Tag: "internet marketers"

The Lost Art of Relationship Marketing: Why?

Byron Coke | January 13, 2010

You have a great product, many contacts and are making some sales, so why would you need to learn about relationship marketing?

These are all reasonable questions that you can learn about right here!

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Why Do You Need An Ezine?

Byron Coke | September 4, 2009

This is probably one of the most asked question on the Internet among new people who enter the fray of Internet marketing. First, we need to understand what exactly is an ezine. An ezine is an electronic newsletter that can be sent through an email or many people now put them on blogs or web sites that people may visit to read. With time being limited and sometimes lost in spam filters, more and more people go to blogs or web sites to read their favorite newsletters. The real question maybe why it’s a must to have an ezine. Many different factors contribute to why you need an ezine, so let’s look at some of the main reasons an ezine will take your business to the next level.

Ezines are meant to connect with your readers in many different ways. if you talk to people who operating an ezine they will all give you various reasons they offer an ezine. I will give you the most basic reasons which will make it easier for you to get off on the right foot if an ezine is the way you may want to go. First and foremost an ezine is a place where you can connect with people. Relationships no matter where they are have to start somewhere’s and a ezine is a good way to start that off. Ezines help you grow your business in many ways besides building relationships. People love information and many times that is why they sign up for an ezine, getting that information to the consumer is what an ezine is all about.

Ezines are probably the best business builder you could ever have if your real serious about taking your business to the next level. An ezine gives the business your in many options. Over time your subscribers build a trust in you and the ezine you publish this will transfer in more sales for you and your company growing at the same time. Publish a very good ezine and world will get around about it and even bring you more business. That’s the power of an ezine.

Most Internet marketers started with an ezine and have built very successful businesses from them. Ezines are also very cost effective for a company big or small. before the Internet became big the cost of a newsletter was very expensive. You had mailing costs, printing, content seem to always be a problem. Now with the Internet basically everywhere these problems have been solved and businesses can connect with their customers quicker and more efficient than ever.

The future of ezines are always changing and businesses will need to adapt to them. The business that doesn’t have an ezine is really losing out and that will continue. The benefits of having your own ezine are to many to just ignore and act like they don’t exist. For any business to survive they need to bring in new business and a ezine can help you do this.

Introducing new products through an ezine is very cost effective as your already delivering to a warm market, plus people who believe in you is another reason that ezines are a must in today’s electronic publishing world. Businesses that don’t consider using a ezine aren’t going to be around as long as the ones that do. The key to lasting is building relationships and making sure those relationships are kept. Using an ezine is one tool that can help you do that. Without the ezine your just making it alot harder to succeed in your line of chosen work.

How to Promote Your Online Business for Free

Byron Coke | August 14, 2009

You can spend a good chunk of change promoting your online business or website but you can also take advantage of many of the free ways to enjoy site advertisement as well.

In fact, thousands of Internet marketers don’t spend a dime on advertising and they don’t have to because they’ve done such a good job of promoting their site without incurring any costs. The following paragraphs will discuss some of those ways.

Blogging has become a popular form of self and site promotion in the Internet age. If you don’t already have a blog, start one.

Keep it interesting, fresh, and up-to-date and offer something extra for anyone who will give you their email address. This opt-in tactic could offer free tips or a free sample; something other than what your blog offers and something that will provoke added interest in your site or product.

Write articles about your product. If you’re selling a well known name-brand product, for example, write factual reviews and publish these with a link to your site for those wanting more information or for those wanting to purchase the product. There are several sites that publish product reviews so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting a relevant, concise review published.

Post in forums and include a link to your site or product if permitted. Don’t annoy others at the forum by selfishly self-promoting your site or product without really getting involved. Loyal forum members can sniff out this type of poster within seconds and you’ll no longer be welcome.

Instead, respond to posts for which you have something to offer, congratulate someone who is sharing a success story, or empathize with someone who is having a rough day. Your link will be right there under your post for the curious to click. In addition, as you get better known within the forums, more people will inevitably click on your link.

Trade links with others. Network with others with similar and different sites and offer to trade links. Be a little discriminating here though, as you don’t want to be affiliated with a site that may have unethical or unsavory business practices. Get to know the sites to which you make this proposal ahead of time to ensure your links will be placed on strictly reputable sites.

One of the best methods of free advertising available is to work diligently to have an optimized website that will consistently show up in the front pages of the search engines. This means paying attention not only to keyword usage, but many other components of your site as well, including interesting and factual content.

All of the methods mentioned above require constant attention. You can’t simply write an article or make a forum post and expect to have a traffic jam on your site. By committing yourself to promoting your business using a variety of methods, however, you can expect to generate much more traffic than if you simply slap a website together and wait for traffic to breeze in the front door.

What Is Viral Marketing And How Does It Benefit Internet Marketers?

Byron Coke | August 5, 2009

The practice of viral marketing can be very useful to internet marketers. Viral marketing consists of giving away free products or services along with your original ad copy such as links, contact information, and mailing list.

In return, those who receive your free products can pass it along to their own customers and prospects. Viral marketing is a great way to advertise for free and without a lot of effort on your part.

Internet marketers should be aware of the value of viral marketing. The ability to advertise your products to a large audience is of great value to you. You can increase your sales and traffic to your web site through the sharing of free information.

Some of the more effective methods of viral marketing are:

Ebooks.

You can share your free ebook with all who visit your web site. You should include an advertisement for your most profitable product and links to your web site. Make sure to inform those who receive your free ebook that they are free to share it with their own customers and contacts.

Software.

You can offer a free trial version of your software to your web site visitors. As with the ebook, include links to your site and your contact information. State plainly on your web site that all those who receive it can share the software freely.

Free web hosting.

You can provide free hosting on your server to small businesses or beginning internet marketers. In return, place a banner ad at the top of each site advertising your products and web site. This is a very effective means of advertising your site with little expense. The potential increase in the number of visitors to your web site is worth your efforts.

Templates.

You can design your own web site templates, including your own contact information in the design, and offer them as free downloads. Make sure to expressly grant permission for them to be shared with others.

Content.

You can provide original content about your particular area of expertise. Include your contact information and web site in the text and allow others to publish it as long as they keep your information intact. As this information is shared and published by others you will attract more traffic to your web site.

Discussion boards.

Setting up a discussion board or forum with your banner ad attached is an excellent means of advertising. Invite your web site visitors to join your discussion board and make it available to the public.

Internet marketers should make themselves aware of all means of free advertising. The more you spread the word about your products and services, the more traffic you will draw to your web site.

Internet marketing is extremely competitive and you should use all the avenues that are available to you in advertising your web site and products. Experiment with the various ways of viral marketing until you find the ones that work best for you. Increased visibility means more traffic to your web site and more traffic will translate in to higher sales.

Successful internet marketers not only provide valuable products and services, they use any means possible to advertise to as many people as possible. The success of your business rests on your ability to promote your web site.

Ethical Internet Marketing Practices – Creating Incentives and Promotions

Byron Coke | May 24, 2009

Incentives and promotions are one of the most common tools Internet marketers use to acquire subscribers and customers.

Incentives can be used to entice someone to subscribe to your newsletter or to purchase your product or service. Promotions are used to publicize or promote a product or service.

You can create incentives or promotions your self or you can use someone else’s product.
Allow me to explain…

A classic example of an incentive is to offer new subscribers a free gift. This free gift is usually an informative ebook or report they can download immediately after subscribing to your newsletter.

The ebook or report coincides with the products or services you offer. For instance, if you offer health and wellness products, your incentive ebook or report would be on the topic of health and wellness. You wouldn’t want to offer an automotive book or a report on Internet marketing. That would defeat your purpose.

One way to obtain give-away e-books or reports is to purchase Private Label Rights (PLR). PLR allows you to purchase books that have been written by someone else and give them away or sell them on your website.

There are numerous private label rights programs, which provide e-books and reports on every topic known to man. Several of these companies are listed in “The Honest Marketer”.

Choose your incentives wisely. Don’t give your new subscribers a poorly written report that contains useless information. It’s not that difficult to compile a good report filled with beneficial information. And the pay-off can be tremendous if you take the time to organize a report or compile an ebook that provides people with the information they are seeking.

As mentioned earlier, people receive many newsletters and offers. While it used to be the “in” thing to offer a freebie, people are much more aware of marketing ploys and find the word “free” to be a turn-off. They assume there will be some catch.

Promotions are offers such as discounts; special deals such as buy one, get one free; free shipping; clearance sale; new product announcement; etc.

You might have promotions that coincide with holidays or awareness events, such as breast cancer awareness. You can run promotions daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annually, bi-annually, or annually.

I once knew a woman who offered a different promotion each day. She began offering daily promotions to test out various ideas she had written down in her marketing plan. She made them fun and irresistible.

For instance, one day she offered a 10 percent discount on products that had the color pink on the label and then donated 10 percent to a breast cancer awareness organization. Another day she offered the same discount on products that had the color green on the label and donated a percentage to an environmental organization.

Another day she offered free shipping on all orders that included at least one herbal dietary product. The next day she took 20 percent off all orders and included free shipping. She mixed her promotions up and you never knew what she would do next.

Her promotions piqued my curiosity and I visited her website frequently. Her deals were always great. She was prompt in shipping the product. She had excellent customer service. In the five years I did business with her, I never had a problem. Today, she sells her product line on QVC.

My point is, in order to make it big in Internet marketing; you have to be creative and unique with your incentives and promotions. You don’t need a lot of money to offer incentives and promotions. In fact, you don’t need any money at all. The only thing you need is to let your imagination run free and don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone.

Always keep your incentives and promotions above board. If you say you are donating a percentage of your profits to an organization such as breast cancer, you would be wise to show a copy of the check you submitted to the organization.

You’ll find other valuable tips in “The Honest Marketer.”