Businesses of all sizes are generating more sales and increasing their revenue with ebooks. An ebook is a paperless book in digital format that you can download to your computer, handheld or other reader device. Readers use a software program like Adobe (for .pdf formats) or Microsoft Word to read it.
Here are five ways to increase your business revenue with ebooks.
Method # 1: Marketing
An ebook offers an inexpensive means of producing full-color marketing materials complete with graphics and audio components. Find good software or hire someone to help create your ebooks. Grab a digital camera and start snapping shots of your products, people using your products and services, your workers, etc. Then show off your photos and your products. Describe your services with power-packed presentations; web pages with interactive links for sound, visual presentations, communications (emails or forum posts) and more.
Method # 2: Education
When you need to explain your products or services to prospective buyers, educate your prospects and clients with ebooks. Have sample or short versions available for trial offers or free downloads. Then include full-fledged detailed editions with product / service purchases. Educate with visual, sound and interactive point-and-click methods. Invite questions and feedback from recipients for improvements on future products and services.
Method # 3: Communications
How often do prospective buyers and customers email you with a similar question that requires a book-length answer? Questions like, “How do you create a basic website?” or “How can you market on a tight budget?” inspire lengthy replies. Well, now you can write one long reply, turn it into an ebook and send it out – repeatedly. You can free up more time for other things. Include your own marketing information inside your ebook so readers can look you up on the Internet, pass your information along, and give others the opportunity to find you, too.
Method # 4: New Product
Use surveys and take polls for new product creation. Include a link to a web page with a questionnaire and free download for recipients upon completion.
Method # 5: Sales Reps
Arm your sales representatives with professional, top-notch full-color media / product / service information kits presented via your ebooks to share with local newspaper, radio, television and other media reps, visitors and potential clients at trade shows and other events. Set up an introductory page in your ebook, then an index where people can click and quickly find your history, mission statement, product and service descriptions and images, contact information, testimonials, etc. Then copy the ebooks to disks and CDs to distribute at events. This gives people the opportunity to learn more about you when they have more time afterwards.
How to Develop Ideas for Your Ebook
As you gain experience with your topical area you'll probably be able to identify some of your target audience's problems or concerns. And, knowing their concerns or problems, you'll likely be able to offer a few solutions.
Once you have identified some solutions, you can expand your thoughts to a few paragraphs. To explain them clearly and give examples, each solution may be become a chapter of several hundred or even thousands of words.
You can often research your topic and look for additional solutions by using the search engines or by searching various article sites. Once you locate material that describes solutions you can express those solutions in your own words. You can add your own examples to make your expression of the solutions unique and more personal.
Preparing and Publishing Your Ebook
Most people use a product like Microsoft Word to prepare their ebook or article. With it you can check spelling and grammar, create chapters, headings, bulleted lists and a table of contents. You can also add photos and clip art to help explain and illustrate your ideas.
You may already have access to a commercial clip art package. Many packages are available at your local computer store.
Microsoft allows you to download and use any of over 150,000 images and sounds from their online library. To search and download art from Microsoft using Microsoft Word, select Insert -> Picture -> Clip Art. Then select the Clips Online tab. You will then be able to search photos, clip art and sounds for just the right images to illustrate your ideas. As long as your purpose is to enhance your own product, you can freely include Microsoft's images.
Once your ebook or article is complete you'll want to create a PDF file. This is the most popular format for downloadable ebooks and articles. People using both Windows-based PCs and Macintoshes can view documents in PDF format.
You can "print" your document to a PDF file using any of several free conversion applications. Newer PCs often come with this conversion software preloaded. If your PC does not have this software you can get it free from several sources. Three free products that create PDF files from virtually any Windows applications are:
- PrimoPDF (http://www.primopdf.com/)
- PDFCreator (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/)
- doPDF (http://www.dopdf.com/)
After creating your PDF file you can then upload the PDF to your server. You'll need to upload it in BINARY format rather than ASCII format. To make sure you did everything correct you should download your PDF and test it to make sure it is viewable.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Advertising Your Business Online
How can you get your new online business up and running? It is no good having a product which everyone wants if nobody knows about it. You are working with an amazing system which will encourage and help people to expand their online business, but with no advertising who will know and who will benefit least of all you.
There are many ways to advertise using the internet to expand your business, increase your down line and prosper. If you are unsure of the viability of the internet as a mode for selling any product you have not yet mastered the reality of the population of the world. There are currently over 34 million domains registered worldwide. Industry experts forecast that more than 500 million domains will be registered in the next ten years. In fact it is predicted that in the very near future every personal computer will have its own domain name. That is only domain names, think about the number of computers which have access to the internet and now you are starting to realize just how mind blowing is the potential for creating sales.
Now how do we get our system/business up and running when we are on a shoestring?
Free Advertising.
There is a myriad of free advertising available. The best advertising in the world is free; it is called word of mouth. Tell everyone you know and if you show sufficient enthusiasm they will most certainly tell others. There are many people who make great money via this amazing way of advertising. Email all the people in your email address book, there will always be some takers and even if you only manage one; that is one person you didn't have previously.
Forum Posting and leave your unique 'signature'. Contribute meaningful information to forums and people will click on your 'signature' file which will take them to your website. Always keep in mind that a Forum is a ground for thousands of up and coming internet marketers, hungry for information. Always be consistent and informative.
Classified advertising. There are a multitude of service providers which offer free advertising. Just check it out and use words that would motivate you to buy. Classified advertising will create free links to your website and increase your traffic flow. Advertising is a very steep learning curve and there are many well versed people who can help if you are interested in learning.
Traffic Exchange. There are many traffic exchange companies who almost beg you to advertise with them in exchange for you spending some time surfing the sites of other contributors. All exposure is good exposure.
Article Writing. Everyone has a particular interest or is an authority on something and it is a well judged opinion that the internet is mostly used as a source of information. Write an article about your particular hobby or interest or supply information on a subject which fascinates you. Remember the numbers using the internet, there is always someone who wants to know what you know. Your article creates free advertising for your website. People will read your article and click on your included profile which will take them to your website, your article remains in circulation forever giving you constant free advertising for life. How good is that?
Create your own Blog. To quote from Google "A Blog is like an online dairy. This can be about and be used for anything at all, it can be used for news, reviews, products etc for a business, organization etc. This is great as it helps the user stay in touch with the website with new and up to date information. A Blog is a free automated publishing tool where entries are written, comments passed from person to person", all you need is a Free Google account and you can create your Blog following the published instructions. A Blog can be anything you want it to be and it is a very much favored way of attracting the search engines.
Free advertising, whilst being very useful in obtaining a web presence, will never replace paid for advertising. To quote the Sign-A-Rama slogan "A Business with no Sign is a Sign of No Business."
There are many ways to advertise using the internet to expand your business, increase your down line and prosper. If you are unsure of the viability of the internet as a mode for selling any product you have not yet mastered the reality of the population of the world. There are currently over 34 million domains registered worldwide. Industry experts forecast that more than 500 million domains will be registered in the next ten years. In fact it is predicted that in the very near future every personal computer will have its own domain name. That is only domain names, think about the number of computers which have access to the internet and now you are starting to realize just how mind blowing is the potential for creating sales.
Now how do we get our system/business up and running when we are on a shoestring?
Free Advertising.
There is a myriad of free advertising available. The best advertising in the world is free; it is called word of mouth. Tell everyone you know and if you show sufficient enthusiasm they will most certainly tell others. There are many people who make great money via this amazing way of advertising. Email all the people in your email address book, there will always be some takers and even if you only manage one; that is one person you didn't have previously.
Forum Posting and leave your unique 'signature'. Contribute meaningful information to forums and people will click on your 'signature' file which will take them to your website. Always keep in mind that a Forum is a ground for thousands of up and coming internet marketers, hungry for information. Always be consistent and informative.
Classified advertising. There are a multitude of service providers which offer free advertising. Just check it out and use words that would motivate you to buy. Classified advertising will create free links to your website and increase your traffic flow. Advertising is a very steep learning curve and there are many well versed people who can help if you are interested in learning.
Traffic Exchange. There are many traffic exchange companies who almost beg you to advertise with them in exchange for you spending some time surfing the sites of other contributors. All exposure is good exposure.
Article Writing. Everyone has a particular interest or is an authority on something and it is a well judged opinion that the internet is mostly used as a source of information. Write an article about your particular hobby or interest or supply information on a subject which fascinates you. Remember the numbers using the internet, there is always someone who wants to know what you know. Your article creates free advertising for your website. People will read your article and click on your included profile which will take them to your website, your article remains in circulation forever giving you constant free advertising for life. How good is that?
Create your own Blog. To quote from Google "A Blog is like an online dairy. This can be about and be used for anything at all, it can be used for news, reviews, products etc for a business, organization etc. This is great as it helps the user stay in touch with the website with new and up to date information. A Blog is a free automated publishing tool where entries are written, comments passed from person to person", all you need is a Free Google account and you can create your Blog following the published instructions. A Blog can be anything you want it to be and it is a very much favored way of attracting the search engines.
Free advertising, whilst being very useful in obtaining a web presence, will never replace paid for advertising. To quote the Sign-A-Rama slogan "A Business with no Sign is a Sign of No Business."
Effective Email Marketing Campaigns
Are you interested in using email marketing to enhance the
traffic and sales of your website? It can be a confusing process
if you don’t know where to start. You will need to establish
your goals before you send the first email. What are you hoping
to accomplish? Make sure these goals are clear and realistic.
This will help you measure the success of the email marketing
campaign. This is a great way to learn what works and what
doesn’t for future email marketing campaigns. While your
particular goals will vary, some common ones include increasing
sales, getting more traffic to the website; improve awareness of
about your company and what products or services you offer, and
building a solid relationship with your customers.
As you start measuring the success of your email marketing
campaign, make sure you are comparing the data only against your
own information not that of the industry. For example did your
sales increase by 10% and traffic to your site increase by 25%
after your email marketing campaign rather than discovering the
rate that sales and traffic increased for the entire industry
you are in.
Don’t be discouraged if your first email marketing campaign
doesn’t do as well as you hoped, especially if you are a new
business. It takes time to build trust with consumers. Make sure
you use your original email address when you send out the
emails. This will help it get past the spam filters.
Make sure you take the time to update your email listings.
Remove any requests to opt out quickly and efficiently to
respect the consumer’s privacy. You will be wasting your time to
email to incorrect addresses or those who don’t want your
materials. Never change the first part of a person’s email
address even if the mail is undeliverable. However it is a good
idea to look for misspellings in the email service provider name
such as Yahoo being Yaho or Hotmail being Hotmall.
Some businesses like to use an email marketing template. Don’t
get too comfortable with a successful marketing campaign though!
This is because customers become bored easily with the same
format. You need to keep their interest by mixing things up a
bit in future email marketing campaigns. Opt in email marketing
software collects email addresses from your website. This is a
great method that is simple for getting you a data base started.
As your data base grows you can choose to send your future email
marketing campaigns to everyone on the list or just a select
target group based on their purchasing history.
You will need to design your email marketing campaign very well.
It needs to be attractive to hold the attention of the consumer
long enough for them to decide it is worth reading. You don’t
want your efforts to be mistaken for common spam or junk mail
right? Make sure all the content is spelled correctly. Keep the
text short and to the point. Readers who open your email may
choose to delete it or save it to read later if it looks to
lengthy. You want them to open it, be captivated, and read it.
The first sentences need to identify your company and what you
are offering. Place the important information first. Then reader
is likely to keep reading. Give them a sense of urgency for
responding by clearing stating the day the promotional offers
expire.
Email marketing is an effective tool if you take the time to use
it properly. It is anticipated to be the most used method of
advertising on the internet by 2008. While this means you will
have lots of opportunity to market your business, it also means
there is going to be a great deal of competition trying to get
consumers to look at their business. You will have to be
creative and work hard to develop effective email marketing
campaigns that are attractive, informative, and encourage the
consumer to take action.
traffic and sales of your website? It can be a confusing process
if you don’t know where to start. You will need to establish
your goals before you send the first email. What are you hoping
to accomplish? Make sure these goals are clear and realistic.
This will help you measure the success of the email marketing
campaign. This is a great way to learn what works and what
doesn’t for future email marketing campaigns. While your
particular goals will vary, some common ones include increasing
sales, getting more traffic to the website; improve awareness of
about your company and what products or services you offer, and
building a solid relationship with your customers.
As you start measuring the success of your email marketing
campaign, make sure you are comparing the data only against your
own information not that of the industry. For example did your
sales increase by 10% and traffic to your site increase by 25%
after your email marketing campaign rather than discovering the
rate that sales and traffic increased for the entire industry
you are in.
Don’t be discouraged if your first email marketing campaign
doesn’t do as well as you hoped, especially if you are a new
business. It takes time to build trust with consumers. Make sure
you use your original email address when you send out the
emails. This will help it get past the spam filters.
Make sure you take the time to update your email listings.
Remove any requests to opt out quickly and efficiently to
respect the consumer’s privacy. You will be wasting your time to
email to incorrect addresses or those who don’t want your
materials. Never change the first part of a person’s email
address even if the mail is undeliverable. However it is a good
idea to look for misspellings in the email service provider name
such as Yahoo being Yaho or Hotmail being Hotmall.
Some businesses like to use an email marketing template. Don’t
get too comfortable with a successful marketing campaign though!
This is because customers become bored easily with the same
format. You need to keep their interest by mixing things up a
bit in future email marketing campaigns. Opt in email marketing
software collects email addresses from your website. This is a
great method that is simple for getting you a data base started.
As your data base grows you can choose to send your future email
marketing campaigns to everyone on the list or just a select
target group based on their purchasing history.
You will need to design your email marketing campaign very well.
It needs to be attractive to hold the attention of the consumer
long enough for them to decide it is worth reading. You don’t
want your efforts to be mistaken for common spam or junk mail
right? Make sure all the content is spelled correctly. Keep the
text short and to the point. Readers who open your email may
choose to delete it or save it to read later if it looks to
lengthy. You want them to open it, be captivated, and read it.
The first sentences need to identify your company and what you
are offering. Place the important information first. Then reader
is likely to keep reading. Give them a sense of urgency for
responding by clearing stating the day the promotional offers
expire.
Email marketing is an effective tool if you take the time to use
it properly. It is anticipated to be the most used method of
advertising on the internet by 2008. While this means you will
have lots of opportunity to market your business, it also means
there is going to be a great deal of competition trying to get
consumers to look at their business. You will have to be
creative and work hard to develop effective email marketing
campaigns that are attractive, informative, and encourage the
consumer to take action.
Want to Be a Client Magnet? Try This Little Used Technique
I recently needed to contact a vendor regarding a delivery question. Without naming names, I can tell you that the vendor is a small business and I do a not-insignificant amount of business with them.
The person who answered the phone (not the owner) sounded as if my call were an interruption in her day (ever have this happen to you?). She was not pleasant and wanted to get me off the phone as quickly as possible. She was able to answer my question and off I went – not feeling appreciated and not feeling valued.
So be it. I went about my day and needed to contact another vendor to see if I could use an American Express card for payment as their invoice didn’t state. This should have been a minute-long phone call. It wasn’t.
The accounts payable person – also apparently having a rough day based on her tone – told me that they did indeed accept Amex. “Great – more points!” is what I thought and happily gave her all the information.
About an hour later my phone rang. It was the same woman, clipped tone and no sense of friendliness whatsoever, now telling me that they do not accept American Express and I would need to pay in another manner. Not a big deal and I gave her another credit card. Once she had the information, she said “goodbye” and hung up the phone.
It obviously wasn’t my day to call vendors.
These two companies – one large and one small – have forgotten to train their employees in the art of common courtesy. There are several ways that both of these employees could have made me feel, their customer, feel valued:
• Answer the phone while smiling (people really can tell)
• Be helpful without making me feel that I was an intrusion on their day – I won’t even mention that had their respective ordering and invoicing documents been done correctly, there would have been no need for my calls.
• Say “thank you” for calling
• And, in the case of the confused accounts payable person, apologize for not knowing whether or not the company accepted a certain credit card (whether her fault or not, she should have apologized to me on behalf of the company). This very easily could have turned into an amusing part of the day for both of us.
Companies of all sizes need to understand a very basic concept:
Everyone in the company is involved in marketing. Every customer/client contact is a chance to positively OR negatively affect how the customer feels about the company. Do it correctly and a customer is happy. Screw it up and they may forgive you – screw it up too many times and you lose the customer.
Let me tell you another quick story:
A client of mine recently had several cartons of brochures delivered from a printer. There were four different types of brochures. The driver, smiling, wheels in several cartons and asks where he should leave them.
My client asked him to just leave them in a corner of the store room as they needed to sort them by brochure title before placing them on the shelves. Turns out the driver had already done that and put the names of the brochures on the sides of the cartons (not just on top where you can never read them) to make them easier to read while on the shelves.
As he was leaving, he thanked my client for his business.
Surprising? It shouldn’t be. This is common courtesy and what a good company instills in each of its employees. Every employee who has the slightest contact with a customer or client should know that each customer/client is THE most important person to the company.
The truck driver in the above story “gets it.” Be sure that you do as well.
Courtesy is often overlooked as a means of getting, and keeping, clients. Another example is the doctor who calls a patient at home the evening after a treatment; just to be sure everything is okay.
Want to really impress your clients? Take it a step further and thank them for their business. People like, and need, to feel appreciated and valued – show them gratitude for doing business with you and watch them turn into great sources of referrals.
Some simple ways of saying “thank you” include the following:
• Send birthday cards/gifts depending on the size of the client and your budget.
• In the U.S., send Thanksgiving cards or letters – everyone sends holiday cards, be a little different.
• If you are located near your clients, occasionally drop in with a small surprise gift.
• Be sure your invoice includes a line thanking your clients for their business.
• If it works with your business, have some type of a customer appreciation event.
In this world of running here and there, email, voicemail, blackberries and MDAs, the personal touch combined with a little courtesy and gratitude goes a long way.
Thank you for taking time from your busy day to read this today. :-)
The person who answered the phone (not the owner) sounded as if my call were an interruption in her day (ever have this happen to you?). She was not pleasant and wanted to get me off the phone as quickly as possible. She was able to answer my question and off I went – not feeling appreciated and not feeling valued.
So be it. I went about my day and needed to contact another vendor to see if I could use an American Express card for payment as their invoice didn’t state. This should have been a minute-long phone call. It wasn’t.
The accounts payable person – also apparently having a rough day based on her tone – told me that they did indeed accept Amex. “Great – more points!” is what I thought and happily gave her all the information.
About an hour later my phone rang. It was the same woman, clipped tone and no sense of friendliness whatsoever, now telling me that they do not accept American Express and I would need to pay in another manner. Not a big deal and I gave her another credit card. Once she had the information, she said “goodbye” and hung up the phone.
It obviously wasn’t my day to call vendors.
These two companies – one large and one small – have forgotten to train their employees in the art of common courtesy. There are several ways that both of these employees could have made me feel, their customer, feel valued:
• Answer the phone while smiling (people really can tell)
• Be helpful without making me feel that I was an intrusion on their day – I won’t even mention that had their respective ordering and invoicing documents been done correctly, there would have been no need for my calls.
• Say “thank you” for calling
• And, in the case of the confused accounts payable person, apologize for not knowing whether or not the company accepted a certain credit card (whether her fault or not, she should have apologized to me on behalf of the company). This very easily could have turned into an amusing part of the day for both of us.
Companies of all sizes need to understand a very basic concept:
Everyone in the company is involved in marketing. Every customer/client contact is a chance to positively OR negatively affect how the customer feels about the company. Do it correctly and a customer is happy. Screw it up and they may forgive you – screw it up too many times and you lose the customer.
Let me tell you another quick story:
A client of mine recently had several cartons of brochures delivered from a printer. There were four different types of brochures. The driver, smiling, wheels in several cartons and asks where he should leave them.
My client asked him to just leave them in a corner of the store room as they needed to sort them by brochure title before placing them on the shelves. Turns out the driver had already done that and put the names of the brochures on the sides of the cartons (not just on top where you can never read them) to make them easier to read while on the shelves.
As he was leaving, he thanked my client for his business.
Surprising? It shouldn’t be. This is common courtesy and what a good company instills in each of its employees. Every employee who has the slightest contact with a customer or client should know that each customer/client is THE most important person to the company.
The truck driver in the above story “gets it.” Be sure that you do as well.
Courtesy is often overlooked as a means of getting, and keeping, clients. Another example is the doctor who calls a patient at home the evening after a treatment; just to be sure everything is okay.
Want to really impress your clients? Take it a step further and thank them for their business. People like, and need, to feel appreciated and valued – show them gratitude for doing business with you and watch them turn into great sources of referrals.
Some simple ways of saying “thank you” include the following:
• Send birthday cards/gifts depending on the size of the client and your budget.
• In the U.S., send Thanksgiving cards or letters – everyone sends holiday cards, be a little different.
• If you are located near your clients, occasionally drop in with a small surprise gift.
• Be sure your invoice includes a line thanking your clients for their business.
• If it works with your business, have some type of a customer appreciation event.
In this world of running here and there, email, voicemail, blackberries and MDAs, the personal touch combined with a little courtesy and gratitude goes a long way.
Thank you for taking time from your busy day to read this today. :-)
What To Look For When Buying Email Leads
If you are still trying to build up your own opt-in list but need to start marketing your products then you may look at buying leads. Buying leads however can become very costly and in some cases may not be worth the return on investment so what do you look for when buying leads?
1. How Were Your Leads Collected?
The first thing you should know when you look at buying leads is how these leads were collected. The best way is if leads were collected by means of a double opt-in system. Do not buy leads that were simply drawn from the internet without the lead’s consent as you will probably be accused of spamming if you use these leads.
2. How Fresh Are the Leads?
Another consideration to look at when buying leads is how fresh they are – how recently were they collected and how many times have they been sold? Leads that are old or that have been sold to many other buyers will probably not be worth the investment you spend in buying them.
3. Are These Leads Targeted?
Targeting is important for the success of your internet marketing business so before buying leads consider how targeted these leads are. If you find leads that are targeted to the group of people you are trying to reach you will have a lot greater success than simply buying leads that are not targeted.
4. How Often Do They Clean These Lists?
You do not want to buy leads that no longer work and so it is important to know how often the leads you are buying get cleaned up and how gaps in the lead list are filled.
5. Do They Have Testimonials and What Are These Like?
Does the company you are looking at buying leads from have testimonials on their web page? What do these testimonials have to say about the company and the results they are getting from the leads they bought? If a lead company does not have testimonials then be very cautious about doing business with it.
6. Seek Referrals First
If you know of other website owners who are also buying leads and have had some success with their leads then ask them to suggest a lead company to you. If you know and trust someone then they will be more likely to be honest with you about what works and what doesn’t.
7. Find out What Advertising Methods They Use to Get Leads
This may be similar to the first point but before buying leads find out what advertising methods the lead company used to get their leads. If they are using advertising methods that appeal to your target market then you will be more likely to have success with the leads that they provide. Also consider how effective their advertising methods are – if the people they are advertising to are just interested in getting something for free then you will probably not make any money from them. If they are using spam methods to get leads then you could find yourself in serious trouble.
In conclusion, when buying leads there are a number of important factors that you should consider – how were the leads collected and how did the company advertise to get these leads? How fresh are the leads? Is the list you buying clean and how were the gaps filled? Is the list targeted? Can you get referrals and testimonials for the lead company? Although it is always best to create your own double opt-in lists, if you are just starting out then you may find success with buying leads if you find a good lead company to buy from.
1. How Were Your Leads Collected?
The first thing you should know when you look at buying leads is how these leads were collected. The best way is if leads were collected by means of a double opt-in system. Do not buy leads that were simply drawn from the internet without the lead’s consent as you will probably be accused of spamming if you use these leads.
2. How Fresh Are the Leads?
Another consideration to look at when buying leads is how fresh they are – how recently were they collected and how many times have they been sold? Leads that are old or that have been sold to many other buyers will probably not be worth the investment you spend in buying them.
3. Are These Leads Targeted?
Targeting is important for the success of your internet marketing business so before buying leads consider how targeted these leads are. If you find leads that are targeted to the group of people you are trying to reach you will have a lot greater success than simply buying leads that are not targeted.
4. How Often Do They Clean These Lists?
You do not want to buy leads that no longer work and so it is important to know how often the leads you are buying get cleaned up and how gaps in the lead list are filled.
5. Do They Have Testimonials and What Are These Like?
Does the company you are looking at buying leads from have testimonials on their web page? What do these testimonials have to say about the company and the results they are getting from the leads they bought? If a lead company does not have testimonials then be very cautious about doing business with it.
6. Seek Referrals First
If you know of other website owners who are also buying leads and have had some success with their leads then ask them to suggest a lead company to you. If you know and trust someone then they will be more likely to be honest with you about what works and what doesn’t.
7. Find out What Advertising Methods They Use to Get Leads
This may be similar to the first point but before buying leads find out what advertising methods the lead company used to get their leads. If they are using advertising methods that appeal to your target market then you will be more likely to have success with the leads that they provide. Also consider how effective their advertising methods are – if the people they are advertising to are just interested in getting something for free then you will probably not make any money from them. If they are using spam methods to get leads then you could find yourself in serious trouble.
In conclusion, when buying leads there are a number of important factors that you should consider – how were the leads collected and how did the company advertise to get these leads? How fresh are the leads? Is the list you buying clean and how were the gaps filled? Is the list targeted? Can you get referrals and testimonials for the lead company? Although it is always best to create your own double opt-in lists, if you are just starting out then you may find success with buying leads if you find a good lead company to buy from.
Find Out All Keywords That Bring You Sales Within 3 Minutes
The effectiveness of an internet marketing campaign can be summed up in three words: search engine ranking. The higher your website’s position is in search engine results, the more popular it is. Popularity means two things – increase in revenues and greater traffic. To bring these good fortunes into your website, you need to pinpoint the keywords that bring customers and potential new clients to your website.
See these examples: “Snag PGA-standard Golf Shoes at Half Price Now!” vs. “Avail of Golf Footwear like the ones used by Players in the PGA at discounted prices!” Which is more effective and delivers the most impact? If you go for the latter, you must seriously reconsider your banners and ads. Both deliver the same message but the first ad is more likely to draw in a lot of clicks. Why? It uses strong words and a focused keyword. You can use SEO campaigns and pay-per-click advertising services in order to boost your sales and traffic but how do you find which keywords reel in the money? Here’s how:
Measuring click-through rates
Click-through rates are simply the number of times people clicked on your advertisements. Where is the keyword in this scenario? Do not forget that the life of your banners and other advertisements is built on words but not just any word. Banners and advertisements reel in potential customers by being targeted and focused.
There are two ways by which you can measure click-through rates: PHP and ASP Scripts and CGI Script.
There are plenty of CGI Scripts for tracking click-throughs available online. Install the script in your website but make it invisible so that visitors will not feel that they are being watched or something. You can also opt to have a CGI Script custom-designed for your website if you have extra cash. You can also inquire about CGI tracking scripts from your web host.
If a CGI script is passé for you, you can opt to go for PHP and ASP scripts in tracking your keywords’ click-through rates. Ask your web hosting service provider if it supports the script you want. You can also inquire about server-side scripts to find out which is more compatible for your website.
Online tracking services
If scripts are too technical for you, there are online tracking service providers you can sign up with. These providers usually let you try the free version of their tracking client so you can shop around for the best deal before upgrading to a paid version. Paid versions are generally more useful since the providers let you have automated reports detailing click through rates and other important information you can use to beef up your internet marketing campaigns.
You can also sign up with internet marketing and affiliate networks like Click2Sell.EU for a marketing campaign. Affiliates can use your own advertisement materials to ensure consistency and quality in your ad campaigns. By using its own software, the network can provide you with updated reports about your traffic, click-through rates, lets you track keywords and sales each keyword bring and even lets you manage your affiliates for maximum efficiency.
Tracking which keywords bring you the money lets you streamline your internet marketing efforts so you can focus on the keywords and methods that produce results.
See these examples: “Snag PGA-standard Golf Shoes at Half Price Now!” vs. “Avail of Golf Footwear like the ones used by Players in the PGA at discounted prices!” Which is more effective and delivers the most impact? If you go for the latter, you must seriously reconsider your banners and ads. Both deliver the same message but the first ad is more likely to draw in a lot of clicks. Why? It uses strong words and a focused keyword. You can use SEO campaigns and pay-per-click advertising services in order to boost your sales and traffic but how do you find which keywords reel in the money? Here’s how:
Measuring click-through rates
Click-through rates are simply the number of times people clicked on your advertisements. Where is the keyword in this scenario? Do not forget that the life of your banners and other advertisements is built on words but not just any word. Banners and advertisements reel in potential customers by being targeted and focused.
There are two ways by which you can measure click-through rates: PHP and ASP Scripts and CGI Script.
There are plenty of CGI Scripts for tracking click-throughs available online. Install the script in your website but make it invisible so that visitors will not feel that they are being watched or something. You can also opt to have a CGI Script custom-designed for your website if you have extra cash. You can also inquire about CGI tracking scripts from your web host.
If a CGI script is passé for you, you can opt to go for PHP and ASP scripts in tracking your keywords’ click-through rates. Ask your web hosting service provider if it supports the script you want. You can also inquire about server-side scripts to find out which is more compatible for your website.
Online tracking services
If scripts are too technical for you, there are online tracking service providers you can sign up with. These providers usually let you try the free version of their tracking client so you can shop around for the best deal before upgrading to a paid version. Paid versions are generally more useful since the providers let you have automated reports detailing click through rates and other important information you can use to beef up your internet marketing campaigns.
You can also sign up with internet marketing and affiliate networks like Click2Sell.EU for a marketing campaign. Affiliates can use your own advertisement materials to ensure consistency and quality in your ad campaigns. By using its own software, the network can provide you with updated reports about your traffic, click-through rates, lets you track keywords and sales each keyword bring and even lets you manage your affiliates for maximum efficiency.
Tracking which keywords bring you the money lets you streamline your internet marketing efforts so you can focus on the keywords and methods that produce results.
Harness The Power of Membership Websites
Look through the eyes of your members and you might be surprised. You might find new ways to meet their needs. You might find new ways to offer benefit. Heck, you might even be able to anticipate there needs – there’s no better money maker than that!
What do members want?
The best way to answer that question is to ask yourself. What do you want from a membership site?
Take a moment and write down 10 things that you want from the membership sites that you belong to.
Go ahead...we’ll wait.
Okay, you have your list? Let’s see if it matches any of the items that we came up with.
Presumably you want:
A trusted source of information, products, and resources.
A wide variety of resources that meet your needs with multiple price points
Easy to use website
Easy to process transactions
Membership policies that make sense
Subscriptions that are worth their price
Subscriptions that are easy to renew or cancel
Updated content
Updated resources
A way, or many ways, to communicate with members and website staff
An efficient customer relations protocol
An easy way to return products
Clearly established terms of use
A website that protects your privacy – and doesn’t sell your information
Communications, via email or newsletter, that are frequent enough to keep you in the loop but not so frequent that you feel hassled.
A website that is fitted specifically to meet your needs
Does that cover it? Not likely. That’s just a short list of the things you probably want from a membership site that you belong to. You may also want to be able to use the site, products, and contacts that you make to generate profits. You certainly want to belong to a membership site that you can be proud of and that is recognizable – this means you’ll more likely be a loyal and frequent visitor if not a frequent purchaser.
Now comes the second question…
What can you do to make your membership site meet the needs listed above, and any others that you came up with?
Many of the needs are fairly easy to fill. Customer relations can be automated. Billing, renewals, and auto responder thank you messages can be automated. Content, much of it anyway, can be outsourced. Terms of use and policies can be posted on your website and handed out in the form of a report when members subscribe. Affiliate programs and other wealth building tools can be automated. That leaves a few things: making sure that your customers know that you’re an upstanding site with their best interests at heart, keeping the quality content, resources, and products up to date and quality, and tying all of their needs together into a cohesive website. Not too hard, right?
What do members want?
The best way to answer that question is to ask yourself. What do you want from a membership site?
Take a moment and write down 10 things that you want from the membership sites that you belong to.
Go ahead...we’ll wait.
Okay, you have your list? Let’s see if it matches any of the items that we came up with.
Presumably you want:
A trusted source of information, products, and resources.
A wide variety of resources that meet your needs with multiple price points
Easy to use website
Easy to process transactions
Membership policies that make sense
Subscriptions that are worth their price
Subscriptions that are easy to renew or cancel
Updated content
Updated resources
A way, or many ways, to communicate with members and website staff
An efficient customer relations protocol
An easy way to return products
Clearly established terms of use
A website that protects your privacy – and doesn’t sell your information
Communications, via email or newsletter, that are frequent enough to keep you in the loop but not so frequent that you feel hassled.
A website that is fitted specifically to meet your needs
Does that cover it? Not likely. That’s just a short list of the things you probably want from a membership site that you belong to. You may also want to be able to use the site, products, and contacts that you make to generate profits. You certainly want to belong to a membership site that you can be proud of and that is recognizable – this means you’ll more likely be a loyal and frequent visitor if not a frequent purchaser.
Now comes the second question…
What can you do to make your membership site meet the needs listed above, and any others that you came up with?
Many of the needs are fairly easy to fill. Customer relations can be automated. Billing, renewals, and auto responder thank you messages can be automated. Content, much of it anyway, can be outsourced. Terms of use and policies can be posted on your website and handed out in the form of a report when members subscribe. Affiliate programs and other wealth building tools can be automated. That leaves a few things: making sure that your customers know that you’re an upstanding site with their best interests at heart, keeping the quality content, resources, and products up to date and quality, and tying all of their needs together into a cohesive website. Not too hard, right?
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