Showing posts with label e marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e marketing. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

5 Ways to Market Your Business For Free - Part I

eMarketing Information
5 Ways to Market Your Business For Free - Part I
by: Jinger Jarrett
Getting traffic and sales to your site can be a constant struggle. I know that I am bombarded with marketing information day in and day out offering me the "next big thing".

However, there are some marketing methods that always work. That's why I stick with the classics.

You can use these methods to build more traffic and sales to your site if you are willing to do a little planning.

Below are marketing methods I use to drive traffic to my site. With long term marketing strategies, it will take you awhile to get traffic, but these methods are still worth it because they can be highly viral.

1. Free Search Engines (Long Term Marketing Strategy)
Although free search engines aren't as effective as they used to be, you can still use them to get traffic to your site.

The easiest way to do this is to use a program like Web CEO, http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com/search.html

The first thing you need to do is to select low competition, highly searched for words. Then optimize indidvidual pages for these words and do your submissions.

2. Article Writing (Short - Long Term Marketing Strategy)
Article writing will do several things for your business.

First, it will brand you as an expert, allow you to build a linking strategy for your website, and even improve your search engine rankings if you optimize your article.

You can also create a viral marketing strategy here because content is an important marketing strategy online. An article you have written today could continue to draw traffic to your site years from now.

Instead of using the push method of marketing, where you are trying to push visitors to your site, you are using the pull method. This method is much more effective because it draws visitors to you.

Article directories you should consider submitting to are:

http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.articlecity.com
http://www.ideamarketers.com
http://www.articlemarketer.com

3. Forums (Short - Long Term Marketing Strategy)
Forums not only allow you to network with others in your field, you can also network with potential customers who are looking for information on what you sell.

The important thing to remember here is not to blatantly promote what you are selling. Answer questions. Build credibility. Include a signature block in your posts with a link to your website.

The Forums Package will help you with finding, tracking, and using forums to help you promote using forums. You can get it here: http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com/forums/

To find forums on your topic, do a search with your topic plus the search term forums.

4. Ezines (Long Term Marketing Strategy)
Everyone has one these days. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't offer one. You can use it to let your customers know about new products and services, updates to your site, as well as giving news and information about your industry. You can write articles and free reports to give to your list readers.

Ezine Directories you can submit to:
http://www.jogena.com
http://www.zinos.com
http://www.ezine-marketing.com
http://www.ezine-dir.com/

5. Blogging (Short - Long Term Marketing Strategy)
Blogging is the latest way to promote your business online. You can offer information on your industry, articles, downloads, and updates about your business.

You can even turn your blog into an ezine the way I did with mine and automate the whole process of subscription and distribution.

Blogs are also an easy way to create constantly updated content. Just make sure that you write posts of at least two paragraphs, and not a sentence or two. Search engines perceive this as spam.

You can easily set up your blog on Blogger, http://www.blogger.com, although I would recommend that you eventually migrate it to your own server.

RSS Directories to Submit to:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/
http://www.pingomatic.com

Although there are more marketing methods you can use to help you market your business online for free, these will get you started.

In my next article, I'll show you five more methods of marketing online for free that will help you drive even more traffic to your site.

About the author:
Want even more high traffic sites to market on? Jinger Jarrett will show you how to market your business online to hundreds of high traffic sites for free. Grab a subscription to her premium ezine for just $5 per month. This is a limited time offer. http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com/Special-Offers.html

Circulated by Article Emporium

 



©2014 - All Rights Reserved

5 Tips to Help You Identify WHO To Market To

eMarketing Information
5 Tips to Help You Identify WHO To Market To
by: Debbie LaChusa
If you have your own small business, it's important to decide exactly who you will be marketing your products or services to. After all, you probably don't have the time or the money to market to everyone. And even if you did, it is not recommended.
You'll want to select what is called a "target audience." This is an identifiable group of people you believe will be the best prospects for your business.

But for many small business owners, narrowing their focus to one primary group of people can be a challenging task. They want to help everyone — and very often their product or service CAN help a variety of people.

It also goes against human nature to narrow your focus in order to grow a business. Common sense seems to tell us if we want to grow our business big, we need to appeal to more people.

In reality the opposite is true. When we narrow our focus to a particular group of people we become an expert in solving their particular problems. We get to know them very well and we can develop additional products and services to fill their needs.

So how do you decide who to market to?

Following are 5 tips:

1) Think about the type of people who can MOST benefit from what you have to offer.

2) Think about who you would most enjoy helping, or working with.

3. Think about the type of people who will be easiest to reach, AND who will be most receptive to what you are selling. These will be people who KNOW they have THE problem you can solve and are LOOKING for a solution.

4) Know that just because you select a particular group of people to focus your marketing on, does NOT mean you can't help others who may come to you. It only means you're going to focus your proactive marketing efforts on the target group you select.

5) Lastly, don't over-think it. Listen to your gut, pick a group you feel you can really help and proceed with the development of your marketing plan. Marketing is a fluid process. The important thing is to start. You can always refine your audience and your plan later as you learn more.

(C) 2010 Debbie LaChusa



About the author:
20-year marketing veteran Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to help small business owners successfully market their business, themselves without spending a fortune on marketing. To learn more about this simple, step-by-step program and to sign up for her FREE audio class and FREE weekly ezine featuring how-to articles, tips and advice, visit http://www.10stepmarketing.com



Circulated by Article Emporium

 



©2014 - All Rights Reserved

Monday, January 13, 2014

5 Reasons NOT To Have a Marketing Plan

eMarketing Information
5 Reasons NOT To Have a Marketing Plan
by: Bobette Kyle
Imagine your perfect customers -- the ones that will eagerly buy your products or hire you for premium pay. Imagine being able to bring those perfect customers to you and having them buy your products or services not once, but again and again. That's what an effectively executed marketing plan does. It reaches the people who want what you are offering, convinces them to take action, and keeps them coming back.

Sounds nice, right? So why doesn't every business have a marketing plan? Let's take a look at some of the reasons you may not:

1. "We had a marketing plan once, but it didn't work. It isn't worth the time to put one together."

No marketing plan will work if you do not work the plan. The planning document is there for business managers to use as a strategic reference throughout the year, as programs in the plan are executed and as other opportunities come along. Any marketing plan that is filed away and forgotten as soon as it's written is useless.

2. "So-and-so had a marketing plan and it didn't help his business at all!"

Marketing is a process, not a singular event. A marketing plan is only the first step in that process. It points your business in the right direction by detailing marketing strategies and programs that will move you toward business objectives.

You must execute the programs in your plan so that you can evaluate program success. Rarely does a marketing program work best on the first try. It is up to you to analyze barriers to success, then tweak and tinker until you are getting positive results. If you ignore critical follow-up, most of your marketing programs -- whether you have a marketing plan or not -- will fail or fall short of their potential for success.

3. "Marketing planning is too hard."

Writing a marketing plan doesn't have to be complicated. There are different levels of planning. More intricate marketing planning processes will result in more refined strategies, with better potential for success. But, if you have limited resources, a top-line approach to planning is much better than none at all.

4. "We don't know how to write a marketing plan."

There are numerous books, software, "toolbox" resources, and articles that take you step-by-step through the process of creating a marketing plan. Frankly, not knowing how is an excuse, not a reason, to avoid marketing planning.

5. "My business is too small for a marketing plan."

Sound marketing strategy is critical to small business success, especially new businesses. Statistics vary widely depending on the source, but most reports cite failure rates for small business at 65% -- 90%. Knowing ahead of time how you will compete and how you will be successful in your marketplace can dramatically increase your chances of success.

Your marketing plan is a vital key to small business success. If you do not have a current plan, start one today. Your company's success depends on it.

About the author:
Bobette Kyle has been proprietor at
http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.comsince 2002. For tips on
how to make the marketing plan process go smoothly, visit
http://www.MarketingPlanArticles.comand read "Tips to Help
Calm ‘Marketing Plan Panic.'

Circulated by Article Emporium

 



©2014 - All Rights Reserved