Most companies ask themselves this question: "How much will this advertising cost us?" when they should actually be asking themselves this: “How much will it cost not to do this advertising?"
If your company spends $1000 per week on marketing then you could save $1000 per week by not doing any marketing. That is true but it is the simple and shortsighted view of the situation. However, if the revenue generated from that marketing is $1010 you have actually just lost $10 by not doing it.
Most times the margin is not that slim. We generally bring in around 10 times what we spend in any given week. That means for every $1000 we spend on marketing we bring in $10,000. If we decided that we were only going to spend half of what we were normally spending we would automatically save half of our budget. That is great but we would likely lose up to half of our weekly sales income. In trying to save half our budget we actually lost 9 times that amount.
It all comes back to your Return On Investment. That’s the ROI I am always talking about. If you only make what you spend on your marketing it is not doing its job. The money that you spend on your marketing is your investment. The money you bring in on sales is the Return On that Investment. That is why your ROI is the most important statistic to consider when trying to divide up your marketing budget. Putting more money into a marketing strategy that has a higher ROI doesn’t cost you more money, it makes you more money. Saving money by lowering your marketing budget doesn’t sound so enticing when you think about it that way. Unfortunately many businesses cut their marketing budget first when trying to stay afloat during slow periods. They are actually hastening their downfall.
You have heard it time and time again, "It takes money to make money." It is as true today as it ever has been. You have a good product or service, you run your business well, the only thing that you need is good marketing and that will eventually pay for itself.
Perhaps by now you are convinced that you need to spend some money on promoting your business.
Maybe you are still stopped by the big question, "How?" What do you really need to know, and how can you actually make it work?
Let’s start with the "Basic Principles" of promotion.
What is Promotion?
Promotion (pro•mō′•shun) n. Anything, as advertising, public appearances, etc., done to publicize (get the attention or interest of the public) a person, product, event, etc. The New Webster’s Concise Dictionary2003 Encyclopedic Edition
Why do you promote?
The purpose of promotion is to bring in more business and enlarge your customer base. Always try to bring in as much business as you can. It sounds like an obvious thing to say but many people still don’t follow this rule. Don’t assume any number of new customers will be too much for you to handle. If you have that much business you can always bring on temporary or temp-to-permanent staff to handle the work load.
How do you promote?
There are more ways than you would ever think. Have you ever heard someone say, "I never promote and I am always busy" OR "I don’t have to promote, all my business comes from word-of-mouth"? They may not be aware of how they’re doing it, but I promise you they are promoting somewhere. Maybe they just go around telling everyone they talk to, that they don’t promote. (Sound funny? It’s still promoting.) Maybe their canary yellow window ledge with the bright red apples on the shelf behind it attracts so much attention that they don’t need to do anything else. Well here are some ideas you can do "knowingly" to drive in the business.
Every action that every member of your staff engages in is promotion. Whether good or bad every action is giving someone an impression of how your company is or does business. Here are a few examples.
a) Greeting your customers with a smile is a great place to start.
b) Calling your customers after they have had a chance to use your product is a good way to promote that you care about their experience with your organization. It can also create an opportunity to make more sales.
c) A neatly packaged product, the shipping label on straight, promotes that you take pride in what you do.
d) Always keep updated brochures or catalogs in your reception area for people to see and take with them.
e) If you have customers coming into your business, make sure they are greeted pleasantly, professionally, and immediately.
I suggest you sit down and write out all the things that your company actually does to promote using the above definition. Sit down with your staff and do a pow wow. Not only will it bring you all closer together and going for the same goal, it will open your eyes as to all the ways you can make your business well thought of.
Every little detail counts. Thanks for reading and good luck.
Author Resource: Joy Gendusa
Tuesday
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF AFFILIATE MARKETING
Affiliate marketing programs has never been as popular before as it is today. Why? There can be a number of reasons. The most probable reason, however, could be the fact that the benefits of affiliate marketing have become clearer to a lot of people now than they were before.
Today, both the merchants and the affiliates can see clearly that affiliate marketing can work for both of them. The merchant sees affiliate marketing today as the chance to advertise their products at a lower cost. The affiliates, on the other hand, sees affiliate marketing as an easy way of earning profits on line by doing what they like most, and that is by creating websites.
Just as the popularity of affiliate marketing has shifted into greater heights, so has the people's outlook about it changed. No longer is affiliate marketing considered today as an alternative method for the merchant to advertise his products, or as a source of additional income for the affiliates. For merchants and affiliates alike, affiliate marketing is now considered as a main source of profits and revenues.
So the question now is what type of affiliate marketing will work best for you? Are all affiliate marketing programs the same? Are the benefits the same? Or are there affiliate marketing programs that work better than the others?
There are actually different types or classes of affiliate marketing, and the number of types will depend on how one will classify them. The most basic affiliate marketing programs, however, falls under two categories: pay-per-click (PPC) and pay-per-performance (PPP).
* Pay Per Click (PPC)
PPC is the most popular type of affiliate marketing for affiliates with small websites, and probably the easiest way for them to earn money. In this affiliate marketing type, the merchant pays his affiliate whenever a visitor is referred to his site, that is whenever someone clicks through the merchant's banner or text ads. The affiliate gets paid a certain amount even if the visitor he referred does not purchase anything from the merchant's site. However, typical fees for PPC affiliate programs are small, usually not exceeding a dollar for every click.
* Pay Per Performance (PPP)
PPP affiliate marketing is the most popular among merchant and is also the most lucrative type for the affiliates. In this type of affiliate program, the merchant only pays the affiliate whenever his referral translates into an action—that is whenever the visitor he has referred actually buys something from the merchant's site or when the visitor becomes a lead. This means a lot of savings for the merchant. On the other hand, it becomes the most lucrative type for the dedicated affiliate, for commissions in PPP affiliate marketing usually comes in the range of 15% to 20% of the actual product sales.
Pay-per-performance affiliate marketing can be further classified into two popular types: pay-per-sales (PPS) and pay-per-lead (PPL).
* Pay Per Sale (PPS)
In a pay-per-sale type of affiliate marketing, the merchants pay the affiliate a certain fee whenever the visitor he has referred to the merchant's site actually buys something from the merchant's site. Affiliates are often paid on commission basis, although other merchants would opt to pay a fixed fee. But no matter what the basis of the fee is, it is generally higher than the fee paid to affiliates in a pay-per-click affiliate program.
* Pay Per Lead (PPL)
The pay-per-lead type of affiliate marketing is a slight variation of the PPS type and is often used by insurance and finance companies and other companies who rely on leads for their company to grow. In this type of affiliate marketing, the affiliate is paid whenever the visitor he referred to the merchant's site fills up an application form or any similar form related to the business of the company. Compensation for this type of affiliate marketing is based on a fixed fee whose rates approximate that of the fixed fee in the PPS type.
Aside from these three specific types of affiliate marketing, a lot of other affiliate marketing types exist. If the classification is based on the depth of the affiliate network, it can be classified as single-tier, two-tier, and multi-tier affiliate marketing. There is also another type of affiliate marketing that pays the affiliate each time the customer he has referred purchases something from the merchant's site.
* Single-Tier, Two-Tier, and Multi-Tier Affiliate Marketing
These types of affiliate marketing are based on the different levels or tiers in the affiliate network by which payments are made. In a single-tier affiliate marketing program, the affiliates are only paid based on the direct sales or traffic he has referred to the merchant. All the previously mentioned affiliate marketing types (i.e. PPS<>
Author: Susan Atkinson
Today, both the merchants and the affiliates can see clearly that affiliate marketing can work for both of them. The merchant sees affiliate marketing today as the chance to advertise their products at a lower cost. The affiliates, on the other hand, sees affiliate marketing as an easy way of earning profits on line by doing what they like most, and that is by creating websites.
Just as the popularity of affiliate marketing has shifted into greater heights, so has the people's outlook about it changed. No longer is affiliate marketing considered today as an alternative method for the merchant to advertise his products, or as a source of additional income for the affiliates. For merchants and affiliates alike, affiliate marketing is now considered as a main source of profits and revenues.
So the question now is what type of affiliate marketing will work best for you? Are all affiliate marketing programs the same? Are the benefits the same? Or are there affiliate marketing programs that work better than the others?
There are actually different types or classes of affiliate marketing, and the number of types will depend on how one will classify them. The most basic affiliate marketing programs, however, falls under two categories: pay-per-click (PPC) and pay-per-performance (PPP).
* Pay Per Click (PPC)
PPC is the most popular type of affiliate marketing for affiliates with small websites, and probably the easiest way for them to earn money. In this affiliate marketing type, the merchant pays his affiliate whenever a visitor is referred to his site, that is whenever someone clicks through the merchant's banner or text ads. The affiliate gets paid a certain amount even if the visitor he referred does not purchase anything from the merchant's site. However, typical fees for PPC affiliate programs are small, usually not exceeding a dollar for every click.
* Pay Per Performance (PPP)
PPP affiliate marketing is the most popular among merchant and is also the most lucrative type for the affiliates. In this type of affiliate program, the merchant only pays the affiliate whenever his referral translates into an action—that is whenever the visitor he has referred actually buys something from the merchant's site or when the visitor becomes a lead. This means a lot of savings for the merchant. On the other hand, it becomes the most lucrative type for the dedicated affiliate, for commissions in PPP affiliate marketing usually comes in the range of 15% to 20% of the actual product sales.
Pay-per-performance affiliate marketing can be further classified into two popular types: pay-per-sales (PPS) and pay-per-lead (PPL).
* Pay Per Sale (PPS)
In a pay-per-sale type of affiliate marketing, the merchants pay the affiliate a certain fee whenever the visitor he has referred to the merchant's site actually buys something from the merchant's site. Affiliates are often paid on commission basis, although other merchants would opt to pay a fixed fee. But no matter what the basis of the fee is, it is generally higher than the fee paid to affiliates in a pay-per-click affiliate program.
* Pay Per Lead (PPL)
The pay-per-lead type of affiliate marketing is a slight variation of the PPS type and is often used by insurance and finance companies and other companies who rely on leads for their company to grow. In this type of affiliate marketing, the affiliate is paid whenever the visitor he referred to the merchant's site fills up an application form or any similar form related to the business of the company. Compensation for this type of affiliate marketing is based on a fixed fee whose rates approximate that of the fixed fee in the PPS type.
Aside from these three specific types of affiliate marketing, a lot of other affiliate marketing types exist. If the classification is based on the depth of the affiliate network, it can be classified as single-tier, two-tier, and multi-tier affiliate marketing. There is also another type of affiliate marketing that pays the affiliate each time the customer he has referred purchases something from the merchant's site.
* Single-Tier, Two-Tier, and Multi-Tier Affiliate Marketing
These types of affiliate marketing are based on the different levels or tiers in the affiliate network by which payments are made. In a single-tier affiliate marketing program, the affiliates are only paid based on the direct sales or traffic he has referred to the merchant. All the previously mentioned affiliate marketing types (i.e. PPS<>
Author: Susan Atkinson
REASONS WHY PAY PER CLICK IS SO POPULAR AMONG SMALL BUSINESSES
In the present era of globalization the role of the Internet is not restricted to merely exchanging information and social networking anymore. The Internet is fast becoming the world’s largest market place where people from the most diverse and bizarre paces are now coming together and exchanging goods and services for money.
In any market be it the virtual market place of the internet or the physical market place of the real world, one needs to advertise to make one’s presence felt.
In the real world there are a number of gimmicks and strategies that manufacturers can use to increase their market share. But in the virtual world the options are limited. Although the reach is world wide but the avenues are limited.
One option that is very popular is the PPC Search Engine and Pay per click option that is on the rise among all classes of businesses especially small businesses.
What is pay per click and what are the reasons behind the popularity is some thing that we will attempt to explore here.
First what exactly is the pay per click concept? This concept is perhaps as old as the internet itself and is the most popular concept.
Pay per click advertising is a technique that works by taking a specified sum of money for listing your advertisement on any of the major or minor search engines. As a net savvy techno freak you would have seen such sponsored links when you would have performed searches on Google.
These sponsored links usually appear at the top, bottom or, as in the case of Google, the right hand side of the search engine results page. These sponsored links are referred to by many monikers. Some of the more popular ones are Paid Listings, Sponsored Listings, or Featured Listings.
When you sign up for a pay per click program the Pay per click search engines require that you pay a pre specified amount to have your advertisement listed on the major search engines. You would also be required to bid on keywords that are related to your business. For example, if you are a T-shirt manufacturer then it would be in your favor to have your link displayed whenever someone searches for shirts or even apparel or maybe even casual wear.
Once you have finalized your bid and the deal is done you don’t need to pay any money upfront. The best part about pay per click advertising is that the bid amount is to be paid by the advertiser whenever a visitor clicks on the advertisement and no money needs to be paid up front. Hence, this is also known as a "cost per click" program.
The terms Pay per click and cost per click are oftentimes used interchangeably to describe Pay Per Click web advertising. Although Pay per click refers to the payment method and Cost per click refers to the cost factor involved in each payment.
Now that we have seen what exactly Pay per click is, we now examine the reasons that have contributed to the popularity of Pay per click among small businesses.
The reason behind the rise of Pay per click is very simple. A small business basically wants more customers. The widespread exposure is achieved through the simple act of setting up a website with a shopping cart option. Translating that exposure into sales is a bit difficult.
You would do well to remember that although organic Search Engine Optimization may generate traffic, it is not "instantaneous."
By making use of search engine marketing programs such as pay per click, you can receive the desired results and clicks a few days instead of months.
Therefore owing to the twin advantages of more customers and faster results pay per click and PPC Search Engine Advertising has become very popular today with small businesses.
Author: Marcus
In any market be it the virtual market place of the internet or the physical market place of the real world, one needs to advertise to make one’s presence felt.
In the real world there are a number of gimmicks and strategies that manufacturers can use to increase their market share. But in the virtual world the options are limited. Although the reach is world wide but the avenues are limited.
One option that is very popular is the PPC Search Engine and Pay per click option that is on the rise among all classes of businesses especially small businesses.
What is pay per click and what are the reasons behind the popularity is some thing that we will attempt to explore here.
First what exactly is the pay per click concept? This concept is perhaps as old as the internet itself and is the most popular concept.
Pay per click advertising is a technique that works by taking a specified sum of money for listing your advertisement on any of the major or minor search engines. As a net savvy techno freak you would have seen such sponsored links when you would have performed searches on Google.
These sponsored links usually appear at the top, bottom or, as in the case of Google, the right hand side of the search engine results page. These sponsored links are referred to by many monikers. Some of the more popular ones are Paid Listings, Sponsored Listings, or Featured Listings.
When you sign up for a pay per click program the Pay per click search engines require that you pay a pre specified amount to have your advertisement listed on the major search engines. You would also be required to bid on keywords that are related to your business. For example, if you are a T-shirt manufacturer then it would be in your favor to have your link displayed whenever someone searches for shirts or even apparel or maybe even casual wear.
Once you have finalized your bid and the deal is done you don’t need to pay any money upfront. The best part about pay per click advertising is that the bid amount is to be paid by the advertiser whenever a visitor clicks on the advertisement and no money needs to be paid up front. Hence, this is also known as a "cost per click" program.
The terms Pay per click and cost per click are oftentimes used interchangeably to describe Pay Per Click web advertising. Although Pay per click refers to the payment method and Cost per click refers to the cost factor involved in each payment.
Now that we have seen what exactly Pay per click is, we now examine the reasons that have contributed to the popularity of Pay per click among small businesses.
The reason behind the rise of Pay per click is very simple. A small business basically wants more customers. The widespread exposure is achieved through the simple act of setting up a website with a shopping cart option. Translating that exposure into sales is a bit difficult.
You would do well to remember that although organic Search Engine Optimization may generate traffic, it is not "instantaneous."
By making use of search engine marketing programs such as pay per click, you can receive the desired results and clicks a few days instead of months.
Therefore owing to the twin advantages of more customers and faster results pay per click and PPC Search Engine Advertising has become very popular today with small businesses.
Author: Marcus
Wednesday
INTERNET MARKETING WITH POSTCARDS
.
On-Line Marketing Strategies
These days an internet marketing strategy plays a vital role in the overall marketing plan of any small business. Getting your website viewed is important for any size business - large or small.
Remember: You cannot put up a terrific web site on-line and hope that people will just arrive. You have to let your prospects know, IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY, that your web site is there. This HAS to be part of any Internet Marketing Strategy you develop. This is actually a basic marketing principle. Unless you have something as needed and wanted as the original and authentic Fountain of Youth, your customers are not going to look for you; you have to look for them.
There is a lot of hullabaloo about promoting your web site. In fact, building traffic to your web site is the subject of thousands of web sites, e-zines, books, courses and seminars. Using the web to promote your site, however, still assumes that your customers are surfers. Even though you may be an avid internet user, there is a large percentage of our population that are not as savvy with the internet as we would like them to be.
So, what do you do about this large percentage of the population who are not internet adept? They will only find out about you through traditional marketing and public relations media. This is particularly true if you serve a fairly local market. Fortunately these are the easiest and cheapest prospects for you to reach off-line.
Off-Line Marketing Strategies
Off-Line Internet Marketing Strategies are still alive. I recently read a statistic of the US Postal Service that stated that consumers spend an average of 25 minutes with Direct Mail and 30 minutes with catalogs. (There are more facts in the Mail Moment series of free white papers form the USPS.) Yes, they may go through their mail like Speed Racer and cull through the mail they want and the mail they don’t want at record velocity; but those that catch their eye and grab their attention, they actually read and spend time doing so.
You need to tap into that market and utilize that statistic. Become part of that pile of mail that your prospective consumer spends time reading. Direct Mail should be a pivotal point of your on-line marketing strategy. You need to ensure that you have a direct mail marketing campaign to drive traffic to your web site.
Other Marketing Avenues
Below is a small list of some of the ways to make your web site known (this list was taken directly from the Traffic Building Volume of Ken Evoy's brilliant book, Make Your Site Sell): • TV, print and other advertising • Stationary and business cards • Catalogs, fliers, billboards, blimps, etc. • Direct mail (prominently on every document) • Telemarketing (make it part of the script) • News releases to targeted media. The main principle, to which you can add all your imagination, is: AN INTERNET MARKETING STRATEGY INCLUDES ANY AND ALL MEANS OF GETTING YOUR WEB SITE KNOWN AND VISITED BY TARGETED PROSPECTS. Unless you have a high budget, the TV, radio, classified ad route is not recommended but if you do run ads, be sure to mention your web site everywhere. Make it part of your Internet Marketing Strategy. Another guiding principle is that your off-line internet marketing activities should make it easy for your prospect to go straight to your site. One of the best ways to market your website off-line is direct mail postcards.
What is So Great About Postcards?
If your prospect sees your website on a billboard as she is driving home, she probably will not look you up when she gets to the office the next day. This is not the only medium that has problems like this. Newspapers are bulky, radio has to spell it out and with billboards most people are driving at the time. On the other hand, if your prospect is sitting at her computer and a postcard comes in the mail announcing your web site, she can just turn around and type in your URL and she's at your web site.
Now, if someone is in the office reading a trade journal and comes across an article about you in the magazine, it is not difficult for him to copy your URL into his browser and pay your site a visit. If they are not in the office, there will be a lag time in logging into your web site. Also a percentage of those journal readers may not write the web address down or even remember to check out your site. I do not mean to say that those other avenues will not drive traffic to your site, but it will take numerous impressions and repetition to get them to remember your address.
On the other hand, direct mail postcards are generally received at the home or office where a computer is present, and if received somewhere else they are small enough to keep with you until you can get to a computer. This way, your prospective customer will be able to take the postcard right over to their desk top computer, type in your address and go right to your site. Brilliant!
I have seen the greatest success in off-line web site promotion with direct mail, and specifically direct mail postcards. The most successful people on the internet market with Direct Mail to drive traffic to their site. The virtual world is just that – virtual. It really is not the real world so if you want your virtual business to be creditable in the real world, apply real world principles. Direct Mail Postcard Marketing will give you the credibility that you seek and will drive copious amounts of traffic to your web site. Ah, nirvana!
Author Resource: Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania
On-Line Marketing Strategies
These days an internet marketing strategy plays a vital role in the overall marketing plan of any small business. Getting your website viewed is important for any size business - large or small.
Remember: You cannot put up a terrific web site on-line and hope that people will just arrive. You have to let your prospects know, IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY, that your web site is there. This HAS to be part of any Internet Marketing Strategy you develop. This is actually a basic marketing principle. Unless you have something as needed and wanted as the original and authentic Fountain of Youth, your customers are not going to look for you; you have to look for them.
There is a lot of hullabaloo about promoting your web site. In fact, building traffic to your web site is the subject of thousands of web sites, e-zines, books, courses and seminars. Using the web to promote your site, however, still assumes that your customers are surfers. Even though you may be an avid internet user, there is a large percentage of our population that are not as savvy with the internet as we would like them to be.
So, what do you do about this large percentage of the population who are not internet adept? They will only find out about you through traditional marketing and public relations media. This is particularly true if you serve a fairly local market. Fortunately these are the easiest and cheapest prospects for you to reach off-line.
Off-Line Marketing Strategies
Off-Line Internet Marketing Strategies are still alive. I recently read a statistic of the US Postal Service that stated that consumers spend an average of 25 minutes with Direct Mail and 30 minutes with catalogs. (There are more facts in the Mail Moment series of free white papers form the USPS.) Yes, they may go through their mail like Speed Racer and cull through the mail they want and the mail they don’t want at record velocity; but those that catch their eye and grab their attention, they actually read and spend time doing so.
You need to tap into that market and utilize that statistic. Become part of that pile of mail that your prospective consumer spends time reading. Direct Mail should be a pivotal point of your on-line marketing strategy. You need to ensure that you have a direct mail marketing campaign to drive traffic to your web site.
Other Marketing Avenues
Below is a small list of some of the ways to make your web site known (this list was taken directly from the Traffic Building Volume of Ken Evoy's brilliant book, Make Your Site Sell): • TV, print and other advertising • Stationary and business cards • Catalogs, fliers, billboards, blimps, etc. • Direct mail (prominently on every document) • Telemarketing (make it part of the script) • News releases to targeted media. The main principle, to which you can add all your imagination, is: AN INTERNET MARKETING STRATEGY INCLUDES ANY AND ALL MEANS OF GETTING YOUR WEB SITE KNOWN AND VISITED BY TARGETED PROSPECTS. Unless you have a high budget, the TV, radio, classified ad route is not recommended but if you do run ads, be sure to mention your web site everywhere. Make it part of your Internet Marketing Strategy. Another guiding principle is that your off-line internet marketing activities should make it easy for your prospect to go straight to your site. One of the best ways to market your website off-line is direct mail postcards.
What is So Great About Postcards?
If your prospect sees your website on a billboard as she is driving home, she probably will not look you up when she gets to the office the next day. This is not the only medium that has problems like this. Newspapers are bulky, radio has to spell it out and with billboards most people are driving at the time. On the other hand, if your prospect is sitting at her computer and a postcard comes in the mail announcing your web site, she can just turn around and type in your URL and she's at your web site.
Now, if someone is in the office reading a trade journal and comes across an article about you in the magazine, it is not difficult for him to copy your URL into his browser and pay your site a visit. If they are not in the office, there will be a lag time in logging into your web site. Also a percentage of those journal readers may not write the web address down or even remember to check out your site. I do not mean to say that those other avenues will not drive traffic to your site, but it will take numerous impressions and repetition to get them to remember your address.
On the other hand, direct mail postcards are generally received at the home or office where a computer is present, and if received somewhere else they are small enough to keep with you until you can get to a computer. This way, your prospective customer will be able to take the postcard right over to their desk top computer, type in your address and go right to your site. Brilliant!
I have seen the greatest success in off-line web site promotion with direct mail, and specifically direct mail postcards. The most successful people on the internet market with Direct Mail to drive traffic to their site. The virtual world is just that – virtual. It really is not the real world so if you want your virtual business to be creditable in the real world, apply real world principles. Direct Mail Postcard Marketing will give you the credibility that you seek and will drive copious amounts of traffic to your web site. Ah, nirvana!
Author Resource: Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)