social reward and recognition. Generally, anyone can join a social network for free however to get connected on the1000best.com someone must value you enough to purchase a gift nomination and nominate you as 1 of the1000best in the world (according to them). People with business interests and who are fortunate and worthy of nomination then have a very public platform to market themselves by way of sharing the positive experiences of their clients with the world. Referral systems like this are worth their weight in gold.
Savvy business owners can also nominate their employees or business teams and use the power of social networking and social recognition to both reward their people and gain valuable positive advertising. This is a form of synergistic marketing, in which the business is linked to positive values and social appreciation. As Grant Soosalu, one of the developers of the1000best.com commented "Social Networking is a huge and growing phenomenon, and the1000best.com now provides a fantastic mechanism for showcasing your business by linking your people into this network of value".
So if you want to really make use of Social Networking to promote your business, and do so in a way that links to strong positive values, check out: www.the1000best.com it can work wonders to promote your business.

An Effective Marketing Tip Means Business

An Effective Marketing Tip Means Business
by: Mario Churchill

Is your business just coasting along? Has it been awhile since you’ve noticed a peak in sales? Are you looking for a way to increase business? An effective marketing tip could really make a positive difference in your business. There are many marketing ideas available to the entrepreneur. Finding one that works for you may require some research and perhaps even trial and error. No doubt with the right advice and venue, you can find a marketing tip that will result in business growth.
An effective marketing tip for one business may not work well for your business. The first step to take in determining what might work well for you is to figure out who your target audience is. For example, if you were promoting skin care, your target audience would likely be female. An effective marketing tip in this case would be to advertise in women’s magazines, on the women’s television network and any other venues that cater to the female population. Another great marketing tip in this scenario might be to set up a booth in a high traffic shopping area and provide complementary facials. Tradeshows are also great venues for promoting skin care. Either of these ideas used as a marketing tip could be quite beneficial and mean business.
Many individuals are taking advantage of the worldwide access provided by doing business online. Web site promotion is a marketing tip that has been increasing sales for many companies and businesses in recent years. Using web site promotion as a marketing tip requires some work and may mean the need to hire a professional web designer. However, if this marketing tip proves to be effective, the money spent would have been well worth it.
If looking for a marketing tip that might help your business, browsing the Internet for similar products or services may prove to be beneficial. Researching what other individuals are doing to attract business would provide you with prospective methods of marketing your product or service. If you see that a specific marketing strategy is having a positive impact on a similar business, it would certainly be worth implementing in your marketing plan. Nobody is ever happy when their business is taking a downward spiral. It would be so much nicer to see sales increase and business sky-rocket. An effective marketing tip could put you at the top of your game and make the competition sit up and take notice.

Search Engine Marketing: In-House Or Outsource?

Search Engine Marketing: In-House Or Outsource?
by: Peter Young

After recently being involved in recruiting staff for a number of search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimisation (SEO) solutions it has become apparent that there is an increasing variation of skill set within the search marketing industry in the UK, as well as an increasing amount of competition, each vying for the best people available in the industry.
It has also become noticeable, by monitoring the UK recruitment boards, that many organisations are currently looking to bring their online marketing in-house, rather than outsourcing such work to a specialist search engine marketing or search engine optimisation company.
So what benefits can be leveraged from bringing SEO and SEM activity in-house, rather than outsourcing it to one of the many UK online marketing companies out there?
- Integration! Most obviously, integration with other marketing activity is probably one of the biggest driving forces behind the philosophy of bringing search engine marketing in-house.
- Focus! Search marketing organisations often work on a number of projects (for obvious economic reasons), juggling a number of campaigns and clients, and therefore not focussing clearly on any particular one. By bringing search marketing in-house, this focus can be ensured.
- Understanding! Nobody knows an organisation better than the organisation itself and it's staff, which can be a very valuable asset when heading down the search-marketing route.
However despite the advantages of bringing search engine marketing and search engine optimisation in house, it is still surprising that so many companies consider this route, for the following reasons:
- Economies of Scale! To effectively manage a full online marketing campaign an organisation would, in all probability, need a minimum of two key team members to effectively implement and manage on an ongoing basis. In today’s online marketing industry, such expertise could cost circa £60,000 in terms of annual salary alone, with this figure growing considerably when taking into account the direct costs involved.
- Return on Investment (ROI)! It is doubtful that many organisations would see a significant return on investment on a £60-100,000 online marketing outlay. However outsourcing such campaigns, really can result in significant returns on investment. For example, a typical ongoing campaign with a reputable SEO or SEM company could cost you around one quarter of the investment mentioned above.
- Utilisation of New Technologies! The benefit of focus, as mentioned earlier as an advantage, is a double-edged sword that could act to the detriment of a client. The incorporation of new methodologies, strategies, and technologies is often slower amongst in-house marketing teams than it is within SEM agencies.
Ultimately, organisations have to look towards the methods that they feel will benefit themselves. However in the haste to maintain control over all aspects of the business, is the potential for increased ROI through online marketing channels being overlooked because of naivety or bad planning?
About The Author
Peter Young - A search engine marketing (SEM) professional with E-Gain New Media Ltd [http://www.e-gain.co.uk/]. Offering online marketing, pay-per-click and SEO UK solutions.

How Write A Sales Page That Converts

How Write A Sales Page That Converts!
by: Dan Farrell

When you sell on the internet it is extremely vital to remember 3 steps. Have a hot expanding market, which wants and needs what you have to sell. Secondly make sure that your product or service will meet their needs and greatly benefit them.
Thirdly have powerful marketing methods to give them what you have. Finally and critically you must have a strong sales letter to convert your sales.
Many people forget to put the required effort into their sales letters and suffer the consequences of very bad or nonexistent sales. Sales letters are the core of your online business and without a excellent one even the best product won't get sold. Following are a few tips to get you off the mark and letter:
1. Learn from the top marketers- look at Sales pages written by master copywriters like Joe Vitale and other good copywriters. You can get a quick learning class by looking up the first 5 copywriters in Goolge and see their written style. Use their ideas and note how they plan the sales page, never copy and paste, this might get you in more trouble than it's worth.
2. Understand the 3 P's of Copywriting
a. Make it personal
b. Keep it precise and streamlined
c. Make it persuasive
3. Alter your sales letter to your product or service. The number of layouts are numerousto use. Basically your sales letter will be in three parts.
a. The first will be stressing to your reader's attention, the problem and emphasizing it.
b. Secondly you will be describing your product or service, and showing your reader how it definitely will solve their problems with benefits etc.
c. Conclusion: This part will include the call them to take an action, and a guarantee etc.
4. Go to work on headlines 1st and then sub headlines, lastly fill in the details. Always keep in mind the headline is your attention grabber. The headline most definitely will appeal to your reader and make them sit up and take notice. Your sub headlines must also bring attention and pull your reader into the rest of the sales page.
5. Ensure you have 'an iron clad' guarantee. This increases the reader's trust in you and be more inclined to buy.
It takes a some to perfect the art of copywriting, and most professional copywriters will tell you that no sales letter is finished. Sometimes only a word or two will dramatically increase orders.
Split testing: This is a most necessary part of making sure your sales copy to produce the highest sales conversions.
For more on split testing go to: Copywriting (http://at-home-business-opportunity.com/)
About The Author
Dan Farrell is the author of 10 Essential Steps To Online Wealth. These key steps are critical for a money making online business.
For more information, go to: Copywriting Tips (http://at-home-business-opportunity.com/)

The Seven Step Marketing Plan

The Seven Step Marketing Plan
by: Joel Christopher

Now you don't need to shell out $4000 a day just to get an idea of how Jay Conrad Levinson's Seven Step Marketing Plan works. This is a must-have for every budding Internet marketer. These are things you have to think over and write down before you go about your business.

Purpose
What is the purpose of your business? This will be your guiding star when it comes to building your business. Your purpose is very important so that you will be able to anchor yourself effectively in the business. Most businesses are created to fill a need. What particular need will your business fill in this big world where purchases are being made left and right?

Benefits
What benefits will the people have in your business? If you were to put yourself in the place of your customer, what will he see from your business that will be most useful to him? Remember, you cannot expect to get people's attention unless they get to benefit from you.

Target Audience
This is also another important question you must ask yourself. Who is your target audience? You cannot just aim your arrows without the right target. In order to be very efficient in what you do, you need to focus your attention somewhere specific. You will not be able to get too many subscribers if your business is too general.

Marketing Weapons
What will you be using to be able to achieve your ends? Will it be heavily on affiliate marketing techniques, display ads, Ezine ads or the like? You can't have everything, especially when you are starting out. So the best way to maximize your resources is by means of naming which of the techniques you would choose to focus on for your business.

Niche or Sub-target
A target audience is a general group of people you want to give your services to. A sub-target or niche are the particular sub-group within the wide group you have chosen to cater to.

Identity
You are not the only one in the world who chose to aim your services at that particular target market you have pre-selected. So if you really want to stand out, you must have that trademark by which the people will remember you by. What will be your business identity? What will you be best known for in the business you have chosen to put up?

Budget
This caps off the seven steps to marketing. The budget aspect is the border which sets the scope of your marketing capabilities. How much are you willing to shell out for your marketing venture? If you are to market with higher degrees of scale and technology, you will be expected to give out as much.

Car Magnets Are The Easy Way To Spread The Word

Car Magnets Are The Easy Way To Spread The Word
by: Chris Broad

‘When I die, I’m leaving my body to science fiction,’ was a quote on one of the car magnets that I read on my way to work on a Monday morning and it made me smile all the way. An amazing feat, since I am at my grumpiest best on Mondays. A quote, a well written message or even a visual representation has this quality of making people react. The reaction could either be positive or negative but there is a definite reaction, you simply cannot ignore it. The advertisers and marketers realized this a long time ago and have been good use of this tactic ever since. Advertisements are getting more and more whacky and innovative as the target audience becomes more and more discerning. Mediums of advertisement have undergone remarkable change and improvisation over the years with new modes of communication making an entry in the markets every now and then.
Car magnets are one such innovative medium that made an entry and have stayed in the market for their many advantages. Car magnets are not only economic but have the quality of putting across your message in the most effective manner possible. It also surpasses the need of the communication message being restricted to only one location, wherever the car goes the communication goes too, without any extra effort in the process. The car magnets have the ability to grab attention even when it is not specifically targeted at a particular audience group. This gives the advertisers and promoters a wider range and increases the chances of converting potential consumers into regular buyers in case the car magnets are promoting a particular product or service.
Car magnets are perhaps one of the most interesting ways to promote an idea or opinion and generate awareness. Social awareness campaigns can be spread to the masses through effective use of car magnets. As car magnets are easy to manufacture and economic to produce, they serve the purpose of promoting the message in the most cost effective way possible. Non profit organizations and help groups would find car magnets as the ideal solution to promote their cause to the general public. Easily customized according to the shape, design and style required by the promoter, car magnets can adapt themselves to any situation. Car magnets can be produced in bulk and distributed to a number of vehicle owners who would be happy to display a message that is well written and attractively designed. In this manner the message travels with vehicle and also spreads through word of mouth.
Car magnets can also be used to make a statement about the vehicle owner. A car owner displaying a car magnet that says ‘Out of my mind, be back in 5 minutes,’ shows he is intelligent, funny and creative all at the same time. So car magnets form a feasible option for advertisers, promoters and individuals being an effective and economic form of communication. Next time you are considering a practical option to spread the word about a cause close to your heart, you may want to try out the option of car magnets.

Affiliate Marketing Tips

Affiliate Marketing Tips
by: Juliette Lee

Today, many of us want to pack up our jobs and be our own bosses. The idea of working for you attracts many. However, the reality of making it happen soon stops most. In fact the vast majority of us cannot get a business off the ground due to 2 main factors; the first being money and the second being risk.
Starting even a small business takes a fair amount of money. You need to buy or rent premises, purchase your stock and equipment and pay staff if you have them. You will also have other outside expenses such as advertising.
Risk is the factor that kills most businesses off. Even if you're lucky enough to get the capital to start, nearly 90% of all small businesses fail in the first year. If yours is one of the lucky ones, you have to keep reinvesting your time and money to build up the businesses reputation. It could be anywhere from 5-7 years before any significant profit is seen. Most of us cannot wait that long which is what makes affiliate marketing such an attractive offer.
Affiliate marketing involves you, working as an affiliate for a merchant or company. You sell either goods or services and you’re paid on how much you produce. There are no costs and no risk. You put in what you choose and are rewarded accordingly.
Running an affiliate marketing business is challenging. You'll have to work very hard to build it up. However, you'll be rewarded for your hard work not someone else. Getting an affiliate marketing program going may seem difficult. The truth is it is down to you and how much you want to put in. There is no sure fire way to success but there are some good tips that you can follow to make you affiliate marketing scheme as successful as possible.
There are literally thousands of programs for you to choose from. However, to get started you may want to choose something that you are familiar with. This product or service may not be the hottest thing on the current market or make you a millionaire, but you will come off more confident and sincere with something you know and believe in.
This will also help when it comes to creating your site. Something familiar will allow you to be personal and creative. Trying to create a site around something you know little about will soon become boring and tedious.
Working with something familiar will also give you the some experience in the program. You can always expand at a latter time when you are more familiar with how things work.
Another good piece of advice is to watch the number of banners that you put up. A site full of banners will make the site look ugly and put off potential buyers. Carefully place your banners and use them to accent your site. Stuffing it full will not help.
Remember, in the world of affiliate marketing there is no such thing as the perfect program. Any particular program will be stuffed full of varying testimonials. Some will be great will others will have not done so well. You need to decide for yourself and not be put of by a few bad experiences. In the end it is down to you and how much you want to put in.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money and work for you. The risk to you is minimal and there is no start up cost. There are many great affiliate marketing programs out there and choosing the right one may seem like a daunting task. When you first start out remember to stick to what you know. Find something you know about and have an interest in. Make your site attractive to others and resist the urge to fill it with banners. This may end up having the opposite of your desired effect. Finally remember, there is no perfect program. Some will have success where others have failed. It is all down to you. Don't give up.

Search Engine Rankings with Keywords

Search Engine Rankings with Keywords
by: James Murray

If you want your website to be successful, search engine optimization (SEO) is essential. Keywords play a Hugh part in SEO strategy if you want to rank high on search engines and directories. Search engines bring most of the traffic to websites and many website owners don't spend the time that is required to optimize their web pages with proper keywords and keyword phrases.
a) Keywords placed in the TITLE of your website as well as in the description & keyword meta tags are extremely important.
b) Keywords placed inside linked text are considered very important by search engines, because this shows that your web pages are really talking about those keywords by giving more references to them.
c) Keywords placed near or at the end of web pages are important because it indicates to the search engines that the web page which started out describing a topic such as “online casino bonuses”, and is still talking about that even at the very end of the web page.
Placing keywords in a paragraph or a header (h1,h2 etc.) at the start of a web page, placing keywords in linked text, place keywords in ALT tags, anchors, and repeating keywords at the bottom of a web page are not new concepts in web page (SEO) optimization. Web page optimization practices have been a big part of good solid design, and when a website surfer examines a web page solid logical information is provided for them.
More advanced techniques can be done like blogging regularly, posting new content, pinging, tagging, and designing dynamic web pages with dynamic (rss feeds) content. If you expand your SEO methods into these areas on regular basis, you will be getting even better rankings.
Try these SEO techniques on your web pages and see what kind of results you obtain in your search engine rankings.

Promotional Products For The Business

Promotional Products For The Business
by: Mario Churchill

In an industry where exposure is important, promotional products are ways to get the word out there about your business. As soon as you inform what kind of services you offer and products your provide, promotional marketing will prove to be a businessman’s best friend.
Promotional product is a way of promotional marketing. The promotional advertising on internet sites have proven to be quite beneficial for the businessman because more and more people are aware of the services they can receive from the company.
Popular promotional products for the benefit of a business are as follows:
1. T Shirt Printing
Imagine the exposure your business will get with random people wearing shirts displaying your company’s logo. If you work on the design hard enough, they might even wear it when they’re out in public which means more exposure for you.
2. Water Bottles
Surprisingly, these have become promotional products as well. If you think that it’s just gyms and sports clubs doing this, think again. Nowadays, even corporations rely on plugging their businesses by asking promotional product manufacturers to have their company’s logo imprinted on these drinking containers.
3. Temporary Tattoos
Some corporations hold events where they hire a tattoo artist who puts the company logos on the guests’ arms, wrist, shoulders or other visible parts of their bodies. It may only be temporary but at least these people know about the company. In fact, they can say they wore the company!
4. Stickers and Labels
Just like tattoo, companies invest in stickers and labels for people to spread the word about their business. Rather, stick the word about the business.
5. Mouse Pads
Darth Vader and Bart Simpson should not be the only ones gracing on mouse pads. Your company logo can do the same. At least with this promotional product, you will be sure that people get to see your company logo whenever they use their computers.
6. Coffee Mugs
Imagine your company logo greeting your target customer every morning as he sips coffee. Now that’s a smart move.
7. Pens and Pencils
Clearly the most popular promotional product businesses and companies resort to. Pens and pencils bearing company logos are everywhere simply because this is the most accessible. Hey, everybody uses pens and pencils.
8. Refrigerator Magnets
Just like coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets bearing the logo of the company will surely greet the target market a very good morning indeed. It will also greet the target market a very good evening when he grabs a midnight snack.
9. Advertising Balloons
During company fairs, businessmen invest on a budget that will allow them to afford advertising balloons. Clearly, this is more expensive than the promotional product items that were mentioned earlier mainly because this one is gigantic in size. The minute it flies up in the air, people near that radius will see the company logo and know the business.
10. Clocks and Watches
This is also slightly more expensive than the other paragraphs because inputting the logo on these items mean more care considering that this will be placed on clocks and watches. It will take the promotional product manufacturer a harder time in achieving this feat as opposed to putting the logo on mugs, pens or pencils.
A smart businessman knows that in order for his business to succeed, he must get the word out there. This is the first step.

PR is More Than Just Publicity

PR is More Than Just Publicity
by: Sue Currie

So you've hung up your shingle and clients aren't exactly beating a path to your door. What can you do? Well you might think standing out on the street with a megaphone will do the trick. And it may be one way to gain attention for your business, but an overall public relations plan incorporating a number of promotional ideas could be just what your business needs.
Public relations is communicating who you are, what you do and how you make a difference. It's about having successful "relationships" with your "public". They could be friends, clients, potential customers, competitors or the media who can all help spread the word about your business.
One way of communicating your message is through publicity or media relations. Sending out media releases to create awareness of your product or service through editorial coverage is great publicity and it is very effective. They say publicity is seven times more effective than advertising. But it is just one tactic of an overall public relations plan that you could incorporate.
Let's look at a few other ideas:
* Newsletters email or hard copy – direct communication with your public, clients and customers. Send out some sort of communication to your data base at least once a quarter to keep "top of mind"
* Write articles about your area of expertise and submit them to business or consumer publications and online sites such as this one you are reading. I have had work come to me directly through published articles
* Fact sheets or a brochure. Include written information about you, your product or service with any mail outs
* Create a website. This is your online PR brochure but you need to keep telling people about it. Make sure you incorporate strategies to promote your site, such as include the domain name in every piece of communication collateral you have, whether it's brochures, stickers, pens or caps. Put it everywhere
* Product launches and product giveaways to the media. Create "buzz" for your business by giving something away. Be generous as ultimately it will help with sales.
* Public speaking – free speeches to Rotary clubs or other organisations is a good way of letting people know about your business and area of expertise. By being known as an expert on a particular topic and getting the word out perhaps the media will contact you
* Networking – join organisations of like minded people such as business networks or your local Chamber of Commerce. Build rapport and relationships to help spread the word about who you are and what you do
* Special events such as a trade show or entering business awards can help boost your profile. Why not hold a launch or an open day or even a cocktail party at your place of business to thank your clients or customers
* Sponsorships. If you can't afford to hold your own event why not sponsor an event that somebody else is organising. Make sure your sponsorship is acknowledged on any advertising and other communication collateral
* Something as simple as sending thank you notes and letters is good personal PR

Quit Being a Salesperson

Quit Being a Salesperson
by: Mark Hunter

Many sales are lost because of "sales." To be successful in this profession requires listening to the customer. Unfortunately as salespeople, we often hear so many different things that we feel the need to provide solutions for all of their problems. When this happens, sales professionals can overwhelm the customer, causing them to become confused, and, ultimately, losing any sale.

For the salesperson, it all begins when Marketing comes out with what they perceive as the greatest new product or service to hit the market. Marketing will proclaim that their latest creation will solve all of the problems any customer has or could possible ever have. They continue to lay it on with an assortment of product characteristics all matched to whatever issues the customer has.

Meanwhile, attentive salespeople absorb this information and subconsciously begin to look for ways to apply everything Marketing has proclaimed. It's only natural for sales professionals to believe the information and to assume that it applies to everyone. Once they adapt this mindset, one of the biggest "quiet mistakes" in Sales occurs. It's not an error made in front of a customer such as misquoting a price or missing a key date. Rather, it's a "quiet mistake" because it happens long before a sales call, and, therefore, becomes hard to see how it could result in a lost sales.

Anytime a salesperson is dealing with a customer, patience must be exhibited to not only find out what their needs are, but also to discover which particular need best matches what is being offered. Unfortunately, salespeople often do not take the time to validate the needs they hear. Instead, they treat all of the needs as being equal, remember what Marketing has told them, and begin to think they've come across the perfect customer for their product/service. This is where many sales are lost because the salesperson does not narrow their focus. Therefore, it is critical for sales professionals to think "sale", not "sales."

Top performing salespeople are confident of their skills and their ability to close a sale. They focus on helping the customer fulfill their primary need. Average salespeople, on the other hand, attempt to satisfy numerous needs and in so doing, end up losing the sales by overwhelming the customer.
The key to being a successful salesperson is to focus on selling to the primary need of the customer, not on multiple needs. This will result in a higher closing percentage and, in the long-run, allow you the opportunity to continue the relationship by helping the customer solve the other issues they have identified.

14 Steps to Successful Cold-Calling

14 Steps to Successful Cold-Calling
by: Mark Hunter

The vast majority of salespeople do not enjoy cold-calling. Yet, at the same time, it is an activity that most need to do on a regular basis. The biggest reason sales professionals are not more successful in this necessary endeavor is the defense that they have other things to do. However, nothing will overcome this excuse faster than being held accountable for making a set number of cold calls each day, each week, or each month.

As much as people would like to believe there is a secret formula for being successful at cold-calling, the only valid one is being disciplined enough to do it. When people avoid cold-calling, they are generally telling themselves that either they don't know enough about what they're selling or they don't believe the outcome will be successful. For this simple reason, it is necessary to be confident in yourself and what you are selling.

The following may be beneficial as you begin to practice this critical discipline.
1. Have a dedicated time each day to prospect.
2. Know the reason for calling before you call: customer benefits, not product features.
3. Leave short voice mail messages.
4. Assume your voice mail messages will never be returned.
5. Always call one level higher in an organization than you believe is necessary.
6. Be confident and competent.
7. Phone calls placed before 8:30 AM are the most likely to be answered by the person you're trying to reach.
8. Respect the gate-keeper by treating them in the same manner you would treat the prospect.
9. Prospecting calls on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons will have the worst results.
10. Prospecting on "semi-holidays" and inclement weather days will get a higher response.
11. Make it your goal to earn the right, privilege, and honor to talk to the person again.
12. Believe in what you're selling and the benefits that the prospect will receive from your products/services.
13. Believe in yourself and your professionalism.
14. Anytime is a good time to make a call; don't wait for the "perfect" time.
By practicing and persevering, both your skills and confidence will improve. Furthermore, making yourself accountable will help you turn your excuses into successful sales.

Attract Tenants Through Advertising

Attract Tenants Through Advertising
by: Gus Taperman.com

For a successful business, it is very necessary to advertise various products and services that are provided so that the customers can have a look at these products and then choose according to their tastes and preferences. By advertising, the business unit gains popularity and the overall growth is dependant on it as it contributes in increasing the level of profit.

Nowadays, advertising for real estate is also on the forefront as if you have a property to give it on rent but you are not finding an appropriate way to find a genuine buyer, you can advertise about your real estate and can find a large number of buyers that would be interested in taking your property at rent and paying you a handsome rental. Moreover, renting needs a lot of courage as it might be possible that the tenant might not pay the rent on time or keep your property with care.

Therefore, advertising your rental property is the best option to go with. These advertisements are easily accessible by various people and this helps in the marketing of property rentals. You can also take the services of a rental agency that will help you in getting a good tenant for your real estate. These rental agencies are gaining wide popularity because they attract a lot of people by their special renting schemes.

The best way to advertise your property for rent is to put your property's specifications and details on your Local Flyer 20 or more zones and on national rental website as this will contribute in attracting a large number of buyers across the country and the rental for your property will have a larger market and thereby helping tremendously in increasing the value and interest of your property.

You can also go with the option of advertising or putting up a notice on your community's board that will highlight your proposal of renting property at exclusive prices. One can also go with the option of increasing the visibility of the rental property notice at schools, colleges and offices.
In addition, when you will find a potential tenant, don't make hasty decisions and check the important details about the renter as if there will be a bad tenant, you will have to face severe problems.
Also, it is necessary to make the tenant acquainted with rules and regulations beforehand and a rental agreement should be duly signed. Last but not the least, while advertising; make sure that you don't miss to mention that you need potential and trustworthy tenants for your property

3 Affiliate Marketing Tools

3 Affiliate Marketing Tools
by: Cliff Posey Jr

The term affiliate marketing is used to describe an advertising agreement between a website owner and a merchant. If you have researched Internet home business opportunities, you know that affiliate marketing is one of the most simple and profitable opportunities on the web. Most affiliate marketing programs cost nothing to join, which means that there is no financial risk involved for you.

For the most part, getting started is easy. There is no previous sales experience required, and as mentioned above, there is no charge to join most of these programs. Most programs provide all of the marketing materials you will ever need, including site graphics and links. You also don't have to worry about many of the other things that come with an online retail business, such as inventory, order processing, and shipping.

However, these programs, like any work at home business, requires an organized plan of action if you want to succeed. To assist you in developing a plan, Web Business Tools has created a list of affiliate marketing tools that are essential for every work at home business.

Tool Number One
Your Own Website

When it comes to affiliate marketing, your website is not only your most important tool; it is the key to your success. In addition to being user-friendly, your site should also be credible and professional looking. If you are interested in using one of these programs as an Internet home business opportunity, you will want to begin by building a website that will serve your needs. To come up with ideas, search the web and see what others are doing. Assess these other sites to determine what you like and what you don't like. Make notes as you go and use them to develop an original and unique website that can stand out among the competition.

If you are unable to build your own website, there are many different professional web development companies who can. They may also be able to help you develop optimized content that will be relevant to your Internet home business opportunity. If you are not interested in hiring someone, there are also software programs that can be purchased which will teach you all about website building and website development.

Tool Number Two
Incentives

To be successful in affiliate marketing, you must encourage people to click on links for the products and services that you are promoting. To help build a clientele, create an opt-in email list, newsletter, or e-zine. If you really want to increase the profits of your work at home business, offer incentives, such as free software, services, etc., that will encourage people to subscribe to your publications. As with any Internet home business opportunity, promotion is the difference between success and failure.

Tool Number 3
Links

Affiliate marketing success depends heavily upon the traffic that comes through your website. Your search engine ranking typically determines your traffic level, but another factor is link popularity.

To gain link popularity, you can submit your site's link to other websites, free newsletters, etc. The more times you submit, the more chances you have to become a popular destination, which in turn, provides you with more chances to make your Internet home business opportunity a success.

Having your own work at home business can be a satisfying experience. If you want to make the dream come true, give affiliate marketing a try. By taking time to learn more about affiliate marketing programs, affiliate marketing tools, and other Internet home business opportunities, you can develop a successful work at home business.

Marketing By Any Other Name...

Marketing By Any Other Name...
by: Trish Lambert

What does the word "marketing" mean to you? When you say "we need to do some marketing" or "we need a marketing plan," what is the end result you are picturing?

Of all the functions that contribute to business growth, marketing has got to be the least standardized. Not only do the activities associated with marketing vary from company to company, but the purpose and goals of marketing differ widely. In many cases, marketing is a synonym for sales, which in my opinion is one of the biggest strategic mistakes a company can make.
Marketing is not sales. But marketing better be contributing to revenue generation or you're wasting time and money. And probably lots of both.

Here is a simple way to think of marketing: your marketing activities need to make your sales process easier. How they do that will vary depending on your company and market. Product marketing is very different from service marketing. Business to business marketing is very different from business to consumer marketing. Marketing high cost goods and services requires a different approach from marketing commodities.
Even in the same industry and marketplace, how one company markets will differ from the way its competitors market. Just watch a couple of beer or car commercials on TV and you'll see what I mean. This is because company culture, personality, and brand will impact marketing activities and messages.
So, I ask you: Is your marketing program making your sales process easier? Be careful when answering. There are nuances to marketing that are important to consider. Some activities are more direct than others and so are much easier to gauge. An example is direct response marketing. Another is e-commerce web sites with incorporated shopping carts. In both cases there is a clear link to the sales side. This type of marketing can be very easily quantified and its impact on sales can be accurately measured.

Some activities, though, are more subtle. Things that get your company better known in the marketplace will help the sales process, but not as clearly as direct response or "click here to buy" activities. They are qualitative in impact but no less important.
Effective public relations, for example, will certainly influence your target market by keeping your name top of mind in the people you want to buy from you. This type of activity, of course, is nowhere near as measurable as more direct things. Does this mean you shouldn't do it? Absolutely not!! It does mean, however, that you need to stay awake and find ways to gauge how successful these more subtle activities are in making the sales process easier.
Here's the bottom line. Take time to clearly and accurately define what marketing means specifically for your company, and define how it can make the sales process easier. Don't just accept any published definitions, no matter how exalted their sources.

Brand Yourself And Success Will Come!

Brand Yourself And Success Will Come!
by: Royleena Nicholas

The internet is growing daily with folk who are looking for ways to earn a comfortable living from their home base. However, the sad truth is many online business owners never make a profit online! Sadly, even in today's online market, many business owners have no idea how to effectively market their internet business. In addition, they don't understand the importance of "branding" their name to build a quality online presence and reputation.
To welcome online success, "branding you" should be the number one online business owners' priority. When beginning an online Internet career, it is detrimental to online longevity that the online promoter cultivate a squeaky clean image.
Many online business owners tarnish their name, by promoting worthless downloadable software and eBooks. It is a good idea to test-drive any eBook or software package before you decide to promote the product as an affiliate marketer. It's not an intelligent idea to promote worthless products to your opt-in list, so be careful what you endorse online.
Another way you can ruin your branded name and good reputation is opportunity jumping or program hopping. To highlight this point, I will talk about only five popular online business programs that are heavily promoted online. The programs are Perfect Wealth Formula, edc Gold, Passport to Wealth, Wealth Magnet System and Roadmap to Riches.
Lets go back a few months to when Passport to Wealth launched in February 2007. Since February I have seen the same top earners, jump from (1) edc Gold to (2) Passport to Wealth to (3) Perfect Wealth Formula to (4) Wealth Magnet System and now to (5) Roadmap to Riches. What a great way to earn instant cash daily! Now. I am not saying, that all these business opportunity promoters are all tarred with the same brush, but in amongst this group of business promoters are a few bad eggs, that like nothing more than to take your hard earned money and thereafter never return your emails or phone calls.
The good news is it doesn't take long before the online internet community, catches onto these dirty quick cash generating tricks and unlike the offline business world, this type of underhanded home business owner can't move to another state or country, and start all over again!
To profit quickly on the net, firstly brand and protect your name. Next make sure you do your research and only promote quality products. To explode your success online, in your first year, it is a good idea to find yourself a personal eCoach to educate yourself in online advertising and marketing methods.
To conclude, every new internet business promoter should understand that online marketing success doesn't happen overnight; sometimes it can take 2-3 years to build a successful online presence. I believe, perseverance is the key to success, with any Internet business and online marketing endeavour.

Are You Ready To Show Your Crafts at Trade Shows?

Are You Ready To Show Your Crafts at Trade Shows?
by: Jonni Good

If you make your living by selling hand-made crafts, you've undoubtedly spent many hours at local and regional craft shows. As you already know, finding the right shows, getting accepted, and creating the display takes a great deal of creativity and time, but a good show makes the trouble well worth the effort.
Another possible way to sell your crafts, through gift shows, is often overlooked by people who sell hand-crafted products, even though these shows can be quite profitable. Trade shows are attended by shop owners on the lookout for new and innovative gift items to add to their inventory, and a good show in a large market can bring in enough orders to keep you busy for weeks. Of course, items ordered at the show will be sold at wholesale prices, and the shop owners will expect delivery of the items in a reasonable amount of time.
When I sold my collectors' dolls through gift shows, the high volume of orders actually became a problem for me, because it was difficult to keep up with the production on my own. If I were still selling the dolls, I would 'fix' this problem simply by increasing the price enough to slow down the number of orders, without (hopefully), bringing the orders to a stop.
Since many craftspersons are most comfortable selling directly to their customers, taking the step to wholesale orders through trade shows can require a few adjustments in your business model. There will also be some fairly important decisions to be made before committing to a show. The first important decision will be whether or not you want to set up your own trade show display, or if you will sell through an independent sales representative.
Setting up a booth at a trade show is a bit different from the craft shows you may be used to. Application and space fees are likely to be much higher, and regulations about what materials you can use for your display, and what type of advertising is allowed, may vary from one show to the next. There may even be union-required regulations that require you to hire someone to move your display and products from your truck to the sales floor. Working through these regulations will take time, and you should definitely read through the fine print before agreeing to rent a space.
Most companies who sell at these shows will either rent or purchase the booth itself from a local trade show display company, and have the signage created on a custom basis by the same company that provides the booth. Since the cost of these displays can be quite high, most companies just starting out will choose to rent instead of buy the booth. Hand-made display booths may or may not be allowed, depending on the rules of the show and any fire and safety regulations that they need to adhere to.
Probably the easiest way to get started at gift shows is to find a well-qualified independent sales representative who will add your line to the other items he or she already sells. Your sales rep will probably attend many gift shows each year, and a good one can change your small local business to a national business almost overnight. Your sales costs will usually consist of a commission for each order. Although the sales rep probably handles the costs of buying and setting up the booth, she will be acting as an independent contractor and can make her own rules. It is vital that you know in advance what both you and she expect from the experience long before your first show.
When choosing a sales representative, you'll need to keep a number of things in mind so you can find someone who will best serve the needs of your product. For instance, it will be important to know what other products will be displayed alongside yours, since the other products may be the first thing a potential buyer will see. Do the other products complement your own style of crafts? Is the quality as high? Will your products be given a prominent place in the booth?
You should know exactly how much commission will be paid for each order, and when the commission is due - when the order is taken, or when the item is delivered. If you will be charged for any other trade show costs, such as booth fees, you must know this in advance. Since many gift shows take place all over the country (and the world), you should know which shows your products will be sold in.
You'll also need to know if seasonal designs will be expected - even if you don't normally create Christmas-oriented crafts in July, the visitors to the gift show may be ready to write orders for their Christmas stock. Your sales representative should help you put together a display that meets the needs of the particular gift show.
Both you and your sales rep will need to know how long each order will take you to complete - there can be nothing worse for a professional sales rep than having a good show and taking orders for 200 items, when the producer can deliver only half of the orders on time. Many companies have gone out of business by becoming too popular - be sure you set a limit on the number of orders your sales rep can take at any show, so you don't destroy your reputation by selling more crafts than you can produce on time.
If you're ready to start selling nationally through gift shows, you'll be taking your small business to the next obvious step. Independent sales reps can be found in the local phone book. If you decide to sell your crafts yourself, you can find schedules of upcoming trade shows online.

Target Audience – One of the Four P’s

Target Audience – One of the Four P’s
by: Rita Cartwright

Do you know who your target audience is? If you don’t know, you are not maximizing your advertising and/or marketing efforts.
A marketing strategy blends the elements of the marketing mix, also known as the four P’s (product, price, placement, promotion). The promotion element involves communication, and one type of communication is advertising. The advertising strategy combines the elements of a creative mix. This mix includes the target audience, product concept, communications media, and the advertising message.
In order to create an effective advertising message, it is important to know who your target audience is. The target audience includes the end-user, the person who makes the purchase, and the one who influences the purchasing decision. For instance, McDonald’s target audience is made up of children and their parents. The children influences their parent’s purchasing decision. Therefore, McDonald’s advertising message is directed toward the children, as well as their parents.
The process of determining who your target audience is begins with segmenting the consumer market; finding the right niche. This process begins with identifying groups of people with certain shared characteristics within a broad market. The categories of characteristics are geographic, demographic, behavioristic, and psychographic. Then combine these groups into larger market segments according to their mutual interest in the product’s utility or benefit. From these segments, choose your target market. Your target audience includes your target market. The target market in the previous McDonald’s example is the person(s) who makes the purchase. Target audience is larger than the target market.
Segmenting the business market is just as complex as segmenting the consumer market. Business markets are identified by using many of the same variables used to identify consumer markets. Additional variables used are business purchasing procedures, SIC Code, or by market concentration.
The product/service market consists of all types of consumers; however, groups of consumers have similar needs and wants. Begin with market research; identify your groups with shared characteristics; combine these groups into larger markets; and select your target audience which includes your target market. Before you create an effective advertising message, it is important to know who you are talking to. Do you know who your target audience is?
Rita J. Cartwright is a Virtual Assistant and owner of RJ’s Word Processing Services. She received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Marketing from Arizona State University. More information about Rita and her company can be found at http://www.rjswordprocessing.com

4 Ways To Increase Your Company's Sales

4 Ways To Increase Your Company's Sales
by: Marc Entz

When faced with diminishing sales or a shift in profitability, sometimes a company will seek opportunities to expand sales by using different marketing methods. These time-tested marketing principles are used by businesses to seek out new opportunities to satisfy the needs of the consumer.

There are 4 ways to increase sales and expand revenue for your company. It is not necessary to use more than one of these methods. The best choice of the 4 methods is the one that will meet the needs of the company and the consumer best. This will provide a win-win situation for all concerned.

To increase sales consider one of the following methods for seeking opportunities in your target market:
1. Market Penetration:
Increase the market share of your current products in your present market. By up scaling your marketing mix you can increase your sales. To do this you advertise your present products more frequently and promote your company's image to the public through institutional advertising and publicity.

2. Market Development
You can also try to sell your present products in new markets. You have to do some market research on the needs of the consumers in these markets first. Your product may have other demographic groups that need it as well. This is a recommended area to investigate for more profit. Often your present products are in demand in other locations, with other age groups, or professional groups. This is an opportunity for more sales many companies look for.

3. Product development
You can increase your sales by offering new and improved products to your present market. This will give you an edge over your competition. Your customers will view your company as being progressive and up to date. This is not only a great way to increase sales, but your customers will remember your company because of the unique product you sell.

4. Diversification
If you are well established in one line of business, you may wish to diversify into a totally new one. This means moving into a new market with a new product. This can keep your profits on the rise. Here again, market research and marketing plans have to be made first. As you can see there are opportunities for gaining sales in all four areas. The best choice for your business depends on your goals and the resources you have. The best way to capitalize on these strategies is to start with your present strengths and look for market opportunities that complement them. Then do your market research and planning. The sky is the limit when you plan ahead using these proven marketing tactics.
This article may be reprinted in full. The resource box and hyperlink must remain intact.

About The Author
Marc Entz is the Editor of The SavePress Smart Money Directory, a new upbeat site for people who like valuable resources for saving money. You can read several articles with tips for business or pleasure, or catch up on a variety of related news at our website online now:

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