Monthly Archives: June 2008

Drive Traffic With an Ezine

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Posted by admin on June 23, 2008 – 8:44 pm
Filed under Copy, Copywriting, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online marketing, small business marketing, website

Ezines are a great way to drive traffic to your website. Writing ezines can establish credibility because it shows your target market the span of knowledge you have toward a product or service you are trying to promote. Ezines are successful because when customers sign up to receive them, they give you permission to contact them via email.  The more subscribers you have, the more products and services you will sell. Ezines are a great tool for familiarizing your customers with the products and services your company has to offer. They are ways to promote your knowledge of business, products, services, demands, and the marketing world. Tips, “How To’s,” lists, and articles are great ways to inform the viewer about what your company does.  
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Ezines are becoming a popular way for many companies to gain customers because it’s inexpensive and it’s free for the subscriber. Be informative and creative so that clients begin to trust your words of wisdom and put more faith in your company. Don’t have time to write an ezine? Hire a copywriter to do it for you. Ezines are so important in building your clientele and are great ways to pass updated information to consumers. A copywriter helps to eliminate the burden of trying to reach out to the most people while being creative at the same time.
 
 
 

 

No Time To Write a Blog? No Problem.

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Posted by admin on June 20, 2008 – 7:45 pm
Filed under Copy, Copywriting, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Small Business, marketing trends, online marketing, small business marketing, social networking, website

Small business owners often take on more work than they can handle. The little things always seem to take an hour or more and it’s too easy to get behind. The progression of the internet has provided more options to market a company with the use of audio, video, blogs, podcasts, newsletters, email, articles, etc. One person is incapable of performing all of these functions for his or her website . . . at least not without going crazy.  

What is the best option for minimizing the amount of work one has to do without eliminating media that will benefit marketing for a company? 

The answer: Hire a copywriter. 

An excellent way to use a copywriter to a company’s benefit is to hire a professional to write blogs. Blogs are rising in popularity, and many companies are utilizing them to share new products, ideas, services, and offer an area for customers to comment. These comments allow potential customers to get an idea of what other consumers think of a product or service. Comment areas can also be used by potential clients to ask questions about a particular product or service and can serve as a guide for what the topic will be for the next blog.

Blogs are often times overlooked by a company because owners do not have the time to post three to four blogs a week. Avoid overlooking this important commodity by hiring a copywriter to write a blog. A copywriter will persuade your customers to be active with your company through their knowledge of the target market.

Blogs are conversational in nature and allow customers to feel a stronger personal connection with a company. Copywriters use creative ways of developing this connection and can express this through blog writing. Hire one now and get more time to do the other things you have been putting off.

Do you have questions about how a copywriter can help your business? Contact Michelle Salater Writing & Editorial to learn more.

 

 

 

Website Navigation: The Key to Gaining Customers

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Posted by admin on June 19, 2008 – 4:23 pm
Filed under Copy, Copywriting, Marketing, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online advertising, online marketing, small business marketing, web copy, website, website navigation

The main goal of your company’s website is to initially attract the potential customer to the web copy. Web copy is placed on the homepage of your site, and from there a viewer must click on tabs in the tool bar to navigate to other areas of your site.

CAUTION: This is where many businesses lose their customers. Easy navigation is crucial. Eliminating any ambiguity about where to look for information within a site is important.

Easy navigation tips:
• Homepages are used as the link between all the tabs. It’s the place people will return to as the easy way to navigate to other tabs.
• Tabs need to guide visitors to information they are looking for quickly. Therefore, be specific and clear.
• Tool bar should be obvious at the top or left side of each homepage.
• Drop down menus from tabs are a great way to show viewers what information they will come across from clicking on that tab.
• Pictures can be used next to a word in the tab bar to better illustrate the information it will provide and to add visual aesthetics to your site.
• All parts of the site can be reached by using the links on the homepage.

Important tabs for navigational bars:
• About Us
• Contact Us
• About Our Products and Services

Being creative on a site can be beneficial for the customer because it adds more “zest” to your company, but when it comes to navigation tab titles, try to be as generic and clear as possible. Once the customer becomes confused about what your tabs provide, he or she will already be looking at a competitor’s site. This is easy to avoid, so don’t lose customers to something this simple.

Make it simple. Make it fast. Make it clear. Make it work. 

 

Want more marketing tips? Subscribe to Your Business Marketing Solution, a bimonthly ezine filled with marketing tips, market trends, and informative articles.

A Credo of Values Is Essential in Any Successful Business

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Posted by admin on June 16, 2008 – 4:01 pm
Filed under Copy, Copywriting, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online advertising, online marketing, small business marketing, web copy, website

One of the greatest strengths a company can utilize in order to gain new customers and keep current ones is through strong company values and a clear credo. Websites are a great source for consumers to learn about your products and services. They are also an excellent way to convey what your business stands for.

Consumers want to know that your company is advertising truthfully and ethically. Many businesses use puffery and deception in their advertising, which leads customers to be dissatisfied and unwilling to make repeat purchases. If you clearly convey that you care about the consumer and establish personal values, potential customers will be more likely to buy again from you as well as refer other customers to your products or services.

Repeat customers benefit your business because they cost less to attract than new customers and they require less service, while buying more. As a small business owner, you must first gain the customer’s trust in your company—a tactic many businesses disregard or place at the bottom of their lists for attracting customers.

Things to emphasize in your credo:
*Empathy and compassion towards the consumer’s wants and needs
*Effort to keep costs low and establish practical prices  

*Benefits your company wishes to gain from doing business with consumers

*Internal and external goals of your company
*Customer service satisfaction

*Care you provide for your employees both on a personal level and in the work environment

The important thing when creating a credo of values is to include information about your company—information that people would not know from just purchasing your product or service. Consumers like to be let in on internal business affairs, such as your ideas for new products, purchasing, merging, etc. The more you let your customers know about your company, the more they will feel a part of it and trust the goods and services you can provide for them.

More Tips:

1. Don’t put your credo in a place that is difficult to find on your site. Place it under the category “About Us” or “About Our Company.”
2. Brochures, email marketing, and press releases are other excellent ways to express your values and are not to be overlooked.

 

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Why Hiring a Ghostwriter is Beneficial to Your Marketing Strategy

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Posted by admin on June 13, 2008 – 7:27 pm
Filed under Business Goals, Copy, Copywriting, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online advertising, online marketing, small business marketing, web copy, website

Ghostwriting is extremely beneficial for any business. Ghostwriters will take your idea about a book, article, or blog and write a clean and thorough form of this idea on paper.

If you’re a small business owner and don’t have great writing talent or the time, a ghostwriter will credit you with his/her talent. Usually ghostwriters will record interviews with their clients and edit the material.

Ghostwriting can be beneficial for marketing your services or product if you know what you want to say but don’t know how to say it. Writer’s block happens on a daily basis and it consumes a lot of time. Ghostwriters will cut that time down, saving you the agony of thinking of a creative and thorough way to get your idea across.

Why hire a ghostwriter?

  1. You don’t have the time to write.
  2. You don’t have the skills necessary.
  3. You know what to say, but don’t know how to word it.

Ghostwriters are plentiful these days and easy to find. Save yourself the time and distress. Hire a ghostwriter to write letters, articles, material for your website, books, autobiographies, virtually anything.

 

Do you have questions about how a ghostwriter can help your business? Contact Michelle Salater Writing & Editorial to learn more.

Email and Social Media Spending Expected to Rise

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Posted by admin on June 12, 2008 – 4:24 pm
Filed under Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, marketing trends, online advertising, online marketing, small business marketing, social networking, video marketing, website

According to a May 2008 eMarketer report, social networking and email spending is expected to increase in the next three years. The survey, conducted by Eloqua, reports that:

  • 74% of marketers surveyed plan to increase email ad spending.
  • 9 out of 10 surveyed will continue to increase their direct online ad budgets.
  • Survey respondents projected to increase social network ad spending to $2.4 billion in 2011, a significant increase from the $1.4 billion this year.

Online marketing / advertising is growing. Are you ready to take your marketing digital?

Want more marketing tips? Sign up for Your Business Marketing Solution, a free bimonthly ezine. Sign up today and recieve my free report, 5 Secrets for Creating Web Copy That Will Increase Your Sales and Double Your Profits.

Frequency Marketing Tips

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Posted by admin on June 10, 2008 – 5:44 pm
Filed under Business Goals, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online advertising, online marketing, small business marketing, website

Tips to keep in mind when creating a frequency-marketing program:

  • Be creative
  • Find the most effective way to bring revenue into your company while satisfying the customer
  • Survey customers on what they like and do not like about the services and products your company has to offer and work around these survey results
  • Create access to information on these programs via your website
  • Create a simple way for consumers to utilize these programs via the internet or through a quick, in-store process
Want more marketing tips? When you sign up for Your Business Marketing Solution, a free bimonthly ezine, you’ll recieve my FREE report, 5 Secrets for Creating Web Copy That Will Increase Your Sales and Double Your Profits.

 

 

Keep Customers Coming Back Without Spending a Fortune

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Posted by admin on June 10, 2008 – 5:38 pm
Filed under Business Goals, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online marketing, small business marketing, website

All businesses love to see previous customers return to purchase their products or services again and again. Repeat customers are beneficial to the success of your company because they . . .

*Cost less to attract than new consumers

*Are easier to attract than new consumers

*Will recommend your company to others

*Require less service

An excellent way to keep previous customers repeat customers is through a frequency-marketing program. Frequency marketing is any form of marketing that rewards customers for their purchases and encourages them to return. Frequent flyer miles illustrate this concept in the clearest of terms. Many airline companies offer frequent flyer miles, which motivate the consumer to continue flying with that airline in order to obtain cheaper services.

Any company can utilize frequency marketing for its customers. Some magazines or newspapers offer deals for resubscribing to their publication in order to keep the consumer a frequent buyer and reader. The make up store Sephora has Beauty Insider Rewards, which also benefit returning customers. The program keeps track of purchases, and at the $100 spending mark, the customer receives a free gift. The rewards restart after the $100 mark, and the free gifts keep coming whenever that mark is reached.

Creating a solid relationship with customers is very important and should be done at the earliest stage possible during sales. Customer maintenance insures their happiness and repetitive sales.

 

Online Sales Increase in 2008

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Posted by admin on June 9, 2008 – 3:35 am
Filed under Copy, Copywriting, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online advertising, online marketing, web copy, website

A recent study conducted by Forrester Research Inc. estimates a 17% increase in 2008 for online sales, equaling about $204 billion. According to this same study, the three categories that are sought out most by online shoppers are apparels ($26.6 billion), computers ($23.9 billion), and autos ($19.3 billion).

As the online market continues to increase, many companies are looking to establish a web presence or expand their current web presence to stay competitive. A website is a powerful sales tool, yet establishing a strong online presence is a challenge to some businesses that are unfamiliar with how to compete and stand out among the millions of websites.

According to the study, apparel is the largest category sought out by online consumers with $26.6 billion predicted in sales. For apparel companies looking to establish an online presence, this can be even more difficult as many of them, especially the small to midsized businesses, have little or no experience selling products and promoting their businesses online.

As more shoppers turn to the web for purchasing apparel, companies are realizing that there is a definite need to make the change. Many don’t know where to begin the processes to effectively sell and market online, or how to find the balance for reaching out to current retail shoppers while appealing to an online or virtual audience. Their entire marketing plan requires tweaking in order to participate online. However, more often than not, they need the right professional help to market themselves both effectively and efficiently.

With a declining economy, shoppers are looking for the cheapest and easiest way to buy products online, which may account for the 17% estimated increase. The increase in gas prices may also be affecting online sales because shoppers are less likely to drive longer distances to purchase the clothes they want.

As competition for the online market is increasing, companies need to find ways to efficiently market themselves. Hiring a professional copywriter, one who understands how to write web copy, is strongly encouraged, especially for the small or midsized business competing against corporate entities. These smaller companies are not only competing with local retailers in a geographical area but are also competing on a global scale.

A strong online presence not only allows companies to expand their markets beyond local consumers, but it also allows those in the geographical area to locate them easier. Having a store locator and special coupons to print and bring in benefit the consumers who are doing their research before heading out to stores. Consumers are also looking at what products are available to try on in the stores so that they don’t waste time and gas driving around town to different stores.

The Key to Your Online Success

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Posted by admin on June 7, 2008 – 4:52 pm
Filed under Copy, Copywriting, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, Small Business, online advertising, online marketing, web copy, website

Whether you are in the market for a new car, planning your next vacation, getting your dose of the daily news, or researching an expensive purchase, most likely you head to the web first.  

The web is the easiest way to get information across to the target audience of any company—and as fast and efficiently as possible. But it’s not just about having a website for your business. It’s about having the best website for your type of business.

One deciding factor in whether you are the best website out there for your specific products or services is clear, concise web copy. Your website must grab the targeted consumer’s attention, inform the consumer of your business, and present your services and products in a clear and efficient way. Nothing frustrates me more than going to a website to purchase something and not being provided with sufficient contact information, an easy navigation bar, or clearly stated benefits to purchasing with that company. This is why excellent web copy is the key to a website’s success.

More and more, consumers are turning to the internet for information and to purchase goods and services. Even airports are catering to these needs. You will not believe how many airports are on this list that offer Wi-Fi. I was in New York’s JFK airport the other day and there was no room on the Wi-Fi circle for me to sit. Think about all the people out there, like me, who enjoy surfing the web during free time—even if that means free time at the airport. 

Does your website need a makeover? Check out Michelle Salater’s professional web copy services at http://www.mlsalater.com/services-web-copy.cfm