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Help and Consultancy - Eva Rosenberg
2008-02-05 14:12:00
Who is Eva Rosenberg ?Zany, passionate, creative, original, and 'clued-in.'Her three outstanding qualities?* Action - The ability to see straight through to the heart of a problem and find the best solution.* Brainstorming - Eva gets fired up and generates brilliant solutions and business ideas endlessly.*Cheerleading - No one ever leaves her presence without being inspired and empowered.One of the best moderators online, Eva Rosenberg is one of the stars of the Internet. In daily contact with her readers, Your Humble Guide of I-HelpDesk and WebReview (http://www.adventive.com/lists/ihelpdesk /), Eva has the passionate loyalty of her HelpMates. Why? She writes back. (And she quietly helps them out, behind the scenes.)Eva used the tools, resources, ideas and guidance from her online friends to create TaxMama.com (http://taxmama.com) one of the top seven tax advice sites online, according to Inc Magazine.You'll find Eva speaking to the top marketing audiences, (the only woman) at Jay...
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Help and Consultancy - Derek Gehl
2008-02-05 14:05:00
Derek Gehl is the CEO of the Internet Marketing Challenge.A former protege of some of the biggest names in web marketing, he was instrumental in developing several multimillion dollar online companies in record speed. He is also responsible for the growth and development of the largest online communities of eBusiness professionals on the web today in the Internet Marketing Challenge, private web site.Derek frequently appears at Internet Marketing events and seminars around the country along side some of the greatest names in the industry and has quickly become a recognized leader in the growth of and pioneering of web marketing strategies for the SOHO market.Top Tips1) Your opt-in email list is one of the most powerful marketing tools any ebusiness could have today. If you are not letting the visitors to your web site give you their email address through a newsletters subscription, free ebook download, ezine, etc. then you are losing potentially thousands of dollars every single mon...
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Focus on Direct Response
2007-10-22 15:02:00
What is the purpose of your web site?A lot of webmasters have not asked themselves this all important question.For some reason, they seem to think that the purpose of their web site is togive away free stuff. Or it could be to be a ?showcase? for their products.Or it could be to create links to all kinds of resources. Or it could be to havefancy Flash graphics and build a brand name.Hogwash!If you?re a business, the purpose of your web site is to SELL something.Generate a million visitors to your site and you just have to pay additional?bandwidth? fees with many hosts. Generate a million buying customers toyour web site and you?re on the way to the bank.Your web site should have ONE main focus. It should not be selling adozen products, a dozen opportunities, or linking to 10 different affiliateprograms.Having a dozen links (or even half a dozen links for that matter) on yourmain web site just CONFUSES your visitor.When someone visits your site, it should be clearly obvious what ONEa...
More About: Direct , Focus , Direct Response , Dire , Response

What Type of Email is Best?
2007-09-24 15:34:00
Now that we?ve defined our audiences, and we know what we want to achieve with each, it?s time to match an email type to each objective we?ve set.Transactional Invoice Email sThese types of email are best used for:retention or customer renewalsWe don?t ask for much from a renewal email. As long as it reminds customers of their upcoming subscriptionexpirations, and asks them to pay for new ones, we?re happy. An email invoice providing payment instructions (a hyperlink to pay online, or a phone number to pay via phone) is sufficient for this purpose. Many organizations use a ?renewal series? of email invoices, sending emails during specific points in the renewal process: two months prior to the due date, one month prior, two weeks prior, right up to?and beyond?the due date.However, not many of your customers will be inspired to continue their subscriptions by the invoice alone. Remember that your competitors are always lurking, waiting for you to drop customers that they can catch. Dur...
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What are your Goals for the Target Audience?
2007-09-18 15:31:00
Right. You?ve defined your target audience, now let?s set some goals for them. I?m going to stress this point again: make your plans detailed! Simply stating that you want your customers to buy from you is not enough. You need to look at the target groups you defined earlier, and set specific goals for each.Let?s start by stating some common marketing objectives for current customers. Then, we?ll consider the other audience groups.Objectives for Current CustomersrenewalsWe can use email marketing as a retention tool to encourage customers to re-subscribe. Rather than sending your customers an email that says ?Hey, where?s my money?? use the email to build customer loyalty so that when the renewal notice is delivered, customers are encouraged to make payments without a second thought.upsellsEmail marketing can be used to promote enhanced versions of a product to an existing client base. For example, a company providing online music streaming offers two services: a basic service for $...
More About: Goals , Target , Audience

Who Do you Want to Reach?
2007-09-18 15:18:00
Next, it?s time to think about readership: who are we trying to target with our email strategy?Existing CustomersIf you target your existing customers, you have the advantage of knowing a little bit about them already. It?s a good idea to create detailed customer profiles, so that you have a clear picture of the people to whom you?re trying to talk. Try to include the following information:demographic informationInclude pertinent personal information about customers, such as their ages, locations, educational backgrounds, hobbies, and other necessary details. If your customers are mostly businesses, include the duration for which each business has been in operation, an approximation of its annual revenue, and its staff numbers.features, benefits, and advantagesWhat features do your products and services provide? What benefits and advantages do customers receive when they choose your products over those of your competitors? Be sure to distinguish between features, benefits, and advan...
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Conducting a Competitive Analysis
2007-09-17 16:39:00
Before you dive into drafting up your own email strategy, don your detective hat and starting sleuthing to find out what your competitors are doing. Conducting a competitive analysis helps you to understand what you?re up against, gives you the chance to gather ideas for your own campaigns from those of your competitors, and work out what will give you the edge to make your communications more effective.Naturally, you?ll want to focus on your competitors? marketing efforts?specifically, email marketing. Let?s spend a little time talking about this now. If your competitors don?t use email, feel free to skip ahead to the next section.
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Why Develop an Email Strategy?
2007-09-17 16:38:00
Why do we use a road map when we?re driving? So that we don?t get lost. Good directions will save us time, gas, and money, and provide us with a stress-free journey.Similarly, an email marketing strategy is your map to success. It will point you in the right direction, keep you from veering off course, and identify the quickest routes by which you can reach your business goals. Like good directions, a good strategic plan will save you time, help you to budget accordingly, ensure that your email efforts are synchronized with your company?s goals, and allow you to plan ahead so that you don?t miss opportunities.As with all good things, the task of preparing a comprehensive strategic plan takes time. While it may seem like a lengthy process, having a plan in place will actually save you time in the future?it?s a foolproof way to ensure that you produce the best results with the resources that you have available.Now that we?re committed to the idea of preparing a strategy, let?s begin!
More About: Email , Strategy , Develop , Rate

Developing an Effective Email Strategy
2007-09-17 16:36:00
Many email marketing programs grow organically. An idea is born, an email is sent, it works, another email is sent, and so on. While there?s nothing wrong with this approach, you can often accomplish more in a shorter time frame by putting a strategic plan into place.In this chapter, we?ll look at what?s involved in developing a plan for an effective email strategy, be it your first email marketing campaign or an existing campaign that you want to take to the next level. Writing such a plan takes considerable time and effort, and may seem a bit daunting at first, but don?t let this deter you. Not only is a plan necessary for the long-term success of your campaign, it?s also criticalfor keeping you on track in the short term. Consider it a creative endeavor, and you?ll soon discover that writing a strategic plan is actually quite a lot of fun once you get the hang of it!A strategic plan is an evolving document. As your knowledge of, and experience with, email marketing grows, you?ll ...
More About: Email , Strategy , Effective , Rate

Which Ad Tracker For You ?
2007-09-17 16:25:00
Since the first ad tracker was developed, doing nothing more than recording where aclickthrough came from, tracking technology has advanced. Now there are sophisticatedsystems which can tell you how many sales resulted from a keyword in a pay per click engineor even show you where your customer visited after leaving your site.In this chapter you will see an explanation of ad tracking features, starting first with animportant distinction between the two types of tracker.Two Types Of Tracker Although the operation of ad tracking programs is basically the same there is an importantdistinction between the two types of program: tracking software and tracking services.You can read the details below or skip to the summary at the end which highlights the keydifferences.1. The Two Types Of Tracker1.1 Tracking SoftwareYou purchase the program outright and it is installed on your site. There are certain softwarerequirements ? for example Perl, PHP or MySql ? so it's unlikely that free sites wi...

How An Ad Tracker Works
2007-09-17 16:22:00
It's very simple to use an ad tracking program. The two main operations are1. Setting up an ad campaign2. Viewing the campaign statsThe program runs either at your own site (tracking software) or at an external site (a trackingservice). There are important differences between these two which are discussed in Chapter 4but the essential operation is the same.You run all operations from the program's Control Center.Setting Up An Ad CampaignSuppose you want to run this ad campaign in the Daily Star newsletterObviously as it stands there is no way to tell which visitors to your site arrived as a result ofseeing this ad.Here's where an ad tracker comes in.You first decide on a special code unique to this campaign. In this case a code ds (for DailyStar) would be suitable.Or if you planned to run different campaigns over several monthly issues then you couldinclude the month in the code, for example, dsjan. The choice of code is entirely up to you.Now you feed in to the ad tracking progr...
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Why You Need An Ad Tracker
2007-09-17 16:17:00
What Is An Ad Tracker ?Simple explanation: it's a program which tells you where visitors to your site have comefrom.Simple example: you place a classified ad with a link to your site in an ezine. The basic adtracker tells you the response to that ad i.e. the number of people who clicked through to yoursite from that ad.The early ad trackers produced little more information than totals for each of your adcampaigns.The latest versions now provide a host of features, they can even show you where yourcustomer visited after leaving your site.Why Do You Need To Track Your Ads ?Every business must advertise.The more effective your ads ? the greater your profits.So how do you make your ads more effective?There's two key factors1. The content ? the words you use in your headline and the body2. The location where you place your adAnd, as the expert marketers will tell you, by constant experimenting, changing, tweaking andtesting you'll eventually find the best combination.So how do you car...

Customer Follow Up
2007-09-10 16:07:00
Following up with your customer, once you've made a sale, is an important part of providing good customer service. Not only is it an important part of developing a good relationship with your customer, but it will also enable you to introduce your new products.Although sending out a personal message to each of your customers may not be possible, you can provide your customers with the illusion that your message was personally sent. By using autoresponders, you can eliminate the need to manually respond each time you make a sale.AutorespondersAutoresponders are one of the best promotional tools on the Internet. They were designed to automatically respond to any email message sent to it with an automatic response. The more advanced autoresponders will enable you to set up a series of autoresponse messages to be sent out at a specified time.You can use autoresponders to send all of the following:? Thank you messages? Welcome letters? Order confirmationsAutoresponders can eliminate man...
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Increase Your Sales with Cross Promotions
2007-09-08 05:53:00
Cross promoting is a powerful technique used by many Internet marketers to increase the exposure of their products, services or publications. You simply decide what type of promotional exchange you would be interested in and contact fellow marketers to discuss an exchange. The most effective technique used in cross promotions is recommendations. By providing each other with a personal recommendation you can increase your response rates tremendously. Here are some popular cross promoting techniques you can use to boost your business.Link ExchangesExchange links with web sites similar to yours, but not in competition. Many Search Engines are now utilizing a new system that tracks and ranks sites according to the number of links pointing to a particular web site. By exchanging links with similar web sites, you will not only increase your Search Engine ranking, but you will also increase your web site traffic.Visit Alexa to download a powerful free Internet Explorer toolbar that will pr...
More About: Sales , Cross , Promotions , Romo

Creating a Quality Ebook
2007-09-05 17:09:00
Ebooks or Electronic books are self-contained "executable" files of HTML. This HTML may be a web site you've created or HTML you've specifically prepared to be compiled into a downloadable .exe file for distribution. When downloaded, this file will self install on your clients desktop.Ebooks are completely interactive with the Internet and can contain live links, graphics, forms, JavaScript, embedded video, can be protected via password/userid, search capabilities and more. This self-contained executable file can be distributed in a number of ways including; CD, floppy disk, download, etc.With the rising popularity of the Internet, there is absolutely no better time than right now to develop your own informational product. Not only is there no better time, but it has never been any easier for anyone to develop and sell their own products. Information is the number one best-selling product on the Internet. There are literally hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs quietly making a fort...
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Autoresponder Courses
2007-08-29 17:55:00
online business degrees online business schoolAutoresponder s, also known as mailbots, automatic email and email on demand were derived from the very popular fax on demand and designed to automatically respond to any email message it receives with an automatic response.Autoresponder programs vary from software set up to run with your desktop email program and automatically answer your incoming email to a script that runs on your server. The script may run a Web-based autoresponder system that utilizes a web page form, or it may run with your pop email account on your server. It is programmed to automatically send out a predetermined message when a message is received to a specified script address or email address.In addition to the standard autoresponder systems, there are also autoresponders that can send an unlimited amount of follow-up messages. These follow up messages can be set up to automatically be sent out at predetermined intervals. In other words, you can set up your autor...
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Protecting Yourself from Lawsuits
2007-08-29 17:15:00
If you?re doing business on the Internet, above all else, you MUST take the necessary steps to protect yourself and your business. If you?re not displaying the required legal forms on your web site, such as copyright, disclaimers and terms of service forms, you could literally lose EVERYTHING!Please, don?t take this point lightly. All it takes is one bogus lawsuit to lose everything you?ve worked for and everything you own.There are thousands upon thousands of frivolous law suits filed against innocent, unsuspecting business owners each day. The truth is anyone, at anytime, can file a lawsuit against anyone.First and foremost, you MUST take the necessary steps to protect yourself from these gold diggers.There a few different routes you can take:1. Contact an attorney ? preferably, one who specializes in the Internet ? and have these special documents drawn up. However, this option can be very expensive, as accomplished Lawyers charge $250 or more per hour ? and, the more accomplishe...
More About: Lawsuits , Prot , Suit

Help and Consultancy
2007-08-28 18:00:00
Top Tips1) Your opt-in email list is one of the most powerful marketing tools any ebusiness could have today. If you are not letting the visitors to your web site give you their email address through a newsletters subscription, free ebook download, ezine, etc. then you are losing potentially thousands of dollars every single month!2) Never underestimate the long term value of a customer. Even if you do not make a penny on the first sale, if you provide that customer a quality product with the terrific customers service, you can sell to the again... and again... and again... and again. They are your customer for life!3) Sales copy is one of the most powerful and most commonly overlooked tools in the online sales process. Even though you can increase your sales by 100% overnight by a few simple changes to your sales copy, most netrepeneurs avoid it like the plague! A powerful and compelling sales letter could be the key to your success.4) An affiliate program is one of the greatest ma...
More About: Consultancy , Ulta

Increase Sales by Building Credibility - Part 3
2007-08-19 12:30:00
Money Back GuaranteeTo further increase your credibility, you must completely remove your potential customer's risk. Provide them with a solid, no risk, money back guarantee. This will put their mind at ease by building their confidence in you and your product. In addition, you must honor ALL refund requests in a timely manner with complete professionalism.No matter what you're selling or how great your product is you will receive refund requests. It's just a part of doing business. Don't take it personally or try to argue the point with your customers, simply give them a refund. You may be surprised to learn that the customers who ask for a refund may purchase other products from you in the future.FeedbackMany times, potential customers will have questions in regard to your products and services. Create a page on your web site called "feedback" and place a form on this page to enable your visitors to contact you. It is very important that you answer these questions as quickly a...
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Increase Sales by Building Credibility - Part 2
2007-08-19 12:28:00
Privacy StatementInternet users are becoming more and more concerned with their privacy. Create a page on your web site called "privacy" and let your visitors know exactly how you will be using the information you collect.This page should include all of the following:? How do you plan on using their information?? Is their information sold or shared with a third party?? Why do you collect their email address and how will it be used?? Why do you track their IP address?? Let your visitors know that you're not responsible for the privacy issues of any outside web sites you may be linking to.? Why do you use order forms and what do you do with the information acquired?? Do you run contests and what do you do with the information?? Do you have a discussion forum or message board? Let your visitors know that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and they should exercise caution.? Do you have security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and a...
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Increase Sales by Building Credibility - Part 1
2007-08-19 12:25:00
The Internet has opened a whole New World of information and opportunity for all of us. However, it has also created a breeding ground for scam artists. For this reason, many Internet users are very reluctant to share their personal information and order products online.As an Internet entrepreneur, it is your personal responsibility to ensure that your visitors feel very comfortable with you and your web site. In order to gain your visitor's trust and confidence, you must build your credibility.Domain NameIn order to establish credibility, you must be willing to invest in your own domain name and professional web hosting. Web sites hosted on free servers are not taken seriously and will suffer a serious loss of business. Your visitors may feel that if you don't have your own domain, you may not be a credible company. They'll simply take their business elsewhere.Contact InformationProvide your visitors with your complete contact information. This information should include your "r...
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Organizing Your Strategies
2007-08-19 12:21:00
Organizing your strategies is an important part of your success. You must develop a weekly schedule for your business that becomes routine. Not only will this assist you in keeping your promotions organized, but it will also help you stay on task.Your first step will be to decide what tasks should be performed each day, such as link exchanges on Mondays, managing your pay-per-click programs on Tuesday, etc.A good way to organize your promotions is to set up a web page, for your personal use, that will contain your complete strategy. This page should be stored on your hard drive and not uploaded to your server, as you don?t want it to be accessible on the Internet.Each section within your page should contain the appropriate information for each of your promotional resources, such as web site name, user ID, password (if applicable) and hyperlinked web addresses for each web site you plan to use for your promotions. This will enable you to open your web page each day and visit the site...
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Paying For Traffic - Reviewing Your Reports
2007-08-19 12:12:00
Reviewing Your ReportsOnce your campaign begins, make sure you take the time to review the reports provided by the pay-per-click services. These reports will provide you with information in regard to how well each of your keywords are performing and enable you to adjust your keywords or change your bids accordingly.To increase your traffic even further, don't just stop with one pay-per-click Search Engine -- try several at time. The more streams of traffic flowing to your site, the better.
More About: Traffic , Reviewing , Ports

Paying For Traffic - Your Ad Copy
2007-08-19 12:11:00
Your Ad Copy Your headline and copy are the most important part of your entire strategy. Your headline must grab your potential customer's attention and force them to read on. Your copy should tell them exactly what you have to offer and convince them to visit your site. Try to avoid attracting freebie hunters by mentioning free stuff within your ads. By weeding out those potential visitors expecting to get something free, you will attract a more targeted audience of potential buyers. There is no need to pay for visitors that weren't interested in buying anything in the first place.Your listing should lead your potential customer directly to your product with no other distractions. In other words, if your product isn't on your main page, then don't direct your potential customers to your main page and make them search for your product. Direct them to your product's page.
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Paying For Traffic - Viewing Search Terms
2007-08-19 12:10:00
Viewing Search Term s Most pay-per-click Search Engines will enable you to view exact "search terms" that have been used to perform searches. Use this to your advantage. You can find out exactly what "search terms" are being used for your target market and place your bids accordingly. Try to create a list of as many relevant keywords as possible. The more keywords you bid on, the more traffic you'll receive.When bidding on keywords, keep in mind that in order to be successful, you don't have to be listed at the top. Although receiving a listing in the top three positions will produce major traffic through Overture, most of the time, you must have a large advertising budget to compete.Before placing your bid, perform a search to find out how much your competitors are paying per click. Try to place your bid so that your listing will appear on the first page to increase your chance of success. By selecting highly targeted, less popular keywords, you'll not only attract a more targeted...
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Paying For Traffic - Overture
2007-08-19 12:09:00
OvertureThe most popular and probably most effective pay-per-click Search Engine is Overture. Although the minimum bid at Overture is now 10 cents per click, if you have strategically designed your web site to sell, paying only a dime per visitor will be well worth the investment.The key to using this technique effectively is to focus on one specific product and select highly targeted keywords. This will help you to weed out all of the window shoppers and attract your specific target audience.
More About: Traffic , Overture , Vert

Google Adword Tightly Targeted Keyword
2007-08-19 12:04:00
When you place your ad with AdWords, you will have the ability to select a list of tightly targeted keywords including all of the following:Keyword Matching- Shows your ad when a search includes your selected words.Phrase Matching - Shows your ad when a search includes your selected phrases.Exact Query Matching- Shows your ad when a search contains your exact keywords and no others.Negative Keyword Matching- Will not show your ad if a search contains certain words you select.This unique targeting technique will enable you to create a highly targeted ad campaign and test your ads with a high rate of accuracy. What's more, you can even target your ads to a specific country or language.The great thing about advertising with Googl e AdWords is that you will have complete control over your ad and how much you'd like to spend. You can open an account with a credit card with no minimum deposit required. Once you place your ad, it can begin running almost immediately

Google Adwords
2007-08-19 11:59:00
http://adwords.google.comIf you're looking for a low-cost, yet highly effective means of advertising your products and services, Googl e AdWords may be your answer.Google AdWords provides a simple way to purchase highly targeted advertising, regardless of your budget. Unlike other sites selling banner ad space and pay-per-ranking, AdWords provides advertisers with highly effective text ads that are displayed with the search results. Studies have shown that highly targeted keyword advertising produces an average of four times the industry standard clickthroughrate.Google, one of the premier Search Engines, receives over 29 million searches each day. Their popularity most likely stems from the speed and accuracy of their search results. Needless to say, placing your text ad with Google Adwords will be a highly effective way to advertise your products and services.

Advertising
2007-08-11 19:17:00
AdvertisingIf you really want to build your business online, you MUST be willing to invest in your business. There are many advertising opportunities available on the Internet that will enable you to purchase targeted advertising very reasonably.Ezine AdvertisingEzine Advertising is one of the most effective forms of advertising on the Internet. Not only is it effective, but it can also be very inexpensive depending on the size of the publication.The key to using ezine advertising effectively is to target your audience and track your response. You must test the effectiveness of both your ad and the publication in which you're advertising. This will enable you to determine which ads are pulling the most response and which publications are providing you with a high response rate.When selecting an ezine in which to purchase advertising, there are a few factors that should be taken into consideration:1. Select an ezine that targets your potential customer. In other words, if you're se...
More About: Advertising , Vert

Writing Articles for Publicity
2007-08-11 19:14:00
Writing Artic les for Publicity If you've been on the Internet for a while, you've probably subscribed to a few ezines (newsletters). Most ezines will include a feature article written by the editor or a guest author. If you've ever read an article written by a guest author then you've probably noticed, at the end of the article, a few lines of text about the author, referred to as "bylines" or "resource box."The writer gives the publisher permission to publish their article free of charge in exchange for the publisher including the author's bylines. The bylines are basically just an advertisement for the writer. They usually contain a couple of lines about the author and a web address.By writing articles and allowing them to be published, free of charge, your articles will have the potential to be viewed by millions of Internet users. They may be published by several ezines with subscriber bases of a few hundred to several thousand. In addition, they may be displayed in ezine ar...
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