Don't Put All Your Eggs In The Internet Basket

By James Copper

Everyone talks about the internet. You would think there is practically nothing that cannot be achieved online the way this new medium is promoted and praised. And, yes, it has changed the way we live and communicate and the way we exchange information. But is it the answer to every marketing problem? I would argue not.

Although the value of the internet as part of any serious marketing strategy cannot seriously be denied, it is not the whole answer to any marketing conundrum. The mantra goes that if you don't use the internet you are losing money. But how true is this? Well, there is an element of truth there. Every business should have a website, but not at the expense of offline advertising.

Until extremely recently there was no such thing as the internet and yet business people made millions through other marketing channels, from trade fairs to billboards, business cards to promotional gifts. I mention these because they are still extremely popular and productive marketing methods. I guess I'm trying to say that there is more to marketing than the internet, and never forget it. Don't rely on it solely: make it an important part of the mix but don't put all your eggs in the internet basket.

In this article I intend to bring your attention back to offline marketing. By that I mean non-internet marketing. Why should you do this? I say it is because it's cost-effective and highly profitable to do so. Even if you are an affiliate marketer online, consider offline strategies to promote your website and products. Go back to basics. Use the time honored ways and means of marketing, such as word-of-mouth, joint ventures, direct mail, promotions and sponsorships. Hey, you can publicize your URL on the back of all these campaigns.

Pay attention to your business cards. Hand them out as a matter of course to absolutely everyone you meet. Yes, they can have your website address on them. In fact, they should. But no visit to a website can compare with meeting the business owner, looking him in the eye and being handed his business card. Hand them to the people you meet in school, mall, restaurant and even people at the bus station. All of them are potential customers.

Send out news releases. This is the way to make news spread like wildfire through radio, TV and the print media. This strategy may take time but it definitely delivers customers. And stickers! Place them everywhere that's legal and fun. Place them on your bumper and the bumpers of friends and customers. Put your website URL on stickers out there. You will get more visits, more business and ultimately more revenue.

Become an expert and a specialist speaker. Speak at local events and get asked to speak as an expert in your field. Believe me, once you are perceived as being an expert customers won't even bother to look at your website. They will come straight to you to do business. So you see there is not reason to confine your marketing efforts to the internet. There are hundreds of ways to market offline. You are limited only by your imagination.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

James Copper is a writer for www.unitymarketing.com

Are You Afraid of Autoresponders?

By John Hartley

OK, I admit it! I ignored the best advice I ever got about internet marketing and affiliate marketing for well over a year!

What was it? That I should have an autoresponder, and send follow-up messages to people who signed up at my site. Why did I do that? Well, it all seemed too complicated, too many follow-up letters to write, to difficult to set up the form on the web page.... and I did not want to spend $20 a month in case it did not work.

Serious problem I had, didn't I? Do you have that problem? Well, if you do here's the deal with autoresponders. You type in a series of messages at the autoresponder service, and put in how often they should go out. Something like, one day after they sign up, and then at two or three day intervals for maybe seven or eight messages.

Not all these messages sell something. Some just give information, and all should just get the prospect to go to the link in the email. When the prospect gets a series of seven messages, he or she is at least ten times more likely to sign up for your product. Why? Marketing studies show that people need to be exposed to an idea or person or firm five to seven times before they purchase.

So you can see that sending someone straight to the merchant's site is doomed to failure most times - unless the prospect is desperate, and has a deadline of some sort, either real or imaginary. This is why we need autoresponders.

What's so good about autoresponders?

To start with, when you send out a message from your own server using a mailer system, you can expect one in three of those not to reach the person you sent it to. It was not like three or four years ago, but following the Can Spam laws in the US and elsewhere, the ISPs and even Outlook Express consider all sorts of messages to be spam. Overkill, and that overkill is hitting your affiliate business.

50 per cent more messages get through

The top autoresponder systems get well over 90 per cent of their messages delivered, partly because they measure your message and tell you whether it will get through or not. Straight off, this means that if you use an autoresponder system, you are likely to get 50 per cent more messages delivered than if you do it yourself. Yes, 95 per cent delivery is 50 per cent more than 65 per cent.

That is if you have some sort of page where people can sign up at your site. Don't have a form there? Well, you are wasting so much money, it isn't true. Not sure how to put a form on your site? The autoresponder service will do it for you - well they give you a template in which you put your data.

Most important of all, once you start sending people direct to your autoresponder series, they become your client, and you will be able to sell other products to them later.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Get a ton of FREE information on how to make money as an affiliate and how to avoid deadly mistakes at jrhmarketing.wordpress.com.

7 Ways To Make More Money From Affiliate Marketing

By James Copper

Affiliate marketing is an online business form that involves promoting the products of others on your own website. You don't necessarily sell any goods yourself on your website or blog. You might not even have one of these but just advertise other people's goods. It is a good way to earn income automatically while you sleep. But first you have to do the groundwork and you must regularly tweak your strategy and build on your successes.

Once you have your affiliate system up and running, you should look at the following aspects in order to market your affiliates' products as efficiently as possible. By applying these techniques you will be able to make more money out of affiliate marketing now and in the future.

1. Ensure you have the best and most up-to-date system in place for finding good potential affiliates. Try and work through reputable "affiliate marketplaces" such as Commission Junction, Linkshare and Clickbank.

2. Ensure you have a good screening system in place so you can select the best affiliates for your online affiliate business. Fortunately the reputable affiliate marketplaces supply you with masses of statistics and reports so you can establish which the most profitable affiliates are.

3. Do review your affiliates regularly and simply remove those that are not performing. It is a question of testing, trying different things and trying to see your affiliate enterprise from the point of the consumer who will click on the promotional ads.

4. If affiliate marketing is just one aspect of your online business, make sure these efforts form part of a larger advertising and promotional campaign. Do not embark on affiliation marketing as if it is a separate entity. Dovetail it with the rest of your business. This will be better for your other business and also for your affiliate business.

5. Continue to research how other affiliate businesses go about marketing and promotion. You should be learning all the time and picking up tips. Rather learn from successful people than be a pioneer and go through everything they have already been through. In other words, learn from the experience of others.

6. Do not be too proud to hire an affiliate marketing professional. There are many search engine optimization techniques and pay-per-click secrets that can help you make a success of your affiliate marketing venture. You might want to draw in an expert right at the start when you design your website and your marketing campaign. This could be critical to your success. In addition, you will learn a great deal about how to proceed once the expert has completed her contract with you.

7. You should stay excited about the internet and affiliate marketing. In starting and managing an affiliate marketing enterprise online you are at the forefront of ecommerce. Read up as much as you can and network with other affiliate marketers. Attend seminars and conferences and revel in the rapid development of this exciting commercial area.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

James Copper is a writer for www.marketinglinx.com