SEO Website Marketing

WEB PROSPERITY

2009-01-04T20:52:00.003+07:00

From the guys behind this venture are the creators of GetResponse, one of the World’s leading autoresponder systems. So I expect this new venture to be a class act. You have nothing to lose by keeping an open-mind on this opportunity.

What I do recommend is you pick up what this pretend is all about AND secure an early on pre-launch emplacement like I did, so in the case this becomes out to be a truly great chance, you’ll be in an advantageous emplacement right from the start.

Here’s the link to the website:

http://onlineinfo.webprosperity.com

Your Internet Success system

* Make more cash from commissions and bonuses!
* Earn immediate income and residual cash ﬂow!
* Grow your business faster than you ever thought possible!
* Market WebProsperity − the most powerful and proﬁtable product suite ever!

Products
* Meeting
* Contact
* Media
* Finder
* Address Book
* Calendar

Meeting
* Reach 100s of internet entrepreneurs anytime, anywhere, by phone or web conference!
* Meet face-to-face with customers and prospects to build relationships and credibility.
* Hold high-powered training sessions with interactive screen sharing and whiteboarding.

Contact
* Bypass spam filters and reach new audiences with email broadcasts and marketing campaigns!
* Power delivery of your newsletters, articles, and success stories, then follow up automatically!
* Monitor your WebProsperity progress with click-through, sales, and revenue tracking.

Media
* Add sizzle to your website with live chat, streaming audio/video and Podcasts!
* Create, store and share your photo galleries with vistors and your downline.
* Manage and publish your documents and media across multiple online channels.

Finder
* Use this intuitive, Flash-based tool to visually browse through your downline!
* Manage all your contact data − from enroller activity, to history, rank, and more.
* Review your team's structure and instantly identify areas that need more effort.

Address Book
* Store all your contacts In one place so you're just a click away from your WebProsperity opportunity list!
* Add contacts' addresses, emails, phone numbers, IM nicknames, even notes!
* Import, export and update contact information to continually build your downline.

Calendar
* Schedule and track all your tasks, appointments, member meetings, and events.
* Stay on top of your day with automated reminders, so no surprises!
* Take advantage of new contacts and opportunities with at-a-glance scheduling.

Niche Marketing - How to Contact Your Audience

2008-10-05T23:33:00.000+07:00

Is your website targeting a niche market?

Whether you are following the advice of top Internet Marketers or if you just happened to have a business that caters to a very specific target audience, you must be able to find them, and they must be able to find YOU.

One of the joys of niche marketing is the luxury of tapping into a favorite hobby, occupation or expertise and building a business around it.

If you are expanding an existing off-line business by setting up a webpage you may find your most valuable contacts right in your store. Make some brochures or cards that announce your online presence, or ask customers if they'd like to sign up for your online newsletter.

Now you can contact your customers about new products, industry news or specials with no postage costs or time consuming envelope stuffing.

Invite your subscribers to recommend the site to friends who are interested in the topic. Even better, have a place on your website to 'tell a friend'. Your visitor will enter their own email address and name as the sender of the message to avoid spam complaints. Warning - do not start emailing the invitee unless they sign up personally for your newsletter.

Niche sites will really benefit from a newsletter. Create a small free gift, such as a special report or how-to manual that they will receive with their subscription. By providing valuable information related to your topic you will gain the trust of subscribers. By contacting them at least several times a year - up to once a week if possible - they will always be reminded of your website when looking for information or products in your niche.

Create a website that has informative content. Incorporate the keywords (words or phrases visitors type into their search engines) into the content to improve your place in the search engines.

Write articles that will set you up as an 'industry expert'. If you don't feel capable of writing them yourself you can hire a ghostwriter. End the article with your name, a comment about your business and a link to your website. Submit your article to relevant websites or ask if website owners would like to use your contribution. Be sure they agree to keep your name and website link intact.

You may find discussion groups that cater to your market. Involve yourself in their conversations and attach a signature with your website address if the policies permit. Do not advertise on these groups, however you may be able to offer your free item when the situation allows.

Try to determine where your market is. Are they parents? Retirees? Home owners? Pet lovers? If you are selling art supplies you may find hobby sites will cater to your audience. If you sell information for do-it-yourself projects you should show up in home decorating as well as financial sites ('Save Money on Home Building Projects!' for example).

Always look for new opportunities and offer your best, the rest will follow!

------

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Find Your Niche - the Internet Marketer's Goldmine

2008-10-03T23:31:00.000+07:00

If you haven't heard the word 'niche' being batted around by Internet Marketers then you haven't been listening. Finding a niche has become the antidote to competing in overly saturated online markets.

What is a niche?

According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary a niche is described as "a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted... a specialized market".

Have you noticed that despite the closing of many businesses in these harsh economic times, the local hobby train store is still around? That the 'hole-in-the-wall' eatery is thriving? Or that trends such as scrapbooking can start with a bang and still close within a year when four similar businesses start up in the same area?

The online business world reflects the same trends as experienced in the offline world - often with faster turnover and startup rates. Those who promote a product or site that targets a small, select audience can tap into a market that is otherwise not being served. Despite the limitations of the client base, the targeted nature of the business creates a devoted and active market - the aim of any business.

HOW DO I FIND A NICHE?

Finding a niche requires diligent research. Whether you have access to software that harvests and sorts information or you take a manual approach you must first start with ideas.

With a pen and paper (or computer, if that's more comfortable) brainstorm a list of businesses, products and industries. Create a list of keywords and phrases you think would be used by individuals looking for these items online.

Use a software program such as Wordtracker or a free resource such as the Overture Keyword Selector Tool to find keywords for your niche that have a high amount of traffic.

Although a program like Wordtracker makes it easy to find details such as how many sites compete for that market, you can also do your own research.

Concentrate your attention on question phrases such as "how do I..." or "where can I...". These questions will clue you into potential markets that need servicing.

Next, look in Google Answers. Type one of your keywords into the search area. What questions are being asked and how much are people willing to pay for answers? If you find a group of keywords with a high number of questions then enter these words in your browser's search engine.

What sites come up? Do they provide answers or solutions to the problem? How are they making money? Can you see an opportunity to service these individuals?

Finding a niche can open the door to a profitable online business. Research the market and be certain that your product or service is valuable to this group. Find forums or groups that target this audience and pay close attention to their concerns.

If you can help these people you WILL make money. The best of both worlds!

Jeff Casmer will help you setup your very own money making website today that's 100% ready to take orders and pull in MASSIVE PROFITS for you right now...GUARANTEED! Plus, you'll get your own pre-written ezine-in-a-box customized and setup for you absolutely free WITHIN 24 HOURS!! Get started immediately at: http://www.24hourwealth.com

Jeff Casmer is an award winning entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and internet marketing consultant with career sales over $25,000,000. He is currently featured as a "Top" Affiliate of ThePlugInProfitSite. His "Top Ranked" Earn Money at Home Directory gives you all the information you need to start, maintain, and prosper with your very own Internet Home Based Business in the 21st century.

The Key to Niche Marketing is the Right Product

2008-10-01T23:30:00.000+07:00

When you become experienced with niche marketing, you quickly learn that there is one extremely important factor that plays the most important role in determining whether your business will be successful or not. This factor is the original concept of the business itself. It begins with the product that you have selected, as well as your target market niche, and then your unique selling proposition (USP) - as well as the implementation of these elements. If your business idea - primarily, your product - is a good one, and you have applied your techniques properly for the development of your business, then you will be much more likely to be successful in your venture. It's all a matter of getting off on the right foot.

But just because you know this doesn't mean that the process will be easy. After all, anybody can recognize that they need a good product in order to build a company to be successful, however, not everybody knows what a good product or business idea really looks like. Let's look a little bit closer at what a business idea is, and how to recognize if it is a good one.

Naturally, the word "product" is rather self explanatory - it's either the goods or the services that you will be selling. Equally, the term "target market niche" is becoming more familiar in the business world, referring to the little corner of the marketplace where a particular business places its focus. However, not as well known is the term "USP", which stands for unique selling proposition. This last term, which is essentially your individual marketing strategy, is what is often lacking in businesses that fail.

The product itself is what you're attempting to sell. It can consist either of something tangible, such as computers, construction equipment, paper, or shampoo, or something electronic, such as downloadable software, an e-book or e-newsletter, or anything else that can be downloaded or sent over the internet. Even websites can be considered intangible products. Or, your product can be something you provide, such as a membership, a professional service, or anything else that you can do for a customer that you can charge money for. All of these are considered a product, even though they are vastly different. The most defining feature of them all is their value in order to make them sellable. Value is given to a product when it can solve a customers problems, fulfill their desires, or simply make them happier in some way or another.

Your target market niche consists of the people who will potentially become customers and buy your product. When defining your target market niche, you need to make sure that you are working with a size that you can manage, but will still bring in enough income that you will be profitable. For example, if you are running a small business, you need to select a niche that fits your size, and doesn't put you up against large corporations in competition. Your target market niche also needs to be a group of people that is easily accessible to you. This may be though specialized websites, mailing lists, online forums, or other straight-forward and achievable marketing strategies.

Finally, your USP - unique selling proposition - is the element of your business that connects your product with your target market niche audience. This is the very core of your business concept. To make sure that you're applying it properly, you need to define it, either in your marketing strategy or your business mission. It is the USP that brings your product out to the people who may potentially buy it, illustrating it as not just an item, but a solution to a problem, or a way to be happier in life. Your USP needs to make your product stand out beyond the rest of the similar products out there, persuading potential customers that your product is the only one that will provide the solution that they're looking for.

By working all of these three main parts into your business strategy, then you will dramatically increase your chances of having a successful business. So start brainstorming today for the product that you will be able to use on all three of these levels, and you'll be ready for your successes tomorrow.

------

Mark Nenadic

Mark is the director and face behind FifteenDegrees-North http://www.15dn.com , where you will find articles and resources to help with SEO, marketing and Web design.

Finding The Perfect Niche Market

2008-09-29T23:26:00.000+07:00

One of the most challenging things about first starting a website and creating your first e-book is figuring out what exactly to write about. I am going to give you a few tips and ways to research your ideas to make sure you have a solid market to work with.

To get some ideas flowing on what to write about, just pay attention to whats going on around you. What are peoples common concerns, what are people interested in, what are you interested in? Its also good to look for ideas by finding out who's already become successful and what they are writing about. A good website to find this out at is www.clickbank.com. Companies can sign up there to get affiliates to advertise their products for a percentage of the profits. Clickbank has them all in categories by market and you can look at the top 10 or 20 and really get a feel for whats selling best in that market. Go browse through a few and you may just get an idea or two! You can also watch infomercials, look through magazines, read direct mail, and browse through groups.

So you think you found an idea ? Lets check it out and see what the market will be like for your e-book. You can go to www.overture.com and check out how many people searched for your key words for your e-book last month. For example if you were making an e book about cooking, you would want to look up cooking, and you might want to look up the key words recipes baking, or cooking tips.

Also you'll want to make sure that your product can appeal to a large group of people. Think about the kind of people who would want to read your book. Is it a wide range of people who have things in common, or just a select few. The advantage of having a wide range market is that you can create a whole different course or e book and you can still market to the same group of people. It gives you the advantage of branching off into different markets within the same general market. Also a good thing to look for is something you are genuinely interested in. What are you passionate about? What would make you excited to write about ? If your passions aren't really that marketable, you may want to find an aspect of a larger market that interests you. I hope this gets some ideas flowing!

Best wishes!

Maranda

Mann

Catalogue: Internet Business

Title: Finding The Perfect Niche Market By: Maranda Mann

Find and Start a Niche Marketing Website

2008-09-27T23:25:00.000+07:00

You have probably heard the term Niche Marketing without realizing just what that is and heard how others are building profitable websites using Niche Marketing.

Niche marketing is finding a opportunity on the internet that people are interested enough to search for information on the subject. Most larger companies and websites don't bother with niches because there satisfied with the products or services they render and don't want to spend the time marketing. But for the average person it is a dream come true researching and finding a niche that has lots of searches with little competition to contend with can reward profits.

All niche markets are started by implementing a keyword search. This is the starting point of finding niche opportunities. What you are looking for is a high ratio of searches in a small market that have little competition.

Wordtracker or a software that will tell you the number of searches and how many results were returned on the search engines for that keyword or phrase is essential.

The second part of the equation is to find content for your web site that is related to the niche or target market.The possibilities for content are article directories,private label articles, and content pulling software.

Third you need to get a domain name preferably a name that has your niche keyword or is related to your niche.

Once you have built your mini site, sales page or a full blown web site and have all this in place you want to drive some traffic to your web site by using SEO techniques to optimize your web pages, purchasing some advertising like Google Adsense or pay per clicks, blogging to get listed and indexed faster just to mention a few.

There are several ways to make money with your new niche market web site.

1.You can sell some products of your own that are related to your niche like information ebooks.

2.You can join affiliate programs and advertise there products on your web pages for a percentage of the sales.

3.You can get a Google Adsense account and run there ads on your site and share the profits from clicks Google receives when someone clicks on one of your google ads.

Keep in mind that in order to highly profit from a niche product or market you may need many niche web sites, not relying on just one or a few while implementing all of the above three steps to make it worth your while.

The only initial investment required are for domain names,and hosting which can be satisfied by having one account with subdomains to your niche markets. Be prepared to also invest your time as well because niche marketing can become a full blown but profitable business.

About the Author

Chet Holcomb of http://www.internetpromotions.biz is a successful marketing expert providing advice for web marketers and webmasters on how to promote your website, or product using marketing tools that work.

You may reprint this article freely only if all the authors information is kept intact.

Inventing Your Own Marketing Niche

2008-09-25T23:23:00.000+07:00

There are 2 basic steps you need to do, when you invent your marketing niche. First, discover a market that is niche and 'uncharted'. Second, invent or explore the right product to feed your market. By 'uncharted', I means it has not been saturated with competitors.

1.How to Find the Right Market that is Niched and 'uncharted'? The first thing to do internet marketing is not to sell first but to do your own research first?

Don't just go blindly into selling something! It's better to sell something that the customers want than they need!

You need to find the hole in the market that you can fill in. This hole is actually the market gap and could be your "money holes" that can generate top profits.

Find out what is the latest trend or buzz that is currently generating alot of traffic or having a hot craze. Good place to look for is go to buzz.yahoo.com and inventory.overture.com. Search for the keywords that generate huge search hits. Find out from google whether these keywords have advertisers in sponsorsed links. If there are few sponsored links, then you could be hitting a 'hole'.

Find out related keywords and 'dig' down to more specific keywords. These keywords will be the 'want' that customers really like to have. This is a ready market!

Find out whether the market is really profitable. The customers who really want something must be able to afford whatever things that you going to sell them. If all your research has hinted there are holes which is really money holes, then you got your own 'uncharted' niche market!

2.How to Invent or Explore the Right Product to feed the Market? Alot of marketers will tell you to create your own products. But, my advise is try not to 'reinvent the wheel' if there is a ready-made good product in the market.

You 'invent' or create your product only when there is no product available or the current products in the market are not as good as the one will going to create.

The good thing about internet is we can outsource our 'invention' process entirely to people and claim ownership on them. For digital products like eBooks, articles, software, etc., we can go elance.com or writerassist.com to hire someone to do for us.

If you only want to sell someone else products, there's a few places we can explore our products to sell. For digital products, we can go to clickbank.com to find affiliates program to join to promote. For physical products, likewise we can go to CJ.com (commission junction) to join the affiliates program.

There are alot of other resources on internet that will help us in getting the right product out to feed the market. Whether is it 'invention' or 'exploration', one thing we need to keep in mind. That is, the products must be able to deliver what they are suppose to do to the market.

------

Jason Chew is an aspiring Internet Marketer and Entrepreneur.

Get the free $100K Report on how to bring in $100k a year in just 7 days here: http://100k.7daysto100kprofit.com

To Niche Or Not To Niche?

2008-09-23T23:18:00.000+07:00

Unless you've been hibernating for the last couple of years, you've probably heard the term "Niche Marketing" a lot. It's one of the current buzz-words in online marketing. Which is kind of funny really since niche marketing has actually been around pretty much as long as marketing has existed. But what is it?

I recently read somewhere that "All marketing is Niche Marketing".

I don't entirely agree with that - I'd say "ALMOST ALL marketing is Niche Marketing".

Niche Marketing is marketing products or services to groups of
people (or businesses) who have specific needs or interests in
common.

Obviously department stores and their online cousins don't fit that description, but almost everything else is ...

you guessed it; "Niche Marketing".

In the physical world, your local butcher, baker and candlestick maker (sorry, a LITTLE joke there - very little), greengrocer, shoe store, etc, etc. all cater to niche markets, some more focused than others.

And in the online world, any web site that focuses on a particular topic is a niche web site, and that describes the vast majority of web sites online today and in the past. So, those that are marketing any kind of product or service are probably already into "Niche Marketing", and may not even know it.

Some niches are more crowded and competitive than others. The niches focusing on internet marketing and making money online are probably the most crowded and competitive online, and getting more so every day.

So, it's becoming harder and harder for people just entering that market to make any inroads, let alone a big impact.

But, don't panic, there are lots of other niches that are far less crowded and competitive.

The current emphasis on "Niche Marketing" could probably be more accurately termed;

"marketing to niches other than the 'making-money' niche".

Which opens up a lot of possibilities for people just starting out in online business.

Do you have a hobby or hobbies? Play a sport? What are your interests, are you passionate about or obsessed with a particular subject or activity? (keep it clean, folks)

If so, chances are there are other people who share the same interest and that's a potential Niche Market! The same applies to any other hobbies and interests that you could name.

You need to do some research to determine if a particular niche or a related "sub-niche" is likely to be profitable.

For example, you'll need to check out:

1. Demand - how many people are searching online for related info and/or products.

2. Competition - how many other websites or businesses are already catering to that market?

3. Are people actually spending money in this niche?

Now that's all well and good, but ...

How do you find out all that stuff?

And that brings us to ...

The Free Download: "Think Niche & Grow Rich"

This great little ebook not only explains in more detail what niche marketing is and why you should get involved, but it also gives you a step-by-step guide to researching niche markets, creating products quickly and getting them online.

You'll find a number of free resources that you can use if you're short on cash but have some time to spare. Did you know that you can get answers for the above three research topics using free tools at Overture and Google? Another helpful free tool is the software, "Good Keywords".

Besides the free tools mentioned in "Think Niche & Grow Rich",
you'll also learn about a fantastic software tool that's dead easy to use and will speed up the process by automating most of the research steps for you.

I'm sure you'll learn heaps from this ebook and give your profits a long term boost. To download it now, click the link:

http://www.e-bizresources.com/thinkniche

Whichever route you decide to take, once you've got one niche site up and working well, you can move on and set up another, then another - as many as you want. And it'll get easier with each one you do.

So, as with most things I talk about, the next step is to take action, and do it now. Don't worry about getting everything perfect straight away or first time out, just get started.

Happy Niche Marketing.

Catalogue: Business | Marketing
Title: To Niche Or Not To Niche? By: Michael Beauchamp

Niche Marketing - a Potential Goldmine

2008-09-21T23:16:00.000+07:00

You may have heard the word 'niche' being batted around by Internet Marketers.

Finding a niche has become the antidote to competing in overly saturated online markets.

What is a niche?

According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary a niche is described as "a

place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best

fitted... a specialized market".

Have you noticed that despite the closing of many businesses in these harsh

economic times, the local hobby train store is still around? That the

'hole-in-the-wall' eatery is thriving? Or that trends such as scrapbooking can

start with a bang and still close within a year when four similar businesses

start up in the same area?

The online business world reflects the same trends as experienced in the offline

world - often with faster turnover and startup rates. Those who promote a

product or site that targets a small, select audience can tap into a market that

is otherwise not being served. Despite the limitations of the client base, the

targeted nature of the business creates a devoted and active market - the aim of

any business.

HOW DO I FIND A NICHE?

Finding a niche requires diligent research. Whether you have access to software

that harvests and sorts information or you take a manual approach you must first

start with ideas.

With a pen and paper (or computer, if that's more comfortable) brainstorm a list

of businesses, products and industries. Create a list of keywords and phrases

you think would be used by individuals looking for these items online.

Use a software program such as Wordtracker, http://www.wordtracker.com, or

a free resource such as the Overture Keyword Selector Tool, http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion, to find keywords

for your niche that have a high amount of traffic.

Although a program like Wordtracker makes it easy to find details such as how

many sites compete for that market, you can also do your own research.

Concentrate your attention on question phrases such as "how do I..." or "where

can I...". These questions will clue you into potential markets that need servicing.

Next, look in Google Answers, http://answers.google.com/answers, (find the

"Search Google Answers for" column), type one of your keywords into the

search area.

What questions are being asked and how much are people willing to pay for

answers? If you find a group of keywords with a high number of questions then

enter these words in your browser's search engine.

What sites come up? Do they provide answers or solutions to the problem? How are

they making money? Can you see an opportunity to service these individuals?

Finding a niche can open the door to a profitable online business. Research the

market and be certain that your product or service is valuable to this group.

Find forums or groups that target this audience and pay close attention to their

concerns.

If you can help these people you WILL make money. The best of both worlds!

Finn Malten is an Internet Marketer with a special interest in the little known

goldmine of Public Domain. You can learn more about Public Domain on his website

http://www.searchpublicdomain.com

Marketing, Niching Niche Markets

2008-09-19T23:13:00.000+07:00

Niche Marketing, in simple terms is all about targeting hot topics, providing the answers, and making them available to search engines and you.

Staying with the basics, here are just a few steps required in creating a Niche Market:

1. Find out what people are most interested in.

2. Create or find a product that gives the answers.

3. Advertise your product on a mini site using Pay Per Click Search Engines.

Of course, as with everything, when you dig a little deeper, you find variables. One such variable is about determining the specifics of a search term's popularity.

For example, you might discover that people are really interested in "pet care." However, there are literally hundreds of different pets people have, and multiple breeds of each.

So you must narrow things down a bit by researching which pet information is more sought after than others. Do searches on "tropical fish", "dogs", "cats", "ferrets", etc. until you have a good amount of statistical information on each pet. Then determine the most popular type of pet to begin focusing on.

The tool that I use to do this research saves me a tremendous amount of time. Check out this extremely useful tool here:

Adword Equalizer

Let's say hypothetically, you learn through your research that "dogs" is the most popular pet search on the Search Engines. Now you have a focus group to work with in creating an informative product. Dog Lovers!

So out of the hundreds of possible pets people might be interested in, "dogs" turn out to be the number one pet searched about.

So what do you do? Write an ebook about dogs?

You could, but you would lose big time! Niche Marketing is a ll about targeting specifics. But the topic of "dogs" covers literally hundreds of different breeds. So from a niche perspective, the topic of "dogs" is still way too broad.

In order to successfully niche the topic of "dogs", you'll have to go back to the Search Engines and break the subject matter down more. Do searches on "collies", "spaniels", "beagles", etc. until you've found the most popular breeds.

Again, using Adword Equalizer I save lots of time and get ev en more useful answers.

Now you're niching!

OK, so you do your search on the various breeds of dogs and find that the "golden retriever" is the most popular breed inquired about. All your hard work has paid off and you have your primary target.

But perhaps something else was learned from the breakdown.

Dogs are extremely popular pets, and maybe you saw that, even though "golden retrievers" were the most popular, other breeds came in as close seconds.

Do you just forget about them and follow through with your primary target? Is there something you can do to capitalize on these other popular breeds?

Yes! And here's where Niche Marketing can become very profitable with very little extra work.

Taking into consideration that most dogs require similar types of care, it wouldn't be a whole lot of trouble to write an informative ebook on "golden retrievers" and make a few adjustments to turn it into an informative ebook about "Labrador retrievers", or any other breed of dog.

This is called "niching niches". That is, capitalizing on commonalities and moderating the specifics to suit a number of similar topics.

So you could, in effect, write one ebook about golden retrievers and moderate it slightly to target nearly every breed of dog there is!

Likewise, it wouldn't take a lot of effort to tweak your mini site sales copy pages for each breed either. Before you know it, you could have a dozen or so ebooks about all the most popular breeds of dogs circulating throughout the Pay Per Click Search Engines, all making you a tidy profit.

Hopefully you can see the benefits of taking the time to niche niches. It gives you a multiple stream of income, that's true. But it also allows you to "brand" yourself as an expert in your field.

How so?

Well who would you most likely buy from. An author with one ebook on the market about one breed of dog? Or an author with a dozen ebooks about various breeds of dogs?

Obviously, you'd gravitate to the one with the most information on the market, right?

And it's all because you learned the secret about Niching Niches!

Now go have some fun and do your own Niching. Once you get into it, you may even find it addictive. You may end up with more niches than you know what to do with.

But don't fret it. You'll soon discover the magic of having multiple streams of income from having several niche markets web sites. Take the example of people like Phil Wiley. He keeps adding new sites, and automates the system, permitting him to keep adding.

See you again, back in Niche Country.

Fred Farah

The Best Affiliate Products

and Niche Market Strategies for Maximum Profits

Best Affiliate Products

Enroll in the Niche Madness 7-day eCourse

Niche Madness eCourse

Fred Farah is a long time business man who shares his expertise from his web site Best Affiliate Products

It's all about affiliate marketing to niche markets.

Lots to learn from the Niche Madness 7-day eCourse, as well as the Niche Market Strategies newsletter.

Discover new niches and dominate new markets

2008-09-17T23:12:00.000+07:00

The internet is becoming really huge and markets are being filled with sellers and you will never be able to dominate these markets.

So, you have to find a niche market, you might be wondering what a niche is? A niche is a topic that has demand and doesn't have much competition so you can conquer this niche easily and make the most money out of it.

There are some great low-cost methods for finding out what's selling well.:

1. The Overture Tool is a great place to start: http://inventory.overture.com there is some great tools to tell you how many times a given term was searched in the last month and give you some related searches to the same keyword and the bid tool that shows you who is bidding on this keywords and how much they are paying .

2. Check the top listings in the Clickbank Marketplace , you can find what products are selling and how will are they doing , they added a new feature that will even make your job easier , A new search tool that will help you find any product by putting your keyword , this will save you lots of time .

3. Do searches on Google and see who comes up at the top of the Adwords listings , Google results (paid results and free results) will give you a brief over view on the competition the market has because Google is the biggest search engine in the web ( Google has over 50% of all the searches in the web) .

4. Find the ezines your target niche reads - and see what products have ads that run issue after issue. If someone is paying money for those ads, and they continue to run them, that means only one thing: those ads are making sales and generating profit.

Start a successfull home business with referralware

Beating Adwords - Utterly Dominating Your Niche

2008-09-15T23:11:00.000+07:00

p>Beating Adwords is a new eBook designed to help marketers profit from Google Adwords. Packed full of information and never before released tactics, Beating Adwords ( http://www.beatingaw.com/ ) has been designed to help both beginners and marketing experts succeed.

This eBook boasts that it can help even beginners to earn up to $300 a day in just a few months but this does sound a little familiar. Like all sales pages for money profiting software and eBooks this promise is some times not really what it seems.

The key to Beating Adwords according to this new eBook is in knowing exactly how Google Adwords works and this eBooks explains this step by step in simple terminology. Beating Adwords also explains how to set up your Google Adwords campaigns and gives detailed step by step instructions to ensure that you get the best return for your money. Another plus to this eBook is that it also explains how to use Adwords even if you don't have a website or products to sell which is an added bonus for most newcomers to internet marketing.

For the more advanced internet marketer, Beating Adwords explains how to beating your competition and includes information on CTR and how to achieve a CTR of 20 to 30%. There is also a great deal of information on how to compete with the marketing guru's that have plenty of money, resources and time to spend on their Adwords campaigns.

All in all, I have to say that Beating Adwords is an excellent step by step library of Adwords information and a great read for both beginners and intermediate internet marketers. Complete with detailed information on setting up, running, and profiting from Adwords this eBook really is a must for anyone setting up their own Adwords campaign.

Catalogue: Business | Marketing

Title: Beating Adwords - Utterly Dominating Your Niche By: John Ducharne

Start Your Internet Business by Finding The Right Niche

2008-09-13T23:09:00.000+07:00

Everywhere you go online you hear that you must focus on a niche for your business. If you are new to Internet Marketing, this is advice you will want to pay close attention to.

Every day thousands of people come online for the first time in search of wealth. Many jump right into the markets that are already completely saturated and then wonder why they are not making money.

Given unlimited time, money and patience, they might succeed. For those that do not have unlimited supplies of these precious resources, aiming for a targeted niche market can be a much smarter way to start your online business.

So just what is a niche?

If you want the long answer, you can buy any one of the thousands of ebooks being sold online about niche markets. You can go to a dictionary and see what definition of niche it gives. But the short answer is niche simply means distinct or individual.

Everyone and their mother wants to start a business focusing on Internet Marketing. This is how the big guns are making all their money, so it must be the way to go. That is the problem. The market is totally saturated with people who have years of experience in this area. A new person trying to compete in such a broad market does not have much chance of success.

On About.com, Susan Ward defines Internet Marketing as "the strategies that are used to market a product or service online, marketing strategies that include search engine optimization and search engine submission, copywriting that encourages site visitors to take action, web site design strategies, online promotions, reciprocal linking, and email marketing".

A new person coming online to start a business has little chance of knowing enough about all the above areas to be able to compete in this market.

So how is a new Internet Marketer to have any chance at success?

Thing Smaller - Think Niche!

From the above definition you can gather the following niches:

Marketing

Search Engine Optimization

Copywriting

Web Site Design

Promotion

Linking

Email Marketing

Even if you are lucky and are extremely experienced already in one of the above niches, you will still have a lot of competition in such broad niches. This may be what you decide to do in the end, but at least be willing to explore niches within the broader areas. You may find a niche you are much better suited to.

When it comes to finding a niche market, a good resource available online is Wordtracker. Wordtracker brings several tools together in one place for those trying to find a good niche to go into.

Wordtracker is a breeze to use. If you want to narrow Internet Marketing down to targeted niche markets, just type "Internet Marketing" into Wordtracker and look at all the ideas that pop up. Each of these can become keywords that you decide you want to focus your business on. Or you can pop in and analyze those keywords and keep fine tuning your niche.

With Wordtracker you will end up with a list of niche keywords that you can focus your Internet business on. Having a smaller niche will give you a much better shot at being successful than trying to build a site around a broad topic like Internet Marketing.

Remember, success in any business comes from supplying a product that the public has a demand for and that the market has room for. Find the right niche and you are on the right path.

For even more effective Affiliate Marketing tactics visit The Internet Marketing Website: http://www.TheInternetMarketingWebsite.com

Get Free Internet Marketing Tips,Tools and Techniques.

For more information on how you can get started on the fast-track to Niche Marketing visit: http://magnumonline.com/passive_profits_system

Attn: Ezine editors / Site owners, Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety. Leave all links in place. Do not modify the content and include the resource box exactly as listed above.

Niche Blogs and WHY They Make Such An Excellent Affiliate Marketing Tool

2008-09-11T23:08:00.000+07:00

p>Blogs or more specifically... Niche Blogs are simply blogs that are topic focused and target a specific market and/or niche.

More importantly though, these blogs contain targeted information that their target market is searching for.

This is KEY.

As an affiliate marketer we are always told that information, whether its an article, review, ebook, ecourse, report, mp3 or pod cast, is a key Pre-Selling tool before your potential customer decides to buy what it is that your offering.

This is where Niche Blogs come into play because of there many capabilities and functions.

The biggest advantage Blogs have is they give you the ability to syndicate your content and/or information through a technology called RSS(Real Simple Syndication).

The types of content you are able to syndicate are as follows:

- Articles

- Product Reviews

- eBooks

- eCourses

- Special Reports

- Mp3 Files

- Steaming Video(A.K.A Pod Casting)

Are you starting to see the advantages to blogs or more importantly, having a network of affiliate Niche Blogs?

I hope so.

Also, with your blog comes an RSS Feed that your potential visitors can subscribe to.

Whats this mean for you?

Simple. When ever you post to your affiliate Niche Blog or network of Niche Blogs guess who will INSTANTLY receives that post?

That's right, who ever subscribes to your RSS Feed.

Are you starting to see the many benefits of having a Niche Blog and incorporating it into your affiliate marketing mix?

Only you can answer that.

Another great thing about Blogs in general is that search engines love them and everytime you post to your Niche Blog it "Pings" the search engines and other RSS Directories you've submitted to letting them know that there's new fresh content for them to come and index.

The more you post, the more pages that will be produced, which means... more for the search engines to index, which means... more traffic to your Niche Blog.

The best way to take advantage of your new source of traffic and maximize your Niche Blog profits is to modify your blog template and add Google Adsense and your affiliate programs marketing materials to it.

By doing this, everytime you post to your Niche Blog your marketing message will always be there and Google Adsense will display targeted ads related to your content.

Now, I can't go into alot of detail on how to modify blog templates in this article simply because that's an article within itself and then some.

What I can do is show you one that I just put together as an example.

http://www.internetwondersezine.com/internet-joint-venture/

All I really wanted to get across to you is the advantages to having your own Niche Blog as part of your affiliate marketing mix to help market your affiliate programs to your target audience.

Blogs are here to stay so we might as well take advantage of them in any way that we can.

Want to get MORE 'Insider' marketing Secrets on How-To drive Traffic to your website? Subscribe to Cory Threlfall's ezine called... The Internet Wonders eZine at -- internet marketing -- Or, you can go shop his popular CBmall with over 10,000 Ready-To-Download products. Go to ==> webmaster resource site

How To Find A Profitable Targeted Niche

2008-09-10T22:57:00.000+07:00

If you know how there is Money to be made in writing Ebooks and publishing them Online. Browse our articles and decide how you will go about it. Will You have a go at Self Publishing, or look for a Book Publishing Company!

If You are looking at writing a ebook and publishing it online but don't know what to write then here is an idea to get you started:

Go to your local bookstore or Amazon.com and look at the magazine rack. Find out what people are buying. Look at a targeted niche. Look at what people are subscibing to. What are the big advertisements. Companies don't spend money on advertising unless there is a return. Look at the letters to the editor and look for a problem. It is also good to get Back Issue's so you get a good overview of the market.

Here is an example so you get a better idea:

You choose your niche topic "Fishing" for example. You get five different fishing magazines and go to the secondhand bookstore and dig up some back issues, Doesn't have to cost a fortune.

Upon reading through them you find that the big advertisers are selling "Kite fishing gear" now with this in mind You also find that there are lots of letters to the editor asking "How best to set up the rigging for the Kite and how to tell

the best times to go out."

Now have a look online at "Google Search" and type in "Kite Fishing" See what there is to offer. Is there any books or manuals solving these peoples problems if not you may have a winner. Now go to Overture.com and look up Keywords for kite fishing and see how many searches are being made for that topic. If there are 4 searches a month then you do not have a demand.

Do some research on Kite Fishing and if you are able "Interview Experts" on the topic. Record your Conversation with their permission of course and then get it transcriped. There are many transcription places to go online and it doesn't cost to much. Now you have some content for your ebook without writing a thing and you are now the expert author.

Look for people who are passionate about that particular Topic, that have Disposable Income and a Credit Card. Write something that will solve a problem and then market that product to them. Find the market first then create the product to suit. This way you are able to quickly create a product with pre-determined demand, get a ebook, video or audio, your own digital product and sell it online without huge overheads. So you see, you can become you very own publishing expert without years of experience in any targeted Niche.

The Power of a Niche Directory

2008-09-09T23:05:00.000+07:00

You know that old saying? Build it and they will come? True, it’s a line from a ‘90’s baseball movie “Field of Dreams”, but that adage still holds true in the world of niche directory websites.

It seems that with the advent of some new directory script by some unknown publisher, another webmaster rushes to jump on the bandwagon of creating another directory. But there’s a problem with that. EVERYONE is creating the same search directory!

So how do you stand out in a sea of sameness? Easy. Create a niche directory and ask for links from those websites that your directory caters towards. This way, you build a unique database and the word will get out amongst those webmasters in your niche that you are actively seeking submissions.

As time goes on, your page rank should increase with reciprocal link passing as well as people talking about your site. That’s the goal isn’t it? You can even start charging for webmasters to put links on your website. Or even charging for submissions! At some point, all of your submissions could be paid submissions! You just need to dominate your niche with your specific directory.

Take me for example, I’m attempting to do just that with my diet directory, located at http://www.dietdirectory.org .It’s not really a fancy directory, but, it only caters to the diet and weight loss field. Over the next couple of months I’ll be charting how well I can penetrate and benefit from staying in this niche.

But it all comes down to marketing your niche directory. Let’s be honest, you could have the best directory in the world. Chances are, if no can find it, then it is completely useless. What you need to do is to blitz market your niche directory. Send out a press release, have a writing service write 10 promotional articles centered around the power and usability of a niche directory like your own, and submit your directory to as many search engines as possible. Then finally, and the hardest, contact those sites in your niche to fill your directory.

I think over time you will see some nice results. I’m hoping I will!

Catalogue: Computer

Title: The Power of a Niche Directory By: kael

How To Become A Super Affiliate In Niche Markets

2008-09-08T23:03:00.000+07:00

Over the past years, web hosting has grown bigger than it used to be. With more companies getting into this business and finding the many benefits it can give them, the demand for web hosting has never been higher. These seem to be the trend of today.

38 million people have put up their very first websites online this year 2005 alone. It is estimated that by 2008, the internet sales industry will top then dollar bank. And to think, majority of those sites will be offering different affiliate programs for people to choose and participate into.

This only means one thing. It is easier now to find the right web host for your application. The possibility of quality web hosting companies separating themselves from the rest of the industry is anticipated. If this is done, the unprofessional and incompetent ones will suffer.

Support will be the number one consideration for people when choosing a web host. It will be obvious that traditional advertising will become less and less effective. Most people would rather opt for the web host based on things that they see and hear. Also based on the recommendations by those who have tried them and have proved to be a successful.

This is a great opportunity for web hosting affiliates and resellers alike. There would hundreds of web hosting and programs to choose from that the difficulty in finding the right one for them is not a problem anymore.

How does one become a successful affiliate in the niche markets using web hosting?

If you think about it, everyone who needs a website needs a web hosting company to host it for them. As of now, there is really no leading hosting industry so most people choose hosts based from recommendations. Usually, they get it from the ones that have already availed of a web hosting services.

With the many hosts offering affiliate programs, there is the tendency to find the one which you think will work best for you. Think of the product you will be promoting. Pattern them to the site and see if they are catering to the same things as you are.

When you have been with one host for quite some time and seem not to be making much despite all your effort, leave that one and look for another. There is no use in trying to stick to one when you would be before off in another one. Things will only have to get better from there because you already have been in worst situations.

Try this out. If you are quite happy and satisfied with your web host, try to see if they are offering an affiliate program you can participate on. Instead of you paying them, why not make it the other way around; them paying you. The process can be as easy as putting a small “powered by” or “hosted by” link at the bottom of your page and you are already in an affiliate business.

Why choose paying for your for your web hosting when you do not have to? Try to get paid by letting people know you like your web host.

Always remember that when choosing a web host, choose the one that is known for its fantastic customer support. There are also many hosting affiliate programs. Residual affiliate program is also being hosted. This is the program wherein you get paid a percentage every month for a client that you refer. This can allow you to have a steady source of income. With perseverance, you can even be quite successful in this field.

There are a lot of niche markets out there just waiting for the right affiliate to penetrate to them and make that dollars dream come true. Knowing which one to get into is being confident enough of your potentials and the good results you will be getting.

Web hosting is just one affiliate market you could try out and make some good and continuous income. Just remember that to be successful on your endeavor also means that time, effort and patience is needed.

Nobody has invented the perfect affiliate market yet. But some people do know how to make it big in this kind of market. It is just knowing your kind of market and making the earnings there.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

To find the best home based business ideas and

opportunities so you can work at home visit:

http://www.payitforward4profits.com/pbcunningham

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Catalogue: Business | Marketing

Title: How To Become A Super Affiliate In Niche Markets By: Peter Cunningham

Affiliate In Niche Markets

2008-09-07T23:02:00.000+07:00

Have you ever wondered if what you know about niche is accurate?

Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you know to

the latest info on niche.

Over the past years, web hosting has grown bigger than

it used to be. With more companies getting into this business

and finding the many benefits it can give them, the demand

for web hosting has never been higher. These seem to be

the trend of today.

38 million people have put up their very first websites

online this year 2005 alone. It is estimated that by 2008,

the internet sales industry will top then dollar bank.

And to think, majority of those sites will be offering

different affiliate programs for people to choose and

participate into.

This only means one thing. It is easier now to find the right

web host for your application. The possibility of quality

web hosting companies separating themselves from the rest of

the industry is anticipated. If this is done, the unprofessional

and incompetent ones will suffer.

Support will be the number one consideration for people when

choosing a web host. It will be obvious that traditional

advertising will become less and less effective. Most people

would rather opt for the web host based on things that they

see and hear. Also based on the recommendations by those who

have tried them and have proved to be a successful.

This is a great opportunity for web hosting affiliates and resellers

alike. There would hundreds of web hosting and programs to choose

from that the difficulty in finding the right one for them is not

a problem anymore.

How does one become a successful affiliate in the niche markets

using web hosting?

If you think about it, everyone who needs a website needs a web

hosting company to host it for them. As of now, there is really

no leading hosting industry so most people choose hosts based

from recommendations. Usually, they get it from the ones that

have already availed of a web hosting services.

With the many hosts offering affiliate programs, there is the

tendency to find the one which you think will work best for you.

Think of the product you will be promoting. Pattern them to the

site and see if they are catering to the same things as you are.

When you have been with one host for quite some time and seem

not to be making much despite all your effort, leave that one

and look for another. There is no use in trying to stick to one

when you would be before off in another one. Things will only

have to get better from there because you already have been in

worst situations.

Try this out. If you are quite happy and satisfied with your web

host, try to see if they are offering an affiliate program you can

participate on. Instead of you paying them, why not make it the

other way around; them paying you. The process can be as easy as

putting a small "powered by" or "hosted by" link at the bottom of

your page and you are already in an affiliate business.

Why choose paying for your for your web hosting when you do not

have to? Try to get paid by letting people know you like your web

host.

Always remember that when choosing a web host, choose the one that

is known for its fantastic customer support. There are also many

hosting affiliate programs. Residual affiliate program is also being

hosted. This is the program wherein you get paid a percentage every

month for a client that you refer. This can allow you to have a

steady source of income. With perseverance, you can even be quite

successful in this field.

There are a lot of niche markets out there just waiting for the

right affiliate to penetrate to them and make that dollars dream

come true. Knowing which one to get into is being confident enough

of your potentials and the good results you will be getting.

Web hosting is just one affiliate market you could try out and make

some good and continuous income. Just remember that to be successful

on your endeavor also means that time, effort and patience is needed.

Nobody has invented the perfect affiliate market yet. But some people

do know how to make it big in this kind of market. It is just knowing

your kind of market and making the earnings there.

When word gets around about your command of niche facts, others who

need to know about niche will start to actively seek you out.

Eugenijus Sakalauskas

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Niche Marketing with Great Articles

2008-09-06T23:00:00.000+07:00

One of the most magnificent qualities of the Internet is that, by bringing the world close together, it enables people who fill one tiny corner of interest to come together, marketing to each other, sharing ideas, and growing as a niche community. For instance, consider antique marble collecting. I don't know many people who collect antique marbles. But if I do a search online, I can find dozens of sites that specialize in it, many with excellent information on their sites, places to trade and sell my antique marbles, and tools with which to make my own marbles.

How can you leverage the enormous power of niche marketing?

The best way is by providing your web site with great content focused directly at these niche markets. Instead of selling to the masses who are interested in Bono and Coca-cola, sell to those who are hungry for information and resources concerning their special interest.

In order to do this, you must identify yourself as an expert in the field you're targeting.

Becoming A Guru

Gurus are the wise men who sit on the mountains, dispensing advice. You don't have to sit on a mountain but you do need to dispense advice if you're going to be a guru. This means you should know what you're talking about.

Online, degrees and education don't mean as much as the information you can prove you have. The way you prove your knowledge online is by supplying your website, whether it's a sales website or a networking one, with great, original, valuable content.

This is great news for anyone who writes well. Despite its promotion as a great image-based medium, the Internet is primarily a text-based medium. It delivers pictures, music, and video very well indeed, but most information today is contained in text, and the search engines that catalog your website deal in text as well (even the image-based search engines focus on the titles and descriptive text you assign to your pictures and video).

But what if you know your niche market, but don't write well? There's a solution for that too. You can purchase content others have written for you, or you can have content custom-written for your niche market.

Finding Great Content

There are numerous great places to find content online to add to your website, and - better yet - you can get the content for free.

Or so it would seem.

Sites like GoArticles and Idea Marketers are known as article directories. They provide the service of matching well-written, informative content with webmasters who desperately need it. The articles are free for the taking, with the caveat that if you display one on your website, you must also cite the article's author and link to his or her website.

Well, free isn't always free. And in this case, when you're trying to establish yourself as a knowledgeable expert in a niche market, it's likely to undermine your entire purpose. When you list someone else as the author of an informative article on your website, you're setting that other person up as the guru on your website. And you're even providing this competing guru with the ultimate marketing tool - a link to his or her website when they've just interested the customer with an excellent piece of information.

Instead of using article directories, you're better off running articles on your website that you can claim as your own. You want articles ghostwritten for you, and the way to obtain them is to go to article brokers. These companies deal with private label articles, content that you can claim as your own because all rights to the article have been sold by the author. Instead of advertising someone else as the guru, you've just shown your customers that you, yourself, are the knowledgeable one.

Articles, Newsletters, and Ebooks

Private label articles can be used either as individual articles or content on your website, or they can be used to build newsletters that you can send out to subscribers. If you get a nice collection of articles, you can even create ebooks to sell or give away to your customers as reference sources. All of these purposes are valid and intelligent ways to use private label articles, and any of them will drive business to, not away from, your website.

Cody Moya writes about Article Marketing in his free 50 parts

course on Internet Marketing. You can sign up for his

Free Internet Marketing Course and get

additional information at his website: http://www.marketing.us

People Who Need People - Find Your Niche

2008-09-05T22:53:00.000+07:00

We understand what it means when someone says, "Don't get your cart before your horse," but often that's just what we do when we're looking for a niche market. We find a product we want to market and then we begin looking for folks to market to.

Instead, the first thing you must do is find a market; a group of people you know something about. Or maybe it’s a group you want to know something about. Either way, your niche is the people and their needs, wants and desires.

Are you interested in cuddly little pets? Or do your interest run more towards your not so cuddly pets; maybe reptiles. Do you love cars? Maybe you have a Porsche passion. If you’re single maybe you’re interested in dating or single parent issues. In any case, your first mission is to find a group of people you want to provide services and products for; that’s your market.

Next, you must find out what they want. Look up forums, groups, email lists and blogs for your market group and find out the problems they face and the type products or services this market is looking for. You should be a groupie; first to find out what your customer wants and then later to publicize your website. (For a list of the best Newsgroups, Forums, E-Mail Lists and Blogs, check the authors resource box below.)

As you’re doing this, make a list of the different words they use to describe the products and services they want. These will be your ‘keywords’ when you write your webpage. These are the words your new potential clients will key into the search engines to find the products you will be offering.

Then use a keyword tool such as the overture suggestion tool to find out how many people are searching each month on keywords your niche group was interested in. Find out if there is a strong enough demand for products to this group.

And last but not least, it’s time to find a product. You know what your group is looking for; you now understand their problems. Go to Clickbank, Commission Junction or PayCotCom and look for products to meet the needs of your group. Or better yet, develop a product yourself.

Remember the most important factor in online marketing, or any type marketing anywhere, is to help your customer. Now having found your customers and their needs as you have, finding or writing content for your website is a breeze. Those in your market will flock to your site for your information; and then, while they’re there, they’ll buy.

If you help enough other people get what they want; you’ll get what you want. Build you business to help the people in your particular niche and you’ll stand out from the crowd. Marketing, whether it’s for a niche or the masses, is all about people.

Catalogue: Business | Marketing

Title: People Who Need People - Find Your Niche By: Joyce Filbeck

15 Effective Niche Marketing Strategies

2008-09-04T22:51:00.000+07:00

This article was written to reply numerous of the most regularly asked questions on this topic. I wish you find out all of this knowledge helpful.

1. Making More cash - Most individuals desire to make more money. They want to keep off not being able to buy all their needs and wants. You could object product niches for employment, home businesses, networking marketing, affiliate programs, employment advancement, etc.

2. Increasing Profits And Sales - Most businesses want to increase their profits and sales. You could goal product niches about marketing, copywriting, advertising, cutting costs, publicity tips, etc.

3. Making fair Investments - Most individuals want to get high returns on their investments. You could object product niches about investing in the stock market, bonds, futures trading, etc.

4. Getting A elevate - Employees want to avoid being on a low pay scales at their place of effort and losing their job. You could aim product niches about communicating at work such as asking for a raise, promotions at work, etc.

5. Getting A Promotion - Most employees want to succeed and offer their employer their best. You could target product niches about moving up the ladder at work, career advancement, above or underachieving at work with the consequences of each, etc.

6. Working From house - Many individuals would somewhat work at home. You could target product niches about home business start-up, home business opportunities, affiliate programs, network marketing, etc.

7. Working Less - Most individuals want to work less but smarter. You could target product niches about businesses that require little or no work, automated income streams, part-time jobs that pay the same as 40 hour a week jobs, etc.

8. Eliminating Debt - Most individuals want to manage or eliminate their debts. You could target product niches about money control, debt consolidation, stopping debt collectors from calling, etc.

9. Having outstanding Credit - individuals want to maintain excellent credit. You could target product niches about improving their credit reports, financial management, how to increase their credit rating, etc.

10. Finding A Bargain - Most people like to find bargains. You could target product niches about being thrifty, negotiating lower prices, where to find fair bargains, etc.

12. Retiring Early - Most people want to retire beforehand or at least have money for their retirement. You could target product niches about planning for early retirement, investing for the long designation, goal setting, etc.

13. Being Educated - Many want to new their education. You could target product niches about college grants, college ratings, college loans, college living, etc.

14. Save Money - Most people want to save money. You could target product niches about starting a budget, lower bills, stretching their money further, shopping smarter, etc.

15. Being Successful - Most people want to be successful. You could target product niches about advancing and reaching goals, motivational techniques, getting into the right mind set, etc.

I hope you have gotten some acceptable ideas from this article and that you are able to use them.

Article Source: http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com

The author, Brian Sakamoto, has been writing marketing articles for a number of clients for years. If you would like more information on marketings please visit http://www.asianbusiness.bz and http://www.marketingonlinepro.com

Marketing to Your Niche Markets

2008-09-03T22:49:00.001+07:00

Do you remember how, in days gone by, salesmen would go door

to door selling their wares? These entrepreneurs would "go

the extra mile" just to have the chance to demonstrate their

products to people in their own home.

Why do you suppose they did that? Was it effective enough to

make that extra effort? And what can we learn from it?

The reason why door-to-door demonstrations of yesterday worked so well is because it gave the customer a chance to experience the product. Humans are experiential in nature. That is, we understand the world around us by experiencing it. So putting a product in our hands gives us that opportunity. We get to feel it, use it, and see how its application could benefit us.

Now nobody's telling you to go door-to-door like the

salesmen of old . . .

But what if you could achieve the same results by illustrating its application with a verbal demonstration? What if you could provide a similar experience to your customers that was nearly as good as if they held it in their hands? Would you consider that a highly effective marketing tool? Can you imagine the possibilities of being able to get people to experience your product without actually having to hold it in their hands?

This is where using Storylines come in . . .

Stories have been used for centuries to create experiences

in order to teach, motivate, and instill values into us.

Through stories we gain experiences we might normally never

have. They allow us to see worlds we could only dream of, or may never even have dreamed of. Stories insite our senses, and trigger our emotions. They paint "pictures" for us and lead us to an understanding of things that are, often times, beyond our grasp.

But most of all, stories are master illustrators.

Can you see where this is leading?

Through a story, you can create a presentation that satisfies the senses, produces the right amount of motivation and emotion, and illustrates the benefits of your products almost as well as if you rang a doorbell, got let inside and gave a face to face demonstration.

And no one has to wear out their shoes doing it either.

To illustrate how it's done . . .

First we'll create a scenario, then give a storyline example

so you'll see it in action for yourself . . .

The beauty of Niche Marketing is that you can just about create a new market out of thin air. What you're about to witness is a Niche Market that was created where there was none before. But it doesn't matter if you create a niche from a story, or a story from a niche, because it works both ways.

Scenario: You're skimming through the news blogs and you

come across a clip about how there's a growing number of

homes that are unable to get cable television piped in. The

clip goes on to say that, in many of these cases, satellite

reception doesn't work either because most live in highly wooded areas. It concludes by informing that neither the cable

companies nor the satellite companies know exactly what to

do and people are getting really frustrated about it.

So you scour the web and find a solution that's already

being marketed, though not very well. You read up about it

and discover that there's a resellers program attached to

it.

You join it and present it something like this . . .

Story Begins:

---------------------------------------------------

Satellite and Cable Companies Can't Reach Everybody

Television certainly isn't what it used to be. Today,

through satellite and cable, you can bring in hundreds of

channels in high definition that were once nonexistent, but

now are just a click of your remote away. Up to 80% of all

households have one or the other type of network service set

up in their homes, as the old fashioned rabbit ears antenna goes the way of the rabbit test.

Unfortunately for some, the cable and satellite companies

can't reach everyone, especially in remote parts of the

world. There are various reasons why this happens, but it

doesn't help those who are left without.

One of the problems with cable TV is the expense that goes

into running cables through a town. All too often towns

cannot afford the contracts required to get cable, or they

feel the monthly charges would be too steep for their residents because of the wiring problems the cable companies would have to overcome. Some towns just don't want the cables running through their streets.

The trouble with satellite is that you need a clear view of

a certain part of the sky in order to get good reception,

and many in wooded areas just aren't able to cut down enough trees to accomplish that. So there are quite a number of

people forced to watch local TV through the haze of antenna

interferences. No cable, no satellite, no hope of it changing in the near future.

For some, who might not even get good or adequate reception

from an antenna, there's always VCRs and DVDs. But even they can get old fast, and depending on the quality of service

from the local video store, their choices could be limited.

Recently there has been some advancement in online TV and

movie viewing, however, that just might solve the problem

for these people as well as for those who feel the monthly

fees of cable and satellite are outrageous. New companies

are springing up that offer the same services of the cable,

satellite, and even video store companies for a one time fee to download their application to your computer. One of the

leaders of this new type of online service, TV.org offers a

great package that includes a large number of TV channels,

premium movies, MP3, DVD, and game downloads.

So it won't be long when everyone will be able to watch HBO, or the Discovery Channel without worrying about location,

budget, town ordinances, trees or anything. In this world of high tech, there's something for everybody!"

---------------------------------------------------

End of Story

If you happen to have visited TV.org, you'll discover that there actually is such a company, and yes, they have an affiliate program.

And yes, it was pretty much taken out of thin air! And it's

just one example of how to use a storyline with a niche market. There are countless other ways and styles depending on your purpose and product. Isn't Niche Marketing wonderful?

There are just so many different ways and reasons you can

come up with them. The above example came just as the scenario stated, by simply browsing the news blogs and creating a storyline based on a few short clips.

But until now, some Niche Markets were nearly as hard to get customers to, as the "brick and mortar" storefronts. The most that could be done with them is to set up a shopping cart page and generate traffic for them from the exchanges.

Then you'd have to wait and hope someone was looking for what you were selling at the exact time your page came up in their browser.

However, if you start Using Storylines With Your Niche Marketing, all sorts of new venues will open up for you. By using storylines as sales campaigns, your areas of advertising broaden greatly. You can send out press releases, advertise directly through ezine articles, create news clips for syndication, you name it!

Fred Farah

The Best Affiliate Products

and Niche Market Strategies for Maximum Profits

Best Affiliate Products

Fred Farah is a long time business man who shares his expertise from his web site Best Affiliate Products

It's all about affiliate marketing to niche markets.

Lots to learn from the Niche Madness 7-day eCourse, as well as the Niche Market Strategies newsletter.

Find Your Niche

2008-09-02T22:48:00.001+07:00

What is a niche?

According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary a niche is described as "a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted... a specialized market".

HOW DO I FIND A NICHE?

Finding a niche requires diligent research. Whether you have access to software that harvests and sorts information or you take a manual approach you must first start with ideas.

Use a software program such as Wordtracker or a free resource such as the Overture Keyword Selector Tool to find keywords for your niche that have a high amount of traffic.

Although a program like Wordtracker makes it easy to find details such as how many sites compete for that market, you can also do your own research.

Concentrate your attention on question phrases such as "how do I..." or "where can I...". These questions will clue you into potential markets that need servicing.

What sites come up? Do they provide answers or solutions to the problem? How are they making money? Can you see an opportunity to service these individuals?

If you can help these people you WILL make money. The best of both worlds! from winter's barrenness, they desert us too quickly!

About The Author:

Reap Benefits When You Submit Articles for Niche Marketing

2008-09-01T22:47:00.000+07:00

Niche markets are small specific markets. Individuals or businesses are grouped together for niche marketing if they share similar interests or needs. For instance, females who play golf can be considered a niche market. Reaching as many people in the same niche is necessary to making your small business work. However, if you are an online business start-up, finding your target audience may be challenging in the beginning.

One way to quickly finding your target audience is if you submit articles to article directories as a way of marketing. People reading your articles on a niche topic and who clicks through on the author's resource box to your website are likely to be your targeted audience. If you are female but don't play golf, you would probably not be reading an article that teaches on getting the perfect golf swing. However, a female that does play golf is more likely to read one with a topic that says "How a Female Golfer Can Improve Her Distance". As you can see, finding your prospective customers in this manner reaps much direct benefits. A good marketing strategy is one that involves focusing your articles on sharing information whilst your site (via a winning sales letter) does the job of converting the targeted audience to clients.

It is important, therefore, that when you submit an article, you should look for article directory sites that will be visited by your niche market. If the article directory site is a general one, then ensure that you submit your article to the appropriate category.

Writing articles entails some knowledge, but you do not have to be an expert writer. Your article should be focused on solving an issue or problem for your reader. For article topics, think of common questions that are likely to be asked regarding that niche business. Using keywords that are easily identifiable by your niche market within your articles will further ensure that your audience can easily find your writings.

Compared with other forms of marketing, writing articles is almost free. You may find some small fees associated with publishing, but they are nothing compared to the high cost of placing ads or doing mailing promotions. Thus, website promotion through articles is a good idea especially if you, as a small business owner, have a limited marketing budget to begin with.

Writing and submitting articles for niche marketing may seem a tedious exercise to first-timers. But after you get the hang of it, marketing via articles can be a really easy and effective way to promote your small niche business. What is also highly rewarding is that you can build your credibility through the content you share. Thereafter, as you submit more and more quality content articles for the same niche market, traffic to your site will steadily increase.

Evelyn Lim is a writer, a market strategist and an online business entrepreneur. She also owns and manages an article directory site, with more than 100 topic categories and a growing database of quality articles. To submit your articles or if you are a publisher looking for reprint articles, please visit http://www.ArticleMap.com.

How To Become A Super Affiliate In Niche Markets

2008-08-31T22:42:00.000+07:00

How does one become a successful affiliate in the niche markets using web hosting?

Try this out. If you are quite happy and satisfied with your web host, try to see if they are offering an affiliate program you can participate on. Instead of you paying them, why not make it the other way around; them paying you. The process can be as easy as putting a small "powered by" or "hosted by" link at the bottom of your page and you are already in an affiliate business.

Why choose paying for your for your web hosting when you do not have to? Try to get paid by letting people know you like your web host.

Nobody has invented the perfect affiliate market yet. But some people do know how to make it big in this kind of market. It is just knowing your kind of market and making the earnings there.

Finding Your Online Business

2008-08-30T22:39:00.001+07:00

I recently gave a seminar to folks interested in starting their own online business. Most of them were looking for information about shopping carts, search engine optimization, hosting, and tech related issues. I believe they were all stunned when I explained that I would not address any of their questions until they told me their niche.

It felt as though 5 minutes passed by before any one said a word. I could tell that not one person knew their niche. I expected this. In fact most hopeful net entrepreneurs miss this very important first step. Choosing your niche.

It is so easy to get caught up in technical details, marketing, cash-flow charts and such, but what good is stressing about those concerns when no niche is chosen? It's like putting the cart before the horse. Step 1 in creating an online business road map to success is defining your niche.

Websters.com defines a niche as a situation or activity specially suited to a person's interests, abilities, or nature. It also says a niche is a special area of demand for a product or service. A niche is a target market. It is focused, not broad.

Here are a few examples of niches: golfing for women, hot rods of the 1970's, Greek desserts, and organic herb gardening. Here are examples of topics that are not niches: golf, cars, food or gardening. Do you see how a niche is focused and a topic is broad?

Determining your niche is the first step to producing a successful online business. Your business should be built around 1 niche. Your products or services should provide solutions to problems or concerns within your niche. Your site content should provide information about your niche. Creating an online business around your niche helps you rank better at search engines, positions you as an expert, and creates buzz in your industry.

Here are a few simple questions to help define your niche:

- What are your hobbies?

- What experiences/skills have you collected through school and jobs?

- What is your biggest passion in life?

- What hobby/experience/skill/passion would you enjoy building a business around?

- Have you often been told by people that you should go into business doing a particular thing? For example, sell your famous muffin mix or sell your web design services.

My best advice is to choose a niche that you are passionate about. Building a business takes effort and patience. You will have a much harder time motivating yourself through the difficult periods of business if you dislike your niche. So choose wisely.

Follow your gut and pick the best niche for you. Income will follow where passion and hard work lead. Begin researching your niche industry and then move forward with your plans.

A successful online business road map will look something like this:

- Choose niche.

- Research industry. Find problems people have in that niche.

- Brainstorm a service or product to solve people's problems, or become an affiliate for an existing product/service.

- Choose a hosting company that provides everything you need in one low cost price. A good hosting company will provide support, easy page building, traffic analysis, search engine optimization, ability to create a newsletter and RSS feed and much more. Check out my site to see who I use for my online business.

- Begin building your site around your niche.

------

Lynn VanDyke builds successful websites. She provides several options for business owners including a "Jump Start Your Online Business" CD-ROM. Visit http://www.LynnVanDyke.com to learn more about her and her services. Lynn's content website is ranked in all 3 major search engines and is in the top 1% of all websites worldwide according to Alexa.

Finding Your Niche In Niche Marketing

2008-08-29T22:27:00.000+07:00

You know, if you ever took a middle school earth science class, what a niche is. If you didn't well...a niche is an area where a person (whoever the niche is for) is able to survive and thrive. It has many different specific types but the fundamental idea is that is a place specially suited for a thing to not only make it but succeed in it. So niche marketing is finding a particular market where you are able to find success marketing your specific product. Some people have a product and find a market and some find a market and develop a product but the general idea remains the same.

So how do you find your niche in niche marketing? Well the answer is both straight forward and complex. First you need to find an area where the knowledge and/or skills that you possess make it possible to develop a product that is sought after. For example a person who has been raised on a farm in the middle of South Dakota will more likely find his niche in agriculture rather than fashion design. It also must be a place that you have energy for. You must want to get up and work hard on something in order to succeed at it and there is nothing harder than working hard no something that you despise.

Another important concept in niche marketing that should be kept in mind is that it is helpful to find an area where you can be at the top of the competition. So burgeoning fields where you have the latest and greatest knowledge are natural areas to exploit. The laws of supply and demand in economics are very helpful for finding a profitable niche. That is to say that you need to find an area where the supply is low and the demand is high in order to get the best profit scenario. This is why professional sports players are able to make so much, if you have ever wondered. It's because there are only a few people in the world that are able to play that particular sport at that level (the supply is low) and people absolutely love sports (the demand is high).

The beauty of the internet is that it literally gives you instant exposure to every market that there is in the world. This allows you to take advantage of whatever your particular skill is (for example making surf boards), even if your geographical area would otherwise limit you (for example you live in Siberia).

Catalogue: Business | Marketing

Title: Finding Your Niche In Niche Marketing By: Trever Dellinious

Niche Marketing

2008-08-28T22:04:00.001+07:00

According to the pros, don’t waste your time attempting to target anything else! After spending countless hours of learning from some of the best internet marketing mentors, it is clear that they all teach this as the key to your targeting efforts. Don’t re-invent this concept when it works so well. So let’s take a quick look into this.

First of all, what is a ‘niche’?

In terms of successful internet marketing, a niche is, in its simplest form, a group of people, typically known as ‘members’, with a common interest. For example, a group of people who have an interest in training show dogs.

Second of all, what constitutes a potentially good niche?

In order for a niche to be worthy of selecting it must have members with defined needs and wants that can be met by products or services that those members are willing to purchase. Let's take a closer look at what that means relevant to our dog training example used above. Defined needs: they will all likely need to know what the basics of dog show training are and probably all want to know what the best trainers in the world do - what are the secrets to their great training techniques. To meet those needs an example of a great product would be an ebook that explains the basics of dog show training and to satisfy their wants, perhaps a video of an interview with one of the world's best trainers. Finally, check to see if there is an indication that these members would pay for these products. If this combination of attributes exists, then you can proceed with a plan to target that market.

Next, how do you find such a niche on the internet?

There are several ways to find a niche market including studying magazines, general directory of websites, watching infomercials, reading direct mail etc. If you are truly interested in learning the details of each of these methods, I recommend you find a great internet marketing mentor. If you just want to do it on your own for now, use these ways to start your search by trying to see recurring or popular trends. For example, go to 'training dogs for show' websites and see if there are many sites, do these sites sell relevant products and services? Are there show dog training magazines? Using all of the resources mentioned above you should be able to determine whether your chosen area is a niche you can target market.

Finally, how do you pick a hot niche?

You need to learn how to check traffic inventory (how many members go to the show dog training websites, for example), survey what is known as the shotgun splatter effect, analyze the average sales price in that niche, search for competitors, avoid oversaturated markets and then, decide if that niche is likely to have other spin off niches that will be of interest to the niche you are considering.

Once you have made your selection you will be able to market to the members of this niche over and over again. Sound like fun? Get yourself a great mentor if you need to learn more. It is my passion and hobby to seek out internet mentors on a variety of topics that interest me, so I know there are great ones out there on this topic.

Good luck with targeting your niche market!

Doug Gray

If you want to learn more about niche target market tactics, you need to know that this is just one of the many powerful concepts taught at: http://www.onlinemarketinginformation.com

Catalogue: Internet Business | Internet Marketing

Title: Niche Marketing By: Doug Gray

Can you boost your web site traffic today?

2008-08-01T23:50:00.003+07:00

Can you boost your web site traffic today? And I don’t mean necessarily by PPC (pay per click) which can be expensive. Here are some ideas and things you can do for little or no cost and get people visiting your site within a few hours.

Blogging - blogging is a great way to boost traffic to your site. Michael Cheney taught me how to set up a blog properly to get traffic. If you don’t already have a blog I recommend you set one up under its own domain name (with relevant keywords in it) and then install wordpress. You can set it up to automatically to send a ping to blog directories and blog sites. There are plenty of them you can find them by doing a search on Google or if you would like more traffic boosting knowledge then from one of Michael’s products.

Forum posting - there is a forum out there for most subjects and you can usually join for free. To find them just search on Google for your keyword plus the word forum. You can’t blatantly promote in your forum post but if you write sensible posts, offer help and advice you are likely to get people check out your site and this can happen for free on the same day.

Writing articles - some of the article directories review your article before they post it to ensure quality and some don’t, and that means you can get an article with a link to your web site showing within a few hours. Other people pick up on them and use them for content on their own sites and all the time your link is in the author bio box pointing to your site.

Digg it - Digg is a great site with high page rank and high traffic. Boost your own traffic today by placing links to all of your website pages. If you don’t have a web site then set up a free blog and point traffic there.

Email your list - what? You don’t have a list yet? Surprisingly lot’s of people on the web haven’t built up there own email list. If you haven’t already done so I can send you some more info. Just visit my blog. The good thing about a list is you can preset a series of messages to offer them, and you can send out an email broadcast at any time telling them to visit your site for the latest special offer or piece of advice - voila - instant boost to web traffic.

Engage in a joint Venture - you can’t always do it in one day, although with the right contacts you can. If you receive a newsletter from another website in your area of expertise then why not see if you can offer something of interest to them and their readers. Free reports are good or something where the list owner can make a commission on any sales. A good tip is to make sure you collect email addresses as well to build your own list at the same time.

About the Author:

Paul Turner

Before spend any money on a course on increasing web traffic get the traffic facts at my blog, http://www.paulturnermarketing.com

Tips To Keyword Efficiency

2008-07-30T07:57:00.001+07:00

Internet marketing is fast becoming the advertising method of choice of small businesses. They get maximum exposure and internet traffic from prospective purchasers and customers. In fact, according to ISP Interland, small home businesses and medium scale companies (SMBs) are getting returns that are significantly higher because of their online marketing strategy. Also, more than half of business owners are saying that the increase in their monthly revenues are due to online purchases. Aside from this, most of their offline sales are due to the influence of their websites and online marketing.

However, it is surprising that not all are using search engine optimization when in recent years, search engines are essential tools for buyers. Instead of companies and businesses looking for clients online, it is the buyers that are looking for worthy purchases on the internet. Studies and surveys show that over two-thirds of SMBs' online and offline sales are fueled by online researches. It is therefore crucial for SMBs' products, services, and company names to appear in these searches. Visibility in search engines is part of a good and efficient internet marketing plan, but merely appearing on these searches. What these SMBs need are effective keywords that draw customers in and not just visitors.

Visibility in search engines is effectively linked to credibility and brand awareness. Sally Falkow, an online marketing specialist suggests that optimizing press releases gives SMBs excellent visibility and keep them on the consumers' radar. Falkow provides another useful tip: giving these releases "news" appeal gives them credibility. Aside from these general tips from a specialist, there are other guides that SMBs rely on in internet marketing.

Researching and testing keywords is an effective way to find the most popular combinations. Sites like WordTracker and Overture help in selecting keywords. Internet marketing optimization benefits from the use of phrases rather than a single word as keyword. Jill Whalen, search consultant for High Rankings, says that more specific keywords draw and attract real customers and not just people who are browsing around. It is also important to mix general terms and specific words as keywords; this way, SMBs draw in all prospective clients. It is also a good idea to include the company name and title tags as part of the keywords. The use of jargon is also a good idea especially if the SMBs' products are industry-specific. Linking keyworded articles to other articles or sites is also an effective strategy. Lastly, it is vital that SMBs be honest about the service and product that they offer to avoid disappointed buyers. It is one thing to advertise a product and a completely different thing to exaggerate about its features.

By: Mark Peoples

Finding Targeted Keyword Phrases Your Competitors Miss

2008-07-28T07:48:00.000+07:00

Finding keyword phrases your competition is missing is easier than it seems. Combinations of two and three word phrases are often overlooked by your competitors when vying for the top competitive terms. This missed opportunity may be a benefit to you to overcome your competition in the search engine rankings.

Think Like A Searcher - Study Your Target Audience

Really look at the audience you want to bring to your website. Are there terms you might not ordinarily use or your competitors use that would work for a small portion of visitors? Remember that single words tend to be more competitive. Find two and three word phrases that would work for a searcher looking for your website topic. If your visitors usually search on "vertical widgets", look at "horizontal widgets" as well. Dig deep to find terms that might not be obvious to you. Of course using a keyword phrase that no one searches on might give you lots of search results, this is why you should focus your terms on the actual topic of your website content. Have another person compile a list of keyword phrases used to find your website or product. You'd be surprised at the number of variations two minds can come up with instead of one. Think like a searcher - not a website owner.

View Your Competitor's Source Code And Content For Keyword Phrases

Viewing your competitor's source code is very easy and a good way to see what keyword phrases (if any) they are using. Using your browser, view the source code of the page. The title and meta tags should contain the same keywords or variations of keyword phrases if the competitor's website is optimized. Look over the web page content as well as for keyword phrases worked into the text, image alt text, headings and hyperlinks of the pages. If their pages are not optimized you may gain an even bigger edge on the competition by optimizing your web pages.

Using Keyword Tools To Find Variations Of Keyword Phrases

The Overture Suggestion Tool will provide keyword variations: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Clicking on the suggestion tool link will bring up a window, you can search for terms and variations of terms. Begin with your list and see how many variations come up with the results. You might be surprised at the popularity of some of the search variations you see. Be sure to add you new keyword phrases to your list.

WordTracker is a keyword tool as well, you can purchase a yearly subscription or even a one day subscription. Learn more about it here: http://www.wordtracker.com/

Search On Keyword Phrases In The Search Engines

Using your expanded list of keyword phrases, search for those terms in the search engine databases. Note the number of search engine results. The more results, typically the more competitive the term. See the differences in number of search results for plural versions as opposed to singular versions of your keywords in each engine. Note the descriptions that the search engine results bring up - are there any keyword phrases there that might apply to your website? Don't forget the ads Google displays in their search results. Study the ads that come up with your search terms as well. While you are searching on your keyword phrases, check your competitor's ranking, along with the new keyword phrase variations you come up with through the Overture Keyword and WordTracker tools.

Add Keywords Reflecting Your Local Cities And State

You can also target local areas by listing them in your title/meta tags and text of your web pages. List only the cities and state you reside in and/or provide services to. You never know who will be looking for a local contact producer of "blue widgets" in your city or state. Some people prefer to work with a local company. Adding in those type of specifics, even on your contact page with your local information, can pull in traffic your local competitors are missing.

Check Your Site Statistics

Last but certainly not least, check your search engine stats program or raw server logs to see what terms your visitors are using to find your website. There may be combinations of words your visitors are using you have not thought of or that may not be in the content of your pages.

Incorporate Keyword Phrases Into Content Of Your Web Pages

Once you have your list of varied keyword phrases, work them into your web page. Incorporating these terms into your web pages should "make sense", in other words, they should read well and not sound "spammy". Most of all, they should realistically be part of the content of the page, not placed there only because you need them in the content. Have another person read your copy to see if it sounds reasonable to them.

Keyword Variations Make A Difference

Don't miss out on the keywords your competitors might miss. Those extra keywords could translate into profits and increased viewing of your website by visitors who might otherwise not find you.

Daria Goetsch is the founder and Search Engine Marketing Consultant for Search Innovation Marketing, a Search Engine Marketing company serving small businesses. She has specialized in Search Engine Optimization since 1998, including three years as the Search Engine Specialist for O'Reilly Media, Inc., a technical book publishing company.

Permission to reprint this article is granted if the article is reproduced in its entirety, without editing, including the bio information. Please include a hyperlink to http://www.searchinnovation.com when using this article in newsletters or online.

Content Rich, Keyword-Focused Pages: Your Key to Search Engine Success

2008-07-26T07:45:00.000+07:00

An often overlooked fact in search engine optimization is that internal pages can have a dramatic effect in boosting traffic to your site. More often than not, efforts are concentrated only on getting people to visit the home page. This is a mistake. Content rich, keyword focused internal pages are easier to optimize and have an excellent probability of pulling in abundant and relevant web traffic.

The best way to use internal pages to draw in traffic is to split your content among several very focused pages. For example, if you run a site about cars and you are writing a review of three different car models, don't write a lengthy review covering the three cars in one single web page.

Instead, write three separate reviews in three different web pages, and optimize each page for each individual car model. You will have to repeat the model name frequently in the page copy, and include it in the page's title and meta tags. You should also try to get inbound links from sources relevant to your page's content. For example, if one of your three reviews is about the Mazda Miata, you must try to get inbound links to that page from other Mazda Miata-related pages. This will increase the relevance of your page, and increase its chances of getting a good position in the search engine results pages when people search for "Mazda Miata".

Some websites lend themselves naturally to this approach, for example, content sites that run a lot of articles. My own internet marketing website (http://www.theinternetdigest.net ) is a case in point, as some of my articles draw even more traffic than my homepage. Each of my articles covers a separate topic, and is written in its own, well optimized internal web page.

For more search engine optimization tips, you can read this Do-It-Yourself Search Engine Optimization primer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can freely reprint this article provided that you include the following resource box:

Mario Sanchez publishes The Internet Digest

http://www.theinternetdigest.net a website and newsletter that gives you useful advice on web design and Internet marketing, one free tip at a time

How You Can Dominate Any Niche With Keyword Elite

2008-07-24T07:39:00.000+07:00

At most, a good piece of software will make a webmaster's or marketer's job a little easier and a little quicker. Rarely does a piece of software come along that changes not only how the game is played, but changes the whole playing field itself.

That's exactly what has happened with Brad Callen's Keyword Elite. His newest software may not only change the ball game, it may just change the whole playing field - leveling that field so even the smallest webmaster can play with the big boys.

This powerful software cracks the entire online keyword marketing arena wide open. That will sound like pure hype until you take a close look at this keyword research software and realize just how powerful and beneficial it will be in helping you dominate your niche.

If you haven't heard of Brad Callen, you're probably a newcomer to Internet marketing. No crime there! Brad Callen is well known in marketing circles for his effective SEO Elite linking software and his 'Seven Days to Massive Website Traffic' ecourse. However, Keyword Elite may eclipse those two products very quickly and become the definitive keyword software on the market.

In order to dominate any niche or subject on the web, you must first discover which keywords and phrases surfers are using to search for information in your niche. Then, you need to optimize your pages for good keywords that will give your pages an edge over your competition. The more information you have, the more likely you are to succeed in dominating your subject area.

This is where Keyword Elite can be extremely important, even for the novice webmaster. This program will supply the information and keywords you need to build targeted traffic to your site. Keyword Elite is a comprehensive keyword research software product with not just one project mode but five. That's five different project modes, or ways to use this software, that will give you the information you need. I have explained each mode below:

Analyze Pay Per Click Listings: Use this software to retrieve valuable information on Pay-Per-Click listings and keywords. Profitable keyword information to have for any online marketer. Create thousands of traffic pulling keywords within seconds and soar above other marketers not using this software. It will give you a distinct advantage over your competition.

Create Your Keyword List: If you're building a web site and need traffic pulling keywords to make the whole system work, Keyword Elite will produce thousands of keywords for you within minutes of running the software.

Select Your Keyword List: Not all keywords are useful. Discover what keywords are useful for your niche or site. Keyword Elite will help you find the best keywords for your site or sites. This will save valuable time for any busy webmaster or marketer.

Analyze Your Keyword Competition: For the online marketer, it's all about out-ranking your competition for the good keywords in the major search engines. Keyword Elite lets you analyze your competition and points out the keywords worth your effort and time. Why waste valuable resources on keywords that are just too competitive or too costly to run?

Spy on Your Adwords Competition: This is perhaps the most useful and powerful function of Keyword Elite. It will literally spy on your Adwords competitors and tell you which keywords they are using over a long period of time. Basically it tells you which keywords your competitors are using to bring in the profits. This project mode is worth the price of this software alone for the serious online marketer. It also changes or levels the playing field where keywords are concerned. You would have to pay thousands to SEO companies to get the same valuable information.

It's about time someone developed this kind of powerful software so that everyone has a fair shot at placing their web site on the first page in all the search engines. Keyword Elite is the perfect software program that will make that job easier and faster. It will instantly help you find thousands of competitive and profitable keywords for your niche or web site.

Powerful is the only accurate word to describe the functions of this research software. It will give any webmaster or marketer the means to compete in any niche on the web. Niche marketing is all the rage because marketers can succeed faster on the web if they concentrate all their efforts to one area or topic. Now anyone can dominate their niche with Keyword Elite.

...

For the latest and most effective Internet Marketing Tools,

including Keyword Elite, visit:Internet Marketing Tools (http://www.bizwaremagic.com/weblog).

Including the very popular Free Desktop Calendar & Planner http://www.bizwaremagic.com/Free_Desktop_Calendar.htm

Copyright © 2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely

distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Keyword Targeting Strategy In Your Site

2008-07-22T08:35:00.000+07:00

Once the keywords have been decided for the site one has to come up with a strategy to target those keywords across the site. Here is a primer on that.

Keywords Targeting Strategy for Keyword of Single word:

Keyword of Single word is useful to attract general audience and helps in getting high rank ,if the web site is new. Keywords Targeting Strategy for Keyword of Single word is that they should be more used in the root level pages or top level domain pages. This is because these pages are the ones that attract the general traffic & are generally the pages which do not specify specifics. Hence single word keywords based on themes can be targeted for on these pages.

Keywords Targeting Strategy for Keyword of Multiple words:

Keyword of Multiple words are useful for attract targeted audience therefore should be used topic wise for each page according to subject of that web page. Relevant set of Keywords should be use in Title tag, Header Tag, Meta tag, Body tag, Alt tag, Anchor tag, Comment tag and in the url (uniform resource locator) of that specific web page. Use underscore or hyphen to differentiate Keywords. These keywords are normally targeted upon in deeper level or sub directory level pages.

Keywords Targeting Strategy for Keyword based on Theme:

Keyword based on theme is useful to attract targeted audience therefore they are strongly recommended to be used. Typically, although it is not a hard and fast rule but in theme based keyword we use general keywords in root level and uses specific keyword in directory level.

Overall one can safely say that in keyword targeting one uses a dart board strategy. Wherein the smallest circle attracts your core audience & hence should have theme oriented multiple word keywords. As we move up on the theme (dartboard) the circle ( traffic) tends to get larger & the keywords tends to get simpler( singular) even though they are theme based.

KEYWORDS and KEYPHRASES usage in Domain Name:

Keywords and keyphrases use in Domain Name & urls of directory pages is also a factor in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well as it helps to inform targeted audience, about the sites content . Therefore, special care should be exercised in choosing a domain name. All the search engines start reading each web page with its respective domain name.

Having said that, let me add that there is a raging debate amongst the seo community to determine the exact importance of keywords in the domain name. One camp believes that it is hugely important to have keywords in domain whereas the other maintains that brand building domain name is more important than keywords incorporating one.

Whether keyword is a factor or not is debateble however it has been observed that domain name extensions do definitely play a part in rankings. Search engines ( specially google) have a predilection for sites having extension .gov,.edu,.mil in domain name. Search engines believe that information available at these domains would have a greater likelihood of being authentic as no commercial interest is served here.

Domain Name can be classifieds into two categories:

1. Keyword Specific

2. Brand Name Specific

Keyword Specific Domain Name

When Keywords and Keyphrases are used in a Domain name then its called Keyword specific Domain name.

Keyword in the domain name to my mind has two advantages.

One It is better to have a keyword domain name for it is worth remembering that most of the people link to you using your URL. If your URL has the keyword or the keyphrase then you are automatically using the keyword in the very important anchor tag.

Secondly, though marginally, in a ranking scenario with every other parameter remaining equal, the Keyword Specific Domain Name will enjoy a slight edge over the other web site. However remember Keyword used in Domain name should be primary and generic. Specific keywords can be used in the sub domains. Read about the use of subdomains.

Keywords and Keyphrases uses with hyphen/underscore in Domain name are said to preferred as they are read by search engines as separate words. So the domain name can have a search phrase incorporated into it. However the flip side of it is that domain names with hyphen or underscore are inconvenient to carry.

Brand Name Specific Domain Name

When company or organizations’ name is used in Domain Name to brand it then it’s called as Brand Name Specific Domain name.

Brand Name Specific Domain Name does not help online searches at all. However they are very powerful tools for company identification in the mind of users. In the anonymous online world a brand spells loyalty, trust & value. So if you choose to go for building your brand rather than deep rooted optimization, one way of incorporating keywords is through your directories & pages names.

KEYWORD DENSITY

Keyword Density is a proportion of the searched term ( Keyword or Keyphrase) against the whole words written on a given page. The ideal Keyword Density is 6%-8% though various search engines have various tolerance levels before their spam filters get activated. Higher Keyword Density does help to boost a pages’ ranking.

Keyword Density can be increased by using target keywords repeatedly in Title tag, Header tag, Body tag, Comment tag, Alt tag, Anchor tag, Paragraph Tag , Domain name and in diretory/page names.

However one disadvantage of trying to hike the keyword density is that the visible text on the page starts to look spammy if it is not carefully crafted. That makes for a bad copy.

About the Author

Vikas Malhotra is a successful Internet marketer utilizing both pay-per-click marketing and search engine optimization to increase website traffic. To learn more, visit http://sem.mosaic-service.com

The Different Keyword Search Results Between Overture and Wordtracker

2008-07-20T07:32:00.000+07:00

Keyword Selection is fundamental to Search Engine marketing. Get the wrong keywords your online business is doomed to fail. Find the right keywords and you will drive masses of targeted traffic to your website via the Search Engines.

There have been discussions in webmasters’ forums why are the search query results of Overture so much different than those of Wordtracker? For example at the time of this writing a search query for the key phrase ‘internet marketing’ yielded 342, 848 searches for the last 60 days by Overture, and 2, 356 by Wordtracker. Now, which is more accurate?

Overture

It is a Pay Per Click Search Engine. According to Overture, its statistics of searches in previous months are compiled from its partners, which include AltaVista, Yahoo, MSN Search, HotBot and All the Web. So the statistics from Overture are broad based because it has a larger network.

Its data, though, has some drawbacks.

1. There's no distinction between...

a. Singular and plural terms.

You have to figure if surfers are searching for the singular or plural form of the keyword.

b. Upper and lower case.

c. Human queries and automated queries.

Queries by automated bid optimizers, position and ranking monitors, link popularity analyzers are registered as hits.

2. Duplicate Searches

For example a person doing a search for a particular key phrase in Yahoo, and then in MSN would be registered as 2 hits.

Wordtracker

It is a keyword generator and analyzer, and it does not have direct access to the major Search Engines' databases. Wordtracker gets a lot of its analyzer data from Meta-crawler and Dogpile, which are meta search engines. Metacrawler and Dogpile search the major Search Engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN Search and Ask Jeeves, and retrieve the best results.

The data of Wordtracker, mostly gathered from Metacrawler and Dogpile, represents only a small percentage of total searches on the Internet.

Wordtracker has about 350 million searches over an 8-week rolling cycle (Source: Search Engine Workshops Weblog, June 30, 2005). Now for some Maths. 350 million searches over 56 days would give an average of 6.25 million searches per day. Google with a share of 36 per cent of Internet traffic (Source: comScore qSearch, July 2005), registers about 112 million of searches per day (Source: Top Ten list, Wordtracker). So in comparison to total searches on the Internet, Wordtracker represents only 2 per cent.

When Wordtracker returns zero query for a particular search phrase, it does not mean that no one searches for it on the Internet.

However, with Wordtracker, automated queries are not added to searches, and duplicate searches are eliminated. Singular and plural, upper case and lower case search terms are distinguished except for keywords where singular, plural, lower or upper case, are similiar in meanings eg.'keyword' and 'keywords'.

Overture or Wordtracker?

For Overture the figures are inflated, whilst for Wordtracker they are under reported. Nonetheless, these are helpful tools for keyword research and selection. Use these figures as guides, and not absolutes to make comparisons in your choice of key words.

For example if keyword phrase 1 has 10,000 searches in Overture, and keyword phrase 2 has 2000 searches, then it is obvious that key phrase 1 would bring in more traffic if your web page is properly optimized. But don't expect 10,000 visitors with key phrase 1.

I have read on Webmasters' forums of people who had selected keywords based on the promising number of searches on Overture, optimized their web page, and achieved within the top 10 positions of major Search Engines, yet saw very little traffic.

In my opinion, if you are comparing popularity between keywords or key phrases, Overture will do the job. If you are selecting keywords or keyword phrases to start an online business, or advertising on Pay Per Click engines, conventional wisdom would tell you Wordtracker is a better bet. It is better to set lower expectations based on lower figures, and be pleasantly surprised when things turned out otherwise.

Using Keyword Analysis to find the Right Keywords

2008-07-18T07:40:00.001+07:00

You must do a keyword analysis in order to make sure you are choosing the right keywords for your website. A lot of companies make the mistake of creating their website using keywords they assume people would use to find their website. There is sometimes a difference in the keywords you would use in searching for your website and what your potential customers would use in searching for your website.

Beginning keyword analysis

You must first write down the obvious keywords. For this article, let's pretend we are writing for a photographer who does only pets, a pet photographer. The obvious keywords would be pet photography, pet photographer, photographer, Vancouver photographer, Vancouver pet photography.

Now let's look at some of the non obvious ones. Dog photographer, cat photographer etc. There are a few other such as: pet photos, pet pictures, animal photography, animal photos, animal pictures, animal pics, pet pics, pet pix, pet people, petpeople, dog grooming, dog pictures, cat pictures, bird pictures, dog photos, dog images, animal images, pet suites, dog photography, puppy photos, location photography and animal art.

Now that you have created this great list of possible keywords, I am sure you are asking, now what? We are going to see which keywords are searched for most often and which keywords have less competition. In Google "pet photography" came back with 24,900,000 results. This is a lot of results. The more results, the more competition, the harder you have to work to get a good placement.

Back to the basics.

Since we are a pet photographer and we are located in Vancouver, BC, Canada, we might need a results a little closer to home. I can only assume that people in Vancouver looking for a pet photographer would look for one in Vancouver. Thus, using the term Vancouver Pet Photography. The term Vancouver pet photography in Google, returned 1,870,000 results, which makes Vancouver Pet photography a better keyword with less competition. Now let's look at: Vancouver pet photographer this keyword yielded 3,360,000 which is 3 x times more that the last keyword we analyzed. I am sure this gives you an idea of how we make sure we have al list of all the keywords that a potential client might use to find your website.

Now that you have gone through every keyword and got to see how much competition there is for that keyword it gives you a better idea on which keywords to use. Now a quick tip. Optimize each page with only one or two keywords. Do this to your entire website and make sure you have a really good navigation system on your website so, that if your potential client searches for dog photos and ended up entering your website at 5 pages in, he is still able to find what he is looking for because you have a great navigation system or sitemap that will lead him to the right page. Also, for more competitive keywords you would have to create more pages for that one keyword.

Alicia Harper is the owner of Be Seen Web Design located in Vancouver, BC. They are a website design and development firm which specializes in small and home based businesses.

They offer website design, re-design , hosting, image optimization, search engine optimization, and internet marketing.

Effective Web Sites with Keyword Rich Web Content

2008-07-16T08:07:00.000+07:00

Writing for the Internet is a huge challenge. And this is the main reason why many companies have a separate section for web content writing services or have opted to hire web content writing services in India on a permanent basis to write for their sites. Web site articles and contents need to be changed or revised at least every week. If you're wondering if that's exaggerating it a bit too much, let me assure you, unless new information or updates are posted on the web sites every week, even every day, browsers will not be tempted to come back. It's similar to a shop window display. And every new revision means new articles.
And nobody will be interested in reading articles that are dull. And in the long run this can affect you adversely. Another important aspect of web content writing is accuracy. If the information on the web site is false or inaccurate, it can lead to people being misled, which will not do much good for your business. So, the first step to effective web content writing services is a thorough understanding of the goals of your web site or your organization.

In addition, the content should always be clear and easily understandable to the layman. So, try and avoid fancy language. And last but not the least, the web site should be easily and quickly available to a person browsing. Most internet users, unless they know which web site they're looking for use search engines to locate web sites on a particular area of interest. A well-written web site home page with keyword rich website content will certainly perform better with search engines than otherwise, where search engine optimization is treated as an afterthought. Search engine optimization of a web site is a mixture of marketing and technology with keyword rich web content, i.e. content that specifically focus on your chosen keywords.

And the web content writing services of India can provide you with such interesting key word rich web site content. When you outsource web content writing services of India, they'll make sure that your website is visible in all the major search engines, and ranked somewhere in the top. And all that you'll need to do is to provide them with the keywords you're targeting, and they'll write enlightening, keyword rich content articles for your web site that'll attract customers and make sure that you're web site is somewhere in the top position of the search results.

RNCOS, a leading name in web content writing, publishes a wide range of articles on various topics: finance, business, travel, dating, and many more. To order any of these, or to get such articles written by us, please contact us at http://www.rncos.com/contactus.htm.

Keyword Research Guide -- How and Why!

2008-07-14T07:34:00.000+07:00

Keyword marketing-the importance..

In the Field of SEO-Search engine optimization choosing keywords is one of the most important tasks. You should choose keyword wisely. Choosing keyword is not a guessing Game but it is an art.

Why to choose keywords?

As you probably aware of search engine traffic. Search engine traffic is very very important for success of any website. It is estimated that approximately 65 to 85% of traffic (average) coming from search engine (however is depends on how you promote your website).search engine is only way to create highly targeted traffic. You can improve visitor to sales ratio of your website if you successfully receive traffic from search engine. Or improve your revenue by attracting more visitors.

If you are selling Music CDs online. If your website is on top for key Phrase like "Music CD" on all Major search engines then just think how many people will search for Music CD in a day?? I think lots of. Now. This is the way you are getting visitor searching for Music CDs. However there will be lots of search in a day for term CD like

[1] Software CDs

[2] E-Book CDs

[3] Video CDs

[4] Game CDs etc...

But traffic coming form these terms is Meaningless for you to create sales. So your page should be relevant only for Key phrases like music CDs, audio CDs etc . so it will be better to choose Keywords related to your business rather than selecting randomly or blindly. I hope you will now able to understand importance of choosing better keywords

How to choose keywords?

There are lots of tools for choosing better Keywords like Nichebot, overture keyword suggestion tool, Wordtracker etc...First decide "what is your target market?" and then use these tools. Example you are selling E-books related to website design. Than you should first research how many people every day search for 'Web Design E-books" go to Nichebot.com for that and simply search Web Design E-books. Nichebot will provide you count of last 60 days for this Key Phrase. We can see that Count for this key phrase is.....Or Go to Wordtracker.com site and search for this keyword Phrase and you will see related information on specific key phrase and you will be able to get information related to this keyword. Phrase.

They will provide you all related keywords

Example: For "Directory submission" you will see following related or nearly related Keywords. (This can also help to receive ONLY targeted traffic...)

Related term-count(average search in two month)

Directory submission-3978

Search engine directory submission-679

Search engine submission software directory-266

directory internet submission-163

directory website submission-159

directory engine search submission-133

directory submission services-129

Follow this Url to know more>> http://www.nichebot.com/kd/?term=directory+submission

you can follow one of the following tool for keyword research.

[1] wordtracker.com

[2] Nichebot.com

[3] inventory.overture.com/

Here is a list of top free Keyword research tools. visit it.>> http://www.seo-resources.inetzeal.com/top-free-seo-tools.htm the list include keyword suggestion tools,keyword analyzer tools,keyword density checker tools and lot more..

Now you have to decide which Keyword is less competitive for your website and you can easily reach on top. Based on that you should place these Keywords on your site..

Where and How to place these Keywords?

You are now familiar with keyword/key phrases. Now Question is 'where to Put these keywords?" here are some places where you can place these keywords

[1] Meta tags

[2] Title Tags

[3] Through out the Description on the page

Meta tags:-

Meta tags are invisible for Visitor and as you might know search engines like Yahoo, Google, MSN are Not providing weight to them to rank your page. But still you can place your keywords in Meta title, keywords and description section.

Title Tags:-

This is very important place where you should place your keyword for better ranking in search engine. The main Keywords must be here for which you are optimizing your site. Try to include its synonyms Key phrases / keywords also to receive traffic of related keywords. Example you can create your title like this way

Buy Music CDs online: The shop for buying audio CDs online

You are including your two targeted keywords here.

Description:

After title tags this is also one of the most important section where you can place your keywords. But don't go over bound .density of keywords/ phrases should be 7-10%. Otherwise search engines will consider it as keyword stuffing and your rank will go down rather than improving

Other places where you can place these keywords:

Images: -

you can choose name of images like music_cds.gif audio_cds.jpg etc rather than 0545.gif and image.jpg! This will improve relevancy of your page for related keyword

Name of domain, Sub directory and sub domain:-

Before you choose any domain name, directory or sub directory you should consider your keywords/ key phrases and also choose them according to your target market.

Example:

Just look at my site. I selected sub domain for my site like http://directory-submission.inetzeal.com/ and http://link-building.inetzeal.com/ for targeting my keywords. Now see source code of Page http://directory-submission.inetzeal.com/ you will find that to improve relevancy of my page related to keywords I also kept name of my logo like this directory_submission_and_link_building.png .then I placed title like Directory submission service. And placed this keyword phrase in whole description.now my page is relevant for keyword phrase "directory submission", "directory submission service". Or 'web directory submission" etc...

I have chosen every sub domain according to this to improve relevancy for specific keywords

I strongly recommend you to choose your sub domain or sub directory wisely. if you are creating just a page then you can select like this ../directory-submission.html because search engines text matching will match this keyword and will rank your site on top with your competitor

So, like this article? It took two days to write. Any feed back good or bad are always appreciated. You can contact me at http://inetzeal.com/contact_us.htm

7 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Doing Keyword Research Mistake Number Two

2008-07-12T07:25:00.001+07:00

This lesson often comes as a surprise to many readers.

Mistake Number Two: Not taking advantage of correctly targeted keywords.

"You Simply Must Have Massive Lists of Well-Targeted Keywords!"

Question: In the headline above, which word is more important to your online success, "massive" or "targeted"? (Answer later in the article).

There's an old axiom that every offline sales professional has probably heard more than once. It goes something like:

"If you throw enough pasta against the refrigerator door, some of it's going to stick".

That's the way to begin the quest for your keyword lists. Get enough of them, learn to use them effectively and you'll find some that work. You'll find that others do not work so well for you.

And then you'll occasionally stumble across what seems to be the next Holy Grail; a keyword that is both relatively inexpensive (if you're paying for that keyword through Google AdWords or another pay per click marketing campaign (PPC) - more about this in the 5th article in this series) and extremely effective in its ability to draw massive amounts of traffic that result in tons of sales.

Yessir, the thought of that type of keyword makes me smile. Heck, it makes me drool. I love finding those diamond-in-the-rough keywords that my competitors don't even have a clue about, much less use!

However, before you run off to your favorite keyword tool(s) (and I believe that you need to use more than one. Actually I use 7 tools for my really extensive keyword research - but that's coming up in the next article), stop for a minute and take a few moments to digest the next paragraph.

Massive keyword lists are your goal but you what you really want is the traffic that these keyword lists will ultimately generate.

You want these keywords and the corresponding traffic to be:

1) Well targeted - you don't just want traffic no matter what anyone has told you in the past. You want traffic that's interested in what you're offering. You want the real potential customers to visit your website with their checkbook or credit card, ready to make that purchase. You're not after the tire thumpers.

2) Passionate enough about whatever you're offering (and affluent enough to be able to purchase it) to the point that price is not the deciding factor in consummating the sales process.

In order to accomplish those goals, you need to generate massive keyword lists. Then you need to learn how to manage these lists even further, depending on exactly the type of online sales you're doing.

If you are attempting to optimize your website, be it a brand-new website or 10 years old, you'll be performing what's called search engine optimization (SEO) on your site. You'll learn more about this on Day 6 of this series of articles.

But if you're just salivating to get started using keyword research with your SEO activities, I can think of no better place to start than with a subscription to PlanetOcean.com. (Please see the active link for Planet Ocean in the Resources Box at the end of this article).

The folks at PlanetOcean are among the best SEO strategists around. Their eBook called "The Unfair Advantage to Winning the Search Engine Wars" (which comes with your subscription) takes you from "complete SEO newbie" all the way to the level of the pros.

The book and the website are updated monthly to assure you that their highly respected advice on optimizing your site (for the dozen or so top and second tier search engines, no less) is current and up-to-date.

If you're trying to find great SEO advice believe me, you will like and benefit from these folks. And they have a great, 365 day, "even if the dog ate it" guarantee. You simply cannot go wrong by checking them out.

Now if you are doing PPC campaigns with Google AdWords (or Yahoo which used to be Overture) that's a horse of a different color. You need to generate massive keyword lists as well. However, you will want to employ and manage your keyword lists in a much different manner than the folks looking to employ SEO to achieve great "organic" search results will.

Heck, you're paying for your keywords and the traffic they generate. You need to learn the basics from an expert in order to make money with the keywords that you are going to generate.

The man who is simply THE AdWords Guru, IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion), is my associate Perry Marshall. Perry is the author of

"The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords". If you're an AdWords wannabe, you absolutely, positively want Perry's eBook (HINT: Your competitors probably already have their copies!).

And if you're an intermediate AdWords user (a semi-pro, so to speak) and you haven't read Perry's book, you need to. And if you have read it, you want to read it again with the version that's just been updated (for Autumn 2005) to bring yourself up to speed. Click the link in the Resources Box at the end of the article for more information or to order this Great AdWords eBook.

OK, that's enough for today.

Oops, I almost forgot the answer to the question I posed at the beginning of the article.

ANSWER: IMHO, both words are important but if I had to choose only one of them as THE most important, I'll take "targeted" over "massive" when it comes to traffic any day of the week, especially if it's in a PPC campaign where I'm directly paying for that traffic. But in reality, I want them both! (I'm a firm believer in the quote "Be happy with what you have, so make sure you get enough!")

Again, though, that's just IMNSHO. ;-)

Keyword Elite - How To Wipe Out Your Competition With Research On Steroids

2008-07-10T19:30:00.001+07:00

Keyword Elite is a new software program that can help you achieve top search engine ranking, thanks to its innovative keyword capturing features.

As all webmaster know, achieving a top search engine ranking depends upon the usage of keywords and search engine optimized content. By using Keyword Elite you can now achieve the best ranking possible and outwit your competition in the process.

Created by internet guru Brad Callen, Keyword Elite ( http://www.key-word-elite.com/ ), described as a new pay per click analysis tool, is the latest in keyword capturing software, but that's not all. Keyword Elite is packed full of projects that will help to boost sales, traffic, and website ranking. Best of all though, is the fact that using Keyword Elite will save you time and money and help you to spy on your competitors.

This amazing software will help you to discover the secrets to getting the search engines to index and rank your website in the shortest of time and will also show you how proper website formatting can dramatically increase your traffic which in turn will also boost your ranking.

By using Keyword Elite you can compile keyword lists which will help you to further optimize your website, increase your traffic and best of all make your website receives the best search engine ranking possible. All these amazing features are available in one package and with the inside information and tips you receive not only will you rank top, you will also boost your sales, increase your profit margins, and make your website the best it can possibly be.

If your website is struggling to rank well and you can't understand why, they maybe you should consider purchasing Keyword Elite. By using just one of your keywords you can discover just how easy it is to rank well and make your website campaign succeed.

John Ducharne is always excited to test new products to increase his profits. Keyword Elite(http://www.netproductreviews.com/keyword-elite-review/) is one of the product he reviews. Check out the Keyword Elite review (http://www.netproductreviews.com/keyword-elite-review/)for more information.

Designing a quality information site requires quality keyword research

2008-07-08T19:22:00.000+07:00

It's impossible to ignore the importance of keyword research in the design stages of your website. A quality information site must cover the information that people want to read, and for that, you need to know what they type in at the search engines.
The main pages of your website should offer information covering the main topics of your chosen niche. You can always add more articles to cover the less requested information later, and link to these from existing pages and the sitemap.

It is standard practise to create a menu that appears on all pages of a site, with this menu linking to the main page. For that reason, you need to narrow your list of "main page" phrases down to 6 - 10. Too many phrases and your site starts to look spammy.

Fortunately, deciding on which keywords encompass the entire niche is relatively easy if you have done your keyword research.

Let's take an example.

I went to Wordtracker and researched "blood pressure". My research found 1401 phrases related to blood pressure.

I imported my results into Keyword Results Analyzer (from http://keywordresearchlab.com) so I could find the best phrases for my main pages. To do this, I simply ordered the phrases by Count, with the highest values first. Here are the top few entries:

high blood pressure
blood pressure
low blood pressure
blood pressure monitor
normal blood pressure
lower blood pressure
blood pressure monitors
Normal Blood Pressure
High Blood Pressure
high blood pressure symptoms
blood pressure chart
Low Blood Pressure
digital blood pressure monitors
blood pressure cuff
blood pressure medication
blood pressure log

The next stage is to go through this list and remove any phrases that are very similar (or mean the same thing) as a preceding phrase. Here is my revised list, which I have reordered into a more logic order:

high blood pressure
low blood pressure
normal blood pressure
lower blood pressure
blood pressure monitor
high blood pressure symptoms
blood pressure chart
blood pressure medication
blood pressure log

That's 9 of the most searched for phrases on blood pressure which pretty much encompass what people are actually looking for. These phrases are a great basis for the main pages of my site.

For each of these main pages, I would use the main phrase, plus several other highly related words or phrases to build the theme of my page.

Finding the secondary phrases to use is relatively easy too.

Let's look at an example.

"lower blood pressure" is a main page phrase. If I filter all phrases that contain the word "lower" (I can ignore the keywords blood and pressure since all of my phrases are related to that already).

Keyword Results Analyzer (KRA) gives me a list of 81 related phrases. If I reduce that to the top 20 (the most popular search terms), I get:

lower blood pressure
lower high blood pressure
lowering blood pressure
lower cholesterol blood pressure naturally
how to lower blood pressure
lower blood pressure naturally
natural ways to lower blood pressure
lowering your blood pressure
foods that lower blood pressure
ways to lower blood pressure
herbs lower blood pressure
lowering high blood pressure
natural way to lower high blood pressure
ASCOT trial blood pressure lowering arm
lower your blood pressure
home remedies to lower blood pressure
foods to lower blood pressure
how to lower blood pressure naturally
lower high blood pressure naturally
diet to lower blood pressure

KRA also gives me a list of unique words that make up these phrases. Here they are:

Unique Keywords:

arm
ASCOT
blood
cholesterol
diet
foods
herbs
high
home
how
lower
lowering
natural
naturally
pressure
remedies
trial
way
ways

A page that includes most of these words on the page, plus the main phrase "lower blood pressure" would certainly be seen as a themed page about lowering blood pressure by the engines, since the page would contain all of the words most commonly found in keyword searches about that topic.

We can even use our keyword research to help us find a title or meta description tag for our page. Find all of the phrases that are questions, and use one of those! What better title than one used by a searcher who is looking for answers?

In KRA, this filtering is easy, and here are the options I have.

how to lower blood pressure
how to lower high blood pressure
how to lower blood pressure naturally
how to lower blood pressure - resperate
how to lower blood pressure without medication
what's the fastest way to lower blood pressure
how to lower blood pressure fast
how to lower blood pressure and cholesterol naturally

One final example on finding secondary keywords to theme your page. Look at this main phrase:

"high blood pressure symptoms"

If we remove the blood pressure part of this phrase, we are left with "high symptoms". Obviously we cannot just search our keywords for "high symptoms" as most phrases will not contain those words as an exact phrase in that order. We need to search for phrases that contain "high" AND "symptoms". KRA makes this easy. Here are the secondary phrases I could use:

high blood pressure symptoms
symptoms of high blood pressure
symptoms high blood pressure
medical symptoms for high blood pressure
what are the symptoms of high blood pressure
high blood pressure headaches symptoms
high blood pressure+symptoms
high blood pressure symptoms and side effects
what is symptoms of high blood pressure
signs and symptoms of high blood pressure
physical symptoms of high blood pressure
high blood pressure symptoms of
signs symptoms of high blood pressure
high blood pressure symptoms and cures
symptoms of high blood pressure in pregnancy

and the uniques that make up those phrases:

And the title?

What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
What is symptoms of high blood pressure?

Good site design relies on good keyword research, and using the right tools to manipulate those keywords.

Have fun!

About The Author:

You can get a free Wordtracker Tutorial showing how the author carries out his own keyword research just by subscribing to his free weekly newsletter (http://ezseonews.com/ezseo).

Mother's Day Search Keyword Bids Surge: Advertisers Ante Up for Flowers Keywords

2008-07-06T20:17:00.001+07:00

San Francisco, May 12, 2006. Retailers looking to capture consumer purchases online for dear Mom bid anywhere from $0.25 to $3.50 per click for keywords this week, according to search engine marketer Fathom Online. Clearly, florists anticipated a big return on investment from online searchers as keyword prices escalated in the run up to Mothers Day. Online flower rose 67 percent since the end of the first quarter of 2006; keyword flower increased 29 percent and free greeting card 18 percent.
The tracking by the Fathom Online Keyword Price Index found there were some bargains for astute advertisers who rely on keywords to attract sales. Electronics retailers could capitalize on keyword pda down 62 percent since Q1 ended and the keyword for traditional gift card dropped 20 percent.

Increasing keyword bids reflect the retailing bonanza in the lead up to Mothers Day says Dean DeBiase, CEO Fathom Online. But the market is still maturing and with refined data collection and tracking, we identify ample opportunities for our clients to achieve profitable growth.

Fathom Online tracks keyword bids through its Triton data collection, aggregation and reporting platform. Evaluated on select search engines, keyword averages are reliable indicators for media buyers, but are not to be considered proxies for the financial state of the search industry.

Fathom Online periodically publishes search marketing data on its website, www.fathomonline.com, and will from time to time track and publish keyword prices associated with events and holidays of interest. Fathom search marketing clients have access to the complete data set including both the category data and the raw data.

SEO Keyword Tips

2008-07-05T19:13:00.001+07:00

I love writing, and have been optimizing sites for a long time. I've decided to give back to the internet marketing community with some general tips that have been extremely beneficial to me and the foundation of my internet marketing strategy. Keywords are the brains of search engine optimization, here are some general beginner level tips that if utilized correctly can boost your SERPS immediately.

Goodkeywords search tool is probably the best free SEO software on the market. This handy software compiles data from overture and gives monthly counts on popular search words and phrases. In example: if you type in the search word "Magazine Subscriptions" it would tell us the exact count on how many times that keyword phrase was typed in. It also provides a long list of similar search phrases that can be useful throughout your site. Again we use the "Magazine Subscriptions" example: search words like: Discount Magazine Subscriptions or Discount Magazines would be complementary words you can use as well. (Editors Tip: Go after keywords you can actually compete for, don't waste your time competing against million dollar corporations and their endless marketing budgets, target keywords with medium level competition, this way you'll actually sniff the top 20 of Google's extremely populated engine)

If you're lacking hard drive space go straight to the source itself. Overture.com offers an amazing keyword tool. In their marketing resource center, click the link to the "Overture Keyword Selector Tool" this does the same thing Good Keywords does, just a little less slowly and a more modest GUI. (Editors Tip: It is a good idea to target at least 3 keyword or keyword phrases per page. A primary, 2ndary, and supplemental keyword/phrases spread nicely throughout your site with keyword rich text will do wonders for your search engine results)

It has become common knowledge that hidden text does nothing to increase your page rank, or page result score. Why people still try such tricks beats me. Try some other effective 'keyword' and completely Google-legal methods to exploit their algorithms: Add keyword rich text in alt tags, (for example: finish all images with the alt="online magazine subscription graphic" in link title tags (IE: finish links with the title="magazine subscription cheap"), in at least 1 or tag. Keep note of your keyword density, to much of anything is a bad thing. We don't want Google spiders viewing you as spam. For a good rule of thumb, keep Keyword Density between 3-15%. (Editors Tip: You can even use keywords to title your directories. Enter your primary keyword in an tag, a 2ndary keyword in tag, and your supplemental keyword in an tag. Make sure all headers are on the top half of the page.

About The Author:

For a good example of these methods being practiced look at http://www.magazine-subscription-cheap.com

Keyword Advice - on keyword research and identification, keyword placement, keyword density and keyword ranking and keyword marketing.

2008-07-03T07:02:00.000+07:00

Keyword Identification is one of the most important part in a SEO process. Keywords are the doors and windows for search engine traffic. Surfers and information seekers through out the world use internet via keyword to find information on any products or services. These set of keyword phrases are vital for your search engine placement.
Keyword Identification is the first step while creating your content for your site. Identify keyword related to your niche topics should be the first priority while creating web content. The quality of these keywords is critical for a good ranking in search engines. Researching the right keywords for your website should be the key, so that when people perform a search for a particular keyword phrase they will be able to find your site. So how do you do that will be the questions in everybody's mind. I have categories this article into 3 phrases like keyword research or keyword identification, keyword selection, keyword placement, keyword density, keyword ranking and keyword marketing.

Before I would go further I would like to discuss about building your website for your business you should focus on certain other SEO strategies like clean navigation, a search engine friendly website architecture so that search engine spiders or robots can easily gather information from your website.

Once your site structure is done it is time to create the content for the site, which is the crucial part and where they keyword research, keyword density comes into play. If you follow these steps which I have mentioned below it is sure that your website can enjoy a higher ranking in search engines.

Step 1
Keyword Identification or keyword research:- This should be first step while building your content, because your content will be build around with the keyword and phrases which has been identified at this stage. Which is very critical and if not done correctly you won't achieve the desired results. There are different ways to identify how people search on the web.
1) Think about what keyword would you chooses while you search for certain products or services. Think from the customer point of view and not from search engine or SEO point of view. Collect and write it down. I suggest using a spreadsheet so that it will help you in the stages as well.
2) The other way is you can ask your own customers or friends that how do they search on the net to find that particular products or services. Usually all people think differently and might not use the same keyword phrase to find that product or services. Collect them and store it.
3) Keyword suggestion tools. There are 100's of tools on the web some of them are free and other charge a fee. I suggest using Overture keyword tool and Google keyword tool (free) and wordtracker (paid). Type in your keyword and phrases into these tools you will find 100's of keywords for that particular products or services is been search on the web every month. Also it will show how many times that words are been searched on the internet. Tools like wordtracker will help you to find that how many times these keywords are been searched and how much competition is there for that particular keyword phrases. If you focus on high searched keyword it would be hard for your website to rank well because of competition. So always choose a keywords that is less competitive, so that you website will rank well for that particular keyword phrase on the search engine results.
4) The other way is if you have already had a website online check its web log and gather that keywords which helps people to find your site. This will help for existing website to recreate the content.

After these steps are done use your spreadsheet to determine the keywords It is ideal to have more keywords rather than focusing on a few words. In that spreadsheet matches the following keyword in terms like how many times the keywords are searched and how much competition is that keyword facing on the web. As I said before always choose less competitive keywords. Once these stage is over start constructing your website content with the identified keywords.

Step 2 Keyword placement:-
Placing the keyword is very crucial, because if the keywords are not place properly the search engine spiders will have a difficult time in identify and storing information from your web pages. You most important keyword should appear on the title of the page at least once which all search engine given relevancy. Next the same or related keyword should be there on the heading of the page. Also use a related keyword while starting a paragraph and through out the web page evenly. The density factor is discussed below.

Step 2
Keyword density:- Search engine robots are very intelligent spiders they can determine while some tries to cheat them. Some webmasters and SEO experts use keyword spamming or keyword dumping which is ethical for a good search engine optimization. If search engine spiders indexes a web pages it determine who much times that keywords has been used on a particular web page. So Keyword density is important. An ideal density would be anything between 10-15 % keyword densities on the page. Also use keywords which are related to that phrase so that it gets relevancy for that web page.
For example When I search for a keyword "dog supplies" I found 100 of related terms which like "dog supplies online" "dog supply store" etc so think and figure out keywords which are more related to that topic. Also Sprinkle the keywords phrases right across the web page and not concentrate at a certain place.

At this stage you website content should be ready keep in mind with the 3 top priority factors. This will determine your website success or failure in search engine. The next stage is keyword marketing.

Keyword marketing:- Some of the techniques you will use as a off site factor rather than on the side, because it affects only the marketing process. As you all know all search engines give links more relevancies in the algorithm. So after your keyword identification, density and placement are over you should focus on marketing your site. Like site submission, article submission, link popularity while all these techniques are for increasing inbound links to your site. So you would be using your anchor text for creating a link pointing to your site. So here is where keyword marketing comes to play. You should use your key important phrase in these anchor text also mix up your related keywords. Keyword marketing is also vital for Pay per click marketing where keyword is the king. So gather keywords related to your business and use it widely in your PPC campaign. Pay per click industry is solely depends on keyword marketing. If you website want the maximum ROI (return of Investment) you will have to apply the maximum keywords while bidding your keywords. For example your website visibility will increase if you choose maximum keyword for your Pay per click marketing.

The bottom-line is to gain a high ranking in search engine use keyword which is related to your business on your onsite and offsite website marketing. Keyword is the king when it comes to content and content is the king when it comes to Search Engine Marketing.

Thomson Chemmanoor is a webmaster and a search engine optimization expert who operates the following websites http://www.website-promotion-expert.com http://www.digitallabz.com and http://www.articlenetworks.com.

10 Things I Learned About Marketing This Week

2008-07-02T08:36:00.000+07:00

1. My grocery store now has a checkout stand immediately inside the front door and beside it is a cooler with milk, orange juice, butter, coffee, bread and the things you'd run into a convenience store for.

MARKETING TIP: Right at the top of your website have a link to your email or your ezine, and some items they can buy immediately with a PayPal link, like a lasar coaching session, or a mini-course.

2. At the grocery, I passed a display with free cooked hamburger samples. If you bought the bag of frozen hamburger patties they said they'd give you 5 items FREE. Those 5 items were right there and would compose a small meal -- diet coke, avocado slices, and (all their brand) -- a bottle of catsup, a bag of buns and a small bag of chips.

MARKETING TIP: Do this for your web visitor, i.e., Sign up for one month's coaching and I'll give you 3 items free: an emotional intelligence assessment, my eCourse on Optimism, and my eBook on Resilience. Click and pay.

3. When I tasted the sample of the hamburger, it was awful. The young woman who handed it to me saw my reaction and said, "I know, it's not good. We cooked it too long in the microwave, that's why. It got dried out."

And there she was standing in front of her microwave which was in front of a bin of hundreds of the frozen patties.

MARKETING TIP: What was she thinking?

4. Today is June 13th. I have a son who's a wonderful father. The 15th is Father's Day, but also the birthday of his daughter, so Father's Day slipped my mind.

This evening I received an email offering me last minute gifts for Father's Day.

MARKETING TIP: Anticipate your consumer's needs, meet them, and make it easy for them to spend their money with you.

5. Today I received a post card from a dentist saying "Since purchasing Dr. Feelgood's practice last year I have not had the pleasure of meeting you."
It went on to offer me an exam and 3 xrays free if I'd come on in.

MARKETING TIP: Keep after possible consumers in a tasteful way.

6. Last week my realtor came over to talk about my house which is on the market. He said, "You got new carpeting, a new roof, it's spotless, it shows well, everything's repaired, best school district, new landscaping ... What else can we do to make it sell?"

COACHING TIP: When a painful conclusion must be drawn (lower the price), set it up so the customer draws that conclusion.

7. I threw out the box my new cell phone came in and then found out I needed that bar code for the $50 rebate. I called the phone manufacturer and they said there was nothing they could do about it. No bar code, no rebate. I said "Then I don't want this phone. Where the address I can mail it to?" She said "Okay, how about if I deduct $50 off your first phone bill?"

MARKETING TIP: She was thinking right.

8. Last week I had a computer problem I needed fixed immediately and it was 10 pm. I emailed computer/web coach Nancy Fenn, and she wrote back, "Call Unbelievable Computer Guy Erol, 1-555-HELP-4U2. He'll fix it from California right away. It's only 8 pm here and emergencies are what he's here for."

MARKETING & COACHING TIPS: (1) If you're a coach, give service and have resources for your clients. (2) If you offer a service be available 24/7. And, (3) Know the name of an Unbelievable Computer Guy who knows how to get inside your computer LD and fix things. They can't do it without your coding them in, and it sure beats waiting for someone to come to the house or carry the computer somewhere. (Like that's an option at 10 p.m.)

9. I visited my physician this week and we got to talking about multicultural, different practices, generations, etc. She said, "Sometimes someone comes in here and I think -- 'What is this? Is this a social call?' " She also mentioned she was going to pay a home visit to an elderly client whose sons weren't taking good enough care of her, "even though they tell me not to do anything I can't bill for." She then took some of my coaching cards and brochures for her clients who needed coaching and wellness support.

MARKETING TIPS: (1) If you really care about your clients, do what it takes. It isn't all about money. (2) Sometimes it is "just" a social call that heals, in medicine, in coaching, in life; and how deals are forged. (3) If you're a coach, contact physicians and psychiatrists and let them know what you have to offer their patients that they can't or won't.

10. Went with my 80 y.o. friend to the root canal specialist to see if her problem tooth was root canal or periodontal. She passed the root canal test. I asked the receptionist as we left, "So what if it's gum disease? What happens?" "They cure it," she said.

COACHING TIP: That's what they call "anodyne (serving to assuage pain; not likely to offend or arouse tensions) therapy." When we go to the periodontist, I betcha my friend's tooth will be okay because she now "knows" they can heal it. Remember the healing power of positive thinking!

About the Author
Susan Dunn, Internet Marketing Specialist, http;//www.webstrategies.cc. Web strategies, consultation, implementation, article-writing service, web design and critique. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for free ezine, put "Checklist" for subject line.

10 Tips For Starting Your Internet marketing

2008-07-01T08:34:00.001+07:00

1. Find a strategic business partner. Look for one
that have the same objective. You can trade leads,
share marketing info, sell package deals, etc.
Stone Evans Plug-in Profit Sites is perfect for
the beginner-marketer

2. Brand your name and business. You can easily
do this by just writing articles and submitting them
to e-zines or web sites for republishing.

3. Start marketing your web site. The type of
marketing action your site needs is first of all
to rewrite the meta tags and add your own keywords.
You'll draw traffic from searchengines.

4. Remember to take a little time out of your day
or week to brainstorm. New ideas are usually the
difference between success and failure.

5. Model other successful businesses or people.
I'm not telling you to right out copy them,
but practice some of the same habits that have
made them succeed.

6. Take risks to improve your business. Sometimes
people don't want to advertise unless it's free,
sometimes you have to spend money to get results.

7. Include emotional words in your advertisements.
Use ones like love, security, relief, freedom, happy,
satisfaction, fun, etc.

8. Ask people online to review your web site. You
can use the comments you get to improve your web
site or you may turn the reviewer into a customer.
And you will get a lot of help and advice from
the forum that you automatcally become member of.

9. make sure your website title, description and
keywords are relevant to the content of your site.
Google don't pay attention to the meta tags but
there are more search engines out there

10. The "Guru's recommend to Combine a product and
service together in a package deal. It could
increase your sales.
Once you got the Plug-in profit Site, you follow
this recommendation.

About the Author
Gunnar Berglund
has been a "internet- hardworker"
for the last five years
He publishes The meonit Gazette
http://gazette.meonit.com

And a proud Plug-in Profit Site
member since 2003
http://www.multi-income.com

12-month 2005 Marketing Calendar That Boost Sales

2008-06-30T20:31:00.000+07:00

The following is my 12-month promotional marketing calendar. Keep it handy, as you'll need to refer to it throughout the coming year when forecasting your promotional messages. By no means is this list exhaustive. In fact, you should add to it based on your industry-related activities. There are many holidays throughout the year that may be a natural tie-in with your product or service, such as National Book Week in January, if you're an author or editorial-related service or American Heart Month in February, if you sell health-related services or products.

My calendar list focuses on the major holidays when most Americans have been trained to spend extra money or participate in a ceremonial activity. Generally speaking, you want to link your marketing promotions to a time of year when customers have their wallets out. Thus, you're simply positioning your product or service as the perfect gift or solution for the celebrated event.

Be Prepared
You can never be too early in preparing your marketing campaigns. For example, in order for the typical small business owner to prepare for a Valentine's Day direct mail campaign, you'll need to get most of your materials printed and ready to go by the third week in January and in the mailstream by the last week in January, certainly no later than the first week in February. I recommend you plan two months in advance. Thus, you should start planning your Mother's Day campaign in early March. Obviously, the more involved the campaign, the more lead time. What's more, some advertising vehicles have extensive lead times, specifically magazines that need your camera-ready ad approximately 6 weeks [possibly more or less] before publication, and newspaper inserts also require a reservation approximately 6-8 weeks before publication.

Unique Angle
Your promotional angle is the key to standing out from your competition. People are going to buy gifts at Christmas, without a doubt. But what makes your service or product so interesting, that shoppers should hand over their money to you instead of the myriad of other stores? Find a creative answer, and you'll grow your business.

JANUARY
- New Year's Day, and the proceeding two weeks -- Launch your marketing messages the last week of December.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day -- Although not a big gift-giving time, this is a great time to spread a non- profit message.

FEBRUARY
- Valentine's Day -- Launch your marketing messages the last week in January. **Popular Gift- giving Time**
- President's Day

MARCH
- St. Patrick's Day

APRIL
- April Fools Day
- Daylight Savings Begins
- Easter **Popular Gift-giving Time**
- Secretaries Days **Popular Gift-giving Time**

MAY
- Mother's Day -- Launch your marketing messages approximately 3 weeks before. **Popular Gift-giving Time**
- Memorial Day

JUNE
- Father's Day **Popular Gift-giving Time** Launch your marketing messages approximately 3 weeks before.
- Graduation **Popular Gift-giving Time** Launch your marketing messages approximately 3 weeks before.

JULY
- Independence Day
- Back to School -- Although not a holiday, it's certainly a popular time to find wallets open and increased spending, particularly by moms and teenagers.

AUGUST
- Dog days of summer
- Back to School continued

SEPTEMBER
- Back to School -- Marketing messages can continue through the first week of September.
- Labor Day
- Grandparent's Day

OCTOBER
- Columbus Day
- Halloween **Popular Gift-giving Time**
- Holiday preparation should be 1/4 completed, seriously. Launch your first holiday message immediately after Halloween. This message will generally go to your current customer base, offering them an exclusive early-bird holiday special to expire in early November.
- Daylight Savings Ends

NOVEMBER
- Thanksgiving **Popular Gift-giving Time**
- Your Holiday advertising is in full swing
- Election Day
- Veteran's Day

DECEMBER
- Christmas Day **Popular Gift-giving Time**
- Hanukkah **Popular Gift-giving Time**
- New Year's Eve -- Launch New Year's message late the second week in December.

About the Author: Sharron Senter is a New-England based marketing consultant, speaker, writer and founder of Senter & Associates, a marketing communications firm that helps small businesses deploy low-cost online and offline marketing tactics. Senter is well known for her free monthly emailed marketing tips found at http://www.sharronsenter.com

You May Be Marketing Your Company Right Out of Business!

2008-06-30T08:28:00.000+07:00

How many times have you thought "We need more customers!"

If you find that you often feel that your company needs more customers, then consider this...

There is a common belief held by most business owners, managers, and sales teams that all of their business problems would be solved if they could just figure out the secret to "finding and getting more customers."

And, that is their biggest mistake!

The never-ending search for more customers requires an abundance of people, time, and money... resources which are usually in short supply in most companies. In such an environment, the effort put forth to "find" customers is actually depleting the business of its energy, creativity, and enthusiasm...commodities required to serve these customers in a satisfying way. And, since dissatisfied customers do not return, the business must keep finding more customers to replace those they have lost.

So, with each repetition of the cycle, the company has less and less ability to provide the level of service that would satisfy the types of customers it originally intended to serve. So, the number of complaints the business receives continues to increase...and eventually, the complaints outweigh the compliments. The word spreads throughout the community. It becomes harder to find customers to serve. Debts then exceed profits. The business fails.

Conversely, those 15% that succeed have structured their company in a way that "attracts" only perfect customers and clients.

Companies must replace the thought "We need more customers" with the conviction that "We now attract only perfect customers."

What's the difference?

It's the difference between a successful business and one that struggles to survive. It's the difference between a profitable business and one that pinches pennies. It's the difference between a thriving business and one that is hanging on by a thread.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR CUSTOMERS TO SERVE, YOU'LL FIND "CUSTOMERS FROM HELL"

Most people agree that looking for customers to serve requires a lot of energy. First, you must figure out where you are most likely to find the greatest number of customers. And, then you must spend more time and money experimenting with the right way to catch their attention. By the time you have actually found someone who is willing to try what you have to give them, your company has exhausted its energy!

So, when this customer tells you that they are not completely satisfied with your products, your policies, or your pricing, you are more than willing to make compromises to satisfy them ... truth be known, you are simply too tired to put up a fight. Perhaps, thinking that you have won the war, you feel you can afford to let them win these smaller conflicts...especially in light of what it would cost to go out and hunt down another customer to replace this one.

Yet, if your company had more strength and solvency, you might be more willing to listen to the tiny inner voice that says, "Be careful...this one could be more trouble than their worth. This is a customer from hell."

You ignore the voice because of the need to make back the money spent on marketing and sales programs. Or, you convince yourself that these customers must be perfect for your company or you are afraid that you will lose this customer to the competition.

Inevitably, though, the voice turns out to be right. By the time you end your tortured relationship with this customer, you feel that no amount of money in the world would have been enough to compensate us for the cost of the experience.

This is the result when you create marketing campaigns or promotional strategies that fail to clearly convey the bright light of your unique business distinctions; you find customers that other businesses should be serving.

THE LIGHTHOUSE TEST

So, how can you tell if your company is structured to "attract" perfect customers to serve?

Here is the "Lighthouse Test."

Imagine a lighthouse standing strong and erect on the rocky shores of a beautiful ocean. On this particular day, the water is calm, the sky is blue, and there are many boats out to sea. Yet, out in the distance, there is a storm cloud forming on the horizon. It is coming closer to shore very quickly. The sky is getting darker, the waves are getting rougher, and many of the boats are being tossed about on the water. As the rains and the winds pick up strength, so does the power of the beam of light emanating from the lighthouse. Some of the boats, anxious to move quickly to a quiet and protective harbor, are relying on this beam of light to guide them safely to the spot. The darker the skies become, the brighter the light shines.
Notice that not all of the boats are in need of this beam of light to guide them to safety. Some have more confident captains and crew, while other boats have equipment that can handle the storm effectively.
Now, imagine that the lighthouse gets upset because some of the boats are choosing not to come to its harbor. Because it wants to protect and serve all of the boats in the sea, it sprouts arms and legs and begins running up and down the beach, waving its arms, doing its best to catch the attention of all the boats. What would be the result?
Most likely, the boats that were depending on the light to guide them would by now have been destroyed in the chaos and confusion caused by the light moving up and down the beach Other boats, led by their curiosity, may come closer to shore to get a better look at the spectacle of a lighthouse running up and down the shore, and then head back out to deeper waters. While others would be perfectly content to stay where they are...out at sea. The end result, very few boats are served safely and securely.

The test lies in asking yourself what percentage of time is your company the lighthouse standing securely on the shore attracting the boats (customers) with the power of its light and how often is it running up and down the beach looking for boats (customers) to serve?

PERFECT CUSTOMERS COME RIGHT TO YOUR SHORE

Take a moment to recall one of your most perfect customers -- someone with whom you most enjoy working. The customer you describe as perfect is most likely the one who respects and values your time, trusts your company to have his or her best interests at heart, comes to your site with realistic expectations, happily pays what your product or service is worth, and refers your business to their friends and family. Perfect customers make you feel needed, appreciated, respected, and understood. Even more, they reconnect you with the passion and purpose that puts joy in your work. And, when you think about it, these perfect customers often find your site easily; there was an immediate spark of attraction and connection with this client as if synchronicity brought you together at the perfect time and place.

The key to ensuring that your company is only attracting the most perfect customers lies in the asking of four simple questions which comprise a Strategic Attraction Plan:

1. What Are the Qualities of My Most Perfect Customers?

2. What Makes My Perfect Customers Tick?

3. What Do I Want My Perfect Customers To Expect Of My Web site?

4. What Do I Have To Improve?

The daily review for just five minutes of these four questions is what will keep you connected to your company's mission and purpose. It's this connection which powers the light of your message and draws customers who are a perfect fit for that message right to your shore.

Proponents of the Strategic Attraction Planning Process are growing in numbers quickly. As Robert Allen, author of Multiple Streams of Income, www.multiplestreamsofincome.com, reports "this is a simple and effective method for bringing perfect customers right to your doors and web sites."

Copyright 2001, PerfectCustomers Unlimited.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hall and Brogniez are the catalysts for the new Strategic Attraction Planning Process. Through this paradigm-shifting methodology, hundreds of corporate executives, entrepreneurs, as well as sales and training teams, have been transformed into powerful magnets that quickly and easily attract the most perfect and profitable customers to their doors. Their book, "Attracting Perfect Customers...The Power of Strategic Synchronicity," is available at www.perfectcustomer.com .

3 Deadly Search Engine Marketing Sins

2008-06-29T08:23:00.001+07:00

My inbox this week provided glaring examples of three all too common rookie search engine marketing mistakes. What you could call three deadly search engine marketing sins. Starting with

===> Inadequate Keyword Research

Hey! If you�re going to spend hours developing a web site, isn�t it smart to invest some time to insure you�re focusing on the most traffic laden keywords?

Especially when typically the plural form of a keyword phrase generates way more traffic than the singular form. For example "dog dishes" rather than "dog dish".

Yet just this week I was asked to look at a site that had focused on the singular form. Evidently the owner hadn�t bothered to do any digging to make sure that was their best keyword move.

Look, you�ll never know for sure unless you research it. Besides, you can access Wordtracker, the tool of choice for what? a measly $7 a day.

Even better here�s a quick and dirty way to get the most out of that day.

Search for your target keyword in Google.

Visit the top ranking sites. Use the "View Source" feature of Internet Explorer to check out the keyword meta tag of each site. You're looking for a site listing lots of keywords there. Do this with each of the top listings or until you find one stuffed to the gills with keywords. Ah-ha! There�s your starting point for your list of likely keyword phrases.

Repeat with a couple of other sites and you�ll soon have a long list of candidates to check out in Wordtracker.

Enhance your list further using this tool:

http://www.promoteindia.com/keywordtool-beta.htm.

It will give you more keyword ideas from Google and Overture.

Now you�re ready for Wordtracker.

Once you�ve compiled your Wordtracker results, you could simply sort by KEI and then by searches per day.

That gives you the strongest keywords with the most searches. (And yes, I realize KEI assumes all search engine listings are of equal value. But I did say this was "quick and dirty" didn't I? However if you want another approach that improves on KEI there�s a spreadsheet available at http://www.seo-works.com/seo-resources/keyword-effectiveness-rank.html)

Anyway, once you're sorted your keywords in some way to highlight the most profitable, simply take the top 25 on the list and create content for those first. No, not every one will be a natural born traffic magnet. But enough of them will be to get the ball rolling.

Repeat with the next 25. Don�t stop until you have at least 100 pages of hot content.

Remember, two or three word keyword phrases are usually your best bets. And I really like keyword phrases that are actually several keyword phrases in one. For example "irish setter dog dishes" gives "irish setter", "irish setter dog", "dog", "dog dishes", "setter dog dishes".

===> Site Bloat

Twice this week I was asked to look at sites that would have let me read War and Peace while waiting for them to come up. And no visitor is going to have a copy of that handy.

To avoid losing any precious visitors lose the huge graphics. One of the sites had a graphic 501K in size! No wonder it took nearly two minutes to load up on a 56K modem.

Then too lose the Flash - unless you have a very good reason for using it. Even then lose the Flash.

If you�re wondering how your site's download time measures up test it here: http://www.netmechanic.com/toolbox/html-code.htm

It won�t cost anything to find out. But a slow loading site can cost you plenty. Because as the Net Mechanics follow up reports says, it's a good idea to keep your page load times under about 12 seconds on a 28.8 modem. Otherwise your visitors will be wearing out the back button trying to escape.

===> Too Few Links

Did you know links can account for up to 80% of your success with Google? Yet someone else complained to me about how much work it took to get them.

Well doh! Ever think that maybe that�s why (in part) Google assigns so much value to links? Because you can�t quite as easily game links as you can on page content? Meaning you actually have to work to get links. Both by having link worthy content and by actively seeking them out on a regular basis.

It�s a given that most niches require you have a healthy collection of links to be competitive. Yet if you�re lucky enough to be in a niche that doesn�t, but you do, then you can easily dominate those rankings.

Anyway in a nutshell you can easily avoid these three search engine sins. Do your keyword homework. Keep your pages on a strict diet. And don't forget link up with as many other quality sites as you can.

Do all that and you�re well on your way to search engine success. Ignore this advice and you�re, well you know, your Google goose is probably cooked. Leaving you perpetually stuck in Google purgatory.

Copyright 2004 John Gergye
John Gergye shares more ideas like this in his just updated eBook "Traffic From Google in 35 Days". Find out more here:
http://www.traffic-test-tube.com/j/tfg35cl.shtml
Or test your search engine IQ by taking his seo quiz
http://www.traffic-test-tube.com/search-engine-quiz.shtml
and get the free special report "Coming Out On Top".

3 High-Impact Fixes For Your Marketing Woes

2008-06-29T08:21:00.000+07:00

How many times has your competitor gotten one over on you? The feeling of being left behind just eats away, until you do something about. The problem is that we often feel that we�ve got to come up with some grand plan in order to get our business skyrocketing again. Don�t be fooled! Getting back on top of the market isn�t as tough as it seems with these high-impact, easy-to-use fixes.

1. The Magic Number - 1
Implement a �advertise 1 item at a time� motto for your advertising strategy. Does that mean you can�t SELL more than one item at a time? No... but wait until AFTER the sale.

When a customer sees more than one of a product offered at unbelievably low prices, he�s confused. Which one is the better deal? Which one does he prefer? These questions encourage procrastination - one of marketing�s greatest thieves. Instead, offer the consumer a product that compliments his purchase in a nearby display... or even at the register. You�ll make extra profits instead of losing a sale.

2. Outsmart Your Competitors
Your competition is looking for you in all of the usual places. Don�t go there. Quietly look for new methods of advertising and new markets to target.

Niche markets provide the perfect sneak tactic for reaching new clients. Here�s they key... sub-divide your current market into smaller, more specific niche markets. Familiarize yourself with the needs and concerns of the niche, then present yourself as the pro in their corner. Leave your competition in the dust with the intensity of new prospects that will come your way.

Modernize an old marketing technique that still carries a wallop - postcards. Yeah, these small, inexpensive marketing tools still carry a personal message that is quick and easy to read, but with new high-impact colors and designs that capture the attention of readers. Your competition won�t even know that you�re using them!

3. Encourage Communication
Communication is crucial to understanding your consumers. Encourage questions before the sale, during the sale and after the sale. Make it easy and comfortable.

Provide convenient contact information on all of your sales materials, including Websites. If you find yourself overloaded with questions, create a frequently asked question page where clients can get the answers they need without claiming as much of your time.

Confused customers, tough competitors and communication mishaps won�t steal profits from your account when you fix things up with the 3 quick tips.

Copyright 2005 Cutts Group, llc

Who is Allyn Cutts, and why should you care? Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic, providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge results for small-to mid-size business clients. Allyn works personally with clients to design and deliver off-line and on-line direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://www.AllynCutts.com and you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3 Steps To Effectively Increase Your Marketing Response

2008-06-28T08:13:00.000+07:00

It's well known that internet marketers are in the business of marketing. To become successful in business, it's crucial to actively promote your business to gain new customers. Let's face it... No promotion, no new customers. It's a simple as that.

If you've ever spent money on advertising before, you will know that it can be a costly process. Whether the cost is measured in time, effort, money or a mixture of all three - the one thing that counts the most is the results. A lack of results from a marketing campaign can be a real disappointment.

More often than not, it is a case of hit-and-miss which leads to frustration and a wasted advertising budget.

This article will explain three steps that you can take to gauge how effective your marketing campaigns are and to rapidly improve the response rates of future campaigns. It also brings to light some relatively unknown tactics that some advertising companies are employing to rip-off their customers. I hope you're not one of those customers... But you might have been already without even realizing it.

Step 1: T&T

You may or may not work out a proper campaign for your promotions, but let me make a suggestion to you if I may? You really should be Tracking and Testing. If you don't know how responsive a particular ad is, how can you possibly gauge the ad's effectiveness? Not by guessing, that's for sure! It is essential that you T&T because this keeps you in control of your earnings.

If your campaigns aren't creating the desired outcome - signups, sales, opt-ins etc., something needs to be changed. By T&T, you can make changes, retest and gauge the results to repeat the process until you do generate the necessary effect and therefore increase your profits.

Step 2: Tweaking

What areas need looking at? Here is a short list of questions you can ask yourself. The answer to these questions should be " Yes". If the answer is "No", then simply tweak the item and T&T to produce a better response.

Ad Copy:
Does it have an eye-catching headline? Is it well written with the correct grammar and punctuation? Have you edited it over and over to create what you'd consider a perfect advertisement? Does it use hypnotic words and phrases that grab the interest of the reader? Does it make the reader want to click through to your web site while pulling out their credit card? If you wouldn't respond to the ad yourself, a rewrite is a must.

Product Demand:
If you truly aim to make sales, your advertising needs to be put in front of the people who will want to purchase your product. Have you carried out or have access to market research data on the product you are offering? If it's a niche-target product, are you targeting the appropriate audience? Have you polled your list or web site visitors to find out what they really want? Feedback is precious and should be taken into serious consideration.

Sales Page:
Does your sales page load quickly? Does it look good to the naked eye without making you frown or close the site in pain? Does it have an eye-catching headline? Does it appeal to the reader's sensibilities and rouse their emotions? Have you used short paragraphs? Have you included bullet point lists? Have you refined the copy over and over again to make it as sharp as possible? Have you made it so there are no unanswered questions for the customer to ask?

Order Page:
Have you included a guarantee that removes the risk taken by the customer? Have you provided several payment options where applicable? Have you made the purchasing process as quick and simple as possible? Have you included your contact details?

Price:
If everything else appears to be set correctly but you're still not receiving the response you need, consider revising the price and T&T. Use a split tester if possible to see which price receives the better response (and it's not always the cheaper price surprisingly). 100 is a good number to use for split-testing. ie: If you're testing two pages, the first to receive 100 responses is the one to adopt.

Step 3: QA

Usually QA stands for Quality Assurance and it still does, but in this instance, it also means Quality Advertising. T&T and Tweaking can be an ongoing process that you continually carry out using free or paid advertising.

There are many forms of advertising available on the internet. Free advertising methods are excellent for T&T because they can illustrate how well an ad pulls through an ezine or solo ad. You can also gauge how effective your sales page is by click-thru statistics in traffic exchanges etc. But for now, let's concentrate on the effective, paid advertising methods. Why? Because paid advertising brings results... Well it should -- but it doesn't always!

It is imperative that you gauge the effectiveness of the advertising vehicle that you are utilizing through T&T. If you don't, you could be throwing your hard-earned dollars straight down the drain.

If you have paid for an advertising campaign through a company and the results are less than you hoped for, you need to look into why the results were dismal. How do you do that? It certainly pays to ask questions and dig deeper to see exactly how your advertisement is being delivered.

In fact, I can save you some time and really open your eyes to some marketing methods that you probably didn't even know existed! These are methods that are being used quite frequently by some online companies who provide traffic and advertising services.

You really need to know about them now so you don't fall into that trap. Most of us have already and didn't even know it, until now...

Click here to download my free report, "What Every Marketer Should Know Before Paying for Advertising".

=>> http://www.add2it.com/services/advertising/

If you utilize the 3 steps I've described above, you'll discover that your hard work really does pay off. Increased profits can indeed be yours with the right work ethic and the right quality advertising vehicle.

If you are looking for quality advertising, EQQU Ads are a NEW, Highly Targeted & Responsive form of advertising. Hundreds of thousands of members will see your ad beneath their email display and receive $0.01 per click-thru to view your web site for 60 seconds. They provide full statistics.

For details, check the URL in the resource box below.

Copyright 2004 Frank Bauer
Frank Bauer lives in Germany & Eva Browne-Paterson in Australia. They have been marketing online for a total of over 20 years. He has been publishing the More4you Newsletter since 1996, is the owner of Add2it.com, More4you.ws and FrankBauer.name. She has been publishing EvieB's New-Z since 2001, is the CEO of InstaPay and partner in the JVMoneyMakers.com group. Highly Targeted & Responsive Eqqu Ads: http://www.add2it.com/services/advertising.shtml. Link statistics, forwarding and split-testing system: Add2it Go-To Pro - http://www.add2it.com/scripts/go-to-pro.shtml.

3 Things That Are Important To Do In Online Marketing Even When You Really Goof Up That You Should Know!

2008-06-28T08:11:00.000+07:00

Online marketing is not as easy as it is sometimes made out to
be. There are many things as an online marketer that you must do
even when you really goof up BIG!

1. Make sure you try, try and TRY again.

One of the main reasons I believe that most people fail in
online

marketing is because when they really goof up they are afraid
to try again.

Take this example. This morning I was trying out a great new
tool. It really is fantastic and it would have worked great if
I hadn't been in such a hurry to see the end result.

In my haste to see the finished product I inadvertently hit the
create button way to soon and ended up submitting and
unfinished, non punctuated, mis-spelled article that made
absolutely no sense to, I have no idea how many publishers,
with my name all over it.

They know who they are and I hope with all sincerity that they
will laugh when they read this and forgive my unintentional
waste of their valuable time.

2. Learn the lesson and go on.

It is important especially in online marketing to learn the
lesson and go on. Because when you make a big goof you feel as
if everyone is watching to see if you will give up or go on. By
going on you are admitting that you are human and you make
mistakes.

Some would say that it is fatal to your business to let your
human side show. But I say it is important to let people see
that there is a real person on the other side of their computer
connections. Mistakes included.

3. Turn your goof into a opportunity

Sometimes when we goof big we spend a lot of time kicking
ourselves for messing up. STOP IT!

Instead try turning your goof into an opportunity to prove that
you can do better. Prove that even though you mess up you are
completely capable of achieving the task at hand.

So, I guess what I am trying to say is with each goof made there
is lesson learned.
What you do with that lesson is up to you.

My suggestion is that you try, try and then try again.

Lisa M. Cope - an Online Marketer that isn't afraid to admit she
goofs up!

"With my goof in mind and my big lesson learned I will continue
to try and try until one day I get it right".

Copyright 2002 Lisa Cope. Please feel free to pass this article
on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's
a shareware article.

About the Author

Lisa M. Cope - an Online Marketer that isn't afraid to admit she
goofs up!

"With my goof in mind and my big lesson learned I will continue
to try and try until one day I get it right".

Marketing on a Budget

2008-06-27T20:08:00.000+07:00

How to start your Internet Marketing Business for free or very low cost.
Running on a Budget.

By Stuart Reid

You can start your web business with nothing. You don't neccesarily need ANY capital to start up. Here's some tips:

* You can get FREE URL's from many places. Some will give you a subdomain, but you can also get a `proper` site address as well. Don't bother with addresses such as www.freesite.com/yoursite but use something like yoursite.freesite.com - freeola.com is a good place to get one, but also try the classic webhosting sites such as geocities or tripod. The only problem there is you get advertising on your site - which you should really try to avoid. There are banner-free freesites out there. If you look hard enough you can even get your own domain, DNS, webserver, mail server and more for FREE but this is for advanced computer users only. If you have a long domain name you can get free redirection servers such as kick.to/yourname or bounce.to/yourname etc.

* There are tons of free info products you can start to sell for free! lots of business web sites offer e-books you can resell, or of course you can try your hand at affiliate programs - and these are free as well! Try http://www.netpreneurnow.com/ebook.shtml for some to start off with.

* You can get credit card processing which charges you a percentage of the sale rather than an upfront fee. Paypal is one such service. They are free and easy to set up.

* You can get free web site statistics with services such as nedstat.com, hitbox.com and webtracker.com and they look that much more professional than a standard counter.

* You don't need to buy advertising - you can still get listed on some search engines for free and services such as the one at jimtools.com will do the submitting for you. Some e-zines offer free ads for subscribing. You can subscribe to safelists, and you can write and submit articles to get more exposure. Look at the promotion page at http://www.netpreneurnow.com for more ideas.

* You don't need to waste money on web design. There are free web-based services that will build a site for you or you can download something like arachnophilia. You can also (try to) use your browsers designer, such as frontpage or netscape composer. Of course the best way is to use notepad - and guess what? there are free HTML courses available too! http://www.arachnoid.com/arachnophilia/

The beauty of starting for free is ANYTHING is a profit! It is a slower start than if you pay for services - especially when advertising - but once you have made a sale or two you can channel the money into paid-for services. Then the ball will really start rolling. If you can afford it keep any money you have for advertising, especially solo-ads or paid-for search engine hits.

When you make, say, your first $100 that is enough to buy a good e-book with resell rights and some advertising. Used wisely this $100 can really start the sales flowing. Making money gives you that much more to make money with!

----------------------------------------------------

Join Push Button Publishing and get every online service you need in one place. You'll get Hosting, AutoResponder, Ad Tracking, Resell Rights to hot new Software and even a new eBook every month that will promote YOUR link. No wonder it's being called the one-stop-marketing-shop. http://www.netpreneurnow.com/pbp

----------------------------------------------------

About the Author

Stuart Reid is publisher of Netpreneur News and webmaster of various sites including NetpreneurNow.com, all specialising in Internet Marketing. He writes with a strict "No Bull" policy - and aims to provide the Truth at all times!

Internet Marketing: A Journey Of Discovery

2008-06-27T08:06:00.000+07:00

A summary of the journey we take from beginner to experienced internet marketer
Internet marketing is an intense experience It's like living your whole life over again in a few short months or years. Read this article and decide which step you are currently at. This may give you an idea of what to expect as you progress in your internet adventure:

Step 1: Babyhood!

You start off your internet marketing career as a brand new baby, with no idea of how the whole system works. You just follow obediently what others tell you to do, think and say, and you get to know the basics of how the whole system works.

Step 2: "Know-it-all" Teenage Years

Then you become a "teenager", and have just enough knowledge to be dangerous to yourself and others! You go out, gung-ho, spending lots of money and telling everyone what they should be doing. In fact, you probably don't make much money in this phase because you really don't know what you are doing and you eventually find this out the hard way!

Step 3: "Study" Phase

Then you enter the "study phase", where you decide that if you are going to make money at this, you better learn a bit more about the theory of marketing and how to apply it to your business. You realise that this internet marketing business isn't as easy as you thought it was going to be. It is tough going. This is the phase where most people drop out. You find out things about yourself that you didn't know. You grow in your personal knowledge. Even if you do drop out at this stage, it is not really a failure. You have just admitted that this is not for you after all.

Step 4: "Career Phase"

If you tough it out and say to yourself "I AM going to make a success of this", then you enter the "Career" phase. You start taking your business very seriously and you look at how you are going to progress from here on in. Maybe you will decide you are going to build an ezine or an opt-in mailing list. Maybe you decide to join a REAL marketing company with REAL products, and stop jumping on the bandwagon of the latest online ventures that eventually all go bust.

Step 5: "Senior Executive Level"

The previous stage takes a long time. Just like a normal career, your online business career will develop over a period of 5 - 10 years and longer, until you are fully established in your career and are now a "Senior Executive" in the online business market, and you are enjoying the fruits of your hard labour! You have achieved immense personal growth, have stuck it out through the hard times and can be very proud of what you have achieved. --------------------------------------------------- Lianne Blanch is a successful online marketer and work-at-home mom. Visit her website today! http://www.working-from-home.biz/1721

About the Author

Lianne Blanch is a successful online marketer and work-at-home mom. Visit her website today! http://www.working-from-home.biz/1721

Four Marketing Myths That Steal Sales

2008-06-26T20:04:00.000+07:00

How many times has bad advice gotten you into trouble? Yeah, everybody's saying and doing it, so you jump on the band wagon...and guess what...you get the same results as they get. Maybe it's a comfort to know that you're not the only one who played the part of the fool, but when it comes to marketing...you may not have enough leeway to count the loss and go on.

Yeah, there sure are a LOT of ideas out there about what will and what won't skyrocket sales numbers and profit margins! And to be truthful, a lot of those ideas are just a bunch of bunk. Yep, you've got to be on your toes and know the truth about marketing tales. Here are a few of the lines of misinformation that you've probably heard before...

You've Got To Have The Cheapest Prices
In Town To Be Competitive

Let me ask you this...Do you always buy the cheapest product on the shelf, or always shop at the store that has the lowest prices? No, I don't either. What you and I know that these people don't is, that value counts for a lot. Oh yeah, sure... there are a few people out there who only buy the cheapest things in town, but most of us understand that the cheapest isn't always the best buy for our buck.

How does this apply to you? Here's something you can try...make it a little test to see just how true this myth is. Find a low-cost way to enhance the perceived value of your product or service, then raise the cost a little. See what happens! Don't be surprised if your sales and profits shoot up!

Advertisements Need To Be Changed
To Keep The Public From Becoming Bored

This one reminds me of one of my cousins. He's famous for breaking things that are fixed. Yeah, he'll go out and buy a perfectly good running car, but every time you see him, he's under the hood tinkering with something. Before long...you guessed it...the car won't run and has to go to the garage for repairs.

It makes no sense to run a business like Cousin Jim and his cars. Hey, if it's working why try to fix it? Think about it...what's the goal for advertising? Yeah, to attract new customers. Once the new customer comes through the door, the advertisement has effectively done its job. Does that customer need to be affected by the same ad? No, so let the ad do its job for the rest of the people out there who haven't seen it yet.

Now, I'm not saying that you should never change your advertisement... just never abandon a winner midstream. A good rule of thumb is to spend 80 percent of your advertising money on proven methods, and to risk 20 percent on experimental advertisements. Keep the tried and proven working for you, while you test the waters for new ideas that might work even better.

The More Choices A Customer Has
The More Likely He Is To Buy

Yeah, yeah...they say variety is the spice of life and all that, but too many choices can lead to procrastination. We all know what happens when we procrastinate. Yep, we never get back to it!

Do you know what happens when a customer can't decide?... you lose a sale that you already had in your pocket. Yep he came in to get it, saw more options, stopped to make up his mind, then walked out still thinking about it...maybe to never return.

A tip for the wise marketer - limit your customer's decisions to either yes or no. Let them decide either yes I'll buy or no, I won't buy. Don't risk confusing them and losing the sale.

Everybody Needs My Product or Service
So I Don't Need To Advertise

Hey, building a business is a lot of hard work! There aren't many free rides along the way. Chances are, your potential customers need to be convinced that they NEED to choose your service/product. Yep, finding the customer, convincing him to use your service/product, then closing the deal is a process that can't be easily bypassed. Don't be fooled into thinking you're any different! It could be hazardous to your profits.

A friend of mine owned the only dog grooming shop in her town. Hey, no competition means you don't need to advertise...right? After an initial anouncement of her grand opening, this lady did no advertising. Business slowly trickled in and barely covered the overhead. Finally in a desperate attempt to get business off the ground she began putting flyers in all of the local veterinarian clinics and ads in the local newspaper. Bingo! Business began pouring in... and most of the people said, "I didn't even know you were here!" or "Fifi's been needing groomed for quite some time. When I saw your ad, I decided to go ahead and get it done."

Let's face it, people are often....well, lazy. They don't always go out of their way to find the phone number to contact you, even when in the back of their mind they know they need to do something. Yeah, advertisements are often the little prod they need to get motivated. Don't shortchange yourself by neglecting to advertise.

How about you? Have you ever driven by a business for a long time without even noticing it? Yep, we all get too busy to pay attention sometimes.

Hey, you've learned a few of the misguided marketing myths that many people are fooled by...now you can apply the REAL marketing concepts to your own advertising campaign and watch the results!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Who is Allyn Cutts, and why should you care?
Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic, providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge results for small-to mid-size business clients. Allyn works personally with clients to design and deliver off-line and on-line direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at www.AllynCutts.com and you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays

Using and Writing Press Releases in your Marketing Strategy

2008-06-26T08:00:00.000+07:00

Thought I'd share a bit about using press releases as
an internet marketing tool, based on our recent
experiences.

We at Eagle Productions (NZ) have done quite a bit
of research on press release services recently and we
use them here frequently to "spread the word" about
our various sites and activities from here in far-off New
Zealand to our biggest market (by far), Americans.
From this we find doing press releases to be quite
effective.

While it's hard to quantify the precise results of press
releases, one thing just seems to lead to another (and
usually leads to valuable "contacts and exposure" -
"exciting, naughty and nice!")...and I do find submitting
them to be a most effective form of advertising in the
"on and off-line world". Together with submitting my
articles to announcement lists, like Article Announce,
Free Content and Publish in Yours.
That is our MAIN internet marketing strategy.

A quick word of advice in writing press releases...
It is vital that the press release about your business is
newsworthy and try to capture attention with a good
"catchy" headline. Make it "spicy and add 'zing' (like
KFC) to make it sizzle!"

Also you can send your news release by "snail mail"
or by e-mail. I do all my submissions to these services
via e-mail.

Recently we've had a number of releases about our
activities here on the other side of the world published
by PR Web, which is a free service ("cheapskate"!)...
and traffic to our sites mentioned has increased
substantially already. Their web address is:
http://www.prweb.com.

PR Web recommend adding a link back to
them to add credibility to your web site -
good idea, I think!

(Incidentally, we a press releases up there at:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2001/8/prweb27548.php
in case you want to have a look at our format)

The Comitatus Group also offer a FREE press release service.
Their web address is:
http://www.comitatusgroup.com/pr/pr_save.asp

Other Press Release services we've used are:
Emailwire.com: http://www.emailwire.com/. They are
mainly for corporate businesses, but check them out.
Our press release there is at:
http://www.emailwire.com/cgi-bin/news/db.cgi?db=ads&uid=default&ID=1956&view_records=1

Also Xpress, who distribute news releases by e-mail.
(Their address is news@xpresspress.com).

You can also use eNewsRelease.com

We have no connection with these news distribution
services, but have found them all to be effective in
increasing "hits" after a news release.

Use press releases to get the word out about your
web site, product or service. They DO WORK in bringing traffic,
the first step to ONLINE SALES.

Lastly, I don't think you need to be a writer to write
good press releases. (In fact, it may work against us,
as we do tend to "waffle on" a bit and sometimes I don't
write in sufficient "business-speak".) My advice is just
write in your own "natural" style - the one in which you
feel MOST COMFORTABLE... as I've tried to do in this
article.

Don't take life too seriously and have FUN writing your
press releases.

Hope this may help you readers "out there" in cyberspace,
as we at Eagle Productions and our associates learn
something new about on-line and off-line promotion
each day.

"Success is a PROCESS of sharing (knowledge, insights,
wisdom and experiences) with others and not
simply a matter of arriving at a destination."

Take pleasure in the journey.

Craig Lock

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where
there is no path and leave a trail.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Creative Writing Course
http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/creative.html

For books and a practical interactive course on internet marketing, click on
http://www.novelty-gift.com/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Craig Lock has been successfully marketing products online
for the past five years. Craig is a writer, who believes in sharing
information, as well as encouraging and helping others to find
their talents and gifts, to strive for and accomplish their dreams
in life - whatever they may be.

4 Simple Secrets for NetMarketing Success

2008-06-25T22:57:00.000+07:00

Starting an internet based business when you have zero marketing experience is, to say the least, bewildering. I speak from personal experience as I started out with no specialized knowledge. I gradually weaved my way through what seemed like hundreds of sites selling just about everything and tried to resist buying every white elephant that was offered.

In the interim, I purchased my first package which turned out to be of little practical use. While I was doing that, I somehow went off in another direction and bought another �package deal�, hardly stopping to think that I did not have the requisite skill and knowledge to make this programme work either.

To cut a direct path through the dense forest, I�ll tell you now that I spent much more that I originally intended. Thankfully, I learnt a few lessons along the way.

1.Stay Focused

It is easy to become swamped and distracted trying to run several programmes at the same time, on zero experience. Leave diversification to the pros until you have garnered some experience and at least have some sales/profit (whichever you prefer) from your first venture. Needless to say, you will find yourself floundering around aimlessly, watching your money burn, having done no research before making a purchase. If you feel a burning urge to buy anyway, read the material again, do some research, sleep on it and then make a decision. Twenty-four hours delay won�t kill you and remember, one venture at a time.

2.Allow some �Opportunities� to pass you by

As God is my witness, I believe I became a member of at least fifty programmes that promised me anything from �massive profits� to �dramatic sales explosion, traffic, profit, great downlines��.you get the idea. Unless you have twenty-four dedicated hours to spend on your e-business each day, you cannot market all these web sites; and without the ability to create traffic to each site (and you get one for just about every programme you join), you are back where you started. �And, by the way, did I mention the sea of email from other members? That�s right, I didn�t get beyond the hype at the top of the sales page either. So then, limit yourself to a manageable number of traffic generation ventures. Better to pay for leads or hits even if on a tight budget than to try to do the impossible. Allow some opportunities to pass you by. If they are too good to be true, they are!

3.Free Information�.A hidden gold mine

I have hundreds of pages of free information (yes, I have printed them out, this works for me) received when I bought something or subscribed to an ezine. I have two words of advice�Use them! They are valuable, even if you have to wade through tons of information for a few golden nuggets. If your business is to grow, you have to be learning constantly. If all else fails, you can always rebrand the books, give them away to your subscribers or make some money from them by reselling the information. I read somewhere that a great percentage of ebooks remain unread by those who receive them. What a shame! Do your best to use that information, it is there to help you get ahead.

4.Keep at it, Rome was not built in a day

If you (1) stay focused on one or two manageable ventures, (2) channel your marketing energies wisely (pay where you can and forget the freebies), (3) read the complimentary material you get and (4) develop some stick-to-itiveness, you will eventually begin to see rewards from your investment. You may never make millions, but you will at least derive a steady income from your efforts.

About the Author

J.L. Campbell is a network marketer dedicated to assisting customers achieve success through services offered at
http://www.ebiz-netrepreneur.net

Marketing in Tough Times

2008-06-25T08:55:00.001+07:00

How to market when the going gets tough
Marketing in Tough Times When the economy is slow, companies often do the opposite of what�s best for their business. Down times are when you need to escalate your marketing efforts, not reduce them. In fact, it�s the most critical time to make a plan to get in front of prospects as well as re-connect with current clients. If you aren�t, your competition will be more than happy to take care of your prospects and clients for you.

Whether marketing in a print medium, radio, television or just networking, you have a limited amount of time to get your message across. You want to initiate interest and be memorable when the contact has ended. Let�s take a look at what it takes to win with print advertising.

Money-making Headlines Winning headlines accomplish many things. They first attract your prospect�s attention; communicate a strong benefit; and appeal to the self-interest of the reader. You know you have a healthy headline if it answers the reader�s question, �What�s in it for me?� A good headline reflects that intimate understanding of your target audience.

Tests show that a good headline can be as much as 17 times more effective than a mediocre headline even when the exact same body copy is used. Headlines are a powerful tool, and that�s reason enough to get it right the first time. Successful marketers tell us to spend 70 percent of your time coming up with the headline in 17 words or less.

�On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that, unless your headline sells your product, you wasted 90 percent of your money.� David Ogilvy, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Hot Button Benefits Use strong verbs in your copy to communicate your most valuable asset � your benefits. Don�t confuse benefits with features; one is the sizzle, the other is the steak. Sizzle always sells more. For example, a masonry business benefit is the security one feels when buying a durable, long-lasting solution. Bricks and blocks, and first-class assembly, are the features.

Benefits are always from the buyer�s point of view; features are the facts about your products, which help build credibility. Both are necessary in your advertising, but benefits are what close the sale because people buy based on emotions, and then justify their decision with logic. Good headlines stir emotions and motivate response. Here are 10 of the most powerful words used in successful headlines today:

Secrets of
Amazing
Breakthrough
The Truth
Free
Sale
How to
Discover
New
Facts You

Example headlines using these keywords:
Little Known Secrets of How Brick Buildings
Withstand Earthquakes
10 Reasons New Contractors Need Highly Skilled Craftsmen
The Truth about Building Safe Schools from Stonework
Facts You might not Know about the Legal Issues of Ergonomics
Discover How Breakthrough Scheduling Provides Improved Quality

Compelling Body No one likes to be sold or manipulated � they want to be communicated with and shown. If you have a product or service they want, your copy can�t be considered too extensive as long as you keep them engaged. And that�s the trick � you need to know intimately what your target market wants. Always put yourself in the reader�s shoes when analyzing your promotion.

The body of your message is where you articulate your unique selling position. How do you differentiate your construction company from every other? Tell them how your solution solves the void in your marketplace (a void that they have as well). Your body copy should grow from what specific action you want your recipient to take. Make them an offer they can�t refuse; for example, offer to educate them (free of charge) about your business. If you want them to pick up the phone and call your company for a quote or consultation, then give them a good reason to do so. Write each line so compelling that readers can�t wait to get to the next one. Always test messages, track campaigns, and make changes as you go to improve those results.

Practical tips for telling your story include: always use fonts that are easy to read, such as Times New Roman, Arial and Verdana. Make it conversational instead of cute; you want to create rapport with your reader. Make use of subheads that break up large blocks of text and create critical white space. Use photographs that support your copy or graphics of past successful projects with dynamic captions. Include as many testimonials as you can; you can�t have too many testimonials.

Call Them to Act If you don�t ask for the order, the answer is always �no.� Your call to action is a beginning step to converting a prospect into a buyer. The best kind of advertising makes them an offer they find irresistible. Tell them exactly what actions or steps to take � for them to either call, fax, e-mail or write your company, as well as visit your website for more information.

If you send them to your website, make sure you have a two-step process in place that includes a second strong call to action so you don�t lose them at that point. You could use case studies that depict your quality craftsmanship and on-time scheduling. Emphasize customer service and, while you have them, don�t forget the opportunity to up-sell. What additional services might you offer that they could benefit from? You�ll be amazed at what needs you can unearth just by asking.

About the Author

Cathy Taylor is a marketing consultant with over 20 years experience. She specializes in strategy and plan development, as well as management of communications and public relations programs in both the high-tech and small business sectors. She can be reached at Creative Communications: creative--communications@cox.net.

Marketing Articles: Promoting Your Site Twice!

2008-06-24T20:51:00.001+07:00

Marketing Articles: Promoting Your Site Twice!
By: Martin Lemieux (Smartads - President)
I recently became aware that promoting your web site in Search Engines can instantly be double within Google! That's right, you can instantly promote your site 2 times at once!

So how do you Market Your Site twice?

Simple...

Most of us typically promote www.yoursite.com. But what you
need to realize is that most sites can be found on search
engines simply by entering... http://yoursite.com - without
the www.

Try it for a second, lets go to google and type in your
url with the www. and then without the www.

So for me it would be:

1) www.smartads.info
2) http://smartads.info

The same will apply for sub-domains as well. A sub-domain is
a section of your site dedicated to something you create but
instead of residing within your normal directory, it resides
within it's own directory,like I've illustrated below...

Normal:
www.yoursite.com

Sub-Domain:
www.sub-domain.yoursite.com

And with that again, you can promote your sub-domain twice
in Search Engines like so...

1) www.sub-domain.yoursite.com
2) http://sub-domain.yousite.com

So in turn, I've just showed you how you can promote 4 sites
with all the same goal in mind, yours of course!

How to utilize your new found knowledge:

Hopefully, you are all aware of how important it is to create
a link exchange program for your business? Well, what you
simply want to do is to mix up your links when submitting to
other companies for a listing within their site.

In other words...

Lets say I just found 4 sites that I want to exchange links
with, I would do something like this...

Site #1: I would submit (www.yoursite.com)
Site #2: I would submit (http://yoursite.com)
Site #3: I would submit (www.sub-domain.yoursite.com)
Site #4: I would submit (http://sub-domain.yoursite.com)

Now I'm promoting my site with 4 times the power than before!

But don't stop there...

Do you write articles? How about committing 2 of your links
to every article. Change them up with each article.

Ex:

Article #1 (How to Submit Your Site to Search Engines)

Try adding
www.yoursite.com
www.sub-domain.yoursite.com

Article #2 (How to Market Your Site Twice)

Try adding
http://yoursite.com &
http://sub-domain.yoursite.com

I hope this small timbit of knowledge gives you the edge you
need to put your business ahead of the game!

Best of luck to you!

Martin Lemieux
Smartads - President

http://www.smartads.info
Affordable web site design

http://smartads.info
Marketing Articles & Web Site Marketing Tactics
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Martin Lemieux
Smartads - President
http://www.smartads.info
Affordable web site design
http://smartads.info
Marketing Articles & Web Site Marketing Tactics

10 Benefits of B-to-B Email Marketing

2008-06-24T08:43:00.000+07:00

If there is any single tool that we should be enthusiastically embracing as marketers, it is business to business email marketing.

There is simply no way to match the value that business to business email marketing provides for communicating with prospects and customers.

The amazing thing is most of us are not actively engaged in any form of email marketing yet. At best, we send an occasional email blast to our customer base to introduce a new product or announce an event.

Many of us have NEVER sent a single promotional email to a list of prospects or customers. So if you are among the few who have, reach right back and give yourself a hearty slap on the back.

I have my theories about why most of us do not use business to business email marketing to its greatest advantage, which I will not go into here, but I suspect it is heavily related to the following barriers:

1) We must frequently rely on IT and/or our Web team to provide the enabling infrastructure and we are low on their priority list.

2) We do not have direct access to the mailing and tracking tools and have to rely on outside resources to put our strategies into play.

3) We do not know exactly how to implement an effective business to business email marketing strategy.

4) We fear being branded as a spammer at the slightest indiscretion.

Regardless of why business to business email marketing is not more widely accepted, the fact remains that it is a marketing tool that we must have in our toolbox.

Those marketers who jump on the bandwagon now will have a decided advantage versus the competition when they deploy their 'secret weapon'.

Benefits of Business to Business Email Marketing

1) Low cost

Compared to any other form of direct marketing, business to business email marketing is fantastically cheap. When you cultivate and mail to your own opt-in email list, the cost per message is so low, you can almost call it free.

You do need to invest in some kind of infrastructure, but if you are smart and careful, you can keep your costs below $1,000 a year.

If you only send 10 messages to a list of 2,000 subscribers, your cost is just $.05 per message. You can see how a serious business to business email marketing program could cost just a fraction of a penny per message.

2) Metrics Galore

With business to business email marketing, almost every step in the buying process can be measured and tracked on an ongoing basis. You can easily track the total clicks on every link in each message, the conversion of clicks to sales or clicks to leads, and with some programs you can measure opens (how many people opened your message) and forwards (how many people forwarded your message) You can take what you learn from one campaign and apply it to future campaigns with a high degree of precision.

3) Permission based

Unless you are spamming (sending unsolicited emails), all effective business to business email marketing is conducted to an opt-in list. This means that every subscriber requested to be on your list, they want to receive emails from you. Because of this, business to business email marketing is one of the purest forms of permission-based direct marketing. Very few direct mail or telemarketing campaigns can claim the same.

4) Easy to implement

If you aren't implementing business to business email marketing in your business right now, it may seem a daunting technical challenge to build the infrastructure and tools required to pull it off. But rest assured that adding business to business email marketing to your mix is not as difficult as it sounds.

There are many great tools available on a subscription basis that allow you to outsource the complete infrastructure required for effective business to business email marketing. You will find two great tools listed at the bottom of this article.

5)A gile Marketing Tool

All marketers and business owners are painfully aware of the fact that the speed of doing business continues to steadily increase. This relentless acceleration drives the need to be supremely responsive to new trends and opportunities in your market.

There is no more responsive tool available to marketers than business to business email marketing. You can literally deploy the tactical elements of a campaign moments after the strategic and messaging elements have been developed. In other words, you can decide on a new strategic direction in the morning, develop your message and offer in the afternoon, and have a message waiting in your prospect's inbox the next morning.

That is rapid communication!

6) Highly Targeted

business to business email marketing is the only medium I can think of where you can not only easily segment your list based on demographic attributes, but also where you can segment your list based on the behavior of your prospect. With some of the simplest systems available, you can begin to develop a profile of your prospects based on the kinds of offers they respond to. With the more complex systems, you can track and store ALL of the actions individual prospects take as a result of your email efforts.

7) Can be Personalized

It is very easy to merge database fields in to email messages to add personalization. Simply adding your subscriber's first name to the subject link has been shown to increase readership dramatically.

The real power of personalization in email marketing comes when you can personalize an offer based on information you have added to your subscriber profiles based on their past behavior. Sending someone a personalized message like the following is a great way to leverage email marketing as a sales tool.

'Ted, I know you bought product x from us last month and I just wanted to check in to make sure it is working as well for you has it does for our other customers. I also wanted to let you know that we have replacement filters for product x available at a 30% discount for the remainder of this month. While you probably don't need filters yet, in a month or two you will. Why not buy now to take advantage the special price and make sure filters are on hand when you need them?'

8) Relationship Builder

Through frequency, personalization, and targeting, your marketing communications can be transformed from a traditional broadcast approach into a system that helps you build relationships with your subscribers.

Studies have shown that qualified prospects require 3-7 contacts from a company before they will respond with a purchase. The main driver of this need on the part of the prospect that they want to feel a level of trust in their relationship with the company.

business to business email marketing allows you to develop a personal presence with your subscribers and the low cost per contact makes it easy to contact subscribers frequently (within reason).

9) High Response Rates

There are many variables that contribute to response rates, but most direct marketing experts agree that email generally pulls a higher response than other direct marketing choices.

One of key reasons is that if you read a compelling offer in an email you can respond immediately by following a hyperlink to an order page or to get more information.

Responding to a direct mail piece requires one to pick up the phone and dial a number, a much more active response requirement.

10) Develops a Maturing Asset

The larger and more mature your list is, the more valuable it becomes. Your client database continues to be enriched with additional information about your subscribers and subscribers continue to develop a deeper and deeper relationship with the company.

Over a period of years, your opt-in database is likely to become your most valued marketing asset.

Ok, so there are a lot of compelling benefits...but what does one do to overcome the barriers I outlined at the beginning of this article?

The most important thing to do is to start doing something now, even the smallest steps will lead to big successes in the long run, just put some element of an business to business email marketing strategy into play within the next few weeks.

I've also listed some tips for overcoming the barriers below.

We must frequently rely on IT and/or our Web team to provide the enabling infrastructure and we are low on their priority list.

This one is easy. The best and fastest solution is to outsource. You can task a marketing communications agency with helping you set up a program, or you can subscribe to one of the hosted email solutions and do it yourself. I list some places to start investigating self-service solutions under point the next point.

We do not have direct access to our mailing and tracking tools and have to rely on outside resources to put our strategies into play.

This is why I prefer a do-it-yourself solution, at least in the beginning. Being able to touch and modify your campaigns directly is not only a great way to learn, it will save you a ton of money and help you ensure that your business to business email marketing strategy is truly a low-cost solution.

Here are a two popular tools you can look into...

1AutomationWiz:

This is the tool I use to publish this ezine and to automate all of the email follow-up on my site. I chose it because it provides the subscriber acquisition and database management tools I need, allows me to send text or HTML emails, doesn't restrict the number of emails I can send in any given month, and (most importantly) provides unlimited sequential autoresponders. The autoresponder feature is a must-have if you want to truly automate your program.

To learn more about 1AutomationWiz visit http://www.1AutomationWiz.com

Mailer Mailer

This is an excellent tool as well. Mailer Mailer provides a lot more HTML support than 1AutomationWiz (including complete, fill-in-the- blank templates). If your goal is to create good looking HTML messages, Mailer Mailer makes it really easy.

Another thing that this tool has that 1AutomationWiz does not is the ability to track opens (how many times your message was read). What it is lacking is unlimited sequential autoresponders.

To learn more about Mailer Mailer click visit http://www.mailermailer.com

We do not know exactly how to implement an effective business to business email marketing strategy.

There are a lot of resources on the Web to help get you started, but this is definitely an area of need. As I look around, I find that there aren't any great, step-by-step guides for setting up an business to business email marketing strategy within a business. In fact, I see such a need that I've started writing a book about it. I'll keep you posted about the progress, but if you have immediate questions, please email me and I'll try to include answers in the Subscriber Q&A in the next issue.

We fear being branded as a spammer at the slightest indiscretion.

Spam is an epidemic, but this concern is overblown when it comes to emailing your customers. If you send an unsolicited email to a customer with legitimate information that they are likely to want, you will not be accused of spamming. Be reasonable, provide an easy way to opt-out, and check your ethics, and you won't have a problem. The best rule of thumb is to give first...then ask. Provide excellent, useful information, and then make an offer.

Of course, if you are mailing (as you should be) to people who have opted-in to your mailing list (thorough a Web form or some other means) then you are in safe water.

Good luck in building your business to business email marketing program!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doug Hudiburg is the founder and key contributor to Business-Marketing-Advisor.com a central source for marketing insight and resources for businesses of all sizes.

http://www.business-marketing-advisor.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author

Doug Hudiburg is the founder and key contributor to Business-Marketing-Advisor.com a central source for marketing insight and resources for businesses of all sizes.

10 High-Impact Viral Marketing Strategies

2008-06-23T20:41:00.001+07:00

Viral Marketing is allowing people to giveaway and use your free product or service in order to multiply
your marketing quickly over the internet. The idea behind viral marketing is that you include your ad
with the freebie people giveaway or use. Below are ten high impact viral marketing strategies:

1. Allow people to reprint your articles on their web
site, in their e-zine, newsletter, magazine or ebooks.
Include your resource box and the option for article
reprints at the bottom of each article.

2. Allow people to use any of your freebies as free bonuses for products or services they sell. Include your ad on all your freebies.

3. Allow people to use your online discussion board for their own web site. Some people don't have one.
Just include your banner ad at the top of the board.

4. Allow people to sign up for a f.ree web site on your server. Since you are giving away the space, require them to include your banner ad at the top
of the site.

5. Allow people to add their link to your free web site directory. Just require that they return a link
back to your web site, advertising your directory.

6. Allow people to provide your f.ree online service to their web site, visitors, or e-zine subscribers.
They could be free e-mail, e-mail consulting, search engine submissions, etc.

7. Allow people to give away your free software. Just include your business advertisement inside the software program.

8. Allow people to give away your free web design graphics, fonts, templates, etc. Just include your ad on them or require people to link directly to your
web site.

9. Allow people to place an advertisement in your free ebook if, in exchange, they give away the ebook to their web visitors or e-zine subscribers.

10. Allow people to give away your f.ree ebook to their visitors. Then, their visitors will also give it
away. This will just continue to spread your ad all over the internet.

About the Author

R. Phillips has been using affiliate marketing for over 5 years. She has recently launched a new website to help others succeed. Please visit http://www.real-work-at-home.com for more information. This article may be reprinted by anyone, as long as the links remain intact with the article.

10 Quick Steps To A Home Business Marketing Plan

2008-06-23T08:36:00.000+07:00

Did your know that without a solid marketing strategy your home based
or small business will struggle to find success.

You will need a marketing plan or strategy to introduce your
business to the consumer market. To create a buzz about your
business and keep it in consumer minds. Buzz and familiarity
will create demand for your goods.

And if this is successful...consumers will line up to purchase your
goods or service, leading to P-R-O-F-I-T-S.

Simple enough?

You would be astonished at the number of business owners who
start a new business without a solid marketing plan in hand.

What follows are 10 tips to draft your own marketing plan
quickly and easily. Adapt them to fit your business goals.

1. Research
You must know who are your best customers for your business,
what are their purchasing habits, their income level,
education level, are they male, female, young, older,
city dwellers, suburbanites, and who are your direct competitors.

2. Target
Think of a unique angle or a niche to fill with your service.
For example, there are hundreds of day care services in most
communities. Here's an example, zero in on low income single
moms with special needs children. Offering care they could
not get for the same price. Or you might decide to open your
day care center earlier and close later in the day than
similar centers for parents who work long hours.

3. Details
Write a detailed report of what you are offering. This will
help guide you when you write classified ads or business
sales letters.

4. The Competition
Find out who is marketing a similar service in your community.
How much they charge and their unique selling point.
Determine ways toout finesse them.

5. Mission Statement
Write a mission statement telling who you are and what you are about.
Explain what you are selling and add your unique selling point.

6. Marketing Idea
How will you create demand for your product? By offering extra's,
quality, performance, price.

7. Price
How much will you charge. Will you charge less than the
competition to attract new customers. Charge a similar price,
but offer extra's. Or you could charge slightly more and provide
better quality. Use this as a unique selling point.

8. Budgets
How much money will you invest in marketing your product:
daily
weekly
monthly

9. Goals
What income are you forecasting per week, month, year?
How many sales per week, month, year?
How many customers served per week, month, year?

10. Success
What methods will you use to measure a successful marketing plan?
Reaching a predetermined income.
Selling more than the competition.
Satisfied Customers.

At the end of a year review all your marketing statistics.
Did you reach your goals? If you did not reach your goal,
revise your marketing plan until you find a winning strategy.

Need More Info?

Visit your local library for books on marketing plans or
read the many free marketing ebooks found online. Read every
thing you can on advertising or marketing. Set up your own
research files on marketing strategies. Keep striving to improve.

______________________________________________________________

BB Lee is Editor/Publisher Of SmallBizBits Home Based Business
Newsletter. Subscribe Now For Unique Startup Ideas, Great Home
Business Articles, Tips, Advice.
Visit:http://www.angelfire.com/zine/smallbiz
mailto:smallbiz@angelfire.com
_______

About the Author

BB Lee is editor and publisher of SmallBizBits home business newsletter and a published freelance writer.

10 Start Up Marketing Tips

2008-06-22T20:32:00.000+07:00

This list has been compiled as a result of years of working with business owners who didn't quite lay the right groundwork when they started up, and ended up paying for it later. Sometimes, what seems like a means of saving money actually ends up costing more in the long run. Some of these tips work for all different kinds of businesses, while others are more relevant to consultancies.

1. Always get your logo in multiple file formats.

It will probably cost you extra, but it will save you a whole lot of trauma and expense later. Make sure you receive:

- a high-resolution TIFF file
- a web-ready JPEG
- vector version - preferably Illustrator
- a layered version (PSD)

2. Have a copy-less brochure designed - one that can be run through your laser printer.

You can have a letter or legal-sized brochure created in colour with only your company name and logo, address, and USP (or tag line) plus a nice watermark done in full colour (uncoated, no folds) that allows you to print the copy as you need it. This way you can create custom brochures as you need them, instead of having a thousand copies (or more) of a single brochure that might get changed.

3. Get business cards for all staff - even part-timers.

People love to hand out business cards. Can you find a cheaper advertising method?

4. Invest in blank business card stock.

The same way you can have your brochures printed without any copy on them, you can have your printer set 8.5 x 11 sheets set up for business cards, which you can use for people who are representing your company on a contract basis.

If you are placing anyone at a client site, they should have a business card with your company information.

5. Have an MSWord document template designed, at the same time as your letterhead and other marketing collateral.

Make sure it has a cover page as well. It will be good for proposals, quotes, white papers, specifications, faxes, notices, and so on. You can also use this to generate polished and professional PDFs for your website.

6. If you give presentations, have your own PowerPoint template designed as well.

7. Have your own domain name.

Even when you start with only a one-page placeholder describing your company, make sure it is on your own domain name, unless you are part of an industry association website that clearly states what you do. When I receive email addressed from businessname@LargeInternetServiceProvider.com it really appears as though this person does not understand the Internet, or is too cheap to get his own domain name. A domain name can cost you as little as $7 US for a year, and you may be surprised how inexpensive hosting will cost. Look into it - it will make your business seem more solid.

8. Make sure every employee has an email address at your business domain.

This is one of those peculiar areas, as with business cards, where companies tend to skimp out as though saving a few pennies in server traffic, is worth the cost in professionalism and name placement. There have been many times when I have received an email from someone I don't know, or a message that has been forwarded to me by someone I know, and I have typed in the domain name (the part after the @ sign) out of pure curiosity. It's a perfect opportunity to showcase your company for surprisingly little - and you never know who it is going to reach.

9. Create a standard company email signature.

Everyone working for your company should have a standard email signature attached to every email message that goes out the door - that is those four or five lines that follow all email correspondence. Most email clients have a function that will automatically insert the specified text. Everyone who receives mail from you or your employees and representatives should be given an easy way to find out more information and to contact your company.

A standard email signature file might consist of:

-- [or some way to signify this is the end of the message body]

[Full name of the person sending the mail][, Title optional]

[Company name]

[Phone number]

[Web address]

[Company USP (Unique Selling Proposition or "tag line"]

10. Get training.

Learn how to use your office tools efficiently. If it's not you managing the administrative side of operations, pay to have that person trained. For the investment of a day or two, knowing how to use the software will save many many hours of frustration and lost document.

How is this marketing-related? How do you think it looks or sounds to your client to have to say, "I can't do that," or, "just a minute - I just lost the record."

About the Author

© 2005 Gisela McKay. Gisela McKay is Chief Technology Officer of pixcode Inc., an Internet Property Management company, with such properties as NaturalHealthcare.ca, CanadaEventsCalendar.ca, and BusinessPartnerships.ca.

Key Words - they will find you on the web

2008-06-22T08:25:00.000+07:00

Keywords are what people give a search engine to find what they are looking for on the web. You can define your key words before you even start your website. Say there are a lot of competing web pages mentioning your product - how should a search engine put these pages in order of relevance to a search? Say some pages contained the word once, and some contained the word ten times, and some contained the word between two and nine times. If all other factors (e.g. number of links from other web pages) were equal, search engines would list those pages containing the word ten times first, followed by those with the word nine times, then eight times, etc., and then those pages containing the word only once listed last.

Let's build up a list of search words for one product. Take tents for an example. What words describe it? Here are four words - tent, marquee, marquise, bivouac. What are its uses? Camping equipment, holidays, vacations, parties, functions, weddings. What material is it made from? Canvas, etc. What is your brand name? People may have heard of your brand and may look for it by name. Let's say it's brand name is "Dingo." Where is it available? Some products you may sell worldwide, but possible delivery costs could be limiting.

People may search for the product in their own area first. In that case your state, your nearest city, and your suburb are required key words. Say your area is Penrith. Your customers may search for Penrith, Sydney, NSW or Australia, particularly if they live outside the city or suburb. Key Words so far are 24: Tent, tents, marquee, marquees, marquise, bivouac, camping equipment, holiday, holidays, vacation, vacations, party, parties, function, functions, wedding, weddings, canvas, Dingo, Penrith, Sydney, NSW, Australia. (Include singular and plural, where possible.)

Where should these appear on your web page? Title tag This is the most important tag which displays at the very top of your browser. Use every key word here. But words here need to be seen also on the web page. Keywords tag This is now largely ignored by search engines. Description tag Same as above. Heading tags Instead of "Welcome to Dingo Inc." say "Dingo Tents and Marquees" Links to inside pages Instead of "Products" say "Tents" and "Marquees" Instead of "About Us" say "About Dingo Tents" Body text This is where you can be creative.
Mix the key words into phrases and sentences. See how many ways there are to describe the products, their use, and where they are. Examples of Key Words embedded in text: Pole tents, frame tents, canvas tents, vinyl tents, play tents, event tents, party tents, wedding tents, camping tents, stall tents, large tents, small tents, tent accessories are all at Dingo Tents. Holiday under canvas with a Dingo tent or marquee. Dingo has camping equipment for your next vacation. Dingo tents and marquees are in all sizes. See inside for tent sizes. A large Dingo marquee ensures nothing will dampen your wedding, party, or outside function. Dingo tents and marquees are near you if you live in Penrith or Sydney, NSW Australia. Dingo tents can be delivered anywhere in NSW, Australia.

See how in just the hundred words above it's possible to mention tent(s) twenty times. Provided the key words are embedded in a lot of text, and not repetitive, like "tents, tents, tents," they will count for you. When the text of the whole page with contact details, etc., is considered the proportion of key words to total words will be lower and acceptable. The font can be small but is not allowed to be invisible.

Search engines have formulas for discerning where text is the same color as its background. Search for competing websites and see how many key words they have fitted into their home page. Then try for more key words on your page. Do all this before you start your own website. We are often asked to redesign someone else's website, after they realize their work of art is not appreciated by search engines. Start out to be friendly to search engines.

Create a Search Engine Toolbar for Your Web Site

2008-06-21T22:21:00.000+07:00

The trend started with Google releasing their toolbar for Internet Explorer. It changed the way we searched by making the search engine available from inside the browser with no need for the user to go to the particular website.

And now, Yahoo!, Microsoft, AOL� Every big corporation running a search engine has their own toolbar. So much so that if I turn all the toolbars installed on my particular browser, there would be little space left for browsing space!

So, how do you as a web publisher (or a content provider) reach out to your clientele? Get them to install a search toolbar that is custom made to suit your website. I found some companies selling tools to make customized toolbars, but the one I am discussing today provides the service for free and integrates custom search results for YOUR SITE.

Effective Brand has a complete web-based toolbar generator. Moreover, they host the toolbar for you on their website with a custom page dedicated to it. The initial toolbar generator is a 4-step procedure where user gets to pick up a logo, a search string, custom buttons, and basic toolbar details. And the system generates the toolbar and the custom page.

What is the best thing about this toolbar generator? The ability to make changes without worrying about client end version. Whenever a user opens the browser, the toolbar is updated with the latest settings and updates from the server. Thus, one time installation is required on the client side. And with "recommended site" results integrated in the toolbar, it acts more as a search companion and not just like a static toolbar hogging valuable browser window space.

Another nice feature of this toolbar maker is an optional RSS aggregator. You can specify the RSS feed link and update interval. And that feed is updated on the toolbar with links to the latest posts! Another great way to market your site. Another implementation of this RSS aggregator is news alert using which you can deliver messages to the clients using the toolbar from the Effective Brand Backend.

The toolbar offer great flexibility with custom buttons and ability to move individual components of the toolbar at desired locations. The toolbar I created for BlogSearchEngine can be accessed from here. Some other sites using the toolbar are mentioned on the Recent Toolbar Page.

Custom IE Toolbars from Effective Brand

So, what is the catch?

Well, the toolbar is Internet Explorer only. And the company places some promotional links on the toolbar menus. Other than that, it is a good deal considering it costs nothing and can enhance your site's search traffic, brand your site on the browser of your users, and bring users back again and again.

About the Author

Loren Baker is the owner of the Blog Search Engine, a search engine for blogs entries and moblogs pics.

How To Choose A Topic For Your Members Only, Membership Website

2008-06-21T08:18:00.000+07:00

There are several things you must do to set up your membership website. However, none is more important than selecting your topic. Why? Selecting the right topic will determine your success or failure. Choose an interesting topic, and your membership website is almost guaranteed success. Choose the wrong topic, however, and your site will fail miserably.

Need help choosing a topic for your membership website? Read on.

Membership Websites: Choose A Topic Centered Around YOUR Expertise Everyone�s an expert these days. Where there used to be a lawyer on every block, there�s now an expert, sometimes two or three.

But what does that have to do with you?

Everything. Think about it. You�re an expert, too! Don�t believe me? Let�s just see. Say you�ve been interested in Hot Wheel cars, since you were a kid, and you know every fact about them�where they were made, when each model was created and all about the founders, etc.

Would that not count as Hot Wheel Cars expertise? Yes, of course, it would. See my point?

Look at all areas of your life�especially your interests and hobbies�and discover where your expertise lies. Your hidden expertise may be found in your:

� Career/Work
� Hobbies
� Interests
� Culture
� Religion
� Community Service
� Lifestyle

Consider the above, and you�ll discover just how valuable�and profitable�your newfound expertise is.

Membership Websites: Choose A Topic You Like
Think about the last time you spent time doing something you really enjoyed. I�ll bet time just flew by.

Since you�ll be spending a considerable amount of time on your membership website, choose a topic you really enjoy. That way, it won�t feel like work.

There�s another reason for choosing a topic you really enjoy�you already have a potential member base!

Let�s say you�re a member of a Creole cooking club with 25 members, for instance. If you decided to start a Creole cooking membership website, you already have 25 potential members!

See how important it is to pick something you like?

Membership Websites: Choose A Topic That Has An Audience
The next thing you want to do is make sure that the topic has an audience. There�s no point in creating a membership website that no one will join.

How do you ensure that you have a membership website that people will join? First, select a topic that has broad appeal but can be narrowed down into a niche or subniche.

For example, instead of a computer website, focus your content on laptop computers. Or, instead of ladies� fashions, select plus-size fashions for short women or vintage fashions.

Why?

The information on your membership website has to be so specialized that it�s worth paying for. Since there�s plenty of information on computers, why should someone pay you to access information they can easily get for free anywhere Internet?

Remember though, the more specialized the topic, the higher the membership fees, since the information will be really hard to find anywhere else, making it worth paying for.

Find the perfect balance and don�t micro-niche yourself out of members. Though you want to create a niche site, you don�t want it to be so obscure that you only get two paying members�your mom and a friend.

The goal is to generate income, so keep it broad enough to attract people and niched enough to get subscribers.

Since choosing a topic for your membership website is one of the most important decisions you will make, take your time, evaluate your interests and do some research. Once your research is done and you have your hot topic, then you can start building your Membership Website or use a professional to help you. Some company offer very low costs for their services and monthly cost for hosting. So get started now and reach financial freedom!

Want more information on membership websites? You can receive a FREE mini course by email with more helpful information. Just to http://memberstar.net.

Ron Ruiz is a product developer, marketer and newsletter publisher. He has extensive experience in all aspects of starting and running a membership/subscription/coaching website. His own membership website http://www.businessfastlane.com has been operating for several years and has members from over 26 countries. He has also developed his own all in one membership software system called Memberstar� which makes it easy to set up and run a members only site. http://memberstar.net

Internet Marketing Guide

2008-06-20T22:14:00.000+07:00

If you are considering launching a website for your business or entering the lucrative world of e-commerce by starting an online business, there are a few things you need to keep in mind in order to assure your web site�s success. Without taking the time to understand how the Internet and search engines work you will certainly guarantee that no one will see your site. The Internet is a whole new ball game when it comes to marketing. Invest a few minutes in making your website a success by browsing through the tips listed in the Internet marketing guide below.

Simply launching a web site and hoping the search engines will pick it up or that someone will stumble upon it isn�t a very effective strategy. The first Internet marketing guide step you need to employ involves your domain name. The domain name you select needs to be easy to spell, visually attractive and relative to your business. It can be very tempting to come up with a name that either includes a version of your own name or a cutesy or unique domain name (example: www.bobsuseddvds.com or www.gourmetkoffee.com) however the sad reality is that this type of combination is not very efficient for several reasons.

First, it can be a little difficult for the average surfer to remember, particularly if your name is a common name. Secondly, as in the example listed, you end up with too many of the same letters of the alphabet. This example has far too many of the letters S and D. Finally, you need to select a name that will stand out visually and that is easy to remember and spell. While the term �gourmet coffee� relates to a specific business and is easy enough to remember, the unusual spelling of coffee could result in the opposite effect of what you are trying to accomplish. If the domain name you would like for your business has already been registered by someone else, consider using a different extension. Not every domain name needs to end in .com. There are other extensions available. Also think about re-arranging words or adding words to make the name unique and still easy to remember and spell. For example, while the domain name gourmetcoffee.com might already be taken; chances are www.gourmetcoffeeforyou.com probably isn�t.

You also need to give some serious consideration to how you are going to reel your customers into your site. Most Internet consumers do not surf to initially make a purchase. A large majority of your potential customers are looking for information. You need to be able to provide them with the information they want, for free, and then persuade them to purchase your product. Simple loading images of your products and listing prices won�t make very many sales. There are several Internet marketing guide techniques you can use to lure customers to your site.

Provide articles that relate to your subject. If you sell a variety of vitamin and mineral supplements, you could offer articles with information on the various benefits and uses of each type of supplement you sell. Make sure the articles contain a healthy quantity of the words someone would type into a search engine to look for information on that supplement and you�ve taken your first step toward search engine optimization. That wasn�t so hard, was it? Remember, the steps of an effective internet marketing guide is really composed of nothing more than thinking like the average consumer.

Jack Elmy's web site provides information on the basics of creating business plans that get results and will help you succeed in your business, visit: http://www.900-business-plans.com

You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your e-book or on your web site, free of charge, so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed above.

Cheap & Easy Online Marketing

2008-06-20T10:09:00.001+07:00

A successful online business takes more than a website�a lot more! When I ask people if they have an online business, many people tell me they are creating their website. That�s good news except I get the feeling they think that is all they have to do to have a successful online business. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

A major search engine like google.com will have over 8 billion websites in their database. That�s right! Eight Billion! In order to be found on the Internet, just having a website won�t cut it. A web presence is just the start of a long, never-ending journey. Driving traffic to your website must become an overwhelming obsession. The more traffic you drive, the more sales you will make. So how do you drive traffic to a website?

There are hundreds of ways to drive traffic to your website. They start with the free and easy ones like free online classified ads, email signature lines, and link exchanges. Then, you have the more complicated and expensive methods like website optimization, online advertising and email campaigns. Where to start? With the cheapest and easiest first unless you have a lot of capital to launch your website.

Free Online Classified Ads

If you search the Internet for �free classified ads�, you will discover hundreds of sites. Start posting! This may take time but it doesn�t cost you any money. Make certain to get the biggest return for your posting by having a compelling 25 word ad for your website.

Don�t spend time talking about �who� you are and how long you�ve been in business. �They� don�t care! You would be better off to offer something for free in your classified ads. Offer a free ebook or product sample. Offer the chance to win a free drawing for one of your products. Remember, you need to drive traffic to your site. What words will do that?

Email Signature Lines

Every time you send an email, you have an opportunity to influence the email�s recipient. Just below your signature, add a hot link to your website and your 25 word free classified ad copy. In your email program, this should take about 5 minutes to set up and it will automatically be added to every email you send.

Link Exchanges

There are many large link exchange groups on the Internet. They were spawned based upon the need for cross-linking sites. Why? The search engines used to make the assumption �the more links pointed at your site, the more popular your site�. �Used to� is the operative word here. The search engines can now tell if you are linked to these large linking farms and discount your website because of it. So, back to the �old� way of link sharing.

Think of your product. Let�s say your product is vintage dolls. Go to your search engine of choice (I prefer Google) and type in �vintage dolls�. Now start to go through every website listed. Find those sites which complement your product but don�t compete with your product.

In our example, you would look for websites that focus on display cases for dolls, vintage clothing for dolls, or furniture for dolls. On every one of those websites, find their contact information. Now, send them an email. Your offer? To place a link from your website to theirs if they will do the same for you. Give them your website address so they can check it out.

For every one that responds, add their link to your site, as they have for you. At the very least, this might generate a targeted customer to your website. It will also help your search engine popularity ranking.

If you are starting out on a shoe string, try these cheap and easy methods first. As you begin to make money, take some of the profit and invest it in higher order marketing like website optimization efforts, online advertising, and email campaigns. Ready? Good!

The best method for driving traffic to your website is the one you actually do. So, quit reading articles and get going!

Michele Schermerhorn has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (http://www.obinstitute.com) and regularly conducts free online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to �Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time�.

Attracting Advertisers For Your Site

2008-05-30T10:08:00.001+07:00

So you have a web site and your building traffic, and hopefully you're
showing a profit from your own product sales and/or through affiliate
programs. Now it's time to look at attracting advertisers who will pay you to
run their banners and/or text links on your site (and in your ezine or
newsletter, if you have one.)

Know Your Visitors

The first step is to compile demographic information on your site's visitors.
This is extremely important information for any potential advertiser, and is
important for you in targeting potential advertisers.

There are two simple ways of collecting demographic data on your visitors.
You can run a daily or weekly poll, or you can collect this information
through the subscription process if you have a newsletter or ezine. For
example, Listbot allows you to ask demographic information of those
subscribing to your ezine/newsletter. Otherwise, simply polling your visitors
works too.

Don't try and collect too much information, as most people are unwilling to
spend the time to fill out a long form or survey, and may be quite hesitant
to give too much information. Just concentrate on the basics:

Country Gender Age Home Ownership Education Marital Status Children in
Household Income

This information will be enough to give potential advertisers a good sense of
who visits your site.

Know Your Traffic

Potential advertisers are also going to want to know how many unique visitors
your site generates (and the subscription base of your ezine/newsletter, if
you have one.)

Many hosting companies make available your site's statistics - either as part
of your monthly fee or for an additional fee. If they don't provide this
service, you can find outside sources such as superstats.com, who offer
various packages, depending on what stats you wish to track and how much
you're willing to pay.

At the very least, you will need to know your monthly unique visitor count
for each page of your web site. Most services provide stats on a daily,
weekly, monthly and yearly basis, and collect much more information than just
unique visitors.

Determining Your Price

Now it's time to determine what you'll charge for advertising on your web
site (and ezine/newsletter.) I suggest offering three advertising options:

Prime Ad

Standard Ad

Basic Ad

These can pertain to both banners and text link advertisements. Prime ads are
large (full color or bold text), and appear at or near the top of each page.
Standard ads are scaled down versions of prime ads and are generally smaller
in size and may or may not have color or bold features, etc. These usually
appear somewhere in the middle of your page or in a side column. Basic ads
are simple text links or very small banners and are normally placed at or
near the bottom of a page.

In setting your price, you can use a general rule of thumb: $ times the
number of unique visitors for the length or term of the ad (ad run). Prime
ads: .007 cents, Standard: .006 cents, basic .005 cents.

Example:

Prime ad for your main page for a one month duration.

Unique visitors to that page - one month: 150,000 Prime Ad price: $.007

Calculation: 150,000 x $.007 = $1,050 /mo.

So, for a prime ad on that page of your site to run for one month would cost
the advertiser $1,050.

* For advertising in an ezine or newsletter, just substitute your
subscription base for the unique visitor figure. (Remember, if yours is a
weekly publication, be sure to times your subscription base by 4.333 to
arrive at a monthly figure.)

This is just a guideline - it's always a good idea to find out what your
competitors are charging advertisers and adjust your price based on that
information.

Advertiser's Informational Packet

Once you've collected all the above information, you need to come up with a
way to present this information to potential advertisers. I suggest a short
and to the point Advertiser's Informational Packet. This should be available
in both an online and off-line version.

Our Advertiser's Informational Packet is ordered as follows:

Company Information and Background

Our Advertising Efforts and Partnerships

Web Site & Newsletter Demographics

Advertising Options & Current Rates

Payment Methods

It's always a good idea to offer incentives or discounts. Give a price break
to those who commit to advertising for several months or for those who take
out more than just one ad, etc. Personally, I like to offer new advertisers �
off their second month's total ad cost. (Buy one month, get the second at
half price.)

Where To Find Potential Advertisers

The last thing you need are the actual advertisers themselves. If you don't
already have an Advertise With Us page on your site, consider putting one up.
You might be surprised by how effective this can be. Many potential
advertisers use search engines and terms to find sites which relate to their
products. If they come across yours and you have an Advertise Here page, they
just might contact you for advertising information. Be sure to also submit
this page to the major search engines.

Another simple way of getting advertisers is to go to your competitors web
sites and see who's advertising with them. All is fair in love and Internet
advertising, right? If you can offer them a better deal, they just might
place their advertising with you.

Don't forget to look into off-line businesses as well. For example, there may
be a magazine (not online), which shares similar demographics with your web
site. By taking the time to do a little research and to draft a well-written
letter of introduction, you may find these off-line businesses very receptive
to placing advertising with you.

There are also many advertising agencies which would be more than willing to
help sell advertising on your site (or in your ezine), but I suggest trying
to do it on your own at first. If later you need help, then contact these
agencies.

For an example of an Advertise With Us page, see
http://www.taddgroup.com/newsletter_advertising.htm or go to our sister site
http://www.mysticbeagle.com/advertise_here.htm

About the Author

Todd W. Winslow is the co-owner of TADD Marketing Group, L.L.C. He is also
the founder of TADD Publishing Group which publishes a variety of e-mail
newsletters http://www.taddgroup.com, and is co-creator of The Mystic Beagle
- a romance and relationship advice web site http://www.mysticbeagle.com

2008-05-29T09:02:00.002+07:00

One thing you can never have too much of online is web site traffic. If you're looking for ways to drive more visitors to your site, try these traffic generating tips:

TRAFFIC TIP #1: Develop Several Pages Focused On Particular Keywords

Search Engine specialists don't recommend using external doorway or gateway pages, since sites are being penalized for having duplicate pages. Instead, develop several webpages on your site, each of which is focused on a different keyword or key phrase. For example, rather than listing all your services on a single webpage, try developing a separate one for each. These pages will rank higher for their keywords since they contain targeted rather than general content. And since not many people are doing this yet you'll find it's possible to get several top 10 rankings.

TRAFFIC TIP #2: Pay Super Affiliates To Promote Your Site

Hand pick webmasters with popular sites or list owners with large, responsive lists and offer them $100 just for signing up for your affiliate program and promoting your link. With this approach you�ll definitely get their attention and ensure that you sign up real affiliates who will actively promote your products and services. Even just 3 or 4 of these affiliates can cause a substantial increase in your site�s traffic (and your sales!).

TRAFFIC TIP #3: Give Away Your Product Or Service To Influential People

In every target market there is a group of people who are the �influencers�. They�re the ones who like to try new products and are very outspoken when they find something they like. The best way to reach these people is to start a word of mouth advertising campaign. Do this by giving away early versions of your product or service to the influencers in your industry and encourage them to spread the word to everyone they know.

TRAFFIC TIP #4: Create An Advergame Specific To Your Site

Advergames are small online games designed to drive traffic to your site based on their entertainment value. As their name suggests their purpose is to advertise your website, product or service in a fun way. If you design one that becomes popular it can create a substantial amount of traffic to your site. Make the most of this by requiring people to give their name and email address before they can play so that you can follow up with them later. The best part is if your game is fun and unique people will tell everyone they know. What a great viral technique!

TRAFFIC TIP #5: Do A Direct Mail Campaign Using Postcards

Postcards have become a favorite advertising method of online marketers because they�re easy to design, inexpensive and they almost always get read. The added bonus is that not only does the recipient read it but often so do several other people along the way. To get started with a postcard campaign use your current customer list and send them a special offer. Another option is to find someone with a list and ask if you can pay them per postcard to send your offer. Or, find a reputable list company and purchase a list of potential customers. Remember though, like all advertising you can�t send one card and expect a flood of orders. Create a campaign that includes a minimum of 3 cards to get the maximum benefit.

Jennifer Tripp
Learn 96 other ways to get more traffic in the Free Special Report �101 Tips To Explode Your Web Site Traffic?. Get it now from http://www.mysmallbizcoach.com/trafficarticle.html

Beyond Keyword Demand

2008-05-28T06:13:00.000+07:00

I get half of the world traffic for the term "dirtbagging," on one page of my backpacking site, but that only means ten visitors a month. Without decent keyword demand you can't ever get much traffic. Total demand is just one factor to consider, though. Here are some others.

1. Demand/supply ratio. There were 289,000 searches for "fishing" last month, but could you compete against the 35,000,000 results on a Google search? "Bass fishing tips," with 3,700 searches, and 31,000 results is a more likely winner.

2. Total supply. For "dirtbagging," Google shows 240 results, and there may be 20 searches monthly for the term. It was easy to get on the first page of results. On the other hand, a keyword with a demand of a million, and a million search results has a better ratio, but can you really get in the first few pages of results? Whatever the ratio, you have to be able to compete against the supply. If you are on the tenth page of results, virtually nobody will find you.

3. Type of keyword. Getting good search engine placement is one thing, but what type of visitor are you getting? Who is more likely to buy something from you or click on your affiliate links, a searcher for "fishing stories," or "fishing poles." If I was selling gear, I think I'd be happier with half as much traffic for the second term as the first.

4. "Odd" keywords. I optimized my site www.IncreaseBrainpower.com for "brain power," and later found there was even more traffic for "brainpower." Both, by the way, are in the dictionary. Look for odd search phrases, but be careful optimizing for misspellings and bad-grammar keywords, if it might hurt the reputation of your site.

5. Value of keyword ads. If you rely partly on Google Adsense for revenue, you may want to consider the ads that will be diplayed for a given keyword. Poetry pages will get you about $0.04 per click, while surveilance cameras can get you $2.00 per click.

A final consideration when doing keyword research is to consider your interest in the topic represented by the keyword. Do you want to write a page on that, and can you deliver what a searcher of that term is looking for?

About the Author

Steve Gillman writes on many money-related topics. To learn more, and to subscribe for FREE to "Web Site Optimization Secrets," go to: http://www.TheMoneyMakerSite.com

Pay Per Click is the Advertiser's Dream

2008-05-25T21:48:00.005+07:00

The way of Internet advertising is changing rapidly. We are moving from websites once cluttered with blinking banners that populated Internet real estate into a cyber-generation of positioning. Marketers are realizing very quickly that the Internet customer is much different than a buyer in the physical world.

The typical Internet shopper has developed the following manifesto which motivates him or her to resort to cyberspace:
1. Privacy - The ability to shop from home without anyone else knowing what you are doing.
2. Convenience - The list of products available on the Internet is more extensive than the famed Mall of America in Minnesota
3. Speed - When's the last time you waited on a pimple-faced teenager working a cash register when checking out on the Internet?

Traditional Internet marketing has not coincided with the Internet surfer's manifesto. However, no means of marketing have come as close as pay per click search engine marketing. In this article we will discuss the drawbacks to traditional banner advertising, new rich media advertising, and e-mail advertising.

We will follow this up with benefits of pay per click search engine advertising.

1. Traditional Banner Advertising
We've all seen them, and then we've all ignored them. The annoying "Punch the Monkey and Win!" flashing 468x60 banner at the top of the website you are visiting. Although in its day this was a highly effective ad, for its novelty and at the same time the fascination at the novelty of the Internet on the part of those who visited the Internet, today we are looking at the stark reality that banner ads just are not effective.

Traditional banner advertising violates all the motivations of the Internet shopper. It intrudes on the shoppers privacy, it creates an inconvenience, and it slows the shoppers ability to find exactly what they are looking for (if they are even paying attention to the ad). As a shopper on the Internet surfs from site to site, or page to page within a site to find what they are looking for, the goal is to find their product or service, learn more about this product or service, and learn about other options which will hopefully lead to an informed purchase.

Introducing banner advertisements often becomes a distraction, or an annoyance, the exact opposite of what any good marketer would like to create. By distracting the shopper from their intended goal the advertiser succeeds in slowing down their ability to make informed decisions while at the same time inconveniencing the shopper with information that they cannot use. In rare instances, a banner advertisement succeeds in aiding a buyer.

In fact, industry experts estimate that only 8 people out of 1000 people who are exposed to a banner ad will pursue what that ad has to offer. This does not mean that they will buy...the number of people who buy compared to the number of people who visits is an entirely different percentage that does not work in our favor. All in all, unless banner advertising is done with extreme precision, it will only succeed to further encourage potential buyers to ignore those common place ads.

2. Rich Media Advertising
You get to the website you want, you just start to surf the site, and then its there. Before you can do what you came to this site to do, you are presented with a floating image, maybe with some music, maybe with something moving all the way across your screen, or a movie. You are given the option to cut this out prematurely with a small 'x' in the upper-right hand corner, but be careful not to miss it, otherwise you will lose the site you initially inteded to visit.

Rich media is very much like most new graphical ads and new technologies on the Internet. It is enjoying the highs of a novelty. People are clicking on these ads...but for all the wrong reasons. Most people do not click on rich media ads because they genuinely are interested in the product or service that they are offering, but rather they click on them because they are "cool". There are no arguments from our camp that these ads are amazing, but they are also one of the greatest intrusions to the Internet surfer's life on the Internet.

The typical Internet user is selfish: he/she wants what they want when they want it. To block the screen and prevent them from reading the site, or clicking a link, or viewing a picture will cause more people to become greatly annoyed than to cultivate genuine feelings of interest in the advertised website.

Again, we have succeeded in teaching Internet users to ignore ads, not to pay attention to them. Rich media, even moreso than traditional banner advertising, violates the Internet surfer. And although this medium is currently enjoying the highs of a technological novelty, look for it to quickly drop off in its effectiveness.

3. E-Mail Advertising
Once a very strong way to advertise, e-mail advertising has quickly risen to the #1 annoyance of those who spend a fair amount of their time with the Internet. This is not to say that there is not a place for e-mail advertising any more, but navigating these grounds is extremely difficult -- and dangerous. The backlash from a poorly executed campaign could cause irreperable harm to the company doing the marketing.

The first and most important problem with e-mail advertising is SPAM. You have certainly heard of it and probably know what it is. E-mail that is sent to a group of people that did not "opt-in" to receive that message. True opt-in e-mail can be quite effective (although not as effective as pay per click advertising). The trick is finding the true opt-in email lists. Many vendors claim to offer opt-in lists, but many of these advertisers also have varying standards as to what "opt-in" really means.

In addition, rarely do you have the guarantee of good targeting. Even if you do get a true opt-in list, many times the users forget they are on this list and complain of spam mail. Get enough complaints to your hosting provider and you could quickly be looking for a new Cyberspace home. Newsletters have become a favorite of many marketers.

This is truly a less intrusive means of e-mail marketing, although it still offers the problems of being an inconvenience to the reader. Most readers are interested in the articles provided by a newsletter, not the advertisements. And again, we are training Internet users to ignore these ads (or delete them as I do).

4. Pay Per Click Advertising
There is a strong, viable answer to Internet marketers who are struggling with finding a friendly, effective means of bringing qualified traffic to their piece of Internet real estate.

The answer: pay per click search engines (PPCSE).
Unlike the other forms of advertising that we discussed, well managed PPCSE's do not bring the intrusive, distracting elements that the other forms of advertising brings.

The key difference between pay per click search engine marketing and other forms of marketing is simple: who initiates the advertisement. In traditional advertising methods, the advertiser is forcing their message upon the Internet surfer. With a pay per click search engine, the user initiates the information flow. They are open to receiving information from marketers. By actively searching on a subject, the surfer is presented with a list of options that should meet or come close to meeting his or her need.

The results are obvious: a more highly targeted visitor to your site, a visitor with a higher inclination to partake in the service your site is offering (as they were actively seeking it in the first place), and the ability to pay for only the interested visitor. Pay Per Click advertising brings obvious benefits to the marketer.

Because the advertiser only needs to pay for the traffic received, and because that traffic is qualified much more than an intrusive banner ad or e-mail, the resulting ROI is much higher. In addition, the marketer does not suffer from as many instances of a passive visitor. This is not to say that there will be no passive visitor, but the instances will be greatly reduced.

One stat that we like to point out in regards to pay per click search engine marketing is this: a clickthrough rate of 100%. Think about it: you know immediately how many visitors you are going to receive as a result of your listing. No worrying about eeking out that extra 0.02% in visitors. If you are familiar with running banner ad campaigns, you will quickly know how frustrating it is to see thousands of impressions go by without anyone paying attention. But most of all, pay per click marketing compliments the Internet surfer's manifesto of privacy, speed, and convenience.

Again, by being a user initiated advertisement, the user is welcoming the information. Because marketers bid on specific keywords and phrases, a well managed pay per click search engine will greatly increase the relevancy of a search initiated by a user.

Also, a well-managed pay per click search engine will eliminate the needless distractions of a company trying to call attention to an unrelated product or service. If you have not yet tried pay per click advertising, you need to begin doing so. It is certainly the future direction of marketing. As other marketing forms struggle to find ways to compliment the Internet surfer's manifesto, pay per click advertising will be a solution to draw in new clients and customers at a fraction of the cost.

Mark Daoust

Search Engine Keywords - What Do People Search For?

2008-05-24T06:10:00.000+07:00

Do you ever wonder how people search for things on the Internet? What if you knew exactly what words they typed when using a search engine? If you're marketing a product or service it's extremely insightful to know what are the most popular search terms relating to whatever you're marketing.

The Overture Company

Overture.com is a Yahoo! company that supplies the Pay Per Click infrastructure for Yahoo! and other websites on the Internet. If you do a search on Yahoo! you'll see anywhere from 1-3 paid promotions appear at the top of the search page and then others at the end. These are paid advertiser listings and they come from Overture.

The Overture Search Tool

In order to maximize the number of clicks on their network, Overture supplies a keyword tool so that their customers know which are the most popular keywords relating to their product of service. This way when an Overture customer selects keywords to advertise on, they can pick the ones that are most popular or the ones that most precisely relate to their product or service. This generates more revenue for Overture and more clicks for advertisers.

Anyone Can Use the Search Tool

Fortunately you don't have to be a customer of Overture to use the search tool. Go to http://inventory.overture.com to find the search tool.

How to Use the Search Tool

The best way to get started is to type in a major word associated with your business. For example if you're in the marketing business, here's the top 10 search terms and their search count.

Search Count Term
1253354 direct marketing
460115 internet marketing
380450 marketing
76542 business marketing small
48494 email marketing
44160 marketing web site
43064 advertising marketing
42613 network marketing
42414 business marketing
31484 health care marketing

This search count number represents about 20% of the Internet so multiply it by 5 to get an approximate number of searches for the entire web, i.e. the total searches for email marketing are 48494*5=242470 searches across the Internet every month.

How to Use the Data

The value of this search tool goes far beyond just determining popular search terms. Here's a few ways to use the tool for market research:

Type in your state or city to find out the most popular searches

Compare the number of searches for your product compared to those of your competitors

Use the most popular search terms relating to your business for your web site domain names to increase their visibility in search engines.

Use it to brainstorm new products or services, especially if something is being searched for but is not widely available

Considering a celebrity endorsement or joint venture partner for your next Internet promotion, compare the various candidates and make an informed decision.

Use it for determining market size or segmentation information for your business plan.

Use it to drive all your web content, from web page titles to Meta Tag keywords and descriptions.

Use it to determine which categories to list your business, from Internet to Yellow Page listings.

Use it to determine important searches relative to your business in foreign cultures and countries that you are unfamiliar with.

Make Informed Decisions from Now On

The Overture Search tool takes the guesswork out of many of your marketing decisions, from choosing Pay Per Click keywords, to determining the next market your company should pursue. Take a look today and you'll be amazed at the wealth of information that is available. You can try the search tool now on the Overture website at http://inventory.overture.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bryan Brandenburg has published 5 books as well as a number of articles both in print and on the internet. He has published almost 30 software programs both for consumers and business. More information and articles can be found at www.vmmg.net

Keyword Research - Find Your Niche Market

2008-05-22T06:08:00.000+07:00

Your website has to target the right keywords for people to find it on the search engines. How will you find these keywords?
Its true!

"Don't try to create search engine traffic. Stand in front of the lane where traffic is."

When you are thinking of creating a new product or developing a website, you should first find out what is it that people are looking for.

Two things are very important for you to succeed.

The product or site should relate to something you love. You can create a successful site on horses only if you love horses.

You have to locate what topic related to your subject is in heavy demand. Is it care and upkeep of horses or horse racing?

If you do not identify a niche market and become an expert in that subject, you will have a tough time succeeding in your venture.

Now, its easier than ever!

Locating your niche area has become easier than ever. There are several tools that help you to locate variations of your basic theme and then report the demand, supply and profitability of these keywords, based on the search engine traffic.

Demand

The amount of search engine traffic your selected keyword is having. The more, the better. This will differ from search engine to search engine.

Supply

The number of sites that come up when someone searches for the term. Obviously, the fewer, the better.

This is your competition. You will have to get a good rank in these search engine result pages (SERP). You have a greater chance of getting a good rank and possibly hits to your sites when there is lower competition.

Potential

The potential of the keyword you are targeting is the ratio of the demand vs. the supply. If the demand goes up, potential goes up; if the supply goes up, potential goes down.

However, there is a twist here.

Which is a better keyword? One with demand and supply of 100 each or one with demand and supply of 1000 each. Naturally the later.

So what we do is - to build this factor in our calculations, we put

potential = (demand x demand) / supply

This reports the potential of the second keyword as being higher - which it is.

You must note here that the actual figure for potential is not important. Its main use is to rank the keywords we are planning to target and identify, which are the ones we will go for first.

About the Author

Arun Agrawal is a Search Engine Optimization consultant and offers Top-10 ranking on Google with money back guarantee. Visit http://www.SEOtop10.com to get in the first page listing without reading another ebook!

Make Your Resume Keyword Rich and Scanner Friendly

2008-05-20T06:06:00.000+07:00

If you haven�t looked for a job recently, there are new tactics that hiring professionals are using that you should be aware of before updating your resume.

Employers and recruiters increasingly rely on electronic resumes, resume posting boards and job banks to find job candidates. Resumes are either being scanned or input directly into keyword-searchable databases, and accessed when an employer inputs a keyword list of requirements that best describe the position they are seeking to fill.

The database searches for keywords describing job titles, responsibilities and descriptions, degree requirements, computer knowledge as well as personality traits. This software scans through thousands of resumes and identifies those that most closely match the imputed keywords. The more keywords or "hits" the software finds in a resume, the more likely it will be read by a HR professional. Keywords are the most important element of a scannable resume.

What exactly are keywords? Keywords are nouns or noun phrases that identify skills unique to a specific profession or industry. Although active verbs have long been essential for building a successful resume, now the noun or noun phrase that follows an active verb is equally important. For example:
- Self-motivated IT manager with a strong work ethic and problem solving abilities
- Talented Graphic Designer of 4-color direct mail catalogs and corporate web site design
- Accomplished in Microsoft Office software applications, Excel, Word and PowerPoint
- Nominated by the New York Times for the Pulitzer Prize in news photography

Keyword nouns are the experience and skills that are specific terminology used in your job and are still relevant to your job search. Other sources for identifying keywords are job descriptions, job titles, software requirements, educational degrees, college names, company names, professional organizations, awards you�ve won and personality traits. Words that are repeatedly used in trade journals and classified ads in association with the job title you are seeking are also keywords.

Whatever your final word choices are, your keywords should accurately describe your skills, talents, and experience. As a word only needs to be used once for it to be considered a "hit" in a keyword search, use synonyms wherever possible to broaden your number of hits.

The Summary area of your resume should consist of several short statements that highlight your most important qualities, achievements and abilities. By tailoring every word in the "Summary� to your targeted goal, you can make this area keyword rich.

The most common ingredients of a well-written Summary are listed below; use what best describe you:
- a sentence describing your profession
- followed by a comment stating your level of expertise
- followed by two to three statements related to any of the following:
- unique mix of skills
- range of environments in which you have experience
- a special or well-documented professional accomplishment
- a history of awards, promotions, or superior performance commendations
- one or more professional or personal characteristics
- a sentence describing your professional objectives or interests
It�s important to list only the skills you would feel comfortable using if you were to be tested. Should the position you are seeking require knowledge of software you don�t know, consider taking lessons before listing it on your resume.
If you�ve submitted your resume online to sites like monster.com or careerbuilder.com your resume has already been electronically imputed into their databases. But what happens if when it�s scanned from a paper copy?

OCR software attempts to match characters scanned from your resume with standard letter shapes. This makes it imperative that your resume is formatted with a font that OCR can recognize, font choice the single most important factor in creating a scannable resume. Simple, conservative typefaces such as Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana and Courier are some of the best choices.

Other content and design guidelines are:
- keep it simple and conservative
- use high quality 8-1/2 x 11 inch, white or off-white paper, print on one side of the paper only
- format headings with either Bold text or ALL CAPITALS.
- use headings sparingly but consistently to support your information structure
- don�t use italics - it skews characters and confuses OCR
- don�t use underlined text - it confuses OCR
- use no more than two fonts in sizes between 10 and 12 points
- allow margins and line spacing (white space) to keep the document from looking crowded
- use horizontal lines to separate sections of your resume
- don�t use vertical lines, graphics, shading or boxes
- your contact information with your name is printed at the top of each page
- a summary, where your best assets, whether education, experience, or skills are listed
- categories are clear and text is indented
- dates of employment are easy to find and consistently formatted
- each entry highlights a capability or accomplishment
- verb tense is consistent; current job is in present tense; past employment is in past tense
- use a minimal amount of punctuation, it can confuse OCR
- capitalization, punctuation, and date formats are consistent
- no typos or spelling errors
- don�t fold or staple your resume, if you mail your resume use a large envelope

Your resume should be a quick and easy to read, containing no fluff and no unnecessary words. As hiring professionals look through hundreds or even thousands of job applications, they may spend only a few seconds reviewing each resume. To catch their attention, you must quickly convey that you standout from the competition. A successful resume is one that does not exclude you from consideration.

Your resume is a personal self-marketing tool; so make sure you get a powerful and accurate message across. By fine-tuning your keywords to meet the qualifications of each job, the more likely that you'll be asked to an interview where you can sell yourself.

About the Author

Mary Carroll is a customer advocate for at Video Professor, the leader in self-paced software learning tutorials, helping our customers to better understand Video Professor and how our tutorials can provide tools to learn various software programs to your desired level.

Keywords are for humans not search engines

2008-05-18T06:04:00.001+07:00

It seems keywords are making the top of SEO list time and time again. The problem is that some optimizers do not understand the rightful purpose of keywords. Keywords should not be solely embedded for the purpose of reaching the top of search engines. Search Engine Optimization should not be the primary focus of any website. The primary and number 1 focus should always be the visitors. If you create a website for your audience and for your visitors then you should rank fairly. I can't see why any legitimate website can not rank properly within search engines, after time and dedication. Search Engine Optimization main purpose is ranking faster within search engines. Instead of gaining a good balance of traffic within 1 or more years, it is possible to gain a good balance of traffic within 6-9 months with SEO.

Keywords play a major factor in SEO and search engines in general, but the question is are keywords for the search engines or the visitors? The visitors are the ones who are trying to find your site by typing in a keyword, but the search engine is the one locating your site and delivering your site to the visitor based on the searched keywords. Therefore I would have to say, keywords, visitors, and search engines all work hand in hand, but if you focus on the visitor and not the search engine, then you will reap greater rewards. A webmaster should have a plentiful of quality and researched keywords, which becomes the sites core. To receive a good balance of keywords you need to think like your visitors or know how your visitors think. It boils down to research and tracking your visitors. Tracking visitors on your site is business-wise and is not an unethical practice, it�s your website (business). In an offline business you are well aware when a visitor opens the door to your business and comes in the store, the same applies online. It becomes unethical when you continue to track visitors when they exit your site, when you invade visitors� privacy, or when you intentionally collect personal information about a visitor without their consent or knowledge. Tracking a visitor within your site does not need to be intense, the common web log files are helpful enough. With the web log files you should be able to track the keyword used to find your website, track where a visitor came from to find your site (the referrer), track the total number of unique visitors, track the total number of all visitors, track how many pages were viewed, track the path visitors take within your site, and much more information is available through the web logs. There are many tools that can translate your raw web log files into graphical and legible text, such as: Nihuo or Web Log Expert which both offers a free log analyzer download as well as an inexpensive analyzer for more detailed stats and more features. There are other upscale web log analyzers which are mostly for enterprises or larger sites but are extremely detailed and rewarding, such as: Web Trends, Deep Matrix, or Urchin (which has recently been acquired by the search engine giant 'Google'). Knowing your visitors can only benefit your site. If you have a new website without any visits then you will not have the benefit of knowing your visitors and you will have to create your visitors habits, by using good judgment and research to determine which keywords best suits your site. Your best effort should provide you with at least 250 keywords and keyword phrases, depending on your site category.

Once you have tracked your visitors and/or have completed researching keywords, you are ready to make informed decisions and begin the process of elimination. Many argue to stay away from popular or general keywords because the market for popular and general keywords is flooded and over-crowded, you will never be able to compete. My sentiments exactly, but remember keywords are for humans not search engines...so yes, I recommend including popular and general keywords as long as the keyword(s) show room for opportunity. Meaning, it has been used by your visitors...as a solitaire keyword or within a keyword phrase. Creating keyword phrases is important because at least 95% of internet users search using keyword phrases, not many use one word. With that said, you should still include a few solitaire keywords. Use singular and plural expressions for keywords. Once you have gathered all your keywords make two lists, one list can be titled active keywords...keywords which you are currently using or plan to use in the near future. The second list can be titled inactive keywords...keywords which have been eliminated and may never be used. Eliminate keywords based on your research, visitor data, and site category. Regardless how general your site is try to have only one focus audience, this zooms in on your target, makes marketing the site easier, and more successful. When done eliminating you should have a plentiful of keywords and keyword phrases. Generally, the goal should be to have at least a combination of 100 keywords and keyword phrases. This number may be greater or lesser depending on your site category/niche market. Keyword research can be accomplished a number of ways. I would recommend using best judgment and sticking to your site topic. If your site is about �the rules of playing baseball� then anything pertaining to the rules of baseball should be included as keywords. Remember think like your visitors, if you were a visitor looking for 'the rules of baseball' how would you search...your search words would probably be something like "rules of playing baseball"...."baseball playing rules"...."playing baseball rules"....rules of baseball"...."baseball rules"...."how to play baseball"...."baseball and the rules"...if your site contains the 'rules of baseball' then each of those keyword phrases will be sufficient for inclusion into your active keyword list. A few links that can help with keyword research are: NicheBot, Wordtracker, Google Keyword Tool, Digital Point Keyword Tool. Some of the main attributes which you want to research is how often the keyword/keyword phrase is searched for within search engines, how much competition there is for the keyword/keyword phrase, and if you are considering pay-per-click then you would probably like to know the average cost per click for each keyword/keyword phrase. You should not rely 100% on any of these reports or other reports from any third-party because there are many deterrence which may offset the reports, you should collect data from each of them and derive a census report which will allow you to make an informed decision.

Think about your visitors each step of the way when using keywords. Which keywords will catch their attention, directly or indirectly? Meaning, if a user searches for 'baseball rules' then when the search engine searches through billions of web pages...it should pull your web page into the results because you have a entire website dedicated to baseball rules and the entire site is centered around keywording. When the search engine crawls through the billions of web pages it should see that your web page title has "baseball rules" within the title, your meta-tag description has �baseball rules� within the description, your meta-tag keywords have �baseball rules� within the keywords, the link to the page is titled �baseball_rules.htm�, and the content on the web page itself has a proper amount of keyword density, basically, the keyword phrase "baseball rules" is plastered throughout the web page mostly leading towards the top of the page. I know most of what I have just mentioned is Search Engine Optimization practices and techniques, yes, that is true, but in actuality the entire process is for the visitors not the search engine. If you create your site easier for the search engine to find then the visitor will also find it easier and faster, but at all times it is important to keep the visitor in mind. Many SEO practicioners would include any keyword about baseball such as: "baseball"..."major leagues"...."major league baseball"...."minor leagues"...."minor league baseball"...."atlanta braves"...."new york yankees"...."baseball players"�.etc. Those keywords are for the search engines not the visitors. If a visitors enters "atlanta braves" as a search keyword and your link is displayed as an result the visitor will be disappointed when he clicks on your link and does not find any solid information pertaining to the "atlanta braves"...instead he/she is greeted with "baseball rules". The visitor will immediately back out without referencing your site or indexing it for later retrieval because it does not pertain to their search quest. Once in a while you may become lucky and get someone who stays because it does mention baseball, but if you tracked conversions, it would surely sink, using this method. The better you target your visitors the more success you will have on the web. Properly using keywords to target your visitors and not the search engines will aid in more ways than one. It will create a healthy online circuit and greater chance for success. Imagine if each time you search the web...you had a perfect search! You only needed to search once, because exactly what you were looking for was found in the first results.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ant Onaf is the owner and founder of www.JournalHome.com. He is an online internet marketer, web advertiser, and IT consultant. Ant Onaf has years of IT-related experience and Internet-related experience. His ingenuity, dedication, and passion for technology & internet marketing have made him a monumental icon in the World Wide Web. His blog can be visited at http://www.journalhome.com/

10 Ways to Tackle Keyword Research and Selection

2008-05-16T06:01:00.001+07:00

You need to be extremely careful with keyword research so that you don't miss excellent opportunities or aim so broadly that you target phrases that will never rank well. Here are 10 strategies to guide you along the way:

1. Know your potential customers.
We can't tell you how many businesses we've met who simply pick keywords out of thin air. They don't talk to customers or hot prospects in order to determine what might be a useful set of keywords.

2. Start with core words.
A core set of keywords - even if too broad - can stimulate creative thinking.

3. Look at the industry.
Examine industry trade group web sites and related newsletters to find potential keywords.

4. Study competitors.
Some companies make a bigger deal of competitors' keywords than they should, but it's still a useful strategy. Invariably, a competitor will be using a strong keyword or phrase you don't want to miss. Often, however, they load their web sites with single keywords that aren't appropriate. If Internet users are seeking cookware, their search terms shouldn't be laundry-based words. Yet we came across that very example. Be careful which words you use.

5. Be specific - add other words to your primary phrases.
If you sell metal, try metal stamping or metal stampers. Or, how about metal stamping companies? Words like services, companies, products, accessories, and many others can really pay off. Ok, everyone wants to rank #1 for terms like "toys" and "sports." It would take more time and budget than you may have to land such terms (through META updates, content adjustments and links).

6. Visit Wordtracker.
It's a great tool even if it only collects a sampling of actual searches (more than 300 million). You'll get a good sense of how frequently someone may search. Here is their URL: http://www.wordtracker.com
7. Use your intuition.
Don't hesitate to try some ideas; Wordtracker and other sources can confirm whether you have a search term people might or might not use.

8. Limit your selection.
Come up with a list of words - 10, 20, 30, maybe 50 or more. But don't get so many that you can't manage them all.

9. Tie keywords to site planning.
Pick keywords you can work with over time. Make sure you don't plan to drop a page from the web site or change it so often that your target keywords may be knocked off or irrelevant every 30 days.

10. Study your log files.
Web analytics is a great tool if you want to see how your visitors are searching. Study the results and you will come up with a revised set of keywords.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Murray is vice president of Fathom SEO, a Cleveland, Ohio-based search engine marketing (SEM) firm. A member of SEMPO, he also authored the white paper, "Search Engine Marketing: Get in the Game."
michael@fathomseo.com

Are You Targeting The Wrong Keywords?

2008-05-15T05:58:00.001+07:00

A colleague asked me recently to name the most critical element of any search engine optimization campaign. I didn�t hesitate to respond "keyword selection".

Like it or not, the keywords and phrases you select to describe your site within your META tags and body text can make or break your listings in the search engines. It�s a sad fact that most companies are targeting the wrong keywords and losing traffic as a result.

Even sites that have excellent rankings will not benefit if those rankings are for unsuitable keywords. Let me give you an example:

A few months ago, we had an Australian client who wanted us to implement an optimization campaign to improve their search engine rankings, but without jeopardising existing rankings they had achieved for two particular search phrases: "Internet solutions Australia" and "online banking solutions".

Can you guess what products and services this company sells? The search phrases don�t really give much away do they? In fact, this company is a distributor of web site design software that is specifically tailored for banks. Now ask yourself this: if you were a bank looking for this company�s products, would you have typed in either of the phrases above to find their site? I doubt it. You would type in something more logical like "web site design software" or "web sites for banks" right?

This company was clearly targeting the wrong keywords and phrases. Their top ten rankings for these phrases were irrelevant, because nobody was searching for these phrases in relation to the products this company was offering. The phrases they had chosen are what I call "jargonized", that is, they are filled with industry jargon and buzz words. Take "Internet solutions" as an example. Such jargon has found its way into our language with the onset of the digital age and is bandied around boardrooms and marketing departments everywhere. However the definition of this phrase is very broad and could be used to describe anything from a dial-up connection to a web site itself. It�s not a logical choice for searchers and is therefore useless as a key phrase to target.

To prove my point, I researched the client�s chosen phrases using Wordtracker keyword software and then did comparison research using the more logical phrases above. The results were crystal clear: the logical, simplified phrases were many times more popular than the "jargonized" ones. Once I demonstrated this to the client, they were more than happy for us to conduct more thorough keyword research and start their search engine optimization campaign with a clean slate.

When selecting the keywords and phrases for your site, remember to select search terms that describe your products and services in the most logical, simple and specific way. By doing so you�ll not only increase the search engine traffic to your site, but you�ll ensure your visitors are highly qualified to buy your products and services when they arrive.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Article by Kalena Jordan, CEO of Web Rank.
Kalena was one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia & New Zealand and is well known and respected in her field. For more of her articles on search engine ranking and online marketing, please visit http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com

Website Marketing: 10 Smart Ways To Profit In An Uncertain Economy

2008-05-03T13:28:00.002+07:00

When the economy is booming, you may do well in your internet business.

But how about during a slump?

Here are a few website marketing secrets to help you profit during slow economy.

1. Sell more back end products to your existing customer base. You already created rapport, trust and proved your credibility to them.

2. Make it a practice to up sell to new and existing customers. After they decide to buy one product, offer them another product.

3. Cross promote your products and services with other businesses that aren't competition. You will reach a wider audience at less cost.

4. Create joint venture deals with other businesses. You can expand your product line and target other profitable markets at a lower cost.

5. Start an affiliate program for your business. You will be able to spend less profits on risk advertising and spend more money on guaranteed sales.

6. Trade advertising with other businesses to save revenue. You could trade e-zine ads, banners ads, links, print ads, etc.

7. Out source part of your workload. This can save on employee costs, equipment costs, taxation costs, expansion costs, etc.

8. Add low cost bonuses to your offer that have a high perceived value. It could be ebooks, members only sites, consulting, e-reports, etc.

9. Use viral marketing to promote your business on the internet. Give away free stuff with your ad copy include on it so others can give it away.

10. Follow up with all your prospects. You can use a free e-zine, a follow-up autoresponder, an update or reminder list, etc.

May these website marketing secrets help you to make a lot of money and succeed. Warmly,

I-key Benney, CEO

I-key, a Millionaire CEO from New York City is the creator of "Mscsrrr: Millionaire Secret Cash System", (foreign currency trading) program, which has helped thousands of ordinary people from all over the world to attain financial security and shining success during the past 2 yrs.

Mscsrrr Millionaire Secret Cash System helps you to generate $1,500+/Week for life, from home or office, part time or full time. No large investment or hassles. Win $1000-$2000 free 'cash'!

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