Welcome to iPod Blog Site Sites. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
Possibly Related Posts:
The number one reason for success or failure of any business period, is knowing your target market. And doing business online is no exception. One of the best ways to get visitors, and keep them coming back to your online business is determining who your target market is. Think about it like this, when you search for something online, you want to see as much relevant information as possible about what you’re searching for, makes sense right?
Well in order to design an effective marketing strategy, for your online business you’ve got to be able to zero in on your target market. Todays consumers are more market savvy then ever before, and don’t like to be lumped in with others who don’t have the same wants and desires in mind. So always do your research to be sure you understand your target market.
When doing your research for your target market, keep in mind the most important and often times overlooked part of your marketing strategies know your product, how are you going to sell something if you don’t know anything about it, sounds pretty obvious, but you would be surprised at the amount of people and businesses that don’t get this.
People are not going to to buy from someone who is not familiar with the product or service they’re selling, and if you are a network marketer guess what, the product you’re selling is you, your prospects have to buy into you. And the only way to do this is to brand yourself as an expert in your industry, by creating good content and giving relevant information that your prospects are looking for.
How familiar are you with the industry that you’re working in, this is very important make it a point to visit other websites in your industry. Find out what they’re doing, go to Google and do a search, look at the businesses on the first page, find out how they got on the first page you’ll be surprised what you’ll learn. Remember this is your competition, the internet is constantly changing and evolving so always keep an eye on your competition watch what they’re doing learn from their mistakes. Know your industry inside and out by becoming an expert in you field.
By following these simple but powerful target market strategies you’ll be able to identify what people in your target market are talking about, thinking about and looking for. Thereby enabling you to help them solve their problems. This is very important, we as human beings have hopes, dreams, wants and desires that we’re always striving towards. And if you can help people solve their problems and take away some of the pains, people will be willing to talk to you, buy from you, and ultimately join you in business.
Well now you know the importance of knowing your target market, building your online business doesn’t have to be hard, attracting prospects to you doesn’t have to be hard, by knowing your target market and the problems you can help people solve will greatly increase the probability for your online business success. Just like any other successful marketing plan there is a formula all you need to do is do your research, stay abreast of whats going on in your industry take action and follow though.
Kevin Thomas is a 20 year entrepreneur who has run a successful traditional bricks and mortar business,and is now teaching people how to develop a online network marketing [http://www.marketingmerge.com/network-marketing/#5] business though a very effective lead generation program.You can contact him at his blog Network Marketing Industries for more information.
Kevin@networkmarketingindustries.com
Author: Kevin L Thomas
Possibly Related Posts:
Survey results
Each of the questions in the survey relates to an important factor in website development, online marketing or search engine marketing. Here are the results, and an explanation for each:
1. How long has your business or organisation had a website?
Under 6 months 22%
More than 6 months 0%
1 year or more 11%
2 years or more 67%
This question relates to the age of a given domain name (www.yourcompany.com) Domain names that are older are given more value in the “eyes” of search engines, just like an established company will have more credibility over a start-up.
Further, companies should register their domain names as far in advance as possible, as this is seen as a further sign of stability – that the search engine can trust that if they send traffic to your site, it will still be there in the future.
2. When did you last add new content to your website?
Last week 22%
Last month 22%
Last 3 months 11%
Last 6 months 11%
Longer 34%
People prefer a site that has fresh and relevant information, over a site that appears to be outdated. New content is also an important factor in search engine optimisation – the process of improving your website to achieve a higher ranking. Fresh content on a website is a sign that the site is active, is being updated, and the information in it is likely to be more relevant. The job of search engines is to deliver the most relevant information to the searcher on their chosen topic. Therefore if you update the information on your website frequently, you will have a better chance of appearing in the results.
3. How often do you receive/enquiries or/leads/via your website?
Daily 11%
Weekly 22%
Monthly 34%
Quarterly 0 %
Never 33%
This is an indicator of how visible your site is to people who are searching, and how effective your e-marketing is. If a site is not generating enquiries at least weekly, it probably bears improvement.
4. Do you use ecommerce to sell products or accept payments?
Yes 0%
No 78%
NA 22%
With many people choosing to shop online these days, this is a useful convenience you can provide to your customers, assisting them to make the buying decision in the moment.
5. Does your business or organisation produce a periodical enewsletter to communicate regularly with prospects, providing them useful information about your field or industry?
Yes 56%
No 33%
Don’t know how 11%
E-marketing, including enewsletters, is one of the most cost-effective and targeted methods of marketing to your prospects and customers. It is also a method that is useful in building brand awareness and credibility with prospects over time.
6. If so, what is the response rate of your enewsletter?
5% Response 60%
10% Response 0%
25% Response 20%
50% Response 20%
Measuring the response rate of your enewsletters is an important factor is assessing their effectiveness. Unfortunately, many businesses with websites do not have the capability to measure their website visitors, or marketing effectiveness. Anything over 50% is excellent, and above 25% is commendable.
7. Can you gather prospect’s contact information and profiles in order to send targeted and relevant communications to them?
Yes 44%
No 56%
Prospects should be able to easily send an enquiry or get on your database as easily as one or two clicks. Generally speaking, this function ought to be the number one purpose of any business website. Why? Because a database of customers is the best source of continued revenue, and adds to the value of the business.
8. Do you use new/social media in your online marketing i.e. blogs, podcasts, video, social networks?
Yes 0%
No – not yet 89%
No – waste of time 11%
New/Social media is a great way of engaging with new audiences and benefiting from free traffic to your website. People are talking about any and every issue through these channels, including products and brands. Free word of mouth is never a bad thing.
9. If so, which one(s)?
No respondents indicated that they currently used social media in their online marketing mix.
Depending on industry, some forms of social media are more beneficial than others. We hope to provide more information on this in the future.
10. Does your site get on the first page of Google for a desired keyword term for your product or service?
Yes 11%
No 89%
The fact is, there is no point in having a website, if no one knows about it. Search engine traffic to your site is so valuable because the people who visit are actually searching for your product – you don’t have the cost of finding customers, they’re trying to find you!
Generally, if you’re not within the first three pages of search results, searchers will never know that your site exists. The top 3 positions are the most valuable – these are the results that appear without having to scroll down the page.
Conclusions and Recommendations from the survey
So what do these statistics mean? Some correlations from the individual results of the survey that are worth noting are these:
- Sites that are updated regularly receive more enquiries. Conversely, those sites that are not updated receive few enquiries. Users who find fresh content on a site are more likely to find it useful and visit it more frequently.
- Few sites that participated in the survey achieved a first page position on Google, even those which are updated regularly. However those sites that are not updated regularly are much less likely to achieve a high ranking.
- Subsequently, those sites without a good ranking generally received significantly less leads and enquiries.
- There exists a strong correlation between companies that produce frequent e-newsletters, and the number of leads that they receive. Conversely, those companies that do not produce an e-newsletter are less likely to receive leads through their site.
Must do recommendations for business website owners:
- Consistently update your website content – For the benefit of both your visitors, customers, and your search engine ranking. As your site becomes an industry authority, visitors will find it more useful, other sites will link to it, and you will get a better ranking, naturally.
- Produce an e-newsletter at least monthly – This is a cost effective, targeted and non-invasive way of staying in your customer’s minds. If you really have something exceptional to say, consider going weekly. A word of caution though; make sure that the people you send the e-newsletter to have given you permission to communicate with them. Otherwise its spam, its illegal, and it will really annoy them.
- Start engaging with new/social media – Whilst it is difficult to draw a strong connection, it is interesting to note that Western Sydney businesses are not engaging social media, and also are not ranking well in search results. Consider creating a free blog and writing to it weekly, joining a professional or industry social network, or creating a podcast.
Implement the above recommendations on your business website, and you’ll be well on the way to effective online marketing.
By C.S. Thompson – Online Communications Specialist
For more information about improving your online communications, contact me via info@thompsonmarketing.com.au
Get a free website evaluation by taking our online effectiveness survey at http://www.thompsonmarketing.com.au
C.S. Thompson is an online communications specialist whose firm focussed on targeted marketing communications delivered primarily via electronic media. Based in Sydney, Australia, Thompson Marketing Consultants delivers results for customers via effective and well managed websites, email marketing campaigns, social media strategy and marketing planning.
Author: Cameron Thompson
Possibly Related Posts:
You need a website for providing your services and products online also when visitors click on the corporate flash presentation your website should be opened. However the website with shopping carts is required if you intend to sell the products or to project the company as a professional supplier. Still you can promote the services and products even if you got a very basic website, if it provides the detail of the offerings and also your contact details.
Web banners or professional flash intros are in different styles and sizes. Most of the websites take it which has got standard size. Let us see the various points which we need to know before creating the online banner.
1.The aim of the web banner ad campaign
The banner must be framed or structured according to your purpose and aim. The first thing you need to know the purpose of the campaign. The purpose could be to sell or to promote the products. You must also decide and allocate your budget according to the advertising costs and costs for creating the banners.
2.To know your business
First you need to know whether your business even require online campaign or not. For instance, it is possible that the kind of products and services you provide, people do not even prefer to buy them online. You can simply add it to get an online recognition.
3.Target audience
You should know your target audience well as this would help you to get the good reward in the end. The audience could be people from the same or different industry, so just keeping in mind your target audience; you can achieve good rewards through your banner.
4.Website URL
Your website URL should be included in your banner. You can use it in the small font size or large font size according to your choice. But it is mandatory to use URL as this would only give you an online identity.
Author has experience in the corporate flash presentation. He is currently associated with the Ideaz Inc – A full service brand design agency in India.
Author: Surinder Sharma
Possibly Related Posts:
Either you’re Algerian or not, organization or particular, physical or moral person, you want to pass advertisements in Algeria or consult them online via Internet, you’re right, because djemla.com reduces time and distance connecting therefore people having common interests in goods and services in Homeland or foreigners seeking to bring them locally.
All transaction (buy, sell, rent, exchange…or simply ask for) of goods, Real Estate (house, park, hangar, country cottage, office, store…), touristic car (family, sportive, grand-turismo…being berline, coupé, citadine, luxury limousine, 4×4, Suv, Monospace) even utility (Pick-up, Fourgonnette,…), heavy lorry (truck, trax, Clark…). All other sort of goods are accepted, except those prohibited (listed in 4th paragraph), scooter, motorcycle, bike, computing, electric household appliances, electronics, phones, clothing, textile, sport material, antiquity, art & culture, cosmetic & beauty, jewelers, food, leisure, toys, games, services (telecommunication, commerce, tourism, custom transit, in addition to other provision of services) and miscellaneous.
Although the site is hosted elsewhere, it targets primarily nationally territory
Center Wilayas (districts) as Algiers, Tipaza, Blida, Boumerdès, Tizi-ouzou, Bejaïa, Médéa…etc
Western part of country (Oran, Tlemcen, Mostaganem, Chlef..etc)
Eastern region (Constantine, Annaba, Sétif, Skikda…etc)
The Great South (Laghouat, Ghardaïa, Biskra, Béchar, Adrar, Tmantrasset, Tindouf, Ellizi…etc)
Djemla TEAM takes care of the correct working of the site – technical side as well as of content to be published-. They control specific rules and criteria and decide whether to accept or not the advert suggested. That said, it is automatically refused any sending that has characters :
1)- Article prohibited by the law or considered to be undesirable by the habit and the religion (drug, alcohol, arm, pigmeat, stolen object…)
2)- Service ou activity prohibited by the law or considered to be undesirable by the habit and the religion (Activity directly or indirectly linked to one of the prohibited articles quoted above like Traffic of clandestine immigrants and women and so on.
Due to its technological, technical and graphical characteristics, Djemla.com is actually the reference in the matter in Algeria making it appreciated leader for both local and foreign surfers targeting products or home costumers.
Following some examples:
1- Optimization of databases in order to make requests treated the most rapidly possible.
2- Fast and secured servers with high storage capacity, physically situated in Sweden, running 24 H a day, 7 days a week 365 days/a year. Backup copies are guaranteed as precaution to prevent unexpected data loss. Better, reserve servers are ready to intervene in case of critical problem inside main servers (server slowdown, drop in voltage…)
3- Beauty of graphism while keeping some studied simplicity not to disperse the attention of the Net surfer and the facility of navigation
4- The site gives the impression of « déjà-vu », allowing the user to familiarize with briefly, the moment he get in contact.
It is noticed that in spite of its relatively recent appearance.The Web site quickly gained the confidence of the advertisers and consultants for the reasons :
1- Speed of loading home page and other headings
2- Recognizable commands since first glance
3- Facility to process (add, modification, delete and consultation) advertisements.
4- Personal Data confidentiality guaranteed, it means not shared (emails…) with third parties without this latter is being asked by the announcer himself. But other data like phone number…are required to be shown to all visitors for purpose of direct contact.
5- All advertisements are checked before validation to avoid abuses… and to ensure a whole credibility
6- Unlimited number of announcements allowed to anybody
You want certainly to see it. I invite you to launch your browser, type magical expression http://www.djemla.com, press ok and hop, you are there
Have fun!
Farid S.
Webmaster-Web Marketer
Author: Farid Sidoummou
Possibly Related Posts:
I know… you have a service-based business, or a professional services firm, and you probably don’t like the idea of marketing (or advertising, or selling).
In fact, many service providers, professionals, and technical specialists think that if they need to promote their business to get clients, they can’t be very good.
After all, successful businesses are built on word of mouth and referrals, right? And that should be enough to make you a success.
Sorry if I’m about to offend you… but those old-fashioned ideas about marketing your business just don’t wash anymore.
Times have changed – and so has the way your clients choose a service provider
Receiving referrals and attracting clients via word of mouth is still very important. But if you don’t promote your business, you are neglecting it.
And these days, online marketing should be an essential part of your marketing strategy.
Online marketing can be used to:
Enhance your professional standing.
Educate prospects and clients about your services.
Generate new business.
Attract media attention.
Attract the right sort of staff for your firm.
Launch new services.
When I talk about online marketing I don’t mean those cheap and nasty emails you see selling everything from shares, health products, and body parts! That’s called unsolicited email, or junk mail.
Professional online marketing means you have a website that is designed to educate and attract clients. And also that you are using modern (and ethical) promotional strategies to get your message to your preferred audience.
Here is a summary of the main online marketing tactics you can use.
Website Optimisation
Your website must be optimised so that the key pages are easily read by the major search engines. After all, research shows that over 70% of people check online sources before making a serious decision – especially when it comes to business.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is still a growing field. It combines the ‘science’ of search engine algorithms, with the ‘art’ of presenting your information in a unique manner.
Email Communication
Are you using a planned series of email contacts with your clients and prospects? Many service firms forget to communicate with previous clients. They just focus on the matters at hand. Don’t fall into that trap.
The world is much more competitive than it used to be and you need to have a relevant way of remaining in contact with clients. After all, they are most likely to refer others to you – if they remember you and think you care.
There are numerous options for using existing email service providers to create and send your own special email communications – call them newsletters, briefs, or updates, it doesn’t matter.
Pay Per Click Advertising
All the major search engines offer the opportunity to advertise on their search results pages. This works by showing your ad only when people are searching for the key words you have specified as being relevant.
This is vastly different from standard print advertising where your ad is shown to everyone who reads the paper.
Using Pay Per Click (PPC) adverting allows you to create multiple versions of your ad so you can easily see which ones work best. Your ad’s only appear on pages that list relevant search results. This means the people who see your ad are already ‘in the market’ for your services. And you only pay when people click on your ad to visit your site. You don’t pay for everyone who just sees your ad.
There are certain techniques and processes that should be used with PPC campaigns. Such as creating a special landing page for your ad’s, rather than just sending visitors to your home page.
Banner and Newsletter Advertisements
You can buy advertising space on other web sites, and when people click those ad’s they come back to your website. You can also advertise in email newsletters sent by other parties. Usually you will pay ‘per impression’ for this type of advertising, so you need to make sure you have a compelling message in your ad, and that you are presenting it to the right audience.
Keep up with the world your clients live in… and use online marketing effectively to attract more clients, increase revenue, and stay a step ahead of your competitors.
Stuart Ayling runs Marketing Nous, an Australasian marketing consultancy that specialises in marketing for service businesses. He helps clients to improve their marketing tactics, attract more clients, and increase revenue. For additional marketing resources, including Stuart’s popular monthly newsletter, visit his web site at http://www.marketingnous.com.au
Author: Stuart Ayling
Possibly Related Posts:
One of the biggest challenges in building your online business is to build a large e-mail list.
A list of prospects and buyers that you can use as a foundation for your online business.
It’s harder than ever to build e-mail lists online, as customers are more reluctant to opt in for free e-zines (or other mailing lists) than ever before.
What’s the best way to build an e-mail list? Rest assured, e-mail marketing is just as important now as it ever has been, and perhaps even moreso. So what do you do? My advice is to use offline marketing to build your online e-mail list. This is a tactic that is seldom employed by online marketers, and yet it is the most powerful way to build an e-mail list I know of. Why is this? Because people who move from an offline promotion to an online mailing list make up the most responsive e-mail list you will ever have.
Here are three ways you can use offline media to build your online mailing list.:
Radio
Radio is an overlooked but inexpensive and effective medium for building an online e-mail list. If you’re going to use radio, make sure your radio ad is a direct response style. The key to this kind of ad is that it simply directs people to a landing page (or squeeze page) that offers them something for free in return for their name and e-mail address. Even though the squeeze page technique is harder to implement in today’s online marketing world, with the people who move offline to online response rates are stellar.
Direct Mail
Using postcards, you can build an e-mail list very quickly using inexpensive direct mail promotions. Make sure that you buy quality, targeted lists to mail to. Also make sure that the copy you used in your direct mail is targeted, effective, and powerful.
Outdoor Advertising
If you can squeeze your opt in message into seven words or less, including the domain name, consider using outdoor advertising. Billboard companies frequently make killer, bargain-basement deals to fill up unused billboard space each month. Negotiate your deal toward the end of the month, and let them know that they are competing with other media for your business, and you should be able to get the best available rate.
Use these offline methods to build your online list and watch response rates rise.
Get a Free Marketing Critique from the Author
Ray Edwards is a sought-after Copywriter and Marketing Consultant. Get a free critique of your marketing materials or copy (a $197 value) at http://RayEdwardsCopywriting.com
Copyright 2006 by Ray Edwards. All rights reserved. You may post this article on your website, or publish it in your newsletter, free of charge as long as you do so without altering its content in any way, and as long as you include the About the Author information. Other conditions may apply.
Author: Ray Edwards
Possibly Related Posts:
Advertising is necessary for a business to stay afloat, but how a person advertises and where the advertisements show up can not only say a lot about the business but can also sometimes makes or breaks a business. If the people you need to target aren’t the ones seeing your advertising it’s mostly a wasted effort, and if you paid big money for that advertising you could be in serious trouble. Another important thing to do when it comes to online marketing in particular is to pay attention to future trends.
The most recent and talked about of these trends is online visibility marketing. This is not about SEO or those other trends, although they are important. It’s mostly about how visible someone is ‘as a brand’ on the Web. That means not just your blog or your Website, but also how easy it is to simply locate you. Some viral marketing is seen in there, but it’s mostly about social networking and marketing, and the social network sites are seeing a huge surge in business because everyone wants to get their name out there. So many people use these social networking sites that it’s a great way to get attention.
Marketing, advertising, and similar issues all contribute to how well a business does, too, so it’s important that a person is aware of what he or she is doing with his or her business, who is seeing it, and who is looking for it. It’s great if your business is all over MySpace, but if most of the people you’re targeting are actually using Facebook instead, your marketing is not really that effective. The key is that too many businesses think they have such a great product that their customers will just find them, but it really doesn’t work that way. It can and does happen to some extent, but for the most part it’s necessary for people who want to be seen and have their businesses grow to get out there and market themselves. They might have a lot to offer, but so do many other people and many other businesses. Marketing is a huge part of running any kind of business, so staying current and paying attention to trends is something that any business owner has to consider, especially when it comes to his or her online presence. The Internet is what will carry many businesses into the future and make them truly global.
This article was written by Tom Sangers on behalf of MKH London Recruitment advertising specialist and London Advertising agency
Author: Tom Sangers
Possibly Related Posts:
As fashions and other trends reflect looks and styles of times that some might prefer to forget, the term “everything old is new again” has never rung more true. This adage can also be used when marketing your business.
While it is true that the Internet has become easier and more accessible to marketers and advertisers, never underestimate the power of a well printed – and well placed – brochure, postcard or flyer. In fact, with many companies focusing their marketing online, print advertising has the advantage of remaining the “tried and true” method. In addition to including online marketing in your advertising budget, utilize the Internet’s search options to find an online printing company to affordably produce your full color brochures, advertising flyers and other print collateral to round out your marketing efforts.
Including traditional print marketing allows for a cross section of advertising on a variety of levels. For example, direct mail is an ideal, cost-effective way to target specific neighborhoods quickly and easily. Use flyer printing or postcard marketing to announce new services, special offers or grand openings. Postcard printing is easy and affordable and will ensure your name reaches your local area quickly and efficiently.
Full color brochures are an ideal follow-up for networking events, sales meetings and cold calls. Include brochure printing with your direct mail efforts to double your impact. Brochures and advertising flyers can be mailed directly to prospective or existing clients to further illustrate your products and services and drive sales. Consider using one panel as a registration or order form to round out your marketing push while also creating a multi-purpose collateral item.
Just as there are multiple levels of learning, so are there multiple levels and options in advertising. For example, a well-known performance group maintains a very consistent website, advertising upcoming shows and events. To advertise upcoming events, they utilize direct mail and postcard marketing. When attending local festivals or other public events, you will find full color brochures and advertising flyers on the table for patrons to review and keep. All of these efforts are enhanced by regular email newsletters and all print collateral drives traffic back to the website; definitely a case of one hand helping to feed the other.
Rather than sinking your entire marketing budget into Internet advertising, spread the wealth. You might be pleasantly surprised at the handsome return on your investment.
Lynne Saarte is a writer that hails from Texas. She has been in the Internet business for some years now, specializing in Internet marketing and other online business strategies.
For comments and inquiries visit:
Advertising Flyers and Postcard Marketing
Author: Lynne A Saarte
Possibly Related Posts:
The Super Bowl XLII Game is back and will be held at Arizona on Super Sunday 3rd Feb 2008. It’s a day where New England Patriots will be looking to cap an 18-0 season with their fourth Super Bowl victory in seven years. This game is targeted to reach 1 billion audiences world wide but the best part is that people will be more interested in the super bowl xlii commercials ads than the actual game itself.
It is the only program that can capture the attention of more than 90 million Americans to their TV screen and therefore advertisers are willing to spend an average of $2.7 million for a 30 seconds spot.
For this year, top advertiser Anheuser-Buschis buying 7 spots where 6 of them will used to promote bud light. There will be a 60 seconds spot for Budweiser which will feature the traditional Clydesdale mascots, and one other will focus on a responsible drinking message. Most of the Bud Light spots will feature the now-familiar formula of men, women or animals going to great lengths to drink Bud Light.
Godaddy will air a 30-second commercial titled “Spot On” featuring several actors, including Indy race car driver and Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick who is performing a hot and sexy action of unzipping her jacket. The Godaddy commercial was finally approved by Fox television after rejecting about 10 earlier submissions.
For the first time since 1999, Victoria’s Secret will run a 30-second spot during the second half of the game. The commercial will feature Victoria’s Secret Angel Adriana Lima, a football and words that will scroll across the screen. Mr. Razek assuaged any concerns that the ad would be too sexy for network TV, saying that it attempts to strike a balance: not exactly modest but definitely not risqué.
“It will look very different from all of our previous commercials,” Ms. Beraud said of the spot. “It’s extremely emotional and very flirtatious. It’s kind of a wink between men and women.”
Jesaiah is a football fan and has consolidated all the Super bowl XLII Commercials 2008 in a site for your viewing pleasure.
Author: Jesaiah C
Possibly Related Posts:
