Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Online Marketing Tips That Will Save Your Advertising Campaign

The field of Internet marketing has undergone numerous changes in recent years. Many are due to increased levels of recognition and the subsequent rejection of marketing tactics by potential customers. As Internet customers become educated about various marketing methods, they increasingly find ways to avoid the advertising.

What can you do to avoid the avoiders? How do you get your message out to consumers who are already wary of any type of advertisement? How do you get them to your website? There are a few online marketing tactics that have proven very successful and they may be simpler than you think.

Email marketing boasts the best advertising ROI. The advertising budget that you spend on email marketing is directly traceable to recorded sales. This doesn't mean spamming will translate into a fat bank account. It means by targeting and sending your audience an active advertisement, you will get better results than you would with a passive advertisement on a website.

The difference between the two -- passive ads and targeted email -- is delivery. An email advertisement conveys a sense of urgency, a prompt to act immediately. Email marketing is priceless for building and maintaining relationships with customers by keeping your brand and products fresh in their minds. Think of it as nearly-effortless lead generation: You put the information out there and prospects act on it because your email sales message has a tangible, irresistible call to action.

On the other hand, passive ads put the customer in control. Prospects decide to navigate their way to a website, read advertisements and click on them if moved to do so. Unless ads are spectacular or very well-placed, chances are most customers will not click them. This is not to say that text and link advertising doesn't work. On the contrary, both are extremely effective lead generation tools. However, ads have to stand out and convey a real sense of value for customers in order for them to take the time to click through.

That brings up another point about online marketing: Links on websites make the modern consumer nervous. Audiences who realize that you are trying to make money from their clicks will be far less likely to click on links on your site, whether they are advertisements or not. One of the best ways to solve this dilemma is to employ a link cloaker.

A link cloaker is an ingenious little plug-in that lets you disguise the target address of links on your site. Ordinarily, when a customer hovers over a link, the status bar will show the target address. Some customers avoid clicking on affiliate links. Others choose to simply open a new browser tab and type the address in directly, which means a loss of income for you. With a link cloaker, the stated target is whatever you want it to be: the name of the target site, your own site address, or some other text chosen by you.

The Internet advertising media has afforded endless opportunities for business. It doesn't matter what type of business either. There is a way to make an online marketing campaign that works using the Internet. The trick is in knowing how to present a campaign so that customers see a clear benefit. Potential customers don’t like being "pitched" But they do appreciate help and advice. Assist your customers in making decisions and you’ll success with spectacular results.

For more Renegade Marketing tips visit my website at:
rjfanucchi.ws

Email questions to:
support@rjfanucchi.ws

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Can Newspaper Advertising Help Your Online Business?

Whether you’re running a small business or a Fortune 500 company, every dollar you spend ought to be seriously considered, especially any spending done for marketing. It doesn’t matter really if you have a limited budget or not. As a rule, you do not spend any of your hard-earned money just for brand identification. The purpose of your marketing campaign is always to get the highest Return On Investment (ROI) possible with plenty of sales.

That’s why choosing the right advertising medium for your business is crucial to your success. The right media vehicle can get you a greater increase in sales and steady profits. It is therefore your duty as a marketer to learn all there is to know about the medium you’re going to use. Is full color printing appropriate or not? What kind of print ad would be most appropriate for your needs?

Here’s one of the most popular media tools that have been used by many business owners and marketers to promote their business. Learning its benefits and drawbacks can help you choose the best medium to accomplish the goals you’ve set for your marketing campaign:

Newspapers

Newspapers are considered the most traditional advertising vehicle to reach both local customers and target clients in cities all over the world. Placing your ads in newspapers affords you the opportunity to reach a wider set of prospects. Depending on the newspaper’s readership, a regular media buy will give you consistent exposure every time. This means that the same target readers can read your ad again and again.

Since you can adjust the size of your ad as well as where you want it placed, you gain advertising flexibility. You can have as large an ad as you need that can tell as much of your message as you want to your target readers.

For the most part, newspaper ads are well accepted marketing options because of their fast turn around. You don’t have to wait more that a few days from creation of your campaign to seeing your ad printed. Since newspapers are published daily, you can even create an ad today and have your target clients reading it tomorrow.

Newspaper advertising, however, can be expensive. If you have a limited budget, that could present a real problem indeed. In addition, because many businesses use this particular medium for advertising, you have to vie for your target readers’ attention. You have to compete not only with the small ads but also with the ads run by big franchisers which often dominate the pages of any newspaper.

You also have to consider the fact that your ad’s life is short – as short as the life of the newspaper because a newspaper is usually read only once and then discarded.

While newspaper advertising can generate sales results, you need to weigh the pros and cons before you decide to run your ad. Depending on your needs, understanding these factors can help you maximize your investment and your results.

For more Renegade Marketing tips visit my website:
rjfanucchi.ws

email questions to:
support@rjfanucchi.ws

Monday, April 21, 2008

Three Home Based Business Marketing Secrets

Marketing is the part of business that no one seems to like. Perhaps that's because it's confusing and made to be even more confusing when you begin to read books on marketing and its applications to the business world. So, are there any secrets that actually work and that you can actually apply to your online business? The answer is yes. There are three home based business marketing secrets that you can keep in mind as you begin this adventure into running your own business - and as you become a success.

Less is More

One of the things that marketing professionals don't tell you is that you really don't need to do as much as you think you do. By simply adopting a strategy of telling as many people as you can, treating each customer with respect, and then repeating this cycle, that's going to bring in a lot of new business. Word of mouth advertising may not get as much press as it once did, but it certainly still works when it comes to smaller home based businesses.

You also want to keep in mind that these marketing secrets don't require a lot of time or a lot of money in order to be effective. Something as simple as adding your website address to your emails is just as effective as running a commercial on TV and a lot less expensive to implement. Think about smaller ways to spread the word instead of bigger ways. Target only the customers that have already shown interest in what you have to sell and you're certain to market for success.

More is Less

You also want to remember that a customer on the Internet these days is accustomed to seeing a lot of advertisements, so they know when they are being 'sold' something. Instead of focusing your messages on sales exclusively, try bringing the customer information they can use - informational articles, etc.

When you put too many advertisements in outgoing emails or you simply push your company too much, you will turn off prospective customers. Even if they are interested in what you have to say, the more you talk to them about the same things, the more they're going to wonder what the 'catch' is and why they should buy from you at all.

Recognize that your customers are smart and that they WILL respond to you, even if you don't tell them about every sale or every feature for your products. You just don't have to beat them over the head with what you want to sell them.

Use Your Home Based Appeal to Bring People to You

By adding a personalized touch to your marketing strategies, you will begin to pull in more customers, almost without trying. So often, online businesses forget that it's their placement and location that allows them to be unique. Instead of downplaying the fact that you work from home, make sure that your customers know it. Show them pictures of your office and pictures of yourself to make the experience more personal. This is a marketing strategy that works no matter what you are selling. Since people aren't meeting you in person, the personalization will do the 'talking' for you, making a customer more comfortable with you.

Try adding a blog to your website that will introduce the kind of person you are and what you are capable of helping a customer with. Or you might want to include a video of yourself talking about your product or a personal story that relates to your product. The Internet can be such an impersonal place, so try to connect with your customer more.

For more Renegade Marketing techniques visit my website:
rjfanucchi.ws

Please email questions to:
support@rjfanucchi.ws

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Online Heads for 10% of Total US Ad Spending

When the going gets tough…Sub-prime mortgage meltdowns. Floundering credit markets. Burst housing bubbles. Trillions wasted in war. Gold hitting $1,000. Tumbling stock markets. Falling payrolls. Oil at record highs. The dollar at record lows.

Is it any wonder that—even in a year of the Olympics and a presidential election—US advertising is struggling?

Almost all US advertising, anyway.

In the midst of the doldrums, like the Energizer Bunny, Internet advertising is still going strong.

”Even if its rate of growth is declining slightly,” says David Hallerman, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, US Online Advertising: Resilient in a Rough Economy. “US online advertising is proving to be far more robust than other media channels.”

eMarketer predicts that this year online advertising will grow to nearly $25.9 billion and account for 8.8% of total US ad spending.

”Even more impressively,” says Mr. Hallerman, “in 2009 online advertising will reach $30 billion and account of fully 10% of all US ad spending.”

It is important to note that even as growth rates decline through 2009, overall Internet ad spending increases will remain in positive territory, the mid-teens or higher through 2011.

”This growth, even if less than before, will surpass all other major media,” says Mr. Hallerman.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking the Internet is impervious to downward economic pressures, however.

”Whatever label you slap on the current economic climate, US ad spending both online and offline will be shaped by overarching business trends,” says Mr. Hallerman. “While Internet ad spending is in no way immune to a recession’s impact, it is more resistant to ad spending cutbacks than are other media.”

For more Renegade Marketing tips visit my website at:
rjfanucchi.ws

email questions to:
support@rjfanucchi.ws

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Boost Your Business With Blogging

Business blog is an incredible online marketing tool that saves you thousands of dollars but provides great business opportunities in just one click. Blogs are user-friendly, customized and flexible medium for disseminating useful information for effective positioning of your products in the market.

Companies engaging in business blogging have a definite edge over its competitors. Here are some advantages:

a) Word-of-Mouth. In a survey, there are currently 14 million blogs with 80,000 more being added each day and about 30 percent of the 50 million users are blog readers. Imagine how much gain your company will have, if your products are advertised through blogs. With Internet, information spreads so quickly especially if an impressive write-up goes with your product. Soon your blogs will be passed on to hundreds of possible customers.

b) Awareness and loyalty. Open communication with your customers creates trust and loyalty among them. Being there to respond to their questions and comments make them all the more willing to try your products and services.

c) Feedback. Blogs is good for product research and reviews. It would be easier to improve on your products if you observe your customers’ thinking and behavioral patterns. You can also take immediate action to your customers’ concerns.

d) Community halo-effect. Bloggers are reasonable, friendly and helpful. They are more than willing to create blogosphere of comments regarding your product. The only thing you have to do is embrace and take active part in the culture and your product will surely be considered in their next stop to the supermarket.

For better marketing results, actively promote your business blogs by submitting your blogs to blog search sites and directories. Do not forget to paste in with your blogs, your URL. Be sure that your blogs contain exclusive information with value and are always updated to keep readers popping in, read up your blog, move on to the next and click on again for updates.

Blog is like a setup booth in the biggest trade show on earth everyday. Marketing possibilities are just around the corner waiting to strike your sale scales up.

The Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds are important too in conjunction with your blogs to get the best benefits. Use effective keyword phrases to generate high ranking status in the search engine traffic. In this way you have better chances of people finding your website leading to your blogs. More traffic means more potential sales.

For this to be successful, you can use RSS for news update feeds which can be read through RSS reader application. This is a very useful tool for business and internet marketers as well.

If you are already convinced with the potentials of business blogs for marketing and targeting sales increase, your company is now ready to start blogging. But first, you have to be in tune with your company’s business objectives and determine if blogging will really help you achieve your goal.

1. Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do’s and don’ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea.

2. Setup several test blogs right away.

If your initial try out with blogs worked well, you can now start setting up your blogs.

1. Study blog design. Blog hosting services provide pre-designed templates. But if you opt for paid blog service, you can ask your artist to design and layout your blog site to match the company’s identity and needs.

2. Choose a topic. Its good to have a line-up of topics you want for your blogs but be sure they are in consonance with your business objectives. This would be a test of your flexibility and open-mindedness since results may be going against the set objectives.

3. Remember the following safety measures in blogging:

legal issues are sometimes involved in blogging; it is safer to include disclaimers and limitations of liabilities; corporate communication and legal department are responsible in educating the senior management on how blogs might affect business; create blogging policies; set limits on who gets to blog and what information are allowed to be made public; avoid outright marketing blog or you will shy away your readers;make content updated, relevant and fresh; reinforce the company’s core values; and,encourage employees to use it.

4. Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

5. Begin marketing.

6. Regularly monitor the coming ins and outs of readers and get updates. Then, measure your results.

7. Adjust if needed. You can always play with your designs in the blog site as long as it remains to match the company’s identity.

8. Strive to be consistent with your topic all the time.

9. Try to have unrelated topics with general and broad appeal.

10. Schedule updates regularly. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday would be best to update blogs.

Once you have done all these things, you can now ultimately enjoy the benefits of business blogging.

For more Renegade Marketing tips visit my website at:
rjfanucchi.ws

email questions to:
support@rjfanucchi.ws

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Social Networking Strategies For Small Businesses

There are now millions upon millions of people all over the world joining the social network boom. They’re logging on, finding old and new friends, and using those connections to make their lives better.

For smaller businesses, social networking is nothing less than a shortcut to success. Fully utilized, social networks offer an intriguing platform for customer, employee and supplier relationship management that can serve not only existing connections but also help to identify new prospects.

One of the challenges of mastering social networking is determining where to best invest your resources--time, energy and possibly capital, too. As you gain experience using Gibline, you can begin to identify--and ultimately prioritize--the universe of possible initiatives to enhance your busines, brand, and revenue.

Reviewing the commercial spectrum of social networking opportunities reveals gleaming possibilities as well as some potential problems for smaller businesses that pursue social networking initiatives. Here are some tips:

1. Prospecting

The marketing potential of a social network is undeniable. Potentially, it's an enormous database of prospects, and some of those prospects are future customers, suppliers or even employees. But uing social networks for cold calling can be a fruitless waste of time.

Tip: Mining social network information and contacts identified through social networks requires subtlety. For example, it's a good idea to do favors for others on social networks, such as recommending suppliers or former co-workers. That's what some refer to as "paying it forward." We recommend spending time on the message boards and discussion areas on Gibline to get to know others in the community better before launching in to ask favors.

2. Sourcing on a Social Network

Social networks are a great place to find suppliers and employees--cheaply. Hiring a recruiter or commissioning a search for a new supplier can cost thousands of dollars, and by comparison, membership Gibline is relatively inexpensive with immediate access to thousands of enterprising members who think just like you and want to do business with you.

3. Building Your Own Networking within the Site

It’s easy to get started. First off, check around for old friends who have similar interests. Bring them into Gibline. Then look for new friends among those already on the site. How can you add value to their membership and in doing so, add value to your own position here? Can you steer a friend who needs a part supplier to someone who has those parts? Are there any connections to be made among your friends?

Tip: Helping others can only enhance your standing and status in business and as a desirable connection on Gibline.

4. Build a Club for your Friends and Customers

This is true goldmine for some of our members. A club can be a group that focuses on working various sources for sales of services, or a group that augments each others sales, or more basically, a group of friends. Give your club a strong brand. Work with each other. If you have expertise, offer it. But ask for another friend’s expertise when you can as well. Whether it’s marketing, supplying services or goods, or discovering ways to keep the coin coming in, working together is the best way to build your business. It’s really true that when you do a good turn, it comes back to you.

One potential downside, sometimes we make the wrong choice at the wrong time for your business. Ask yourself is--is it worth the time, effort and money on your part, or can you better utilize a club that already exists within Gibline with a better return on your efforts? If you’ve got a truly unique approach, we recommend you go for it!

These are just some of the great reasons to social network. We think you’ll agree that growing your circle can only help you grow your business with connections to be enjoyed on and off the internet. We hope these tips will help you realize the benefits social networking can have on your business.

For more Renegade Marketing techniques, visit my website at:
rjfanucchi.ws

email any questions to:
psrjf@lycos.com