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I Advice - 30 Ways to Promote Your Website on a Shoestring Budget (Part 2)
There is no doubt in my mind that Google, together with eBay, Yahoo and Amazon, is one of the biggest revolutions that the Internet has provided to us.Today, Google is worth over US$100 billion simply because it has managed to successfully exploit the money-making potential of what is still its free service - the Google Search Engine!How did it do so? With a product called Google Adwords. As I've said in my other blogs, Google's main competitor today is not Yahoo or MSN. It competes with the traditional, more established MEDIA companies like CNN, NBC, BBC etc.Why? Let's suppose you want to advertise a product or service. A few years ago, you would have placed an advert in the newspaper, on radio and/or on TV. True, you can still do so today but you now have another great choice. To advertise on Google Adwords!Google today reaches more people than any national TV company. And it only advertises your product to people who have shown a vague interest in it by typing some relevant keywords in its search engine. Even better, you do not have to pay Google a cent unless someone clicks on the link to the product or service you advertised. Now do you understand why it is a huge success?So does this mean that you should use Google Adwords to make money online? The answer is No, you should use Google Adwords only to market a product or service online!Google is great to divert traffic to your website - for the ordinary home-based business, there is probably no better tool. But it can be very dangerous - use it like a knife. The costs can rack up very quickly. If you are on a limited marketing budget, this will be costly.Since I have lost over US$2,500 spending money on Google Adwords, I cannot claim to be an expert at it. But I am sure that if there is one lesson you can draw from it, is BE CAREFUL OF Google Adwords. It is not a licence to print money like some people claim. And if you do want to use Google Adwords to promote your product or service, be sure to buy an ebook on how to use it - I have given a selection below. The cost of one ebook will be far less than what you will WASTE ON Google Adwords if you do not know what you are doing. Trust me!As stated above, use Google Adwords, only to market a product or service. Do not use it together with marketing sites such as Clickbank or Commission Junction to drive traffic to other people's sites. Clickbank wins,
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:
www.pressrelease.com.au
www.elance.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
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.
Po
People are always searching for ‘best practice’, somehow believing that there is a silver bullet solution that will cure their inventory problems. The problem, of course, is that what is best practice in one country/industry/business might not be best practice in another. In any case, the exalted ‘best’ practice might just be too much of a jump for many people to take or indeed may not be economically viable.Interestingly, though, in my work, the question that I am most often asked is, ‘what do I do with all of this excess inventory?’ My answer, of course, depends upon the nature of that inventory, what it is, how old it is etc. But obviously the best thing to do is create less of the inventory in the first place!Some might think that this requires best practice and is therefore difficult to achieve but I would argue that this really is more achievable than people think. Putting in place the right processes, polices, measures and reporting in order to limit inventory purchases to those items that are most likely to be used/sold and in the right quantity, is as important or perhaps a more important task than clearing out the old stock. This can be achieved by understanding what works well for others rather than what is best practice. I think of this as better practice.With that in mind I recently had the opportunity to interview more than 30 people, across a dozen companies, in all Australian states and New Zealand, who were all associated with inventory creation in one way or another. There were General Managers who make the occasional big decisions that create inventory. There were inventory managers who take the day-to-day actions. There were purchasing people who order the stuff and sales people who provide forecasts. Each of these people has a role to play in the creation of inventory but interestingly only the inventory managers acknowledged that role explicitly. The result of those interviews does not constitute best practice but I think that they give some insight into better practices.These interviews were conducted on behalf of a client so I am unable to give you all of the detail or the quantitative results. But I do have permission to tell you what we deduced in a qualitative fashion.During the interviews we identified the following similar practices that were consistent between the companies that performed well.Inventory decisions (range
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
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:
The Headline
This is 90% of your release. Your headline will do almost all of the work in attracting attention to you.
The Summary
This is the first part of the media release and should tell your story briefly.
Credentials & Quotations
Insert quotes from other people and include the person’s credentials
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:
www.pressrelease.com.au
www.elance.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
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.
Po
Think carefully! You’re a department, division or subsidiary manager for a business, non-profit or association and you really need to achieve your operating objectives.But even a yes response to the headline above leaves the really big question unanswered – does your current public relations plan help persuade your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that lead to your success?If the answer to that question is uncertain or even no, change is in order. Change that gives you a public relations blueprint that helps lead to managerial success and, some might say, survival.I refer here to the kind of blueprint that moves the emphasis from communications tactics to an aggressive plan for reaching those outside groups of people with a big say about how successful you’re going to be – your key external audiences.Here’s the essence of such a blueprint: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.Use it to deliver behavior results like lots of new inquiries, buyers coming back for more, fresh queries about joint ventures and strategic alliances, meaningful increases in capital contributions or brand new specifiers of your component products and services.To make it work, you need to lead those public relations people assigned to your unit away from a preoccupation with communications tactics over to that new, comprehensive blueprint. As a manager, you’re now prepared to create the external audience behaviors you need to achieve your department’s business, non-profit or association objectives.Charge your PR team with finding out how those key outside audiences perceive your operation. That will require interaction with members of that audience which you will identify when the team prioritizes those groups in order of their impacts on your unit. Here, your choice is, spend significant money on professional survey people to handle the perception monitoring chore, or use members of your assigned PR team to gather the data. Remember that your public relations team is already in the perception and behavior business.Either
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:
The Headline
This is 90% of your release. Your headline will do almost all of the work in attracting attention to you.
The Summary
This is the first part of the media release and should tell your story briefly.
Credentials & Quotations
Insert quotes from other people and include the person’s credentials
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:
www.pressrelease.com.au
www.elance.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
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.
Po
When it comes to getting your site to rank better in the search engines, the most important thing you can do is get more quality links to your site. The major search engines like Google will tell you to do this by providing quality content on your pages and people will naturally link to you over time.The only problem with this is that if your site is new and you have no links, it doesn’t matter how much great content you have if you don’t have any links – nobody’s going to see it.Which brings me to the paradox. If you have a site that ranks well in the search engines, other people are naturally going to link to you if your site has good content to offer. By having a high ranking website, it’s easy to get more links to your website. Conversely, if you have a site that doesn’t have any links, your ranking in the search engines is going to be quite low, if not non existent. Nobody is going to link to your site naturally over time if they don’t even know it exists, hence the link building paradox.This is why I don’t like such conservative views on how to build links to a website. This view simply makes things easier for the search engines. However, this view is definitely not in your best interest. After all, if you have a new website you need ways to get people to notice your site in the first place to get those high search engines rankings.This is where hiring a link building company or doing the link building yourself comes in. Think of it just as you would any other promotion for your website. You don’t usually expect a TV reporter to just randomly call you up and ask if they can promote your business. You also don’t expect to see anybody writing about your business in the newspaper if you haven’t done any type of promotion.The same goes for link building, if you’re not willing to promote your website then why should anyone else care and link to you?For the do it yourselfers, here’s a couple strategies you don’t want to be without when promoting your website.The first is the press release. If you have a brand new site, then be sure to write one and let the whole world know that your website is open for business. Even if you think you have a boring and normal website, an experienced press release writer will be able to come up with a press release that will get you more links, traffic, and sales.The second is to be sure to write articles.
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:
The Headline
This is 90% of your release. Your headline will do almost all of the work in attracting attention to you.
The Summary
This is the first part of the media release and should tell your story briefly.
Credentials & Quotations
Insert quotes from other people and include the person’s credentials
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:
www.pressrelease.com.au
www.elance.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
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.
Po
Are you Paris Hilton? Is your name instantly recognizable when mentioned anywhere in the world? Is your name always at the top of search engine’s most popular key word lists? Are people bound to react at the mere mention of your name anywhere? Are you Paris Hilton?No?Then why do you market online as if you were Paris Hilton? Why do you use intrusive, annoying pop up ads (even as software to stop pop up ads continues to get so popular.)?In fact I find all online advertisements intrusions of sorts (except those about Paris Hilton), the Internet is just not a medium designed to carry advertising. There is only one effective way to market online and it’s free (more on that later in this article.)Despite rapidly dropping online ad rates and despite online ads repeatedly failing to show results, the world is still not convinced about this fact. Folks are still desperate to lose a few more billions marketing online before the truth finally sinks in, if it ever will.Even when it is clear that offline advertising and promotion has the greatest chance of creating online success, many online entrepreneurs seem to have missed the point. By the way, even Paris Hilton did all her major “promotions” offline to have gotten this popular online.So which is the only effective way to market online?It’s by posting free articles loaded with valuable free information.Use the resource box at the bottom of the article to tell us who the hell you are and why I need to know about your miserable existence. Remember I’m only human, the only people I want to know are those who’ll benefit MY existence.Tell me who you are in an interesting article that is targeted directly at ME and that will have some valuable useful free information for ME. Then your article must tell me what I will gain from knowing you or your business.That’s really it. Just package all this into some interesting article, post it on a couple of sites, free of course, and you will have unleashed the most powerful promotional campaign on the Internet. It works. I know because it has worked for me.I once tried advertising on the net. It never worked for me. These days all I do is write a really interesting article occasionally. The result is that now, my greatest fear is getting more clients than my business can handle, which has already happened once ( I wrote a really nice article about why fr
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:
The Headline
This is 90% of your release. Your headline will do almost all of the work in attracting attention to you.
The Summary
This is the first part of the media release and should tell your story briefly.
Credentials & Quotations
Insert quotes from other people and include the person’s credentials
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:
www.pressrelease.com.au
www.elance.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
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.
Po
How you meet and greet new people shapes your personal brand and reputation long before your successes, community contributions, and stories earn editorial consideration by the media.Everyone you meet around town at networking functions, conferences, and other venues is a potential colleague, co-collaborator, or client. And everyone you meet has his/her own extended network of people who form an inner circle that could potentially invite you in. It is essential to put your best face forward when you meet new people. Lead with your eyes and ears to make a winning connection.To get the inside scoop on winning ways to connect at networking events, I consulted with Zita Gustin. Gustin is the executive managing director of the Greater Seattle and Snohomish County Chapters of the eWomenNetwork (www.ewomennetwork.com and zkg55@comcast.net.) Gustin is a master of the art of networking and speaks often to professional groups and the media to help others improve their skills and results.Gustin says – and we all know – that some people are skilled at making quality connections that result in authentic relationships built on trust, admiration, and respect. When they need advice, information, or referrals, they count on their own inner circle to tell them the truth and help them get what they need. Best of all, they are happy to return the favor. This translates to greater success with ease and speed. That counts for a lot in today’s information overloaded world in which time matters just as much as money.“The best advice I can offer to improve networking skills is to become a connector,” Gustin said. “If you spend more time focused on how you can help others achieve their goals, you will find many unexpected gifts and rewards bestowed upon you.“To become a connector, learn to listen more than you talk. To understand what other people need, look them directly in the eye and hear what they are saying. Stay focused and present while you are listening, and people will marvel at your conversation skills. All the while, gather information to help you help them. Be curious and ask smart and gently probing questions that will help you do just that.” We’ve all been on the receiving end of networking efforts gone wrong. It is jarring to have someone collect business cards as if on a scavenger hunt to earn a prize. It is uncomfortable when someone is listening to you with one ear
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:
www.pressrelease.com.au
www.elance.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
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 noncompetitive 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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