Membership Marketing - 7 Types of Emails That Turn Your Members Into Eager-To-Buy Customers

Emailing your members is a vital part of keeping the communication alive and building rapport with them. However, it's not a good idea to send promotional emails often; people don't like to be hard-sold right in their face.

So does that mean you should constantly give pure content without promoting anything? No! In fact, you could send them emails that they will appreciate and be thankful for...yet you can still make boatloads of money in the process.

Here are some ideas that could skyrocket your profits:

1) Give them informative reports or e-books with your website or affiliate links within.

You give them great content, and earn money when someone buys from any of the links in the report.

Better yet, your report could go viral, especially if the reader has found some value from it that could benefit their friends. The key is to actually ask them to pass it on to others who they think would be interested in the information. Tell them they have permission to share, or even resell, the report.

2) Send them great videos to watch.

Videos are extremely powerful tools to convert viewers into buyers. They could entertain, educate, and build rapport. They satisfy both the visual and auditory senses, so they could produce better results compared to e-books or audios.

What types of videos could you make?

- You could take a video of you speaking casually in front of the camera, like you're talking to an old friend.

- If you've delivered a seminar, you could let your members watch it entirely or in parts.

- You could convert your powerpoint presentations into video format. For the voice-over, just read along like you're giving a speech or lecture.

- You could also use Camtasia to record whatever you're doing in your computer.

- If you're a bit camera-shy, you could always outsource the video creation task; although it would be more powerful if people could actually see your personality.

So how do you make money with videos?

- You could give your members excerpts or parts from the entire video, then send them to an order page if they want to watch the full version.

- Put your videos on a webpage and insert ads near those videos where the viewers can see them. (By the way, if you don't want to make your own videos, you could always leverage from other people's videos. Find videos from Youtube, Videojug, Howcast, Metacafe, etc. related to your niche. Then get the embed link to post the videos on your site.)

- Aside from telling your members to watch your videos, you could also submit them to video-sharing sites like Youtube, Revver, Metacafe, Yahoo videos and Google videos for the public to see. Use a video submission program like Tubemogul to submit the videos faster, but read the policies in the video-sharing sites to make sure that's allowed.

3) Update your members on your newest articles or blog posts.

You could email your members a teaser or first few sentences of an article, then ask them to login to read the whole article. You can put up banners or special offer links that they can see once they're logged in to your site.

This is similar to blog posts. You could put non-distracting ads or promos on your blog. The advantage with blogs is that they get excellent search engine rankings, they are great places to establish a relationship with your audience, and they could spark hot conversations (since people can comment on your posts).

4) Make money from your P.S.

If you're sending a purely content email, you could add a P.S. at the end where you subtly promote a product related to the topic of discussion. If you've given them some helpful information in the email, they wouldn't mind a P.S. that complements the content you've given them.

5) Offer time-sensitive discounts or bonuses to either your own products or affiliate items.

Sure, you're promoting something; but just imagine if someone is eager to buy your product but can't afford the full price. Then you suddenly give them the opportunity to get it at a much lower price; don't you think they'll thank you for it? You bet!

6) Conduct webinars or tele-seminars.

You can do it solo, or ask an expert to do it with you. Then email the details, date and time to your members. You're not pitching in the email, and you're giving something beneficial in the webinar or tele-seminar before ever selling anything. Give value first; and at the end of the webinar or tele-seminar, invite them to take a look at your product offer.

7) Add them to your social network.

Ask them to follow you on Twitter, add you as a friend in Facebook or MySpace, or join your forum. You're not marketing to them now, but you're enhancing your social networks and building relationships, which will help build a solid business and earn more money for you in the long run.

These 7 methods are far better than the traditional promo emails because they give value, which makes people actually want to buy from you. Perhaps you could think of other ways to make your members happy or thrilled with your emails. All it takes is a little creativity and customer-oriented approach, and you can become a trusted friend they'd be willing to part their money with.

By Jeremy A Gislason

Membership Marketing - 7 Types of Emails That Turn Your Members Into Eager-To-Buy Customers

Emailing your members is a vital part of keeping the communication alive and building rapport with them. However, it's not a good idea to send promotional emails often; people don't like to be hard-sold right in their face.

So does that mean you should constantly give pure content without promoting anything? No! In fact, you could send them emails that they will appreciate and be thankful for...yet you can still make boatloads of money in the process.

Here are some ideas that could skyrocket your profits:

1) Give them informative reports or e-books with your website or affiliate links within.

You give them great content, and earn money when someone buys from any of the links in the report.

Better yet, your report could go viral, especially if the reader has found some value from it that could benefit their friends. The key is to actually ask them to pass it on to others who they think would be interested in the information. Tell them they have permission to share, or even resell, the report.

2) Send them great videos to watch.

Videos are extremely powerful tools to convert viewers into buyers. They could entertain, educate, and build rapport. They satisfy both the visual and auditory senses, so they could produce better results compared to e-books or audios.

What types of videos could you make?

- You could take a video of you speaking casually in front of the camera, like you're talking to an old friend.

- If you've delivered a seminar, you could let your members watch it entirely or in parts.

- You could convert your powerpoint presentations into video format. For the voice-over, just read along like you're giving a speech or lecture.

- You could also use Camtasia to record whatever you're doing in your computer.

- If you're a bit camera-shy, you could always outsource the video creation task; although it would be more powerful if people could actually see your personality.

So how do you make money with videos?

- You could give your members excerpts or parts from the entire video, then send them to an order page if they want to watch the full version.

- Put your videos on a webpage and insert ads near those videos where the viewers can see them. (By the way, if you don't want to make your own videos, you could always leverage from other people's videos. Find videos from Youtube, Videojug, Howcast, Metacafe, etc. related to your niche. Then get the embed link to post the videos on your site.)

- Aside from telling your members to watch your videos, you could also submit them to video-sharing sites like Youtube, Revver, Metacafe, Yahoo videos and Google videos for the public to see. Use a video submission program like Tubemogul to submit the videos faster, but read the policies in the video-sharing sites to make sure that's allowed.

3) Update your members on your newest articles or blog posts.

You could email your members a teaser or first few sentences of an article, then ask them to login to read the whole article. You can put up banners or special offer links that they can see once they're logged in to your site.

This is similar to blog posts. You could put non-distracting ads or promos on your blog. The advantage with blogs is that they get excellent search engine rankings, they are great places to establish a relationship with your audience, and they could spark hot conversations (since people can comment on your posts).

4) Make money from your P.S.

If you're sending a purely content email, you could add a P.S. at the end where you subtly promote a product related to the topic of discussion. If you've given them some helpful information in the email, they wouldn't mind a P.S. that complements the content you've given them.

5) Offer time-sensitive discounts or bonuses to either your own products or affiliate items.

Sure, you're promoting something; but just imagine if someone is eager to buy your product but can't afford the full price. Then you suddenly give them the opportunity to get it at a much lower price; don't you think they'll thank you for it? You bet!

6) Conduct webinars or tele-seminars.

You can do it solo, or ask an expert to do it with you. Then email the details, date and time to your members. You're not pitching in the email, and you're giving something beneficial in the webinar or tele-seminar before ever selling anything. Give value first; and at the end of the webinar or tele-seminar, invite them to take a look at your product offer.

7) Add them to your social network.

Ask them to follow you on Twitter, add you as a friend in Facebook or MySpace, or join your forum. You're not marketing to them now, but you're enhancing your social networks and building relationships, which will help build a solid business and earn more money for you in the long run.

These 7 methods are far better than the traditional promo emails because they give value, which makes people actually want to buy from you. Perhaps you could think of other ways to make your members happy or thrilled with your emails. All it takes is a little creativity and customer-oriented approach, and you can become a trusted friend they'd be willing to part their money with.

By Jeremy A Gislason

This is How Rich Online Entrepreneurs Actually Succeed

When they started the journey of money making on the internet, they also struggled like every beginner. They themselves tried out a number of home business programs. They found success in a few programs but in others, woeful failure. In some of these programs, they even had their fingers terribly burnt.

Frustrated, many abandoned the home business course to pursue other means of survival. But for a few others, every cloud really does have a silver lining. They believed that the internet was holding their future. They believed in their every effort, so they kept striving.

Their painful ordeals taught them a lot of lessons about this niche of Home Business to the extent that some began creating electronic products from what they had personally experienced on the internet. If you read many e-books you will observe that many online entrepreneurs know a whole lot of things: they know where to go for success on the internet and where not to go; what to do and what not to do. They have really acquired massive wealth of experience. In fact, at a point in their lives, home business experience began to come to them naturally as they met with others of their contemporaries on the internet and made new deals.

Not all these deals actually transformed into success, however, they recognized failure as part of success, and each time they failed, they became more devoted to their course, with a burning desire to succeed. Often, they would plan, strategize, reinforce. They would quickly identify the fruitless programs and discard them but would stick firmly to the fruitful ones. At first, they nurtured a few programs, but when they saw their accomplishments expanding; they perfected them and then tried another.

On and on they journeyed until they finally arrived at their destination of riches and internet fame. It is their footsteps that many are now trailing.

By Eromosele Agboiboh

Learning Money Making Secrets From Gurus and Mavens

One of the fastest ways to start earning money on the internet is to find a great teacher who will show you the ropes. If you want to delve into internet marketing and making money online, you can definitely learn a few things from internet marketers and mavens who have walked in your shoes. People like myself can share how I've fared in trying to make money through my candid product review. A lot of people are more than willing to share information about how they've made money online. Mavens like Deborah Carney share their wisdom on forums like ABestWeb and at affiliate summits. Other gurus and mavens are eager to share their knowledge with budding entrepreneurs both for free and for a fee.

Find a mentor (or two!)

Instead of going it alone and having to learn through trial and error, you can hit the ground running when you start off with research and some solid and knowledgeable advice. Of course you have to develop your own system of making money online and you'll need to make some mistakes a long the way but one of the greatest things about the internet is the sharing of information that happens. Find a few mentors to follow that are successful in your chosen niche or segment.

The power and benefit of web 2.0 for entrepreneurs

Web 2.0, aka social media, is built on the premise of sharing information with others and that can help improve your user experience as well as the online experience of others. Some people make a living by sharing information and sell information products and others like Deborah Carney make money through affiliate marketing of retail products.

Whether you want to make money through selling e-books or opening an Amazon or CJ store, you can definitely benefit through listening to some of the pros. Here are some ways you can do that:

• Subscribe to blogs of successful online personalities
• Set up Google Alerts to tell you news about your particular marketing niche
• Read publications geared to internet marketing and entrepreneurship
• Follow social media life streams of your mentors
• Read the free reports offered on their websites even if you have to opt-in to their newsletter
• Read product reviews of products before you consider buying them
• Attend trade shows, conferences, and webinars as often as you can.

Through listening to others (even if you choose to follow several gurus instead of putting all your trust in one) can definitely help you succeed faster and make fewer errors in judgment. There's a wide web of money making opportunities and by finding yourself a mentor or two, you can shorten the learning cycle and some of the investments you make are time which can pay off and some of the financial investments you make could be tax deductible, and could have a huge return on investment! Once you're successful in your online earning efforts you might choose to find a protégé to help out as well as pay it forward.

If you want to make money online you should consider following a guru or two in order to shorten your learning curve. Check out Matthew Bredel's TheWebReviewer.com where you can learn about money making programs from many successful online entrepreneurs including successful men and women in internet marketing such as Deborah Carney, Rhea Perry and others. By Matthew Bredel

How to Run an Internet Membership Site

Membership sites are very popular on the internet. They provide an easy way to make residual income from content or a product which can be purchased by your subscribers at a price that is worthwhile for both you and them. A membership site will usually offer greater value than if you purchased a product or service on its own, as you will be receiving revenue for the same product from a number of members.

Determine what your interest is and set up a website which provides rich content in whatever niche you choose. You should provide original content. You can offer content in the form of eBooks, articles, reports, videos, and other types of formats that would be appropriate.

It is usually a good idea to limit the amount of members in a membership site. You probably do not want more than a certain amount of customers to have the same product. Even though it is an original product, the value of the content would not hold up if too many people have the same product.

Do some research and see what you can offer to make your membership site stand out. There are many membership sites on the Internet, so it is a very competitive market. Make sure you are offering excellent content and great customer service, in order to attract and keep your members.

If you are offering an eBook every month, you might want to include a salesletter that your customers can promote it with. Give them two or three sets of graphics that they can choose from. This way everyone will not be selling an eBook that looks the same. Of course, you have to do the numbers to see what your product would be costing you and what you can charge for such a membership, as well as the number of members you will allow at that price.

Getting a script is very important to run your membership smoothly. There are many offered on the Internet and they range usually from $100 to $1,000. Once you install the script your membership should be able to run pretty much hands off.

Create a few months worth of content before you open up the doors of your membership site. Always stay a little ahead so that you won't run into a situation where you are not prepared for that month. You should always deliver on or about the same day of the month, that way your members come to rely and look forward to having your product. You always want to be reliable to gain the trust of your subscribers.

Membership sites are run on a month to month basis, so your customers can cancel at any time. This makes it a lot easier for people to join, because they do not have to commit to a lengthy period of time. That also means you have to be able to keep your members coming back by offering quality service and great products. Otherwise, it is very easy to cancel and go somewhere else that offers a better value.

It's important to have a support desk that answers concerns or complaints in a timely manner. You have to make yourself available to your customer. Nothing turns people off more than not being able to get the information they need when they are paying for your services. So be prompt in responding to your customers' concerns.

Listen to your customers and answer their needs. Make it a point to ask for their input and suggestions so you will be supplying them with what they are interested in. If you are not giving them what they want, they will probably go somewhere else. So listen to their needs and implement whatever changes that entails.

Make your membership site attractive and easy to navigate. Make sure that the site works well technologically and is not outdated. Keep fresh content and innovative ideas up and running all the time.

An Internet membership site that is focused on its members is a membership site that will keep its members. If you think in terms of giving more value, you will probably have members that will be very glad to pay you your monthly membership fee month after month.

I am an active Internet Marketer. After working in the corporate world all my life I decided that I wanted to work from home and enjoy more freedom. I am a member of Nicheology.com, TurboMembership, and Affiliatenaire. I have been recognized as an Expert Author by EzineArticles.

I promote my own products, as well as affiliate products. For more information visit: http://www.crissanteiro.com

By Cristina Santeiro

My Internet Business Explained

I'd like to take some time to explain the still relevantly new online business that is My Internet Business.

With pre-made sales pages and a ready made business, your job as an associate of My Internet Business is to market, and drive traffic to your website. These prospects are then shown the official tour of the business, explaining every section of the business and how it works.

The business is designed to be as automated as possible, freeing up time for you as a marketer to focus on driving the traffic and spreading the word of My Internet Business, your prospects questions are answered by a team of trained Personal Business Assistants (PBA's), and the follow up process is all taken care of right to completion of the sale.

The only hard part of My Internet Business is deciding who you will work with in the business. It's the most important decision you will make in the business, and you have to find out exactly what your chosen sponsor can offer you, to give you the edge, and the best chance of being a huge success as a new associate. Make sure your potential sponsor is readily available to answer your questions. If you are struggling to get your questions answered before you join, imagine what it would be like getting them answered, and getting the 1 to 1 advice you need after you have joined.

The Compensation plan in My Internet Business is designed to be of high earning potential. Its creating alot of the internet marketing worlds richest people, and there is a never ending potential for new members. When you make a sale at the platinum level, the commission you earn is $2000. Also you will earn $500 on every platinum sale made by every member of your team, this is to ensure you are given all the correct marketing techniques and every secret there is by your sponsor. Not having this two tier compensation plan has been the massive downfall of previous opportunities and something that guarantees the endless life of the My Internet Business opportunity.

By Alan Buchanan

You Can Make Money Online While Staying at Home - But Do You Have a Big Enough Reason to Do So?

People from all corners of the world right now are fast catching up on the trend known as Internet Marketing. They are more eager now to learn how to make money online while staying at their homes.

However for many, this can be just another simple fad for them to jump in and "test the waters" to see if it works. You might catch people like this who have the "if it's not for me, then forget it - i'll just move on to the next" mentality, without really taking enough focus and effort to learn and get the training needed in internet marketing.

What separates them from those people who are really determined and motivated to succeed is more often than not, there reason or reasons why they want to make money online while staying at home.

It's the "why" part that makes that big difference.

Let me ask you, have you already found "why" you want to do internet marketing? If someone were to ask you straightforward enough why you want to make money online from the comfort of your own home, or any place for that matter that doesn't resemble your own job, what would you say?

Each individual has different reasons why he or she has chosen to be an internet marketer. You have to be very specific and detailed why you want to do this, whether it is to get rid of all the debt you owe, re-claim a significant piece of property that was confiscated from you, give all the best in this world for your spouse and your children, or take that dream vacation to that one destination in the world you have always dreamed of going as a child.

Or simply making a difference in the internet marketing community, and creating life-changing relationships that would enrich your life.

If you have a strong enough "why", even in the bad times, your determination and dedication to make money online will always be there.

And you'll be ready to take on anything that comes your way.

Do you know that you can make money online using absolutely free methods and start making significant sales with zero risk involved?

If you're tired of conventional ways of learning and don't want another set of e-books to read, then this is definitely for you. There are 25 videos with over 15 hours of in-depth training in this one course you will ever need to jumpstart your affiliate marketing business. And there's still more and all for a price that's definitely a steal. http://internetmarketingsimplified.weebly.com

By Ethan Russell

You Can Make Money Online While Staying at Home - But Do You Have a Big Enough Reason to Do So?

People from all corners of the world right now are fast catching up on the trend known as Internet Marketing. They are more eager now to learn how to make money online while staying at their homes.

However for many, this can be just another simple fad for them to jump in and "test the waters" to see if it works. You might catch people like this who have the "if it's not for me, then forget it - i'll just move on to the next" mentality, without really taking enough focus and effort to learn and get the training needed in internet marketing.

What separates them from those people who are really determined and motivated to succeed is more often than not, there reason or reasons why they want to make money online while staying at home.

It's the "why" part that makes that big difference.

Let me ask you, have you already found "why" you want to do internet marketing? If someone were to ask you straightforward enough why you want to make money online from the comfort of your own home, or any place for that matter that doesn't resemble your own job, what would you say?

Each individual has different reasons why he or she has chosen to be an internet marketer. You have to be very specific and detailed why you want to do this, whether it is to get rid of all the debt you owe, re-claim a significant piece of property that was confiscated from you, give all the best in this world for your spouse and your children, or take that dream vacation to that one destination in the world you have always dreamed of going as a child.

Or simply making a difference in the internet marketing community, and creating life-changing relationships that would enrich your life.

If you have a strong enough "why", even in the bad times, your determination and dedication to make money online will always be there.

And you'll be ready to take on anything that comes your way.

Do you know that you can make money online using absolutely free methods and start making significant sales with zero risk involved?

If you're tired of conventional ways of learning and don't want another set of e-books to read, then this is definitely for you. There are 25 videos with over 15 hours of in-depth training in this one course you will ever need to jumpstart your affiliate marketing business. And there's still more and all for a price that's definitely a steal. http://internetmarketingsimplified.weebly.com

By Ethan Russell

Designing Effective Trade Show Booth Displays

Designing effective trade show booth displays shouldn't require a degree in advanced chemistry or nuclear physics. In actuality, it is basically just requires a bit of common common sense (and following the three guidelines listed in this article). Unfortunately, the fact that it is common sense doesn't mean effective trade show booth displays are all that "common". From my experience, many exhibitors just don't use their heads when they create their trade show design. But if you follow the common sense advice in this article, you'll know how to create and design an unique and effective trade show booth display that will drawing prospects walking by booth into your booth, where you can convert them into customers (and isn't that the reason you're at the trade show to begin with?) Creating an effective design is a simple matter of focusing on the following three points.

First, you need to get noticed. Think of your trade show booth as a needle in a haystack. Your booth design must differentiate your display from all the other trade show booth displays. You won't get much booth traffic if people just ignore your booth and walk on by. One time-tested way of "getting noticed" is to have a catchy tagline with a captivating background image.

Second, your design needs to clearly state who you are and what it is that you do. Make sure your company name is at the top and is easy to find. You must also explain what your company actually does. Ask a friend or colleague to quickly glance at your design and then ask them who you are and what you do.

Third, you need to explain WWIFM (what's in it for me, "me" being your potential customer). This is a critical part of having an effective design. People are interested in how you can help them - that is why they will stop and talk. For example, if you are a marketing firm, you might say how many new customers you can get them. Whatever you do, remember to tell people how you can help them - this is the most important part of any effective design.

In the end, it comes down to this. Designing effective trade show booth displays means creating a design that does the three things above. Your design has to get noticed and stand out from the other designs. Your booth design should have your company name at the top and what your company does. And most important, you need to list the benefits your offer (how you can help people). If you want to be successful at trade show marketing, you must insure your trade show booth display design does these three things. Good luck with your next trade show! And may you end up with more trade show booth traffic than you know what to do with!

Please visit Pinnacle Displays the next time you are looking for trade show booth displays. Their patented Signature trade show displays comes with full-size custom-printed graphic panels with you can create yourself. You can use their easy-to-understand design template and follow the rules above for effective graphics and create your own "effective" design. All of their trade show booth displays can be ordered online and include free ground shipping. Pinnacle Displays also has a sample design gallery on their website with 100 sample trade show booth display designs to help give you ideas and get your creative juices flowing. Check out Pinnacle Displays today.

By Steven Petterson

Don't Try Selling to Everyone!

I often ask businesspeople, "who is your targeted market," your "ideal customer?" Most of the time the answers I receive are a disappointing: "Everybody."

Naturally we all want to sell our products and services to as many prospects as possible but, let's face it, we can't sell to everyone - especially if we have a limited promotional budget. The problem of trying to appeal to "Everybody" is that your message becomes so diluted that it becomes irrelevant to all instead of important to some.

So we have to identify and define a targeted "ideal" customer, develop methods to attract them, and become important to them. In marketing terms, this is called "Niche Marketing." It is effective because, if your marketing communicates well to those "ideal prospects," they will realize the benefits of buying from you.

It is far less expensive to market to a narrow niche than it is to attempt to attract "Everybody." It is far easier to develop a brand that resonates with a narrow niche than one that attracts "Everybody." It is far easier to develop customer service and retention programs that the narrow niche will react positively to than programs designed for "Everybody." It is far easier to become a big fish in a small pond than becoming a mid-size fish in an ocean.

Marketing to a specific niche requires that the targeted market is clearly defined and identified and that, through research, it is determined that the niche is large enough to support your ambitions. Once the prospects are defined and identified, a strategy to reach those prospective "ideal customers" is created, tested, and assuming the tests are successful, the strategy is implemented. When those targeted "ideal customers" start buying, the service and retention programs you designed to keep them returning to buy from you kick in and you are then successfully marketing to a specific niche. Yes, I know that this is much easier said than done, but I can assure you that this process is far more effective and successful attempting to sell to "Everybody!"

By Larry Galler

Marketing Environment and the Factors Involved

Marketing environment is made up of all the factors and forces that influence marketing. These forces can be internal like departments (other than marketing such as finance department and human resource department) or external like competitors, suppliers, economic or political situation. To understand them better, marketing personals divide them in two categories namely macro environment and micro-environment. Let's have a look at some of the important factors involved in marketing environment.

Internal factors:
All the departments involved in business management affects the process of marketing as well, for example the finance or research department in large enterprises. Marketing department is bound to keep their expenses under the budget set by the finance managers or to consider recommendations from the research department. Similarly the supplies and collections can have an impact on marketing as well.

Customer markets:
Different types of customers markets include consumer markets (B2C), business markets (B2B), government markets (B2G), also a new type of customer market has emerged as a result of globalization i.e. international market. Where most other departments will treat these markets similarly, marketing team has to treat them all in different manner. Though most advertising campaigns are targeted to consumer market, the type of customer market does affect marketing decisions on the whole.

Competition:
Competition is becoming more and more influential in a company's approach towards marketing. Competition stems from the business that is offering the same product as yours. A business has to counter this competition through marketing; some times businesses do try to have a hit at their competitors in advertisements (though not candidly). The level of competition is also a decisive factor when planning on how much to spend on marketing.

Different types of publics:
Another important microenvironment factor is the publics (government, consumer associations, financial or media publics). All of them can have an affect (positive or negative) on company's reputation and marketing.

Demography:
Good marketing managers tend to spend plenty of time in conducting demographic research for their targeted consumers. Demography is the research of gender, age, race or anything else related to consumers. International businesses are concerned about various races (Asians, Hispanics, etc) and their different set of demands. While the terms like "baby boomers" or "generation X" were invented to reflect the specific age groups of consumers.

Economic Factors:
All the variables of economic markets like inflation, rate of exchange, fiscal policies and monetary policies fall under macro environment factors. They affect all businesses, and needless to say their marketing efforts as well.

Other Factors:
Other notable macro and microenvironment factors are marketing intermediaries, political stability (or instability), new technologies or natural forces.

By William King

Common Sense Marketing

Someone once told me that if you want to start a business, find out what people want and then sell it to them.

According to dictionary.com, the definition of marketing is:

1. The act of buying or selling in a market.

2. The total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing and selling.

So, marketing starts with uncovering what people want and ends with selling it to them.

Order is Important

Determine what people want first "Create the Product or Service second." A good example of this is the 1965 Ford Mustang. Ford talked to buyers do determine the name for the car. They found out what styling was necessary. They found out that people wanted options so that the entry price could be low. They build what people wanted and selling them was easy.

The other way around - product first, customer second is much more difficult. A good example of this is the Edsel. "Build it and they will come' doesn't work." You can get lucky, but the risk is tremendous.

I do want to stress the importance of the customer. It is easy to sell them something they want, but not so easy if they only sort of want it - and all but impossible if they don't want it.

We are all customers ourselves. We know what we like and what we don't like. Every day we interact with companies - we give them the opportunity to meet, exceed or fall short of our expectations. So, think about it, your experience with a company determines whether you will buy from them again or whether this will be a one-time sale.

Scott Cleveland is an innovative, creative, technical VP of marketing & sales at Ingenuus Software with over 20 years of experience in marketing and marketing management; sales and sales management; and business process consulting aimed at high tech companies like Adaptec, Applied Materials, Cisco, Sun Microsystems and many of the aerospace and defense contractors.

By Scott Cleveland

Why Do We Need to Do Marketing and Advertising?

It doesn't matter whether you are a business owner or an entrepreneur. You need to be able to be good at marketing and advertising because without them you will not be successful.

Marketing and advertising are such vital cogs to the success of any enterprise and yet are an area where consistently businesses fail or flounder. There is this perception that marketing is difficult, hard, and only should be tackled by "experts". This is I think a rumour that was started by the "experts" themselves because it is in their best interests to try and keep the world of marketing and advertising shrouded in a dark mystical cloud as if it's some kind of dark art form.

However, marketing and advertising is not a dark art form at all. There are a certain number of things you need to do but once you understand the process then you can just repeat it every time. And with each repeat of the process so you can improve it slightly.

The important thing to remember is that although every one of your businesses are different they all rely on one thing - customers. And to get a customer you need to have advertising and marketing.

When someone visits your website get them to sign up for a Free Offer. This can typically generate leads from 10-20% of your website visitors. The higher the perceived value of what you are offering the higher the conversions. So a free video is likely to get more sign ups than a free report.

Following on with that theme here are some do's and don'ts surrounding a Free Offer.

Newsletters

Do not use these. Newsletters I am afraid are old hat. They are perceived as being rather boring and dull. Think outside the box and take the information that you were going to publish in the newsletter and rename it as for example, Weekly Top Tips.

Weekly Top Tips

Put together a short yet informative email with a great tip on your area of expertise. This will be pulled out of what would have been your newsletter.

Free Report/Article

Entitle it such as "The 7 Secrets of xxx" or "The 4 Top Tips To Avoid yyy". This kind of report will work exceptionally well.

Audio

Get someone to carry out an interview with you and have it recorded, where you give tips and information for potential customers. The subject matter should be mainly about helping your potential customer, not just talking about your product or service. At the end of the interview promote your offer.

Video

The one big advantage that video has over everything else is that they have a very high perceived value compared to their actual cost. If you would like your potential customer's mailing address send them a DVD or CD. If you're happy with their name and email address you can offer the video online as a download which will substantially reduce your costs. Obviously this is dependent on the type of product that you are selling in terms of its price e.g. a high ticket item could justify a posted DVD whereas a low ticket item wouldn't. The interview format is perfect for video and the video production doesn't have to be Oscar nominated quality.

Product Samples

If you are in a position to be able to offer free samples or trials of what you sell, then do so as this will increase conversions.

Note to the above

Just because you are giving away something to your customer or potential customer for free, it still means that you have to put as much effort into the advertising copy as you would if you were selling it. You will still need to explain the benefits and make sure that you have a clear call to action.

About the Author

By Nigel Tuck

Get Into the Mind of Your Customer Subliminally

Think of office supplies and you probably think of dull things like paper, computers, shredders and desks. Yes, they are dull but each of these items is actually a marketers dream and a way to promote your brand to people every single day of the week.

The effect is so subtle it's almost subliminal, but in a time when people are bombarded by advertising messages every single day from every medium imagine able, it is easy to think that they are immune to further influence - but you'd be wrong. In fact, people are more prone to taking in advertising than ever before, especially if you catch them off guard.

Many people spend the vast majority of their day in an office, without television and radio and in the company of people they probably get on with quite well. Therefore this is an ideal place to advertise if you can get your message across in the correct way. You also need to be quite sneaky, but why not? Others are doing it?

You have to remember how the human mind works. Most of what is taken in is not processed consciously, many people see things and move on without registering it - especially if they're in the middle of a job, however it's a mistake to think it doesn't sink in - it does. Very often these things are stored subconsciously and squirreled away without a thought. However, certain triggers will allow a person to remember things, especially if these things are 'snappy'.

There's a rule in marketing - your message needs to be seen seven times before someone will trust it. The number of times differs, but it's certainly true that if you see something often enough and then somebody else brings up the subject, you are more likely to act on it.

So how can this help you?

Well, office supplies, stationary and business gifts are an ideal way to get your message in front of people on a daily basis. Even simple things like a sticker on the side of a photocopier or a desk-jotter with a company name on it can be enough to trigger the right responses.

There are more and more ways you can now get your brand or product in front of people who want to buy it - make the most of them and get yourself known.

By Alan Trescott

Marketing Strategies For Building Customer Relations

As business owners, we all want to sell more of our products and services to new and existing customers. But before we can achieve this goal, it is imperative to understand a few basic marketing strategies for creating interest, trust and desire.

This article gives four important strategies for understanding your customers and building their trust and confidence.

Strategy #1: Your Customer's Goals Come Before Yours

The only successful way to approach a potential customer is with the honest desire to understand their problems and needs. The days of the "hard sell" are over. Customers have the ability, via the Web, to control the information that comes to them.

To ensure your customer's goals are met, you simply need to repurpose your main marketing message, also known as your Value Proposition. Instead of placing the focus on selling, explain how your product or service will make your customer's lives better. Prove it through 3rd party testimonials, free downloadable product guides, tip sheets, and content-based newsletters.

What's wrong with placing the focus on selling? Absolutely nothing! As a business owner, your ultimate goal is to sell. But you can't sell unless you first warm up the prospect by showing them directly how they will benefit from your offering.

Strategy #2: Define Your Buyer Personas

The best way to truly understand the wants and needs of your customers is to create your Buyer Personas. A Buyer Persona is a segment of customers or prospects that share similar demographics and interests.

Maybe you have heard of the Soccer Mom or the NASCAR Dad. While these well-known buyer personas may seem almost cartoonish, keep in mind that they were specifically marketed to by both the Republicans and the Democrats in past elections.

The key to defining your buyer personas is to look at your customer data and find ways to group common characteristics. Break your customers down into well defined buying categories as best you can. You don't have to be perfect here, just do the best job with the current data you have. Buyer persona profiles can contain age, gender, income level, occupation, education level, hobbies, and anything else that is meaningful to your business.

Strategy #3: Define Your Unique Value Proposition

Defining your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is the first step in clearly identifying how your products and services are different from the competition. If you can't define some unique feature or benefit that makes you stand out, your customers may default to the only other option - price.

You might already have something that makes you stand apart, but if not, then it's time to discover, define, and create a value proposition from scratch. Be prepared to alter some of your products or services in order to support your vision for standing out.

The first step in creating a unique value proposition is to find out what your competitors do well and then find a way to either do it better, or offer a guarantee that puts you on a completely different level.

Here are a few ways to better understand your competition.

1. Buy from them. This is one of the best ways to determine how well your competition performs from start to finish.

2. Sign up for their newsletter. What types of information are they providing to their customers? Are they offering real value in their newsletter or are they simply pushing their products?

3. Request your competitor's brochures and catalogs. Does your competitor offer a full year warranty? See if it makes sense for you to offer a 2-year warranty. Your competitor offers a 90-day money-back guarantee? Offer a double money-back guarantee.

Defining your Unique Value Proposition helps set you apart from the competition and communicates your compelling value to prospects and customers.

Strategy #4: Create a Marketing Communications Folder

When a prospect shows interest in your business, what do you give them in order to further develop trust and confidence?

You should be sending them a complete marketing communications folder. I recommend a basic two-pocket folder that has notches on one of the inside pockets for your business card.

Here's what I recommend you include in your folder.

1. The Compelling Story - Every small business owner should be able to tell a compelling story about their passions and why they started their business. A great story about why you started your business can create instant trust. Try and craft your story so that it appeals to the emotions, is fun to read, and provides a sense of passion.

2. The Business Advantage - On this page, you will want to summarize all the advantages of doing business with your company. Communicate your unique approach, the value customers get when they do business with you, and why your products and services are the best in your field.

3. The Problem Solver - This page should summarize several specific problems and demonstrate how these problems are alleviated with your products and services.

4. The Product/Services Summary Page - Nothing difficult here - simply summarize the various products, services, and package options you offer and list the benefits of each. Use bullet points to quickly summarize benefits.

5. The Testimonial Page - This is the page that summarizes your best customer testimonials. A testimonial is proof that you have a track record of delivering what you promise. Make sure each testimonial focuses on the specific result that was achieved to help the customer with their problem.

Feel free to add other things into your marketing communications folder, but the above items are mandatory.

Taken together, these four basic marketing strategies will help you create the trust and desire necessary to convert your prospects into paying customers!

Corte Swearingen has been a marketing professional for 20 years and is the creator of the SmallBiz Marketing Tips Website. He offers a Free Online Marketing Course at his website.

By Corte Swearingen

Marketing For Attorneys - 7 Tips to Maximizing Your Marketing Efforts

Lawyers marketing their practices often fall into these traps when developing their marketing plan. Remember these 7 simple rules to maximize your chances for success.

1. The Press Won't Make You Rich. Everyone loves to have their name in lights, but spending time chasing around that reporter from CNN isn't going to put food on your table tonight.
2. Networking Groups Can Be A Time Suck. For years the "old boys club" mandated networking events. What they didn't tell you was that these get-togethers take huge amounts of time and don't result in a steady flow of business.
3. The Lowest Priced Competitor Files For Bankruptcy. Never compete on price. There's always some newbie who will gladly uncut your price by $10 to get the client.
4. Develop Your Message. You've got to be different in order to stand out. If you don't stand out, you'll fade into the background, never to be seen again.
5. Image-Building Is A Waste. Pens, desk clocks, coffee mugs and t-shirts with your firm name do not spur a prospect to pick up the phone and hire you. Nobody ever says, "Hey, great pen - I think I'll hire that lawyer!"
6. Know Your Market. Trying to sell complex estate planning packages in a slum? Personal bankruptcy lawyer on Rodeo Drive? It could work, but chances are pretty good that you'll be left with a bunch of holes in your client appointment calendar.
7. Your Business Is Marketing - Everything Else Is Window Dressing. Your job is to bring in new business so that the bills get paid and you can live a reasonable lifestyle. If you don't bring in new, paying clients then it isn't a business - it's an academic exercise. By Jay Fleischman.

How to Gain Market Share

Expanding the business for market share is a difficult decision for any entity. While going for market share, company has to consider every detail and factors which are critical in determining the methods to be used. Success and failure of the company depends on decisions such as when, where, and how much cash to spend.

While making a move for market share, make sure company is to be in the public eye. Your competitors, customers, and internal public, everyone can feel your presence. Adopt aggressive approach for advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and public relations. The companies who differentiate themselves from their competitors on the bases of sustainable competitive advantage are the real leaders of their industry.

To win the market share, following guidelines are essential for any business:

1. Differentiation
The business should offer differentiated products or services against its rivals. Product may be differentiated in terms of packaging, technology, design, and functionality etc.

2. Focused Advertising
To address your customers, advertising is the most effective tool. This advertising should be targeted and creative, according to your audiences. Message should be loud and clear. The common tools for advertising are television, radio, newspaper, magazines, mobile phones, internet, billboards etc.

3. Customer Relationship management
Customers are the king of the market and primary concern of the business. Customer satisfaction is the primary goal of any organization in this world. Through efficient CRM, a company can build long term relationship with its customers, which helps to increase company's market share. CRM is an effective tool to inspire customers by giving pre-sale and post-sale services. These days, companies build customer care centers and call centers to improve customer relations by solving their queries.

4. Promotional Schemes
While you are trying to increase share, it is quite important to offer discounts on bundle buying, any introductory offers, arrange events, arrange stalls in malls and give promotional discounts etc. These activities increase the customer buying as well as improve share.

5. After sale services
Warranties and Guarantees are the tool for after sale services. Products with warranties and guarantees are preferred by customers. If a company gives warranties and guarantees with new products, customers will consider it as a reliable source to buy and it will increase their market share in future. By Ayaz Haider

Get Your Business Going With Attractive Business Proposals!

Nowadays, there are various forms of paperwork, like, invoices, business letters, newsletters, etc. on which your business largely depends. It is their presentation that suggests professionalism of your business to the clients or customers and shareholders. Now you can also cut costs and crush competitors using sophisticated software for generating business proposal, newsletter, contract, etc.

There are many companies that provide proposal writer software packed with great money and time saving features:

1) After installation, the proposal template tool appears as an add-on to the Word tool bar making it extremely convenient to make proposals.

2) There is also a tabbed interface which means you get regular prompts at every stage so proposal creation becomes simpler.

3) You can get access to interesting proposal samples. Different business documents can be saved and re-used at will. A number of topic based templates are also available, like, Executive Summary, Company History, Proposal Objective, Industry Trends etc. These themes and covers have been specially designed for you by professional designers so that when you finish adding content to your proposal, you can beautify it with just one click. All you need to do is select a display theme and your proposal will get formatted with the chosen display theme and cover.

4) You can also publish and edit proposals in Word, add images, tables and formatting.

5) Proposals can also be published in PDF and Word format. You can save it as well as edit as and when required.

6) Your name, the company name, the proposed company name and contact name are picked up by the application and can be inserted at relevant places in the content of the proposal, wherever required.

The proposal template software is easy to use and install. It helps you to innovate and be more flexible by making the most of the current resources and controlling costs. With its help, you create sales proposal, contracts, invoices, etc. with ease. Hence, enhance the agility, receptiveness and productivity of your business. By continuously creating meaningful and focused business proposals, you will always remain in the sight of your customers' and clients' mind. Remember out of sight, out of mind.

Cyrus Selster is a business analyst as well as web content writer who has more than 7 years experience in content writing. In this article he discusses how to make bid winning business proposals. For more information about proposal software, business proposals, proposal template please visit http://www.proposalsmartz.com. By Cyrus Selster