SiteProNews |
- Online Marketing: Free and Low Cost Strategies that Make More Sales
- Understanding TrustRank and How to Use It
- LinkedIn Marketing Debate: Should Your LinkedIn Profile Be in 1st Person or 3rd Person?
- International Relationship Marketing – A SPN Exclusive Article
- The Google First Page Lie and the Necessity For Creativity and Quality
| Online Marketing: Free and Low Cost Strategies that Make More Sales Posted: 29 Jul 2011 09:41 AM PDT  The good news is that regardless of the continued massive growth of the Internet, the rules of business haven’t changed – fundamental business strategy still applies. You start with your ideal customer, you find out what their biggest problems are, you then find or create solutions for those problems, and finally you put the solution in front of the customer and the sale is made. The even better news is that what has changed is our ability to reach more of our next customers at less cost – it is much greater today and is expanding. This comes with its own set of challenges. When it comes down to it, there are two types of online strategies we can use: 1: free and low-cost; and 2: paid. Free and low-cost go together because even though some of these strategies might be free in terms of cost, they are definitely not free in terms of time. For now, let’s look at the former. As mentioned before, free and low-cost strategies are those that are extremely inexpensive dollar-wise but more expensive time wise. The most popular and effective in use today are: * Blogging Blogging: Every business should have a blog and post at a minimum one article per week. Blogging can help to build or strengthen expert status in your industry. It can show customers that you know what you’re talking about and can really help them. These articles can then be syndicated to a larger audience in social media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others. Many blogging platforms are free. A great way to start out is using WordPress. Out of the box WordPress has a lot of features – everything you need for a blog. In addition, there are thousands of free plugins you can use to add features to your blog that can enhance the search engine optimization, create contact forms, automatically send blog posts to social media, etc. If you can’t find what you need for free, there are many paid plugins for less than $100 that also come with support. Social Media: As business becomes increasingly personal once again, participation in social media is a must. This doesn’t mean you have to sit on Twitter all day and watch the tweets roll in – that would be a complete waste of time. Rather, you can set up custom searches for the main keywords of your business, and engage with the people that use them. You never know when you’ll be talking to your next customer or raving fan. There is a new breed of customer relationship applications maturing in the category of social CRM. The purpose of these applications, typically web-based, are to help you cut through all the “useless” chatter on social media so you can focus in on potential customers. One such application currently in beta is Commun.it. Email Marketing: A cliche in Internet Marketing is, “the money is in the list.” What is meant by this is that if you have a relationship with a large group of people via email, you can make buying recommendations that they will act on, due to the relationship. For the most part that’s true. A great use of email marketing is for lead nurturing. Not everyone that visits a website is ready to buy. Some people are looking for information and some are comparing competitive offerings. If you’re lucky some will come with credit card in hand, but most don’t. That’s where lead nurturing comes into play. With most email marketing solutions you can set up an automatic sequence of emails to go out to your email list on a schedule – this is an autoresponder. You can mix in broadcast emails that provide timely information to your subscribers. To get people to join your list you offer them an ethical bribe such as a video, ebook, or other piece of information that offers value. Regardless, the point is to deliver a steady flow of value that builds the relationship to the point where the prospect followsyour call to action and makes a purchase. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): This is the stuff of myths and legends and really seems to be a dash of science with a heaping tablespoon of alchemy. Without going overboard though it comes down to a basic principle: Google is in the business of providing its customers (searchers) with the most relevant results so they keep coming back, seeing and clicking on ads, and Google makes billions. So what does relevant mean? It means that the information and experience you provide around a set of keywords or phrases is better than anyone else’s. Is that a bit of an over simplification? Yes, but we could talk about SEO for months and not go anywhere. So for now, keep in mind that relevant content and user experience is what Google cares about. Provide that to people and you’ll rise in the rankings. Which Way To Go? With all these options it’s difficult to see which way to go. And the answer isn’t “it depends” but rather the order in which to do everything you’ve read about. And here’s the answer to that: * Start with content. Create a blog if you haven’t already and start writing content that will help your ideal customer. * Create a free report or a video and create an email list. Give people the free report in exchange for their email. Be sure that you limit the amount of sales pitch in this free report – if you want to keep people as subscribers they need to get value. * Sign up for a free Twitter account. Don’t jump in head first but rather do some searches around the keywords and phrases that best define your business. Take note of how people use those words, and also note who uses them. After a few weeks you’ll know how best to approach people and strike up some conversations. * Search engine optimization. With all of your content do one thing: write for your ideal customer. Whoever that person is, write to solve their problems. Once you’re doing that, you can dig into more advanced strategies. The final step with this primer in hand – there’s only one thing left to do – go make it happen! Start a blog, join Twitter, create a free report and set up an email list, and start writing content for your ideal customer. Do those four things and you’ll be well on your way to making many more sales. Robert Dempsey is the Itinerant Entrepreneur. He combines technology, psychology, and marketing to help his clients build their empires using strategic marketing. Visit his website to start getting more traffic, leads, and sales. http://www.ItinerantEntrepreneur.com/ Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| Understanding TrustRank and How to Use It Posted: 29 Jul 2011 09:28 AM PDT 
If you’re serious about website design or online business then this should be your number one priority. If not, you shouldn’t be looking too far into the future of your empire because you won’t be able to build up good relationships with leads or customers. Well first of all, you’re probably going to lose more than 80% of your potential buyers because the internet is well known for scams and spam. People don’t like to take a chance, especially when the online market is so competitive. The other reason is your best mate Google – if Google doesn’t trust you, people won’t find you, and if people can’t find you then there’s no point in running an internet business at all. Becoming a trusted site in their eyes will not only make you more visible to the online world, but to many others too. How to Build Trust with Search Engines and Visitors As mentioned earlier in this article, there are two main factors that will affect your business relationships, user perception and trust ranking. User perception is how a visitor understands a site in their eyes so doing the following will help gain trust quickly:- Blogging – Shows visitors that you are posting quality content on a regular basis and talking about relevant subjects to keep them interested. Tweeting – Shows that you are active, especially if you post tweets every couple of hours which is what you should be doing with Twitter anyway. Quality – People will trust you if it looks like you put time and effort into making your site look stunning as well as professional. It should be tested by humans for humans and have a good user experience. Make sure everyone gets a great first impression. Being Real – Make sure you have a telephone number along with other contact details including an address if there is one so people know your business is real. Simply put, people who have had bad experiences with dodgy sites are careful about the sites they trust and purchase from. The second element is TrustRank, the unofficial set of factors that determine how trusted a site is by using sophisticated algorithms affecting the Search Engine Ranking Process (SERP) rankings:- Legal Issues – In the EU, you must have a Privacy Policy explaining how cookies are used and handled if they are collected. People have seen better positions in search results by placing the policy link in their footer. SSL Certificates – This is a definite factor for online businesses. Major search engines can tell how trusted a site is by a Trust Authority. Companies such as VeriSign provide secure and trusted certificates with EV (Extended Validation – the green bar that appears with the HTTPS in the URL) features which is instantly recognized by visitors, spiders or crawlers. Domain Age – Even if you use paid services to hide WHOIS data, its been said that Google can see the actual data anyway so the data should only be hidden if really needed. The age of a domain name can show that you’ve been around a while and it can be a good idea to have at least 10 years registered on it. Links - The sites that link to you and the sites you link to yourself can tell a lot about an organization. It not only determines your PageRank, but if you have links to sites Google may consider spam or junk, it can affect your authority too. Make sure all your links are of good quality and are completely relevant. There are other factors, but Google will probably never tell us. An interesting fact is that TrustRank was actually registered by the corporate giant in 2005 along with a patent to go with it. So it’s definitely real and it could mean more to the SERP than PageRank. Give it a try and see if it makes any difference because it’s definitely worth it. West London based freelance web designer Sohail Amir, providing bespoke web design and development solutions. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| LinkedIn Marketing Debate: Should Your LinkedIn Profile Be in 1st Person or 3rd Person? Posted: 29 Jul 2011 08:41 AM PDT 
I see people who write their profile in 1st person. Others will write in 3rd person. Even the LinkedIn marketing experts say different things when it comes to whether or not you should write your LinkedIn profile summary in first person or third person So, today with this article, I am putting the debate to rest. I’m giving you the definitive answer to whether you should write your profile in 1st person or 3rd person – along with the reasons why. 7 Reasons to Put Your LinkedIn Profile in 1st Person and Not 3rd Person Reason #1: When you write your LinkedIn profile in 3rd person it reads like a boring resume and seems very technical. Or, it can sound like you are writing a biography which is not very personal or interesting. It does not give the reader a true idea of who you are as a business person, thought leader or individual. Reason #2: When you write your LinkedIn profile in 1st person it says to the reader that “I have character and confidence in my abilities. I’m willing to tell you in my own voice.” It tells the reader that you actually wrote your profile in your own words and took the time to personalize it. Here is an example from one of my clients, Dan Janal, who took the time to pay attention to detail when writing his profile: “Imagine being featured on the front page of USA TODAY — and then being able to double your speaking fees immediately just like PR LEADS client Patrick Snow of Creating Your Own Destiny. Imagine the website traffic and sales you can generate if only you can find a way to get more publicity so you can speak to millions for free! Now, small business owners, solo PR firms, speakers, authors and entrepreneurs can get name-brand publicity tools and publicity coaching they can afford. I’m talking about the same top-tier publicity tools that major corporations use to get mega media placements – but you can get it at a fraction of their cost. For example, my PRLEADS.com service puts you in touch with reporters who are writing articles and need to find expert sources like you! We’re talking journalists from big name publications and media outlets like The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Redbook.” You can read Dan’s entire profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danjanal Reason #3: When you write your LinkedIn profile in 3rd person you create an automatic disconnect. It’s too distant and pompous. And, it automatically makes me think of the back cover bio of an author in a book. Let me show you what I mean. Here is a real example of someone’s LinkedIn profile summary – the name has been changed to protect the guilty: “Chris Baton is an attorney who specializes in immigration law. A large percentage of his practice is focused on immigration trials and appeals. Chris was the former chairperson for the American Bar Association Solo and Small Firm Division, Immigration Law Committee. Throughout his career, he has served on many local, state, and federal government boards and commissions. He speaks professionally on a variety of immigration and political issues.” Many of the profiles are done this way because the user has copied a biography from their website or another source where 3rd party format is more common. This shows me that you did not put any thought or time in to creating an effective LinkedIn profile. You need to show viewers that you care enough to connect with them on a personal level. Reason #4: LinkedIn is a virtual networking platform for business professionals who want to do more business. It is the first step in building a relationship with someone. You wouldn’t introduce yourself in the third person if you met someone at a networking event – would you? Then why would you introduce yourself on your profile in 3rd person when writing in first person gives you a more genuine and personal touch. Reason #5: Your profile should be more about the reader than you. It should provide as much value as possible to the reader and it should be used to create discussions and conversations about you, your company, your products and how you can benefit others. It should be focused on what will or can be provided to the reader should they engage with you. Your profile is a “marketing piece” not a resume. And, marketing pieces are in 1st person! Reason #6: It’s YOUR profile. You are not a reporter writing a story about somebody. Nor are you putting together a press release. You have to personalize your profile to enable a reader or prospect to relate to you. Writing in first person gives the other person more confidence and trust in you. You are telling your own story. You need to write your LinkedIn profile for the audience MOST LIKELY to read it. Remember, you write to be read. Reason #7: You want to sound like you are speaking directly to someone, face-to-face, and telling them a story about your background and how they can benefit from your expertise. By writing in first person you are able to show your true character as a person and business owner. Remember when writing your LinkedIn profile to personalize it by writing in the 1st person. Show your audience that you are just like them. Now, do you still think you should be writing your LinkedIn profile summary and experience sections in 3rd person? LinkedIn marketing Expert Kristina Jaramillo, the creator of the first LinkedIn marketing templates at http://www.InstantLinkedInMarketingTemplates.com helps business professionals network more effectively on LinkedIn so they can get more website traffic, prospects and profits. Now, with her free special report, you can uncover how you can become “the trusted source for your industry on LinkedIn” by avoiding her top 14 mistakes. Get this information for free at: http://www.GetLinkedInHelp.com Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| International Relationship Marketing – A SPN Exclusive Article Posted: 29 Jul 2011 07:40 AM PDT 
Relationship marketing is not a new marketing concept, however, it has become an increasingly more important concept in the modern economy. Relationship marketing basically uses a company’s relationship with its current customers as the basis of targeted marketing efforts. This relationship is fostered and closely nurtured to ensure that customers are satisfied with their products or services and that they remain loyal to the company. Customer Satisfaction The most important element of relationship marketing is customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction, which can be achieved through quality customer service, quality products, and quality service, is used to not only retain customers and generate referral business, but it is also used as a source of marketing data. After all, satisfied customers are more willing to talk with company representatives about their experiences, to make recommendations (those all important word of mouth referrals), and to accept marketing materials. There are several ways in which customer satisfaction can be used in relationship marketing. The first way is through an online opt-in communication system. Customers that want to receive promotional materials and communications from the company opt-in to an electronic mailing list. Viral marketing techniques can also be used as a part of a relationship marketing campaign that is designed to promote customer Customer satisfaction can also be measured and monitored through the use of relatively new social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook. Two great examples of companies that actively monitor social media channels (especially Twitter) are General Electric and Chili’s. Both of these companies employ very aggressive tactics in the realm of social media to monitor what is being said about them, their products, and services. Customer Retention Customer retention is another focal point of relationship marketing. In this case the marketing professional would take steps to ensure the customer remains loyal to the company. This is usually accomplished by offering loyal customers special perks such as discounts, promotional items, private sales, and other rewards and incentives. Once customer retention programs are in place and a relationship has been established, then the marketer can utilize relationship marketing strategies to mine data from the customer. This data may then be used to create customer retention measures, to identify problems, and to develop corrective plans for those identified problems. Unlike other types of marketing, the success of any relationship marketing campaign hinges on the ability of the marketer to establish an ongoing relationship with their customers. Relationship marketing has really come to the forefront for many companies, especially in the online/Internet realm. With debacles such as the “Motrin Moms”, “United Breaks Guitars”, the Nestle problem, and the @keyinfluencer/FedEx issue, it’s become more and more apparent that companies need to dedicate time and effort in developing, maintaining, and monitoring appropriate relationship marketing tactics. As social media continues to develop and grow, relationship marketing tactics will continue to evolve and change as well. Companies large and small need to take a proactive step in their relationship marketing – especially in the main online communities such as Twitter and Facebook. With the speed in which bad experiences, poor service, poor performance, or inappropriate actions can be reported and spread online, the need for vigilance in relationship marketing has never been greater. Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative Real Estate Business Cards website. We’re eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com for Online Business Cards. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding business cards design or business card management. Be part of the professional business cards company. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| The Google First Page Lie and the Necessity For Creativity and Quality Posted: 28 Jul 2011 10:00 PM PDT 
Oh, you already knew that? So you’re not the least bit surprised by my statement? What’s that you say? You’ve been hearing for years how important it is to be on the first page of Google? I see. So my statement just reinforces what you knew all along. Well, that’s good. That’s very, very good. Except for one thing… It’s a BIG lie! The Google First Page Lie That’s right, it’s a big lie! You Do Not Have To Be On The First Page Of Google To Make Money On The Internet! I repeat… You Do Not Have To Be On The First Page Of Google To Make Money On The Internet! I’ll explain why in a moment. But first…a little history lesson in marketing. Marketing lies didn’t just start with search engine rankings. Long before the advent of the Internet, businesses were climbing all over themselves trying to get the best ad placement in other types of major media: The Major Media * Newspapers Let’s touch on each of these briefly. Newspapers The prime real estate in a newspaper is the general news section. Followed closely by the sports and astrology sections. But what if you can’t afford prime placement? Does that mean your ad is doomed to failure? Of course not. Ads in other parts of the newspaper can be successful as well. Heck, even the classified ads get read. The key is being creative enough to make your ad stand out, regardless of where it’s located. For example, I remember reading a very interesting newspaper article about how lint balls in clothes dryers are extremely flammable and can cause major house fires. Only after reading the entire article did I realize it was an insurance advertisement placed by a local independent insurance agent. That advertisement, designed to look like an article, definitely got my attention. By the way, that advertisement was buried way in the back of the newspaper with a bunch of other ads, and it still managed to stand out. Magazines When it comes to magazine advertising, apparently size matters. According to Entrepreneur magazine, A two-page spread attracts about 25 percent more readers than a one-page ad. A full-page ad attracts one-third more readers than a half-page ad. As far as ad placement is concerned, it really doesn’t matter whether the ad is located in the front of the magazine or the back in terms of the ability to get noticed. But what about all those other ads in the magazine? Are they doomed to failure because of their smaller size? Of course not. Just like with newspaper advertising, even the classified ads get read. Again, the key is being creative enough to make your ad stand out, regardless of where it’s located. Whenever, I think about magazine ads, I always think about Joe Karbo’s classic The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches. The secondary headline really struck a chord in readers: Most People Are Too Busy Earning a Living to Make Any Money. Out of the thousands and thousands of magazine ads I’ve read over the years, that’s the one that continues to stand out in my mind all these years later. Direct Mail Even with sky high postage costs, a properly executed direct mail campaign still provides a solid ROI (return on investment). Cooperative direct mail companies such as Valpak make launching a direct mail campaign easy and affordable, for even the most budget conscious small business. So what exactly is cooperative direct mail? Cooperative direct mail simply means you share an envelope with 35-40 other advertisers. Sharing an envelope with other advertisers reduces your costs significantly. Obviously, it can be a challenge to get noticed in an envelope full of ads. But one resourceful direct mail advertiser found a way around that problem. This was one of the cleverest and most effective direct mail pieces I’ve ever seen. It was a simple, light yellow postcard with black print that read: “Dear David Jackson: I’ve sent you a very special gift. It will be arriving in a few days in a light blue Valpak envelope. When you receive it, please sort through the envelope immediately and claim your free gift. Tape this postcard to your refrigerator as a reminder.” I waited with anticipation for that blue Valpak envelope to arrive, and when it came, I tore it open, completely disregarding the dozens of other offers in the envelope and went fishing for my free gift. Talk about an advertiser jumping to the front of the line…brilliant! By the way, in case you’re wondering what my free gift was, it was two free movie passes from a local furniture store. Did the free gift work? A month after receiving those movie passes, my girlfriend and I purchased a new living room set from that very same store. Yellow Pages Just like in magazine advertising, size matters. and all things being equal, a bigger ad does get a greater response, as well as the best placement. That being said, all things are rarely equal in marketing. And a smaller ad that uses basic copywriting fundamentals can be just as effective as a huge ad that is placed at the front of the category. Once again, the key is being creative enough to make your ad stand out in the crowd. One yellow page ad in particular that stands out was that of a local pizzeria. The ad featured a picture of a flying saucer with the headline: Our Pizza is Out of This World! Radio Advertising When it comes to advertising on the radio, prime time is known as “drive time”, which is the time when most people are in their cars driving to and from work. Morning drive time is typically 6 am to 10 am, and is traditionally the most expensive air time because that’s when more people listen. Afternoon drive time, is 4 pm to 7 pm. But what about all those other radio commercials that are aired at times other than drive time. Are they doomed to failure? Does anybody hear them? The answer is an emphatic YES! Millions of people listen to the radio at work, in the office, while exercising, in their homes, etc. And while drive time is preferable, it’s certainly NOT necessary to be successful. What is necessary, however, is being creative enough to make your radio commercial stand out…regardless of when it’s aired. I heard this commercial when I was visiting relatives in Television It goes without saying, prime time is the most coveted advertising time for advertisers. Prime time is weeknights and Saturday from 8 pm to 11 pm. Sunday prime time is 7 pm to 11 pm. But what about all those other commercials that air at times other than prime time? Certainly, they’re doomed to failure right? Wrong! Many commercials do well in other time slots. In fact, late night television has been extremely successful for many businesses. Again, it’s all about being creative enough to make your commercial stand out regardless of when it’s aired. I remember watching this TV commercial as a child. It still stands out in my mind. So there you have it. Real life examples of companies that were creative enough to make themselves stand out – regardless of the competition – regardless of their ad positioning. The Internet Which brings me back to why being on the first page of Google simply doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because something exists that is more powerful than even the almighty Google. That something is called word-of-mouth advertising. Word-of-mouth advertising is what caused visitors to flock to Alex Tew’s Million Dollar Homepage and enabled him to generate over a million dollars in income for himself. If you are creative enough to come up with an idea that offers both value and quality, it will capture the imagination of visitors, and you will be the beneficiary of the type of game-changing word-of-mouth advertising that money just can’t buy. Focus your time and energy on coming up with creative ways of getting your website found on the Internet. For example, chances are you didn’t use Google to find this website – although it is highly ranked. You either visit this site regularly, heard about it through word-of-mouth, or you’re a newsletter subscriber. So, what does that prove? It proves there are other ways of getting found on the Internet other than Google. There are other ways to stand out. Videos, e-books, newsletters, press releases social media, podcasts, seminars or a variety of other methods. The point is, there are any number of ways you can get your website found on the Internet without being on the first page of Google. You are limited only by your own imagination and creativity. If you’re not the creative type, or need some help coming up with creative ideas to promote your business, I highly recommend Jay Conrad Levinson’s Guerrilla Marketing website. In closing, while being creative may attract visitors to your website initially, at the end of the day, it’s quality content that will keep them coming back! David Jackson is a marketing consultant and the owner of Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com – Powerful, free marketing tips to help grow your business! http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
Some people say the mysterious Google TrustRank is what really determines SERP positions on result pages. It was obviously created to decide how trusted a website is by looking at various factors including security and the length of time a domain has been around on the web. They have never made an official explanation on this and have never spoken of it. However, there is no doubt that there are two elements that determine trust; user perception and trust ranking.
I spend hundreds of hours on LinkedIn every month researching, testing, tweaking and seeing what works and what doesn’t – and that’s on top of the hours I spend marketing my business and my clients’ businesses on LinkedIn. So in a week’s time I view thousands of different professional profiles.
Communication, Customers, and Connectivity
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