It's been a while, but I thought today I should probably say something.... It's not all that interesting, but then again you might find it interesting. Who knows?
The south african directory that we created has taken off and is doing very well. One thing I have learned about the internet is that you can create any kind of website and if you know how to market it, it will do alright. Not fantastic, but alright.
The latest link I have collected for just-southafrican.com is the alexa ranking. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/just-southafrican.com . As and when I get more links I will pass them onto you.
Hope you all have a great day.... Chat again soon.
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The journey continues...
As I write this, I am sat here in my pj's and my dressing gown with fluffy pink slippers on. So you can imagine, I'm still not fully awake yet, but I couldn't wait any longer to tell you the news.
http://www.bits4babies.com has had a make-over. We have spent hours and hours trying to get the site up to scratch again.... yes, we did get complacent, but now we are focused again and things are running nicely again. Bits 4 Babies was established on 6 January 2006 and has gone through many transformations, then we hit a stumbling block. We were teetering, we knew that now was the time when we would either slide back or go full steam ahead. We did the latter.
Over the past 2 weeks we have been consulting with other professionals and we have done the work necessary to give it that one last push. We got rid of all the old product pages, search pages etc and it is slowly correcting itself on the search engines. Kev and I are exhausted, but we keep going on, because we know we have to.
I have learnt a great deal more about web-design and put that into action, I put in what I already knew and added a little more. With advertising and marketing, it was just getting the right mix. We are now on our way up again and it feels great.
Bits 4 Babies US & CA now has a new look. We are planning on putting a community in place for those of you that like to share your experiences with parenting, pregnancy and child care. We hope to have a place where you can blog about your little angels and their antics. Show pictures and just share general information on pregnancy and toddler issues. This will most probably be our next move, but ummmmm, I need to figure out how to use the program. hehehe.
We have a newsletter in place now, so if you would like to know what is happening before anyone else does... Sign up. We would love to have you on board. We were invited onto a e-commerce course via Joel Comm's business associates. He is an expert in his field to say the least. You've seen him on tv, twitter and generally all over the net. He has an interesting out look on business and how it works for him. I can honestly say he has inspired us.
Although we cannot brag figures just yet, I'm sure that in the near future we will be able to give you a little background on how much our business is growing. We're on a plateau at the moment, so as soon as we've hit that next hurdle we'll let you know. The next update will be in a few weeks. So see you all then.
http://www.bits4babies.com has had a make-over. We have spent hours and hours trying to get the site up to scratch again.... yes, we did get complacent, but now we are focused again and things are running nicely again. Bits 4 Babies was established on 6 January 2006 and has gone through many transformations, then we hit a stumbling block. We were teetering, we knew that now was the time when we would either slide back or go full steam ahead. We did the latter.
Over the past 2 weeks we have been consulting with other professionals and we have done the work necessary to give it that one last push. We got rid of all the old product pages, search pages etc and it is slowly correcting itself on the search engines. Kev and I are exhausted, but we keep going on, because we know we have to.
I have learnt a great deal more about web-design and put that into action, I put in what I already knew and added a little more. With advertising and marketing, it was just getting the right mix. We are now on our way up again and it feels great.
Bits 4 Babies US & CA now has a new look. We are planning on putting a community in place for those of you that like to share your experiences with parenting, pregnancy and child care. We hope to have a place where you can blog about your little angels and their antics. Show pictures and just share general information on pregnancy and toddler issues. This will most probably be our next move, but ummmmm, I need to figure out how to use the program. hehehe.
We have a newsletter in place now, so if you would like to know what is happening before anyone else does... Sign up. We would love to have you on board. We were invited onto a e-commerce course via Joel Comm's business associates. He is an expert in his field to say the least. You've seen him on tv, twitter and generally all over the net. He has an interesting out look on business and how it works for him. I can honestly say he has inspired us.
Although we cannot brag figures just yet, I'm sure that in the near future we will be able to give you a little background on how much our business is growing. We're on a plateau at the moment, so as soon as we've hit that next hurdle we'll let you know. The next update will be in a few weeks. So see you all then.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Brochure - Still the Marketing Standard-Bearer
Author: Nick James
Brochure Design is surely the forgotten standard-bearer in the world of marketing and advertising.
In this day and age of worldwide webs and information superhighways, where websites, e-marketing, and TV are seen as the sure-fire methods of getting your message out there, it's easy to forget how effective the humble brochure can still be.
Once the lynchpin of a corporate marketing campaign, recent years have seen the brochure passed over in favour of internet marketing and websites.
But ask yourself this: Is a website really the path my company wants to go down?
If you're serious about having a website to promote your company then before you make any commitment you should be aware of the maintenance and upkeep that it will need, as well as the internet marketing required to promote it. It's never a case of simply publishing a website and expecting the traffic to find you. Add to this the fact that a decent website with a good design and sleek programming won't come cheap, and you've really got to be serious about ongoing promotion if you want a reasonable ROI.
Brochures, however, are relatively cheaper to get designed, printed, and distributed, offering a far greater cost-efficiency.
It can be said that they offer the purest form of advertising away from the billboard, as they are generally succinct in their use of words, yet always eye-catching in the brochure design. This draws a potential customer or client directly to the message you're looking to convey without diluting it or allowing them to become lost amongst the assorted pages of a similarly targeted website.
The brochure is also far easier to market than a website, at a fraction of the cost. They can be handed out, left with clients, laid out for passing trade to pick up and browse, and there's no fear of the less than tech-savvy encountering problems.
Everybody knows how to operate a leaflet or brochure.
At the end of the day it is still true that the greater proportion of people out there like something they can get their hands on. Something they can leaf through at their leisure whilst waiting for a bus, sitting in a cafe, enjoying a well-deserved break, or at home lying in bed. The brochure offers the ultimate ease of accessibility and its success in connecting the right sort of customer (the one ready to spend money) with the products or services your company offers has been proven throughout the history of marketing.
Obviously the final call comes down to the individual needs and budget of a company. But in these modern times when everybody is looking to the internet for their marketing campaign, it always pays to consider the cheaper alternatives out there that still do the business. It is these often dismissed standard-bearers, such as the brochure, that have the track record ready to back-up the results.
About the Author:Nick James writes for Essence Design, a UK web and graphic design agency that specialises in brochure design, web design and web development.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Brochure - Still the Marketing Standard-Bearer
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Marketings Greatest Secret
Author: Marketing Buzz
The Marketing Buzz are Small Business Marketing Experts and offer all types of Marketing Services to Help You Grow Your Business.
Do you know what the best type of Marketing is for your company?
How about a Yellow Pages advert? Pay per click? Maybe some direct mail followed up a telemarketing campaign?
Well whilst each of these are perfectly valid marketing routes and one's any forward thinking company should at least test the very best type of marketing for all types of business is the type that is FREE!!!
That's right Ladies and Gentlemen, if you're working with a tight marketing budget (or indeed with no set marketing budget at all) then you can now get exposure for your product, service or company in the form of PR (or Public Relations).
For large companies PR is big business. They will think nothing of employing staff with the sole intention of getting the name of their company in the media (be it written press, television, radio or online). And because the PR market is seemingly dominated by the larger companies small companies shy away from using PR in their marketing mix.
If this applies to you then good times could well be ahead as PR is a vital part of the marketing mix for smaller companies in particular as they often don't have the time or money to spend on often expensive advertising or other marketing.
Successful businesses of all sizes use PR to promote their business, build their reputation and become a recognised expert in their particular field. And the beauty of PR is that everyone is an expert in something. And by passing on your expertise in a particular subject in the right way you become newsworthy.
And that is the real secret when it comes to good PR. It has to be interesting and newsworthy. Nobody cares that you've just launched a new website or that Mrs Jones in Accounts has just become a Grandmother for the second time (both subjects I've seen in press releases and both subjects I've seen in journalist's bins!!). And if you've ever attempted PR only not to have it published then I wouldn't worry too much about it as you're amongst the 99% of companies who send out PR that isn't newsworthy or interesting.
Here are a few words on Why PR is important.
Communication lies at the heart of today's modern society. Be it on the internet, television, pod casts or whatever medium you choose. And with so many firms competing for the same business as you, how do your customers differentiate between you and your competitors?
The answer lies not particularly in the size of your Yellow Pages advert but how you project yourself and what your firm has to offer.
PR has a huge sway in the minds of consumers as the perceived third party endorsement that comes from editorial coverage can be substantial, maybe even more so than advertising that can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds.
PR done well can result in increased exposure, increased business and increased profits. And if you want your business to be the best it can be then becoming good at PR is something you want to do.
And remember, it's FREE!!!!
The Marketing Buzz are Small Business Marketing Experts and offer all types of Marketing Services to Help You Grow Your Business.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Marketings Greatest Secret
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Social Media Optimisation (smo) Explained for the Beginner
Author: Steve Greenwood
Social Media appeared on the Internet in 2006 and has since grown to offer new online technologies to help people share their opinions and experiences with each other in the form of text, links, images, audio and video. It allows businesses to reach their target audience via a whole new channel. Social Media is worldwide and user-driven, which is both good news and bad news for companies as the user community can have enormous power over the reputation of a brand or a company.
There are many different optimisation techniques available to the Webmaster including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Conversion rate Optimisation (CRO). Social Media Optimisation (SMO) is the most recent and looks at the social aspects of your website helping your business to interact better with your website visitors and customers. The Internet is continually changing and new technologies appear all the time.
SMO is about the strategies used to set up Social Media components on your website that allow your customers to interact and participate with you during their online experience. The whole point is to make your site more accessible to your visitors by allowing them to interact with your content via the following means.
Tagging and Bookmarking
The social web is all about sharing information and tagging your web pages allows people to easily bookmark your content by adding your web pages to their list of favourites on Explorer or one of the many social websites such as Digg, MySpace, Flickr and YouTube.
Create a Blog
A blog is simply a means of displaying content, one article after another on your website. This allows visitors to easily interact with your business and your services. A blog is easy to set up and is a great way to record daily events on your website.
RSS Feeds
Providing RSS Feeds for your services, products, blogs, etc allows users to know instantly what has changed on your website through the use of a Feed Reader. RSS Feeds help to get your content distributed across the web and is a simple way to tap into the Web 2.0 technology.
Discussion Forum
Forums allow your visitors to discuss and comment on your services and products. This can be of great benefit to companies, as monitoring the Forum will give you the chance to understand your customers and put you in a position to talk to your customers directly and in real time.
Online Videos and Images
Creating videos in the form of Podcasts can be a great way to communicate with your customers and bring life into website. Share your videos and pictures with popular social network sites for optimisation benefits such as YouTube.
Steve Greenwood has been designing and optimising websites along the Costa del Sol (Spain) for over 3 years. Please visit Social Media Optimisation (SMO) for further Internet Marketing Solutions including SEO, Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) and Online Reputation Management (ORM).
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/smo-articles/social-media-optimisation-smo-explained-for-the-beginner-254378.html
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Internet Marketing Requires Research and Analysis Effort for Individual Website!
Author: Satwinder
Internet marketing is essential to the success of web sites. You can have a professional looking website but what good can it do if internet users are not able to find it when they need your products and services? That is where an internet marketing campaign comes into play.
"Your website has to magically appear before buyers when they need products and services."
Internet marketing is similar to designing websites- it does not require much experience to do a good job, just good knowledge and a keen eye for details. It is fundamentally important for a good internet marketer to constantly update himself weekly, if not monthly, of online markets. There are many ways to market your website.
-- Find A Competent and Reliable Internet Marketer --
Justify the costs of hiring an Internet Marketer - First of all, getting an internet marketer is not essential for every website. If your website is a business website or a website which you want to generate revenue from, it is good to seek a competent internet marketer to work on your website. For more details visit to www.ultimate-internet-marketing-tricks.com. The costs spent on your website for internet marketing has to be justified and often, they are justified by having more revenue and traffic to your web site.
Potential customers have to know that there are no guarantees in SEO. Since everything is fundamentally based on search engines, SEO work is at the mercy of major search engines like Google. Many SEO companies tried to secure customers with guarantees that they cannot fulfill, resulting in lawsuits or customers getting burned for hiring their SEO services.
-- What an Internet Marketer can offer --
In short, an Internet Marketer oversees that your website
is built properly for visibility and promoted with the best dollar spent on your internet marketing campaign. It is no good having a website and not appearing in internet searches. Your website has to magically appear before buyers when they need products and services. Internet Marketers deploy search engine optimization techniques to make your website visible and targeted to internet users.
Internet marketing requires research and analysis effort for individual website, followed by optimization of website. For more details go to www.inside-the-minds-of-winner.com. Hundreds of hours may be spent on each website, depending on the size of your targeted market. You are essentially paying for the amount of effort involved, effectiveness of your internet marketer and daily sales tracking of your website.
How to choose Internet Marketer- Internet marketing requires constant updating of skills and knowledge. One crude way to test if your internet marketer is a genuine or fake- Ask your internet marketer about recent events that happened in his field. If he cannot answer that, he must have a genuinely good reason to back himself as a good internet marketer! At times, it is easy to fall prey into the hands of bad internet marketing companies as happened in US and other parts of the world.
It is also important for you to feel comfortable with the amount of money you are spending on getting your site popular before committing yourself to an internet marketing campaign. Internet marketing campaigns typically last a few months and requires monthly tune-ups to your website. Include the costs of an internet marketing campaign when doing your company's advertising budget.
Why is Internet Marketing so in Demand These Days?
Author: sagar.nh2009
Surely, most everybody who constantly uses the Internet is familiar with the term Internet marketing. Also called Internet advertising or eMarketing, this process is, as the name suggests, the marketing of products and services over the World Wide Web.
Why is Internet marketing so in demand these days?
If you're going to ask Internet advertisers how their approach to marketing differs from the conventional approach, they can say:
l Internet marketing costs less than conventional marketing.
Companies don't have to spend as much money trying to put up advertisements on the Internet as compared to traditional marketing campaigns. For more details go to www.achieving-liftoffs.com .A startup company would need at least a couple of thousands of dollars to set up a low-end ad campaign, while joining an affiliate program or posting ads on the Internet can be done for free. Also, setting up websites only cost a few hundred dollars
l advertising on the Internet opens a company's products and services up to a wider market.
Now, the products and services they offer can go beyond the locale they are operating on. Companies can get customers from the next town, the next state, even as far as other countries.
l Internet-based advertisements are always on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Unlike television and radio ads wherein they are only aired for a limited number of minutes and only at certain times, online marketing campaigns are always posted on the web, waiting for the next interested customer to view. Your site will always be online even if you're sleeping. While you're snoozing off, people are still chancing up on your Internet ads and clicking on them.
l Internet marketing gives you the privilege of time.
Internet marketing lets you set the pace. You can take it as slow as you want or pump up the tempo as fast as you want to go. You can choose to work on your Internet marketing campaign for the entire day and spend time with your kids the next, it's all up to you.
l Internet marketing can be done with cheap and free resources.
Companies that are looking for ways to advertise need no longer seek the consult of an expensive marketing adviser to find out what you need to do to better expose your products or services to the public. One can simply browse the Internet for helpful tips from various article sites to find tried and tested online marketing suggestions.
l Internet marketing makes for higher profit margins.
Online advertising costs relatively cheaper compared to the usual methods, therefore this means you get to keep more of what you earned from the advertisements to yourself. For more details go to www.impacts-audio.com .This means you have more money to use to further improve your business and grow it into a bigger organization than it already is.
l Internet marketing offers companies an extra means to earn money.
For companies that already have existing marketing campaigns offline, investing on Internet marketing strategies will serve as an alternative means of income. Even if they just leave the online ad alone after being launched people will continue to come across it and possibly generate them sales.
In a nutshell, Internet marketing offers companies a lighter alternative to the conventional marketing strategies we've all grown up to. It's easy, it's economical, and it's effective. With all three needs met, what else could a company look for?
www.website-convertion-secrets.com
www.social-marketing-secret.com
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/why-is-internet-marketing-so-in-demand-these-days-760849.html
Internet Marketing Is Necessary To Successful Web Sites
Author: MD SERVE
czxc
Internet marketing is essential to the success of web sites. You can have a professional looking website but what good can it do if internet users are not able to find it when they need your products and services? That is where an internet marketing campaign comes into play.
"Your website has to magically appear before buyers when they need products and services."
Internet marketing is similar to designing websites- it does not require much experience to do a good job, just good knowledge and a keen eye for details. It is fundamentally important for a good internet marketer to constantly update himself weekly, if not monthly, of online markets. There are many ways to market your website .
-- Find A Competent and Reliable Internet Marketer --
Justify the costs of hiring an Internet Marketer - First of all, getting an internet marketer is not essential for every website. If your website is a business website or a website which you want to generate revenue from, it is good to seek a competent internet marketer to work on your website. For more details visit to www.ultimate-internet-marketing-tricks.com.The costs spent on your website for internet marketing has to be justified and often, they are justified by having more revenue and traffic to your web site.
Potential customers have to know that there are no guarrantees in SEO. Since everything is fundamentally based on search engines, SEO work is at the mercy of major search engines like Google. Many SEO companies tried to secure customers with guarrantees that they cannot fulfil, resulting in lawsuits or customers getting burned for hiring their SEO services.
-- What an Internet Marketer can offer --
In short, an Internet Marketer oversees that your website is built properly for visibility and promoted with the best dollar spent on your internet marketing campaign. It is no good having a website and not appearing in internet searches. Your website has to magically appear before buyers when they need products and services. Internet Marketers deploy search engine optimisation techniques to make your website visible and targeted to internet users.
Internet marketing requires research and analysis effort for individual website, followed by optimisation of website .For more details go to www.perpetual-traffic-generator.com .
Hundreds of hours may be spent on each website, depending on the size of your targetted market. You are essentially paying for the amount of effort involved, effectiveness of your internet marketer and daily sales tracking of your website.
How to choose an Internet Marketer- Internet marketing requires constant updating of skills and knowledge. One crude way to test if your internet marketer is a genuine or fake- Ask your internet marketer about recent events that happened in his field. If he cannot answer that, he must have a genuinely good reason to back himself as a good internet marketer! At times, it is easy to fall prey into the hands of bad internet marketing companies as happened in US and other parts of the world.
It is also important for you to feel comfortable with the amount of money you are spending on getting your site popular before committing yourself to an internet marketing campaign. Internet marketing campaigns typically last a few months and requires monthly tune-ups to your website. Include the costs of an internet marketing campaign when doing your company's advertising budget.
http://www.sell-using-the-web.com
http://www.inside-the-minds-of-winner.com
czxc
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/internet-marketing-is-necessary-to-successful-web-sites-792866.html
Internet Marketing is Business, not Just Search Engine Algorithms
Author: Marketing Guy
Not two weeks ago I had a chat with someone (an SEO) about some online media buying and although the figures made an infinite amount of sense (6 figure monthly page views – prime location banner purchase for less than £90 per month!), he said, “but there is no SEO value from the banner link” (it was JavaScript)! Astonished, I spent the next hour arguing the case for buying the coverage, but it would seem that the majority of SEOs just don’t see the value of applying traditional marketing techniques to the web – they just don’t “fit” into the SEO mindset.
What is really bizarre though is that while the optimisation industry doesn’t see the value in some less search engine focused marketing techniques, they will pay a veritable fortune for paid links. The likes of ReviewMe (http://www.reviewme.com) change up to $250 for a single “review” (which is SEO speak for a plain text link not so subtly hidden in a purpose written article). One text link. One! Not just that, but a single text link on a new page that has no PR (and will maybe only will ever receive minimal PR filtered through from other page links)!
For that $250 (around £150) there are so many different options you could aim for. While a lot won’t have any direct SEO benefit, we still need to consider traffic and branding benefits.
$250 would allow me to buy banner advertising on a niche site / forum / blog for a limited amount of time. Depending on the type of site and its subject area you could be looking at a decent amount of traffic, enquiries and exposure – certainly enough to justify the cost.
An alternative would be to spend the money on a directory listing on a site such as TheBestOf (http://www.thebestof.co.uk) - £10 per month for a year and you get a full page listing (written by your local contact), an audio advert where you can pitch your service, inclusion in a high traffic site and a direct (SEO friendly!) link back to your site. A link AND qualified traffic – that’s like SEO Christmas!
Online marketing professionals do focus on SEO a lot and that isn’t a bad thing – it just isn’t the only thing and you should be looking to spend your budget wisely and spread your marketing scope.
About the Author:
Marketing Guy is an online marketing professional based in Edinburgh, Scotland. You can read more articles by Marketing Guy on his blog, Fused Nation
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/internet-marketing-is-business-not-just-search-engine-algorithms-146769.html
Web Marketing
Author: Web Marketing
web marketing,Internet marketing,search engine marketing,search engine optimization,how to start a business,web marketing tips
Web Marketing
Web Marketing Hints For Home Companies
It is challenging to begin a home company and understand Web Marketing to make it succeed. A lot of persons dream of starting one because it offers economical and personal independence, although it is also a frightening, challenging and puzzling direction to take. If you don\'t know how to start, we present some hints to get you moving in a methodical, cheap and knowledgeable way.
When developing an on line company and Web Marketing campaign, you need to learn in regards to what works for your company\'s industry and in regards to the elements and technical requirements you require to begin it and keep it running smoothly.
There is a lot to study and investigate at the beginning, so get assistance to guide you through the steps in a methodical way. There is an outstanding resource for this: ittybiz.com, here you will find priceless tips on how to create a successful home company step by step.
You must advertise your company and there is a simple manner to turn good at Web Marketing. On line you can find many simple to learn marketing tool kits, thus, choose the best one for your business. Only write- Web Marketing Tool Kit- on your computer and check the main results. Also, the work “Book Yourself Solid” by Michael Port, is an easy tool to learn Web Marketing, with practical exercises to determine who must be your clients, what you may give them and how to find potential ones.
Research about copywriting. You don\'t have to turn into a best- selling novelist, but you surely have to learn how to develop an effective landing page, an attractive piece that can encourage your visitors to pay for what you are selling, because it is vital for your Web Marketing undertakings. Powerful copywrtiting asks for clarity, vigor, appeal, experience and quality and you already have all that: you deeply know your market, what moves them, what they are asking for and why they should choose you. Thus, only write- commercial copywriting tips- on your computer and check the results you get.
Write a business plan, every small company considering an effective Web Marketing campaign must apply one. Ughh... ugly stuff! Not at all, keep it uncomplicated and effective. Check out Jim Horan\'s work “The One Page Business Plan”.
Care for your site\'s design, make it nice as well as search engine friendly to boost your Web Marketing campaign. You can find simple and cheap tips to attain both and thrust your site from the beginning. Educate yourself in the web prior to getting counsel from a web designer and search engine optimization expert.
Blogs are amazing environments to promote your company in an economic way and get in contact with your clients in a powerful way, thus, study how to create a blog, it is uncomplicated, but be careful with the details and extend it the tending it demands and deserves.
Creating your Internet company is an amazing success, but it isn\'t for everybody. As you can confirm, it needs a lot of time to study and a lot of {dedicationcommitmentseriousness] once it is running. Of course, these are not minuses when we are referring to your passion, so give it a shot!
web marketing,Internet marketing,search engine marketing,search engine optimization,how to start a business,web marketing tips
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/web-marketing-777301.html
______________________________________________________
Note from Creative Annie
From my own experience, I can honestly say that being seen is a big point of running an online business. You need to make sure that you have done all the right things within your website or blog to be seen. You need to submit your websites to the search engines for them to even notice you. That's when you start getting organic search engine traffic. Although, a lot of people think hits are important, they are not as important as unique visitors, so to get it right from the start, don't count the hits, count the visits. These are the numbers that are important. You need to be seen from all over the world and not just outside your back door. I hope these hints have helped you. The article above is a good article relating to what needs to be done. Keep coming back for more information on marketing.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Enthusiastic about Marketing
I find that there isn't many people that I know personally that is as enthusiastic as I am when it comes to marketing. I love learning new techniques and even the old ones which I was too lazy to implement in the first place. I now am doing exactly that, I'm implementing old and new strategies and I'm steering away from all the hype.
In this last month, we have actually had 400% growth on our income and that was just by listening to an expert in the field and also implementing some of our existing knowledge of marketing.
Marketing can be exciting, watching the stats climb, month after month is a thrill, but boy, I can't wait for that one massive leap and I know it is near, because the figures are showing me just how quickly things are moving along.
I have learnt about countless methods of marketing over the last 10 years. I have tried almost every method, but lost the will to carry on when things weren't going as smoothly as I knew they could be. So now, I've put my mind set right... you won't get anywhere without a little effort and patience. I am now in the right frame of mind to move up a level and start doing what I knew I could have been doing 5 years ago if I just stuck to it.
My partner is still learning, but he is on the fast track crash course. I have taught him everything I learnt in 9 years into a 3 years. Now he is just about at the same level as I am and we are working very well together. We talk about what we've got to do and then we get it done. Our time management has started to get more productive and we aren't quite to tired anymore.
We start our day with a quick coffee and a quick chat. We bounce ideas off of each other and then we implement them. We have learned to get the best out of each other with just a little encouragement, because this Internet marketing is a cold place really, everyone wants to make money and everyone keeps their real secrets close to their chests. We've gone from only a couple hundred a day to more than 500 visits a day. Our income has quadrupled.
With a little help from somebody that has gone through the ropes and little encouragement from a business partner or even your husband or wife can make the world of difference.
In this last month, we have actually had 400% growth on our income and that was just by listening to an expert in the field and also implementing some of our existing knowledge of marketing.
Marketing can be exciting, watching the stats climb, month after month is a thrill, but boy, I can't wait for that one massive leap and I know it is near, because the figures are showing me just how quickly things are moving along.
I have learnt about countless methods of marketing over the last 10 years. I have tried almost every method, but lost the will to carry on when things weren't going as smoothly as I knew they could be. So now, I've put my mind set right... you won't get anywhere without a little effort and patience. I am now in the right frame of mind to move up a level and start doing what I knew I could have been doing 5 years ago if I just stuck to it.
My partner is still learning, but he is on the fast track crash course. I have taught him everything I learnt in 9 years into a 3 years. Now he is just about at the same level as I am and we are working very well together. We talk about what we've got to do and then we get it done. Our time management has started to get more productive and we aren't quite to tired anymore.
We start our day with a quick coffee and a quick chat. We bounce ideas off of each other and then we implement them. We have learned to get the best out of each other with just a little encouragement, because this Internet marketing is a cold place really, everyone wants to make money and everyone keeps their real secrets close to their chests. We've gone from only a couple hundred a day to more than 500 visits a day. Our income has quadrupled.
With a little help from somebody that has gone through the ropes and little encouragement from a business partner or even your husband or wife can make the world of difference.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Online Marketing- It's true I tell you...
Yeah, yeah, yeah... We've heard all the sales pitches, we are getting annoyed with the rubbish that is out there. How can we tell, what is actually going to work, and what isn't? I find that the best methods of learning, is by actually doing. So, be prepared for lots and lots of downturns. These can break your spirit, they can make you give up.
However, the survivors of this are the ones that actually have the stamina and persistance to go on. They usually end up making a few pennies more. They don't immediately make thousands. I wish that were true, but they do progressively get better at the skill of marketing and they find that they can judge, predict what is going to happen.
In the accountancy of business you have something called a cashflow budget forecast. I have found that to be really useful, because in the accounting world, you would have to be able to predict what the market is going to be like financially. The same thing applies in marketing.
Keep your eye on the financial news, you can usually find out whether your predictions are going to be correct or not. I usually work on a 5% increase of traffic on the website, but sometimes I fall short of that, if however, it is a 10% decrease from last months traffic, I would ask myself, what did I do in the last month that my followers, customers didn't like. Or was it that my content has gone out of date and I need to update all the content on the site. These things play a massive part in your venture of successful marketing.
If someone tells you, they only work 20 hours a week on their website.... I tell you, they are liars. Especially if they proclaim to be making thousands of pounds or dollars. IF THEY CAN PROVE THAT, THEN THEY MUST BE DOING BLACKHAT METHODS. Which is not wise and it could do your site more harm than good.
So here are a few pointers to running a successful website:
* Keep your content up to date
* Make sure you have your meta tags in place
* Tag your pictures
* Don't listen those that say they only work 20 hours a week, you are more likely to work 60 hours or more.
* Work on a 5% traffic increase.
These targets are attainable, just trust yourself and things will start to fall into place. Afterall, most marketing programs want you to part with your money.... Becareful.
However, the survivors of this are the ones that actually have the stamina and persistance to go on. They usually end up making a few pennies more. They don't immediately make thousands. I wish that were true, but they do progressively get better at the skill of marketing and they find that they can judge, predict what is going to happen.
In the accountancy of business you have something called a cashflow budget forecast. I have found that to be really useful, because in the accounting world, you would have to be able to predict what the market is going to be like financially. The same thing applies in marketing.
Keep your eye on the financial news, you can usually find out whether your predictions are going to be correct or not. I usually work on a 5% increase of traffic on the website, but sometimes I fall short of that, if however, it is a 10% decrease from last months traffic, I would ask myself, what did I do in the last month that my followers, customers didn't like. Or was it that my content has gone out of date and I need to update all the content on the site. These things play a massive part in your venture of successful marketing.
If someone tells you, they only work 20 hours a week on their website.... I tell you, they are liars. Especially if they proclaim to be making thousands of pounds or dollars. IF THEY CAN PROVE THAT, THEN THEY MUST BE DOING BLACKHAT METHODS. Which is not wise and it could do your site more harm than good.
So here are a few pointers to running a successful website:
* Keep your content up to date
* Make sure you have your meta tags in place
* Tag your pictures
* Don't listen those that say they only work 20 hours a week, you are more likely to work 60 hours or more.
* Work on a 5% traffic increase.
These targets are attainable, just trust yourself and things will start to fall into place. Afterall, most marketing programs want you to part with your money.... Becareful.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Is Marketing easy?
I can only talk from experience here, I have spent years and years in marketing and I still haven't found out all the secrets. I know how to get my website online and seen, but honestly, there is that much competition out there that it just depends on how much effort you are willing to put into it.
And money.... I'm being honest here, money does talk... If you've got a nice fat juicy budget for advertising then your site will be seen first. That doesn't mean it will be in the top 100 of the Search Engines, but in the sponsored links on the side.
A lot of people will go through maybe the first 3 pages of a search engine and then they will finally just rely on the sponsored links. This is what I have noticed after 9 years of Marketing, but if you are willing to have your go at it, then have another look at my previous blog, it will give you the tools to get started.
And money.... I'm being honest here, money does talk... If you've got a nice fat juicy budget for advertising then your site will be seen first. That doesn't mean it will be in the top 100 of the Search Engines, but in the sponsored links on the side.
A lot of people will go through maybe the first 3 pages of a search engine and then they will finally just rely on the sponsored links. This is what I have noticed after 9 years of Marketing, but if you are willing to have your go at it, then have another look at my previous blog, it will give you the tools to get started.
Why has online marketing become so important in the 21st Century?
That is a question I came across while surfing the net. Since I know a little bit about online marketing, I thought I would have a go at explaining the importance of online marketing.
Everywhere we look these days, there is a site name being advertised. All the top shops have online stores and the reason for that is convenience. The first thing you need to look at is, why do people find it more convenient?
The reason for that is, is because shopping, or browsing online can be done in the comfort of your home. Here is an example. You've been at work all day, you are tired, but you have to go home, cook dinner for the family, get the kids bathed and ready for bed. You probably have to put a load of washing into the washing machine, so that you can hang it out in the morning. You see, if you have a family, it can be really difficult to get out and about and care for your family properly. Thus it is comfortable and convenient.
So we turn to the resource which gives us the option to do our shopping online. This is where businesses have to compete to be seen across the internet. Whilst a lot of businesses can pay for their advertising online, there are smaller companies popping up everywhere that need to get the right formula to be seen.
This is where online marketing experts come into play, they help smaller businesses to get seen, sometimes it costs nothing, other times, it costs a lot. So homebased businesses have to learn the art of online marketing themselves. This can be handed to you on a silver platter, but it does mean that you have to actually spend time at doing it. It all boils down to one thing. Do you have the ambition or stamina to keep going for years without making a great deal? But suddenly, the doors open and you are riding one of the hottest waves there are. It all comes down to you and how much effort you put into it.
If you think, you can just add your site to the search engine and you're finished... I'm sorry to tell you this, but you will be shelved pretty quickly, especially if the search engine spiders don't see a change in your website.
The secret is, to keep working hard on your site, keep submitting your website to the search engines, keep talking about your website.... One of the oldest methods still play a massive role in Marketing, (both online marketing and normal marketing), it is word of mouth.
Yes, it's convenient for buyers online, but it is also convenient for marketers at home. You can sit at your computer comfortably with a cup of coffee and a cigarette if you smoke, but the main thing is, you are comfortable and you are not bound by time bounderies of the office. You will find that you actually work longer hours to get seen, but then again, you could only spend a couple of hours a day. That comes with popularity. The easier it is for you to be seen, the less time you have to spend.
Online marketing is a volitile business to be in, much like the stock brokers, it's a rat race on the internet, but still so so important so that customers and even just browsers can have a look at what you've got. Let me put in a couple of figures here, the internet is made up of over 30 000 000 000 sites. Everyone is competing for a slice of the market. The worlds population comes into account too, Billions of people. So, it is possible to have a slice but you've got to have the skills and stamina to compete. You also may need a little wad of cash too.
It is important to know how to market, it is important to have a website, it is important to be seen.
These are the ingredients for a good online presence. I hope this has helped a few of you.
- Get a website - Award Winning Hosting: $5.25/month!
Free Domain with Hosting. Use coupon code 'Domain10'
- Submit your site to search engines - Search Engine Promotion Tools.Com
- Get Adsense - http://www.google.com/adsense
- Get Adwords - http://adwords.google.com/
- Get Marketing advertisers - http://www.cj.com/
Everywhere we look these days, there is a site name being advertised. All the top shops have online stores and the reason for that is convenience. The first thing you need to look at is, why do people find it more convenient?
The reason for that is, is because shopping, or browsing online can be done in the comfort of your home. Here is an example. You've been at work all day, you are tired, but you have to go home, cook dinner for the family, get the kids bathed and ready for bed. You probably have to put a load of washing into the washing machine, so that you can hang it out in the morning. You see, if you have a family, it can be really difficult to get out and about and care for your family properly. Thus it is comfortable and convenient.
So we turn to the resource which gives us the option to do our shopping online. This is where businesses have to compete to be seen across the internet. Whilst a lot of businesses can pay for their advertising online, there are smaller companies popping up everywhere that need to get the right formula to be seen.
This is where online marketing experts come into play, they help smaller businesses to get seen, sometimes it costs nothing, other times, it costs a lot. So homebased businesses have to learn the art of online marketing themselves. This can be handed to you on a silver platter, but it does mean that you have to actually spend time at doing it. It all boils down to one thing. Do you have the ambition or stamina to keep going for years without making a great deal? But suddenly, the doors open and you are riding one of the hottest waves there are. It all comes down to you and how much effort you put into it.
If you think, you can just add your site to the search engine and you're finished... I'm sorry to tell you this, but you will be shelved pretty quickly, especially if the search engine spiders don't see a change in your website.
The secret is, to keep working hard on your site, keep submitting your website to the search engines, keep talking about your website.... One of the oldest methods still play a massive role in Marketing, (both online marketing and normal marketing), it is word of mouth.
Yes, it's convenient for buyers online, but it is also convenient for marketers at home. You can sit at your computer comfortably with a cup of coffee and a cigarette if you smoke, but the main thing is, you are comfortable and you are not bound by time bounderies of the office. You will find that you actually work longer hours to get seen, but then again, you could only spend a couple of hours a day. That comes with popularity. The easier it is for you to be seen, the less time you have to spend.
Online marketing is a volitile business to be in, much like the stock brokers, it's a rat race on the internet, but still so so important so that customers and even just browsers can have a look at what you've got. Let me put in a couple of figures here, the internet is made up of over 30 000 000 000 sites. Everyone is competing for a slice of the market. The worlds population comes into account too, Billions of people. So, it is possible to have a slice but you've got to have the skills and stamina to compete. You also may need a little wad of cash too.
It is important to know how to market, it is important to have a website, it is important to be seen.
These are the ingredients for a good online presence. I hope this has helped a few of you.
- Get a website - Award Winning Hosting: $5.25/month!
Free Domain with Hosting. Use coupon code 'Domain10'
- Submit your site to search engines - Search Engine Promotion Tools.Com
- Get Adsense - http://www.google.com/adsense
- Get Adwords - http://adwords.google.com/
- Get Marketing advertisers - http://www.cj.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)