Marketing Tips

Check this out: 94% of Internet users now watch online video with some level of frequency, and people now spend a whopping 46% MORE time each DAY watching videos, compared to last year! So if you haven't dipped your toe into the online video world, you'd better get cracking! Video, like blogging, has multiple benefits for your business: You can use video in your salescopy in order to more effectively sell your product... you can use it for SEO purposes and traffic generation (Google LOVES video!)... to create informative or educational videos for your niche... and to spread the word about your business.

I suggest that, instead of hunkering down under the bed and waiting for the storm to pass, you might give some thought to the fact that like you your customers need some encouragement that their good times aren't all past and gone. Pull up your socks, square your shoulders and show the world what you're made of. By definition, your business, product, or service exists to improve the lives of people. When you tell people this, you are offering them hope.

Make sure your offers are easily accessible. Even if you are trying to capture your visitors' emails as a part of a lead-generation strategy, remove long and tedious registration forms. If you have an interesting report or a terrific white paper, make it easy to download. This way you will substantially increase the number of downloads.

WEB CONTENT WRITING TIPS 1. Write scannable text! 2. Remember your goal is to provide information 3. Incorporate KPs and Keywords 4. Don't try to sell too soon or too hard! 5. Keep your opinions to yourself 6. Edit to the bone 7. Be original 8. Do a spelling and grammar check

3 Tips to Make Your Website Sell 1) If you are selling a product, your page should do just that...and ONLY that. Don't fill up your page with links that take visitors away from the one action you want them to take: to buy your product. 2) For non-sales pages on your site, keep your navigation simple and consistent, and use white space liberally. You don't need to fill every available spot with an ad or link! 3) Buy, and read, the book, "Don't Make Me Think," by Steve Krug. It's a fun, lighthearted book with seriously great website layout advice. You'll never look at your website the same way again!

An intelligent website doesn't leave a visitor stranded, searching for the customer benefits of the company's products or services. It: 1) Provides clear statements that are customer benefit oriented 2) Supports its claims (often using customer and third party support) 3) Proactively addresses potential objections and 4) Ushers the visitor into a dialogue

The biggest companies want to sell their products and services on the Internet. One of the best ways to market their products and services online is by offering a commission to website owners. However, a little-known way to promote these offers is by using incentives to online surfers who agree to buy a product or service from the webmaster.

Here's a surprising statistic: 49% of Web users now make a purchase based on a recommendation they received through a social media site (like Facebook, MySpace, and so on). Okay, maybe that's not so surprising, but you know what is? Apparently only 25% of online retailers created a Facebook page this year! Despite its clear success rate, marketers have generally been slow to make the leap to social networking. So if you haven't tested the social media waters, NOW is the time to get started!

Not only is internet marketing a hot topic, but Pay-Per-Click search engines are still a mystery to most people. More importantly, online marketers stand to lose significant money if they don't have "insider" tips on maximizing their return on investment. Try and write to a) save people money, b) make people money, c) motivate people, or d) entertain people. These are all strong motivators and ezine publishers know it.

Improperly referencing your images can cause them to appear broken when you send your message - the dreaded red x. To insure the image is referenced correctly it must appear as, img src="http://www.yourdomain.com...." rather than, img src="/images/picture.jpg". Alt tags are another important part of your images. The new security features on almost every email client these days disables images automatically. Having alt tags in place allow your reader to identify the image and determine if it is safe to enable.

Funny enough, clicking around through several pages is a BIG TURNOFF to Internet users. In fact, a web usability study from User Interface Engineering (http://www.uie.com) noted people prefer longer copy on fewer pages! That's right. Users would prefer to scroll down one long page versus hopping around to find their information.

Make sure your unsubscribe method is in place and working. The CAN-SPAM act of 2003 requires that all email messages contain clear directions on how to opt-out from subsequent mailings. Provide an unsubscribe mechanism that allows those receiving your email to send you and email and indicate their desire to opt-out from receiving further emails from you or your business. If recipients no longer want to hear from you, it's in your best interest to remove them from your list.

Consumer's behavior is often consistent with their previous decisions. Therefore, if a customer says "yes" to an offer, make another offer that relates to the first.

Business Turbo-charger #2: Join affiliate programs that align with your current business model This is the fastest and easiest way to add a new stream of income to your business, guaranteed. Your existing customers are three times as likely to buy something from you as a stranger who has no experience with your products. So how do you get these people to buy from you again if you only have one product? Simple -- you offer them an affiliate product! All you need to do is conduct some research into your market and discover what products your audience is clamoring for (beyond the ones you already provide them). Next you need to find an affiliate program that offers such products, and add them to the "back end" of your site. ... Then simply email your list special offers for these products -- and mention them on your site, in your newsletter, and your blog... and watch the extra orders come rushing in!

We have short attention spans. So asking a prospect to take even a split second to click to another page may be all it takes for him/her to shift gears and be gone forever. The goal is to keep your prospect in a sort-of trance of subtle persuasion.