Internet Marketing Strategies That Won't Hurt Your Savings Much

Your new business will benefit a lot from various Internet marketing methods. But you don't have to spend millions of dollars just to get some decent exposure for your company. There are ways to make your business be seen and felt without doing overkill with your advertisement expenses.

Make use of your online power – through Internet marketing. Here are simple methods that you may employ to boost the visibility of your business without shelling out more than what you can afford. However, these techniques need patience and some footwork to produce agreeable results.

Firstly, you need a website before you can make use of these low cost Internet marketing strategies. So go create one or hire a web developer. It will display your products and services. This will be used in employing the following Internet marketing techniques.

1. Affiliate Marketing

This is the process of recruiting a network of smaller websites known as affiliates to drive targeted traffic to a website. Ad copy and links will be provided by the advertisers. You will have to pay a certain percentage of the sales profit to your affiliates.

2. Links

One of your goals should be to attain a good ranking with search engines. One way to do it is through link building. This could be done through trading links to other businesses that are related with yours.

3. Newsletters

Sending out newsletters to your subscribers (those who signed up for your newsletters) will help greatly in establishing a good working relationship with your customers or prospective customers. It has to be short, sweet, consistent and written for a general audience.

4. E-mail Marketing

As one of the best cost-effective Internet marketing tools, it stays as a very important method of keeping your customers aware of your products and services. Just make sure to avoid spamming or soon enough you will have to close down you business due to complaints.

5. Articles

If you put quality content in the form of articles in your website along with your products and services, search engines will have to index your website. Getting you website indexed by popular search engines means more traffic for you.

6. Forums

Expand your Internet network is through joining forums that mainly discusses stuff regarding or related to your products and services. Actively posting responses or answers and asking relevant information will build your reputation as that forum's member and boost your company's visibility through your signature files. These signature files are those that go with your every post. Links to your website could be included in this signature.

Original source: Internet Marketing Strategies That Won't Hurt Your Savings Much.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing for Small Home-based Businesses

Small home-based businesses battle to stay on search engine listings and gain the advertising and marketing exposure they deserve. Small home-based business owners typically don't have the money for expensive advertising and marketing. It is for this reason that popular big name companies seem to have taken over the online market by advertising on television, in magazines, and at the top of almost every search engine listing. Small home-based businesses should not be discouraged. It is possible for small home-based internet businesses to move up the ladder of success through effective and creative internet marketing. Small home-based internet businesses are able to gain the exposure they deserve, but they must use strategies other than standard marketing and advertising methods used by big name companies.

Small home-based businesses striving for marketing and advertising success need to grab the attention of potential customers. After grabbing the attention of potential customers, it's critical to keep their attention. Home-based business owners should consider offering potential customers and those looking for information on the internet the high-quality information they are looking for through opt-in newsletters.

Small home-based business owners can bring in new customers and keep customers coming back by giving them the information or news they're seeking online. For example, if a small home-based internet business sells craft items, the home-based business owner can offer valuable free information on craft projects.Those seeking craft project ideas and instructions through a craft project newsletter will find links to materials and supplies. Marketing small home-based businesses through newsletters can greatly increase earnings.

The owner of a small home-based internet business doesn't have to be a great writer to develop an internet newsletter full of valuable information. There are a number of helpful internet programs to assist owners of small home-based businesses with developing and marketing products and newsletters. Offer people the information they are seeking, and they will sign up to receive the information. Before long, newsletter marketing efforts will pay off through
ever increasing sales.

Home-based small business owners who don't have time for newsletters should consider joining one of the many popular link exchange programs. Marketing small home-based businesses becomes effortless, and home-based businesses literally begin marketing themselves. Link exchange members assist each other with marketing, and they help increase website traffic. Potential customers gain access to small business websites they otherwise wouldn't have found.

Marketing efforts can be increased by directly exchanging links with other business websites. Small home-based businesses can offer their banners and links in exchange for banner and links from other small business websites. There is no cost for this type of marketing, and small home-based business websites can increase traffic and sales considerably. Choose link exchange partners wisely to gain the most marketing benefits and exposure for your small home-based internet business.

Original source: Internet Marketing for Small Home-based Businesses.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing: Making A Living Online

Article Body:

A few months ago I made the decision to work strictly from home so that I could spend more time with my child (who is almost 4 years old now). Since that time, I've been studying up on internet marketing and the various ways that one could make a living online.

Here's the main thing that I discovered: The main trap of working online is not the "scams" (I'm sure that they do exist and have come across a few myself), but rather is the number of actual opportunities that present themselves. A person can spread themselves so thin by investing time and money into too many areas, which takes away the ability to be able to promote their programs/products effectively.

Although I am relatively new to the internet marketing industry, I have successfully worked in offline marketing for years, and have learned a few things that apply to any kind of marketing, across the boards. I also have learned some things about internet marketing in the few months that I've been involved.

Here's are a few "from the heart" tips, that always apply:

Persistence – This may be the most valuable concept in the marketing industry. I believe that no matter what someone is marketing, and how they are marketing it, if one continues the same strategy for a long enough period of time (working on it regularly) more often than not it will pay off. This is what I call the "Golden Rule" of marketing.

Patience – This closely relates to the info above. I think that this is best illustrated with an example: Sally Marketer begins an internet marketing venture, let's say with pay-per-click ads from her own website. She finds a few places to market her site and puts some ads up. Within a week she only has one response from all of the ads combined. She gives up and changes her strategy, removing her ads from the various places, or changing them to something else. This is lost time and lost revenue. Give the advertisements about 6 weeks to be out there, as they are before changing them. If after 6 weeks there is little to no response – then is the time to make some changes. (My experience has been that in about 4-6 weeks the inquiries and sales really start to pick up.)

Quantity/volume – The amount of income is directly proportional to the number of people who view your site/ads. Seriously. Although the quality of the website is important, it takes a back seat to the amount of communications to your audience. Combined – you have a goldmine! Here's an illustration: If you're interested in getting ads onto classified ad sites for example, don't get onto 1, 2 or even 5 – get onto 30! Instead of signing up for 1 traffic exchange site, sign up with 20 and work them daily! 10,000 emails to opt-ins are much better than 50. There are services available out there that can post your ads, sites or send email to many different places/people at once – this type of marketing really works. Think BIG on this! Sometimes it takes 50 people seeing your site to even generate 1 click. This may sound a bit grim, but if you know this information you'll have better control over your income and a much better chance at success!

Original source: Internet Marketing: Making A Living Online.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing Success With Joint Ventures

There are many ways to make money on the internet. All methods however, come with a price-tag. For starters, you will probably need to purchase basic business software and relevant learning materials. Planning and developing your ideas will definitely require dedication and perseverance all along the way.

One of the best methods for getting started is to partner with other internet marketers so that you can reach larger target audiences.

These joint ventures or "JV's" can take-on many different forms. Some are as simple as promoting each other's newsletters, while others may be more complex partnerships with cross-promoting of complimentary products. Some JV's even involve starting entirely new projects from scratch.

Joint Ventures are a powerful tool for expanding business in many areas. So, what is stopping 'you' from using this technique to expand your business?

For many new internet marketers, starting a JV can be a frightening task, especially when it comes to contacting other internet marketers.

Too often, many internet marketers appear to be "spamming," when they are really just seeking other JV partners. Here are some tips that may help you along the way:

1. Get to know your potential JV partners.

If you start emailing everyone on your list of potential partners, chances are you will be considered a common spammer. You won't get the partners you want, or even worse, may destroy your reputation in the process.

Instead, subscribe to your potential partner's newsletter and check out their websites and blog. Get to know them a little bit before approaching them with a proposal.

2. Go slowly when approaching potential partners.

Let's face it, everyone likes a little flattery. When contacting your potential JV partner, treat them like your "first date." Be courteous and complimentary. Tell them the things you like about their business. Join their newsletter and tell them you think it is awesome, and why. You will be surprised at how much attention you receive by using a little well placed flattery as you proceed to develop your relationships with potential JV partners.

3. Your financial estimates should always be realistic.

Don't promise what you can't deliver. Be honest with your potential partners. Explain your proposal and benefits in realistic terms, but don't hype. Be honest, open and sincere.

Getting a Joint Venture off the ground doesn't have to be scary if you start by following the three simple steps given above.

Get going and get growing today!

Original source: Internet Marketing Success With Joint Ventures.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing: 7 Killer Tools You Can Use On A Shoestring Budget Without Having a Website

When most people think of Internet marketing, they think solely of websites. Are they right or wrong? Well both. While websites are a key component of Internet marketing and in many cases are the only Internet marketing tool businesses use, they are not the "be all, end all". They are not required for Internet marketing. However, I do highly recommend them as they are best suited to sit at the core of your Internet marketing plan, the hub so to speak, but that's a topic for another conversation.

So here are 7 killer Internet marketing tools that you can implement on a shoestring budget without having to have a website of your own:

1. Email Marketing – When properly implemented, there probably isn't a quicker, better, and less expensive way to stay in front of your prospects and clients than to leverage the power of email. You can literally touch an unlimited amount of prospects and clients with a single click – how's that for power?!

2. Blogs – Blogging is a great tool when you would like to step it up a notch and stay in constant contact with your prospects and clients. Some ideas on how to use it might be to post what's new with you or your business, post informative content as a value-add to your clients, or hold and interactive forum with your clients geared towards understanding how to better serve them.

There are a handful of free or low cost blog hosts out there that really make this process simple (e.g. Blogger and TypePad).

3. Article Marketing – This is a phenomenal approach to bringing notoriety, interest and ultimately leads for many types of businesses. It can be used as a major differentiator or value-add on why someone should buy from you instead of your competitors. Whether your clients are local, regional, national or global — articles are portable and usable in all situations — that's part of their charm.

4. eZines – Much like blogs and article marketing, eZines are great way to stay in touch with your prospects on a more scheduled basis. Additionally, they are probably the forerunner in helping you develop a list of prospects to market and sell your wares.

5. Affiliate Programs — Get others promoting and selling for you. This tool can become the equivalent of having both a full blown marketing and sales staff that gets paid on performance. They don't promote and directly lead to a sale for you, they don't get paid. For the do-it-yourselfers, there are plenty of tools out there to help you set up this type of program. For everyone else, there are excellent service providers out there who can coordinate and manage this process for you (e.g. Clickbank and Commission Junction).

6. Viral Marketing – Again, a great approach for getting others to promote and help create a buzz about you, your business, your products and/or your services. The best, most genuine way to get this started is by creating raving fans out of your existing clients and then helping them help you spread the word.

7. Public Relations – If I tell you I'm the best at what I do, you'll take it with a grain of salt. Maybe you'll believe me, maybe you won't. However, people tend to believe what they read. So if a respected publication tells you that I'm the best at what I do, that usually holds more weight and adds instant credibility to me.

Spend some effort here. Become a resource for the press. You help them and they can significantly help you.

I highly recommend you spend some time with these. Explore how you can implement one, some, or all of these Internet marketing tools to help explode your business.

© 2005 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.

Original source: Internet Marketing: 7 Killer Tools You Can Use On A Shoestring Budget Without Having a Website.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing: Short-term Solutions

marketing,online marketing,website promotion,internet marketing,pay per click,ppc,google adwords

Article Body:

Like many, you have been reading about the long-term marketing strategies that will help make a name for your online business. You might even see the wisdom in these approaches, and you might even believe it will be highly beneficial to your business – in the long run.

But, what about right now? What about the short-term?

You might be wondering if you'll make it to the long-term' portion of your entrepreneurial efforts. Any business startup is hard and you want to make sure you will be around long enough to see the benefits of these long-term strategies.

So, what do you do to bridge the gap between the 'lean' now and the potentially 'prosperous' then?

Short-term Strategies

Press Releases – The use of the press release is a proven method of inviting individuals to view your site in a manner that provides the information in a news-oriented format. Many online and print publications will publish these releases as a professional courtesy.

Message Boards and Business Blogs – These may require some time, but the strategy is not overly difficult to develop. By placing a link to your business site in postings in a message board you may find potential customers visiting your site as they begin to trust your expertise in the message board (often called a forum). A business blog (b-blog) is a great way to share your personality with a growing customer base. Both strategies can be implemented at little or no cost.

Search Engine Directories – While most search engines will ultimately find and index your site automatically you can be proactive by locating search engines that allow you to submit your url for potential inclusion in their search engine. This simply alerts them to your presence sooner.

Article Links – You may have some original content on your site that may be beneficial to other sites. By exchanging original content with other sites you may be able to find links posted with each article to be a positive way to drive traffic to your site earlier.

Advertising – Cost-effective advertising can be found through sources like Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. You might also find sites that compliment your site. These sites often welcome advertising that may benefit your business growth in the short term.

Social Networking Sites – Placing your personal and business information on a social networking site like My Space can also be a means of driving visitors to your site.

In most cases the short term solutions listed above provide the potential of additional site visitation and in many cases the only cost associated with the strategy is in the amount of time you might spend working on the strategy.

Original source: Internet Marketing: Short-term Solutions.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Infinit-O introduces new offshore outsourcing solution

Los Angeles, CA – Infinit Outsourcing (Infinit-O), a leading provider of outsourcing services announced today a new solution called Dedicated Operating Team or 'DOT's' for small and medium sized businesses.

Infinit-O is bringing something new to the outsourcing world, a hybrid outsourcing model specifically designed for small and medium sized companies. Infinit-O establishes and maintains 'virtual employees' in self-contained Dedicated Operating Teams (DOT's) for clients.

Clients have complete control of the day to day operations whilst Infinit-O's team of experienced outsourcing experts implement not just the set up phase but also manage all the support functions such as HR, IT and Administration.

This enables clients to quickly gain the advantages of running their own in-house offshore operations without the overheads and risks of doing it themselves.

"Infinit-O understands that there are still companies who are skeptical in outsourcing parts of their business for valid reasons, therefore, we are giving these companies the liberty to manage their own virtual employees through DOT's." stated Manolo Aquino, Co-Founder of Infinit-O.

"80% of companies realize the theoretical benefits of outsourcing but the major challenge today is how to develop the delivery capabilities in a controlled, scalable and cost-effective manner. Having a local partner in the offshore destination with over 20 years experience in complex outsourced solutions provides a level of comfort that allows them to quickly realize the full benefits of outsourcing in a cost efficient and controlled manner", explained Richard Eldridge, Co-Founder of Infinit-O

ABOUT INFINIT-O

Infinit-O is a leading BPO company with offices in the US, UK and Philippines providing back office outsourcing solutions and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) solutions in the financial services and healthcare sectors.

The company delivers high quality outsourcing solutions with a highly motivated and experienced team, an ability to optimize business processes, access to cost effective and innovative technology, all delivered from highly secured work environment.

For more information visit www.infinit-o.com

Original source: Infinit-O introduces new offshore outsourcing solution.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing – A Good First Step

Article Body:

If you're anything like me you might log onto the Internet to check on restaurants in cities you plan to visit. You may check the price of an airfare, car rental or motel. You might even check online to see what shows are playing and what times might best fit in your plans.

Traditional telephone advertising is much less effective than it once was. The advertising was designed to help you gain new customers, but most of those potential customers are online trying to find the same information you paid to have placed in a phone company's print business directory.

Many cities are developing community portals as a means of providing their local or regional businesses with some Internet marketing punch.

If you are a business there are online directories that may be available for your region that can help customers locate you more quickly. That's not to say that the yellow pages have no value, just that the potential for reaching customers has shifted based on the searchable delivery method of the Internet.

Unlike the phone company's print business directory an online business directory can supply users with an immediate connection to your online store. In a short series of clicks they can be browsing your online store to see what you have available and if it meets their needs.

Many of these online local directories are also used by the major search engines to help index your online business. If you use paid phone directory print advertisements you need to understand the effectiveness of this medium is in perpetual decline.

Online local or regional phone directories can be utilized at no cost while others may be fee-based. In the end, you may see a greater return on investment (ROI) from using an online directory than you may have previously considered possible.

As people plan travel they may likely search for businesses that match their personal interests and they are increasingly checking out online business directories first.

This can be a valuable bridge to potential online traffic for existing brick and mortar stores. Many brick and mortar stores have seen the value of Internet marketing, but for those who have yet to gain a full appreciation for the Internet as a sales tool the use of an online business directory may be a good first step – even if you don't have an online presence yet. At the very least you should be able to include your business name, category, address and phone number.

Adding a website can be a choice that doesn't have to be overly complicated and can open up a whole new world discovered through the benefits of an online business directory.

Original source: Internet Marketing – A Good First Step.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Increase your traffic by 300% from adjusting your articles.

Many people are submitting articles to article directories, which is a great way to gain traffic. But none of them realize that there is a way to really optimize the results of writing an article.

The Mistake

When your submitting an article, do you paste your full article, I'm pretty sure that you do. There are two problems with this:

1) Provoking your reader to visit your site decreases

2) Google may read it as a supplement if you also posted the article on your blog/site also.

Explanations

1) When your reader finishes reading your article, and their satisfied, what would their normal behavior be, clicking on your web address or visit other articles to learn even more. It would be visiting other articles, but you don't want that to happen. So there is a way to solve this. When posting your article, only post the first half on the article directories and the full article on your site or blog. Get the idea? So what would happen now, if your article was well composed and your reader is interested, then they would gladly visit your blog or site to continue on their read. It's a great way to get all your happy readers to your site.

2) As many people do, they submit their articles to directories and also post them on their site/blog. Now what happens, well Google greatly dislikes copied information. They call it a supplement, and if your article on the article directories gets indexed by Google, then the page on your blog or site will not be indexed by Google if you submit your full article on to the directories and onto your site or blog. So, just submit half your article on the directories and the full article on your site or blog.

Making it effective

Let's say that your teaching your reader something or exposing something that can greatly benefit them. Well you have to know when to exploit it, so you can get your reader to your site. On the first half of your article that you will submit to the article directories, go over the points on what you can offer and how it can benefit the reader, keep teasing the reader on what they could find out from reading the article, get the drift? By this point your reader should be jumping off the walls waiting for you to finally tell them, so what do you do, just finish the article right there. Just add a little nice message saying that the full version of this article can be found at http://www.xxxx.com/ ( Your website).

;P Most likely they will click on your web address.

Please check out http://traffic-building-googled.blogspot.com

Original source: Increase your traffic by 300% from adjusting your articles..
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing In Asia

Keywords:

internet marketing expert

Article Body:

For most people, internet marketing is a money making industry. In reality, internet

marketing is about developing oneself on a regular basis. If you are involved in

internet marketing, you will have to pay attention to some of the intermediate

strategies that are being used – especially if you are a beginner.

I'd like to just share a few intermediate to advanced strategies you can use in

order to enhance your internet marketing efforts, whether you are selling internet

marketing itself or not. Hopefully, you can leverage internet marketing to enhance

your income in the shortest span of time.

Strategy #1 – Maximizing Your Productivity

Many internet marketers go solo on this. I would say that in order for you to create

the most amount of leverage, you will have to master your productivity. It's

important for you to find outsourced talent. Places such as elance.com may prove to

become too expensive, so it's more viable to look to two particular sources that I

find much cheaper and just as reliable. First, you should seek out specific talent

forums. If you need a programmer, go to programmer forums. If you need an affiliate

manager, go to affiliate forums. If you need a designer, then design forums are

probably a better bet. The second is to look for a local university and seek out

those within the talent space you need to hire. Bright, young individuals might

actually have something to prove and do a really good job!

Don't just outsource! Manage your talent, help them to grow and train them up to

become better. Point them to the right resources and you'll realize that they will

be more willing to assist you in doing even bigger projects online.

Strategy #2 – Automated traffic mechanisms

If you have not got a series of automated traffic, you will probably find that it is

difficult to generate traffic. Each of my sites is typically optimized on the search

engines. If you want to learn more about Search Engine Optimization, there are

plenty of courses that are available online, not to mention some really good SEO

forums.

On the forums at InternetMarketingSingapore.com/101traffic.html, there are some 103

ideas on generating traffic. You just need to go in there and identify the 5 best

ways for you to do this, then keep at it for a while.

Strategy #3 – Focus on a the 4-hour Work Week!

If you haven't already, you should pick up a copy of Timothy Ferriss' "4-Hour

work week". He mentions two things that struck me right from the start. For

instance, what are the 20% of the things that create for you 80% of the results? And

what are 20% of the things that you do that create 80% of your problems? If you

focus on answering these, you should be more effective in understanding your

productivity cycle and move closer toward overall business improvement!

Original source: Internet Marketing In Asia.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing – Tuning Up

marketing,internet marketing,site promotion

Article Body:

Internet marketing may be a bit like directing an orchestra; there are many parts played by many instruments and when they are out of sync you know it, but when they blend it can be pure and sweet harmony.

We've all heard elementary school bands where one or more students play off key or squeaks. We applaud their effort and may even smile at their various faux pas.

What we can appreciate and overlook in a beginner we tend to frown on when someone should really know better.

A high school band will be better than an elementary band and a touring band will be better than a college band. We expect improvement. We expect that practice will help perfect the skills.

Just like playing an instrument Internet marketing takes practice and perseverance. You may not be able to simply look up an article on SEO and conclude that you have learned everything you can about the subject. What you've learned may be more like learning to play one note on one instrument. And just when you finish learning a single instrument you have to learn all the others. This is how Internet marketing works. Each instrument requires new skills. Instruments like traffic building, ezines, email marketing, social media, blogs, web branding, podcasting, auto-responders and RSS all possess a certain learning curve.

Once you have learned everything you can about each 'instrument' you need to begin to direct the 'orchestra' and work to find ways for the Internet marketing strategies to work together in harmony.

Yes, this requires dedication, hard work and a great deal of concentration, but when the elements of Internet marketing work together it's a beautiful thing to behold.

The good news is once the primary instruments of Internet marketing are learned it may not be as difficult to manage the overall direction of your marketing orchestra.

New techniques will come along and they can be treated as if the orchestra must learn a new song. Sure it's a little bit of work, but it's not impossible. It can actually contain an element of satisfaction.

OK, I'll leave the orchestra analogy behind for the moment and simply emphasize the need to develop as many Internet marketing tools as possible. They are important instruments in helping you reach your goals.

I like how former NFL player Steve Grant defined goals, he said, "Goals are just dreams with a deadline."

I like that phrase because it keys in on the passion (dreams) we must have in business with a benchmark for the evaluation of our success. Learning the skills of marketing is essential to meeting our dream deadline.

Without marketing you are unable to accurately aim at your goal. It's sort of like target practice with your eyes closed. It might even be a bit dangerous; at the very least your efforts are ineffective.

I know I promised, but just one more allusion to the orchestra. Tune up your marketing instruments and play on – may the music be sweet to all ears.

Original source: Internet Marketing – Tuning Up.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing: "A Fool With A Tool Is Still A Fool"

Article Body:

If you are a mediocre violinist and buy a Stradivarius violin, you will not become a better violinist. All you will do is waste the beautiful capabilities of a fine and rare musical tool and put it into ineffective use.

It's the same thing in Internet Marketing. If you buy 100s of ads but have poor sales copy you will get no results. If you write and submit 100s of articles of poor quality and don't have a specific objective you want them to achieve, you will get no results. If you buy the best optimization software available but don't understand the principles and theory behind optimization, you will get no results. If you spend thousands of dollars on inferior business leads, questionable advice, and questionable "Get Rich Schemes", you will get no results.

Internet Newbies get bombarded with all kinds of advice to generate traffic using tools like optimization, writing articles, pay per click, etc. One of the biggest mistakes they make is trying to do them all using the theory: "The more I do the better results I will get." They use each of the tools suggested and use them ineffectively because they never mastered them. The result is: they get no results, they get discouraged, and they give up.

The principle to learn and apply is: It's not how much you do, but how much you do well.

If you lack focus and try to do everything, you will work yourself into exhaustion doing all the wrong things. The best result is you wasted time, energy and money. The worst result is you lose credibility by distributing products and services that are of poor quality.

What's the solution? Determine what your strengths are and use the tools that maximize those strengths. If you have a knack for writing, focus on writing blogs and articles to generate traffic. If you have sales skills, focus on writing short and catchy sales ads and bar ads. If you are a techie, focus on optimization. If you have none of the above skills but are a hard and disciplined worker, focus on getting links through link exchanges and forums. Remember, it's not how much you do, its how much you do right.

Original source: Internet Marketing: "A Fool With A Tool Is Still A Fool".
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing on a Budget

Many think that a profitable home-based business requires tons of high-tech supplies, and a never-ending stream of cash. Fortunately, that is not the case. Internet marketing can now be executed easily and successfully on a limited budget. The desire for home business enterprises is at a high point, and affordable marketing options are endless. With a bit of effort andcommitment, your internet marketing campaign can work with practical and useful advertising options.

When working with a limited amount of means, you must first construct a workable internet marketing plan. It must be decided what types of advertising and promotion will be used, and how much money will be allowed for each part of your marketing budget. Always be aware of your financial situation. There are several creative and unique promotional techniques that can be used in your internet marketing plan, which will not break your bank. Ironically, many have discovered that several of the low-cost marketing methods are just as useful as the more expensive ones.

Message boards and forums have taken over cyberspace. Joining these forums and discussion groups is another excellent way to market on a budget. Engage in groups related to your chosen service or program. Frequently posting questions and answers will build your reputation in the business community, while at the same time, advertising your services. This form of internet marketing has grown to be one of the most effective methods.

E-mail marketing has been coined as one of the most cost-efficient internet marketing methods. To utilize this marketing technique to the fullest, you must first establish a broad e-mail or newsletter list. This list will keep your customers up to date with all of your programs and services. The only problem with this form of marketing is the issue of SPAM. Be sure that each person on your list has requested to receive e-mails from you. If too many complaints are received, your web site could be closed down, and your business could be in danger.

Original source: Internet Marketing on a Budget.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing, The Main Source of Traffic

For a successful internet marketing strategy one must first have a product that they can market and a website to promote that product on. From that point on internet marketing takes over. The purpose of internet marketing is to promote a product in the most creative means possible.

The first step is to get the website of the product some traffic. The best way to accomplish this is to get the website on some search engines. Having your website come up in a search will do wonders. Make sure to think of as many keywords as possible to allow your website come up. Another good way to produce more traffic is to recruit affiliates, having them add links to their websites that will bring them back to yours. You can go to specific businesses that you know of already or use databases that have companies listed with them that are willing to make new affiliate relationships.

If your website is kept in your customers mind this will bring more repeat traffic. To do this, send a newsletter out to them, monthly at the very least, reminding customers that your website is still up and running and you are more than happy to do business with them. Use some of your favorite websites as examples. What is it that they do to get you to keep coming back to them to give them your money?

If things still seem a bit hazy there is always the option of internet marketing courses. Many of which are offered on the internet. In these classes a student will learn the ins and outs of terms, plans and little known secrets of the internet marketing world. At the end of the courses a student should be fully prepared to take on the challenge that lies ahead of them.

There is always the option of having someone do the work for you. There are several internet marketing agencies out there that will think of strategies of ways to promote your growing business. Some will even test your product with a consumer panel to best optimize your business.

Through imaginative internet marketing your business will flourish. It just takes a little ingenuity to get things off and running and before you know it your business will be booming.

Original source: Internet Marketing, The Main Source of Traffic.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing - How Important Is Web 2.0 To Your Business?

Have you ever heard the word "folksonomie"? It's a combination of the words folks and taxonomy, and it's another word for tagging or social bookmarking. Sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, and Propeller are only three of the many dozens of sites popping up all over the Internet. There are sites for tagging almost any type of content, too, such as video, audio, graphic, or written. And unlike traditional search, where you get comprehensive results back for terms, social bookmarking sites give you results based on what people have tagged and made popular with their votes.

The bookmarking and social interaction sites are labeled "Web 2.0," and they also include video sites, podcasting sites, wikis, and every blog on the planet. What makes the sites in Web 2.0 different from the rest of the Web is that the content in them is all user generated. Think of My Space, Facebook, and Flickr. When You Tube was sold to Google last year for more than $1.6 million, people started paying closer attention.

You can tag blog posts, web pages, and other written content at places like del.icio.us, BlinkList, or Scuttle. Share photos at sites like Flickr, and videos at Google Video or You Tube. There are Web 2.0 sites for every type of medium. Here's how it works: You see a great blog entry here, for example. You can go down to the bottom of the post, and click one of the bookmarking buttons for Netscape (now Propeller), Furl, or Ma.gnolia. When you're taken to those sites, assuming you're a member, you'll fill in a description of the post and you'll tag it using appropriate keywords. So, for this post, you might choose the tags, Internet marketing, Web 2.0, and social bookmarking. What makes this so cool is that your tags are open to the public, unless you specify that you don't want them to be, so that other taggers can see them.

Think of tagging as being related to search. It's just a natural complement. You get some pretty great results from Google, but they won't necessarily be the sites that people are enjoying the most, though they may be the most relevant. Social bookmarking allows you to see popular pages.

Web 2.0 is a great viral marketing technique for your Internet marketing business, too, if you go about tagging your own posts and the posts of others. Just be sure that you're transparent about what you're doing, and avoid spamming. If a site forbids tagging your own material, then don't do it. You could be banned for life from the site, and you don't know how important to your Internet marketing business it might become in the future. I doubt that anyone suspected that Google would be tops in search way back in 1998 when it was just starting.

You won't always find what you're looking for when you search the tagging sites, but you should be in there getting familiar with the territory for the sake of your Internet marketing business. Subscribe to several sites and notice how people are tagging your products and services. What makes this great is that you can use the taggers as a control group and it won't cost you a single dime. Internet marketing businesses who aren't using Web 2.0 to some degree are really missing the boat. Be sure yours isn't one of them.

Original source: Internet Marketing - How Important Is Web 2.0 To Your Business?.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing: Watch The Feedback

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Amazon does it, so does ebay and hundreds of other online businesses – now brick and mortar stores are finding online feedback to be an incredible tool in quickly locating the products that perform well along with products that may need to be pulled from the shelf.

By allowing customers the opportunity to provide instant feedback in product reviews companies are gaining a much better picture of consumer buying habits than simply waiting to see if consumers returned for a repeat purchase of a product.

Online business is learning a great deal from customers as to products that exceed expectations and others that have inherent flaws the company had no knowledge of.

At first blush it may seem that such an open invitation to feedback may be detrimental to the success of your company, especially if the feedback is negative. However, since business has been used to learning of customer's likes or dislikes by hearing from them first-hand, the use of feedback can seem a bit frightening. However, for the customer it feels like a safe, third party means of letting your voice be heard.

Sure, others will see the product review and it may negatively affect their purchasing decision, but it may be a quick way for a business to come to terms with the lack of performance and quality of a product you may have been considering restocking.

Your response to the customer's feedback allows the customer to feel their voice was important and their opinions did count in how you do business and what offerings you make available online.

When you allow independent reviews to be posted online you will likely discover increased sales. Why? Because the majority of online customers tend to place a higher value on the opinions of people who do not work for the company. They've spent so many hours listening to a variety of sales pitches that to have an actual customer provide a glowing recommendation means more than a well crafted sales pitch.

When negative product reviews come in early and often you may have discovered a flawed product that can be submarined before it becomes a problem product. By releasing the tools needed to empower your customer with a voice, you may well find that the voice is largely positive. In turn, that largely positive voice can became a rather inexpensive sales tool. Finally, that inexpensive sales tool may result in a long-term customer relationship because you listened to customer concerns and addressed the issues quickly.

Original source: Internet Marketing: Watch The Feedback.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing Strategies To Make Your Business Successful

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If you own your own internet business and you need new marketing strategies, you may want to begin with strategies that have been proven successful with others. When you have your own online business, you want to use the marketing strategies that will bring you the very best results. There are many strategies available for internet marketing; however, the following strategies have proven successful and effective many times over.

Marketing Strategy #1 – Search Engine Optimization

One of the most successful marketing strategies for your internet business that will help you market both products and services is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is used to optimize your site so it will be easily found on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. If you want to use this internet marketing strategy effectively, you need to understand how SEO works. For those who are unfamiliar with SEO and how it works, hiring a SEO professional may be helpful.

Marketing Strategy #2 – Newsletters

Another very helpful internet marketing strategy is e-newsletter marketing, which has proven to be quite successful for many marketers. You can allow site visitors to sign up for emails, which will allow you to send periodic newsletters that will give them updates and special offers that will help to bring them back to your site again. When using this marketing strategy, it is highly important that you only send out newsletters to those who sign up.

Marketing Strategy #3 – Pay Per Click Ads

One excellent method of internet marketing that it is cost-effect and easy involves using pay per click ads. There are various programs with search engines that will allow you to have your ad show up when specific keywords are searched for. The best thing about this type of marketing is that you only pay when your ad is clicked. Some have found this to be an extremely effective marketing strategy and it is reasonably priced as well.

Marketing Strategy #4 – Link Exchanging

One of the lesser known strategies used for internet marketing involves link exchanging. This marketing method involves having various websites exchange their links. You may want to ask another website to add a link to your site, and then you in return will add their link to your website as well. This method can be beneficial for both websites involved and it not only will help to provide more visitors to your website, but it will also help improve your search engine rank too.

Marketing Strategy #5 – Web Banners

Another effective method of internet marketing is the web banner. You can purchase advertising space on other websites such as relevant sites and ezines, and in this space you will have your ad appear. It is important that you have an attractive ad that will entice visitors to click on it to visit your site.

All of these strategies have been very effective for many internet marketers and have brought about amazing results. It is important that you pick the strategies that will work best for your business and the ones that will be most affordable to you as well. While there are many different marketing methods to choose from, using the methods that have shown the best results is often the best way to go.

Original source: Internet Marketing Strategies To Make Your Business Successful.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing: A Look At The Basics - The Internet Marketing Course

Copyright 2006 Donovan Baldwin

You know, I have been an internet marketer for almost ten years now. I have reached a point where I actually support myself, and quite well, I might add, from my internet businesses.

It wasn't always so. I made a lot of dumb, and sometimes ignorant (the two are not the same) mistakes along the way. Somehow, I managed to learn enough about internet marketing to get successful at it in spite of myself. However, in the process, I paid for a lot of junk and wasted my time on a lot of things that didn't work. I usually refer to this as "accidental tuition".

As a result, I get a little irked when someone approaches me, or posts a message on a forum, saying or implying that they want to get into or have found an internet business that "makes money" or "guarantees" success. I have found that a successful internet business is just like the brick-and-mortar kind. It takes dedication, motivation, inspiration, hard work…and sometimes blind luck.

A successful internet marketing strategy is just like its non-internet business counterpart. It is made up of several factors, and does not simply consist of putting a guy on the sidewalk with a sign on a stick, or building a website and submitting it to search engines. Most people would not expect the sign on the stick to work marketing miracles, but, probably in internet ignorance, they tend to believe the website + search engine = success scenario.

Many who read this article think that way, at least until they read what I wrote in the paragraph above this one. Despite the negativity of the previous paragraph, however, I am not trying to discourage anyone from forming an internet business or diving into the internet marketing pool. It's fun in here, and the more the merrier! I DO want to dispel unrealistic expectations of what is involved in running an internet business in general, and what is involved in internet marketing in particular.

A point I am gradually sneaking up on is that, like many things in life, successful internet marketing may not be as simple as it looks. Nor will one single strategy work for every internet business at all times. It will be necessary to learn many things and some, which may seem simple and basic, may need to be modified to meet the needs of each unique internet business. The bright side is that many techniques are tried and true and will probably serve anyone well, although they might work better for one business than another.

Internet marketing itself can seem relatively simple. You start with a good product or service, create quality marketing vehicles (most important being the website), and then you lead people to the website. In fact, that's all that internet marketing is about…getting interested people to your website.

How do you do that? Well, that's where things get complicated. You can use Pay-Per-Click search engines, search engine optimization, opt-in mailing lists, free gifts, business cards, flyers, contests, rewards! The list is bounded only by your imagination.

There are four basic ways to acquire the mass of background information you need for a successful internet marketing strategy:

1. Go through the internet university of hard knocks, like I, and so many others, have. The tuition is high, and it will probably take you a few years to get your diploma.

2. Go into research. That is, read everything you can find on the internet, running an internet business, and internet marketing. This too will take a long period of time, and you will still probably have to go out of pocket as you test your learning at various points.

3. Find a mentor. There are people on the internet who have been successful and who share this information with others. Quite often, even they charge a fee, but your opportunity for success might be higher. However, it is difficult to find someone to be your mentor. They are running their own businesses.

4. Take an internet marketing course. If you can find the right course, even though you will have to pay for the course, the information you can glean can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars as you wade into the fast running stream of internet business opportunities. I have taken three of these courses myself, and wish I had known of their existence when I first started trying to make money on the internet. I could have save thousands of dollars and hours of time, and an immeasurable amount of frustration.

Simply taking an internet marketing course will not guarantee you success, of course. In fact, you will begin to realize how many ways you can fail! However, you will learn important lessons that you can use to create a successful internet business. I do NOT recommend trying to learn it on your own.

Original source: Internet Marketing: A Look At The Basics - The Internet Marketing Course.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Ecommerce Business - Internet Marketing

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If you were to ask any Internet business owner about how well organized their operations are, they'll more than likely say, Possibly not.

In fact, many organizations throw up an expensive website using all the latest bells and whistles, only to find it a generally unsatisfying experience. Apart from the technical versus sales and marketing issues of the website itself, many organizations, both in terms of appropriate behaviors, as well as of effective organizational designs has been sadly neglected by many established site owners.

You may have a business site with dedicated Web staff, yet it is poorly integrated within your parent organization and tasked with non-defined roles.

A simple question needs to be asked, Do you have a networking group directed by a chief Web officer and composed of dedicated staff for each business function? If not, then depending upon your organizations' size and abilities, you'll need to implement such a group or outsource those functions.

Typically, many conventional site owners have acquired organizational habits that are not well aligned to the needs of internet marketing. It should be noted there are various undesirable traits or behaviors found in many organizations that must be guarded against.

 

You might find that increasing complexity in your company has resulted in inflexibility and slow decision making processes. There is also a tendency towards internal conflict and stratification, as well as a leadership that would tend to emphasize capital investment as a solution to all problems.

 

The movement towards networking with a specific group, which characterizes a typical consumer goods business, will carry with it limited coordination among your departments and divisions resulting in a weakened sense of market trends and increased dissatisfaction.

 

These features are in direct conflict with what you should know about the cultural characteristics of pure successful ecommerce businesses. An Internet business is predominantly a flat organization with quick decision making, where risk taking is encouraged and failure is merely an education.

 

Employees may tend to work long hours at the office by choice and are very self disciplined. Typically, such companies use guiding principles rather than procedures and tend to lead by example. When these two types of cultural environments are brought together, unexpected and perhaps dysfunctional behaviors must be expected to emerge.

Given the cultural and organizational differences between new and old ecommerce businesses, the way in which you, as an established site owner should set up and manage Internet operations, is therefore extremely important.

 

One factor to consider, is that small Internet businesses are more flexible organizationally. You should consider that ecommerce has provided greater electronic quality for smaller businesses in relation to their larger competitors.

 

You will need an increased willingness to seek appropriate alliances and partnerships, plus consider organizational designs, company spin-offs, etc., that will provide convergence to the integrated business model required to overcome these mismatches in culture and outlook.

 

The many advantages derived from the Internet must be exploited both within and between existing sectors of your offline business. With the ways in which networked organizations are evolving, it should be realized that only those retaining an Internet culture, in a parallel or networking group style of operation, closely identifies with the ecommerce aspects of a business'overall objectives will become more successful.

Original source: Internet Ecommerce Business - Internet Marketing.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing: 5 Reasons Why Your Business Must Have an Online Presence

The Internet has officially changed the face of business and in case no one has done this for you already, let me be the first to formally welcome you to the "Information Age", or should we call it the "Internet Age".

The Internet is simply not a fad or a flavor of the week. It is the real deal and it is here to stay. It may morph in one way, shape, or form however, it is here to stay and the most successful businesses are taking advantage of it.

So why exactly should you take your business online? Although there are tons of reasons, here are 5 key ones:

1. It is expected. Quite simply, the Internet is one the first (if not the first) places people look to find out more about you, your business, and/or your product. They look for your website as well as information they can find out about you from other websites. Yes, I dare say it, in 99.9% of the cases, it will damage your credibility to some degree with a prospect if you cannot be found out there.

2. It is cheap. Never in history has a marketing medium been available to all businesses, no matter the size of their company or bank account that afforded them so much possibility for success.

Obviously money if applied properly can increase your results on the Internet; however, you really can get started with little or no money. Skeptical, just read some of the books from the "Guerrilla Marketing" series by Jay Conrad Levinson.

3. It is immediate. Face it. We live in a world of instant gratification. We want everything yesterday. If something is not immediately available, we just may lose interest or worse yet get it from somewhere else – like your competition.

4. It is 24/7. The Internet simply never sleeps. Having and implementing an effective Internet strategy can be like having a well tuned marketing and sales force that continues to do your bidding around the clock.

5. It is global. Why limit your business to the 15 minute radius surrounding your office? Your current competition certainly isn't and new competitors are seemingly coming out of nowhere every day.

Look at the Internet as a means to allow you to share your genius with prospects who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to experience what you have to offer.

So in closing, what's the best advice I can muster up on this topic? Make a sincere effort to understand the Internet and the sheer power and opportunity it brings to your business. Create a plan of attack and get in the game. Play on the grandest court available today, the Internet!

© 2005 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.

Original source: Internet Marketing: 5 Reasons Why Your Business Must Have an Online Presence.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing Tips For Acupuncturists

marketing acupuncture, acupuncture, acupuncture business, business coaching, market your business,

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Is it true that the internet can be a powerful resource for building your acupuncture practice? Absolutely! There is nothing better than a steady stream of patients contacting you without you having to do the constant legwork to bring them in.

Many acupuncturists, including myself, use the internet as one of the primary means to bring new patients in the door.

But very few of us are really tapping into the unlimited potential that the internet has to offer. In fact, I would guess that about 10% of the hundreds of alternative health sites I have seen offer the total package that makes the viewer want what is being offered right NOW. Why?

COPYWRITING 101

Copywriting is basically sales speak. It is a way of communicating that makes people want to buy from you. Joe Vitale, one of the stars of the movie the Secret and a master marketer, calls this hypnotic writing. Basically, you want your reader to be hypnotized by the power and persuasion of your writing. How do you do this?

Write from their perspective. Get into their ego and solve the problems they may be having. Always do this instead of talking about yourself! How many sites have I seen where the homepage is all about the practice, the philosophy, etc. NO! Talk to that reader, solve their problems right away, ease their mind.

It's all about the benefits vs. the features. Talk about the benefits you reader will receive when they see you, not the features of your practice. They don't care about that yet. They only want to know if you can solve their problem. And, on the internet, where everyone has A.D.D. you have about 3 seconds to do this. So the copy has to be hypnotic! Get them to pay attention.

Also, make sure that you have a call to action on your home page. Many sites have a ton of good information, but it does not naturally guide the viewer to take immediate action.

If you write from the perspective of solving your patients problems, not only for your website but in ALL of your marketing materials, your success level will go nowhere but up.

There is more to a site that sells than copywriting, but that is a HUGE piece of the puzzle. Infuse all of your marketing materials with this approach and you will undoubtedly find them to be much more effective. Take it a step further and learn how to speak to your patients in this way. Getting into their ego and seeing life through their eyes is one of the hallmarks of being both a skilled practitioner and an astute marketer.

Kevin Doherty, L.Ac., MS is a licensed acupuncturist in private practice and a business coach to acupuncturists all around North America. Kevin has helped many acupuncturists overcome a variety of obstacles to success. Be sure to opt in to his website to receive a FREE chapter of his ebook Build Your Dream Practice: A Success Manual For Alternative Healthcare Providers. Go to http://www.buildyourdreampractice.net to learn more.

Original source: Internet Marketing Tips For Acupuncturists.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing And List Building: Use Who You Are

internet marketing, list building, articles

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List building is definitely the foundation of successful Internet marketing. Do you know one of the best ways to be list building?

Writing and submitting articles.

Articles can create some interest for your website or your service because you have an air of expertise when you're the author of several articles with great information in the online directories. You'll have credibility in your niche, and people will trust you and become interested in you and your business. Just be sure that your article leaves people wanting more.

Do you watch television? Try the show "Lost" sometime. I don't actually watch much TV, but I do watch "Lost" at ABC.com. Watch the first show there, and just try not to watch the second. It won't happen. The show is interesting and entertaining and it always leaves you wanting to know what's going to happen next.

Every good TV show works that way. The best ones are good at keeping us in suspense, and isn't that a lot like Internet marketing? We need to keep people guessing so that people are drawn to follow us. Create that feeling with your articles. Leave your audience with questions, and set up a whole bunch of list building pages, if you have to, and answer each question on a new page. You can do that.

You have to gauge whether you're list building through your articles. Credibility, bonding with an audience, or branding doesn't make much difference, if you aren't getting hits to your list building page. That's just not good Internet marketing. Articles need to bring traffic to your website and help you with list building. Does that make sense?

What if you're Irish or German or whatever nationality? Why not tie your online business into that nationality? Create a connection to an audience. You might be a retired airline pilot, a nurse, whatever. Decide what's special about yourself and the way you do things.

My name is Tellman Knudson and because I'm obviously Scandinavian, I get lots of Scandinavian people signing up for my list. It's great! But I never marketed specifically to Scandinavian people, but what would happen if I did? I'd probably be very successful in that community. Use the things that are special about yourself, create some drama in your articles, and you'll find yourself list building and becoming very successful with Internet marketing, to boot.

Original source: Internet Marketing And List Building: Use Who You Are.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing – Long Term Strategy

Once your site is up and running, the best method for getting immediate traffic is pay-per-click search engine marketing. Although you have to be patient, you should also be focusing on search engine optimization as a long term strategy.

Search Engine Optimization – "SEO"

Search engine optimization, or "seo" as it is better known, is the definitive long term Internet marketing strategy. So, what is it? Seo simply refers to taking steps to make sure your site appears high in non-paid search results on Google, Yahoo and MSN.

The reason seo is considered a long term strategy is…well, it takes a long time. If your marketing is focusing on highly competitive keywords, such as "Europe travel", there is so much competition that you could be looking at two or three years before getting top rankings. The time period is really a factor of how fast you can build links. Sometimes you can move up within 6 months, but sometimes it takes a few years.

Is it worth it to wait for 2 years to get into the top five for "Europe travel"? There are over 2,000,000 searches a month for the keyword phrase. What do you think? If you offer a service or product related to traveling in Europe, how much money would you make if even 1 million people visited your site each month? Think about that.

The Big Three

There are three, and only three, search engines that matter when it comes to seo – Google, Yahoo and MSN. What about Alta Vista, etc.? They simply don't have enough traffic to make them worth pursuing.

There are four keys to seo. First, you must research the amount of traffic various keywords are receiving. Second, you must modify your site to include the exact keywords phrases in the meta tagging and text. Third, you must add and add and add content to your site. The more content, the more the big three will like your site. Finally, you must trade links with other sites that have content related to your site.

The keys to pursuing a seo marketing strategy are discipline and patience. Let's take a quick look at each.

You must have the discipline to stick with your seo effort when you are seeing no results. The desire to throw one's arms in the air in frustration is going to be strong. Just remember that every step you take today will pay off down the road.

Patience balances feelings of frustration and you are going to have a lot of those. Look, it is going to take a long time, so resist the urge to whine. Stick a sign up over your desk counting off the months or have a regular exercise routine. If nothing else, you can day dream about all of the free traffic you are going to get one day.

Search engine optimization is not for the weak of mind or impatient. If you can stick with it, this long term marketing strategy always pays off.

Original source: Internet Marketing – Long Term Strategy.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Interesting Preliminary Results On Headlines

Soon, I'll do a large study on headlines using a list of profitable and unprofitable sites. However, I have been running some split tests and have seen some interesting results in the last week or so. The sample size is small (3 sites), but all three split tests agreed on the following factors:

1. Blue (#000080) is winning over black by a small margin on all three sites. I hadn't expected that. I use dark blue just because I like it and the large study showed that any dark color was fine as long as it wasn't red. Green just never appealed to me and I wanted some color in my sales letter, so I've been going with that dark blue. Because darkness was important in the large study, I expected black to win over blue. It's a nice result to see that I'm not doing the 2nd place thing in this case.

2. Serif fonts (Times New Roman in the tests) are winning over sans-serif fonts (Arial in the tests). That makes no sense to me. Everyone knows that headlines should be sans-serif and regular text should be serif; right? That's just basic typography info. In fact, I think sans-serif fonts were specifically created for headlines. Well; it appears that isn't the case for sales copy. Times New Roman is winning over Ariel in number of conversions in three different split tests.

3. I've been using size 6 fonts for headlines. It's a fairly large size and it just feels right. Size 7 is just too large. Not so say the split test results. Size 7 has an average of 24% more conversions than size 6 in the split tests I've been performing.

I'll eventually do a real study on a few thousand profitable and unprofitable sites and have a conclusive answer to all three of the above questions.

I thought you might find the results interesting as I did though, so there you go… for what it's worth.

Original source: Interesting Preliminary Results On Headlines.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Increase Website exposure with Forum Marketing

The VERY FIRST STEP in driving traffic to your website is through what is commonly referred to as Online Forum Marketing. Online Forums are very interactive web pages that allow you as a registered user to read, interact and participate in discussions about a certain topic of interest.You would do everything you can to participate in as many discussions as you can about your favorite topic, wouldn't you?

The reason is because with these 'discussion groups', you realize that this is your opportunity to learn as much as you can from these people in the shortest amount of time! and more importantly, you can establish your credibility as an authority on your chosen topic!

Forum Etiquette – Every forum has its own set of rules. It is your duty as a member to find out what is acceptable and what is not. This can include how to set up your signature. Do they allow links? If so how many? How long can your signature be? Some forums do not allow you to post links that are of certain type of nature. This can include links to porn sites, gambling sites or even affiliate links. What is the general subject matter of the forum? If using a Homeworker Ideas forum for instance, don't post things that are off topic unless they have a specific thread for that. There are forums that do not allow discussions of a political nature or discussion of religious topics. Even others discourage talking about specific products and companies.

The bottom line is that each forum is different and if you are to be an outstanding member, you have to play by the rules. If you don't, you might get slapped and even publicly humiliated. That doesn't amount to good marketing.

In conclusion, the best way to market yourself in a forum is to not really market yourself at all but rather to be a consistent member that contributes quality and substance to the community. When your motive is to help others, contribute good content and become an integral part of a community, you end up marketing yourself without even trying.

When you start participating in various forums, you'll notice the various Signature Boxes on the bottom of the majority of the comments posted by forum members. You'll also notice that after you read a member posting that intrigues you, you'll find yourself clicking on the link of that particular member's signature.

Just like that, you just created a click through to that particular member's website!

When you simply register for your first online forum, the VERY FIRST THING you should do is create your 'Signature'. As mentioned in the section above, a Signature is basically what is used at the end of email messages to give your recipient that 'feeling of credibility' about you. However the SAME THING could be accomplished by adding that signature at the end of EVERY SINGLE ONE of your forum posts.

This is one of MANY times you're going to hear me teach you about the importance of your CREDIBILITY when marketing your product or service online.

Your first major accomplishment as an Internet Marketer is to first ESTABLISH your credibility. As you are well aware, the Internet is enormous – and being able to establish even a small amount of credibility is a major complishment, and COMPLETELY doable! Do everything you can to use Online Forums as your first step in establishing your online credibility! Why not, it's free! Warning!

Forums are VERY interactive in nature, with back-and-forth replying from just ONE particular post lasting for weeks and months at a time! You should post as frequently as possible: 2-3 times a week in as many as 5 different forums.

Try not to spend a tremendous amount of time on the forums. Just simply log in, locate your prior posts to check out any possible responses, respond if necessary, then go ahead submit your NEW POST, maybe read a few other members' posts, then LOG OUT!

Forums could be VERY ADDICTIVE if you let them effect you in that way. Millions of other forum members around the world find themselves investing TOO MUCH TIME in forums. So don't forget the reason why you are a forum member – that is to learn as much as you can, and DRIVE TARGETED TRAFFIC to YOUR WEBSITE! Another reason why you want to be careful in forums is because, depending on the forum, it may be a case of 'the blind leading the blind'. You'll notice that the MOST SUCCESSFUL internet marketers may not even exist in the forums anymore because of this.

Just to remind you, When you are just starting your internet marketing career, establishing your positive professional credibility is your first and main concern. Forums are one of the most PERFECT places to accomplish this goal. However, as your credibility starts to rise and you start to 'brand' yourself, you may make the decision whether or not you still want to invest your valuable time in the forums. This is completely up to you and your business.

Your Action Step for driving massive amounts of targeted traffic to your website using Forum Marketing TODAY! Simply sign up and register for as many RELEVANT forums as you can, insert your Signature Box, and publish your first posts! Don't hesitate to involve yourself with 3-5 separate forums – of course the more the merrier! The first step is to modify your profile to include your Signature Box. When you create your first post, make sure you can 'preview' your post to make sure your Signature Box appears. Don't forget to make sure your website link is WORKING, then post away my friend!

Original source: Increase Website exposure with Forum Marketing.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing – How Newbie Can Lay Foundations Of Success

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As a newbie in Internet Marketing each of us has faced an uphill task; the task of seeing money come to us quickly. The thirst to see money in one's account before one can start full throttle in the business. Each of us indulging in the business of income through internet desire: a checklist method of working, predictable hours of input, a foretold time when income would start and the timetable of amount of income to expect. I have some Dos and Don'ts for you.

Remember that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, hence follow one course at one time – do not get attracted to too many pop-ups or other advertisements that will chase you on your way. Lucrative advertisements will call you – promising the moon BUT be careful. You have to apply yourself and experiment intelligently. Do not throw away your money. Studying available literature is the key to sound foundation before starting any business. This is the first & foremost investment that you have to make. Without it your other investments in form of time or money may go waste. Navigation is started after mastering the basics otherwise accidents are bound to follow. Today programmes with multiple income streams are in vogue as compared to single income streams. Slow & long term residual income is desirable rather than a one shot fast buck.

I can suggest to you few ways to read and build your basics.

Subscribe to a reliable free newsletter. Several free newsletters are available to you on the net. They get delivered regularly in your email and guide you in several ways to strengthen your knowledge about web business.

You can also read ebooks, several are downloadable free. These ebooks can turnout to be your philosopher and guide. They can virtually catch you by your hand and take you to your goal. Several are in step by step guideline format. They may prove to be a goldmine for beginners who want to start but have no directions. They also protect you from making mistakes that prove to be costly and may be inevitable when you are new in this field.

You can subscribe to blogs or attend web forums. Both are full of rich knowledge for beginners. They help you identify scams and expose you to common problems faced by most. The good thing is that solutions can also be found right there in these resources.

Reading all the above like a course in your graduation and examining yourself for retained knowledge and skills can prove to be your biggest asset. Applying them in business to ensue will differentiate you like a professional from a layman. You will need less help, you will waste less time, you will be confident of your decisions and you will be sure of your success.

I wish you all the very best in your endeavors and am sure that success will come your way if you keep your cool; read and take guidance; start after a foundation has been laid and do not be in an undue hurry to either spend or to earn.

Original source: Internet Marketing – How Newbie Can Lay Foundations Of Success.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing for Clothing Stores Online

Do you run an online clothing store? If you do, you know that the best way to make more money with the inventory that you have is by getting as many customers to the store as possible. Clothing is a seasonal business. People like to buy spring clothing in the spring and warm clothing in the winter, so you only have a short period of time during which you need to move your inventory.

So how can you sell the most clothing online in the shortest period of time? Use these tips to make more money with your online clothing store:

- Define the target market for the clothing that you sell. Sometimes the target market is more or less obvious. If you sell women's tops and skirts, your target market is most likely women.

Sometimes the target market is not as obvious. If you sell clothing for kids who are 5-10 years old, your target market is not the kids themselves, but rather their parents. The parents are the ones who are going to shop online and spend money on clothing that you sell.

If you sell shirts and pants for men, both men and women might be your target market. Men are likely to shop for clothing that you offer since it is designed for them. However, women in their lives are also likely to shop and purchase clothing for men, so women will shop at men's clothing stores as well.

- Show off the clothing in the best possible light. When people buy clothing, they really want to see how it looks; sometimes they even want to see how the clothes look on others. Make sure that you have high quality pictures of clothing on your web site.

- Provide as much information as possible about clothing. When people shop for clothing online they cannot try it on before buying. Therefore, they are looking for as much information about the clothing as possible.

Can the piece be laundered or is it dry clean only? What are all the measurements? What kind of material is the clothing made from?

By providing as much information as possible about the clothing on the web site, you will give you web site visitors more reasons to purchase what you have to offer.

- Optimize your clothing web site for search engines. When people are looking for clothing online, they are searching for them using search engines. If you optimize your web site for search engines, you will be able to get these people to your web site to buy the clothing that you are selling. Search engine optimization is the process of modifying web page content and meta-information to improve the search engine ranking of the page. Meta-information includes certain HTML tags (title, heading, emphasized text, keyword and description meta-tags), as well as the internal (links between pages on the same site) and external (links between pages on different sites) link structure of a web site.

Optimizing your web site helps you improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic looking for clothing to your web site.

The Internet is a great place to sell clothing. By using the tips above you will be able to get more clients and sell more clothing online.

Original source: Internet Marketing for Clothing Stores Online.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing Secret - How to Double Your Sales Overnight

What if you could double your sales overnight by applying just one Internet marketing secret?

One of the greatest secrets of direct marketing is that it is scientific. With many forms of advertising, you cannot tell which ad or marketing campaign produced the results. But smart direct marketers know exactly which ad or sales letter produced what results because the results are tracked and measured.

Direct marketers have a secret they have been using to double their income – or more – for a hundred years. And when this marketing secret is combined with the power and speed of Internet marketing, the results can be phenomenal. It is not an exaggeration to say that you could potentially double your sales overnight with this one Internet marketing secret.

What's the secret? Split testing. This is done by using a "key" to associate a sale with the ad or sales letter that produced the sale so that you can measure the results. In a print ad, you might provide a phone number with an extension. The extension is actually the key. You would have two ads or sales letters, each with a different key, and would then track the results using their respective keys. Internet marketers typically use tracking software to associate a key with the resulting sales, although it can be done as simply as having two sales pages and tracking the sales from each.

For accurate results, you need a test that is big enough that you can rely on your statistics. For example, with a direct mail sales letter this is generally considered to be a mailing of at least 1000. Internet marketers can substitute 1000 page views. Either way, once you know what results you can consistently expect from an ad or sales letter, it becomes what direct marketers call your "control." You always need to have one control that produces known results. Then you can test other versions against the control to see if you can consistently beat the results of the control.

Suppose that you have a Web sales letter that consistently produces an average of 10 sales for every 1000 times the page is viewed. This is a 1% response, a figure that is often cited as average for a direct response sales letter.

Now you need to test one variable at a time to see if you can increase the percentage of sales. For example, you may want to test the sales letter with a different headline, a different graphic, a different price, different bonuses, different text, etc. But always only test one variable at a time. Generally, the headline is considered to be the most important element to test first.

What you want to determine is whether any change in a single variable will consistently produce a higher response. The payoff can be quite significant. Imagine if a different headline was determined to produce a 2% response. That doesn't sound like much of a change – only 1% more. But this would double your sales! Instead of making 10 sales out of a thousand, you would be making 20 sales.

This is a very realistic scenario, so you always want to test against your control. The better your control, the more tests will fail to beat it. But once you find a sales letter that consistently beats the control, then you make it the new control and continue with testing another variation of the headline or a different variable. Perhaps you might next test whether the color of the headline makes a difference. Suppose that changing the color of the headline resulted in another 1% increase in sales to a 3% response rate. This would be another 50% increase in sales and would be triple the number of sales averaged from the original sales letter!

It is very easy to be complacent with a working sales letter and not test further, but this can be a costly mistake. Any change in a variable could result in higher profits. For example, suppose that you determined that you consistently had a 1% response rate when selling your product for $97 but a 2% response rate when selling the product for $67. For every 1000 page views, you would make $970 at $97 per sale but $1340 at $67 per sale.

Always track your response rate, always keep split testing against your control looking for a new control, and always consider the bottom line – your net profit. Many tests will fail – they will not beat your control. But once you have a successful test that consistently beats your control, you will likely have significantly increased your income. Without split testing, you will never know how much money you are losing. But with this Internet marketing secret, you can potentially double your sales overnight.

Original source: Internet Marketing Secret - How to Double Your Sales Overnight.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Increase Your Exposure Through Trade Journals

Specializing in niche markets creates a powerhouse of ongoing business through word-of-mouth of advertising. Once you have achieved a position within a certain niche, that industry will begin to talk about you as the leading expert in your field. For instance if you are a web designer begin cultivating relationships through specific industries such as the gourmet food industry, private pilot industry, etc. Every single business has its trade organizations and publications for which they stay on top of their own trends. Break into these arenas and you will find rich resources for building your sales.

Begin by deciding which arenas you can be most effective. For instance if you are a search engine doctor it is certainly possible to work with anyone coming online. However, if you have a certain love of animals, a natural connection will be made through the pet industry. These industries have publications that are read by these types of business owners. Begin targeting these publications for advertising, article submissions, etc. By speaking their language and sharing their passion, you will have an instant connection.

Set yourself up as the expert in the niche industry of your choice. Look for publicity avenues that might be available through those trades. It is often much easier to get recognized in a trade than it is in a mainstream publication. Trades are constantly looking for content that will educate and inspire their business readers. Keep in mind when pitching that you are indeed speaking to business people and not the average consumer off the street. This means that your approach must be more sophisticated and educational. It is vital that you provide content that will make a significant difference in their everyday business ventures.

Create a specialized press kit that targets each niche trade publication and will speak "their" language. Make one-page pitches to the editors with a follow up call in about one week. Be polite and helpful. Offer your expertise and don't be afraid to share trade secrets. It will endear you to the editor and create more opportunities to get you into print. The fact is that some readers will take your trade secrets and actually use them, but the majority will be dazzled by your knowledge and choose to hire you to do the work. Most business owners recognize that they cannot do everything and wise one stick with what they do best and hire experts to do the rest. So become the expert they cannot do without. What do experts have? Knowledge and visibility.

Trade journals are the most overlooked publicity avenue in the business. This creates a dynamic opportunity for you to make a big impact and bring in mega loads of business while increasing your media attention.

Original source: Increase Your Exposure Through Trade Journals.
http://www.jretechnology.com

Internet Marketing Strategies That Don’t Work

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You've likely read dozens of articles on why you should use certain Internet marketing strategies. The good news is many of them seem to have potential so you begin the art of Internet marketing.

However, this article is intended to point out those Internet marketing strategies that just don't work. I know what you're thinking – you're wondering if you might be on the wrong track and perhaps you've been wasting your time. Hopefully this article will help clear things up for you.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Here is a strategy that just doesn't work (if you don't use it). Far too often online, business owners work hard to develop an SEO strategy that encompasses Meta title information as well as keyword rich content only to abandon the idea at some point. SEO WILL NOT WORK if you don't keep at it.

Calendar of Events – This strategy is also problematic – especially if you list events that were outdated more than a year ago. Usually a calendar of events page starts out with great intentions, but gets lost in the shuffle at some point. If no one updates the calendar and you're not hearing from customers it's quite possible your customers are going elsewhere because the site feels very old somehow. If you are unable to keep up with changing time sensitive information it might be in your best interest to remove it from your site altogether.

Site Design – As a business owner you have the right to fine-tune your website as often as you need to. Right? Well your site design tells your customer a lot about you. If the site looks like it's been thrown together it tells the customer to move along. So, Site Design is a strategy that doesn't work if you don't ultimately care about putting your best face forward.

Glitz & Glam – Many site designers are being deluged with requests for upscale Flash design that may include graphic and animation combinations with a twist of audio thrown in for fun. You might want to ask yourself if the primary target for your site care about content – or a few bells and whistles. If the add-ons don't contribute to the effectiveness of your website in reaching customers it may also be a strategy that is just not useful.

Some Internet marketing strategies don't work because you haven't given them enough time to make an impact. Other Internet marketing strategies may not work with the target audience you are attempting to reach. Finally, there are marketing strategies that don't work because they require consistent upkeep. Learn to tell the difference and your marketing strategies will improve.

Original source: Internet Marketing Strategies That Don't Work.
http://www.jretechnology.com