Posted by Rob on July 30, 2011 under Web Resources | 
For businesses of all sizes, credit card processing has become a reality. Many mom and pop shops held out for years because of the high processing costs, but due to a shift in consumer buying habits have been forced to adapt and begin accepting card payments. While larger businesses can factor the cost of accepting credit cards into their products and services, small businesses have a harder time doing that while staying competitive.
There is a group of business owners that has no sympathy for the small business forced to accept credit cards: online business owners. These are the people who sell goods and services over the internet, and have been paying credit card processing fees for years. It doesn’t matter how big or small your online company, you are almost guaranteed to accept credit cards.
Quotes
When online retailers and service providers search for merchant processing, they frequently come across hundreds of credit card processing companies trying to sell their business by advertising their low rates. A typical rate advertisement might look like this:
1.09% + 0.10 cents per transaction
By breaking this down you have a percentage of the sale as well as a per-transaction cost. The first number (1.09%) represents the amount of the total transaction cost that the processing company will take. So in this case it would be $1.09 for a $100 transaction. The second number ($0.10) represents a flat 10 cent fee per transaction, regardless of the amount. If the transaction is 2 dollars the fee will be 10 cents. If the transaction is $2000 the fee will be 10 cents.
Swiped vs. keyed
What merchant service providers typically fail to disclose in their advertisement is that the quoted rate only applies to a select group of transactions. This rate is reserved for the lowest cost cards and only if the card is physically swiped by a card reader. This requires the merchant to obtain the card directly from the customer.
Cards that are manually keyed in are considered higher risk, since anyone can steal a credit card number. Therefore, the cost of processing them is higher in order to offset the added cost from fraud.
So why does this matter to online retailers?
Because just about every transaction they typically do will be a keyed in credit card. That means that every payment they process is not going to be run at this preferred rate, and instead will be marked up to a higher price.
Credit card processing companies typically like to sell what is called tiered or bucket pricing. This pricing structure lumps different credit cards into groups, and charges each card the highest rate possible. When a card is keyed in rather than swiped, it is automatically moved out of the lowest bucket and run at a higher tiered rate, regardless of what card it is.
So what can an online merchant do?
It is important to read the contract before signing. Every agreement is required by law to outline the transaction costs, but it may be difficult to understand. Just know that almost never will a keyed in card be run at the best rate, so if you can’t find that in the contract have a lawyer look it over. They should be able to find what rates you will actually pay.
Eric Stauffer is part of a small business advocate website that monitors the credit card industry and educate organizations about merchant processing. They also review the top processors in the country such as Capital Bankcard and GoPayment.
Posted by Rob on July 26, 2011 under Marketing Resources |
One of the most trusted tools that small businesses turn to is lead generation. Lead generation is comparable to having a sales person work for you round the clock. Because of this, businesses find it extremely crucial to employ this marketing strategy. Interaction with potential customers just as it is important to assist customers who are in brick-and-mortar stores. The emergence of the internet has made it a lot easier for businesses to reach out to their potential customers, and lead generation strategies have multiplied and become so much easier to execute.
Links
One effective way to direct more traffic to your website is to exchange links. But with any business you have a specific target market to court so it’s not just enough to increase the number of visitors. You also need to consider the kind of visitors that you are getting. Is the traffic you are receiving due to individuals who are part of your target market? In order to expose your website to more members of your target market, you need to start exchanging links with websites that are in a similar field that you are in. For instance, if you sell car accessories then exchange links with a website that sells tires. This way, you can be fairly certain that your website visitors are also prospective buyers.
Mailing List
When you finally get your would-be buyers to visit your site, the next obstacle that you need to hurdle through is getting them to divulge their email address so that they can be part of your mailing list. This can be a tad tricky especially since most individuals associate newsletters with spam. But visitors do get converted especially after they have browse through your website and found valuable information. But just because they have suddenly become willing to give their email addresses does not mean they won’t change their minds and just leave without doing anything. To prevent this from happening, include a mailing list box in every webpage and situate it where it can easily be visualized.
Newsletters
After procuring your visitor’s email address, be ready to send out newsletters. Studies have found out that those individuals who sign up for newsletters are likely to make a purchase within the next 12 months, so make good use of this period to send out newsletters which contain newsworthy information that will persuade your readers that buying from you is the right thing to do.
Chris Marentis is an experienced marketer who likes to write about what he has learned in over 25 successful years in new business development and currently with Surefire Social specializes in Small Business Internet Marketing and Local Business Internet Marketing
Posted by vive-mark on July 19, 2011 under Marketing Resources |
You may have heard of Mosaic segmentation in the course of investigating online research. Mosaic segmentation forms an integral part of many online research projects and understanding it and its benefits is integral to much online research you may be considering undertaking.
Mosaic segmentation is a group profiling system that uses geo-demographic profiles across 20 countries worldwide. The system was developed by Experian and uses a specially developed and divided profiling system to organise different groups. The initial system used one quarter million block groups which were joined to 60 segmentations based on selected demographic characteristics. The system operates on the principle that individuals and families tend to live, work and socialise within groups of similar backgrounds, social interests and financial dispositions. The system was originally implemented in the US but has since been extended and integrated into the global Mosaic classification system which provides a spread shot of fourteen market segments that exist in all modernised (not just westernised) countries. The system is one of twenty built by Experian and is updated annually using the latest internationally and domestically available data. This allows it to easily adapt to shifting patterns in demographics and societies.
The system uses over 700 variables to conduct initial analysis and profiling. These variables are grouped under parent variables that are each subdivided into the necessary categories for evaluation. Variables include the most obvious socially determining demographic factors such as age, sex, education, marital status and place of birth. However Mosaic has extended these variables to include a vast range of other contributing local factors including population density, income/poverty ratio, labour force by sex and year moved in. In the states these 700+ statistics are then divided into twelve separate and very distinct groups – affluent suburbia, upscale America, Small-town success, blue collar backbone, American diversity, metro fringe, remote America, Aspiring contemporaries, rural villages and farms, struggling societies, urban essence and varying lifestyles. Whilst these are very broad demographics they provide the most accurate breakdown of the country that socio-geo-demographic profiling can make.
The system was initially designed for conducting consumer research across a variety of demographics then using the data to build up customer and potential customer profiles. Its application has led to comprehensive and wide ranging data becoming available the habits of people that fall within certain demographics. This has a number of advantages in consumer profiling and has also been useful in advertisement targeting and other marketing avenues.
In terms of conducting market research Mosaic has proved invaluable. From a business perspective Mosaic has allowed businesses to understand the habits, motivations and desires of their markets on a much more involved level. This has made the marketing process for products and services much more efficient with companies being able to understand the motivations and areas of potential interest on a much clearer basis. For internationally operating companies the system has helped heavily in identifying and testing the viability of new markets on a geo-centred playing field. It allows companies to instantly compare their existing customer profile with those existing in other potential markets. Combining this with competition analysis has meant that the viability of any market can be easily analysed saving companies thousands if not millions in research and on marketing strategies. For online market research the system has proved invaluable at identifying the correct respondents for research and for customer profiling. It allows researchers to laser target research programs and to develop clear indications of the customer base using lead questions and individual profiling. If you are conducting or planning conducting any kind of online market research Mosaic segmentation is an invaluable tool you would do well to make use of.
Chris writes about market research companies such as ResearchNow, whilst covering various issues concerned with online surveys or other data collection services for your business projects.
Posted by Rob on July 14, 2011 under Advertising & Marketing |
For many years, promotional items have become a part of a successful marketing strategy. Promoting a brand helps a company to reach out to its target customers and make them aware of your brand and its advantages. Whether you are promoting a new company or a new brand, promotional products are the most cost-effective way of achieving your targets. Nowadays promotional items are used by several companies to help achieve their marketing goals and at the same time save as much money as possible. A free promotional give away is a very efficient technique of impressing new customers, making them believe that the company or the brand is worth their money.
Free gifts and promotional products are a fantastic way to strengthen customer relationships. It allows a company to reinforce a brand by attracting more customers. The free gift gesture is an effective way to make customers feel appreciated. These promotional giveaways help form a bond between the customer and your brand, in turn leading to brand loyalty and customer recommendation. However it is necessary that the customer is given an item he/ she will use. The greater the use or need of the item, the bigger impact the gift will have.
Promotional items are used in different ways to please the different classes of people. For example, in an educational exhibition it would be appropriate to give pens, notepads or folders. Giving away balls or calculators at such an event would be highly inappropriate. Likewise if you are at a sports seminar you should give away sporting gifts. The gifts given at a particular place should be useful for the people it is given to – otherwise your campaign is a failure.
Using promotional products for branding is the most effective way to get your desired goals. Whenever the customer or the receiver of the gift uses the item they will be reminded of the company. If your product is of better quality and helps improve the efficiency or the comfort of the client’s work he/she will be more than generous to recommend you to their clients or friends. This is why the products that are used for promoting the brand should be of good quality and practical, so that they come in handy of the receivers.
The main reason for using promotional products for marketing is to create brand awareness. Brand awareness does not target a small group of people or a particular area – it covers the whole region. Using promotional products which are required in different cities or states will help you gain a customer base faster in that particular area. For example in a cold snowy area it would be foolish to distribute t-shirts, a snow cap or a jacket would be more appropriate. By using such products you can create walking billboards of your brand in several cities and states. Clothing items can also be used to deliver messages containing information about the brand or some catchy tagline.
The importance of branding can be determined by the fact that most companies spend millions on promotional items.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Black is a promotion and marketing specialists. He is known worldwide for his article contributions on Promotional Products Australia.
Posted by Rob on July 13, 2011 under Web Resources |
Magento is used to create and manage online stores. It is becoming increasingly popular as it meets the demands of all types of businessmen. It was launched on the 31st of March 2008 and was downloaded almost 500,000 times by the end of the year. Magento is an open source ecommerce platform which allows online businesses to be operated hassle- free. It helps boost online business, and has become one of the fastest growing ecommerce platforms in history.
An open source, feature rich and professional ecommerce solution, Magento offers its users complete flexibility and control over the functionality, content and the look of their e-stores. Magento’s administrative panel contains powerful management, marketing and merchandising tools which give its owners the power to create websites that meet up to their unique business needs. It is also backed by a huge and extensive support network and it is completely scalable making it the best ecommerce solution in the market.
Since its introduction, Magento has been downloaded approximately six million times. It shows the importance of Magento to the online traders and merchants. The developers of Magento have carefully studied the problems faced by the customers and the owners of online stores, which is the reason for its ultimate success. Magento has thousands of customers including big names such as Nokia or Samsung
Magento has been developed by Varien, an ecommerce solution provider which started in the year 2001. The ecommerce platform offers several features that make it simpler to conduct business on the internet. One can easily manage several online stores and websites from a single administrative panel. It allows the easy single page checkout with other payment options as well. It helps make the web pages SEO friendly and automatically generates a site map. Magento gets your store up and running with the help of an open source shopping cart and fully customizable outlook, within no time at all.
With its features and availability, Magento has become the number one choice in the market for an online store. Another influential factor in the growth of Magento is that it is free to download. It also has a theme- based structure. The add-on and plugin capability of Magento makes it more outstanding than the other ecommerce solutions available in the market. Magento has been named as the product with the highest growth and expansion in history of ecommerce solutions.
It is effortless to build and maintain your own e-store with a reliable Magento web hosting. Your store will always be up to date and running, also downloads will be completed at a much faster speed than most other hosting solutions. Your store will become reliable and a favorite with the customers if it is functional and operational in a proper manner, which can be done now thanks to the Magento web hosting. This eventually leads to more customer base and the more the customers the higher the profits will be.
Richard is a Magento specialist. He has helped many businesses to successfully set up their online presence and generate revenues online.
Posted by Rob on July 1, 2011 under Web Resources |
Well, its a war out there between the two giants of the IT industry. First it was the news of Google starting Google+, a service that is specifically designed to focus efforts on thwarting the rising fame of Facebook. And, now we hear that Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has indicated that they are going to launch very awesome next week.
The last week news stories confirmed that Mark Zuckerberg’s personal fortune has surpassed that of Google’s co-founders. This happened after a Venture Capital company took over Facebook’s shares at a premium. While, the company valuations chapter is something different and the one that we are not going to focus on, what is interesting is the fact that Facebook and Google are now engaged in a battle ground to control web supremacy.
Who do you think will have the last laugh? It is difficult to foretell. While Facebook has caught the fancy of millions, it is clear that the intended use of Facebook is non-business. So, although it has huge numbers on its side, the problem is converting these folks for some sort of business gains. Facebook trumps other media when it comes to issues and causes related to Society. It is very easy to mobilize opinion, support and strength for the masses across the web. Facebook opponents say that its success lies in its mass non-commercial appeal and without business support, the platform cannot thrive.
On the other hand, we see that Google has a huge business organization and experience in creating a business empire based on its paid search model. It has already taken steps to spread its impact to other industries and Android is an example of its smart strategy that has actually mauled the Nokia brand completely. As of today, Android is the largest selling mobile platform. Analysts believe that Google has some of the smartest people on board and these people have genuine industry knowledge and experience that will ensure that Google stays on top as far as commercial segment or business is concerned.
On a similar note, many analysts note that Google is trying to check the rising domination of Facebook by trying to innovate and launch services that engage with the common people. And Google+ is one such way by which it wants to integrate the mainstream population within its core efforts.
It still remains to be seen as to who will be the ‘last man’ standing, but as of now, I have my bets on Google.
Posted by Rob on June 27, 2011 under Web Resources |
Local businesses often fail to see the need for online marketing, sticking instead to old methods of marketing like running advertisements in local coupon clipper magazines and newspapers. Besides being ridiculously expensive for the amount of traffic that they bring in, those methods have been losing lots of ground in the last five years.
The Internet has now integrated itself into the lives of a majority of people around the world, and the quickest, frequently least expensive, and often most effective method of introducing your business is often through its use. In fact, statistics tell us that in excess of 65% of people turn to Internet search engines when contemplating making a purchase of services or goods– even when those businesses are in their own neighborhood. Obviously, if you are not well represented online, you are missing out on a lot of potential business.
Success stories about the use of Internet marketing, which includes social networking, blogging, pay per click advertising, and email marketing, among other methods, are everywhere. If you are not too keen on computers, it is time that you got comfortable with them, because there are lots of totally FREE ways to promote your business online.
- Social networking on sites like Facebook and Twitter makes it easy for a business to interact with its customers, offer specials, and answer questions. Always respond to your customer’s comments in a friendly manner; in fact, don’t be so caught up in being professional that you forget to be human. (Remember, people buy from other people that they like.)
- Partnerships with other complementary or otherwise relevant businesses can help both of you to thrive. Why not “like” each other’s pages on Facebook, or offer some joint coupons, or other specials? Maybe you can agree to a percentage discount for customers that bring a receipt from your partner, and vice versa. This will undoubtedly introduce new customers to both businesses.
- Offer a Facebook deal of they day. This will keep people coming back to your page to see today’s special, and they will “like” your page. Then their friends will see that they did, and hopefully repeat the process.
- Consider doing a small giveaway for new fans to increase the size of your page. People love freebies- and it needn’t be anything that will break the bank. Perhaps an appetizer with dinner, or free 5 X 7 enlargement with their picture order.
- Integrate online and offline. Ask customers for their email address so that you can send your newsletter. Ask them to “like” your Facebook page and “follow” you on Twitter. All of your printed materials should have your website address, Twitter, and Facebook account information—business cards, flyers, receipts, invoices, even print ads should have all your online information.
- Update your social networking sites often; in fact, let others in the organization help to post updates. Customers will enjoy reading their posts if they’re positive and possibly even humorous. It puts a very personal spin on your business.
- Google Places is the biggest online yellow pages that exists. Nowadays, when you input a zip code or city plus a type of business, the first results are always those which are on Google Places; make sure that YOUR business is one of those top results.
There are many more tips about online marketing for your offline business, but these ideas should give you a starting point for you to build your online presence for your company. With a marketing plan in place, you should also look into business or cheap shop insurance to negate some business risk.
Posted by Rob on June 24, 2011 under Advertising & Marketing |
Everybody likes to get something for nothing, which is why marketing your business with free giveaways succeeds so well. Giving customers something for free will lead to increased sales and word-of-mouth promotion.
Product samples
Samples succeed because they allow customers to try a product and see that the claims made are true. No matter how many times someone hears that a new food is delicious, the day they taste it and agree is the day they become a believer.
The same goes for services. For example, Netflix includes product samples at the heart of its Internet marketing strategy. Offering new customers a free month of service allows these customers to try it and decide for themselves whether they enjoy the convenience of Netflix movies. At the end of the month, the majority of these customers choose to stay on a monthly subscription plan.
Promotional Items
Many businesses use promotional items imprinted with their logos to create buzz and visibility for their brands. These giveaways can draw attention to new brands or new products and may take on a life of their own. Customers feel beholden to those companies that give them something tangible for free.
Silicone wristbands are a popular giveaway, especially since the Lance Armstrong Foundation used them so successfully to raise awareness of (and funds for) cancer research. These wristbands were not free, but more like a gift in exchange for a donation. Still, Livestrong bands became a cultural icon in 2004 and demonstrate the power of a small premium. Giveaways shouldn’t be something useless that will be thrown away or forgotten quickly. It’s always better to choose a giveaway that the customer can wear, or at least look at or use on a daily basis. T-shirts, keychains, silicone wristbands, lanyards, and even custom magnets can be a cost effective way of marketing your business with free giveaways.
Bonus gift with each order
Rewarding customers with an unexpected surprise generates a lot of goodwill. As with any giveaway, many customers will feel a sense that they should reciprocate and this will lead to increased sales. These products do not have to be overly expensive, as was demonstrated with the Livestrong campaign.
Free guides and e-books
The Internet and digital storage have made it easy to share information on a large scale. Brochures, owner’s manuals, even entire books can be shared with thousands via website e-book downloads without incurring rising printing costs.
Free guides and e-books as giveaways serve two purposes. Not only do they attract new prospects and reward current customers, but they also give a company the opportunity to place their brand name in front of the customer for the duration of the product. Many of these electronic giveaways work as long term advertisements, and if the copy is handled correctly, nobody minds. You can also ask for the customer’s e-mail address to send the e-book to them, and that way you will have a mailing list of potential customers you can inform about your new products and services.
When considering giveaways, you should always weigh the cost of the promotion against the lifetime customer value of the new customers until you find the cost effective giveaway that markets your business.
Posted by Rob on June 22, 2011 under Marketing Resources |
Do you need to promote your business across the Internet? It would not be as difficult as you think it would be. Online advertising could be free or less costly compared to traditional marketing. It could be strategic and highly effective if you would use it well. Here are five of the most common and popular ways to promote your own business online.
Social media
All around the world, more and more people are getting into social networking. That is why social media is now considered as among the most strategic and effective venues for promoting businesses online. Now is the right time you make use of it for promoting your own business.
If you still do not own accounts on some of the top social networking Websites, create a personal or business account now. Remember that in using social media for business promotion, aim to have as many online friends as you could. This could be another way to take advantage of viral marketing.
PPC advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a less costly way of marketing your products or services so you could surely generate sales or income online. Your business would get into agreements to advertise in specific or popular Websites, which advisably should be within your business niche.
Do not worry because you would not have to pay for having your advertisement appear on Webpages of such sites. Through PPC, you would only pay the agreed upon advertising rate once potential or actual online buyers click on your advertisement. This is what everyone in the marketing industry would call as targeted advertising.
SEO
If you are into online advertising, you should be familiar about search engine optimization (SEO). The aim is always to make your Website popular to enjoy higher chances of selling your products and services. To be able to do so, it would be ideal if your site would easily be searchable through search engine results. Higher placements in search results may mean higher chances of getting higher traffic, which in turn boosts chances of selling and making money online.
There are many ways to achieve ideal SEO. The best and most effective is always through optimizing the content of your Website. Posting original, resourceful, and informational articles sprinkled with sufficient amount of strategic keywords is necessary.
Affiliate marketing
Online businesses and Websites help each other. You could make use of such productive collaboration between sites. Getting into affiliate marketing would be ideal. Through getting into affiliate marketing agreements, you would agree to advertise other businesses’ products or services in your own site. You would provide a link that would redirect users to other Websites.
In turn, you would also enjoy the same strategy. Your Website or business would be promoted in other online sites, free of charge. In the agreement, there would be terms about paying commissions and fee, as part of affiliate marketing.
Emails and forums
How about sending emails to possible buyers or customers? This could be an effective idea. However, it may be hard to create a list of email recipients, who could be possible customers of your business. You could go personal or formal when sending out emails. Just make sure your messages would cut across and gain instant interest or those might end up instantly at the trash bin.
Join and contribute in different forums, especially in threads about your business niche. By posting in forums, you would show off your expertise about the subject so other people would turn to you for more information and advice. Just make sure you customize your forum signature well so it would include a link to your Website.
Andrew has been working online for several years promoting debt consolidation services online
Posted by Rob on June 21, 2011 under Web Resources |
If you are an SEO or a webmaster interested in doing your own SEO, knowing the keys to proper keyword research is essential if you have any hope of improving your website’s rankings on search engines like Google and attracting organic traffic to your webpage. The following seven short tips on keyword research should provide you with a solid foundation from which to build.
- Know your Limits
Depending on the purpose of your site and the volume of products that you wish to sell with it, make sure that the number of keywords is reasonable. Small sites with only a few products should start at 5-10 keywords. That number should build as your business and product diversity increases.
These numbers are by no means concrete, but try to have a rough idea of where you want to end up before you even begin the research process.
- Don’t Make Assumptions—KNOW Your Market
If your goal is sell a product, you need to get into the minds of your buyers. This means you need to do research and not just make assumptions about whom you are selling to and what and how they think.Merely coming up with a few keywords on your own based on assumption and bias experience is a mistake that a lot of otherwise great websites make and it can cost them serious traffic. Bottom line: you need to work to improve your ranking.
- Lock into Your Competition
The one fact that everyone knows about the internet is that everyone and his brother can and probably will use it for some sort of business opportunity. If you are selling in a high demand field, or even a niche with some really solid competition, then you need to go beyond the simple and extract more radical keywords that will put you up in the ranking as opposed to others hawking your product or those similar.Think of it this way: while the obvious keywords are important, they are not what will ultimately build your reputation and ranking. You also need to find important keywords that are out of the box if you are to stand out in a crowd.
- Pay Attention to Page Ranking
This tip pertains to both your site and your competition. If the end game is to move up in the ranks, you need to know where you stand in the first place and where you want to be. The SEMRush tool is excellent for this purpose, but you can also use a general keyword search with the data you get from tips 2 and 3.
- Use the Tools Available to You
There are several excellent programs out there, both free and for a small fee, that you can use for your research. To ignore these tools is really a mistake since your competition will surely be employing them.In no particular order, consider using tools such as Google ADWords, WordTracker, SEMRush, SEOmoz Keyword Difficulty Tool, and SEObook Keyword Suggestion Tool.
- Consider the Number of Backlinks
In terms of exposure, the keyword/SEO angle is just as important as the backlink angle in making your page stand out and improving its relevance and search engine rank.For each and every keyword you come up with, you need to launch a backlink campaign to support it. It is therefore essential that you build your own backlinks as well as study the numbers being used by your competition.
- Backlink Quality Is Essential
Especially with the new search engine algorithms coming onto the market every day (Google Panda being primary among them) the equation for success in search engine rankings is so much more complicated than simple numbers as it was in the past.You need to make sure that the pages you backlink to are PR and not PR0 and that duplicate material is minimized. This means quality writing and linking needs to be taken into account from the start, or all the work you do with backlinks will be irrelevant in your search rankings.
Keyword research is probably one of the most time-eating and daunting endeavors that you will need to undertake in the marketing of any product or website. However, in the 21st century world of e-commerce, it is an absolutely essential element in your success versus failure since it will allow you to size up the competition and make sure that the traffic that you generate is organic and good for your ultimate business.
Talking about search, are you interested in doing free people search? If so, then take a look at this article.
Posted by Rob on June 20, 2011 under Web Resources |
The dictionary defines the word “niche” as “a specialized but profitable segment of the market.” “Marketing” is defined as “the process of promoting a product or service.”
Combine the two words together and you have “the promoting of a particular product or service to a specialized area of demand.” In other words, you’re promoting a product or service directly to those who are likely to be most interested in it-not to the entire world.
Big companies use niche marketing all the time. For example, at one time, Apple’s slogan was “The computer for the rest of us.” The Mac itself was and is aimed at the niche of people who are interested in quality of design and ease of use over saving a few bucks on the initial purchase.
Likewise, the iPod was aimed at people who liked the thought of being able to carry thousands of songs in their pocket. The iPad is aimed at the niche of people who want to experience electronic content without needing to carry the entire bulk of a laptop with them.
The use of longtail keywords is another form of niche marketing. Rather than trying to choose keywords that will put you on the front page of Google for, say, the phrase “iPod cases,” you might choose a phrase like “iPod cases made of recycled World War II army surplus materials.” If someone should happen to be searching for such a thing, you’ll be far more likely to appear on the first page of Google for that search!
One benefit of niche marketing is that it can allow one’s advertising budget to go farther. After all, you only have to advertise to a specialized target market rather than to the whole world.
A niche marketer, however, must focus on meeting the needs of a targeted audience. For example, you could attempt to sell cases for every make of mobile phone out there, or you could choose to concentrate on a specific brand of phone, such as the iPhone. The latter would be a form of niche marketing.
Another advantage of niche marketing is that it is easier to stand out from the crowd. By focusing on a narrow subset of an entire field or industry, you can differentiate yourself from others who are attempting to cover the whole industry.
Niche marketing can be a cost-effective way to target products and services at a highly specific audience with the aim of converting them into buyers.
You might get the impression that the Mac is the forgotten stepchild of the Internet marketing industry. But did you know that some of the top names in Internet Marketing use Macs? ? Visit http://internetmacmarketing.com and get a FREE 75-page ebook that covers everything you need to know about running your Internet business using a Mac, iPhone and iPad here: http://internetmacmarketing.com/10tools.html
Posted by Rob on June 18, 2011 under Web Resources |
Well, yes, I am really very thankful to Matt Cutts aka the head of Webspam team at Google. While it will take me a minute to try and give you my reasons for showing my gratitude to Matt, one thing is clear that after the ‘Panda’ update, the web fraternity seems to have had a sort of shock. Not that I am complaining though, because this shock was long overdue. And, the shock has come for a select few individuals and businesses that believed in sacrificial quality practices over the period of last few years.
It is clear that the short-term Internet marketers and businesses are specifically whining at the latest ‘Panda’ update. And so they should be. Creating thin websites of 2 pages, using plagiarized content to place on the website and then earning affiliate commissions from the gullible readers had become a hallmark of Internet Marketing. Alternatively, buying links from internal networks and artificially boosting rankings on the search index was like a pardonable offence. Everyone know that it was wrong, but the selective amnesia factor made them look in the other direction, while the links continued to be bought for obvious gains.
Veteran Internet marketers were put to shame by the brazen attempts that were used to ‘con’ the system. And, to a certain extent, everything seemed to work fine for a while or so to say for a couple of years. All this while, people would use gibberish content and send a blast of spam-links to their affiliate sites and follow-it up with the nice dose of commissions. It all looked so easy. Ain’t it?
Well, that was then and now we have a situation that the same set of folks are whining at the latest Panda update. I am not going to touch upon the intricacies of what happened in the Google Panda update or what all changes were brought around in the Panda update. Instead, I am going to focus on the age-old dictum that says ‘Patience and Quality Pay You back multiple times’.
In my personal opinion, the web results are cleaner than before. Thin sites using Xrumer blasts or automated tools to pump up backlinks are nowhere to be seen in the first 50 results. And, all those spam-comments that dole out lavish praises on the blog owner’s writing credentials are now (probably) a thing of the past.
If you ask the White-hat Search Engine Marketers and Analysts, most will clearly say that they saw this coming a few years back. I think, the Webspam team was probably working behind the scenes to augment the algorithm in the wake of recent automated tools that could seriously degrade the quality of search results served to an end-user. At stake was the credibility of the team at Google to refine the algorithm in the midst of unprecedented levels of organized spam that was being dished out by automated tools. The irony is that these tools are still available and there is very little deterrent for a novice and inexperienced SEO engineer to use them in an attempt to jack up rankings. It takes time, experience and maturity to understand the concept of Reputation Management. You takes years to create a reputation, and it takes one small mistake to tarnish it forever.
If you consider the overall impact of such short-sighted strategies, then a seasoned SEO professional will be very happy with the way things have unfolded in the past 4 months.
First of all, the original content that is relevant to the cause of a website has been accorded the right significance. Now, I see more original articles being written with a view to establish the site as an authority within its operational space, rather than an attempt to manipulate the system. Guest posts on relevant blogs seem to be the buzzword.
Secondly, more stress is being placed on fixing the site’s internal content-serving mechanisms and also to streamline the structure of the website with end-user perspective. In other words, more SEO time is being spent on augmenting a website’s content and internal structure to assist a better end-user experience. Things like the Sitemap and Google Webmaster tool are being used and integrated with the long-term strategy for a business. Less time is being spent on trying to ‘con’ the system by using backlinks that are served right-off the spam web-farms.
Is n’t this how the web was supposed to be? Yes, indeed. This is what we expected out of a search engine and the quality of search results. And, while we may not have reached that stage yet, but it is clear that things look better than before.
This Guest Post is written by Rajesh Dhawan, an SEO learner at http://bbinfosol.com.
Posted by Rob on June 17, 2011 under Web Resources |
Fleet tracking has emerged as one of the clear favorite technologies being adopted by the fleet managers. Using a combination of software, hardware and Geo-Positioning System, a fleet tracker allows a fleet manager to exercise complete control over fleet movements 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.
At the heart of fleet tracking lies a GPS tracking software that offers real-time data to the fleet managers. This software works in conjunction with the feeder device that is fitted within the vehicle that needs to be tracked. You could also choose to call this feeder device a GPS receiver because it relies on a GPS satellite to calculate its Geographical position co-ordinates. The device itself is small and does not have any substantial overhead associated with its functioning.
The GPS receiver communicates with a cellular modem, and this modem in turn sends the information back to a GPS enabled datacenter. All this information flow happens in real-time and the vehicle drivers are unaware of all the information flow that is happening. The high-point of this software is the quality of web data analytics that it provides and the scope of its impact on decision making of the fleet management and business owners.
The entire lifecycle of the data flow ends with the storage of GPS data on servers. Once the data collected by the GPS receiver reaches the intended database server, we consider that the desired information that was generated by a remote vehicle has eventually reached the target.
With the information flow completed, the next challenge is to present this information to the end-users in a useful and concise method. Most technology analysts are aware that raw data does not make much sense to an end user and as a result it is important to format the raw data to make it more meaningful for the business owners or the fleet managers.
Different companies utilize different client-server technologies to interface with the server and format the data as per customer requirements. Some companies may utilize an architecture based on ASP.net scripting engine while others may rely on Java components to relay the information to the end user.
In essence, the fleet manager gets the relevant data right in front of his eyes on his system, and he is normally not aware of the information flow or the data cycle that happens in the background. For the business owners, this allows an opportunity to track and manage fleet movements without delays and to take pro-active actions to handle exigencies quickly.
Besides the complete control over fleet at all times, a fleet tracker device is another by-product of the technology offered by the GPS satellites across the world. With time, these devices and the software will improve further and enhance the functionality on offer for the business owners.
At this point of time, most business owners are pretty happy with the Return-on-investment offered by a fleet tracking device and the continuous research and development should further make this device a better tracking device in years to come.
For more information on fleet tracking, you could visit one of the fleet tracking companies at http://www.masternaut.co.uk
Posted by Rob on under Web Resources |
Now, I know that Greenpeace has had a very strong call to action when it comes to enhancing, maintaining or promoting the cause of environment protection. Recently, I came across the website of Greenpeace India, and was kind of impressed that they are devoting time and attention to the cause of environment study and environment protection in India.
However, it was the offline campaign that is running on TV that caught my attention. Celebrity magic to be precise. And, the next visit to Greenpeace’s website made me look for the terms – Fools for forest. The purpose of this campaign was to promote conservation of forests.
Leaving aside the purpose of this campaign, I am just trying to bring to your notice a unique marketing cycle that a consumer normally goes through before he commits to a cause. This cause could be Social in nature, or even commercial in nature.
We all know the online presence and online campaigns really make a strong impression on everyone, especially the youth and the not so-old young people who have the power, strength, money and time to bring a change for the good of everyone. On a similar basis, each product has a target audience somewhere. How do you reach your intended target audience?
In my case, the online presence of Greenpeace brought me to their website for the first time. However, that was it. I went to the site, looked at it and came out of it within 60 seconds. I am sure the bounce rate of such a website would be pretty high, and this is normally acceptable given the nature of their work and Social cause they are committed to.
However, it was the offline campaign that took my attention or should I say that it caught my attention and drove me to their website, looking for a specific campaign they are promoting. And once I was able to find the specific cause of ‘Fools for Forest’, I was able to commit myself to the cause.
What this essentially means is that each product or social cause goes through a cyclic nature of promotion before it would find a committed buyer or supporter. And a campaign that focusses on capturing the audience’s attention at some point of time after an initial burst to advertise the service will eventually yield a much better result for everyone.
In other words, a combination of online and offline media can improve your conversions manifold. And, every marketing campaign needs to address the phased-approach taken by a user or a supporter or a buyer to finally commit to a product or a social cause.
Anyways, I must say that the Greenpeace Foundation is doing a good job and we must support their new website that promotes forest conservation: http://www.foolsforforests.org
Posted by Rob on June 16, 2011 under Marketing Resources |
Small businesses cannot traditionally afford to spend the same big money on advertising and marketing campaigns that multi-million dollar corporations can spend. A well-timed television ad could conceivably wipe out a small business’s advertising budget for the next few months, if not a year.
That’s where guerilla marketing comes in. What works for big business doesn’t always work – because of financial or other constraints – for small businesses. Guerilla marketing is designed for small business owners who want to spread the word about their business effectively and affordably.
Most people define guerrilla marketing as an unconventional way to marketing a product or a service. Let’s consider a famous example before we move on to some ideas you might want to try this year. Remember Adult Swim, the cartoons that run at night on Cartoon Network? Well, in an attempt to increase viewership of the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Cartoon Network decided to go an unconventional, guerilla marketing route.
To promote its show, it essentially created a small billboard – with lights and wires – about backpack size and placed it in heavily populated areas in Boston and New York City, among others. Someone saw it in Boston and thought it was a bomb. One thing led to another and the FBI was called in.
Did the tactic get the attention Cartoon Network wanted? Of course it did, but not for the right reasons. Still, it provides a great example of how guerrilla marketing allows you to think outside of the box and to be creative. Your goal is to get people’s attention and to get them to do what you want them to do. In Cartoon Network’s case, it was to get people to watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
So, how can you use guerilla marketing to promote your business in 2011?
Give your product or service away for free. You can get people really excited if you hold a contest of some sort with the prize being your product or service. Getting them excited and willing to participate is the key. Take Microsoft. To launch their latest Windows phone, the company put phones in ice blocks in different areas throughout the city of Paris. Windows representatives then handed out pamphlets to people walking in the city. Each pamphlet featured a barcode – one of the barcodes would match the phone in an ice block. The person with the matching barcode won the phone. Not such a bad way to get people excited about a product.
Incorporate a QR code. A QR code is essentially a barcode that camera phones can read, and it’s becoming an effective way to engage your target market. Central Park Tourism in New York City used a QR code to bring people to the famous park for The World Park event last summer.
Fifty large QR codes were scattered throughout the park, each welcoming visitors to scan them and to learn something about Central Park. Nearly 2,000 people participated, helping Central Park Tourism reach their goal of getting people back to the park.
Use props. Get your target market’s attention NOW by creating a unique, eye-catching prop. One rock radio station posted a couple of empty racks with a sign above them reading, “Free Air Guitar: Please take one,” next to the radio station’s call letters. That would probably catch people’s attention, right? It might even convince them to tune in to the radio station.
Stage a publicity stunt. An effective publicity stunt gets people involved and lets them have a little fun. Volkswagen decided to get subway commuters involved in one of their latest guerilla marketing campaigns. The company installed a slide, right next to the escalators leading into the subway, with a sign that said, “The Fast Lane,” next to it. Commuter after commuter then slid down the slide, instead of taking the escalator like normal. It got plenty of people’s attention and helped spread the message that Volkswagen puts drivers in the fast lane.
Guerilla marketing, above all, requires creativity. Start thinking about how you can effectively grab your target market’s attention and get them excited enough about your product or service to buy from you.
Beth Williams is a social media and SEO blogger. In her spare time she teaches about affiliate tracking software to other bloggers.
Posted by Rob on June 14, 2011 under Marketing Resources |
Search engine marketing plays a vital role when you want to take your online business to the next level. Any business would require some identity without which it cannot gain any kind of customer visibility. Traditional business vendors would like to advertise in the television medium and in newsprint medium. This will help them to gain better visibility. The present day technologies are making wonders and the internet penetration is very deep in most parts of the world. With the launch of smart phones and other gadgets like iPads, people would like to complete their shopping through the online portals.
Online Portals as Hubs:
The internet presence will enable large customers to know about your business. The websites are just a mouse click away and the business vendors can easily reach out to the customers. The customers can view the product list and catalogue details in the website. There are also price comparisons and other feature comparisons will be provided and this will simplify the moves for customers. It is one way to attract the customers. However, the customers should be aware of the presence of your website. So what is that you want to make it to the core?
Search Engine Marketing:
Search engine marketing plays a vital role here. Most of the viewers in the internet reach a web page with the help of search results. Search engines like google, msn, yahoo will give search results depending on the query. These engines have got different algorithm to rank the websites according to the relevancy of the content present in the site. Hence, it is very important for you to optimize the site according to the search engine standards. It is a technical job and the webmasters can do a perfect job. This will enable your website to be presented in the top ten results of a search which will boost your viewership and sales.
Prospects for Search Engine Marketing
A leading online shopping portal snapdeal.in has reported revenue of 750 crores for the past financial year and the firm is actively looking upon to double the income in the next 3 years. This fact emphasizes the importance of search engine marketing techniques. Without proper kind of online marketing and search engine marketing, it is highly impossible to reach out to the masses. The visibility should be improved with which the familiarity of the brand name can be improved. When the details become famous about a particular site, it spreads out with the word of mouth advertising which will help to improve the brand name among the people.
The above said details would have revealed the importance of search engine marketing. If you are interested to become a net-preneur, it is a good idea to invest more in these kinds of marketing strategies. This will also help you to get better returns on your investment. It is always good to your website with tons of organic traffic!!
Author Bio:
Sirangi Kalpana is a promotional items expert and write a lot about cheap coffee mugs, promotional flashlights, custom flash drives and other promotional products.
Posted by Rob on under Web Resources |
If you’re starting an online business from scratch, you have the freedom make sure the basic building blocks of your site as optimized as possible. Even something as simple as the choice of domain name (and business name) will make a difference to how much traffic will arrive on your site, and how it gets there.
Let’s start with the Top Level Domain or TLD. That’s the .com, .net, .edu, .co.uk, .tv, etc. In general, commercial sites are best served by .com domains, but if the .com you want is already taken, .net is the next choice..org is usually reserved for not-for-profit organisations and special TLDs like .edu and .gov are not available for general registration.
If your business is confined to a particular country, .co.uk, .com.au and other country specific TLDs also make reasonable second choices. It’s true that Google gives a helping hand to sites in the same country as the searcher even a location isn’t specified in the advanced search menu, but they first look at the country a website is hosted in to figure out where it is. The domain is a secondary concern.
If in doubt, buy the .com and a few others as well. Setting a .co.uk or .net to redirect to the main .com site is easy, and it’ll protect your brand from other companies who might use a similar domain to ride on the coat-tails of your popularity.
Websites with keywords in their domain name have a strong advantage. Let’s say a Google searcher types in the phrase ‘facts about frogs’. If there was a site called factsaboutfrogs.com it would get a significant boost in the rankings, just because the domain matches the query. An exact match is best, but simply integrating a strong keyword into your domain is a worthwhile strategy. If your company is called Frank’s Blinds and Curtains, blindsandcurtains.com will serve you much better than franks.com.
However, there is another side to the story. The three most popular sites on the internet are Google, Facebook, and YouTube. None of those have keywords in the title. What they do have is a phrase that doesn’t belong to anyone else (search for ‘youtube’ when it was just starting out, and YouTube was what you got). They are easy to remember if you’ve heard the name before and they all have instantly recognisable logos. A highly branded domain name can be just as helpful as a keyworded one, especially if you plan to promote the site heavily on radio, in print and on television.
Jess Spate is an independent SEO consultant. She works with Mariart Design Studio- a leading provider of logo design in Brisbane.
Posted by Rob on June 13, 2011 under Web Resources |
The internet is fast becoming the primary method for many to shop. There are many great advantages of using the internet to shop instead of trailing around shops on the high street. The ease and convenience of the internet far outweighs the difficulty and inconvenience of trailing around many different shops.
Using the internet, shoppers can browse many different stores to find the perfect product at the cheapest prices. However, this creates many problems for businesses on the high street and many have found it necessary to create online e-commerce stores to stay afloat and continue to generate a profit. Still, many companies online find that although they have many visitors to their websites, they do not benefit from many orders placed by these visitors. It is for this reason that many choose to invest in conversion rate optimisation.
Conversion optimisation is the technique of creating a website with the goal of increasing the percentage of visitors that are converted into customers. This technique may also be referred to as CRO. In order to achieve this goal, many companies and businesses decide to employ an online marketing company that specialises in conversion optimisation. Marketing companies with the expertise and experience in conversion optimisation will be able to quickly identify areas of any website that can be improved to increase the number of visitors that turn into customers. These agencies will then be able to analyse and improve such websites to optimise sales and orders.
An online marketing company can identify the key reasons why many customers may leave a website without continuing to order items or invest in the services offered. They can then perform a series of intelligent tests designed from years of experience that will identify exactly what areas of any website convince visitors to stay and make a purchase and which key elements of a website convince a customer to leave without making a commitment. Once these key areas have been identified, it is easy to discover what needs to be implemented in order to increase the percentage of visitors that are turned into customers.
Investing in an online marketing company to perform conversion rate optimisation is vital for any online business that wishes to generate greater profits. Any website could potentially be losing businesses 24 hours a day without the help of conversion optimisation. It is possible to double the amount of sales and orders received with the help of such a service as well as increase the amount of profit earned. This in turn may open up other means of advertising that may have seemed too costly before investing in conversion rate optimisation, such as TV or radio advertising. This service has been designed specifically to help any business in any market increase the numbers of sales they receive from their e-commerce business, regardless of the size of the business. Undoubtedly though, with the use of conversion optimisation, any business can expend and experience greater profit margins.
This post was written by James Harper of Boom Online Marketing. James works in a busy online marketing agency helping businesses of all sizes get the most out of the internet
Posted by Rob on June 10, 2011 under Web Resources |
2011 has heralded new challenges and opportunities for companies across the Internet who are seeking to expand their target market. The domination of SEO as a potent marketing strategy has led to new developments such as social media marketing, mobile marketing and Pay per Click. Prominent search engines such as Google have made dramatic changes in their algorithm and introduced new roll outs which have sent most automotive dealers into a tizzy. Also the large scale popularity of smart phones has created a new niche market for a variety of vertical markets to cash in on mobile advertising. With so many permutations that have been introduced, it has become imperative for you to prepare a brand new online marketing strategy for your website to meet the challenges of 2011
- Pay per click marketing – Including pay per click marketing into your business strategy would result in a higher ROI for your website. In this method you bid for a set of keywords that are related to the content on your site and place an ad in search engines such as Google and Yahoo. When prospective customers search for those keywords your site gets displayed under the sponsored search listings. This is a good way to drive keen buyers to your site.
- Lead generation through inventory marketing – As an automotive dealer you should host your car inventory on a third party website. This is called indexed car inventory marketing. In order to do this you would need to display iframes on the third party site. When a potential customer clicks on the iframes of your cars on the third party host site he would be linked to your car dealer website.
- Mobile search marketing – Smart phones have become increasingly popular today. As a result a lot of consumers are using their cell phones to browse the net and search for products and services. Creating and optimizing a car dealer mobile website for your business would enable consumers to check out your fleet of cars and your company information through their cell phones.
- Social media marketing – SMM or social media marketing should also be an important component of your online strategy. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube etc offer a lucrative platform for your business. By setting up a social network profile you would be able to reach out to thousands of potential customers. Who throng these sites? This would lead to immense sales conversions for your website and you would able to create a robust online presence for your business.
These methods are some of the most effective marketing strategies, which your company can adopt. In doing so you would be able to generate qualified leads for your business and phenomenally increase your business’s sales potential.
Chris Burns writes for BurnSEO.com a provider of custom car dealer websites and automotive SEO services.
Posted by Rob on June 9, 2011 under Marketing Resources |
The holy grail of the business world is efficiency. An efficient business is one that runs smoother, has happier and more productive staff, makes more money, less errors and has satisfied customers. But, what methods can you employ to make your business more efficient? Why not follow our five tips for a better business and find out!
Empower your leaders
Strong leadership is the backbone of a successful and efficient business. So, tip one is all about empowering those at the top so they can lead with confidence. If managerial staff are highly trained, up to date with the latest best practice ‘know-how’ and given the support they need to shine as brightly as they can, then the rest of the workforce, and the business itself, should succeed. Support and empower your managers with the leadership skill set and tool kit they require and your business should be the best it can.
Streamline
Your business may not necessarily need to be overstaffed to benefit from streamlining, but it is an area that you should address. Ensure you are getting the maximum out of your employees and that everyone is pulling their weight. Run regular job appraisals and, in a professional and non-threatening way, make staff know that they are being judged on merit and what they give back to the company. If staff need to be better trained or better equipped to do their job, then make it so. If not, be realistic enough to know that nobody is irreplaceable.
Streamline your resources for a more efficient working environment. Back up old files, reduce paper, cut carbon output, recycle more and switch to energy saving power sources to save money and become a better business.
Embrace technology
Make sure you use the smartest technology available to help your business run smoothly. Could your business benefit from letting employees work from home? With a company laptop, mobile phone and internet access, any staff member can often be as useful from their own home as they are in the office. This may save you desk space, cost you less in energy bills and increase staff morale and productivity.
If you embrace technology, such as conference calling facilities, then staff members never have to miss a meeting, regardless of where they are.
Update your market research
It is imperative that your business remain relevant to its customer base. To do that it must use the latest market research available. Recent research suggests that customers expect businesses to know what they want, rather than just bombard them with information about irrelevant products. Get to know your clients and customers and use information available on current trends to your advantage.
Promote yourself
Social media websites offer businesses a streamlined way to interact with their customers. A ‘good business’ will keep its website up to date with news about products, staff changes, contact details and offers, whereas a ‘better business’ will use social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, to build relations and reach a larger customer base. Text messages are also a more efficient way to contact customers and can prove far cheaper than sending traditional direct mail. They are also delivered straight to the intended person and can be used for information and promotional purposes.
Matt Smith – Freelance business, conference call and technology blogger.