Most business owners do not explore new marketing strategies until they experience a sharp decline in their revenue. Avertising campaigns are not evergreen. They evolve and grow, improve and degenerate. Most work at home, or small business owners shell out a substantial amount of money for a good ad campaign and then let it run dry.
The first strategy for success is found in the way you view the advertising campaign’s purpose. A good advertising campaign needs to do three things. First, it needs to collect data on the market. Who is buying. What is hot, and what is not.
Second, it needs to collect vital information about the people who make a purchase from your website. This can be compiled into a profile that helps you determine how to best reach your target market. It is a market research tool that helps determine what types of advertising works, at what times of the year.
Third, it should ‘brand’ your name and logo. A successful advertising campaign will imprint the company name and logo onto people’s subconscious. This increase their ‘decision to buy’ response when they visit the website
For example, online shopping increases dramatically just before Christmas, but only if the payment gateway is fast and easy to use. However, if the user must leave the website to use the payment gateway, like paypal.com uses, then the statistics do not change. However, the payment gateway does not effect sales in the summer.
You’ll notice that no aspect of an advertising campaign is to sell the product – that is your website’s job. A successful marketing campaign manager never measure’s an advertising campaign’s success based on sales.
Large corporations will tell you that a successful advertising campaign may run for months before the results appear on the income statement.
The advertising campaign should be reviewed often, and compared to new methods, in the hunt for new ‘hot markets.’ However, hot markets burn out very quickly. The whirlwind of change that continuously sweeps through the marketplace is a powerful balancer. It gives small businesses an edge over the elephants that move slow and react to change in months, not weeks.
This is true, but there needs to be balance. Always keep 80% of the marketing budget in the tried and true marketing methods – even if they do not offer the big rewards. The other 20% of the marketing budget is free for exploration of new advertising mediums. Don’t discount anything. Look at the fortunes made when youtube.com and myspace.com skyrocketed to fame. For a few months, advertisers were raking in millions.
It is also important to keep a finger on the pulse of the population. There is a time to brand your company, and a time to break away from the pack and create a new image for yourself like Calvin Cline did with their underwear commercials.
The important thing to remember is to focus. Calvin Cline didn’t try to sell underwear to all age groups, they focused on a narrow niche. Work at home and small business owners need to learn this lesson – niche marketing is the secret to making millions.
The potential is expansive. Clever competition and new technology should be seen as marketing tools, not threats. Staying on the cutting edge is all about innovation and creativity. Money is no longer the #1 element to success. Many small businesses are becoming international on small budgets.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
The ‘You and Them’ Them Marketing Principal
Work at home opportunities offer business owners an advantage over the big companies. Here are 5 secrets to help work at home businesses gain the upper hand over the competition – every time.
It doesn’t matter what you sell, what market you are in, or how much you have to invest. Everyone has competition. Even the local farmer’s market must compete against the big box conglomerate which owns the local grocery store chain.
Any business who wants to survive and thrive in today’s market needs to manage the competition and outperform their competitors. You can get caught up in the scams, writing long pages of testimonials that are suppose to separate ‘fools from their money.’ Or, you can follow the tried and true, marketing strategies that were used to help the international franchises grow.
Building the X factor - You
Customers are always looking for something different. Shopping is just the primal urge to find items the ‘clan’ needs for survival, and look for something new and better that will give your family the edge.
Ebook marketers may all sell the same ebook as one thousand other resellers, but one will emerge and profit while 900 fail to make money, and quit. The successful retailers knew what made their customers buy. They were not interested in hits, they only wanted sales.
In most cases, they created a brand, an image for their company and promoted that – not the product. People are tired of having advertisements shove down the ‘over-inflated’ advantages of a product or service.
The first step is to create an image that will speak to your ‘target audience.’ Do they want professionalism, a helping hand, a friend, or to feel that they are receiving something for nothing?
Customer service is still the #1 sales tool. In fact, most companies are now branding the company owner – not the product. This is called the X factor. No competitor can undermined this, reproduce it, or steal it.
A marketer, John Colanzi, says "stop promoting products and start promoting you"
Become Friends
People buy from someone they trust. The #1 reason why those long pages of testimonials do not work is because there is no ‘face’ to attach to the product.
However, you can also form a Joint Venture with another company. Two companies can work together cheaper than one can. The important factor when hunting down a Joint Venture is to look for a company with the same target market, the same strengths.
A great principal is to find your closest competitor and learn to work together. Joint Ventures can be as simple as sharing links, content exchange, ezine swaps, affiliate selling, endorsements, interviews, joint authorship of books, sharing the cost of promotional products – the scope is limitless.
The ‘You and Them’ marketing principal can work in any market. The product is no longer important, because you are branding yourself, selling yourself, and then working with other like minded people so that you can both secure a larger segment of the market.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
It doesn’t matter what you sell, what market you are in, or how much you have to invest. Everyone has competition. Even the local farmer’s market must compete against the big box conglomerate which owns the local grocery store chain.
Any business who wants to survive and thrive in today’s market needs to manage the competition and outperform their competitors. You can get caught up in the scams, writing long pages of testimonials that are suppose to separate ‘fools from their money.’ Or, you can follow the tried and true, marketing strategies that were used to help the international franchises grow.
Building the X factor - You
Customers are always looking for something different. Shopping is just the primal urge to find items the ‘clan’ needs for survival, and look for something new and better that will give your family the edge.
Ebook marketers may all sell the same ebook as one thousand other resellers, but one will emerge and profit while 900 fail to make money, and quit. The successful retailers knew what made their customers buy. They were not interested in hits, they only wanted sales.
In most cases, they created a brand, an image for their company and promoted that – not the product. People are tired of having advertisements shove down the ‘over-inflated’ advantages of a product or service.
The first step is to create an image that will speak to your ‘target audience.’ Do they want professionalism, a helping hand, a friend, or to feel that they are receiving something for nothing?
Customer service is still the #1 sales tool. In fact, most companies are now branding the company owner – not the product. This is called the X factor. No competitor can undermined this, reproduce it, or steal it.
A marketer, John Colanzi, says "stop promoting products and start promoting you"
Become Friends
People buy from someone they trust. The #1 reason why those long pages of testimonials do not work is because there is no ‘face’ to attach to the product.
However, you can also form a Joint Venture with another company. Two companies can work together cheaper than one can. The important factor when hunting down a Joint Venture is to look for a company with the same target market, the same strengths.
A great principal is to find your closest competitor and learn to work together. Joint Ventures can be as simple as sharing links, content exchange, ezine swaps, affiliate selling, endorsements, interviews, joint authorship of books, sharing the cost of promotional products – the scope is limitless.
The ‘You and Them’ marketing principal can work in any market. The product is no longer important, because you are branding yourself, selling yourself, and then working with other like minded people so that you can both secure a larger segment of the market.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
A Good Product Addresses The Demand
Supply and Demand Marketing in Ecommerce Ventures
One of the hardest aspects of running a brick-and-mortar or ecommerce building is keeping tabs on supply and demand. Most of the business ventures which fail involved a product with little or no demand, or the supply was so great that customers were never pressured to buy. They could buy whenever they felt like it.
Most business owners overlook the importance of supply and demand when they set up a marketing campaign. They are more interested in SEO, and banner exchanges. They explore Pay Per Click programs, and traffic generating opportunities. All of their time is spent learning how to gain exposure. Very little is spent on learning about their customers, and measuring the supply and demand of their product.
One of the most important aspects of marketing is a good product. It is amazing how many ecommerce businesses start without a product to sell. The business owner believes that their drop ship store is their product. Or, they believe that their ebook is the product.
This is not a product. Your product is not something tangible which people will pay for. In fact, most products can be found in a dozen places, so there is no reason for anyone to feel pressured to buy before leaving the website.
The product is what the customer will leave the website with. A book on property management, a training course on stock investing, a starter kit for a work at home business, these are not products.
All products fall into three categories:
1. They solve a problem.
2. They make life easier.
3. They help people improve.
If a website sells a starter kit for work at home businesses, then it should address these three aspects of the product. What problems will this product solve? How will this product make the business owner’s life easier? How will the business owner get an edge over the competition with this product? The answers to these questions are the ‘real product.’
That is why one website can make thousands of dollars a month, selling ebooks on investing, while others fail. Take the website www.fool.com as an example. This website has mastered the art of selling their ‘problem solving’ products. Yes, you can arrange a mortgage through one of their brokers…but the reason why you sign with their broker, is because they promise to help you save money, or #2 on our list.
Supply
Another important aspect is to address the supply. There are thousands of websites selling Ipods for less than retail. There are hundreds of thousands of sites that help people start a business. The supply is big. However, is there a demand?
The demand can be drastically reduced by addressing singular problems involved with starting up a business. For example, many websites tell small business owners to visit their local municipal offices and learn what is involved with importing or exporting. However, a website that doesn’t tell people this, instead, it offers a quick importing/exporting tutorial will have a problem solving product.
The Ipod store, which includes every single Ipod accessory, including places where it is legal to download songs will do better than an ecommerce store that lists thousands of electronics.
Supply & Demand
Put them together. Demand is convincing people that there is some reason they need to buy the product now. It doesn’t matter if there are 40 000 other websites selling the same product. Focus on 1 – 3 problems that your product will solve and broadcast it across the net.
Supply does not necessarily mean the number of product for sale. Instead, it means the number of product that your customers have available to them. There may be 1000 ebooks on property investing – each one good. However, yours may be the only one entitled ‘How to Build a Property Portfolio Without Loosing Your Family Home.’ Now, the supply has narrowed to – 1 – You.
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Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
One of the hardest aspects of running a brick-and-mortar or ecommerce building is keeping tabs on supply and demand. Most of the business ventures which fail involved a product with little or no demand, or the supply was so great that customers were never pressured to buy. They could buy whenever they felt like it.
Most business owners overlook the importance of supply and demand when they set up a marketing campaign. They are more interested in SEO, and banner exchanges. They explore Pay Per Click programs, and traffic generating opportunities. All of their time is spent learning how to gain exposure. Very little is spent on learning about their customers, and measuring the supply and demand of their product.
One of the most important aspects of marketing is a good product. It is amazing how many ecommerce businesses start without a product to sell. The business owner believes that their drop ship store is their product. Or, they believe that their ebook is the product.
This is not a product. Your product is not something tangible which people will pay for. In fact, most products can be found in a dozen places, so there is no reason for anyone to feel pressured to buy before leaving the website.
The product is what the customer will leave the website with. A book on property management, a training course on stock investing, a starter kit for a work at home business, these are not products.
All products fall into three categories:
1. They solve a problem.
2. They make life easier.
3. They help people improve.
If a website sells a starter kit for work at home businesses, then it should address these three aspects of the product. What problems will this product solve? How will this product make the business owner’s life easier? How will the business owner get an edge over the competition with this product? The answers to these questions are the ‘real product.’
That is why one website can make thousands of dollars a month, selling ebooks on investing, while others fail. Take the website www.fool.com as an example. This website has mastered the art of selling their ‘problem solving’ products. Yes, you can arrange a mortgage through one of their brokers…but the reason why you sign with their broker, is because they promise to help you save money, or #2 on our list.
Supply
Another important aspect is to address the supply. There are thousands of websites selling Ipods for less than retail. There are hundreds of thousands of sites that help people start a business. The supply is big. However, is there a demand?
The demand can be drastically reduced by addressing singular problems involved with starting up a business. For example, many websites tell small business owners to visit their local municipal offices and learn what is involved with importing or exporting. However, a website that doesn’t tell people this, instead, it offers a quick importing/exporting tutorial will have a problem solving product.
The Ipod store, which includes every single Ipod accessory, including places where it is legal to download songs will do better than an ecommerce store that lists thousands of electronics.
Supply & Demand
Put them together. Demand is convincing people that there is some reason they need to buy the product now. It doesn’t matter if there are 40 000 other websites selling the same product. Focus on 1 – 3 problems that your product will solve and broadcast it across the net.
Supply does not necessarily mean the number of product for sale. Instead, it means the number of product that your customers have available to them. There may be 1000 ebooks on property investing – each one good. However, yours may be the only one entitled ‘How to Build a Property Portfolio Without Loosing Your Family Home.’ Now, the supply has narrowed to – 1 – You.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Promotion Promotion Promotion = Money
I had a conversation with another write a week ago. She has been struggling for more than a year to build up a business - and failing.
There is a common thread shared by writers who do not make good money:
1. Their website is very poorly made
2. They hire an amateur to make a website for them
3. They do not update their website regularly
4. They do not maintain multiple blogs
5. They do not 'act' like they are professionals and worth a lot of money.
I keep telling writers that the 'real' clients do not use www.guru.com or www.ifreelance.com - they ferret out good writers through blog communities, forums, and free content article sites like get free content and ezinearticle, amazines, etc.
A professional writer will have a lot of article posted for promotion. That is because professionals write hundreds of articles a year. Not having promotion through a blog, or free article site, is a dead give away that you are not 'in it for the long haul.'
Your website also talks a lot about you. Think about it. I have one client who pays me $50 to write a 15 000 word article, weekly. He wants articles on home based businesses. I won the contract because I operate professional looking websites.
I NEVER landed a high paying client until I started using b2evolution blog site and Joomla content management system. These are both 'plug and play' web management sites with dramatic themes ( take a look at Writers Online Courses
Of course, the fact that my name appears all over the top 10 Google pages is another dead give away that I know what I am doing.
The thing is - it isn't hard. All you need to do is get out there, get your content on the web and promote - promote - promote.
In the long run, you'll make enough money that you can write and promote comfortably.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
There is a common thread shared by writers who do not make good money:
1. Their website is very poorly made
2. They hire an amateur to make a website for them
3. They do not update their website regularly
4. They do not maintain multiple blogs
5. They do not 'act' like they are professionals and worth a lot of money.
I keep telling writers that the 'real' clients do not use www.guru.com or www.ifreelance.com - they ferret out good writers through blog communities, forums, and free content article sites like get free content and ezinearticle, amazines, etc.
A professional writer will have a lot of article posted for promotion. That is because professionals write hundreds of articles a year. Not having promotion through a blog, or free article site, is a dead give away that you are not 'in it for the long haul.'
Your website also talks a lot about you. Think about it. I have one client who pays me $50 to write a 15 000 word article, weekly. He wants articles on home based businesses. I won the contract because I operate professional looking websites.
I NEVER landed a high paying client until I started using b2evolution blog site and Joomla content management system. These are both 'plug and play' web management sites with dramatic themes ( take a look at Writers Online Courses
Of course, the fact that my name appears all over the top 10 Google pages is another dead give away that I know what I am doing.
The thing is - it isn't hard. All you need to do is get out there, get your content on the web and promote - promote - promote.
In the long run, you'll make enough money that you can write and promote comfortably.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
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