Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Content is one of the most valuable assets of an internet marketer. It therefore makes good sense to make the most of your content, to repurpose and reuse it in as many ways as possible. Here are a few easy ways to make the most of your content.
1. Article marketing
Articles that are published on your website for search engine marketing purposes can be rewritten and used for article marketing purposes. The rewriting process is simply a matter of changing the content by changing the words used, not the overall concept or information in the article. There are tools online that you can use to ensure your ‘rewrite’ is considered ‘original’ by the search engines. Content can be rewritten by you, a virtual assistant or outsourced to a writer for a nominal fee.
2. Blog posts
Large articles can be segmented into several smaller blog posts. In fact, often one paragraph in a larger article (1000 words or more) makes a great blog post because it’s very specific. All you need to do is write an introduction and a short conclusion and you have a great blog post from content that’s already written. Or you can rewrite a shorter article using the strategy in #1 to create a unique blog post.
3. Reports
Collect like articles and blog posts to create a unique report. You’ll need to write an introduction, a conclusion and some transition paragraphs to make the report feel seamless. However, you’re creating a valuable product you can sell or give away from content that’s primarily already written.
4. Guest articles/blog posts
You can rewrite articles to publish on partner websites or as guest blog posts to boost awareness and credibility.
5. Autoresponders/enewsletters
Use your article content to create autoresponders or enewsletters. Many of your prospects do not visit your website regularly to catch up on new content. You can publish your best articles in an enewsletter or you can summarize them, or publish a teaser and link to the article on your website. Thus increasing website traffic.
6. Ebooks
Just like creating reports in #3, you can create ebooks by collecting groups or chapters of like content. Sell it or give it away as a bonus, lead generator or viral product.
7. Online courses
Use your articles to create short lessons for an online course which you can again give away or charge for as an information product.
It should be noted that all of the points here are on how to make the most of your article content; however, if you have books and reports, they can easily be segmented into articles, blog posts, online courses, enewsletter content and autoresponders. Whether you’ve written the content, outsourced it, purchased PLR or a combination of all three, it makes good business sense to make the most of your investment.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a hot topic. Using it will help grow your business online and get you noticed. But what is it really? Search engine optimization is a term used to describe how search engines work for you, the website owner.
Think about this for a moment: You want to research a topic online. You enter certain words into a search engine such as Google or Yahoo. The computer spits out results and you view them to see what fits your needs. How you get those results has a lot to do with search engine optimization.
The words you enter into a search engine are called keywords. If you ever look at the top of your search results you will see the number of results returned plus the words that the search engine used to bring you those results. Now look at the results. The keywords you typed in are bolded either in the titles or in a line of content on that webpage. By optimizing your web pages and content to match the most common phrases or keywords used for that subject, your content can be found. Ideally, content found on the first two pages of search results are the ones that people will click on. No one wants to sift through five million results. The top content or websites are the ones ranked first.
What makes them top ranked? The keywords appear in the content a certain percentage of the time. For keyword-optimized content, keywords that show up three to seven percent of the time are ranked higher than content with less frequent keywords. Search engines crawl your content and webpages for ranking. Keyword-dense content has a good chance of rising to the top of the rankings. But, search engine optimization is not just about single keywords, but also two and three word phrases. Longer phrases have become a great way to rank high, since most content tries to match single keywords.
Search engine optimization extends to your domain name as well. If your website has a specific niche, using keywords relative to that niche in your domain name drives traffic to your website. Don’t neglect your webpages either. Individual pages that use search engine optimized headers are also ranked. For the website owner, using a keyword optimizer makes short work of calculating your keyword density. There are also programs that rank the popularity of certain keyword phrases when searching for information using search engines.
Remember, if you can’t be found, it will be hard to sell your product or service to others. Are you looking for a way to drive traffic to your website? Consider search engine optimization for your webpages and content.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
On most websites you’ll see advertising links at the top, bottom and on the sides. Most of the advertisements are related to the site. Displaying these ads on other sites could be a part of an affiliate marketing program. Affiliate marketing is the idea of using other sites to help sell your products and drive traffic to your site.
Affiliate marketing works best when everyone involved benefits from the process. If you need exposure for your products, get other business websites involved in making that happen. Many websites offer affiliate programs. One of the more popular ones is Google AdWords. Some programs require you to just sign up, while others have an application that they ask you to fill out to evaluate if your website is right for their program. Affiliate marketing is great for websites that don’t have a product or service to sell but would like to generate revenue in some way. As a part of an affiliate marketing program, websites earn commissions for hosting your ads on their website. As you make money so do they.
You have worked hard to build your website. Maybe you have employed several strategies to increase your visibility on the Internet: SEO content, email marketing, eBooks, viral marketing and the like. Now you are ready for something new to increase your traffic and sales. Affiliate marketing is easy and effective. The strategy here is to find your niche and decide what you will sell on your site. Develop a strong philosophy and operating policy to attract others to your affiliate program. Investigate other affiliate programs. You may have joined a few when you were getting started to generate revenue. Learn how the better ones operate and their strategies for success.
Before beginning your own, decide on commission rates, how you will pay your affiliates, and what benefits you will offer them. Set yourself apart as a resource for your niche to increase your popularity. When you produce great search engine optimized content that is updated regularly, people come back to your site over and over again. You want them to have something fresh to see each time someone clicks on your links. Affiliate marketing works for those who are also selling goods or services. They are not in direct competition with you so both of you can benefit. Get regular reports on how well the affiliate marketing strategy is working for you. Some products may sell better than others. Change the items you sell based on these numbers.
Affiliate marketing uses other popular websites to advertise for you and your website. With links to your products and services on other websites, you increase your traffic and hopefully your sales through this marketing strategy.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Affiliate marketing is a lucrative business on the Internet. Not only does the program originator make money, but the affiliates that find a good program can also stand to gain a pretty penny. If you are thinking about beginning your own affiliate program, decide if you want to offer affiliate training. Training is always good. As a rule of thumb, the more you know, the further your business will go. Those who have expertise in an area are willing to train others to do exactly what they have done and find success.
Affiliates are also interested in making money. They are for the most part business owners who see affiliate marketing as a way to increase their visibility as well. The same techniques used to help them promote your products will benefit them when selling their goods and services. How will they learn these techniques? They can scour the Internet for all the information that they need or they could get it from you.
Anyone looking to make money on the Internet through affiliate programs is looking for quality affiliate programs that will benefit them as much as it does the affiliate program owner. One mark of a quality program is the incentives it offers to its affiliates. You or your affiliate manager will use affiliate software to track the sales that are due to your affiliates. Some will bring in sales and others may stay for awhile and move on to other affiliate programs. If affiliate sales are dropping off, one reason could be affiliate satisfaction. Why do affiliates stay with a particular program? To increase the motivation of your affiliates, offering affiliate training is one way to do it. Affiliates want to know that you care about all they do to help you by helping them. Affiliate marketing has a lot of ins and outs that a novice needs to learn. As the program owner, you can train your affiliates to make them better at affiliate marketing overall.
What does your training include? First of all, provide them with interesting email newsletters that contain information to teach them how to use effective marketing strategies for their business. There are a number of marketing strategies and any of your affiliates will want the benefit of your expertise on as many of them as possible. The training can also include increased shares for affiliates who demonstrate high sales consistently. Other perks that you can think of could also encourage affiliates to increase their click rates on your behalf.
Affiliate training is a good idea to distinguish you as a reputable affiliate program. Your product may get them interested, but your added benefits will keep them working with you.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Affiliate programs can be a lucrative advertising strategy for your business. Getting others to advertise for you in more places will increase your traffic. But, affiliate programs can be time consuming when you have a million other things to do. Maybe hiring an affiliate manager would ease the load. Read on to see for yourself.
You create ads that will be used on these sites by your affiliates. The ads will complement the sites that they run on so they have a better chance of being clicked. The ads click directly to your website page featuring the product you are selling. It sounds easy but there are many steps to keep track of. An affiliate program requires your time every day. Affiliates will have questions or concerns on a regular basis depending on how many affiliates you have. If you decide to have the type of program that implements an application for potential affiliates, that will have to be monitored as well. It is not uncommon to spend up to two hours a day dealing with affiliate issues. Setting up your affiliate website will include an FAQ page, answering emails from affiliates (if that is how you choose to communicate with them), checking for each affiliates click rate and sending out payments on a regular schedule. This can take away from other needs that warrant your attention. It could be time to hire an affiliate manager.
As your number of affiliates continues to grow, so will your time spent with the affiliate program. If you can’t manage the operation by yourself, give an affiliate manager a try. You don’t want unhappy affiliates. There is nothing worse than bad press on the Internet. It spreads like wildfire. Affiliate managers can be found online by searching for “affiliate managers” or your affiliate manager could be part of the role of a virtual assistant. Many have expertise that includes website management and support. Affiliate managers need to be available a certain number of hours per day to oversee the program. They must have good organizational skills, customer service skills, knowledge of marketing techniques, website expertise and be flexible. They will be an extension of you and your business personality when dealing with affiliates. Their duties will be wide and varied. Basically anything that has to do with your program will fall under their jurisdiction. That includes: answering affiliate questions, recruiting affiliates, tracking how well each affiliate is doing, pay affiliates, develop ads for affiliate use, be well versed in the latest competitor strategies, teach affiliate training (if you want to offer it) and keep affiliates interested in working with you.
Affiliate managers are not as costly as an affiliate network. As a freelancer, they can be paid by the hour for work that they do. Hiring an affiliate manager frees up your time and leaves your affiliate program in good hands.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
On the Internet you want to be connected, especially if you own an online business. One way to build that connection with others is through links. Link building is a popular way to increase traffic to your website and therefore your business. What are links? They are the website addresses that you click on that carry you to another page. Links are found in content, in advertising banners, and in resource boxes. There are links everywhere. As an online business owner, building links that lead back to your website is important. Everyone doesn’t click on all links. If they are visiting a reputable site that has links to other helpful sites, most people will click on them. This is your way in.
So, how do you build links? There are several ways to get your links seen all across the web:
- E-zines
- Content directories
- Search engines
- Reciprocal links
Publish an online magazine or write for one. At the end of each column or article, the writer gets a resource box. This is where you tell all about yourself and provide a link to your website, where readers can learn more about you. The main purpose here is to write good stuff so that someone will want to click on your link. Distribute newsletters to your customers and potential customers. Using an email campaign, send out newsletters that feature what’s new on your site as well as links to these exciting new features. The links provide easy access for the customer so they don’t have to type in your site address and then click around to find what you want them to see. That is a great way to lose a customer.
Writing and distributing content to various directories also gets you noticed. Within the resource box is the link to your website. Become an expert on your subject of interest and more people will want to click on your website link to see what you have to say.
Register your site with search engines. When you produce quality content that is search engine optimized, your content is ranked high. Interested viewers can click on the link to your webpage for more information.
Building partnerships with similar website businesses also increases your quality link building. Agree to list each other’s links on your sites for more visibility.
With link building it is the quality more than the quantity of the links you are building that counts. No one wants to have their link associated with a disreputable site or one that is not very good. Be sure that your links are static. This means that once someone clicks on your website link, they will arrive at the proper page you want them to see. Always linking to homepages when the information is on another page is inefficient. The customer still has to go in search of what they need. Make it easy for them and for you with precise links. Link building gets the word out about your business. It takes time to build quality links, but the benefits are well worth the work.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
We are not talking about that molded meat in a can. But, if you don’t comply with this act you will have your marketing efforts canned. Read further to find out what the CAN SPAM Act is all about and how it affects you.
The CAN SPAM Act was put into place in 2003 when it was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The act regulates the spammers. We all know who they are. They are the ones who send unsolicited emails to your inbox. Some of the spam is more than just annoying. There is a lot of grossly pornographic material represented here. Spammers use your email to dump unwanted advertisements on your doorstep. If one gets your email address, they all seem to get it and the influx of dirty mail begins. The CAN SPAM Act was supposed to regulate this with the help of the Federal Trade Commission. With the help of the FTC those who use deceptive subject lines to get you to open their mail can be prosecuted. Also, many of these emails are just another way to get you to view pornography that would be deleted outright if the subject line alluded to what was really inside.
Email recipients don’t have to give you permission to send them emails. This is one drawback. But, at the end of your email, you need to have an Unsubscribe link so that the recipient can stop your email advertisements if they choose. Ignoring their requests will result in prosecution as well. Some illegal offenses include:
- Using email addresses on websites to send spam
- Sending pornographic material
- Illegally gaining access to email addresses
- Sending out emails that link to fraudulent sites to recipients
Many are skeptical of the efficacy of the CAN SPAM Act. Email servers beefed up their security measures to keep customers happy. With self-cleaning bulk mail folders, email security settings and other measures, most of the unwanted email is avoided. Using the highest security on your email filter means that no one who is not in your address book will get an email through unless they fill out a short questionnaire. Most spammers won’t take the time to do that. Even with the questionnaire, the email is not allowed unless you agree to it. Still, there are spammers who use other site’s mailing lists to send their horrible emails.
Don’t be fooled. The CAN SPAM Act will be enforced if you fail to comply. The act covers all business emails that are used to solicit purchase of a product or service. It is up to the FTC and the State Attorney General to prosecute for these offenses. A spammer can be charged up to $250 per offensive email, up to $2 million. For your part, report spam to your email provider in an effort to catch these offenders.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
I'm often asked, "What could an intern do for me and my business?", by the entrepreneurs I meet at networking events and speaking engagements I attend. For many of them, the term "internship" brings to mind images of a young college student making copies, digging through filing cabinets, and sending faxes. While this is may be the stereotype, there are many more things an intern can do to help you reach your marketing goals and further their own learning and skill building.
If you have a business, whether it's full time or part time, run out of your home or an external office, an intern can be a great asset to support your marketing efforts. There are lots of things you can hire an intern to do that will help you out and provide a learning experience for her at the same time. Here are seven projects that are great for interns:
1. Managing your database
Every business owner should have a place to keep contact information of the prospects, partners, leads, and vendors they know. Imagine going to a networking event, trade show, or speaking engagement and having someone else to do the data entry of that information into your system. They can also:
- Add contacts to a follow-up or drip marketing sequence
- Schedule time on your calendar to make a follow-up phone call
- Complete regular 'maintenance' on your system by removing old email addresses and add missing fields like zip codes
- Call your contacts to get mailing addresses for thank you notes
- Run reports to check on email open rates and bounces
2. Social networking
Interns know how to use social networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIN and Twitter. They can save you a great deal of time by posting and scheduling your status updates, adding or finding new friends, accepting or declining group and event invitations, creating events and inviting guests, uploading photos, keeping your profile up to date, or messaging new friends to encourage them to join your Facebook fan page or email list.
3. Finding reciprocal linking partners
Inbound links are a valuable commodity, and reciprocal linking can get you those links at no cost. But it does take some time to find webmasters of relevant sites who will link to you. Why not get your intern to do it?
4. Managing emails
If reading and answering email from networking partners, prospects, and clients takes you a good deal of time to manage, let your intern help. He can screen the emails that come into your inbox, decide whether it needs action or just to be read, answer the ones you tell them to using a template you write, bring the ones he can't answer to your immediate attention and archive the rest.
5. Running email campaigns
From the nuts and bolts of setting up autoresponders to tracking results, there is much to be learned from an email campaign. Letting your intern work on one will benefit both of you.
6. Setting up shopping carts
A shopping cart is a key component of any Internet marketing site. Allowing your intern to set up shopping carts on new sites will free up your time.
7. Promotion of special events
When you are planning a special event, teleclass, or program launch, it's always nice to have an extra hand. Your intern could handle the promotion aspect of it, freeing you up to do the planning.
If you find you are spending time working "in" your business more than working "on" your business and any of the above tasks keep you from doing the important activities only you can do, hiring an intern is a great way to get help managing the administrative functions of your operation while helping a student get valuable experience at the same time. And that's what I call a win-win.
Deanna Maio, Business Trainer & Coach, teaches business owners simple, powerful processes to stop wasting time and start making more money, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and use your valuable time more wisely, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
At this point, most people have heard of social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other sites. They have been accepted as a great way to connect with friends and as a business networking platform. But if you want to use social networking sites to propel your business to the next level, your best bet is a lesser known site called LinkedIn. It’s a social networking site that is designed just for business-minded individuals like you who don’t want to be bothered with all the useless frills and apps that come with other networking sites.
Taking Care of Business
Not only is LinkedIn preferable for business users because you don’t have to worry about all the junk, but you also don’t have to worry about all the people that are not relevant to your business. It may be a smaller site, but when it comes to your business contacts and clients, quality is far more important than quantity. Plus, if people are talking to you through LinkedIn, they’re more likely to think you’re a quality contact too. If you’re starting a viral marketing campaign, LinkedIn can be just the ticket you need to get things going. The best viral products work on already existing networks. LinkedIn is a great network to start your campaign on, especially if your products serve people in business rather than the general public.
Search Engine Happiness
LinkedIn can help get you noticed on search engines. These pages actually get pretty high SEO rankings, so taking advantage of that can put you at the top of search engines. When you sign up on LinkedIn, use a name based on your own name, or even keywords that pertain to your business. That way, if someone searches that term, your page will come up.
Find Customers
If your clients are regular everyday people, then you might not have huge success using LinkedIn to find customers. But if you cater to people who are in business themselves, then this network is a great place to find new customers. Just check your contact’s networks for people that might be interested in your services and send them a message or a contact request. Just try not to compete with the contacts you’re finding them through; that’s likely to lose you more clients than you make.
Manage Customer Relationships
In today’s market, customer service is key, particularly if you do business online. If you don’t provide people with the kind of relationship they want, they can find ten other people who are willing to. LinkedIn is a great way to communicate with your customers and help keep them happy. If they’re happy, you’ll not only keep their business, but they may just recommend it to their friends and business associates.
Promoting Your Business
When using social networks to promote your business, it helps to only use one or two instead of spreading yourself too thin. If you only pick one, LinkedIn is a great choice.
Deanna Maio, Business Coach & Consultant, teaches women business owners how to attract more clients, make more sales, stop wasting time, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and client base in your business, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Being able to connect online with your target market is a powerful marketing strategy. Using the internet as a way to reach your customers is the tactic with the shortest history, but it is a growing industry with an amazing amount of promise. Recently, Pepsi pulled out of Superbowl Sunday and opted instead to spend its money on social media advertising. However, simply writing a blog or creating a facebook status update for your business doesn’t necessarily mean you're going to be able to really reach your audience. So, instead of wasting time and resources, focus your efforts by creating an online presence that is genuine.
Step One: Determine where your patrons hang out
What websites do they visit? What magazines are they buying? What gender are they? What age range, income status or household size are your preferred customers? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself help pinpoint your clients’ likes and dislikes. Creating an online presence is no longer just about creating a “cool” website. It’s about creating a relationship that is sincere and lasting. This sort of relationship, like any relationship, takes time but is well worth the effort.
As you stare at a blank computer screen, these questions can seem daunting, but have no fear. There are many free resources available to help you. One easy way to keep your ear to ground is to read blogs. There is a blog on just about every topic under the sun. Analyze your audience by determining what blogs they frequent and then search for advertising guidelines. What verbiage is the most effective? Do they use stories to connect to the audience? What online contests or surveys seem to have the most "curb appeal" to readers? It is important to find a blog that:
- Speaks on a relevant topic
- Has a fair amount of readers
- Doesn’t have too many competing ads
Social Networking Sites
Social media has become an unstoppable force in our personal and professional lives. Many of us have facebook sites, have "tweeted" and established connections through Linkdn. If any of this sounds unfamiliar, then start there. These social media platforms are free to use and extremely user-friendly. Creating profiles on these sites will aid you tremendously in creating a greater presence online. This will allow your customers to connect with you in a more personal way, while still promoting your business, product or services. You can post links from your facebook profile to your business profile or website. The link below will show you how to create links, import video and transform your facebook presence for your business use.
http://mashable.com/2009/09/18/facebook-newsroom/
Linkedn is an amazing networking resource and Twitter allows you to share resources, stories and establish a more tangible presence because of its informal nature.
Once you've exhausted your free resources, and have a more concrete idea of "how" to relate to your customers, you should research different websites to link to. By creating links to your website, you’re creating new veins that lead customers to your business. You should only create links to websites that will give your website greater credibility. For instance, you can join your local Better Business Bureau and create a link from their website to yours. That is just one idea but there are myriad of different techniques that will increase traffic on your site. The link listed below gives a thorough overview of "who" you should build links with:
www.seobook.com/archives/001792.shtml
Everyone uses search engines to find a business
These search engines capture the questions that your customers are asking. Google, Yahoo, MSN and a whole slew of other search engines offer many free ways to understand that data and learn how to capitalize on it. In order to receive that data from Google, you must have a Google account. Creating an account is free and super easy. Once you have an account, you can publish and register your site with Google. By registering your site, you are asking Google to include you in its index. Once your site is indexed, you will be more easily found by customers searching for information on your business products or services.
Enewsletters and email marketing messages are a great way to reach a targeted audience and make sure the name of your business is being splashed all over the internet. Enewsletters are cost effective, and recipients subscribed to them, are generally looking forward to receiving them and therefore more receptive to the content. Writing for your target audience is easier if you visit sites they visit, consider what they need, and write content that will appeal to them. For instance, if most of your clients are female business owners, write about the struggles they might face in the personal and professional arena. Post gender-specific resources on your website such as programs that offer funding for women business owners. If you offer relevant and interesting information on your website or through your ezine, you will be viewed as more credible. Your target audience will see you as an advocate for their needs and you will gain their trust. A consumer's trust is one of the most valuable things a business can earn.
While you want your business name mentioned as many time as it can be on the internet, maintaining your integrity is paramount. If you’re really stuck for ideas on how to create a greater online presence, research what your competition is doing. While you may not want to link to the same website, blog, or social networking site, you can at least use those ideas to get the creative juices flowing.
To create a more effective and larger presence online, track everything from the effectiveness of an article, to the color of the ad, the font, the keywords you've used in your website, the amount of friends you have on facebook, the number of people reading your "tweets" and so on. Data collection programs like Google analytics and basic split testing tactics often provide all the information you need to create and perfect the online ways you use to reach your target audience. Testing and tracking optimizes your efforts and helps you hone in on those messages which have the most influence. But only you can create the material that your readers will find genuine, sincere and trustworthy.
So be the speaker they are craving to hear and create an online presence that they want to hang out with. Do this through humor, sincerity and a genuine love for your customers.
Presented by: Deanna Maio, Business Coach & Consultant, teaches women business owners how to attract more clients, make more sales, stop wasting time, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and client base in your business, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
