Category Archives: Marketing Tip

Google Introduces Google Friend Connect API

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Posted by admin on April 6, 2009 – 7:21 am
Filed under Gain Brand Loyalty, Marketing Tip, SEO, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis, online marketing, social networking

Google has recently launched its new Google Friend Connect API, which works the same way many social media sites do. Just like social media sites, Google Friend Connect (GFC) is an excellent tool for companies to use to drive targeted site traffic and grow a successful business online.

This free online marketing tool works with blogs and discussion forums to build a niche-oriented online community on that specific blog / forum. GFC plug-ins are now available on Wordpress, allowing you to add a more interactive and social aspect to your blog.

Using effective SEO techniques to drive traffic to your blog is the first step. The next step is to build a loyal group of readers and allow them to interact on your blog more than ever before. If you use the GFC tool correctly, you can build strong and long-lasting relationships with customers, drive targeted traffic to your website, build readership, and allow visitors to have an entertaining experience on your blog.

How Does GFC Work?

• Allows visitors to sign in to the GFC aspect of your blog using their personal Google, Yahoo, OpenID, or AOL AIM account and make friends, share media, comment, and invite friends from their other social networking sites to visit your blog.

• Permits visitors to become members of the blog and create a profile or upload an existing profile from a social media site they’re a member of.    

• Offers entertaining social features that engage visitors more and encourage them to visit your website and continue to visit your blog. 

All of GFC’s features allow you to build your own niche-oriented online community centered on your blog. This community will consist of people interested in your industry expertise and business. The growth is viral and is an excellent time investment if you want to build a successful business online.

Squash Negative PR on Social Media Sites

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Posted by admin on March 31, 2009 – 8:49 pm
Filed under Business Communication, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, market in economic crisis, online marketing, press releases, social networking

In the March 13 WebProNews article, “Fighting a Bad Online Reputation & Keeping a Good One,” author Chris Crum brings up some excellent points on how social media sites can spell disaster for some companies. Because there is so much interaction and freedom to say whatever you like, anyone could severely tarnish your company name.

There is always going to be someone on the web trying to bring your company down, and it’s extremely important to make an effort to be present on several social media sites in order to counter any negative opinions. Although you’ll never catch all the bad things people say, it’s important to keep your company in a positive light and build a strong network of loyal followers on these sites. This will counteract to the bad comments some people might be saying about your company. A strong and large network can silence these negative comments and keep your reputation intact.

In addition to building a strong network, Crum suggests using several online tools to find places harboring negative publicity about your company. According to the article, Trackur tracks blogs, other sites, images, and video. The article also provides a link to an article on Duct Tape Marketing, which provides a list of “34 online reputation management tools.”

In regard to the frightening publicity situation, Crum offers some wise advice to businesses:

“PR disaster is much more likely to strike when the business itself does not monitor its reputation. Tools are there for you to use. Don’t ignore them. Otherwise, it might be your company somebody tweets about having a poor product, leading to all of their followers seeing the negativity and possibly blogging about it which can then be linked to, and so on and so forth. I don’t think you want to go down that road. Just watch yourself.”

Start building a strong online network now, and begin using the tools Crum’s article mentions. Your company will thank you for the dedication.

To view the entire WebProNews article, click here.

Mobile Marketing Could Be Your Company’s New Event Coordinator

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Posted by admin on March 30, 2009 – 7:11 am
Filed under Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, attract clients, client attraction, market in economic crisis, marketing in bad economy, marketing trends, small business marketing

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Mobile marketing began in recent years and has since increased in usage. Many companies already utilizing these mobile marketing strategies are club promoters, event promoters, and business promoters, among many others. It’s an excellent way to send a mass message out and have confidence the recipients will receive and view it within minutes of the message being sent. Once receivers open their invitation to an event, they can immediately RSVP and be placed on a list, all within minutes.

According to the mobile marketing company, Mobile Storm, MGM Grand in Las Vegas used mobile marketing to promote a party they were holding. They had recipients RSVP to be on the list, and, all in all, the party was a great success. The time it took to plan such an extravagant event was cut down drastically compared to if they had used an email, flyer, or billboard campaign.

The case study with MGM Grand is an excellent example of how using a strategic marketing plan via mobile devices can have such a successful turnout. Mobile marketing is something that all companies can use to promote products / services—it just requires a different technique to reach out to prospects.    

Mobile marketing is also the perfect way to build strong customer relationships, because it keeps customers up-to-date on company events and news with the click of a button. Using mobile marketing can help your company gain a competitive advantage over other companies in your industry that are not using this new and incredibly efficient advertising tool. Using mobile marketing shows customers you’re current with technology and the latest trends. With the fast pace of everyday life, it’s no wonder mobile marketing is taking off.

Cost-Effective Marketing for Businesses

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Posted by admin on March 17, 2009 – 7:41 pm
Filed under Copywriting, Marketing Tip, SEO, article marketing, attract clients, blogging, increase online sales, increase site traffic, marketing in bad economy, online articles

Submitting online articles to reputable article directories, popular bloggers, social media sites, social bookmarking sites, and online publications is an excellent way to increase SEO.

Article marketing is a cost-effective way to increase your online visibility, drive traffic to your site, and bring in more business. One article provides long-term results, exposing your company to thousands of potential customers—over and over again. Every article you place drives more traffic to your website and improves your site’s link popularity and search engine rankings.

Online articles are an excellent resource for potential clients and illustrate you’re an expert in your field. When writing online articles, it’s important for them to be well written, informative, and unique. This rule applies no matter where you submit your article.

Make sure your article is focused and expresses your expertise. The article should not sell your product or service—it should be informative and relate to your industry knowledge.

For example, if you specialized in web copywriting and online website promotion, instead of writing all your articles about web copywriting tips, try to think outside the box and touch different industries in a unique way. 

When writing articles, you want to utilize keywords your target market will likely use on search engines and incorporate those naturally into your online articles. The same keywords used on your website can and should be used in your online articles.

CAUTION: Some people make the mistake of thinking the more keywords they use, the more site traffic they’ll receive. The placement of your keywords and the correct usage of them will build site traffic. Focusing on a small set of keywords in niche articles will bring in more traffic and help the article to rank high on search engine results.
Also, make sure to include inbound links to your website at the end of an article, and, if applicable, throughout the article. Remember, the goal is to drive traffic to your website.

Once you’ve written your online article, it’s time to spread it across various online marketing platforms. As mentioned above, submitting online articles to reputable article directories, popular bloggers, online publications, social media sites, and social bookmarking sites is an excellent way to increase SEO.

The Successful Businesses of Past U.S. Economic Downturns

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Posted by admin on March 11, 2009 – 11:44 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, market in economic crisis, marketing in bad economy, marketing trends

A word to the wise business owner: Don’t cut back on your spending. Use this economic downturn to boost sales and grow your company.

There is a positive side to a recession. While other businesses are cutting spending, you should take advantage of this opportunity and invest in your business. In the February 2009 issue of Entrepreneur magazine, there’s a timeline illustrating the famous economic downturns in U.S. history. According to this timeline, during all of these economic downturns, several companies and products saw massive success.

For example, during the 2001 9 / 11 attacks, iPod, Orbitz.com, and XM Satellite Radio all launched and saw magnificent success. Another example of companies succeeding during turbulent economic times was during the Great Depression. Hewlett – Packard, Revlon long-lasting nail polish, and Miracle Whip were introduced to the market and were extremely successful.

According to the same timeline:

“The Most Severe Recession Since The Great Depression (So Far):
1981: MTV hits the airwaves.
1982: Diet Coke makes its debut.
1983: California firm (later IDEO) designs Apple computer mouse.
1983: Microsoft introduces Word for MS-DOS 1.00.

Black Monday:
1987: Ameritech spends 10 percent more on fiber optic and digital technologies than in 1986.
1987: Quark introduces QuarkXPress.
1987: The Food and Drug Administration approves the use of Prozac for treating depression.”

To view the entire article click here.

Find Your Competition’s Weaknesses during this Recession

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Posted by admin on March 11, 2009 – 11:01 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, market in economic crisis, marketing in bad economy, marketing trends

This is a fantastic video on how down times are the best times to come out ahead. In this video, which aired on CNBC, Mike Maddock discusses the positive aspects of a turbulent economy.

Recession Proof Your Image

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Posted by admin on March 9, 2009 – 7:10 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, attract clients, client attraction, increase online sales, market in economic crisis, marketing in bad economy, online marketing

Your business image has the power to facilitate growth for your income and your life. With 93% of our communication being nonverbal, having a business image–both personal and online–is essential if you want to achieve business success. 

There is no better time than now to invest in creating a business image–one that will draw potential business and strategic partnerships to you. One that gets visitors to buy from your website and gets current customers to refer you.

In this economic downturn, people are still spending, but thinking twice as long about whom they do business with. You must stand out—in person and online. You must give them a reason to buy from you by making the right impression.

On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, style expert Lee Heyward and I are going to share how to grow your business by perfecting a personal and online business image. In this FREE onetime only teleseminar . . .

“4 Easy Ways to Perfect Your Business Image . . . Right Now.”

On this call, you will learn:

• How to create a business image that tells people you are successful and credible BEFORE you even open your mouth.

• Why your clothing AND your website might be keeping you from business growth . . . and simple, effortless steps to avoid this.

• Why your website and blog image is key to your online business success.

• What you can do RIGHT NOW to implement your desired business image.

• How to create the personal and online image you desire without spending a fortune.

No matter your industry–whether you are in corporate, an entrepreneur, or an independent contractor–you won’t want to miss this onetime only teleseminar. Because we believe now is the time to invest in your business and your life and because we know the power behind having a powerful personal and online image, we’re offering this free, 90-minute teleseminar at two time slots: 2 pm Eastern (11 am Pacific) OR 8 pm Eastern (5 pm Pacific).

Register today for this onetime only call. 

*No recordings will be made available. You must be on the call during one of the two available time slots to hear this powerful information that will change your life and your business.

Increase Online Visibility with Article Marketing

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Posted by admin on March 4, 2009 – 11:10 pm
Filed under Copywriting, Marketing Tip, SEO, article marketing, attract clients, client attraction, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis, marketing in bad economy, online articles, online marketing, website copywriter

Article marketing is a cost-effective way to increase your online visibility, drive traffic to your site, and bring in more business. One article provides long-term results, exposing your company to thousands of potential customers—over and over again. Every article you place drives more traffic to your website and improves your site’s link popularity and search engine rankings.

Online articles are an excellent resource for potential clients and illustrate you’re an expert in your field. When writing online articles, it’s important for them to be well written, informative, and unique. This rule applies no matter where you submit your article.

Make sure the article is focused and expresses your expertise. The article should NOT sell your product or service—it should be informative and relate to your industry. For example, if you specialize in web copywriting and online website promotion, instead of writing all your articles about web copywriting tips, try to think outside the box and touch different industries in a unique way. Use what you know about online website promotion, and apply it to a specific industry.

There are five key platforms to submit online articles to, in order to increase SEO:

• Reputable article directories.

• Popular bloggers.

• Social media sites.

• Social bookmarking sites.

• Online publications.

Increase SEO with Keyword-Rich Blogs

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Posted by admin on March 2, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Filed under Copywriting, Marketing Tip, SEO, blogging, blogging for business, increase online sales, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis

It’s important to keep in mind your keywords when posting on your blog. The keywords you use should be the same keywords you use on your website. Keywords work on your blog just as they do on your website. You want to utilize keywords your target market will likely use on search engines and incorporate those into your blogs. The goal of using keywords on your blog is that when someone types in a specific keyword, your blog pulls up on the first page of search engines.

Keyword placement is critical in attracting viewers to your blog. A set of the same three or four keywords can be placed strategically in the title, links, categories, and body of a blog. As with your website, you want to attract a specific target market with profitable keywords. Your goal is to get a high conversion rate from your visitors. This won’t happen if you generalize your target market. Know your target market, and get specific with your keywords.

Each blog post has its own set of labels and categories to help the engines and visitors know what their post is about. Too many bloggers aren’t taking full advantage of labels and categories. Labels and categories are the best place to use the keywords you use in the post—it’s about using the appropriate keywords or phrases in your labels. These keywords and phrases have to match up with what the post is about. The goal isn’t to put out as many keywords as you can think of. The goal is to have a concentrated set of keywords.

Mobile Marketing: A New Portal for Marketers

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Posted by admin on February 23, 2009 – 8:41 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, Uncategorized, attract clients, client attraction, market in economic crisis, marketing in bad economy, marketing trends, small business marketing

Looks as if the big bucks are going to be found in mobile marketing in the next few years. ABI Research predicts that 140 mobile users will produce subscription revenues of up to $410 million by 2013. That’s a great deal of money to produce through a fairly new marketing vehicle.

With an increase in mobile internet providers, many people are purchasing phones with internet services. This opens an entirely new portal for advertisers to market products / services via mobile messaging, mobile game and video advertising, and mobile web banner advertising.

If you choose to market through mobile devices, it’s important to do your research. Currently mobile devices are a sensitive advertising vehicle, since the ad content goes directly to your phone—a mechanism once considered extremely personal. Some people who receive these messages ignore them, feel their privacy is threatened, or consider them spam. However, these people are slowly becoming the minority in this mobile marketing craze.
Marketing via mobile devices needs to be done carefully and in a unique way in order for it to be considered effective. The art of advertising on mobile vehicles has not yet been perfected, but the future is looking bright for those going after this new opportunity.