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And
the same goes for your website.
There is no magic internet fairy who will knock on
people’s door to announce your website’s arrival.
The task is up to you.
To get your website marketing off the ground you either
need to spend time learning and doing it or spend
money and get somebody else to do it.
There
are hundreds of ways to promote your business.
You can do it on line or off line or a combination of
both. Much
will depend on your budget and the time you have available. Choose as many options below as your time and budget
allows. Test as
many methods of marketing as you can and see what brings you
best results. Website
marketing is not a one off exercise.
You need to constantly work on it, fine-tune it, discard
methods that are not working and implement new ones.
1.
Email Marketing
Your
first step should be to send an email to your existing clients
announcing the arrival of your website. In your message, you can
even ask them to forward your email onto their friends, family
and colleagues.
If
you are starting a new business and don’t have any customers,
send an email to people you know who may be interested in your
offer.
The
next step should be to send your announcement to an opt-in email
list. Opt-in email
lists contain people or businesses who have requested to receive
information about a certain topic(s).
There are many companies who can provide you with these
lists. For more information visit:
www.prospectshop.com.au/email_lists.html
www.4webmarketing.biz/email.htm
www.ezemail.biz/list_power.html
www.ezemail.biz/list_consumer.html
www.webfirm.com.au/email-marketing-australia/
Under
no circumstance should you EVER send unsolicited email (spam) to
people you either don’t know or who have not requested to
receive your information.
2.
Leads
There
are many companies who will provide leads or prospects for your
business. For a
fee, they will display your advertisement (similar to a
classified ad) and when someone clicks on it, they will be taken
to your website. The
great thing about these targeted leads is that you are only
paying for the people who want to know about your business and
products. If you
work out the cost of a lead versus regular advertising, you will
no doubt come out on top. Generally
the cost per lead is between $0.50 - $1.00.
If on the other hand you advertise in a newspaper or a
magazine and pay $200 for the advertisement from which you get
20 enquiries, the cost per lead is $10.
Check
out:
www.getresponse.com
3.
Search Engines & Directories
A
search engine is a searchable database of websites collected by
a computer program (called a crawler, robot or spider). When you
enter a keyword, the search engine looks for keywords in its
database, and any relevant records are displayed.
Currently there are thousands of search engines and
directories on the internet. Some
of the main ones include:
Google
- www.google.com
Altavista
- www.altavista.com
Yahoo
- www.yahoo.com
Excite
- www.excite.com
AllSearchEngines
- www.allsearchengines.com
Northern
Light - www.northernlight.com
DogPile - www.dogpile.com
AllTheWeb - www.alltheweb.com
Lycos
- www.lycos.com
When
submitting your website to the search engines, you can either do
it manually by going to the search engine website and adding
your URL (website address) or you can employ the services of a
Search Engine Submission company, who will do it for you.
www.submitexpress.com
www.wpromote.com
www.website-submission.com
Search
engines try to list sites that contain good content, so you need
keywords and phrases on your pages that best describe your
service and products. For
example, if you are a florist, use the words such as florist,
online florist, virtual florist, wedding florist, florist in
Sydney, florist on line, flowers, floral, bouquets, floral
arrangements etc as many times as possible to ensure high search
engine ranking. To
find out what keywords your customers may be searching on ask
your family and friends or go to:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
http://www.wordtracker.com
Once
you decide on the keywords, use them in
(a)
Your website’s domain name
(b) The title of your page - This is displayed in the top bar
of your browser window
(c)
The heading of your home page
(d) The first paragraph of your home page
(e)
Meta tags - Keywords, page title, description
(f)
Titles of your graphics
Whilst
it is important to use keywords as much as possible, it is also
important you use them only if they are relevant and do not
sound awkward. If
you spam your keywords you may be penalised or even banned by
some search engines.
If
this all seems too overwhelming, you can employ the services of
a Search engine optimization company, who will make your
website’s content more search engine friendly to make it rank
higher.
One company which I recommend to my clients is
CrankIt. The contact there is Peter Clayton and you can reach him
on 1300 859 600 or via email
peter.clayton@crankit.com.au.
If you quote a special promotional code: web4business868, you will
get a 5% discount.
4.
Link Exchanges
Find
websites whose business complements yours and add their website
to your links/resource page.
Then contact the company and ask for a reciprocal link.
For example if you are a wedding dress designer, you
could contact businesses that sell wedding cakes, jewellery,
flowers and also venues, celebrants etc.
By
doing this your website will become a valuable resource for your
visitors, as it will provide information they need.
They may return to your site over and over to find more
information.
On
the other hand, you will have visitors coming to your website
when they following a link from your link partners.
Results
in search engines are determined by the material you have
presented on your site and by other off-page factors such as how
many other sites link to your site.
The more links you have pointing to your site from
relevant websites, the higher your site will rank.
If
you need help with this task, you can employ the services of a
Link Exchange Company. They
are generally inexpensive and can save you hours of time.
Some of these include:
http://www.linkexchanged.com
http://www.powerlinks.com
http://www.links-pal.com
5.
Banner Advertising
Banners
are graphics, which are linked to a website.
You can create your own banner and either exchange it
with someone, so that you display their banner on your site and
in return they display your banner on their site.
Whenever someone clicks on the banner, they are taken
directly to the advertised website.
To
save time, you can join a Banner Exchange programs, such as:
http://www.linkbuddies.com
http://www.showyoursite.com
http://www.yesnexus.com
6. Email
Signature
Every
email you send should have an email "signature."
This is text that is automatically attached to the bottom of
your email message.
This text can be used to publicise your business.
You can include your name, business name, email address,
street or postal address, website details, phone number, fax
number, company slogan, description of your company and its
products/services. You
can set up different signatures for different purposes.
To
set up your signature using Outlook Express:
Step 1:
Select Tools > Options from the menu bar.
Step 2: Click "Signatures".
Step 3: Make sure that you select "Add signatures to
all outgoing messages" - within the "Signature
settings" section. It is up to you whether you would like
your signature to appear in "replies" and
"forwards"
Step
4: Click
"New" (you can change the name from "Signature
#1" by clicking "Rename") - within
"Signature" section:
Step
5: Type in
the text that you would like to appear at the end of your email
messages - in "Edit signature" section:
Step
6: If
you're happy with this, click "Apply" and
"OK".
7. Feedback and testimonials
When you come
across a great product or service on or off the internet, send
an email to the business owner telling him/her how the
product/service helped you.
Like you, most business owners appreciate receiving
positive feedback and they will most likely feature your
testimonial on their website and place a link back to your site! You may even suggest it to the owner by saying something like
“you have my permission to feature this testimonial in your
promotional material and/or on your website”.
8. Giveaways
Offering free
giveaways to prospects and clients is a powerful business
building strategy that can result in a flood of new and repeat
customers. If your
business is service orientated, you can “give away” a free
consultation. Your
prospects will get to test your business risk-free.
Hopefully they will get “hooked” on your service and
won’t be able to live without it.
By providing
someone with a “favour”, people generally feel a natural
obligation to return the favour by giving you repeat business.
For product
based businesses, you may consider a “buy 1 get 1 free” or
“buy one and get second one at a discount” or give something
totally unrelated, for example ”Buy a pair of children’s
shoes and receive a colouring book for free”.
Think about
what you can offer free-of-charge that your prospects would
consider valuable and that you can give at a low cost to you.
9. Trade shows
Trade shows
are a very powerful marketing medium because they generally take
place at a single location, have short runs (usually one to
three days), and bring together thousands of exhibitors and
potential customers.
Common
reasons for exhibiting include: Generating sales leads and
actual sales at the show, enhancing your image and visibility, reaching
a specific audience, personally meeting your customers,
competitors and suppliers, prospecting for new customers,.
introducing
new products and services, demonstrating your product in ways
not possible using other marketing channels, recruiting
distributors or dealers, educating your target audience.
There are
probably several trade shows in your industry worth visiting,
and a select few worthy of a company booth. Start by researching
which shows to attend. Identify the locations and dates of all
the trade shows related to your industry. Request media kits on
each show, which should tell you about its size, target market
and typical exhibitors. If your direct competitors are likely to
exhibit, your company may be conspicuous if absent.
It's a good
idea to exhibit at least once a year just to get your name out
there, especially if you're an early stage startup looking for
publicity — or funding.
Once the show
space specifics have been established, then you can move on to
deciding what to take and how you can ‘show your stuff’.
The following
are just a few ideas to help you get ready for that all
important trade show.
a) If the
trade show display table you have does not include a tablecloth,
be sure to get one that complements your display and represents
your company’s image and colour
b) Erect a
stand-alone presentation board. On the board, you can show how
clients can benefit by using your products/services. Be creative
and make it stand out. Include pictures, if possible, and be
sure your company name and logo are more than obvious.
c) Arrange
your trade show display table in levels. Put the larger items at
the rear, shorter items in front of those, and even shorter
items in front of those.
d) Develop a
PowerPoint presentation to display on your table. You can make
it on your desktop computer and transfer it to a laptop, which
you can rent or borrow if you don’t already have one. Your
visitors will find this visually appealing and it will draw in
their attention.
e) Have
plenty of trade show giveaways, such as business cards,
brochures, pens, magnets, and anything else that has your
company name and/or logo on it.
f) Offer
something a little different as a trade show giveaway… FOOD.
Package your food in a way that will allow you to have your
company contact information on it.
g) Offer Gift
Certificates for some of your services as a trade show giveaway.
h) Have a
draw for a prize. Offer a prize that in some way complements
your business if possible, and appeals to anyone. Have visitors
and entrants sign a guestbook, fill in a ticket, or drop their
business cards into a fish bowl or gift bag. The great thing
about this trade show giveaway is that you can then use this
information at a later date to make a follow up contact.
i)
Have a portfolio of your work available as part of your
trade show display. Print off some of your best projects, put
them into plastic sheet protectors, and arrange them in a
binder.
10.
Classified Ads
Classified
ads are one of the most inexpensive ways to advertise your
products or service. Unfortunately
many people misuse classified ads.
They try to sell a product directly from the ad.
The best way to use a classified ad is as a two step
process.
1. You place
a classified ad in your local newspaper/magazine.
The ad should be simple and straight to the point.
It should then direct readers to call a phone number of
your answering machine.
2.
Your customer will dial the number where they will hear a
powerful sales message and at the end customers are directed to
send an order to the address you give on the tape or they can
leave their contact details.
An example of
such classified ad would be:
“Double
your mail order business’ profits.
Incredible recorded message tells secrets. Call 1234 5678 24hours or visit
www.yourcompany.com”
People read
classified ads for a purpose.
They are specifically looking for products, services and
information that appeals to them.
The selection
of words you use is the most important aspect of classified ad
copy. You need to
choose precisely but don’t skimp on words to save the cost in
the ad.
The best way
to prepare copy is to first write about your products/services
at length. List all
the major benefits and features.
Choose a powerful heading that points out the most
significant aspect of your product.
Follow up with a few words or details and finish with a
request to contact for more information.
For more
information about writing effective classified ads, you may wish
to download a free copy of “Classified Ads Secrets” Ebook
from:
http://www.web4business.com.au/ClassifiedAdSecrets.htm
11.
Domain Name
Your domain
name represents one of the most important decisions you have to
make in going online. The
purpose of a domain name is similar to that of a street address
or telephone number. The domain name directs customers to
you on the Internet. The most popular domain names in
Australia are “.com.au” and “.com”.
Ideally your
domain name should be rich in keywords (words relating to your
business) to ensure on-line success, especially with search
engines.
If for
example, you are a florist based in Sydney, it would be
preferable for you to have one of the following domain names:
www.sydneyflorist.com.au
www.florist.com.au
www.sydneyflowers.com.au
You will,
however, find that generic names such as the above are already
taken. In that
case, register something like:
www.cindysflowers.com.au
www.sydneyflowersandgifts.com.au
If your
business name is for example “Jim & Sons”, ensure you
include a description of what you actually do, eg.
www.jimandsonscarpetcleaning.com.au
or
www.jimscarpetcleaning.com.au
12.
Affiliate programs
Affiliate
programs also known as reseller programs are an agreement in
which a website owner displays an ad for another company in
exchange for a commission on the resulting sales and/or leads.
There are two
ways you can start your own affiliate program.
1. You
can have a service bureau take care of nearly everything for
you. They’ll
handle the recruiting and administrative functions like sending
out payments, tracking, reporting etc.
A good example of a service bureau is Commission Junction
– www.cj.com
2. Set up an
affiliate program yourself, using on-line services.
Some you may wish to check out include:
www.synergyx.com
www.marketerschoice.com
www.assoctrac.com
Tips for
setting up successful affiliate programs:
1. Should be free to join.
2. Offer real time statistics so that affiliates can check their
sales and commission without having to contact you.
3. You should
provide your affiliates with proven tools they can use to sell
your products (eg. Sales letters, endorsement letters, banners,
ezine articles, ezine ads)
4. Technical
support 24/7
5. Stay in
touch with your affiliates to keep them motivated
6. Give your
affiliates the highest commission you can.
13.
Autoresponders
Email
autoresponders work like a fax-on-demand system. If you send an email to an autoresponder address, you’ll
get back a pre-written message.
Autoresponders have come a long way in the last couple of
years. Not only are
you able to send HTML messages with graphics, but you can set up
a whole sequence of autoresponder messages going out on any day
or at any time you choose.
Once you set
up your email messages, everything gets done automatically.
As soon as a prospect sends an email to your
autoresponder, the system keeps working over and over again,
like a tireless robot making sure no prospect ever slips through
the cracks. Most
autoresponders systems now handle your whole mailing list, so
you are not having to manually manage your prospects.
Because the
vast majority of customers will not buy from you on their first
visit to your website, it is extremely important that you have
an automated way to follow up with them several times to entice
them back. You can
use autoresponders to cross-promote various products and
services your business offers.
Follow these
tips and you can’t go wrong:
1. Make time
sensitive offers in your email follow up.
2. Build
extra incentives into each follow up, until your prospect
can’t resist any more. Offer
free reports, free ebooks, freeware programs, mini-courses etc
3. Include a
survey as part of your autoresponder sequence, so you can find
out what your customers like about your messages, what they
dislike and what other information they want.
Some great
autoresponders include:
www.getresponse.com
www.aweber.com
14. Bonuses
We all love
freebies and your customers are no exception.
Ideally you should pile on the bonuses to get people
excited. Sometimes
they will buy the main product only to get the bonuses.
The easiest and least expensive are informational
products – reports, articles, ebooks.
You can find literally thousands of these on the
internet. Simply go
to your search engine and find one that would appeal to your
target audience. For
example, if you sell wedding cakes, you may wish to give away
ebooks or reports on planning a wedding.
If you sell children’s clothing, you may wish to give
away tips on parenting or ebook which features activities to do
with your children.
15.
Newsgroups
A newsgroup
is a message board on the internet where users come to discuss
topics of mutual interest.
As a user you can start a thread (topic), post messages
and respond to other postings.
There are tens of thousands of Newsgroups on every
possible subject. The
best way to find a suitable newsgroup is to use Google Search. Go to
www.google.com. Then click on the “Groups” tag.
Run a search using a keyword related to your on-line
business that you would like to promote from the groups search
page. For really worthwhile information use moderated groups.
You can use
Newsgroups for conducting market surveys, get new clients,
promote your site, get answers to your questions, make friends.
The idea of
newsgroups is to make a valuable contribution and by doing so
promoting your business. Please
do not post commercials, ads or press releases and never post
unrelated messages as this will be considered spamming.
16.
Office Stationery & Merchandising Materials
It is
extremely important that your website is included on ALL your
office stationery so that customers can see it over and over
again. That way they are more likely to remember it.
If you’ve just had your letterheads printed, you can
always add your website address on your wordprocessor, when
printing your correspondence.
For brochures, business cards etc, consider having small
labels printed up. Your
office stationery should include not only your website address,
but also your email. Consider adding your details to:
- Letterheads
- Business Cards
- Flyers
- Brochures
- Labels
- Packaging
- Merchandise bags
- Catalogs
- Invoices
- Fax headers
- Display units
17.
Pay per click (PPC)
Pay per click
advertising is when an advertiser (you) pays for each qualified
click that sends a search engine user to the advertiser’s web
page. PPC requires
you to bid on keywords or phrases that relate to your business.
The best known pay per click services are Google AdWords
and Overture.
Generally you
can bid from as little as a few cents per visitor.
However, the more you bid the higher up in the search
engine your advertisement will appear. Pay per click is a great way to deliver targeted and
qualified visitors to your website at a very reasonable price.
It is a good
idea to experiment with different PPC search engines to find the
one that works best for you.
In addition, you will need spend time testing your
keywords and ads.
For more
information check out:
Google
Adwords - https://adwords.google.com
Overture – www.overture.com
If this is all too hard, you can employ the services of a company
such as Sponsored Linx
www.sponsoredlinx.com.au and they will organise the campaign for
you. In fact, they promise that they can
get you on the 1st page of Google when someone searches for your
company's keywords within 24hrs.
If you mention the following promotional code, you will receive a
5% discount.
web4business868
18.
Visitor Exchanges
There are
many websites popping up on the net that are known as Traffic
Exchange, Click Exchange, Visitor Exchange or Surf For Hits
programs. People become members of these sites with the goal of
generating free traffic to their site.
The way it works is quite clever.
You visit another member's website and in exchange someone
visits the website of your choice. Most of these programs work
on a 2:1 ratio. This means that for every two sites that you
visit, someone else in that same Start Page program will visit
your site.
Simple concept, isn't it?
The great thing about these programs is that you will receive
all of this traffic to your website, without
having to spend a dime!
One of the biggest benefits from these programs is the ability
to develop a downline of people that will generate 1,000's upon
1,000's of click thru visits to your site over time! In other
words, you receive credits for the credits they chalk up for
themselves!
For more
information go to:
http://www.web4business.com.au/FreeVisitors.htm
19.
Articles
Writing
articles is an excellent way for you to get free publicity.
Getting an article published is free.
The publicity you receive by having your article
published in a newspaper, magazine or website can be worth
thousands of dollars in equivalent advertising space.
Well written articles yield better results than
advertisements and earn you respect from customers, who see you
as an expert in your field.
The best
articles are “tips” or expert pieces.
People are looking for guidance and will purchase from
the experts who show them how to solve their problems.
Your article
should include the following elements:
(a) The
Headline
This should
be attention grabbing and use power words and phrases, such as
“How to …” “10 Ways that …”, “Do you want to
…”
(b)
Lead Paragraph
The first
couple of sentences should tell your readers why they should
read the whole articles. Show
them the benefits they will gain or the pain that they will
avoid by reading the article.
(c)
Body Copy
This is where
you inform the reader how to do something that will enrich their
business or personal lives.
Use short sentences and provide step-by-step directions
that they can easily follow.
(d)
Conclusion
At the end
you will want to summarise the topics you covered and briefly
review the main points. Since
you have helped your readers they will most likely want to know
more. This is your chance to make your sell by making them an offer
with a call to action.
(e)
Resource Box
The resource
box should supply the reader with the following information:
- Your name
- Company name
- Contact information
- Website details
- How to order your product, etc
If writing an
article seems too daunting for you initially, you can hire a
ghost writer to do this for you – generally at a very
reasonable price. If
you need someone to help you with this, you may wish to check
out:
www.elance.com
Once your
article is written you will need to submit it to various
publications on-line and off-line.
For a listing of Australian printed publications,
including the editor’s details, you may wish to buy “The
Australian Writer’s Marketplace”, available from most
bookshops.
For a listing
of on-line magazines (e-zines), visit:
www.ezine-dir.com.
You can then contact the editor of each magazine and
offer them your article.
If you
don’t have a lot of time to submit your articles manually, you
may wish to consider using article submission services by
companies such as:
Submit Your
Article – www.submityourarticle.com
or
The Phantom Writers –
www.thephantomwriters.com
For a small
fee they will submit your article to thousands of publications.
20.
Webrings
One of the
more interesting ways to add some targeted traffic to your site
is to join webrings. A webring allows visitors to surf through
sites that are related in one way or another. They are free of
charge to the owners, members and visitors.
Webrings
deliver targeted traffic day after day and once they are set up
they tend to stay set up with little further maintenance
Each webring
is created and maintained by a person known as a ringmaster.
This person accepts site submissions and validates that the site
meets the topic of the webring.
For more information visit:
www.webring.org
21.
Ezine Advertising
One of the
best, cheapest and most targeted way to promote your product or
service is through ezines (electronic magazines).
Ezine ads reach people who want what you have to offer.
As Ezines are generally based on a theme or particular
interest and their subscribers have requested to receive them,
you can be sure that they are going to be read.
Prices for
advertisements vary depending on the popularity of the ezine and
the actual location of your ad.
Top position ads generally cost more than those found
mid-way or at the bottom. Most
ezine publishers will also send solo ads (advertisements about
your product/service) to their subscribers.
However, this is generally more costly.
To get the
most of your ad, ensure you develop a killer title or headline
and that the ad is straight to the point.
The best way
to get started advertising in ezines would be to contact the
editors of various ezines and check their rates, publication
dates and number of subscribers – go to
www.ezine-dir.com
or www.go-ezines.com
for a comprehensive listing of ezines.
22.
Publishing an Ezine or Newsletter
Whether you
are the CEO of a multi-national corporate network or a
stay-in-your-pyjamas entrepreneur, one of your primary business
objectives should be to develop long-term relationships with
everyone you communicate with – website visitors, prospects,
customers, employees, suppliers, service providers etc.
And one of the best methods of building strong
relationships is through your own Ezine (electronic magazine) or
Newsletter.
If you've
been marketing on the Internet, then you know it may take
several contacts with a prospective customer before closing a
sale. What better way to make those contacts, without
spamming... In addition, you can eventually make a nice income
selling sponsor advertising and classified ads.
To publish an
effective Ezine will take some time to develop and there are
thousands of resources on the internet that will help you –
simply go to your favourite search engine and type in “ezine
publishing” or “ezine publishing articles”.
In the
meantime, here are some tips to get you started.
(a) Give your
readers quality content - not rehashed or well-worn articles
that have been published hundreds of times already.
(b) Write
your own articles whenever possible or hire a ghost writer to
help you. Talk to
your readers as you would normally talk. Be yourself and let
your sense of humour and uniqueness show through in your
writing.
(b) Ensure
the ezine has been properly edited, you have checked your
spelling, grammar and formatting.
Ensure all the links are working
(c)
Personalise each issue for your subscriber. If your email
software allows it, include a field so that your ezine is
addressed to your subscriber by their firstname.
(d)
Don’t publish too many ads or too many affiliate links
(e)
Ask for feedback to help you improve your ezine
(f) Stick to
publishing a text ezine rather than HTML.
(g) Publish
your ezine regularly and on time.
23. Media
Releases
Having a
story written about you and your business will not only bring
you lots of new customers (at no cost to you), but will also
provide you massive credibility.
Stories about you in the media are far more believable,
powerful and attractive than any ads you could possibly run.
People will trust and respect you instantly.
A media
release (also called press or news releases) should provide
enough details to be informative, but it should leave out just
enough information to be tantalizing that the media person calls
you to find out more.
Your media
release should feature the following:
(a) The
Headline
This is 90% of your release.
Your headline will do almost all of the work in
attracting attention to you.
(b) The
Summary
This is the first part of the media release and should tell your
story briefly.
(c)
Credentials & Quotations
Insert quotes from other people and include the person’s
credentials
(d) Call to
Action
What do you want the person reading this release to do? You want them to call you for an interview.
So provide your contact details and write a very brief
outline of why you would be an interesting person to interview.
For more
information about writing media releases visit:
PRWeb - Tell your company story to thousands!
Press Release - www.pressrelease.com.au
Elance - www.elance.com
PRNewswire - www.prnewswire.com
NewsBureau - www.newsbureau.com
24.
Radio advertising
You may have
shied away from radio advertising, thinking the cost would be
well over your budget and it may very well be if you were to
advertise on commercial radio stations.
But have you considered community radio stations?
There are hundreds of them around and the great thing is
that they will reach your local market.
For community radio stations in your area, visit your
local yellow pages or search on the internet.
25.
Print advertising
Writing the Copy
When it comes
to print advertising, you have to get to the point—fast. Your
headlines should motivate readers to want to read on to learn
more about your product, price and offer.
Effective headlines address a pressing customer need or
desire. The reality is that people care more about
themselves—and what you can do for them—than about your
business. You'll get a much higher response rate when your
headline quickly answers the question, "What's in it for
me?"
In the body
of your copy, offer an incentive for the reader to call you or
come to your store. You may want to offer a discount or a free
giveaway
Placing the Ad
Newspaper ads
are very effective for businesses that market their products and
services locally. Not only can you reach a large number of
people in a specific metropolitan location, but you can also
target prospects via their interests (in the sports, lifestyle
and business sections, for example).
Advertising
costs depend on a number of factors, including the size of the
ad, where it's placed, the day it runs and so on. Call and
request a media kit from the newspaper or magazine so you can
determine what advertising steps you can take that will fit with
your marketing budget.
Consider
placing print advertisements in local publications, national
publications,
industry
publications, target market specific publications, yellow pages,
local directories, special catalogues
26.
Postcards
If looking to
target potential customers, don’t overlook postcard marketing.
Postcards achieve almost a 100% readership, while being
simple to use and inexpensive.
Postcards:
- keep your
name in front of customers
- generate a high return on investment
- are flexible, informative and creative
- have high impact and low cost
Postcards can
be used to:
- generate
website traffic and sales leads
- promote new specials or company awareness
- announce new products, websites, store locations
- thank customers
- use as a discount offer /coupon
Repetition is
the key to effective marketing efforts and postcards offer an
inexpensive way of doing it.
27.
Word of mouth / Testimonials
Word-of-mouth
marketing truly is one of the best ways to promote your
business. The three
most important things you can do to start the process of
increasing your business through word-of-mouth include:
(a)
Diversify your networks by becoming visible and active in
the community. Participate
in various networking groups and/or professional associations.
(b) Set up a
contact list of
businesses that are complementary and non-competitive to you.
For example: a lawyer, an accountant, a financial planner and a
banker. All of them have clients with overlapping similar needs.
They can all work with and refer each other easily. Another good
example is a florist, a photographer, a travel agent and a
jeweler. A referral for one of them becomes a referral for all
of them.
(c) Building
your business through word-of-mouth is about cultivating
relationships with people who get to know you and trust you.
People do business with people they have confidence in. It's not
what you know, or whom you know, it's how well you know them
that counts. If you go into this process understanding this one
key point, you will have a better opportunity to build your
business through word-of-mouth.
28.
eBay
If you sell
products (as opposed to services) in your business, one of the
best marketing tools you can use is eBay.
eBay is a community where individuals and businesses can
buy and sell a vast range of new and used items at fair market
prices.
The main
reasons why you should sell on eBay include:
-
You can sell little or lot of practically anything from
antiques to cars.
-
Gain access to the millions of eBay buyers worldwide.
-
Feel safe with policies and protections of the Community.
-
Sell as an individual, small business, enterprise, and
more!
For more
information visit:
www.ebay.com
for selling globally or
www.ebay.com.au
for selling within Australia.
29.
Viral marketing
On the
Internet, viral marketing is any marketing technique that
induces Web sites or users to pass on a marketing message to
other sites or users, creating a potentially exponential growth
in the message's visibility and effect. One example of
successful viral marketing is Hotmail, a company, now owned by
Microsoft. Their
strategy is simple:
(a)
Give away free e-mail addresses and services,
(b) Attach a simple tag at the bottom of every free message sent
out: "Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com"
and,
(c) Then stand back while people e-mail to their own network of
friends and associates,
(d) Who see the message,
(e) Sign up for their own free e-mail service, and then
(f) Propel the message still wider to their own ever-increasing
circles of friends and associates.
Some
viral marketing strategies work better than others.
Below are basic elements you should try to include in
your strategy.
(a)
Give away products or services
Most viral marketing programs give away valuable products or
services to attract attention. Free e-mail services, free
information, free "cool" buttons, free software
programs etc
(b)
Provide for effortless transfer to others
The medium that carries your marketing message must be easy to
transfer and replicate: e-mail, website, graphic, software
download. From a marketing standpoint, you must simplify your
marketing message so it can be transmitted easily and without
degradation. Short is better.
(c)
Scale easily from small to very large
To spread like wildfire the transmission method must be rapidly
scalable from small to very large.
Ensure you have enough resources, such as mail servers
and staff that will be able to handle the increase in business.
(d)
Exploit common motivations and behaviors
Clever viral marketing plans take advantage of common human
motivations such as greed, the desire to be cool, hunger to be
popular, loved, and understood.
(e)
Utilize existing communication networks
Each person has a network of 8 to 12 people in their close
network of friends, family, and associates. A person's broader
network may consist of hundreds or thousands of people. People
on the Internet develop networks of relationships, too. They
collect e-mail addresses and favourite website URLs. Affiliate
programs exploit such networks, as do permission e-mail lists.
Learn to place your message into existing communications between
people, and you rapidly multiply its dispersion.
(f)
Take advantage of others' resources
The most creative viral marketing plans use others' resources to
get the word out. For example, affiliate programs place text or
graphic links on others' websites, authors
give away free articles, news release can be picked up by
a large number of publications as they form the basis of
articles seen by hundreds of thousands of readers.
30.
Joint Ventures
A
joint venture is an agreement in which two or more businesses
work on a project for a set period of time. Joint ventures can
be long-term or short-term.
With joint venture you can:
(a) Build long lasting business relationships.
(b) Increase your credibility by teaming up with other
reputable, branded businesses.
(c) Get free or discounted products and services.
(d) Set up most joint venture deals with little or no money.
(e) Gain new leads and customers.
(f) Offer your
customers new products and services.
(g) Get rid of your extra inventory.
(h) Find and create new distribution channels for your products.
To
learn more about Joint Ventures, visit:
www.howtowritehypnoticjointventureproposals.com
There are
many excellent ebooks on internet marketing.
I would strongly recommend you pick up at least one or
two and start reading. For
a list of some great electronic books and tools, which are
available for instant download, visit:
http://www.web4business.com.au/BusinessTools.htm
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