Friday, December 31, 2010
Five Important Trends for Every Business in 2011 - Website Magazine - Website Magazine
Five Important Trends for Every Business in 2011 - Website Magazine - Website Magazine: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Top Three Sales Articles of 2010
The Top Three Sales Articles of 2010
-
June: 37 Sales Questions
-
September: Six Sales Blunders
-
October: Why Proper Pre-Call Planning can Make or Break Your Sales Efforts
December 2010 Sales Newsletter: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Friday, December 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Creative Up to 4 Times More Important than Media Plan
Creative Up to 4 Times More Important than Media Plan: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Integrating Your Brand With Social Media
Integrating Your Brand With Social Media: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Finding The Most Valuable Keywords For Your Site
Finding The Most Valuable Keywords For Your Site: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Monday, November 8, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Groupon Merchants Telling a Different Story - Website Magazine - Website Magazine
Groupon Merchants Telling a Different Story - Website Magazine - Website Magazine: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
I have heard similar stories from clients here in the Twin Cities. This is a case showing the danger of discounting and especially discounting to try and make someone purchase outside their normal buying cycle. You should not give them an "incentive" to buy from you, at least until you can communicate your value.
It is much more profitable to give someone an incentive on an up-sell, longer commitment, or referral.
Advertising HAS to be profitable, period. Step one is to be in front of ready-to-buy-now customers
I have heard similar stories from clients here in the Twin Cities. This is a case showing the danger of discounting and especially discounting to try and make someone purchase outside their normal buying cycle. You should not give them an "incentive" to buy from you, at least until you can communicate your value.
It is much more profitable to give someone an incentive on an up-sell, longer commitment, or referral.
Advertising HAS to be profitable, period. Step one is to be in front of ready-to-buy-now customers
Principles of Design - Website Magazine - Website Magazine
Principles of Design - Website Magazine - Website Magazine: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Monday, October 18, 2010
Search Marketing Isn't Just SEO and PPC | WebProNews
Search Marketing Isn't Just SEO and PPC | WebProNews: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Google Adds Emphasis On Location Setting | WebProNews
Google Adds Emphasis On Location Setting | WebProNews: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Creative vs Directional Advertising: What first and Why?
Both Creative and Directional advertising are important to the successful marketing and sales effort of any business or organization. Generally, with creative (TV, Radio,Newspaper, Billboard) you are "creating" the need by selling yourself. You need to have a strong, compelling, time-sensitive offer, and persuade customers to buy now rather than later or not at all. With directional (Search Engine Marketing,Internet Yellow Pages, print and online directories, Pay-per-click, Pay-per-action, direct response) you are "directing" an existing need by helping customers buy. You need to be found, then chosen.
I am firmly convinced that step one to any successful marketing platform is a strong directional advertising foundation. Before you need to worry about persuading or enticing a prospect to buy, you absolutely need to be able to allow prospects who are ready to buy right now...buy from you now. You need to be found, then chosen. You get found by where you are, you get chosen by what you say. The great part is that the very info you use to describe yourself (your uniqueness, what you do, how you do it and even why you do it) will automatically direct prospects who value and appreciate your approach, who "get you" to respond. It will probably also screen out those who don't think like you, but that's OK. You don't need everyone. The prospects who respond because they appreciate what you do and how you do it will spend more money, more often and be more enjoyable to work with over their lifetime value as a customer. They will also become more then just referral points, they will be advocates for you and your business.
Once you have that rock-solid foundation of directing ready-to-buy customers, THEN any creative advertising will be more efficient because the prospects whom you can't incentivize to act now, will hopefully at least, now have your name in their brain. When they have a need, your directional advertising can help convert them into customers
Here's a list I found regarding creative advertising and the number of times and advertisement is seen by a prospect:
1. The first time a man looks at an advertisement, he does not see it.
2. The second time, he does not notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before.
5. The fifth time, he reads it.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, “Oh brother!”
8. The eighth time, he says, “Here’s that confounded thing again!”
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he asks his neighbor if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks perhaps it might be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers wanting such a thing a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it some day.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum to buy it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys what it is offering.
Thomas Smith, London, l885
Yes, from 1885! Creative works and can work BIG, especially with a good directional foundation
I am firmly convinced that step one to any successful marketing platform is a strong directional advertising foundation. Before you need to worry about persuading or enticing a prospect to buy, you absolutely need to be able to allow prospects who are ready to buy right now...buy from you now. You need to be found, then chosen. You get found by where you are, you get chosen by what you say. The great part is that the very info you use to describe yourself (your uniqueness, what you do, how you do it and even why you do it) will automatically direct prospects who value and appreciate your approach, who "get you" to respond. It will probably also screen out those who don't think like you, but that's OK. You don't need everyone. The prospects who respond because they appreciate what you do and how you do it will spend more money, more often and be more enjoyable to work with over their lifetime value as a customer. They will also become more then just referral points, they will be advocates for you and your business.
Once you have that rock-solid foundation of directing ready-to-buy customers, THEN any creative advertising will be more efficient because the prospects whom you can't incentivize to act now, will hopefully at least, now have your name in their brain. When they have a need, your directional advertising can help convert them into customers
Here's a list I found regarding creative advertising and the number of times and advertisement is seen by a prospect:
1. The first time a man looks at an advertisement, he does not see it.
2. The second time, he does not notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before.
5. The fifth time, he reads it.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, “Oh brother!”
8. The eighth time, he says, “Here’s that confounded thing again!”
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he asks his neighbor if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks perhaps it might be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers wanting such a thing a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it some day.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum to buy it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys what it is offering.
Thomas Smith, London, l885
Yes, from 1885! Creative works and can work BIG, especially with a good directional foundation
Friday, August 20, 2010
Inspirational Video - The Don't Quit Poem
It's not the number of times you get knocked down, but the number of times you get back up that count
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
YouTube - The Alchemy of Great Work
YouTube - The Alchemy of Great Work: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Achieving your goals from Brian Tracy-- Brian Tracy Success
Achieving your goals from Brian Tracy-- Brian Tracy Success: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
http://www.btisuccess.com/TBM/?p=10
Subject: VIDEO: Goal Setting by Brian Tracy
Hey,
Brian's people just uploaded another video about setting goals.
If you are like me, you know goal setting is important, but need
a clear process for picking and setting goals. Brian spells it out
for us in this great little video. You will like this one.
Here is the link:
http://www.btisuccess.com/TBM/?p=10
Thanks,
http://www.btisuccess.com/TBM/?p=10
Subject: VIDEO: Goal Setting by Brian Tracy
Hey,
Brian's people just uploaded another video about setting goals.
If you are like me, you know goal setting is important, but need
a clear process for picking and setting goals. Brian spells it out
for us in this great little video. You will like this one.
Here is the link:
http://www.btisuccess.com/TBM/?p=10
Thanks,
Monday, July 26, 2010
Social Media & Your Business: Getting Started | LegalZoom
Social Media & Your Business: Getting Started | LegalZoom: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Positioning as an Authority for Marketing Success
Positioning as an Authority for Marketing Success
Online users are searching the Internet for information, products, and services every minute of every day. With the intense competition and wealth of information available on the Internet, people do not want to spend their time visiting a site that they do not believe is high quality, credible, and worthy of their time. They’ll allow you 8 seconds to grab their attention and that starts the beginning of a relationship – or breaks it.
Proven marketing tactics become increasingly valuable today with the increased competition and skepticism of many web users. If visitors do not perceive a site is high integrity, they quickly click their heels and scamper to another website because they know there are many more.
But people who believe your site has something valuable to offer and that is highly credible will stay around long enough to learn more. They’ll search your content for more information and as they become more intrigued by the content they begin to trust you and what you have to say. If you’ve deployed a marketing tactic that establishes your credibility, you are ahead of the race.
Think about your own buying patterns. If you do not believe you can trust a business, you are most likely to avoid stopping by to browse the products. It doesn’t matter if the business is offline or online. You want to know that you are talking to an expert in the niche.
And that’s how online web users feel too.
There are too many credible resources for them to waste their time on a site that does not meet their expectations of quality and credibility.
So, exactly how do you increase your credibility and attract a wider audience?
First of all, you must position yourself as an authority and as someone who truly understands what the customer needs. You must quickly develop a sense of authority by including valuable information, data, statistics, and compelling content on your website. It’s not just about the product you have to offer, but it’s about your own ability to respond to their needs and questions.
And it’s about your personal experience with the particular niche.
Having credentials related to a particular field can go a long way towards increasing credibility.
But so can experience and connections through a network of similar experts. Many marketers fear the mention of other experts in their field because they assume they will lose business to them. But people appreciate a marketer who is confident enough to talk about others who offer solutions. It actually increases your credibility and helps build a sense of loyalty.
When people know they can come to you for answers and that you will also redirect them to other credible resources, they are most likely to see you as a partner. Having relevant links to reputable websites that also offers information and solutions on a particular niche actually increases your credibility as an expert in the field.
In today’s world of technology, people have a vast array of resources available to them through the Internet. They don’t have to settle for one product or service anymore. They have freedom and flexibility to shop around and if they do not believe your site or products are credible, they will do exactly that.
Before you lose another customer to the click of a mouse, check your own content and information to see if it exudes confidence and credibility. If not, it’s time for an over-haul of marketing tactics that position you as an expert in the field.
Marketing tactics that include positioning yourself as an authority are more likely to land you at the finish line as the winner.
Online users are searching the Internet for information, products, and services every minute of every day. With the intense competition and wealth of information available on the Internet, people do not want to spend their time visiting a site that they do not believe is high quality, credible, and worthy of their time. They’ll allow you 8 seconds to grab their attention and that starts the beginning of a relationship – or breaks it.
Proven marketing tactics become increasingly valuable today with the increased competition and skepticism of many web users. If visitors do not perceive a site is high integrity, they quickly click their heels and scamper to another website because they know there are many more.
But people who believe your site has something valuable to offer and that is highly credible will stay around long enough to learn more. They’ll search your content for more information and as they become more intrigued by the content they begin to trust you and what you have to say. If you’ve deployed a marketing tactic that establishes your credibility, you are ahead of the race.
Think about your own buying patterns. If you do not believe you can trust a business, you are most likely to avoid stopping by to browse the products. It doesn’t matter if the business is offline or online. You want to know that you are talking to an expert in the niche.
And that’s how online web users feel too.
There are too many credible resources for them to waste their time on a site that does not meet their expectations of quality and credibility.
So, exactly how do you increase your credibility and attract a wider audience?
First of all, you must position yourself as an authority and as someone who truly understands what the customer needs. You must quickly develop a sense of authority by including valuable information, data, statistics, and compelling content on your website. It’s not just about the product you have to offer, but it’s about your own ability to respond to their needs and questions.
And it’s about your personal experience with the particular niche.
Having credentials related to a particular field can go a long way towards increasing credibility.
But so can experience and connections through a network of similar experts. Many marketers fear the mention of other experts in their field because they assume they will lose business to them. But people appreciate a marketer who is confident enough to talk about others who offer solutions. It actually increases your credibility and helps build a sense of loyalty.
When people know they can come to you for answers and that you will also redirect them to other credible resources, they are most likely to see you as a partner. Having relevant links to reputable websites that also offers information and solutions on a particular niche actually increases your credibility as an expert in the field.
In today’s world of technology, people have a vast array of resources available to them through the Internet. They don’t have to settle for one product or service anymore. They have freedom and flexibility to shop around and if they do not believe your site or products are credible, they will do exactly that.
Before you lose another customer to the click of a mouse, check your own content and information to see if it exudes confidence and credibility. If not, it’s time for an over-haul of marketing tactics that position you as an expert in the field.
Marketing tactics that include positioning yourself as an authority are more likely to land you at the finish line as the winner.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Design Your Recognition
Design Your Recognition: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
About Design Your Recognition
Innovation is everywhere. It's not limited to Apple, Steve Jobs and businesses launched by twenty-somethings from dorm rooms. Sometimes it comes in well-established categories, like when a plastics salesperson named Howard Schultz had a vision for a coffeehouse that would change the way that Americans buy coffee forever. It also created a $20 billion dollar company in Starbucks.
Over the last 25 years, the founders of Design Your Recognition have repeatedly identified well-established industries and product categories ready for change and built successful businesses around them.
In 1999, they founded PaperDirect, Inc. by injecting their brand of innovation into the paper business.
By leveraging the growth of home laser printers and strategic alliances with HP, Apple and Microsoft, the amassed over 1 million customers and built a $100 million specialty paper business.
The big idea for their next business came from a small place.
Seeking inspiration for a gourmet popcorn business, they traveled to Popcorn, Indiana, a tiny farming community near Bloomington.
Invigorated by the image of a pure and simple town dedicated to corn, they founded Dale & Thomas and Popcorn, Indiana in 2004.
By reinventing the stale, ready-to-eat popcorn category, Popcorn, Indiana quickly became the first national, premium kettle-cooked popcorn brand.
Today, Dale & Thomas and Popcorn, Indiana products are sold in over 150,000 retail locations today.
Design Your Recognition is a great illustration that need is often the mother of invention. While putting together an annual charity basketball tournament, one of Design Your Recognition's founders spent the better part of a week procuring personalized awards for the winning teams. Design Your Recognition was inspired by his frustrating experience. Then that same year, the founder asked his assistant to purchase ten plaques for the annual company dinner. To say the least, the assistant wasted a lot of time going back and forth with the company's promotional product company.
Today, though a significant investment in people, technology, creativity and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, Design Your Recognition is changing the way the recognition products are merchandised, created and sold.
Once limited to the province of the local awards shop, buying recognition products could be a challenging.
Not only does Design Your Recognition make it super easy, it makes products that are both meaningful and relevant, making them more appreciated by the person being recognized. The founders often refer to the products produced by Design Your Recognition as "Recognition Art".
Copyright © 2010
About Design Your Recognition
Innovation is everywhere. It's not limited to Apple, Steve Jobs and businesses launched by twenty-somethings from dorm rooms. Sometimes it comes in well-established categories, like when a plastics salesperson named Howard Schultz had a vision for a coffeehouse that would change the way that Americans buy coffee forever. It also created a $20 billion dollar company in Starbucks.
Over the last 25 years, the founders of Design Your Recognition have repeatedly identified well-established industries and product categories ready for change and built successful businesses around them.
In 1999, they founded PaperDirect, Inc. by injecting their brand of innovation into the paper business.
By leveraging the growth of home laser printers and strategic alliances with HP, Apple and Microsoft, the amassed over 1 million customers and built a $100 million specialty paper business.
The big idea for their next business came from a small place.
Seeking inspiration for a gourmet popcorn business, they traveled to Popcorn, Indiana, a tiny farming community near Bloomington.
Invigorated by the image of a pure and simple town dedicated to corn, they founded Dale & Thomas and Popcorn, Indiana in 2004.
By reinventing the stale, ready-to-eat popcorn category, Popcorn, Indiana quickly became the first national, premium kettle-cooked popcorn brand.
Today, Dale & Thomas and Popcorn, Indiana products are sold in over 150,000 retail locations today.
Design Your Recognition is a great illustration that need is often the mother of invention. While putting together an annual charity basketball tournament, one of Design Your Recognition's founders spent the better part of a week procuring personalized awards for the winning teams. Design Your Recognition was inspired by his frustrating experience. Then that same year, the founder asked his assistant to purchase ten plaques for the annual company dinner. To say the least, the assistant wasted a lot of time going back and forth with the company's promotional product company.
Today, though a significant investment in people, technology, creativity and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, Design Your Recognition is changing the way the recognition products are merchandised, created and sold.
Once limited to the province of the local awards shop, buying recognition products could be a challenging.
Not only does Design Your Recognition make it super easy, it makes products that are both meaningful and relevant, making them more appreciated by the person being recognized. The founders often refer to the products produced by Design Your Recognition as "Recognition Art".
Copyright © 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
The case for Relationship Marketing and Selling
9 Tactics to Create Strong Customer Relationships-
There is ONE absolute in the world of marketing. No matter if it is in traditional, web or social media. There is NO SUBSTITUTE for taking care of your customers. Your goal should not be to satisfy your customers, but to AMAZE them. If you do that one thing exceptionally well, every other marketing, sales, or promotional activity will yield efficient and effective results. Offline or Online users are always searching for something of value to them. Whether it’s information, products, or services, they are looking for an answer to a question or a problem. Online marketing tactics are especially important with the increase in competition across the world wide web.
One of the most important aspects of building any business is to create a business that values and appreciates customers and potential customers. This means marketing tactics that build a strong, trusting relationship with customers are important. Building trust starts with the first encounter with your receptionist, greeter and website and continues with every single subsequent interaction.
According to Nobel Prize-winning scientist Daniel Kahneman, we experience approximately 20,000 moments each and every day. A moment is the few seconds it takes for the brain to evaluate and record an experience. These experiences can be either positive or negative and your website, headlines, content, or responses can make a huge difference in how people record the experience – and their reaction also determines what people do next.
When people visit your web site, they quickly scan the headline to see if they want to read more. They continue reading if they are engaged and intrigued and they want to learn more about what you have to say. This is a great place to start building a relationship with customers. Be sure that you say what you have to offer and do not make false promises or you’ll lose customers quickly.
It’s important to build this connection with customers and website visitors to gain their commitment and loyalty. They will also become tremendous assets as their trust grows and they promote and advertise your website to their friends, colleagues, and social network.
Relationship marketing is a valuable marketing tactic for online entrepreneurs. It has been an important part of sales in the off-line world for decades and now it has found its way to the Internet.
But building a relationship online is different than having a face-to-face discussion and opportunity to persuade potential customers to make a purchase.
Some of the most effective tips and methods deployed to begin building a positive relationship include:
1. Make every customer interaction count.
2. Follow-through on commitments and claims about products or services.
3. Offer benefits and product value that responds to the customer’s desires.
4. Treat customers as individuals who are respected and valued.
5. Listen to customers – even complaints can be a gift if handled properly and quickly.
6. Be available and accessible when customers have questions, concerns, or comments.
7. Surround your customers with valuable information by using emails, website content, social media, and other methods of outreach – but do not be invasive.
8. Make your website user-friendly and easy to navigate for new and existing customers.
9. Create a blog about your business where discussion is more casual and inviting.
Relationship-marketing is not just a fad. It’s here to stay and people want to know that they are valued and appreciated as an individual. Creating long-lasting relationships helps to ensure long-lasting customers and repeat sales. It also encourages existing customers to refer their colleagues, friends, and others to your website.
Don’t take a single customer for granted. Each and every interaction with a customer is a gift and should be valued. If it weren’t already a great “life principal”, treating people well and respecting them would be the best thing you could invent to do, to ensure marketing and sales results
There is ONE absolute in the world of marketing. No matter if it is in traditional, web or social media. There is NO SUBSTITUTE for taking care of your customers. Your goal should not be to satisfy your customers, but to AMAZE them. If you do that one thing exceptionally well, every other marketing, sales, or promotional activity will yield efficient and effective results. Offline or Online users are always searching for something of value to them. Whether it’s information, products, or services, they are looking for an answer to a question or a problem. Online marketing tactics are especially important with the increase in competition across the world wide web.
One of the most important aspects of building any business is to create a business that values and appreciates customers and potential customers. This means marketing tactics that build a strong, trusting relationship with customers are important. Building trust starts with the first encounter with your receptionist, greeter and website and continues with every single subsequent interaction.
According to Nobel Prize-winning scientist Daniel Kahneman, we experience approximately 20,000 moments each and every day. A moment is the few seconds it takes for the brain to evaluate and record an experience. These experiences can be either positive or negative and your website, headlines, content, or responses can make a huge difference in how people record the experience – and their reaction also determines what people do next.
When people visit your web site, they quickly scan the headline to see if they want to read more. They continue reading if they are engaged and intrigued and they want to learn more about what you have to say. This is a great place to start building a relationship with customers. Be sure that you say what you have to offer and do not make false promises or you’ll lose customers quickly.
It’s important to build this connection with customers and website visitors to gain their commitment and loyalty. They will also become tremendous assets as their trust grows and they promote and advertise your website to their friends, colleagues, and social network.
Relationship marketing is a valuable marketing tactic for online entrepreneurs. It has been an important part of sales in the off-line world for decades and now it has found its way to the Internet.
But building a relationship online is different than having a face-to-face discussion and opportunity to persuade potential customers to make a purchase.
Some of the most effective tips and methods deployed to begin building a positive relationship include:
1. Make every customer interaction count.
2. Follow-through on commitments and claims about products or services.
3. Offer benefits and product value that responds to the customer’s desires.
4. Treat customers as individuals who are respected and valued.
5. Listen to customers – even complaints can be a gift if handled properly and quickly.
6. Be available and accessible when customers have questions, concerns, or comments.
7. Surround your customers with valuable information by using emails, website content, social media, and other methods of outreach – but do not be invasive.
8. Make your website user-friendly and easy to navigate for new and existing customers.
9. Create a blog about your business where discussion is more casual and inviting.
Relationship-marketing is not just a fad. It’s here to stay and people want to know that they are valued and appreciated as an individual. Creating long-lasting relationships helps to ensure long-lasting customers and repeat sales. It also encourages existing customers to refer their colleagues, friends, and others to your website.
Don’t take a single customer for granted. Each and every interaction with a customer is a gift and should be valued. If it weren’t already a great “life principal”, treating people well and respecting them would be the best thing you could invent to do, to ensure marketing and sales results
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
An Introduction to Keyword Research
An Introduction to Keyword Research.
If you’re reading this article, then you probably already know you want to set up your own online business. But it can be difficult (and a little overwhelming) to know where to start. In fact, once you start doing your own research on where to begin, you may come across advice that could seem contradictory.
The fact that there is so much advice out there (some of which is sometimes contradictory) shouldn’t be surprising. Keyword research is as much an art as it is a science, and the Internet search engines that use keywords have very complicated (and proprietary) processes for determining which web pages show up in search results, and in which orders.
Although some of the inner workings of search engines are not made public (which leads to a number of different “experts” claiming that they have discovered the secrets), it’s generally accepted that one of the immutable truths for search engine success is the importance of keyword research. And despite the cacophony of viewpoints, keyword research, and the entire keyword optimization process, is a skill (or ability, depending on how you look at it) that anyone can learn.
Key Components of Keyword Research
Keyword research is ultimately designed to help you find highly targeted traffic, position yourself well in search engine results, and find a niche market that you can build your business around. Key components of keyword research include understanding:
* The definition of keywords and keyword phrases in the context of Internet search engines
* How Internet search engines use keyword phrases to provide the search results to their users
* The concept of “targeted visitors”, and how this is an essential part of your keyword research process
* Finding a niche market to focus your keyword research efforts
* The concept of competition for search engine traffic
* The various tools that you can use to perform quick, accurate, and generally free research
* Promoting your business and website by using the basic keyword concepts
Keyword research means your prospects will be able to find you when they’re searching for your valuable information. The search engines will position you in the top pages of their results. Your competition will be sidestepped, and eventually shoved aside, and you’ll be able to build a profitable business from the get go instead of struggling, throwing the metaphorical spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, and losing money along the way.
Keyword research, when conducted with a specific strategy, can lead you to a online business that sells. It doesn’t matter what your business model is, what you’re marketing or who your audience is, you and your business will profit when you integrate keyword research into your business building strategy from day one.
If you’re reading this article, then you probably already know you want to set up your own online business. But it can be difficult (and a little overwhelming) to know where to start. In fact, once you start doing your own research on where to begin, you may come across advice that could seem contradictory.
The fact that there is so much advice out there (some of which is sometimes contradictory) shouldn’t be surprising. Keyword research is as much an art as it is a science, and the Internet search engines that use keywords have very complicated (and proprietary) processes for determining which web pages show up in search results, and in which orders.
Although some of the inner workings of search engines are not made public (which leads to a number of different “experts” claiming that they have discovered the secrets), it’s generally accepted that one of the immutable truths for search engine success is the importance of keyword research. And despite the cacophony of viewpoints, keyword research, and the entire keyword optimization process, is a skill (or ability, depending on how you look at it) that anyone can learn.
Key Components of Keyword Research
Keyword research is ultimately designed to help you find highly targeted traffic, position yourself well in search engine results, and find a niche market that you can build your business around. Key components of keyword research include understanding:
* The definition of keywords and keyword phrases in the context of Internet search engines
* How Internet search engines use keyword phrases to provide the search results to their users
* The concept of “targeted visitors”, and how this is an essential part of your keyword research process
* Finding a niche market to focus your keyword research efforts
* The concept of competition for search engine traffic
* The various tools that you can use to perform quick, accurate, and generally free research
* Promoting your business and website by using the basic keyword concepts
Keyword research means your prospects will be able to find you when they’re searching for your valuable information. The search engines will position you in the top pages of their results. Your competition will be sidestepped, and eventually shoved aside, and you’ll be able to build a profitable business from the get go instead of struggling, throwing the metaphorical spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, and losing money along the way.
Keyword research, when conducted with a specific strategy, can lead you to a online business that sells. It doesn’t matter what your business model is, what you’re marketing or who your audience is, you and your business will profit when you integrate keyword research into your business building strategy from day one.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
A “KISS” for Profits and Cash Flow
A “KISS” for Profits and Cash Flow
Simple Marketing Tactics that Drive Sales
The “K.I.S.S.” method has been a tried and true rule forever in many areas in life and business. For this article, The KISS method stands for: Keep It Simple for Sales!
Marketing tactics can be extremely complex or quite simple. Ironically, the simple tactics are the ones that are most effective and successful. Value-added headlines, informative content, and visual appeal are simple tactics that can drive conversions and sales.
For example, one simple tactic is to make it quick and easy for web visitors and customers to view information on your website. Allowing adequate white space, creating short sentences, and keeping enough space between words, sentences, and paragraphs will make your site more appealing.
In addition, the strategic use of keywords and keyword phrases will attract search engines and keep site visitors scanning your content. Words that demonstrate how your product adds value will capture attention and focus the reader on “what’s in it for them”.
And these are also valuable search engine optimization techniques that will drive visitors to your website.
Simple marketing tactics
A very important tactic is to make everything simple. Some recommended options include:
1. Bulleted or numbered lists (like this one)
2. Use of bold to highlight keywords or important benefits (use sparingly to ensure emphasis without over-use)
3. Subheadings to create a logical flow and to break large blocks of content
4. Titles and subheadings in ‘sentence case’ since capitalizing most words tends to break attention span and create confusion
5. Graphics or pictures that are clearly relevant to the product and that showcase benefits and value
6. Highlighting unique information, benefits and value by using ‘call out boxes’, ‘pull quotes’ and other design elements
7. Since people tend to scan web pages rather than read them, snippets or short phrases with important information become vital for website content. People need to get the message quickly without having to think hard about what is being presented. Making sentences overly long or complex tends to be a distraction and you’ll lose the site visitor’s attention quickly.
These are just some of the recommended options when creating website content.
Not only is it important to integrate many of the basic and advanced marketing tactics into your marketing plan, it is also vital to include methods of testing their effectiveness. Watching and monitoring statistics that indicate how long visitors remain on your pages, among other measures of success, will help you refine marketing tactics and improve your marketing strategy.
Once you deploy some of the more advanced marketing tactics that are proven effective you will begin to see conversions increase quickly. And increased conversion rates lead to higher sales and repeat business.
Advanced marketing tactics include options such as the use of powerful copy that attracts readers, inclusion of questions that help you lead customers toward sales, and using authority positioning to increase site integrity and credibility.
If you’re searching for ways to grow your business, you don’t want to miss an opportunity to evaluate marketing tactics that will put you on the super-highway to success. Evaluate what others have already tested and proven successful. Create the winning formula for your website and enjoy the success that comes from hard work and vision.
Simple Marketing Tactics that Drive Sales
The “K.I.S.S.” method has been a tried and true rule forever in many areas in life and business. For this article, The KISS method stands for: Keep It Simple for Sales!
Marketing tactics can be extremely complex or quite simple. Ironically, the simple tactics are the ones that are most effective and successful. Value-added headlines, informative content, and visual appeal are simple tactics that can drive conversions and sales.
For example, one simple tactic is to make it quick and easy for web visitors and customers to view information on your website. Allowing adequate white space, creating short sentences, and keeping enough space between words, sentences, and paragraphs will make your site more appealing.
In addition, the strategic use of keywords and keyword phrases will attract search engines and keep site visitors scanning your content. Words that demonstrate how your product adds value will capture attention and focus the reader on “what’s in it for them”.
And these are also valuable search engine optimization techniques that will drive visitors to your website.
Simple marketing tactics
A very important tactic is to make everything simple. Some recommended options include:
1. Bulleted or numbered lists (like this one)
2. Use of bold to highlight keywords or important benefits (use sparingly to ensure emphasis without over-use)
3. Subheadings to create a logical flow and to break large blocks of content
4. Titles and subheadings in ‘sentence case’ since capitalizing most words tends to break attention span and create confusion
5. Graphics or pictures that are clearly relevant to the product and that showcase benefits and value
6. Highlighting unique information, benefits and value by using ‘call out boxes’, ‘pull quotes’ and other design elements
7. Since people tend to scan web pages rather than read them, snippets or short phrases with important information become vital for website content. People need to get the message quickly without having to think hard about what is being presented. Making sentences overly long or complex tends to be a distraction and you’ll lose the site visitor’s attention quickly.
These are just some of the recommended options when creating website content.
Not only is it important to integrate many of the basic and advanced marketing tactics into your marketing plan, it is also vital to include methods of testing their effectiveness. Watching and monitoring statistics that indicate how long visitors remain on your pages, among other measures of success, will help you refine marketing tactics and improve your marketing strategy.
Once you deploy some of the more advanced marketing tactics that are proven effective you will begin to see conversions increase quickly. And increased conversion rates lead to higher sales and repeat business.
Advanced marketing tactics include options such as the use of powerful copy that attracts readers, inclusion of questions that help you lead customers toward sales, and using authority positioning to increase site integrity and credibility.
If you’re searching for ways to grow your business, you don’t want to miss an opportunity to evaluate marketing tactics that will put you on the super-highway to success. Evaluate what others have already tested and proven successful. Create the winning formula for your website and enjoy the success that comes from hard work and vision.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
5 steps to more-relevant marketing - iMediaConnection.com
"EXACTLY! The perfect opt-in, permission-based platform targeting ONLY ready-to-buy, active consumers with near-predictable ROI especially for local businesses....??? Got a guess? Wanna know the answer?"
Customers are demanding precision marketing. Follow these guidelines to ensure your message resonates, rather than repulses.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Article Marketing Made Easy
Search
engine optimization is getting more and
more difficult by the day. The search
engines are evolving at an incredible
speed, making it harder for us SEOs to
rank our websites highly.
With
that said, there are a few tried and true
principles that we need to do when optimizing
our website. The first of which, and the
one that I always tell people to concentrate
on is getting quality, 1 way links pointing
to your website.
The
more quality links you can get pointing
to your website, the higher you will rank,
period.
While
there are many black hat tricks and tactics
that you can do for short term gain, I
would suggest NOT spending your time on
those things. I would focus my entire
effort on figuring out how to get other
websites to link to yours without you
linking back to them. That is the biggest
key to ranking well in Google, Yahoo,
and MSN.
Doing
this is easier said that done. One of
the easiest known ways to get quality,
one way links is by finding website directories
and then submitting your website to them.
This can be a very tedious process, but
always a very rewarding process at the
same time.
You can either submit your articles to these directories manually,
pay someone to do it for you, OR you can use one of the article directory
submission programs out there. The best program for the money that we've found
is a program called "Article Submitter" created my internet marketing
expert, Brad Callen.
This program allows you to submit your articles to over 700
article directories and can save you an incredible amount of time in doing
so. You simply enter your article details into the software once, and then
select the directory you would like to submit to. The software will then,
automatically fill in all of the submission criteria for each directory and
allow you to quickly submit your articles.
Not only does this save you time in submitting your articles,
but it saves you an incredible amount of time in just finding these free directories
online. I highly suggest grabbing an article submission program if you decide
to take advantage of one of the easist ways to get quality, 1 way links to
your website.
You can learn more about Article Submitter and how you can
download your FREE copy here:
Got 3 Seconds to get attention?
Got 3 Seconds to get attention?
What You Need to Know About Headlines
Have you ever wondered why some marketing tactics just don’t seem to work for
your business? You sit and watch a competitor’s website grow and business
soar and you’re just not quite sure how they do it.
After all, aren’t all marketing tactics pretty much the same?
The answer is a resounding “NO”!
Marketing tactics that work are not about rocket science. They are often very
simple concepts but many online marketers fail to recognize them for the
value they can bring to a business. Focusing on a business that brings high
conversion rates and plenty of sales is a marketer’s dream.
But it will only materialize when marketing tactics are successfully deployed.
First of all, people want to find a solution to a problem. That’s why they’re
searching for a particular product or benefit to begin with. So what do you
have to offer?
Headlines say it all
Headlines pull the prospect in. In the offline world, it is the Yellow Pages
ad, Newspaper or Direct Mail piece. It is the first sentance of a strong
radio or TV commercial. In the online world its your web pages, e-mail
subject line, article or press release title or landing page
Don’t wait to tell them what’s in it for them. Tell them right away with your
headline. Headlines can be one of the most effective marketing tactics you
have to offer. The headline should always include valuable benefits for the
customer. With recent studies indicating that users decide whether or not to
stay or leave a site within 8 seconds or less, well-written headlines are
critical.
Using a headline to grab attention is one of the simplest, yet most effective
marketing tactics available. People have a chance to quickly understand why
they need to read further than the headline. Instead of clicking away from
your site, they’ll be clicking through your information to find out more.
Always follow-up a headline with some other compelling fact or value-added
benefit of the product or service. Keep website visitors moving through your
content by including one bit of important information after another in every
sentence. Don’t use teasers that make them feel they have to keep searching
for what’s important but be up-front and direct about the product’s value and
benefits with each sentence.
Market the benefits and value, not features. The difference is key. The
classic example is a handyman does not buy a drill, per se; he buys the holes
he need for the project
The headline is the best place to start marketing the benefits of the product.
It’s also the best way to attract search engines that are seeking websites
based on keywords used by online users. When the headline includes the words
that potential customers are most likely to search for, the search engines
will reward you by bringing more visitors to your website.
Facts, statistics, and data that substantiate your claims of value are also
important ways to increase the effectiveness of headlines. “48% reduction in
costs with X product….” can be a real attention grabber. Don’t hesitate to
use data to support your benefit claims.
Advanced marketing tactics
Headlines are just the beginning with marketing tactics. There are many more
advanced marketing tactics that can make a substantial difference in
conversion rates and sales. Knowing and integrating advanced marketing
tactics into the overall marketing plan for your website and business can
make a huge difference in your profits.
Evaluate your current marketing tactics and make necessary adjustments by
utilizing advanced tactics to support and grow your business. Time spent
preparing effective marketing goals and strategies, supported with effective
tactics, is time that will result in higher profits and a thriving business.
And always remember - success starts with your headline!
What You Need to Know About Headlines
Have you ever wondered why some marketing tactics just don’t seem to work for
your business? You sit and watch a competitor’s website grow and business
soar and you’re just not quite sure how they do it.
After all, aren’t all marketing tactics pretty much the same?
The answer is a resounding “NO”!
Marketing tactics that work are not about rocket science. They are often very
simple concepts but many online marketers fail to recognize them for the
value they can bring to a business. Focusing on a business that brings high
conversion rates and plenty of sales is a marketer’s dream.
But it will only materialize when marketing tactics are successfully deployed.
First of all, people want to find a solution to a problem. That’s why they’re
searching for a particular product or benefit to begin with. So what do you
have to offer?
Headlines say it all
Headlines pull the prospect in. In the offline world, it is the Yellow Pages
ad, Newspaper or Direct Mail piece. It is the first sentance of a strong
radio or TV commercial. In the online world its your web pages, e-mail
subject line, article or press release title or landing page
Don’t wait to tell them what’s in it for them. Tell them right away with your
headline. Headlines can be one of the most effective marketing tactics you
have to offer. The headline should always include valuable benefits for the
customer. With recent studies indicating that users decide whether or not to
stay or leave a site within 8 seconds or less, well-written headlines are
critical.
Using a headline to grab attention is one of the simplest, yet most effective
marketing tactics available. People have a chance to quickly understand why
they need to read further than the headline. Instead of clicking away from
your site, they’ll be clicking through your information to find out more.
Always follow-up a headline with some other compelling fact or value-added
benefit of the product or service. Keep website visitors moving through your
content by including one bit of important information after another in every
sentence. Don’t use teasers that make them feel they have to keep searching
for what’s important but be up-front and direct about the product’s value and
benefits with each sentence.
Market the benefits and value, not features. The difference is key. The
classic example is a handyman does not buy a drill, per se; he buys the holes
he need for the project
The headline is the best place to start marketing the benefits of the product.
It’s also the best way to attract search engines that are seeking websites
based on keywords used by online users. When the headline includes the words
that potential customers are most likely to search for, the search engines
will reward you by bringing more visitors to your website.
Facts, statistics, and data that substantiate your claims of value are also
important ways to increase the effectiveness of headlines. “48% reduction in
costs with X product….” can be a real attention grabber. Don’t hesitate to
use data to support your benefit claims.
Advanced marketing tactics
Headlines are just the beginning with marketing tactics. There are many more
advanced marketing tactics that can make a substantial difference in
conversion rates and sales. Knowing and integrating advanced marketing
tactics into the overall marketing plan for your website and business can
make a huge difference in your profits.
Evaluate your current marketing tactics and make necessary adjustments by
utilizing advanced tactics to support and grow your business. Time spent
preparing effective marketing goals and strategies, supported with effective
tactics, is time that will result in higher profits and a thriving business.
And always remember - success starts with your headline!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Advanced Marketing Tactics that are Proven Successful
Advanced Marketing Tactics that are Proven Successful
A marketing plan is just as valuable for online business as it is for traditional offline business. An effective and successful marketing plan should contain a list of tactics that will be used to increase traffic to a website, increase conversion rates, and help grow sales. There are beginner and advanced marketing tactics and it is vital to integrate all of them into a successful marketing plan.
Tactics are those methods that are used to achieve a particular short-term goal. They help define and explain how to complete a task successfully to reach a desired outcome. To optimize tactics, you must first have a goal in mind and that means visualizing what success looks like for your business.
Some marketing tactics that have proven effective for online marketers include:
1. Creation of compelling headlines and content to engage site visitors.
2. Scripts that increase sign-ups and subscriptions.
3. Utilization of an auto-responder or other technology to reach out to customers.
4. Use of social media to reach a target audience.
5. Marketing through article sites, ezines, newsletters and other media to reach customers.
6. Inclusion of videos that demonstrate product benefits and value.
7. Blogging to allow people to get to know you better.
8. Asking questions to learn more about what the customer is thinking.
9. Offering solutions to a problem.
Marketing tactics are not secrets that are hidden from the average online marketer. But they are often overlooked and misunderstood by many marketers. Understanding the basic principles behind marketing tactics makes it much easier to effectively deploy them for your business.
One important aspect of online marketing tactics is that they must be simple. When marketing tactics become complex and unwieldy, they no longer work. Tactics should be simple, easy to implement, and easy for customers to understand and follow.
There are basic marketing tactics and there are more advanced tactics for those who take their online business seriously.
For example, advanced tactics related to giving away products or content for free will raise questions in the mind of a customer. If your information is so valuable, why are you willing to give it away? What’s in it for you and how do I get anything out of it? Can I trust you?
This is a very interesting marketing concept. If people are curious about why you are giving something away, what would you expect them to do?
Click away?
Or keep reading?
Customers are likely to keep reading to find out why you are offering valuable free content and in the process they become more engaged and intensely intrigued by what you have to offer.
Not only are you creating interest from your potential customer, but you are building trust with them too. The more facts and information you offer them, the more likely they are to see you as a partner with them and they’ll turn to you for more information and facts. This enables you to create a loyal relationship and gain them as a valuable long-term customer.
You haven’t even sold them anything yet, but you have gained their trust. Sales will certainly follow. Knowing how to deploy this and similar types of advanced marketing tactics will soon put your business on the high road to success. You’ll reap the benefits of accessing advanced marketing tactics by incorporating them into an existing or new marketing plan that envisions the future of your business.
Marketing tactics that work are the secret to online success. Don’t let another day pass by without evaluating and updating your existing tactics and incorporate fresh, proven tactics that will make your sales soar and put you in the winner’s circle.
Friday, April 16, 2010
9 Tactics to Create Strong Customer Relationships
9 Tactics to Create Strong Customer Relationships
There is ONE absolute in the world of marketing. No matter if it is in traditional, web or social media. There is NO SUBSTITUTE for taking care of your customers. Your goal should not be to satisfy your customers, but to AMAZE them. If you do that one thing exceptionally well, every other marketing, sales, or promotional activity will yield efficient and effective results. Offline or Online users are always searching for something of value to them. Whether it’s information, products, or services, they are looking for an answer to a question or a problem. Online marketing tactics are especially important with the increase in competition across the world wide web.
One of the most important aspects of building any business is to create a business that values and appreciates customers and potential customers. This means marketing tactics that build a strong, trusting relationship with customers are important. Building trust starts with the first encounter with your receptionist, greeter and website and continues with every single subsequent interaction.
According to Nobel Prize-winning scientist Daniel Kahneman, we experience approximately 20,000 moments each and every day. A moment is the few seconds it takes for the brain to evaluate and record an experience. These experiences can be either positive or negative and your website, headlines, content, or responses can make a huge difference in how people record the experience – and their reaction also determines what people do next.
When people visit your web site, they quickly scan the headline to see if they want to read more. They continue reading if they are engaged and intrigued and they want to learn more about what you have to say. This is a great place to start building a relationship with customers. Be sure that you say what you have to offer and do not make false promises or you’ll lose customers quickly.
It’s important to build this connection with customers and website visitors to gain their commitment and loyalty. They will also become tremendous assets as their trust grows and they promote and advertise your website to their friends, colleagues, and social network.
Relationship marketing is a valuable marketing tactic for online entrepreneurs. It has been an important part of sales in the off-line world for decades and now it has found its way to the Internet.
But building a relationship online is different than having a face-to-face discussion and opportunity to persuade potential customers to make a purchase.
Some of the most effective tips and methods deployed to begin building a positive relationship include:
1. Make every customer interaction count.
2. Follow-through on commitments and claims about products or services.
3. Offer benefits and product value that responds to the customer’s desires.
4. Treat customers as individuals who are respected and valued.
5. Listen to customers – even complaints can be a gift if handled properly and quickly.
6. Be available and accessible when customers have questions, concerns, or comments.
7. Surround your customers with valuable information by using emails, website content, social media, and other methods of outreach – but do not be invasive.
8. Make your website user-friendly and easy to navigate for new and existing customers.
9. Create a blog about your business where discussion is more casual and inviting.
Relationship-marketing is not just a fad. It’s here to stay and people want to know that they are valued and appreciated as an individual. Creating long-lasting relationships helps to ensure long-lasting customers and repeat sales. It also encourages existing customers to refer their colleagues, friends, and others to your website.
Don’t take a single customer for granted. Each and every interaction with a customer is a gift and should be valued. If it weren’t already a great “life principal”, treating people well and respecting them would be the best thing you could invent to do, to ensure marketing and sales results
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Successful Marketing with Proven Marketing Tactics
Successful Marketing with Proven Marketing Tactics
Offline and Online marketing both are the result of ambition, determination, commitment, and a desire to succeed. It’s also dependent on successful marketing tactics that attract visitors, drive sales, and retain long-term loyal customers. Turbo-marketers are highly focused on advanced marketing tactics that enable them to successfully grow an online business. They are the leaders and winners in the world of online marketing and sales. The worlds of online and offline marketing can be very different, yet both rely on basic, proven strategies and tactics
The good news is that there have been many people who have tried, failed, tried again, failed again, and finally succeeded in identifying the most effective marketing tactics for an online business. Learning from the mistakes and successes of other thriving marketers gives today’s marketers the ability to come out of the gate running -- and with some ambition and hard work, move ahead of the pack to become a leader. You never really want to be re-inventing the wheel, but you can creatively apply proven success techniques to your business
Establish goals
This makes it critical to envision the success of your business and know what you want to accomplish through your marketing tactics. Goals lead to strategies and then to tactics.
Before you take the first step on your online journey to successful entrepreneurship, establish your goals and objectives. Plant them firmly in your mind and envision yourself succeeding. Starting with a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude is the best way to start any business or venture. Once you have your goals for success implanted in your mind, it’s time to get started on the journey of a lifetime
Take action
One of the first rules of online marketing is to take action.
The web is a dynamic, rapidly-growing medium where businesses are created every day. If you sit and think about what you are going to do every day and never take action, you will never get where you want to go. Marketing tactics are useless unless you take action and execute them.
This takes us to the next critical point of online marketing. You must know and understand where you want to go before you begin your journey. Without a clear understanding of where you want to go, how do you know what you need to do? How do you create tactics and take action?
Define your business
Starting your online business means understanding what your business is all about. What is it you want to accomplish? What do you need to do to reach your goals? What marketing tactics will help you succeed?
Success is heavily dependent on your ability to dissect and understand your business. You must be the expert in your niche and you must carefully evaluate what your customers want. Once you identify what they want, it is essential to determine how you can deliver those results for customers.
Basic marketing tactics
Now that you have your business firmly outlined and clarified, deploying basic tactics is next on the list. And that starts with knowing how to market what you have to offer. Basic marketing tactics include:
1. Creating a ‘brand’ or identity around your product
2. Creating a simple marketing message
3. Establishing a credible website
4. Creating a presence as an expert in a niche
5. Defining the benefits or value of what you have to offer
6. Deploying search engine optimization techniques (SEO) to attract and drive traffic
These are some of the early, basic marketing tactics that must be mastered. As your marketing plan unfolds, integration of more advanced marketing tactics will enhance your online presence and position. They will also further the growth of your business through the use of proven techniques that create a unique value proposition for the targeted audience.
Build your business step-by-step and do your homework to evaluate the most effective marketing tactics available. Learn from other successful marketers and save yourself weeks, months, and years of effort by taking advantage of proven techniques whenever possible.
The sooner you know where you want to go, the sooner you will arrive.Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
What's funny in and ad
What’s funny in an ad?
Humor in advertising is not easily subjected to scientific analysis. But researchers Yih Hwai Lee and Elison Ai Ching Lim reported in the Journal of Advertising (Summer, 2008) that there are, in fact, some aspects of humorous advertising that can be tested. They studied what they termed "incongruity-resolution" (e.g., Geico’s cavemen in a restaurant ad) and arousal-safety humor (e.g., Big Foot threatening tourists for beer in a national park ad). These forms of humor create an ambiguous situation that creates a certain amount of viewer discomfort that needs a resolution for the ads to be funny and favorably received. Ambiguity creates discomfort that requires resolution to be funny. Viewers in more "group-oriented cultures" responded most favorably to this resolution.
Humor in advertising is not easily subjected to scientific analysis. But researchers Yih Hwai Lee and Elison Ai Ching Lim reported in the Journal of Advertising (Summer, 2008) that there are, in fact, some aspects of humorous advertising that can be tested. They studied what they termed "incongruity-resolution" (e.g., Geico’s cavemen in a restaurant ad) and arousal-safety humor (e.g., Big Foot threatening tourists for beer in a national park ad). These forms of humor create an ambiguous situation that creates a certain amount of viewer discomfort that needs a resolution for the ads to be funny and favorably received. Ambiguity creates discomfort that requires resolution to be funny. Viewers in more "group-oriented cultures" responded most favorably to this resolution.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
More Great Info here from MSU!
With their permission, I will be using excerpts from "Putting Research to Work at Michigan State University"
Where faculty members at Michigan State University help make academic research as relevant as possible for practitioners
Effective Magazine Ads To Be Seen, Not Read
Computer graphic design software and the increasing popularity of the Internet have had a dramatic effect on magazine layout style since 1990. A content analysis of magazine ads spanning the period from 1969 to 2002 shows that a highly visual "brand block" replaced the previously dominant "picture window" style in ads that had been copy tested by Starch and Gallup & Robinson research firms. Edward F. McQuarrie and Barbara J. Phillips report in the Fall 2008 issue of the Journal of Advertising that changes in consumer lifestyles, the competitive media landscape, and the availability of numerous choices in product categories has resulted in the consumer no longer seeking out and reading entire magazine ads for brand information. Researchers say since consumers now have very little time to stop and read magazine ads, ad styles have changed to reflect that reality and most readers merely glance at an ad. Designers should take note of this trend and realize that magazine ads have become brand identity vehicles and are no longer the brand information sources they once were.
Redesign TV Ads To Beat The Digital Video Recorder
Clients planning to cut their television ad budgets because of the increasing use of DVR's should think twice. A 2004 survey showed 75% of large national advertisers cited DVR usage as a major reason to cut TV ads. But wait, findings that defy conventional wisdom from researchers S. Adam Brasel and James Gips published in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Marketing, show heavy central branding in fast-forwarded ads can actually boost brand visibility. Designing an ad with the brand front and center can increase brand recognition. Research subjects zipping through ads in the study also chose products featured in centrally branded ads more than two-to-one compared to products in ads with more limited branding.
In Advertising -- Standing out may be better than fitting in
A standard operating procedure in the ad business has been to develop treatments made to “fit in” with the editorial or entertainment environment of the media carrying your message. But new research by Micael Dalhe, published in the Journal of Advertising, Fall 2008 may cause us to rethink ad placements in some cases. Research shows some ads just may have a better chance of being noticed if they stand out from the content of the media, rather than fit in. We expect to see car ads in magazines with content aimed at auto enthusiasts, but a stylish car ad might move more style-conscious car buyers if it’s placed in a fashion magazine. Ads that stand out from other content may be better remembered, better liked, and more capable of producing stronger brand associations. Advertisers should consider testing this approach by identifying a clear segment within your target market that connects to a message carrier or media not normally associated with the product you are selling. Not fitting in is what it might take for your ad to stand out.
thousands of executives within the nation’s top advertising agencies and public relations firms, courtesy of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Retailing at Michigan State University. We invite you to submit comments and feedback to Bruce Vanden Bergh at DrV@msu.edu.
Contributors: Richard Cole, Robert Kolt, Alexandra Przybyla and Bruce Vanden Bergh
Where faculty members at Michigan State University help make academic research as relevant as possible for practitioners
Effective Magazine Ads To Be Seen, Not Read
Computer graphic design software and the increasing popularity of the Internet have had a dramatic effect on magazine layout style since 1990. A content analysis of magazine ads spanning the period from 1969 to 2002 shows that a highly visual "brand block" replaced the previously dominant "picture window" style in ads that had been copy tested by Starch and Gallup & Robinson research firms. Edward F. McQuarrie and Barbara J. Phillips report in the Fall 2008 issue of the Journal of Advertising that changes in consumer lifestyles, the competitive media landscape, and the availability of numerous choices in product categories has resulted in the consumer no longer seeking out and reading entire magazine ads for brand information. Researchers say since consumers now have very little time to stop and read magazine ads, ad styles have changed to reflect that reality and most readers merely glance at an ad. Designers should take note of this trend and realize that magazine ads have become brand identity vehicles and are no longer the brand information sources they once were.
Redesign TV Ads To Beat The Digital Video Recorder
Clients planning to cut their television ad budgets because of the increasing use of DVR's should think twice. A 2004 survey showed 75% of large national advertisers cited DVR usage as a major reason to cut TV ads. But wait, findings that defy conventional wisdom from researchers S. Adam Brasel and James Gips published in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Marketing, show heavy central branding in fast-forwarded ads can actually boost brand visibility. Designing an ad with the brand front and center can increase brand recognition. Research subjects zipping through ads in the study also chose products featured in centrally branded ads more than two-to-one compared to products in ads with more limited branding.
In Advertising -- Standing out may be better than fitting in
A standard operating procedure in the ad business has been to develop treatments made to “fit in” with the editorial or entertainment environment of the media carrying your message. But new research by Micael Dalhe, published in the Journal of Advertising, Fall 2008 may cause us to rethink ad placements in some cases. Research shows some ads just may have a better chance of being noticed if they stand out from the content of the media, rather than fit in. We expect to see car ads in magazines with content aimed at auto enthusiasts, but a stylish car ad might move more style-conscious car buyers if it’s placed in a fashion magazine. Ads that stand out from other content may be better remembered, better liked, and more capable of producing stronger brand associations. Advertisers should consider testing this approach by identifying a clear segment within your target market that connects to a message carrier or media not normally associated with the product you are selling. Not fitting in is what it might take for your ad to stand out.
thousands of executives within the nation’s top advertising agencies and public relations firms, courtesy of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Retailing at Michigan State University. We invite you to submit comments and feedback to Bruce Vanden Bergh at DrV@msu.edu.
Contributors: Richard Cole, Robert Kolt, Alexandra Przybyla and Bruce Vanden Bergh
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Not Your Father's Phone Book
Interesting article from Entrepreneur Magazine via Yahoo-Finance...reminds me of the old, famous Mark Twain line "..the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated"
Not Your Father's Phone Book
entrepreneur magazine
Hayli Morrison, On Tuesday February 16, 2010, 3:00 am EST
Ask any Yellow Pages industry veteran and they'll tell you print advertising is not dead--despite widespread media reports to the contrary in recent years. While the latest industry statistics do show a slight decrease in use, one thing is certain--the times, they are a-changing for the Yellow Pages. With options like service guarantees, trade exchanges, direct mail and coupons-by-text, a Yellow Pages ad campaign is now more complicated--and comprehensive--than ever before.
The high-tech changes came about partially out of necessity, admits Bob Mueller, executive director of business operations forAT&T Advertising Solutions.
"There's definitely a transition going on in the marketplace and in local search," he says. "The print usage of Yellow Pages has declined, but only slightly. Not as much as some people would think, but there's no doubt that consumers are going to [more varied] platforms for their local business search information. Local search is not a zero sum game. For an advertiser to have access to all those places the eyeballs are going, they need to have a presence in each of those places."
Small Towns, Service Industries and Ready-to-Buy Consumers
Yellow Pages directories still have strong holds in industries where consumers often make "ready-to-buy" decisions. In fact, the top 10 most searched categories of the print Yellow Pages include restaurants, pizza, physicians and surgeons, auto parts and repair, attorneys and plumbing contractors.
"It's the true local, local buying decision resource," says Ken Clark, publisher of industry newsletterYP Talk. "Right now, I don't think the internet's there, as far as being the 'when I'm ready to buy' solution. Besides, when you get into tier two and tier three markets with smaller towns, you may not even get a mobile signal so print Yellow Pages is still an ingrained way of life."
The top 50 most used Yellow Pages categories are heavily weighted among service-oriented businesses where consumers are likely making instantaneous buying decisions--everything from roofing and HVAC to pest control, pet grooming and child care. However, about 20 percent of the top listings are retail businesses like grocers, lumber yards and sporting goods stores.
The Impact of the Internet
According to research conducted by the Yellow Pages Association over the past three years, usage numbers hovered around 13 billion looks for print Yellow Pages and 4 billion looks for online yellow page sites.
"A decade ago, that number might have been 18 billion [for print yellow pages]," says Scott W. Klein, CEO of Verizon Yellow Pages publisher SuperMedia. Klein adds that a Yellow Pages ad still provides a tremendous 65-to-1 average return on investment. "One of the great challenges is traditional press has been clobbered by the shift to digital, so they make the assumption that the same thing is happening to print Yellow Pages, but nothing could be further from the truth," he says.
"That doesn't mean the internet is not important or steadily growing, but if somebody were to spend all their ad dollars online, depending on the market, they would be missing a huge percentage of potential customers out there."
However, it is widely acknowledged that in heavily wired major metropolitan areas like New York, Los Angeles and Seattle, digital advertising is key.
"[Print] Yellow Pages usage has declined more there than in other markets around the country," Klein says. "But, in New York in 2008, two-thirds of advertisers saw greater returns than they did in 2007."
According to Klein, one possible explanation for the increase on returns is that as more advertisers leave the Yellow Pages, all the more calls are to be had by those who stay in.
The Yellow Pages Diversifies
While steadily maintaining that printed Yellow Pages still have a place, the industry is nonetheless shifting toward a more broad range of advertising capabilities. These days, a business owner is just as likely to discuss print ads with a Yellow Pages rep as search engine optimization, customized video commercials for the web, mobile messaging campaigns and direct mail options.
"The larger Yellow Pages publishing community is going to try to help its customers find leads in whatever medium. Yellow Pages publishers have never been technology inventors, [but] they have been technology facilitators," Clark says. "They didn't invent how to put color on a page. A printer did; but the Yellow Pages industry went with it. The same thing is going to happen on the internet.
"If you look at Google and Yahoo--and I don't know that they'd be very vocal about saying this on the record--the places where they're getting a lot of their local content is from print Yellow Pages [salespeople] because these guys can go [to business owners] and say, 'Let's take a look at your complete plan.'"
Some of the latest offerings from the yellow pages include:
* Direct mail: Most Yellow Pages publishers now offer a standard postcard-sized mailing, typically designed online and included as part of a package Yellow Pages ad deal. "There are some times when the ad in the book and the ad in the mail are identical, but more often than not there's a greater call to action in the mail," Klein says.
* Pay per click and pay per call: This a la carte setup lets customers pay for results only, typically pertaining to internet ads.
* ATT411: With thisAT&Tprogram, ifcustomers want information about a company's deals and couponsthey can opt in to a text message marketing list by texting apass phrase toATT411. The pass phrase can usually be found in the company's Yellow Pages print or online ad.
* SuperGuarantee and SuperTradeExchange:SuperMedia offers an incentive to businesses with a qualifying SuperMedia advertisement in the Verizon Yellow PagesandSuperpages.com; a "SuperGuarantee" on all work performed by service contractors in certain sectors. If needed,SuperMedia will even arrange for the problem to be fixed--either by the same contractor, or a different contractor--or will issue a check to the customer for up to $500.
The SuperTradeExchange, on the other hand, is an optional membership network forSuperMedia advertisers to earn and spend "SuperBucks" currency by offering and procuring in-network goods and services. "If you're a dentist who needs brochures printed or you're a restaurateur who needs a travel agent for a vacation, you can trade services," Klein says.
* Call tracking numbers: These unique phone numbers assigned to an ad help advertisers know exactly how many calls each ad is producing. The numbers are becoming more common, often paid for in part or whole by the Yellow Pages publisher. The phone company provides monthly data on call times and call duration and in some cases, calls can be recorded so advertisers know how their employees handled them.
Managing a Yellow PagesAd Campaign
How do you create and maintain an effective Yellow Pages ad campaign? Get in touch withaYellow Pages salesconsultant.
Consultants will help design an effective ad, complete with what's known in the industry as the RASCIL factors:
* Reliability--The ad should provide details about the business owner's years of experience, company size, licenses and awards.
* Authorized--Advertisers should include any logos, trademarks and brand names they're authorized to use--this can even help advertisers get co-op dollars as a result. For instance, HVAC service professionals might include the logo from their preferred HVAC manufacturer in exchange for the manufacturer's agreement to partially reimburse the ad cost.
* Safety--Earn consumer confidence with copy about licensing, bonding, guarantees, professionalism, etc.
* Completeness of information--A great ad shares the entire scope of services; from whether credit cards are accepted, to parking availability, areas served and so on. A catchy headline will also convey information while drawing attention. For instance, "Freshest flowers in town" is more noticeable and informative than "Jo's Floral Shop."
* Illustrations--Quality, eye-catching artwork or photos will help attract consumers to the ad.
* Location--Yellow Pages ads should clearly state the business address or give directions, sometimes even with a small map in the ad.
Ask customers how they found your business and consider using call tracking numbers in Yellow Pages advertising. The extra cost and effort is small to ensure maximum efficiency of advertising dollars.
Keep good records. As with any other aspect of business management, good records-keeping is vital to a Yellow Pages advertising campaign. This is important because business owners have long dealt with various mail and e-mail scams and the Yellow Pages industry is just as susceptible to these scams as any other industry.
That famous walking fingers logo we all recognize is not trademarked and is still used by some legitimate Yellow Pages publishers. Unfortunately, scam artists also use the logo to legitimize the appearance of fraudulent Yellow Pages advertising bills. If business owners keep thorough advertising records, they can compare imposters against a real bill. It also helps to read the invoice's fine print, call related phone numbers before issuing payment and give the person writing checks full access to company records for side-by-side comparisons, according to Clark.
If a business owner receives a fraudulent bill, hang onto it. That scam's classified as mail fraud and should be reported to the Better Business Bureau or even the state attorney general.
"This has been going on as long as the Yellow Pages have been published," Clark says. "It's not unlike anything you'd experience with an online 'phishing' scam."
While some things may never change, there are plenty of transformations in store for the Yellow Pages industry as it adapts to a high-tech world offering more consumer choice.
Not Your Father's Phone Book
entrepreneur magazine
Hayli Morrison, On Tuesday February 16, 2010, 3:00 am EST
Ask any Yellow Pages industry veteran and they'll tell you print advertising is not dead--despite widespread media reports to the contrary in recent years. While the latest industry statistics do show a slight decrease in use, one thing is certain--the times, they are a-changing for the Yellow Pages. With options like service guarantees, trade exchanges, direct mail and coupons-by-text, a Yellow Pages ad campaign is now more complicated--and comprehensive--than ever before.
The high-tech changes came about partially out of necessity, admits Bob Mueller, executive director of business operations forAT&T Advertising Solutions.
"There's definitely a transition going on in the marketplace and in local search," he says. "The print usage of Yellow Pages has declined, but only slightly. Not as much as some people would think, but there's no doubt that consumers are going to [more varied] platforms for their local business search information. Local search is not a zero sum game. For an advertiser to have access to all those places the eyeballs are going, they need to have a presence in each of those places."
Small Towns, Service Industries and Ready-to-Buy Consumers
Yellow Pages directories still have strong holds in industries where consumers often make "ready-to-buy" decisions. In fact, the top 10 most searched categories of the print Yellow Pages include restaurants, pizza, physicians and surgeons, auto parts and repair, attorneys and plumbing contractors.
"It's the true local, local buying decision resource," says Ken Clark, publisher of industry newsletterYP Talk. "Right now, I don't think the internet's there, as far as being the 'when I'm ready to buy' solution. Besides, when you get into tier two and tier three markets with smaller towns, you may not even get a mobile signal so print Yellow Pages is still an ingrained way of life."
The top 50 most used Yellow Pages categories are heavily weighted among service-oriented businesses where consumers are likely making instantaneous buying decisions--everything from roofing and HVAC to pest control, pet grooming and child care. However, about 20 percent of the top listings are retail businesses like grocers, lumber yards and sporting goods stores.
The Impact of the Internet
According to research conducted by the Yellow Pages Association over the past three years, usage numbers hovered around 13 billion looks for print Yellow Pages and 4 billion looks for online yellow page sites.
"A decade ago, that number might have been 18 billion [for print yellow pages]," says Scott W. Klein, CEO of Verizon Yellow Pages publisher SuperMedia. Klein adds that a Yellow Pages ad still provides a tremendous 65-to-1 average return on investment. "One of the great challenges is traditional press has been clobbered by the shift to digital, so they make the assumption that the same thing is happening to print Yellow Pages, but nothing could be further from the truth," he says.
"That doesn't mean the internet is not important or steadily growing, but if somebody were to spend all their ad dollars online, depending on the market, they would be missing a huge percentage of potential customers out there."
However, it is widely acknowledged that in heavily wired major metropolitan areas like New York, Los Angeles and Seattle, digital advertising is key.
"[Print] Yellow Pages usage has declined more there than in other markets around the country," Klein says. "But, in New York in 2008, two-thirds of advertisers saw greater returns than they did in 2007."
According to Klein, one possible explanation for the increase on returns is that as more advertisers leave the Yellow Pages, all the more calls are to be had by those who stay in.
The Yellow Pages Diversifies
While steadily maintaining that printed Yellow Pages still have a place, the industry is nonetheless shifting toward a more broad range of advertising capabilities. These days, a business owner is just as likely to discuss print ads with a Yellow Pages rep as search engine optimization, customized video commercials for the web, mobile messaging campaigns and direct mail options.
"The larger Yellow Pages publishing community is going to try to help its customers find leads in whatever medium. Yellow Pages publishers have never been technology inventors, [but] they have been technology facilitators," Clark says. "They didn't invent how to put color on a page. A printer did; but the Yellow Pages industry went with it. The same thing is going to happen on the internet.
"If you look at Google and Yahoo--and I don't know that they'd be very vocal about saying this on the record--the places where they're getting a lot of their local content is from print Yellow Pages [salespeople] because these guys can go [to business owners] and say, 'Let's take a look at your complete plan.'"
Some of the latest offerings from the yellow pages include:
* Direct mail: Most Yellow Pages publishers now offer a standard postcard-sized mailing, typically designed online and included as part of a package Yellow Pages ad deal. "There are some times when the ad in the book and the ad in the mail are identical, but more often than not there's a greater call to action in the mail," Klein says.
* Pay per click and pay per call: This a la carte setup lets customers pay for results only, typically pertaining to internet ads.
* ATT411: With thisAT&Tprogram, ifcustomers want information about a company's deals and couponsthey can opt in to a text message marketing list by texting apass phrase toATT411. The pass phrase can usually be found in the company's Yellow Pages print or online ad.
* SuperGuarantee and SuperTradeExchange:SuperMedia offers an incentive to businesses with a qualifying SuperMedia advertisement in the Verizon Yellow PagesandSuperpages.com; a "SuperGuarantee" on all work performed by service contractors in certain sectors. If needed,SuperMedia will even arrange for the problem to be fixed--either by the same contractor, or a different contractor--or will issue a check to the customer for up to $500.
The SuperTradeExchange, on the other hand, is an optional membership network forSuperMedia advertisers to earn and spend "SuperBucks" currency by offering and procuring in-network goods and services. "If you're a dentist who needs brochures printed or you're a restaurateur who needs a travel agent for a vacation, you can trade services," Klein says.
* Call tracking numbers: These unique phone numbers assigned to an ad help advertisers know exactly how many calls each ad is producing. The numbers are becoming more common, often paid for in part or whole by the Yellow Pages publisher. The phone company provides monthly data on call times and call duration and in some cases, calls can be recorded so advertisers know how their employees handled them.
Managing a Yellow PagesAd Campaign
How do you create and maintain an effective Yellow Pages ad campaign? Get in touch withaYellow Pages salesconsultant.
Consultants will help design an effective ad, complete with what's known in the industry as the RASCIL factors:
* Reliability--The ad should provide details about the business owner's years of experience, company size, licenses and awards.
* Authorized--Advertisers should include any logos, trademarks and brand names they're authorized to use--this can even help advertisers get co-op dollars as a result. For instance, HVAC service professionals might include the logo from their preferred HVAC manufacturer in exchange for the manufacturer's agreement to partially reimburse the ad cost.
* Safety--Earn consumer confidence with copy about licensing, bonding, guarantees, professionalism, etc.
* Completeness of information--A great ad shares the entire scope of services; from whether credit cards are accepted, to parking availability, areas served and so on. A catchy headline will also convey information while drawing attention. For instance, "Freshest flowers in town" is more noticeable and informative than "Jo's Floral Shop."
* Illustrations--Quality, eye-catching artwork or photos will help attract consumers to the ad.
* Location--Yellow Pages ads should clearly state the business address or give directions, sometimes even with a small map in the ad.
Ask customers how they found your business and consider using call tracking numbers in Yellow Pages advertising. The extra cost and effort is small to ensure maximum efficiency of advertising dollars.
Keep good records. As with any other aspect of business management, good records-keeping is vital to a Yellow Pages advertising campaign. This is important because business owners have long dealt with various mail and e-mail scams and the Yellow Pages industry is just as susceptible to these scams as any other industry.
That famous walking fingers logo we all recognize is not trademarked and is still used by some legitimate Yellow Pages publishers. Unfortunately, scam artists also use the logo to legitimize the appearance of fraudulent Yellow Pages advertising bills. If business owners keep thorough advertising records, they can compare imposters against a real bill. It also helps to read the invoice's fine print, call related phone numbers before issuing payment and give the person writing checks full access to company records for side-by-side comparisons, according to Clark.
If a business owner receives a fraudulent bill, hang onto it. That scam's classified as mail fraud and should be reported to the Better Business Bureau or even the state attorney general.
"This has been going on as long as the Yellow Pages have been published," Clark says. "It's not unlike anything you'd experience with an online 'phishing' scam."
While some things may never change, there are plenty of transformations in store for the Yellow Pages industry as it adapts to a high-tech world offering more consumer choice.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
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