Monthly Archives: October 2008

Using eMail Newsletters for Free Advertising

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When sending newsletters, be sure that the receiver will actually get some incentives for them to stay in your list. Now, you don’t need to give free away gifts, discounts, or coupons everytime you send out letters; your content itself can be a good alternative. Remember the following points to create a successful newsletter.

  • Incude your customers’ success stories.
  • Offer information from experts in your industry.
  • Offer a Q&A portion for quick access to details.
  • Provide news and statistics performance about your industry.
  • Provide feedback from your customers.
  • Provide tips about your products and services.

You should avoid including an “about you” page or your company’s history in your newsletter. The truth is, you customers are seldom interested in knowing what is happening in your business. They care about the solutions you can provide. Like a homepage of a website, a newsletter should catch the interest of its readers before they decide to erase it.

When creating your newsletter, be sure to immediately inform your readers on what you can do for them, how will you achieve these, and why you think you they should make business with you. Newsletters have been proven to be effective in promoting businesses, and therefore should be given a more in-depth consideration during its creation.

Short is better.

People don’t like to read lengthy emails these days and if you’re planning to send a 2000-word sales talk, then just plain forget it. The point is, make every newsletter as brief and concise, going straight to the point. Keep it under 1000 words,  and do not talk about more than 5 products at one time. When sending your first newsletter, don’t pack it with too much information. Chances are, you won’t be getting any clicks at all, and this means no way of tracking your success.

Frequency and timing are essential.

Frequency and timing are two variables you also need to consider when sending out newsletters. Avoid sending them too often or you might overwhelm your customers. At the same time, don’t wait too long to send your next newsletter or your customers will forget you. Each business has its own timing and frequency.

When someone joins your mailing list, it is better to ask them right away how often they would want to receive your newsletter. You can also send out emails at different times of the week and see what days have more viewings.

Incorporate mailing list hosting services.

To keep track of your email marketing campaign, you need to use a hosting program. An email hosting program takes away the manual task of adding and deleting addresses in your file. This is also excellent in testing your newsletter before the actual sending should take place. Most of these hosting services will offer various newsletter templates, which means you do not have to learn any html coding at all. Find the perfect template to match your theme, products, services and company, and use it consistently.

Using list hosting services provides you varied reports to keep track of and manage your email campaign. These include the links and graphics your receivers have clicked on. These reports provides vital information as to what type of content your customers would want to see and read. The more you send, the more you discover what your customers are really looking for.

Create your newsletter according to the profiles of your readers. This is important so as not to offer promotions and product information that are totally irrelevant. For instance, if your site is about travel information and you give valuable content to them, they will most likely forward your email to their friends and families, and therefore will earn you credibility and trust within their circle.

Incorporate great subject lines.

No matter how good your newsletter content is, there is definitely no guarantee that people will find time to read it. One way to avoid this is by creating great subject headlines. Always focus in choosing the right words for your headline, as this is the first thing that your reader will see. It may contain only a few words but this is definitely very important.

Some simple tips to creating eye-catching great subject lines:

  • Keep it direct and short. Always create titles of 5 words  or less in length. This is because most Internet browsers truncate subject lines containing more than 5 words, and therefore would not be seen by the readers.
  • Always focus on the benefits of the readers. Always make it to the point that your customers will immediately  feel the benefits due them just by opening your email. You can use powerul words such as “save money” or “save time” to get their attention.
  • Pour in some questions. Questions normally make your readers curious, thereby encouraging them to proceed to opening your newsletter to find out more. Asking questions in your emails is far more personal in nature, and not too business-minded.
  • Employ personal subject lines. As much as possible, use your company name or real name as the sender. You can also put the recipient’s name in the subject line if there is still room left.
  • Holidays, special occasions, and current events can be used to tie up your subject line, such as “Save money on your Christmas Shopping”.
  • Try to avoid spammy subject lines, such as “free” or “limited offer,” as they are normally filtered out by email services. Exclamation marks and all capital letters are not good to use as well.

How to Generate Free Advertising (eMail Marketing)

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E-mail has been around for ages and as the Internet grows, it continuously becomes one of the indispensable tools of every Internet marketer. E-mails build trust, confidence, and branding of your products in the eyes of your customers. When properly used, e-mail marketing proves to be one of the most effective ways to generate sales. Many Internet marketers are now opting to use emails rather than making sales phone calls. At almost no cost at all, emails can reach a very wide audience in a very short period of time.

MOBURF-00002410-001Understanding Permission Based Email

The most successful email marketing strategy relies on permission based email. In short, customers who receive emails are only those who chooses to receive them from you. This is called “opt in” method.

Avoid buying or renting email addresses you come across the net. Sending emails to these people are considered spam. Majority of these addresses never opt in to be included and hence, will give your company a cheap look and inevitably takes away the trust you are trying to build. Focus on quality over quantity. Build your own email list and in the end, you will see great results for you and your business.

Consider emails as tools to extend your service to your customers. You want them to be able to communicate with you in every sales point as possible. Establishing this out of respect for your own clients will build long term loyal customers.

Building Your Very Own Email List

Creating your own email list takes time but you are assured that you list only those who are genuinely interested in what you are offering them. People who opt to be part of your mailing list trust you not to divulge their private information and therefore, it is very important that you do not abuse their trust. Never ever try to sell this information to other businesses or vendors. Make them feel comfortable, that you are valuing this information, and always offer them the option to remove themselves every time you send newsletters and promotions to them.

When sending newsletters or reports, see to it that the email always come from you, regardless of whether you are joining promotions or co-branding other companies. Doing otherwise will make your customers think that you sold their information to the other parties and they will eventually lose their trust in you.

To get people to enlist, ask them tidbits of information one at a time. People don’t divulge everything in one instance. This is just too much. You can start by asking for their names and email addresses. You can fill in other information, such as age and demographics, at a later time. Offering discounts and coupons, holding a contest, providing valuable newsletters, and regularly updating your content are only but few ways to gain your customers’ trust.

Goal-Oriented Marketing

As soon as you have your email list, the next thing to do is to create your email marketing plan. Establish business goals and plan how to accomplish them.

  • repeat customer
  • more leads
  • email marketing

Keep track of your performance for each goal and don’t forget to record this.

(to be continued… Creating your email newsletters)

How to Generate Free Advertising (Part 1)

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There is no better way of promoting your product than having it mentioned and getting free links from other sites. Delivering your advertisements to potential customers on that specific time when they are looking for your products or services is called “pinpoint marketing”. What we normally hear on the radios and TVs is called “interruptive marketing” and has been proven to be less effective and expensive. This is because you are putting your products or services in front of people who might not be interested at all. Pinpoint marketing, on the other hand, puts them in front of potential customers who are eager to know about them and your business.

Pinpoint marketing is actually a very simple technique of advertising. You present your products at the right time to acquire results. For instance, while you are watching a ball game and eating popcorn and right on your TV screen, a can of Coke is flashed. What you just might do next is find a vendor who can sell you Coke. But what if a car advertisement shows up? Do you think you’re gonna purchase that car? Not likely to happen, right? The idea of presenting your products at the right time and place will definitely make it tick. People use the Internet to find solutions to problems, and when they find your product to be such, then you have reached a potential customer.

Content-Graphics Inc. is a website that provides high quality and cost effective articles for your websites, ezines, autoresponder campaigns, eBooks, marketing materials, and the like on a large assortment of topics.

Understanding Embedded Marketing Messages

Today, people use the Internet to find solution to their problems, be that a health issue or simply finding the next perfect place for their vacation. A lot of people are bookmaking their favorite websites so that accessing them later is fast and easy. With this in mind, try to put your products or services right in the front line whenever you can.

Promoting Credibility

Scams are everywhere proliferating the market, scaring people from making purchases on the web. Nobody wants to be scammed and this is the very reason you need to establish credibility with your customers. To start with, you can set up a logo and make your company prominent amongst Internet users. You can also use the Yahoo! shopping cart, Paypal cart, or any other successful online website to boost your profile. Associating yourself with these entities will give confidence to your potential customers and will promote leads next time around.

Content is a another great way to build your credibility as well. You can arrange to swap content from other sites with your link included within the article. You can easily find web operators who are willing to trade links in exchange for free and high quality content. This way, you will get targeted and free advertising while they get valuable and informative content from you.

Writing quality articles will convert your leads into sales. Use content to establish yourself as an expert in your industry. Whenever a potential buyer clicks on your link and heads over to your site, there is a good chance that it will generate the sales you are looking for.

Another thing to consider is to make your advertisements concise, appropriate, and direct to the point. People need to find the quick fix to their problems. Understanding and delivering their needs should be on top of your list.

Word of Mouth Marketing

Word of mouth or viral marketing is what people do when they are amazed with your site and want their friends to discover your site as well. Viral marketing works the same way as those urban legends and hilarious jokes being circulated and forwarded on the Internet, reaching various parts of the globe.

The good thing about this method is that you don’t need a big budget and technology to start one. Many big companies rely on viral marketing to promote their products and this has been proven to be very successful in generating sales.

What you can do to start your own viral marketing is to put a marketing message in your email signature so that every time you compose or reply to an email, the message is attached as well. This can be easily set up using Outlook or any email messaging software you are currently using.

Use Forums For Effective Internet Marketing

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If you wish to promote your website via Internet marketing, you should not only look at online ads and article marketing. You should also consider message boards and online forums, which are effectively popular to make your website known. The Internet is a vast resource of several online forums, which can relate to your site’s niche. Maximize the opportunity that online forums provide and your website will generate frequent visits.

In forums, there are rules and etiquettes to follow when posting messages. Since forum postings are great marketing tools, you can tap this area to market your site without stepping on the line of abiding forum rules. Your site will gain more publicity if you respect the rules of these online forums.

When registering in online forums or discussion, you will get to learn about forumers’ different insights on particular topic of interest. Lucky you if they discuss matters related to your niche. The more you read their posts, the more you learn of your target market.

Take heed of the following tips if you are joining forums with the intention of increasing your site’s popularity:

  • Engage in forums with your target market in mind
  • Learn the rules and guidelines of the forum and see if they allow posting of links you can include in your messages.
  • Take note of the rules for posting signature line, which repeats with your every message. If links are allowed as signature line, then you can use this advantage to promote your site. HTML clickable links are better than posting your URL address.
  • Be polite enough to introduce yourself if you are new in a forum.
  • Interact well with other forumers for you to establish your credibility that forumers will soon begin to acknowledge. Post relevant and informative messages to build up your reputation.
  • Avoid irrelevant posts so you will not be banned from the forum, dubbing you as a spammer.
  • Be consistent in posting information and replies in the forum.
  • Do not sell at once after just a few posts. Your intention becomes too obvious that you were only joining the forum for selling purposes. Become an eager forumer first and before you know it, you were already doing your marketing job.
  • Make use of your member profile as a launch pad to introduce your kind of business, hobbies, and other information.
  • Do not use referral links as a signature line. They will just be ignored.

If you practice these tips, you will surely get ahead in your Internet marketing!

Is Your Website Search Engine Friendly?

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If you are particular of how you can attain good Pageranking, you need to have a website that is search engine friendly. Search engines will turn up better result if they creep through quality website content. If your website is created to score high ranking in search results, it should place well enough in search engines.

So you ask: how do you make it possible for a website to be search engine friendly?

The first thing that comes to mind would be creating a Flash website. Flash websites may be eye candies with impressive visual effects but to tell you honestly, flash websites are NOT actually pleasant for search engines. Consider the following factors first before you submit your site to online directories and search engines.

Search Engine Optimization – employing SEO in the creation of your website will work its way to make your site rank number one or at least obtain higher ranking in search results. SEO makes use of keywords and key phrases to make it to the rankings. This needs proper monitoring and appropriate site submission to see to it that your web page stays on the number 1 ranking. Search engines tap keywords in Meta Description, Title tag, article, and web content. Keyword frequency and densities come along in the creation of keywords, which are important parts in SEO.

There should just be a maximum number of keywords for search engine spiders to creep through a web page. Search engines only rank web pages and not a website.

Create search engine friendly web pages – in order to get high rankings, it is better if you can create search engine friendly pages on your web site. Create a page per keyword and utilize them in Meta tags and title tags for various pages. Pages having different keywords will surely increase your site’s Pageranking as search engines place pages with better content and appropriate keywords in a much higher ranking.

Well-designed sitemap – this is very important for search engines since all pages crafted as search engine friendly will link from your sitemap.

Make sure you submit your site to leading search engines – if you want to belong to the top 10 rank results of search engines, submit them to Yahoo, Google, Alta Vista, and MSN. These are the world’s major search engines. Regularly submit your site to other online directories and search engines to increase your web site’s ranking. Do this frequently and your site will get on the top results.

Use links -  by exchanging links with other related websites, you will boost your Pageranking and ace the top spot, thus increasing traffic to your site.

Content-Graphics Inc. is a website that provides high quality and cost effective articles for your websites, ezines, autoresponder campaigns, eBooks, marketing materials, and the like on a large assortment of topics.