Tag: marketing

Categories
Online Business

What To Do About Your Online Marketing System Before It’s Too Late

One question I get asked a lot is which online marketing service should I use (or variations thereof):

“I use Constant Contact for my newsletter but want to start selling products via my website. Do I need 1ShoppingCart to do this?”
“Which is the best service to use for my newsletter – Constant Contact or Aweber?”

“I want to use an autoresponder service. Do I need 1ShoppingCart or Aweber?”

You get the idea!

This is something that many solopreneurs find a difficult decision to make; after all there are so many different choices and services available and the cost of each one varies a lot too!

So, which one to choose…

– Should you go with a service like Constant Contact that is purely for newsletter broadcasts and doesn’t have an autoresponder or shopping cart feature?

– What about a service like Aweber for your newsletter broadcasts and also comes with autoresponders, but no shopping cart feature?

– Or should you just go with a service like 1ShoppingCart that has all the features you need but with a hefty price tag?

I sound like an episode of House Hunters don’t I… (If you don’t watch this program you won’t know what I’m talking about!)

To help you decide the best service for you I have put together a list of the Pros and Cons of Constant Contact, Aweber, and 1ShoppingCart (although these are by no means the only services available!) I’m using these examples because they’re the ones I get asked the most about, and I also know each of these services very well having used them all over the past few years.

Whichever service you want to use, before you decide…

Ask yourself these two crucial questions:

1. What are the long-term goals for my business? (For example do you plan on just sending out a newsletter or do you want to sell information products via your website and have the ability to follow up with your customers via autoresponders?)
2. Which of these services will meet my long-term goals?

From my own experience I can tell you that going a cheaper router can be a false economy and can lead to its own headaches as your business grows, so carefully consider all of your goals, and the options each service provides, before making your decision.

What I’m sharing with you here is a quick overview of each of the three services I mentioned above and the benefit of my experience of each of these systems. When you read through this list, please note that this is only a very broad overview of each service; you’ll need to refer to each one for specifics.

Constant Contact (http://www.constantcontact.com)

Pros
* Has 100’s of HTML templates for you to choose from
* Will automatically convert your HTML email into plain text format
* Has the ability to create as many different interest categories as you need
* Can schedule broadcasts ahead of time and to go out at a set time of day
* Can create a custom sign-up web form for visitors to be automatically added to your database
* Has very detailed click through statistics

Cons
* Is an email marketing-only service, so you cannot create follow-up autoresponders
* Does not have any shopping cart functions

Aweber (http://www.aweber.com)

Pros

* Has many HTML templates for you to choose form (although not as many as Constant Contact)
* Ability to create as many different lists as you need, i.e. one for your newsletter, another one for your teleclass sign-ups etc.
* Can schedule broadcasts ahead of time and to go out at a set time of day
* Can follow-up with your clients via unlimited autoresponders
* Can create a custom sign-up web form for visitors to be automatically added to your database
* Provides click through statistics
* Has a very high email deliverability rate

Cons
* Does not automatically convert your HTML newsletter into text – you have to copy and paste the information
* Does not have any shopping cart functions

1ShoppingCart (http://www.1shoppingcart.com)

Pros
* You can manage your entire business through this one service – newsletters, autoresponders, shopping cart, affiliate program
* Offers different levels of service depending on your needs
* Can follow-up with your clients via unlimited autoresponders
* Can create a custom sign-up web form for visitors to be automatically added to your database

Cons
* No HTML templates so you will either need to get someone to prepare your broadcasts for you, or have your own HTML software and prepare your broadcasts in this program and upload to 1SC
* Doesn’t have the ability to create a text version of your HTML newsletter – you will need to do this yourself and upload to 1SC
* Has a technical interface, so if you’re not comfortable using technology you may find this service difficult to use
* Can schedule broadcasts to go out ahead of time, but can’t set a specific time of day

Conclusion: Carefully consider all of your options before deciding on a service and see if that service will meet your long-term goals. It is possible when starting out to use a service such as Constant Contact for sending out broadcasts, and find a shopping cart service later on as your business grows – I do know of business owners that run their businesses this way. Keep in mind though that if you do go this route you will be running and maintaining two separate databases – one for your newsletter broadcasts, and the other for your online product sales.

Categories
How-To Guides

How to Set Up An Efficient Article Tracking System

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One of the most successful online marketing strategies you can do these days is to submit your articles to various article submission websites. This is a great way to promote your services, your expertise, and, most importantly, grow your subscriber list!

It has been well documented that one-way links to your website increase search engine rankings more than reciprocal linking, and article submission is an excellent way to achieve one-way linking.

However, the downside is that it takes time to manually submit your articles, and if you have several articles, you could spend hours submitting them to the various websites. There is software available that will automatically submit your articles for you, but you do need to check this out carefully. And if you do decide to manually submit your articles you need to have a system in place that makes maximum use of your time, but also keeps a detailed record of which articles you’ve submitted where, and when.
If you have articles already written, you’re off to a great start. All you need to do now is to set up an article submission system. But if you don’t have any articles written, then you might find the task of writing quite daunting, and you’re not sure where to start.
I have always found a good article comes from working with my clients on a day-to-day basis. They might have a question that requires a detailed reply. Use this reply to form the basis of an article. For example I had one client ask me, ‘how do I get an mp3 audio file to you, and how do you turn it into a word document?’ I sent them back my reply and, hey presto, I’d got the basis for an article.
Brainstorm some ideas. Some great article titles, and which will also get you thinking, are:

[Number – odd numbers work best] Top Tips For [fill in the blank]
How To [fill in the blank].

Try and come up with three or four articles – you will probably find that you can think of a lot more!

So now you have your articles, you need a system for submitting those articles. Below are my tips for an organized and efficient article submission system (I use it so I know it works!):

1. Convert all your articles to plain text as this will make the submission process easier! Most article submission sites require plain text articles; some will allow html. You will need to refer to each site for their guidelines.
2. Create a spreadsheet to track your article marketing strategy.
3. Use this spreadsheet to track the article submission sites, log in info, and other relevant information.
4. Go to each of the article submission sites and submit each article to the article directory by copying and pasting from your plain text document.

Plan to spend about 20 minutes each week on your article marketing strategy – schedule this time in your calendar to keep yourself on track – and you’ll soon find your articles appearing all over the Internet!

Categories
Sales & Marketing

Marketing in Your Local Community

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For most small businesses, all marketing is local marketing — as it should be. But even if your company is regional or national in scope, it’s a good idea to “go local” to select, targeted communities.
The keys to effective community marketing can be summed up with three guidelines:
1. Get local: target your marketing efforts down to the neighborhood level
2. Get involved: participate in the community to generate visibility and good will
3. Get personal: as much as possible, market on a one-to-one, face-to-face basis
Here are some tips and techniques to get you started:
Use local city-specific Web sites and local portals
City and town Web sites, as well as local versions of major portals, are growing in number and popularity. Maintain a presence on local sites by providing content — or by advertising. In addition to local versions of AOL’s Cityguide, community-oriented Web sites like Yelp.com and Judysbook.com (which has the added advantage of covering suburbs and small towns in addition to major cities) are becoming more common.
Use local search engines and directories
Make sure you’re listed with local search engines and city-specific directories. Local.com and CitySearch are two such search engines. A newer, but more “hyper-local” site is Backfence.com.
Set your Google ad to appear locally
If you operate a local business and advertise on Google, you can target local customers only.
Google lets you set ads to appear only to people in a particular city, state or region. In the AdWords section, click on “For local businesses” under “How it works.”
Get involved in your community
Volunteer, serve on local boards, participate in your local Chamber of Commerce and work for local charities as a way to grow your grassroots marketing efforts. You may find that your neighbors become your customers. For volunteer opportunities, visit idealist.org, The United Way, or Rotary International.
Support community events
Take your community involvement one step further by supporting community events. Sponsor a Little League team, participate in parades, town days or other local events. Small business associations such as SCORE offer tips for establishing a strong presence in your local community. Suggestions include starting a local newsletter or creating a local advisory board made up of customers. John Jantsch’s “Duct Tape Marketing” blog’s “In your own backyard” section is insightful as well.
Make the most of local media and publicity opportunities
Generate awareness for your business locally by writing op-eds in the local newspaper, getting booked on local radio talk shows, and advertising in the good, old-fashioned Yellow Pages. Online community Craigslist continues to be a great local resource. For help getting booked on radio talk shows and otherwise generating local publicity, seek out the services of a good local public relations consultant by searching the directory of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
Other local marketing options to keep in mind…
• Explore cause-related marketing opportunities to generate good will for your company.
• Consider taping a TV show on your local public access station — it’s usually free.
• Give your Web site or blog a local focus or start a local blog.
• Develop a customer advisory board to get input from local customers.
• Create alliances with non-competing businesses — you promote me, I’ll promote you.
LouBortonePhoto.jpgLou Bortone is an award-winning writer and video producer with over 20 years experience in marketing, branding and promotion. As an online video expert, Lou helps entrepreneurs create video for the web at www.TheOnlineVideoGuy.com. In addition, Lou works as a freelance writer and professional ghostwriter, with a ghostwriting site at www.GhostwriteForYou.com and a blog at www.GhostwriteGuru.com.

Categories
Online Business

3 Simple and Low Cost Marketing Ideas to Create Visibility

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Marketing your business is one of the biggest challenges for any solopreneur – it’s a task we all find quite daunting, and are simply overwhelmed by all the information that’s available. Below I have put together some information on 3 simple and low cost marketing ideas, which you can easily implement right away to create more visibility for your online business and web site. They all work well for me!

To help you decide which is the best strategy (or strategies) for you, I have listed the pros and cons of each one.

Create a Blog

Pros
:: You can really show off your expertise by posting on a regular basis.
:: Blog posts don’t need to be very long – approx. 200-350 words.
:: If you have some important information to share, you can instantly create a post – no waiting for your next newsletter to make your announcement!
:: If you use a blogging platform such as WordPress, this is hosted on your website. Each time you post to your blog you are creating fresh content for your website, which the search engines love!

Cons
:: You need to post regularly – at least once a week – in order for this to be an effective marketing strategy.
:: You need to feel confident that you will be able to write fresh content regularly.
:: It can be difficult to build a direct relationship with your reader.

Publish an Ezine

Pros
:: Unlike a blog, readers sign up to receive your newsletter so you already have a connection with them.
:: You can build a relationship with your newsletter reader and encourage one-on-one communication.
:: You can go into more depth in your newsletter article than you can with your blog posts.
:: Your clients/target audience can get to know you through your newsletter.

Cons
:: You have to make a commitment to publish on a regular basis, otherwise your subscribers will see you as unreliable, and may even forget about you!
:: There is more work involved in putting together a newsletter than writing a simple blog post.
:: You will need to subscribe to one of the ezine distribution services – I strongly recommend you do this and not send your ezine via your email client!

Article Marketing

Pros
:: If you are already blogging or publishing a newsletter, you have your articles written.
:: It is highly likely that once you submit your article to one of the article submission sites, it will be picked up and published on other article submission sites.
:: Regularly submitting your articles will elevate you to ‘expert’ status within your field/niche

Cons
:: You have to write the articles if you’re not publishing a newsletter or posting to a blog.
:: It takes time to manually research suitable article submission sites and submit articles.
:: In order for this strategy to be effective, you have to submit your articles regularly – at least once a month.

Conclusion: You can just pick one strategy to focus on, or you can do all three! Whichever one you choose make sure it’s the right one for you. The key is to be consistent in your approach. If you decide to go with a blog make sure you have the time and motivation to add new posts regularly – at least once a week. Don’t start a newsletter if you know you won’t be able to keep to a regular publishing schedule! And for article marketing to be effective you need to submit articles on a regular basis.

Categories
Entrepreneurs

Shattering the “Passive Income” Myth

passive-income.jpgPassive Revenue. The words jumped off the website page and hit me like a thunderbolt! I thought I even heard angels singing. It was the golden idol; the Holy Grail. My heart skipped a beat and went ka-ching!
As a freshly-minted solo entrepreneur, I had never heard two sweeter words. Passive Revenue. Just seeing that glorious expression instantly conjured up images of dollars magically dropping down out of the sky. Like some kind of gift from the Internet gods. Imagine, making money while you sleep! Why didn’t I think of this sooner? It all sounded too good to be true.
So, being a hard-nosed, cynical New Englander with a solid, Protestant Work Ethic, I felt compelled to do the due diligence. I took e-courses, attended teleseminars and read “Multiple Streams of Coaching Income.” I spent thousands (yes, 5 figures!) on coaching, classes, marketing materials and websites. I started building an opt-in list, began a blog, created information products, sent out ezines, wrote articles, and launched joint ventures. I listened to and learned from the finest online marketing gurus. Soon I became an Internet junkie, totally addicted to the concept of passive revenue, and its seductive cousin, multiple streams of income. I was hooked, and there was no turning back.
After a year of education, edification and execution, I felt I had most – if not all – of the puzzle pieces in place: Online shopping cart: Check. Autoresponders: Check. PayPal set up: Check. Squeeze Page: Check. Free offer: Check. Then, I finally went to bed one night thinking, “Well, I’m going to sleep now. Time to make some money!”
So this is the part of the story when I’m supposed to wake up to an in-box full of orders, right? Well, not quite. Sure, there were a few orders, but I was a long way from crashing any servers. While all the pieces may have been in place, this life-long career marketer had forgotten one key ingredient: Marketing. Duh! You would think a former television network marketing and promotion exec would remember that, passive or not, you gotta sell it, baby!
Where’s my passive revenue? What? You mean I need to market these products? I have to promote? I’ve got to make offers, and send out e-mail blasts, and work my list? I gave them a freebie, so why aren’t they pouring into my funnel? Huh? You want me to do teleseminars now? Speaking gigs? Radio interviews? What’s passive about that? That’s not passive. That’s downright…active! What happened to “if you build it, they will come?” Is this “Field of Dreams” or Field of Schemes?
As a newbie entrepreneur, I guess I didn’t know the secret handshake. But I get it now. You didn’t really mean passive revenue, right? Let’s face it. There’s nothing passive about it. Maybe we should call it Work Your Ass Off and Market Relentlessly Income.
I think I understand the concept now. If you want to make money on the Internet, you need to be active. Better yet, make that proactive. If you want those elusive multiple streams of revenue, you’re gonna have to hustle. Every day, in dozens of ways. Be smart. Get creative. Market like you mean it. Don’t “work” your list, build connections. Develop relationships. Sweeten your offers. Give more value. But, above all, get to work! Call it passive revenue if you want. It still sounds pretty cool. But we know what it really takes!

LouBortonePhoto.jpgLou Bortone is an award-winning writer and video producer with over 20 years experience in marketing, branding and promotion. As an online video expert, Lou helps entrepreneurs create video for the web at www.TheOnlineVideoGuy.com. In addition, Lou works as a freelance writer and professional ghostwriter, with a ghostwriting site at www.GhostwriteForYou.com and a blog at www.GhostwriteGuru.com.