16. Office Stationery & Merchandising Materials
It is extremely important that your website is included on ALL your office stationery so that customers can see it over and over again. That way they are more likely to remember it. If you've just had your letterheads printed, you can always add your website address on your wordprocessor, when printing your correspondence. For brochures, business cards etc, consider having small labels printed up. Your office stationery should include not only your website address, but also your email. Consider adding your details to:
- Letterheads
- Business Cards
- Flyers
- Brochures
- Labels
- Packaging
- Merchandise bags
- Catalogs
- Invoices
- Fax headers
- Display units
17. Pay per click (PPC)
Pay per click advertising is when an advertiser (you) pays for each qualified click that sends a search engine user to the advertiser's web page. PPC requires you to bid on keywords or phrases that relate to your business. The best known pay per click services are Google AdWords and Overture.
Generally you can bid from as little as a few cents per visitor. However, the more you bid the higher up in the search engine your advertisement will appear. Pay per click is a great way to deliver targeted and qualified visitors to your website at a very reasonable price.
It is a good idea to experiment with different PPC search engines to find the one that works best for you. In addition, you will need spend time testing your keywords and ads.
For more information check out:
Google Adwords - https://adwords.google.com
Overture - www.overture.com
18. Visitor Exchanges
There are many websites popping up on the net that are known as Traffic Exchange, Click Exchange, Visitor Exchange or Surf For Hits programs. People become members of these sites with the goal of generating free traffic to their site.
The way it works is quite clever.
You visit another member's website and in exchange someone visits the website of your choice. Most of these programs work on a 2:1 ratio. This means that for every two sites that you visit, someone else in that same Start Page program will visit your site.
Simple concept, isn't it?
The great thing about these programs is that you will receive all of this traffic to your website, without having to spend a dime!
One of the biggest benefits from these programs is the ability to develop a downline of people that will generate 1,000's upon 1,000's of click thru visits to your site over time! In other words, you receive credits for the credits they chalk up for themselves!
For more information go to:
http://www.web4business.com.au/FreeVisitors.htm
19. Articles
Writing articles is an excellent way for you to get free publicity. Getting an article published is free. The publicity you receive by having your article published in a newspaper, magazine or website can be worth thousands of dollars in equivalent advertising space. Well written articles yield better results than advertisements and earn you respect from customers, who see you as an expert in your field.
The best articles are "tips" or expert pieces. People are looking for guidance and will purchase from the experts who show them how to solve their problems.
Your article should include the following elements:
(a) The Headline
This should be attention grabbing and use power words and phrases, such as "How to …" "10 Ways that …", "Do you want to …"
(b) Lead Paragraph
The first couple of sentences should tell your readers why they should read the whole articles. Show them the benefits they will gain or the pain that they will avoid by reading the article.
(c) Body Copy
This is where you inform the reader how to do something that will enrich their business or personal lives. Use short sentences and provide step-by-step directions that they can easily follow.
(d) Conclusion
At the end you will want to summarise the topics you covered and briefly review the main points. Since you have helped your readers they will most likely want to know more. This is your chance to make your sell by making them an offer with a call to action.
(e) Resource Box
The resource box should supply the reader with the following information:
- Your name
- Company name
- Contact information
- Website details
- How to order your product, etc
If writing an article seems too daunting for you initially, you can hire a ghost writer to do this for you - generally at a very reasonable price. If you need someone to help you with this, you may wish to check out:
www.elance.com
Once your article is written you will need to submit it to various publications on-line and off-line. For a listing of Australian printed publications, including the editor's details, you may wish to buy "The Australian Writer's Marketplace", available from most bookshops.
For a listing of on-line magazines (e-zines), visit: www.ezine-dir.com. You can then contact the editor of each magazine and offer them your article.
If you don't have a lot of time to submit your articles manually, you may wish to consider using article submission services by companies such as:
Submit Your Article - www.submityourarticle.com or
The Phantom Writers - www.thephantomwriters.com
For a small fee they will submit your article to thousands of publications.
20. Webrings
One of the more interesting ways to add some targeted traffic to your site is to join webrings. A webring allows visitors to surf through sites that are related in one way or another. They are free of charge to the owners, members and visitors.
Webrings deliver targeted traffic day after day and once they are set up they tend to stay set up with little further maintenance
Each webring is created and maintained by a person known as a ringmaster. This person accepts site submissions and validates that the site meets the topic of the webring. For more information visit: www.webring.org
21. Ezine Advertising
One of the best, cheapest and most targeted way to promote your product or service is through ezines (electronic magazines). Ezine ads reach people who want what you have to offer. As Ezines are generally based on a theme or particular interest and their subscribers have requested to receive them, you can be sure that they are going to be read.
Prices for advertisements vary depending on the popularity of the ezine and the actual location of your ad. Top position ads generally cost more than those found mid-way or at the bottom. Most ezine publishers will also send solo ads (advertisements about your product/service) to their subscribers. However, this is generally more costly.
To get the most of your ad, ensure you develop a killer title or headline and that the ad is straight to the point.
The best way to get started advertising in ezines would be to contact the editors of various ezines and check their rates, publication dates and number of subscribers - go to www.ezine-dir.com or www.go-ezines.com for a comprehensive listing of ezines.
22. Publishing an Ezine or Newsletter
Whether you are the CEO of a multi-national corporate network or a stay-in-your-pyjamas entrepreneur, one of your primary business objectives should be to develop long-term relationships with everyone you communicate with - website visitors, prospects, customers, employees, suppliers, service providers etc. And one of the best methods of building strong relationships is through your own Ezine (electronic magazine) or Newsletter.
If you've been marketing on the Internet, then you know it may take several contacts with a prospective customer before closing a sale. What better way to make those contacts, without spamming... In addition, you can eventually make a nice income selling sponsor advertising and classified ads.
To publish an effective Ezine will take some time to develop and there are thousands of resources on the internet that will help you - simply go to your favourite search engine and type in "ezine publishing" or "ezine publishing articles".
In the meantime, here are some tips to get you started.
(a) Give your readers quality content - not rehashed or well-worn articles that have been published hundreds of times already.
(b) Write your own articles whenever possible or hire a ghost writer to help you. Talk to your readers as you would normally talk. Be yourself and let your sense of humour and uniqueness show through in your writing.
(b) Ensure the ezine has been properly edited, you have checked your spelling, grammar and formatting. Ensure all the links are working
(c) Personalise each issue for your subscriber. If your email software allows it, include a field so that your ezine is addressed to your subscriber by their firstname.
(d) Don't publish too many ads or too many affiliate links
(e) Ask for feedback to help you improve your ezine
(f) Stick to publishing a text ezine rather than HTML.
(g) Publish your ezine regularly and on time.
23. Media Releases
Having a story written about you and your business will not only bring you lots of new customers (at no cost to you), but will also provide you massive credibility. Stories about you in the media are far more believable, powerful and attractive than any ads you could possibly run. People will trust and respect you instantly.
A media release (also called press or news releases) should provide enough details to be informative, but it should leave out just enough information to be tantalizing that the media person calls you to find out more.
Your media release should feature the following:
The Headline
This is 90% of your release. Your headline will do almost all of the work in attracting attention to you.
The Summary
This is the first part of the media release and should tell your story briefly.
Credentials & Quotations
Insert quotes from other people and include the person's credentials
Call to Action
What do you want the person reading this release to do? You want them to call you for an interview. So provide your contact details and write a very brief outline of why you would be an interesting person to interview.
For more information about writing media releases visit:
www.pressrelease.com.au
www.elance.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
www.newsbureau.com
24. Radio advertising
You may have shied away from radio advertising, thinking the cost would be well over your budget and it may very well be if you were to advertise on commercial radio stations. But have you considered community radio stations? There are hundreds of them around and the great thing is that they will reach your local market. For community radio stations in your area, visit your local yellow pages or search on the internet.
25. Print advertising
Writing the Copy
When it comes to print advertising, you have to get to the point—fast. Your headlines should motivate readers to want to read on to learn more about your product, price and offer. Effective headlines address a pressing customer need or desire. The reality is that people care more about themselves—and what you can do for them—than about your business. You'll get a much higher response rate when your headline quickly answers the question, "What's in it for me?"
In the body of your copy, offer an incentive for the reader to call you or come to your store. You may want to offer a discount or a free giveaway
Placing the Ad
Newspaper ads are very effective for businesses that market their products and services locally. Not only can you reach a large number of people in a specific metropolitan location, but you can also target prospects via their interests (in the sports, lifestyle and business sections, for example).
Advertising costs depend on a number of factors, including the size of the ad, where it's placed, the day it runs and so on. Call and request a media kit from the newspaper or magazine so you can determine what advertising steps you can take that will fit with your marketing budget.
Consider placing print advertisements in local publications, national publications,
industry publications, target market specific publications, yellow pages, local directories, special catalogues
26. Postcards
If looking to target potential customers, don't overlook postcard marketing. Postcards achieve almost a 100% readership, while being simple to use and inexpensive.
Postcards:
- keep your name in front of customers
- generate a high return on investment
- are flexible, informative and creative
- have high impact and low cost
Postcards can be used to:
- generate website traffic and sales leads
- promote new specials or company awareness
- announce new products, websites, store locations
- thank customers
- use as a discount offer /coupon
Repetition is the key to effective marketing efforts and postcards offer an inexpensive way of doing it.
27. Word of mouth / Testimonials
Word-of-mouth marketing truly is one of the best ways to promote your business. The three most important things you can do to start the process of increasing your business through word-of-mouth include:
(a) Diversify your networks by becoming visible and active in the community. Participate in various networking groups and/or professional associations.
(b) Set up a contact list of businesses that are complementary and noncompetitive to you. For example: a lawyer, an accountant, a financial planner and a banker. All of them have clients with overlapping similar needs. They can all work with and refer each other easily. Another good example is a florist, a photographer, a travel agent and a jeweler. A referral for one of them becomes a referral for all of them.
(c) Building your business through word-of-mouth is about cultivating relationships with people who get to know you and trust you. People do business with people they have confidence in. It's not what you know, or whom you know, it's how well you know them that counts. If you go into this process understanding this one key point, you will have a better opportunity to build your business through word-of-mouth.
28. eBay
If you sell products (as opposed to services) in your business, one of the best marketing tools you can use is eBay. eBay is a community where individuals and businesses can buy and sell a vast range of new and used items at fair market prices.
The main reasons why you should sell on eBay include:
- You can sell little or lot of practically anything from antiques to cars.
- Gain access to the millions of eBay buyers worldwide.
- Feel safe with policies and protections of the Community.
- Sell as an individual, small business, enterprise, and more!
For more information visit: www.ebay.com for selling globally or www.ebay.com.au for selling within Australia.
29. Viral marketing
On the Internet, viral marketing is any marketing technique that induces Web sites or users to pass on a marketing message to other sites or users, creating a potentially exponential growth in the message's visibility and effect. One example of successful viral marketing is Hotmail, a company, now owned by Microsoft. Their strategy is simple:
(a) Give away free e-mail addresses and services,
(b) Attach a simple tag at the bottom of every free message sent out: "Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com" and,
(c) Then stand back while people e-mail to their own network of friends and associates,
(d) Who see the message,
(e) Sign up for their own free e-mail service, and then
(f) Propel the message still wider to their own ever-increasing circles of friends and associates.
Some viral marketing strategies work better than others. Below are basic elements you should try to include in your strategy.
(a) Give away products or services
Most viral marketing programs give away valuable products or services to attract attention. Free e-mail services, free information, free "cool" buttons, free software programs etc
(b) Provide for effortless transfer to others
The medium that carries your marketing message must be easy to transfer and replicate: e-mail, website, graphic, software download. From a marketing standpoint, you must simplify your marketing message so it can be transmitted easily and without degradation. Short is better.
(c) Scale easily from small to very large
To spread like wildfire the transmission method must be rapidly scalable from small to very large. Ensure you have enough resources, such as mail servers and staff that will be able to handle the increase in business.
(d) Exploit common motivations and behaviors
Clever viral marketing plans take advantage of common human motivations such as greed, the desire to be cool, hunger to be popular, loved, and understood.
(e) Utilize existing communication networks
Each person has a network of 8 to 12 people in their close network of friends, family, and associates. A person's broader network may consist of hundreds or thousands of people. People on the Internet develop networks of relationships, too. They collect e-mail addresses and favourite website URLs. Affiliate programs exploit such networks, as do permission e-mail lists. Learn to place your message into existing communications between people, and you rapidly multiply its dispersion.
(f) Take advantage of others' resources
The most creative viral marketing plans use others' resources to get the word out. For example, affiliate programs place text or graphic links on others' websites, authors give away free articles, news release can be picked up by a large number of publications as they form the basis of articles seen by hundreds of thousands of readers.
30. Joint Ventures
A joint venture is an agreement in which two or more businesses work on a project for a set period of time. Joint ventures can be long-term or short-term. With joint venture you can:
(a) Build long lasting business relationships.
(b) Increase your credibility by teaming up with other reputable, branded businesses.
(c) Get free or discounted products and services.
(d) Set up most joint venture deals with little or no money.
(e) Gain new leads and customers.
(f) Offer your customers new products and services.
(g) Get rid of your extra inventory.
(h) Find and create new distribution channels for your products.
To learn more about Joint Ventures, visit:
www.howtowritehypnoticjointventureproposals.com
There are many excellent ebooks on internet marketing. I would strongly recommend you pick up at least one or two and start reading. For a list of some great electronic books and tools, which are available for instant download, visit:
http://www.web4business.com.au/BusinessTools.htm
Ivana Katz is the owner of Websites 4 Small Business, a company specialising in the design and promotion of small and growing business websites. She believes that every business deserves to have a successful website, no matter what its budget is. For more information visit http://www.web4business.com.au or email info@web4business.com.au. To download your Website Plan go to http://www.web4business.com.au/WebsitePlanRequest.htm.