Archive for December, 2009

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas as I did.  Of course, at this point everyone should now be scratching their heads, wondering how in the heck they are going to pay for all of this stuff that they probably didn’t need in the first place.  I went to Walmart yesterday to stand in line for about a half an hour.  Actually, I have to commend Walmart for its great customer service because they had every station in the customer service line manned,  helping customers with their returns.

This is just another reason why I shop at the place, you can return stuff without any hassles.  I once bought an item and forgot to take it back for about six months and they still took it back.  I guess this is one of the reasons why Walmart’s business is still going through the roof while everybody else is closing down.  They don’t waste their time on fancy advertising (other than that stupid smiley face) because their marketing trick is to deliver the goods better than anyone else.

Talking about this principle is my lead in to this week’s post about delivering something of value to people so that they can be more receptive to your marketing message. If you can offer people something of value for free they will be much more receptive to your message to them.  Seth Godin, the marketer that created Squidoo talked about this in the video that I posted on my last blog post nd you can actually read my post and see the video here: Internet Marketing Techniques Part 1

Here is an equation that I want you to write down students: Solid Content = Loyal Subscribers

I can honestly tell you that I have bumped into people that have 2,000 or so blogs, and if that is any indication of how poor the content must be on those blogs, then I don’t know what could be!  In this case you have a person that has an automatic blog feeder which looks all around the net for blog posts and then automatically posts on those blogs.  However, you will run into a problem with Google because Google does not look too favorably on duplicate content sites.  Of course, the whole idea of my dissertation today is about delivering high quality to your loyal fan base.  So, don’t bother with those types of tactics because you will only spend big money buying them and they don’t work so well.

Deliver high quality information to your fan base and they will come back to you again and again.  This is something that takes a lot of time and effort, but as we all know, if this were easy then everyone would be making big money on here.

I recently listened to a millionaire record producer that used to produce recordings by the group The Average White Band.   He was talking about how delivering quality was of paramount importance.  At this point in his career, he was working with legendary producer, Quincy Jones.  He had mentioned to Mr. Jones that he had some recordings on the record that he just didn’t feel right about.  Quincy picked up a copy of the label wherein the songs and other info were listed and he said,

” What does that say?”

The producer answered, “You mean the list of songs?”

Quincy said, “No, dummy,right there.”

“Well that’s my name.”

“Are you going to put your name on anything less than excellent? Because,” Jones eyed him, ” if you are, you better get out of the recording industry.”

That is the attitude that you must have with your business on and off the Internet.  Don’t ever deliver goods or services that are substandard.  People will one day recognize you as an authority and an expert if you deliver high quality information and services to them and eventually, they will return to you again and again.

Well, students of enterprise, that’s it for this segment of the series on Internet Marketing Techniques.  Come back later this week for a special New Years Day posting.

Peace Out

Mark

P.S. Here is another Video tip on by Seth Godin on how to win the respect of people on the Internet

OK, students of enterprise, I am currently working on my first installment on Internet Marketing Techniques and how to make money and generate interest in your business using the Internet.  If you didn’t get a chance to take a look at the article, now would be a good time to do so.  I will have the next episode coming out tomorrow.

Another thing that you can do to generate traffic to your website is to give away free stuff.  That is exactly what I am doing today.  I am giving away a newly designed, totally original Wordpress template that you can download for your own Blog.  One of the the things that will make look at you differently if you are blogging, is if you look professional and have a nice design to your site or blog.  Actually, you don’t have to have anything fancy, just something that looks professionally designed and loads fast.  My site, Ellistrated Websites, was very simple to make and has a very simple design to it.  I would dare say that if you can’t navigate around my site, then you should get off of the Internet.  Actually, I took the design and concept of simplicity from Google, which as we all know has a very simple interface.

I created the Wordpress template, called “Moonlight” with a simple yet elegant design to it.  It has those rounded corners that everyone seems to love and I placed a nice moonlight picture in the banner to give it ambiance.  (This temple would probably appealm to all of those vampire fans, although I really don’t want to encourage more of that stuff.  Ha!)

I hope that some of you will enjoy the template and please stay tuned for my next installment which will be coming out tomorrow.

If you are totally foreign to installing a Wordpress Template, please check out this Youtube video on how to install it.

Peace Out

Mark

Everybody wants to learn how to make money on the Internet.  I have been doing so for just about ten years and I feel like I am somewhat qualified to reveal a couple of techniques that I have learned along the way.  Actually, I have shelves filled up with all sorts of books and a hard drive loaded with “top secret techniques” (ebooks) that I have read from internet marketing gurus.  So, I have decided to write an entire series on what these folks claim to be top secret techniques in which they have charged mega-bucks to almost everyone under the sun.  Personally I think that if you went to just about any book store you will find pretty much the same content in books which are written in great detail about the subject, but here I am ratting out the gurus so that you don’t have to spend all of that hard earned moola.

The most prominent strategy that you can use in making money over the Internet is the technique called relationship building.  I personally have worked with information and internet marketers and the one thing I was always reminded of was the fact that building a list was important but maintaining and keeping a relationship with the people on your list was gold.   It is not enough that you develop a customer list, you must develop an actual care and relationship with those people if you are to have long term success and credibility with them.

1. The Personal Touch – One of the ways that you can establish credibility and caring with people that you build a business relationship with, is to create personal messages that have valuable content. It seems like many of the big time gurus have forgotten about this principle and it will eventually be to their demise.  If you craft messages that contain short greetings followed by a sales pitch, then you are in grave danger of losing that potential client or customer forever.  Almost any business can benefit from this advice, be it online or offline brick and mortar businesses.  People will actually be refreshed by honest and open communication from a person that does not try to sell them from the word “go”.
2. Credibility - The most potent method of creating this type of trust is by building credibility.  This is the reason why we have the personal touch and develop relationships.  Any marketing analyst can tell you that a person or group is ten times more likely to do business with you if they know you and definitely if they TRUST you.
3. Know Your Audience – It is absolutely imperative that you find out what your audience or subscribers / visitors want.  If you start giving information about gerbil racing to people who race turtles, then you will have a serious problem connecting with your audience.  Not only that, but if you have qualified yourself as an expert in a particular field and delivered valuable information about it, then you will get cooperation from them.  Why do you need cooperation?  Because you want two-way communication with them so that they can tell you exactly what they are looking for.  You will actually want to ask them at some point what it is that they are looking for.  There are several ways of doing this.  If you have a blog and make regular postings about a particular subject, then you will want to encourage them to leave comments on your blog.  You could also have a forum that also has many different categories of subjects and see what your fans are looking for.  I once used an online survey to ask people what they were looking for on my site and it worked out great.  As a matter of fact, you can take a survey right now by clicking this: Internet Marketing Guru Survey. I got this plugin for this Wordpress Blog from SurveyGizmo.
4. The First Contact - When you first begin your Internet marketing venture, you will not have a ton of people to write, so you should be able to talk directly with a customer with a personalized email.  Call them by name and make it as personal as you can with out giving out personal details about yourself liked what type of underwear you wear.  Remember, be genuine.  People are made to feel like just a name and number in this world, so if you treat them like a real human instead of an opportunity, then you will be like a breath or fresh air.

Well students, I think I have covered enough for this segment. I will continue on my journey in the next several parts of this series next time.  Here is a video that I think you will find relative to this subject by the famous marketing guru Seth Godin who, by the way, created Squidoo.

One of the best books that you can purchase if you really want to access the minds and ideas of millionaires is a book by Thomas J.  Stanley called The Millionaire Mind.  Mr. Stanley has taken a great deal of time and complied, interviewed and documented the minds of millionaires in an effort to chronicle what actually goes through their lives, how they think and make money.  We all have seen some of these people on TV but it would surprise how most of these wealthy millionaires live quite a different life than what most of us would think.  Most of them drive very economical cars, don’t wear flashy clothes or even have organized desks.  When I read the book, I was amazed at how many of the traits that I was so accustomed to thinking wealthy people possessed was quite a bit different than what i was accustomed to thinking about.  If you haven’t read Mr. Stanley’s book yet, then I would highly recommended it, because as I have already stated, it is quite an eye opener. Anyway, rather than write an entire book for you, what I can do is give you at least two or three traits of millionaires that I think you will find helpful in your endeavors, or at least, satisfy your curiosity a bit.  So, here are at least  three traits that I think you will be able to use:

1. Millionaires work on their educations all  of the time.  They not only work on their educations, but they do so in a live setting.  Now I am not talking about a classroom necessarily, but that is one method that they do use.  Actually, a lot of their on going education is also conducted by way of seminars and mentors. (Not to forget telesiminars, webinars and many other sources of communication.)  I don’t know if you read my last rant on how people that will either get a job, or start a business and then pigeon hole themselves into that position by not improving themselves.  Sooner or later folks, if you don’t learn anything new, you will be shredded.   Even if you decide to get a regular education, in some cases, you can get a degree for the price of a used car.  Just make sure the college or university you choose is a regular one that will have transferable credits.  I received my Master’s Degree from Boise State University this year and the whole thing was completed over the Internet.
2. Millionaires read a lot.  Some of them read an entire book a week.  The books they read are not usually about the same subject, but they aren’t non- fiction books either.  I really don’t see how reading the Twilight Series of vampire books will help you as an entrepreneur, but if you can enlighten me I’d be interested in hearing about it.
3. Create worthy goals. Some people refer to the acronym SMART whenever they talk about this process.  “S” stands for Specific – You need to create goals that have a certain degree of focus. “M” is for Measurable.  If you think you can set goals without having some sort of measure of success, then think again.  You must be able to track you success on a regular basis.  too many times, people will give up on their goals because they have no way to track what they are doing.  “A”  for Attainable is the next word we need to be concerned.  If you can’t have an attainable set of goals then you will get burned out very quickly.  The best thing to do is to break down a big goal into smaller steps, that way you can see some progress and you will be able to see your progress better.  “R” is for Relevant.  You need to make sure that whatever efforts you are putting forth are congruent to your overall plan or goal.  If your goal is to build a hotel, then having  an activity of  learning how to spray paint cars is not relevant. Finally, the letter “T” stands for Time. Make sure that you set a date as to when the goal should be attained.

Christmas is fast upon us again and for some reason we all feel like our lives and businesses are on the back burner until the new year starts up.  Anyway, I have taken it upon myself to forge on, no matter what happens, to help you stay on track with your business and goal, because, Lord knows, we just can’t have too much of a good thing.  So, here is my latest bit of wonderful advice concerning business and I hope that you can glean something useful from it.  As a matter of fact, this post kind of enhances the last blog post I did wherein I quoted the great ad copy writer, Gary Halbert.

Like a popular song says, “1 is a lonely number” and in business it is a deadly number.   Several years ago Google based its method of determining search relevancy on an algorithm that only Google’s top secret, Area 51 wizards understood.  For those of us that need plain language to understand what I just said, if you typed a word into Google’s search engine like the word “boat”, Google had a formula that it would use to determine which web page with the word “boat” should be first.  Internet marketers were pretty sure that they could crack the code on how Google determined what page should be first, second, etc.

Search engine gurus knew that if there were loads of links coming into a site, that Google rated you higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).  That meant that if you had loads of links pointing at your site then you would rank higher.  Also, if you had a keyword like the word “boat” on your site a certain number of times, then you were also ranked higher.  You got points on Google’s scorecard if you had your keywords in bold print or if you had your keywords in the title bar and a host of other “top secret” factors that Google used to determine where you would come up in the SERPs.

back in 2005, Google decided to change all of that in an effort to make sure that it had the best search engine results on the planet.  Google knew that people were paying other people to buy links from all over the Internet.  If you wanted a higher page rank and to show up high on the SERPs then you needed tons of links into your site and you could easily get them.  So, with this sort of thing in mind, Google decide to change its algorithm.  Google created what is probably one of the most brilliant, yet complex algorithm on the planet.

However, for some  people’s businesses on the Internet , the change was  was catastrophic.  For one thing, Google now wanted RELEVANT links.  In other words, just having links wasn’t good enough, you had to have a site or web page that was relevant to your content pointing to your page or site.  If you had a website about boats, then a site or a page that was about water skiing would be relevant.  However, if someone pointed links back to your site and they were a site about casino gambling, then Google wouldn’t pay much attention to them.

I remember how bad it all went down, because I saw so much weeping and gnashing of teeth that it would blow your mind.  The online forums were loaded with people in multi-million dollar businesses that started losing their shirts and shorts because they were no longer at the top of the SERPs.  I remember one computer parts business owner blaming everything and everyone for his plight, to include his poor dead mother.

Well, all I can say about that is 1 is a lonely number, or as I said before, a deadly number.  You see, if you make the monumental mistake of believing that the Internet is the only method of acquiring new customers or business for yourself,  you are in error.  Anyone that makes this type of mistake will sooner or later find out that this is a gross miscalculation.  For one thing, every business owner should clearly understand that if you are using only one method of marketing or you are selling just one type of product, then you are not only hanging your wienie -roast out to dry, but you are missing out on all sorts of great opportunities that could help you weather any kind of business downturn that you might have.

Looking back on the computer parts man that was whining earlier, I asked him in the forum he posted to whether or not he kept up with his customer database.  (I never got a response, probably because he was still busy blaming the entire universe for his situation. )  However, whenever I talk to new clients and people I am trying to help out I usually run smack dab into a wall.  Yeah, they have been keeping databases, they just never use the darned things.  So a real good idea would have been for Mr. Computer Parts Guy to market back to his customers through email, direct mail and any other method he could think of.

This whole scenario actually reminds me of a factory that I used to live next to when I lived in Central Virginia.  There was this bus parts factory several blocks from my house and one day while I was driving past the factory I saw a whole crowd of people that were wearing signs, protesting and virtually worked up into what would appear a riot.  the reason?  The owner of the business was forced to shut down the factory because he could no longer compete with cheap foreign labor.  He did not want to shut down his business, but he was forced to due to economic reasons.  The people that worked for the man called him every name in the book and he was forced to leave town because his life was in danger.  This is a man that, by the way, employed all of those people fore years, gave them their livelihood and this was the thanks he got.

Now, let me ask you a question.  Who told those people NOT to better themselves?    You can get a Master’s degree for the price of a used car and take all of the courses over the Internet, so why didn’t these people better themselves?  If you aren’t book smart, you can always go to a cheap trade school and get more skills.  The point I am trying to make here is, that if you are a business owner and you are only using one method of marketing yourself, then  you are making a huge error.  If you are someone’s employee and you can only do one specific thing, you should acquire more skills so you can better market yourself.  As a matter of  fact, if you are making all of your money from only one source or direction, then you are making a terrible mistake.

Here are a couple of points that I think are real important to your economic survival:

1. Always better yourself.  I am a self taught composer, web designer, writer public speaker.  If I did it,, anyone can.
2. Never, ever rely specifically on one method of marketing your business.  You need an entire arsenal of  marketing weapons to complete your mission.
3. Always keep in mind that one of your marketing methods or income streams could become obsolete in the future.  Remember telemarketing?  It has been greatly diminished by federal laws.  Don’t think for a second it can’t happen to the Internet or email.

Peace Out

ELMO

I was out sick last week, so I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog posts, but I feel much better this week so I can actually start writing again.

Whee!  Where do I start? I thought that this week I would try to approach the subject of  Internet marketing from the common man’s view rather than to try to come off as an Internet marketing Guru, which I am not anyway.  I have been involved in Internet Marketing for the last 10 years or so and have seen a small amount of success with it.  I do enjoy reading and writing about it, but quite honestly, I have not achieved a great level of success from it.   Perhaps it is because I have not achieved the level of success that many of the online gurus have because I’m not smart enough. Another possible reason why I haven’t been so successful at it is that I can’t seem to find the right product or niche, but whatever the case, I have not made enough money from it to call it significant.

Now, I’m not saying that marketing your business on the Internet is not an important and viable marketing medium for you to use.  Quite honestly, I can’t imagine a business owner that wouldn’t have a website these days.  It is almost the equivalent of carrying around a business card, you just can’t imagine a business owner that wouldn’t have one of those. So, for any business to not have a professional web presence is pretty neglectful for both businesses on and off the Internet.

The problem for most people to understand is how to use a website effectively in order to generate interest in your business.  If you have an offline business, then you shouldn’t have to worry as much about generating customers online as a purely online company or business would.   You would simply make sure that you would put your Web address on your card, your car, your kids forehead and any other creative place you can think of to include your yellow page ad.

However, and I really want to reiterate this point, that Internet marketing by itself and used improperly, will get you nowhere fast.  Used correctly, it can generate a lot of business for you, insure an easy way for your customers to do business with you and give you a world – wide presence for pennies on the dollar.  In that vein the Internet is incredible!

Gary Halburt the famous ad copy writer, used to tell people at his seminars that if you could rank the most effective methods of marketing from top to bottom, face to face selling  being the most effective that here is where the Internet would rank:

1. Face to Face Selling ( The absolute most effective method)
2. Selling on the Phone
3. Public Speaking
4. Referrals from Friends
5. Direct mail Campaigns
6. Advertising on TV and radio
7. Advertising in printed media
8. The Internet ( To include Email)

As Halburt put it, The Internet is actually way in the gutter, as far as effectiveness goes.  The reason?  Massive competition for one thing.  On the Internet, there is literally no new thing under the sun.   So many people that get into affiliate programs or begin to sell their wares on the Internet suddenly will find themselves absolutely overwhelmed by the vast number of people involved in just about every niche that you can imagine.

(As a side note, finding a competitive niche is a pretty good indicator that the niche is viable and the ability to make money there is a strong possibility.)

If you are just getting your feet wet in Internet marketing, here is what I would suggest: First of all, integrate it into your business marketing efforts.  Get your site address (URL) onto the side of your car, letterhead, business card, etc.

Second, get into your database and see if you can acquire or ask your current customers for their email addresses.  offer them something because if they give you permission to send them email then send it as often as you can. You can connect with them every day and that’s about 365 days of pure advertising and branding that you can’t beat. Don’t try to sell them something all of the time, just send out email to them and let them know you are thinking about them.

Third, learn every thing you can about maximum exposure, like online video, email marketing, blogging and all of the stuff that goes along with these mediums.  Sound like a lot of stuff to keep up on?  Well, look at it this way, most high paying executives that make 5 times more than the average working person reads at least 5 books a month.  So, any education that you can give yourself, can really help out.

Time is up for today! I’m going to wind this little act with a clip from one of Gary Halbert’s best videos.  pay close attention students, this is important stuff, ya know!

Peace Out!

ELMO

I like to have fun.  I also like watching people having fun with their businesses.  As a matter of fact, I can’t forget the time I saw Donald Trump wearing chicken suit on Saturday Night Live.  As ridiculous as that sounds, it was a great promotion for his business and branding. ( If  branding is really the term I wan to use here.)  Anyway, you are gonna have to market your business somehow, you might as well have fun when you do it.

For example, I used to have an artist make single panel comics for one of my music websites.  I would then offer a prize to anyone that could come up with the funniest caption for the comic.  It amazed me how many really fine captions that people came up with.  I would then take the best one and have the comic reproduced into coffee mugs, T-shirts and other promotional items that I could sell or give away later.

Here’s an idea  that I think is really funny and I’ll bet it will stick in the minds of people long after the see it.  Advertise on your animals.  There was a farmer that at  one time, that used to advertise on the sides of his cows.  He would shave or use a non-toxic type of dye to put messages on his cattle.  People would drive by and freak out at the bovine marketing messages. So, you too can utilize this type of advertising if you have your own cattle or  if you run a dairy farm or an ice cream business. You could put your message on the side of  ol’  Bessie and send out a marketing message that people which were driving by would really get a kick out of .

Really funny bumper stickers are another marketing method that if used properly, can get a memorable message out.

You can put your web address onto a bumper sticker as well as a call to action.  You could probably tell someone that they can get a free e-book if they go to your site and sign up for your free newsletter.  A good thing to always keep in mind about your promotion, not matter how wacky it is, that you must make sure that it has some sort of call to action to it.  You’ll notice that in the above bumper sticker, that there is a very brief call to action which simply says “call”.

If you want to get really noticed, then you will want to get your hands on as many industry publications that you can which are related to your industry and business.  There are tons of marketing ideas and methods in those industry publications that you could easily use.  In the information age it is pretty easy to use trend spotting sites like Google’s Trends site or you could actually use Amazon.com to spot trends as well because they carry best sellers lists across a wide variety of products (Not just books!!)

One other  method of self promotion that I think that is very important to utilize right now is on-line video.  On-line video, if used properly can boost your company’s message all over the Internet.  I will write extensively on this easy to use method in my next blog piece.

Oh, and by the way, here is a real wacky method of getting your message out there:

Peace Out & All that Junk!

Elmo