How to Start With Affiliate Marketing

Author: The Marketing Affiliater

Online affiliate marketing began as a natural outgrowth of the popularity of "linking" to other sites. To put it simply, online affiliate marketing is a time tested strategy for making money online. It it is a network of online partners who refer business to your website. 

It does not matter whether you have a website that sells a product or a website that has nothing to sell. But by adding online affiliate programs, you can not only add value to your website, but also maximize potential revenue. 

Affiliate Programs, they say are the ideal way to make your website profitable. 

Online affiliate programs began in the mid-1990,s and are currently a popular way to earn money online. In fact, research shows that affiliate marketing is the most cost-effective way to generate online sales. The concept of revenue sharing paying commission for referred business, predates affiliate marketing and the Internet. The translation of the revenue share principles to mainstream e-commerce happened almost four years after the origination of the World Wide Web in November 1994. 

The simplest way is to just introduce your visitors to the business opportunities, products and services that they need, and, "make money online" based on commissions from these sales. In fact, online affiliate marketing is a great work from home business available to anyone with a computer and a desire to run their own affiliate business. 

However, there is a catch to "affiliate-marketing". That is to say over 80% of affiliates never get a check over $100, the 15% get the occasional check and it is the remaining 5% who really get monthly checks of any real size from affiliate programs. 

To get started in affiliate marketing, you must know the fundamentals. For which you're going to need an "affiliate marketing guide" to teach you the basics. Once you've studied the basics and grasped the "idea", I don't think there is any looking back. 

Now, there are dozens of books advertised on various websites, making claims of massive earnings that can be achieved easily. Most of these guides are resell rights of other peoples' ideas which are marketed under the marketers' name. Now, there will be a time you may be doing the same thing what they are doing now. This is a natural phase most people go through and isn't that what affiliate marketing is all about! 

I am not saying those books are bad. But there are better ones out there. There is The Affiliate Marketers Handbook and the Super Affiliate Handbook. Recently, another book that is drawing much attention, purely because of the number of sales it has generated in such a short time is the Rich Jerk. The name justifies his character. But his ideas seem to work and the book seems to be on top of the charts. Now what more can you say, but to commend on his niche idea. 

You can also look for more such good product(s) and which are in high demand from the ClickBank Mall. Just type "affiliate marketing" or affilate marketing guides and you would get instant access to loads to such products. Provide them your credit card details and voila! you can instantly download the book of your choice. 

Although most aaffiliate marketing books are good in their own way, what boils down is to how you implement the knowhow you gained from it PRACTICALLY. Although this may take up some some time, it is to be noted that no books nor any marketing courses can come anywhere close to pure practical experience. Some good affiliate guides are given below in the resources section. 

Learning to market on the internet as an affiliate is only step one. If you're serious about online affiliate marketing, then you have to plan and set up a basic affiliate campaign. This is a start to finish campaign to getting started in affiliate marketing. It explains keyword research, finding profitable partners and markets, information on affiliate networks, guides and resources to making money online. 

There is relatively an easy way to make a parallel income during the early stages of your online afiliate marketing home business. It can also help you avoid the common mistakes most of us make during that period. I am quoting this from personal experience. 

Try and get hold of a FREE Web Page, containing a few successful affiliate programs. You can use it and learn how to run an affiliate campaign, at the same time learning the ropes of affiliate marketing. If you market this well, the chances are you will make money. Your main and only job would be to advertise your FREE website, by submitting it to search engines, e-mail it to friends, colleagues and others. Within a month or so, you shall see some income trickling in. 

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/how-to-start-with-affiliate-marketing-726643.html

Home Internet Marketing Business ABCs

Internet Marketing

Home Internet Marketing Business ABCs

By Darewin Amio Ocampo

Almost everyone nowadays wants to have his very own profitable home internet marketing business that can ease his financial burdens and help him sail smoothly through the ravages of the global financial crisis currently engulfing the economies of the world. Understanding of the ABCs or fundamentals of internet marketing is essential to the success of any online home business.

Internet Marketing

Different people of different profession and stature have view internet marketing in different perspectives. People in one hand consider internet marketing as simply the act of placing banner ads or inbound links on other websites. On the opposite hand, there are many companies claiming that it is the secret to exponentially increasing one's wealth overnight. Caution should be exercised however, because most of these many companies only try to make you buy some sort of internet marketing program that they proclaim will make you rich by morning.

At the present, internet marketing or online marketing has successfully evolved to a higher stage which now involves a combination of many components a business can utilize to increase sales regardless whether the said business is being executed fully online, partly online, or fully offline. Internet marketing is fully discretionary and it can't be fully said that it is strictly needed for success but its recent popularity has caused those who don't use it get left behind by those who do. It can provide a vast and unique competitive advantage to any company. It is for this reason that some companies even rely purely on online marketing to promote their business, its products, and services.

Internet Marketing Objectives

Internet marketing is being employed to make use of the Internet to do at least one of the succeeding:

1. Communicate a company's message about itself, its products, or its services online.

2. Conduct research as to the nature (demographics, preferences, and needs) of existing and potential customers.

3. Sell goods, services, or advertising space over the Internet.

Internet Marketing Components

Internet marketing is made up of many components which may be summarized into the following:

1. Making a business website and getting it launched and published over the Internet. It may consist of text, images and possibly audio and video elements that broadcast the company's message to visitors, informing current customers and prospects of the features, benefits, and value-for-money of its products and services. The website may also include additional features that extend its capabilities like the ability to capture and store leads from potential customers or the function to directly sell a product or service online. A website may very well be the best way to establish a company's own internet persona and business entity. Websites can always outperform their offline equivalents - brochures and mail order catalogs.

2. Marketing a website over the World Wide Web via search engines otherwise known as Search Engine Marketing or SEM is the process of helping a website shop up in the top search engine pages whenever one makes a search with certain defined keywords through search engine optimization or SEO, pay-per-click or PPC advertising, or pay-for-inclusion or PFI advertising in which a website is listed in online website directories, the same way as with yellow page listings.

3. Email marketing is the technique of getting information about a product or service out to customers or getting feedback from customers about a product or service through the use of emails. Email addresses of customers or potential customers can be collected through the use of the company website or purchased from lead generation specialists. Email marketing is simply the online version of direct mail marketing. There are different methods that can be utilized to do this form of online marketing like the regular distribution of newsletters or mass mailing of offers related to the company's product or services.

4. Banner advertising is the online marketing equivalent of the traditional ads in newspapers and magazines. It is the free placement of ads on a website usually known as free ad directories.

5. Online press releasing is the placement of a newsworthy story about a company, regular distribution of newsletters or mass mailing of offers related to the company's product or services on online wire service or online press release directories.

6. Blog marketing is the process of posting comments, expressing opinions or making online announcements in a discussion forum or blog directory that can be done by hosting your own blog or by comment and link exchanges with other blogs whose content is related to your product or service.

7. Article marketing involves the syndication or online publishing in article sites or directories of freshly written or unique articles that tackle things related to your business, products, or services. These articles have the potential to spread and circulate over the internet since online article hosting services allow the re-publication of articles so long as all links in the articles are maintained. Traffic boost can be the primary result of article marketing, together with the promotion of your brand to a wider audience through the syndication of these articles.

Internet Marketing and Home Business

A website is an element that all internet marketing components, prospective customers, and clients anticipate a business to have. Through the years, having a website has become one of the best ways to get a consumer's trust and interest in a company and its products and services. Having no website may even cause a prospect to lose interest and head to a competitor. Up-to-date information available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week something that can best come from a website. And the all-encompassing use of online means has cased many prospects to decide to transact only with companies that have a good and useful website.

Engaging in online marketing and having a website is so comprehensive in scope that it can benefit even a business that only has very local customers like a single location food store or clothing store. Internet marketing offers a very cost-effective and comprehensive way of attracting customers and it also gives a business a worldwide reach with its own Web presence that can be very hard to get from other methods especially in the case of businesses whose customers are not restricted to ma single geographical area only.

A website though in some instances is not a complete necessity, can definitely provide a home business operator various benefits due to the virtual nature of most home businesses. A website can act as a storefront for direct selling of products and services as well as serve as a very inexpensive means of getting prospects as well as clients know what your business does or what products it sells especially to those home-based businesses that do not have a physical location.

The internet has been one of the primary drivers that fueled the growth and expansion of home based businesses because it has paved the way for starting and maintaining a web presence with reasonably low cost. It is therefore a must that internet marketing becomes as integral part of your business plan and marketing strategy.

Finding the Right Internet Marketing Mix

Determining and utilizing the right marketing strategy is essential to business success. Defining the percentage of marketing efforts that should be done online, the needed Internet marketing elements and the amount of focus to be given to the website are all vital to the formulation of a marketing plan that will work. The nature of business, the budget, and some personal traits may all affect the marketing mix. All these, and many others influence the development of an internet marketing business blue print.

Using Offline Elements with Internet Marketing Strategies

Only businesses that transact 100% of their business online can make use of a fully online marketing scheme. All others should utilize a marketing mix made up of both online and offline efforts. Traditional methods can greatly supplement the effects and benefits of web marketing. In fact, there are even businesses that conduct all their operations completely online and yet employ the placement of traditional ads on newspapers and magazines to drive prospects to visiting their website and participate in online transactions with the firm. Perfect examples of business that integrate offline elements as components of their internet marketing strategies are Expedia, Travelocity and Monster.com. These firms shell out huge investments in radio and TV advertising as well as other traditional means of advertising to get consumers visit their sites where the real businesses dealings are being transacted.

Develop Internet Marketing Strategies You Like

Only incorporate in your strategy the marketing techniques you like or those that do not annoy you whenever someone does them to you, because most people probably feel the same way. The most hated marketing tool as regarded by many is spam. This is why many companies nowadays do not include email marketing in their arsenal of promotion methods.

Many forget the fact that email marketing does not necessarily mean the sending out of unsolicited emails to every email address you can find. Email marketing can also be accomplished by incorporating a visitor registration webpage on your site. This page then works as a tool to gather email addresses of interested prospects. You can then create a newsletter which you can send to all who have registered in your site. You may also consider updating your newsletter and sending it periodically to your prospects. You may also create a schedule for sending regular emails just to see how your prospects are doing, if your company can be of assistance in any way, or if any of their wants or needs has changed since when you last had a conversation. This is a very efficient way of utilizing email to boost your business promotion even without engaging in email marketing.

Your Budget and Internet Marketing Strategy

The budget plays a very important role in any marketing strategy as it lays out which components and techniques you can develop and exploit. A website for example needs you to select a domain name and then register and purchase it from a web hosting service. Due to the growing demand for web hosting services, the competition has greatly tightened and many now offer discounts. There are those that offer domain name registration for as low as $1.99 per year - provided you also purchase other services, like hosting, which is now also available for less than $10 per month. Next is the design and content of your website. Your can design and write your won content or your can hire a graphics artist for the design and a web content writer for the content. You can also opt to make use of the online website builders that can be found all over the internet.

After your site is all ready to go, getting it found is the next task, because no matter how good or useful a site is, it is of no value if people cannot find it. This is the point where search engine optimization or SEO comes in. SEO is vital to every website. You can either learn and do the SEO yourself or you can hire search engine optimizers to do it for you.

Web content should be search engine optimized from the time it was written. Same goes for the web design as the manner in which a website is designed can either enhance or limit the site traffic it will be receiving in the future. SEO should definitely be a major part of any internet marketing strategy. You can opt to do things faster but more costly or vice versa, depending on your perspective and your budget.

Once your website is up and running, you'll either need to maintain it yourself or outsource the duties to an independent Webmaster to do it for you.

Google AdWords and similar pay-per-click (PPC) advertising services can be a good choice as they go easy on your budget due to the fact that you can specify the maximum amount you are willing or able to spend. You also get to decide how much you will be paying whenever someone clicks on your site as well as the limit of how much you will be paying per day. You also get control over whether the pay-per-click ads appear only on major search engines or on other related websites as well. Geographic and time restrictions regarding when and where your ads run are also at your disposal, making the said ads quite easy to update. Real time tracking of the benefits is also possible with PPC services. You can also use images and/or videos with PPC advertising, which may even be less costly than placing banner ads on other websites. You can also, on the other hand, utilize pay-per-click advertising to earn money with your website to such programs as Google AdSense, Yahoo Publisher or Microsoft AdCenter.

Tracking the Results of Internet Marketing Strategies

Putting up and operating a successful home-based business is not that easy especially for the average home business operator. Tracking is very important especially when you spend money on strategic Internet marketing initiatives. You should know the effectiveness on such initiatives to be able to make the right decision on whether to go on or discontinue with them. If you are satisfied with the performance of the currently implemented techniques, continue using them. If you are not satisfied, learn from your mistakes. Determine why such approaches did not work and find other means that can work better. Such practice is sure to improve your skills and enhance your chances for success.

Your business will mature and grow faster and more efficiently if you know which internet marketing strategies are worth spending your money.

Remain patient in tracking the performance of your internet marketing efforts and they will surely pay off. Always keep in mind that effects do not occur overnight and a significant amount of time is usually needed before you can feel the benefits. The same is with revenues, at first your efforts may seem to be in vain but after some time, more revenues will surely materialize.

Strategic Internet Marketing Needs to be Flexible

There are millions of people wanting to succeed with their own home internet marketing business and most of these also engage in strategic internet marketing. It is therefore vital that you make your marketing strategy flexible. It should be ready to quickly absorb changes and necessary adjustments. However, some knowledge, some capable assistance, and a well-managed strategic Internet marketing plan can increase your chances for success.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darewin_Amio_Ocampo


http://EzineArticles.com/?Home-Internet-Marketing-Business-ABCs&id=3103218

Internet Marketing

Web Site Marketing Internet Business Made Simple

Author: Lucien Bechard

Running a successful Internet business can be complicated if you don't know how to do it right. Since the Internet is flooded with alot of information, it can be difficult to know how to build an online business the right way. Running a website marketing Internet business is easier than you think. When building an Internet business it's important to become involved with a marketing and training system that will teach you the right steps to take. Make sure the system you become involved in teaches you about self-branding, and the concepts of Attraction Marketing. Also, make sure the training system is backed by proven leaders that have already learned these concepts and have become master marketers already. Remember, the number one key to building a successful web site marketing Internet business is marketing. The only way to achieve lasting success as an Internet marketer is to become a master at marketing.

Recently the way Internet marketing has been done over the years has changed. Marketers can no longer get away with generic capture pages and squeeze pages like they used to. Google has really put an end to this type of practice from Internet marketers. Google wants their customers to be provided with good content and information from the start, and capture pages and squeeze pages aren't the way to do it. The best way to provide your prospects with content and make Google happy is to create your own self hosted Wordpress blog. The most effective way to use your blog is to make good posts to your blog, then direct your prospect to your squeeze page or capture page. Marketing this way will build trust with your prospect first before you try to sell them something. Plus Google rewards marketers that do business this way.

When choosing the Internet business that's right for you, make sure the business offers you long-term residual income potential as well as a high GPT (Get Paid Today) value. It's important to have both of these concepts together when choosing the right opportunity. You need to Get Paid Today for the work you have done, and also have residual income potential to provide you with long-term financial security. If you are currently involved in a business and they don't provide you with both of these concepts together, then it's time to find another business opportunity that will.

If you want to have a successful web site marketing Internet business, the only way you will succeed is if you become a master at marketing. Marketing is the number one key to success with any business. The best way to become a master marketer is to become involved with a marketing and training system that will teach you the right steps on how to market yourself and your business the right way. Attraction Marketing is the basis by which all of your marketing efforts should be focused around. The reason why most network marketers fail is because they don't know the concept of Attraction Marketing on how to effectively implement this concept into their own business. Once you begin to learn and implement these strategies into your own business, you will finally have the success that you deserve.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/web-site-marketing-internet-business-made-simple-1522617.html

About the Author
Lucien Bechard a.k.a 'The CopyCat Marketer' and 'The CopyCat Multi-Preneur' is an Internet Marketing expert that teaches people how to build a successful online business using the principles of Attraction Marketing. If you desire to have financial freedom, are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your dreams, and want so desperately to find an opportunity that will help you achieve your dreams visit I WANT MY FREEDOM!

Definition of Marketing

Definition of Marketing

The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements called the 4 P's of marketing:

(1) identification, selection and development of a product,

(2) determination of its price,

(3) selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer's place, and

(4) development and implementation of a promotional strategy.

For example, new Apple products are developed to include improved applications and systems, are set at different prices depending on how much capability the customer desires, and are sold in places where other Apple products are sold. In order to promote the device, the company featured its debut at tech events and is highly advertised on the web and on television.

Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. Marketing differs from selling because (in the words of Harvard Business School's retired professor of marketing Theodore C. Levitt) "Selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchange their cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as marketing invariable does, view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse and satisfy customer needs." In other words, marketing has less to do with getting customers to pay for your product as it does developing a demand for that product and fulfilling the customer's needs.

Usage Example

Successful marketing methods will turn a customer's needs into a desire for your product or service.

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/marketing.html#ixzz3CVM98zgG

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis -- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

By Bobette Kyle

When conducting strategic planning for any company - online and/or offline - it is useful to complete an analysis that takes into account not only your own business, but your competitors’ activities and current industry happenings as well. A SWOT is one such analysis.

Completing a SWOT analysis helps you identify ways to minimize the affect of weaknesses in your business while maximizing your strengths. Ideally, you will match your strengths against market opportunities that result from voids in your competitors’ products and/or services.

Traditionally, a SWOT confines strengths and weaknesses to your company's internal workings while opportunities and threats refer only to the external environment. Here, I suggest a twist to the “text book" approach. To get a better look at the big picture, consider both internal *and* external forces when uncovering opportunities and threats.

Interesting Topics:
How to create your Linkedin Profile?
How to get 500 Connections from USA & Canada?
How to get Recommendations and Endorsement?

A Basic SWOT Analysis

You can develop the basic analysis in a brainstorming session with members of your company, or by yourself if you are a one-person shop. To begin the analysis create a four- cell grid or four lists, one for each component:

| Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats |

Then, begin filling in the lists.

Strengths. Think about what your company does well. Some questions to help you get started are: What makes you stand out from your competitors? What advantages do you have over other businesses?

Weaknesses. List the areas that are a struggle for your company. Some questions to help you get started are: What do your customers complain about? What are the unmet needs of your sales force?

Opportunities. Traditionally, a SWOT looks only at the external environment for opportunities. I suggest you look externally for areas your competitors are not fully covering, then go a step further and think how to match these to your internal strengths.

Try to uncover areas where your strengths are not being fully utilized. Are there emerging trends that fit with your company's strengths? Is there a product/service area that others have not yet covered?

Threats. As with opportunities, threats in a traditional SWOT analysis are considered an external force. By looking both inside and outside of your company for things that could damage your business, however, you may be better able to see the big picture.

Some questions to get you started: Are your competitors becoming stronger? Are there emerging trends that amplify one of your weaknesses? Do you see other external threats to your company's success? Internally, do you have financial, development, or other problems?

Expanded SWOT Analysis

You can take an additional step beyond a traditional “text book" SWOT analysis by delving deeper into industry dynamics. A more in-depth SWOT analysis can help you better understand your company's competitive situation.

One way to step beyond a traditional SWOT analysis is to include more detailed competitor information in the analysis. Note Internet-related activities such as trade organization participation, search engine inclusion, and outside links to the sites. This will better help you spot opportunities for and threats to your company.

You can also take a closer look at the business environment. Often, opportunities arise as a result of a changing business environment. Some examples are:

A new trend develops for which demand outstrips the supply of quality options. Early on, the trend toward healthy eating coupled with an insistence on good-tasting food produced a shortage of acceptable natural food alternatives, for example.

A customer segment is becoming more predominant, but their specific needs are not being fully met by your competitors. The U. S. Hispanic population experienced this phenomenon in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

A customer, competitor, or supplier goes out of business or merges with another company. With the demise of many pure- play “dot coms", examples of this abound. As each went out of business, opportunities arise to gain the defunct business’ customers.

You can also expand the reach of a SWOT analysis through surveys. You can learn more about your own as well as competitor’s sites and businesses. Areas to consider researching include 

1) customer awareness, interest, trial, and usage levels, 

2) brand, site, and/or company image, 

3) importance of different site or product attributes to your customers, and 

4) product and/or site performance.

Whether using a basic or more advanced approach to SWOT analysis, you are sure to come away with new-found insights. Use these to increase your company's effectiveness and as input into your business or marketing plan.

Article Source: http://www.articleslash.net/Business/Marketing/13410__SWOT-Analysis-Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-and-Threats.html

Interesting Topics:

How to create your Linkedin Profile?

How to get 500 Connections from USA & Canada?

How to get Recommendations and Endorsement?

Set Marketing Goals To Build Your Business, And Your Confidence

By Angela Booth
Posted: December 23, 2005

Setting goals is challenging for many people because they've had more experience at failing to achieve a goal, than they have of successful achievement. Therefore, if the idea of setting goals makes you wince, relax and read on. You'll discover a new way of setting goals which will inspire you.
=> Set little goals at first: start small
Set small goals. Small goals are achievable, and they're not intimidating. Setting small goals, and achieving them, gives you confidence. Each day you will improve your writing skills, and you will learn more about how to market.

Setting small goals applies whether you're a beginner, or a pro.

1. Your first goal: Market - RIGHT NOW
Aim to market every day. Your marketing effort for the day may be simple: you may send a stay-in-touch email message to a client you haven’t spoken to for a month.
Maybe you spot a new potential market, and you send them a quick note, telling them something about your business, yourself, and your current clients.
If you're just starting out, please don’t let this faze you. Play up your beginner's status. People will help you if you give them the chance.
I fit my marketing in around whatever else I'm doing. I take my handheld computer with me when I'm out and about. If I'm stuck waiting in line at the Post Office, I spend the time downloading my email, and dashing off a quick note to a client I haven't contacted this past month.
If I'm at the library, I browse through the business directories in the Reference section. This takes less than five minutes, and I always come away with at least five new agencies, or five new businesses to contact.
If you make marketing part of your everyday life, it doesn’t seem like such a chore. Nor do you get hung up on whether people respond to a email message, or a message you've left on their voice mail. People often don’t respond, unless they have work for you immediately.
Here's a funny/ tragic story. I was communicating with a prospective copywriting client, who owned a gardening center, in Perth, which is 5000 miles away, on the other side of Australia. I'd been chatting to and fro with him via email for about a year. He had plans to revamp the copy on his Web site, send out some news releases, and much more. Finally he sent me an email to tell me that he was going out of business. He couldn’t pay his staff or his suppliers. He'd been hoping his business would turn the corner, but it hadn’t.
Although I didn’t do any writing for him, I did form a relationship with him. This is the kind of relationship you need to form with as many potential clients as you can. Even if your prospect has no work for you right away, stay in touch. Contact them every month or two. Be interested in them and their business.
When they need whatever it is that you do, you'll be the person they call. You'll also find that your prospects will pass on your contact details to others - so communicate, a little and often. :-)

2. Your second goal: Get known - promote
Many business owners are “hit and run" marketers. This procedure won’t help you to build a business. You're selling to people, and people buy from those whom they know and trust.
This means that to sell to a market, you first need to become known to a market. Yes, you can get extremely lucky, and may make a sale the first time you contact a particular market. You can’t count on it happening every day, and depending on luck is no way to build a business.
Send out a news release at least once a month. Get your name out there.

3. Your third goal: commit to your marketing campaign
Being committed to marketing means exactly that. It means that like Nike, you just do it.
I read a profile of Mary Kay Ash, the cosmetics queen. When she was starting her business, and for many years thereafter, she was always the last person to leave the office. Long after others had left, she'd been busy making just one more marketing phone call.
This is the spirit you need to aim for in your marketing efforts. Make just one more phone call. Send just one more email message. Every day.
Whatever your business, you won’t succeed unless you make it a habit to do some marketing every day. Start small, set tiny achievable marketing goals like those I've suggested. If you do that, your business will be a success.
Wouldn't you like to clone yourself as a writer, or have someone do your writing tasks for you? Contact Angela Booth at http://www.angelabooth.com now because Angela expertly ghost-writes articles, proposals, marketing communications, Web copy, and books. Yes, you're the author of the words Angela writes for you. Angela is fast, reliable and professional, and works with individuals and small businesses as well as large companies.
Article Source: http://www.articleslash.net/Business/Marketing/695__Set-Marketing-Goals-To-Build-Your-Business-And-Your-Confidence.html

Guerrilla Marketing for the Small Marketing Budget

By Lee Lister
Posted: January 08, 2006

A smallish budget and a need to spend it wisely – I think the most important thing to do is ensure that you are aiming at actual potential customers. Luckily as auto repair guys – you have a head start as most people have cars nowadays. But…. . make sure that you are aiming at people who own the kind of cars that you repair – be that make of car, age of car and/or income level.

Second consideration is what you want to market – Be Specific. Have a service – or make one up – that you can explain in a few words. Try something like “Pre Freeze Tune Up” or “First Car Service” or “Pre Purchase Checkup”. Notice how the name explains it all. Try and offer something that will be appealing and that no one else is offering. It is far easier to sell a particular service on a small marketing budget than it is to sell all that you do! Identify your company with good branding – one that sticks in the mind – like “The Spanner Man”, “Jim’ll Fix It”, “The service you can trust” – you get the idea.

Get printed some posters in 4 color – about the size of a paperback book – is the most versatile size. Make sure they explain your offer and are easy to read, include graphics and not too many words. Don’t forget your contact phone number, address and company name.
So we have your potential customers and what you want to sell to them – now you need to market your company where these people are likely to be. Here are a few suggestions for you. Please always get permission to make your postings.
* Car parks: Arrange to put up small posters on the payment machines, at the entry barriers or at the payment booth. Wherever the motorist pauses for a while.
 * Movies, restaurants etc: Particularly useful if you have a younger cliental. Place the posters on the notice boards, in the restrooms and wherever people wait for a while.
 * Your local take outs: Place them where people are waiting for their meals. Do an exchange of services to ensure this.
 * Clubs, pubs and sports areas: Place them where they can be seen as people meet or line up.
 * Car Sellers: Offer commission to sellers who send you clients. Swap adverts with them.

If your budget will stretch, some other guerrilla ideas are:
* Place your advert on the lid of takeout food coffee cup sleeves, bags, tickets etc.
 * Beer mats with your service – bring it to you and get a discount.
 * Special offers sent to local businesses and their staff.
 * Interesting fridge magnets – maybe in the shape of a comic car!
* A competition (legal of course) that your local paper will hopefully feature for you. It can be something like guess the washers in a can to win a free service. Anything that will bring people into your business where you can show yourselves off and provide sales material.

Tip: Send off details of your new service to the local press and local radio stations, in the form of a press release. Hopefully they will run this information to give you more free coverage.
Lastly – think a little out of the box, differentiate yourself and aim to introduce just one small element of your service – the rest will follow.
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© Copyright 2006 Biz Guru LLC Lee Lister, writes as The Biz Guru, for a number of web sites including her own sites http://www.BizGuru.us With over 20 year’s management and business consultancy experience with businesses large and small as well as being a serial entrepreneur, she now helps others set up, develop and market their businesses. Also visit http://www.clikks.com for all our informational products. You might like to join our
Clikks Ezine: - aimed at the small businesses – click or brick with a web site presence. We provide business strategy and marketing assistance and products. clikks_ezine@aweber.com
This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
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Article Source: http://www.articleslash.net/Business/Marketing/39__Guerrilla-Marketing-for-the-Small-Marketing-Budget.html

Six Ways To Attract New Customers To Your Restaurant

Six Ways To Attract New Customers To Your Restaurant

By Habiba Abubakar
Posted: September 22, 2004

Without new business, your restaurant won't be able to grow.   You need a constant stream of new customers to replace those you lose as a result of customers relocating, switching jobs, or changing dining habits.   Here are six strategies for getting more customers through your doors.
1.  Market Your Restaurant In Hotel Rooms
Business travellers and people on holiday may not be familiar enough with your town to know where to find an excellent meal.   You can give them a hand simply by doing some hotel room marketing.   Talk to hotels within your three-mile radius area and ask if you can place menus and advertisements in their rooms and lobby area.   Some hotels have a “Nearby Attractions” list which they provide for their guests.   You can ask to be added to the list.   When guests get hungry and start trying to figure out where to eat, you'll be one of the first restaurants to come to mind.
2.  Form A Strategic Alliance With Event Venues
After a concert or sporting event, people are hungry and want to eat.   Remember that people sometimes travel a long distance to come to these events, so they don't want to travel home on an empty stomach.   One venue in the United States showed a nearby restaurant's advert on all of the venue monitors between concert acts.   After the concert was over, that restaurant was packed with concert goers.   You can do your part by promoting upcoming events of that venue at your restaurant.
3.  Enter Contests
One of the biggest ways to get some media attention and, therefore, to attract new business is by winning a contest.    For example, enter your chef in a cooking contest.   Read restaurant publications and browse the Internet to find out about any contests you may be able to enter.   If all else fails, create your own contest and invite local restaurants to participate.   Then, even if you lose, you'll still generate great publicity and get new patrons in your door.
4.  Sell Gift Certificates
Your loyal customers may want their friends and family members to give you a try.   Provide them with your gift certificates, so they can buy these as presents for loved ones.   A gift certificate allows the recipient to try your restaurant completely risk-free since they usually don't have to pay anything for the experience.   Plus, each gift certificate serves as a referral to your establishment.   Make sure your gift certificates come in flexible amounts so that buyers have the freedom to decide how much to spend.  
5.  Give Samples Out At Busy Locations
Send your food on the road if you really want to lure in new customers.   Go to locations that have a lot of human traffic, such as shopping centres, supermarkets, parks, etc, and offer samples of some of your most tasty food to everyone that passes by.   When they stop to take a sample, give out a menu, business card, or a coupon so that they'll know exactly where they can go in order to taste more of your scrumptious food.
6.  Offer “Happy Hour” Specials
At the end of a hard day, many workers want to relax and unwind before heading home, so invite them to your restaurant for some “happy hour” specials.   Drink specials and low-price finger food buffets are both good ideas.   You could also have Frequent Diner cards for happy patrons so that after so many drinks they receive a free drink or a discount on their meal if they decide to stay for dinner.   Inform all local businesses about your offer.

Copyright © 2004 Habiba Abubakar and Emprez.    All rights reserved.
Habiba Abubakar, a. k. a. Restaurant Marketing Diva, is the author of 40 Proven Strategies For Attracting A Continuous Flow Of New Customers To Your Restaurant.   Habiba helps restaurant owners and managers who are struggling to attract more customers and are finding it hard to build customer loyalty.   Be sure to sign up for your FREE copy of her revealing report, FOUR Things You Can Do To Skyrocket Your Restaurant's Profits In 90 Days or Less.   Just go to http://www.emprez.com.
Article Source: http://www.articleslash.net/Business/Marketing/13815__Six-Ways-To-Attract-New-Customers-To-Your-Restaurant.html

Maximize Your Marketing Time

Maximize Your Marketing Time

By Kevin P. Dervin

Posted: January 07, 2006

How much time do you spend actively marketing your business? Do you spend more than a couple of hours per week?
How much time should you spend actively marketing your business? Many small business owners and service providers don't know what their answer to this question should be? They're not really sure how much time they should be spending on marketing. But, a majority of the professionals I ask say they're only spending a couple of hours per week.
In working with clients one-on-one and through my Growth Marketing Power Groups, I challenge them that they should be dedicating 20 to 25% of their time each and every week to purposeful marketing activity. If you only work a 40 to 50 hour week, that's 8 to 10 hours on marketing.
For some, that number just seems impossible. They're busy enough as it is and can't imagine carving out that much time from their crowded schedules.
So where exactly do you spend your time? Have you ever tracked and analyzed your time to see how productively you're spending it? Most small business owners and professional service providers typically spend their time in one of three general categories. . .

Income Producing Activities

Marketing Activities

Other Activities

I'm sure you'd agree that you want to spend most of your time in “income producing activities. " But, the reality of the situation is that most professionals spend a majority of their time (up to 70 or 80%) in “other activities. " Some of that is justified because everyone has a certain amount of administrative duties to take care of. Unfortunately, a majority of the other category is simply wasted time.
That's bad news because if you're spending over 70 to 80% of your time in other activities and only a couple of hours per week actively marketing, how do you ever expect to generate more income producing time? It's a vicious cycle, but many small business owners find themselves caught in it.
In order to maximize your marketing time, you need to schedule it like you would your best client. Book an appointment in your calendar, and then be sure you keep it each and every week. Remember if you're working a 40 to 50 hour week, that means you should be scheduling eight to ten hours for purposeful marketing activity every week.
Imagine how much further along your business could be if you focused eight hours per week on marketing.
In just a few short months, you'll be a more purposeful marketer and I'd predict you'll have shifted from “other activities" to more “income producing activities. " Get your calendar and schedule some time right now!
About the Author:
Kevin Dervin is the owner of KPD Marketing and creator of the ABCD Growth System. If you find this article useful, you’d probably enjoy Kevin’s FREE monthly eZine called ABCD Grow. To subscribe, just go to http://www.ABCDgrowth.com and follow one of the links to the FREE Stuff page!
Article Source: http://www.articleslash.net/Business/Marketing/51__Maximize-Your-Marketing-Time.html

Marketing Blueprint

Why Marketing Is Important To Your Business

Author: Todd Ash

Attraction Marketing can help you build your business faster and with more stability in ANY PROGRAM. Attraction marketing is promoting a product or service in such a way that causes potential customers or prospects to want to hear about what you have to offer. In direct sales, it typically refers to promoting yourself as an expert, offering information that a prospect wants, and builds the basis of a real relationship with that prospect.

This the strategy of drawing highly targeted, highly motivated prospects into your sphere of infuence. Highly qualified propsects is the life blood of any network marketing business.

It provides valuable information to your customers. The more helpful and valuable your information is the greater the chance those customers will purchase from you.

Listen in as they divulge exactly how they achieved great success in this industry . This is exactly how I build my business. Listen daily to inner peace and wealth and discover within you the secret of how to open up the universal law of attraction in your life! I give this gift freely for you to manifest your desires in life.

Marketing is the process whereby demands for products, services and ideas are anticipated, managed and satisfied. The marketer does this by first analyzing the marketplace behavior of competitors and consumers and then designing product, promotion, pricing and distribution strategies that will be accepted in the marketplace.

This is about acquiring and retaining customers for products and services by delivering customer value. It is about having a finger on the pulse of the consumer so that it is possible to identify and create needs, and to cater to them effectively and efficiently. Marketing topics of current concern to faculty and students. Offered only when allowed by faculty availability and sufficient student interest.

It is also a war of words and the company with the best words always wins. We\'ll make sure you win! Marketing plans can feel like a pain in the neck (not to mention other body parts). Small business owners, and others without a boss to impose a due date, often find themselves 'too busy' to complete a marketing plan or update the existing one.

Internet marketing your enterprise or small business can improve the search engine placement of a web site, getting it a higher ranking and perhaps generating more internet traffic to the site. Internet Retailer reports that 18.7of bulk e-mail senders don\'t even know what their open rates are.

Marketing is analysis, and a sound marketing strategy is based on this analysis. What type of analysis are we talking about? Marketing is full of jargon. And marketing agencies are full of people fluent in jargon. It is not an event, but a process . It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process.

It is changing in radically interesting ways. I do think that marketers are being called upon to draw together the people who make products and the people who use them. Marketing is a complex skill with many different tactics and approaches. Responsible Marketing Consulting Services can help you create, execute and measure the success of a variety of marketing activities. Marketing is not sales. The sale is the exchange between the organization and the constituent or the organization and the donor.

This is an important component of a business enterprise that helps in increasing an organization?s profitability. If a company has not done enough marketing, then it might become .

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/viral-marketing-articles/why-marketing-is-important-to-your-business-410123.html

About the Author

Todd Ash Is An Entrepreneur and A Master Of Network Marketing.To Find Out More About Succeeding Online Click Here To Visit Toddash.com For Free Information

Display stands for low cost and high impact marketing

Author: Gerry Yanis

Proper marketing techniques to generate sales are an essential part of any business. This clearly reflects from the fact that today, every company makes a lot of investment in advertising and marketing tools. This is very necessary to make people aware about your products or services. You daily come across so many products being promoted on television, magazines pages, billboards etc. As this kind of promotion is quite expensive, many companies go for other marketing options. There are many companies that are successfully using posters for the promotion of their brand. The effect of posters increases with the use of proper stands or holders. A quality banner stand is one of the best way to communicate with a variety of audiences.

Display stands are available in different types. Pavement stands are placed on the road side. They effectively promote products and services that increase the popularity of your products along with creating brand awareness. If you are planning to participate in an exhibition, even then you can easily get an exhibition stand perfectly matching to your requirements. Modular display stands (aufsteller) are becoming increasingly popular these days because of their flexibility and versatility. The best thing about these stands is that they are light-weight; thus, making it easy for you to install and dismantle them. Pop-up stands are also used by many people to enhance the overall look of their event. These stands are small in size and known for portability and can be easily transported from one event to another.

It does not matter what type of business you run, it requires the right kind of exposure. As marketing is the life blood of survival in this competitive world, you need to take extreme care while selecting display stands. The manufacturers design these stands for different occasions, whether you want for exhibition, seminar, conference or for placing in your showroom floor or reception area. The placement of a display stands also matters a lot. It should be strategically placed in such a place where it can gain the attention of maximum visitors. Its aim is to persuade customers to purchase a product or promoting a service. It should include eye-catching graphics and clear message.

As the business world is extremely competitive, it becomes very necessary to find the most economical and beneficial marketing option for promoting your products and services. Keep a few things in your mind before selecting suppliers for these stands like your budget, requirements and the reputation and experience of the supplier. Whether you are planning to open a new business or want to enhance the market of your existing product, these stands play a significant role in your marketing endeavours.

Although online marketing is gaining popularity these days; however, it will be wrong to say that offline marketing has become a thing of the past. Even today, they are an integral part of most companies\' marketing strategies for generating the sort of buzz and interest in your brand. It will be more appropriate to say that display stands have become the lifeblood of advertising and marketing strategy of many companies.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/display-stands-for-low-cost-and-high-impact-marketing-6571603.html

About the Author

The author likes writing about topics related to marketing. He shares his views about using display stands (aufsteller) for promoting products and services.

Sales Promotion - An Effective Marketing Tools

Sales promotion is one of the four aspects of promotional mix. (The other three parts of the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, and publicity/public relations.) Media and non-media marketing communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Examples include:
· contests
· point of purchase displays
· rebates
· free travel, such as free flights

Sales promotions can be directed at either the customer, sales staff, or distribution channel members (such as retailers). Sales promotions targeted at the consumer are called consumer sales promotions. Sales promotions targeted at retailers and wholesale are called trade sales promotions. Some sale promotions, particularly ones with unusual methods, are considered gimmick by many.

Consumer sales promotion techniques
Price deal: A temporary reduction in the price, such as happy hour
Loyal Reward Program: Consumers collect points, miles, or credits for purchases and redeem them for rewards. Two famous examples are Pepsi Stuff and AAdvantage.
Cents-off deal: Offers a brand at a lower price. Price reduction may be a percentage marked on the package.
Price-pack deal: The packaging offers a consumer a certain percentage more of the product for the same price (for example, 25 percent extra).
Coupons: coupons have become a standard mechanism for sales promotions.
Loss leader: the price of a popular product is temporarily reduced in order to stimulate other profitable sales
Free-standing insert (FSI): A coupon booklet is inserted into the local newspaper for delivery.
On-shelf couponing: Coupons are present at the shelf where the product is available.
Checkout dispensers: On checkout the customer is given a coupon based on products purchased.
On-line couponing: Coupons are available on line. Consumers print them out and take them to the store.
Mobile couponing: Coupons are available on a mobile phone. Consumers show the offer on a mobile phone to a salesperson for redemption.
Online interactive promotion game: Consumers play an interactive game associated with the promoted product. See an example of the Interactive Internet Ad for tomato ketchup.
Rebates: Consumers are offered money back if the receipt and barcode are mailed to the producer.
Contests/sweepstakes/games: The consumer is automatically entered into the event by purchasing the product.

Point-of-sale displays:
Aisle interrupter: A sign that juts into the aisle from the shelf.
Dangler: A sign that sways when a consumer walks by it.
Dump bin: A bin full of products dumped inside.
Glorifier: A small stage that elevates a product above other products.
Wobbler: A sign that jiggles.
Lipstick Board: A board on which messages are written in crayon.
Necker: A coupon placed on the 'neck' of a bottle.
YES unit: "your extra salesperson" is a pull-out fact sheet.

Trade sales promotion techniques
Trade allowances: short term incentive offered to induce a retailer to stock up on a product.
Dealer loader: An incentive given to induce a retailer to purchase and display a product.
Trade contest: A contest to reward retailers that sell the most product.
Point-of-purchase displays: Extra sales tools given to retailers to boost sales.
Training programs: dealer employees are trained in selling the product.
Push money: also known as "spiffs". An extra commission paid to retail employees to push products.
Trade discounts (also called functional discounts): These are payments to distribution channel members for performing some function .

Political issues
Sales promotions have traditionally been heavily regulated in many advanced industrial nations, with the notable exception of the United States. For example, the United Kingdom formerly operated under a resale price maintenance regime in which manufacturers could legally dictate the minimum resale price for virtually all goods; this practice was abolished in 1964.[1]
Most European countries also have controls on the scheduling and permissible types of sales promotions, as they are regarded in those countries as bordering upon unfair business practices. Germany is notorious for having the most strict regulations. Famous examples include the car wash that was barred from giving free car washes to regular customers and a baker who could not give a free cloth bag to customers who bought more than 10 rolls.[2]