Trade Show Success: Learn From An Expert

Have you ever been an attendee at a conference and gone to the exhibit area? You know, where all those trade show booths are and the vendors are standing behind them, ready to espouse their company's benefits to you?I have been to many; and have been on both sides. I have been an attendee many times and even more so, a vendor.Watch the latest videos on YouTube.comWhat baffles me is that when I am an attendee and walk the exhibit booth isles, I see much aloofness. Many of the vendors don’t even look up because they are talking to their co-worker, checking their Blackberry and/or gazing deeply into their laptop monitor.I am quite sure that this...

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Posted in: trade shows

Winning It In Uncertain Times

If you want to test the true character of a person, see how they respond to adversity. Watch how they handle the pressure of a lost sale, an angry client, or a difficult boss. What do they say? How do they act? What is their emotional state? Do they freeze up and get angry, or do they buckle down and increase their focus and commitment?The same holds true for those who would assume the mantle of leadership in business. When adversity hits, how they respond in the market will determine their ability to stay in business and win.Leadership - both on a personal and organizational level - ultimately drives the actions taken amidst crisis and change....

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Posted in: internet marketing

The Power of Internal Linking

Anyone who runs a website should be aware of a few basic search engine linking tactics. Used properly you can interlink your website so that Google, Yahoo and the other major search engines will rate you higher in both page rank and search engine results for your keyword/key phrase niche terms. If you're unaware of what internal linking means, here's a basic overview.Internal linking involves the links on your website that point to other pages on your website. Internal linking is very important because it allows the search engine spiders, those automated bots that scour the Internet looking for information, to find all of the pages on...

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Posted in: seo

It's All About Building Customer Loyalty

It is no wonder that very few companies enjoy customer loyalty nowadays. Consumers are skeptical of company promises. A "new" product is not really "new." A great looking item on an info-commercial works much differently than demonstrated. The beautifully designed hotel room pictured on the website leaves a lot to be desired.Why Making Promises Is Not Enough Anymore The Loyalty Engagement Index by Brand Keys, a New York marketing consultancy, shows consumer expectations climbed for a decade-up 28 percent. Yet, brands only kept up 7 percent of the time. The result: Customers were perpetually disappointed. In 2007 this changed drastically. Consumer...

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Posted in: internet marketing

How to Get More Prospects and More Leads

Most small to medium sized companies actually limit the amount of business their customers do with them. I know this sounds crazy, even unbelievable as no one in their right mind would restrict and limit customer purchases.The problem, of course is that it happens unintentionally. In fact, I'll bet it's happening in your business right now. Here's how:- Most businesses simply do not allow their prospects and customers enough opportunities to buy from them- Businesses don't offer enough chances to expand and continue the customer relationship for the long-term. One of the simplest and most immediate ways to turn this situation around is...

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Posted in: telemarketing

Attract More Customers With A Carbon Neutral Website

Thanks to Al Gore’s ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ the latest buzzword on everyone’s lips is carbon footprint . That may be well and good but I can hear you asking ‘how does this relate to my business and my bottom line’? Well you’d be surprised to know that you have a lot to gain from finding out. There are many ways to minimize your organizations’ carbon footprint but one of the most practical ways to reduce your carbon footprint is by starting with your website. Given that your online ‘shopfront’ is the public face of your company in the virtual world, it offers you the chance to not only market your business globally but it is also a great...

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Posted in: website

Using Web analytics to optimize PPC campaigns

Improve the effectiveness of your pay-per-click campaigns by using web analytics. Understanding user behavior and applying that to your online marketing campaigns can dramatically improve results. Follow these tips for improved conversions:Volume & conversion rate comparisons Comparing paid and natural traffic, paid engine to paid engine and paid keyword to natural keyword offers a great opportunity to set goals and find new and missed opportunities. PPC optimizers can make comparisons between landing pages, copy, etc., to make drastic optimizations or minimal tweaking.New keyword opportunities Seek monthly keyword perfor¬mance data from...

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Posted in: PPC

Shrinking the Sales & Marketing Divide

Have you had "the conversation" yet? As the economy slows, most B2B marketers are going to be asked to clearly show how marketing programs drive sales results, and what can be done to improve ROI. Challenging times put the focus on what can be done NOW. When "the conversation" comes up, you want to have a clear answer. The best way to get to a clear answer is to ensure that Sales and Marketing are well aligned in your company, and have the numbers to prove it.I'm a big believer in clearly aligning Sales and Marketing, and this was one of our key 2008 focus areas for the Business.com Marketing team. We're seeing great results and here...

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Posted in: sales

How To Market Your Business With Little or No Money

Recently, a colleague asked me how he to market his small business with little or no money. Although it sounds like an almost impossible task, it's not. Keep in mind that marketing isn't just about advertising and trade shows... it's about communicating your message - brand, product benefits, etc. - in all you do.I suggested three things that could be done immediately to being marketing without money.1. Change your voicemail. Add you company tag line, mention a new product, or let your caller know about a recent offer. This can be done at zero cost and helps to market your company, products and services.2. Ask for a Referral. The purpose of marketing...

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Posted in: marketing

Updates to CAN-SPAM Legislation You Need to Know About

Today's Good Marketing Tip: CAN-SPAMA few months ago, the Federal Trade Commission approved a new rule provision under the CAN-SPAM Act that clarified opt-out and other legal responsibilities for “multiple sender” e-mail messages — those messages that contain advertisements from numerous parties. Before the ruling, many senders were unclear about what was required in such situations. A strict reading of the law would have it that each entity whose products and services were advertised in an e-mail should pool and process their opt-out files before deployment of every campaign and that each message should contain an unsubscribe link for each...

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Posted in: internet marketing

Make the Most of Your PPC Campaigns

Pay Per Click (PPC) is an online marketing and advertising formula, where the advertiser does not pay a fee to place an advert, but rather pays a certain amount of money each time someone clicks on their ad and is taken to their website. In PPC you can choose the keywords or phrases you want your website to be associated with when a search is performed. This means you have to decide how much you are willing to pay each time someone clicks on the search result - but the upshot is that you are advertising to people who are already interested in you. PPC expert Ian Howie is a leading...

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Posted in: PPC

The Google Credit Check and Page Rank

Getting your site listed on the first page of Google search results is a bit like getting a loan from a bank. You aren't likely to be approved for a loan if you have no income and no credit history. It's too risky for the bank to extend credit to those who aren't worthy of it. Google trades in a different currency... traffic, and just like the banks assess risk before lending money, Google will assess risk before "lending" traffic. Google may not care if you've ever paid a bill late, but make no mistake about it, they have their own version of a credit check and you need to pass it in order to be found in their search results. The Google...

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Posted in: google

Today's Marketing Tip: Email in a Web 2.0 World

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Posted in: direct mail