Marketing Budgets Shrink But You Don't Have Too

With marketing budgets under scrutiny, doing more with less is essential for creating a positive return on your investment. The fact is that marketing budgets are shrinking in today's difficult economic climate. This is the exact opposite of what should actually happen. When times are tough, its time to start marketing.

How can you do more with a shrinking budget? The answer is simple. Create more way to market in a viral way. Essentially, let others do the selling for you. Here are a few suggestions for getting your marketing moving.

Leverage all of your assets. As a business, are you leveraging every customer interaction you have? Whether it is on the phone, face-to-face, or over the Internet, how frequently do you use that opportunity to ask about other needs or pain points?

Ask for referrals. You would be surprised by the low percentage of businesses who ask for referrals. To jump start any referral campaign, offer a small benefit to those who refer a customers. At the very least, get your referral program up and running and be sure to send a thank you note for making the connection.

Focus on your communications. If you are sending letters, giving away business cards, or packing someones groceries, be sure to include a flier or message about other products and services you offer. You may even consider a special offer that can be included with each of these touch points.

Keep testing new things. Especially in tough times, it is very important to dedicate a portion of your budget toward trying new marketing methods or ideas. Even if it is just ten percent of your budget, all it takes is one success idea to have a significant impact on your lead flow or revenue.

Improving marketing results does not have to cost you money. In fact, some of the best, most successful marketing ideas were started with little or no money. Think viral. How can you leverage the assets you already have? By taking what you have and making it better or expanding it, your results will often scale. To many people stop short of fully riding out their marketing campaigns and enjoying the results they can achieve if only they persist.

One final idea to consider. Take a closer look at your website. Can you do more to attract visitors and have them provide some information about themselves? This could be access to a free instructional video or ebook. As the economy worsens, people are looking for more free information and helpful advice. So give it to them. The result will be a trusting relationship. When they have money, they will buy from your versus your competitors.

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Posted in: Budget

Good Marketing: Back To Our Roots

For any of our readers who have been following the Good Marketing Tips blog, you know that this site was created to provide objective reviews of online marketing tools and resources. I have found literally hundreds of marketing related tools to improve my business. But there are only a few that I use on a daily basis.

I'd like to start posting info on these tools more frequently as this blog evolves. Although I may recommend pay-for products and services in addition to free ones, I'll only do so if I've used the product myself. Also, I'm very interested in your comments regarding marketing products you've tried. Simply comment on any of the products I discuss on this blog so that the marketing community can benefit.

Today, I'd like to talk about a simple tool that is so easy to us, and free, that you have to check it out. That tool is Quantcast. Quantcast.com is a website that gives you a really good understanding of your competitors website(s). For example, let's look at this result for a random website.

Quantcast shows me their traffic information as well as demographics. Check out this demographics snapshot that shows me what types of people are using there site! It's a great way to understand your audience and the audience of your competitors.

This tool is a great place to start for your marketing related activities such as research and even creating new client campaigns. As you explore the tool, you will find that the information is really helpful.

Give it a try and let me know if you find this web traffic tool helpful. I used it quite often and find that it provides info that just isn't available anywhere else.

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Posted in: quantcast

Unique Article Wizard. More Traffic. More Sales

As someone who makes a living online, I'm often asked, "What is the easiest, most reliable, and cheapest way to get traffic to your website?" My answer is simple, article marketing. The truth is that I use a lot of different techniques, but one of the most powerful is the use of article marketing. And not just any kind of article marketing.

Getting high quality traffic is probably the biggest question asked by both new and established online businesses. After all, it makes no difference if you are selling a product, promoting affiliate links, or displaying adsense - you need traffic. And loads of it. So how do you do it?

A lot of readers ask me about traditional marketing like advertising. Advertising is expensive though. It is easy to spend several thousands of dollars a month on Google and never see a return.

Another popular tactic is to buy text links. Also expensive - and rapidly losing effectiveness in the search engines. Just 50 links can set you back aroudn $1,000. The reality though is that you really need thousands of links for #1 rankings.

From my perspective, there really is only one tried and true technique that has been quietly working since the very beginning of the internet, is completely immune to changes in search engine algorithms, is 100% legitimate and ethical, takes very little time, and costs very little to implement.

What's great is that article marketing can get your new site listed by the search engines in days rather than weeks or months. It will also give you top rankings for organic traffic, even in highly competitive markets. If you'd like to learn more about the article marketing system I use for top search engine rankings, check out Unique Article Wizard

My website MarketingScoop.com is ranked #1 for highly competitive terms like "marketing expert", "internet marketing expert", and "free marketing articles". I'm not afraid to reveal my secret simply because I build hundreds of new quality links to my websites each and every day. If you are serious about succeeding online, then check out Unique Article Wizard

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Posted in: unique article wizard

Price Increases And How To Market Them

Each year, thousands of companies consistently raise prices to increase margins and offset growth in various costs. For anyone working in corporate America, you are quite familiar with this tactic. For marketers, rising costs are always a challenge.

Price increases can negatively impact the sales and marketing efforts for today's busy marketing professional. A price increase on products or services that haven't changed creates a difficult scenario for current customers familiar with a lower cost. This is especially true when we hear objections from our customers expressing their dissatisfaction. With few or literally no changes to a given product overcoming objections is difficult.

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The biggest issue that many marketers have about the dreaded price increase is losing customers to lower priced competitors. This is especially true in segments where competitors products are priced less than your offering. There is always someone else that your customer can buy from and sometimes that is a very real option. You will be glad to know however that a recent study found that few customers migrate to a competitor based on prices alone.

There are a number of reasons why customers do not jump ship so quickly. The bottom line is that switch has costs associated with it. These costs are both and emotional as well as financial.

Consumers have been conditioned to ask for a discount or find the sales rack. When introducing a price increase to your customers they are going to want to avoid it at all costs. This is just human nature. But this also explains why they will continue to ask for discounts long after their customers even though they wont leave you.

Below I list just a few things to consider before communicating a price increase to customers. Do what you can to lighten the load or simply divert attention to something of greater value.

Increase the value of your product and raise the price. Doing so allows you to justify the price to your customers. This removes any type of obstacle associated with price increases that are simply a way to earn the company more money but provide no benefit to the consumer. Determine how you could provide additional services, support, or terms to support a price increase.

Evaluate the cost for your customer to switch. This consideration has always been popular among phone companies. They not only want to sell more to existing customers, but they also want to attract new ones. You must be able to explain to your customer what costs he will incur if he changes providers. These costs may be both financial as well as emotional. How much time, energy, and resources will it take to truly switch?

Segment your price increase. Not all customer are equal so treat them differently to make the transition smooth and get the biggest bang for your buck.The truth of the matter is that your customers are different. Some have been doing business with you for a long time. Others are working with you for the first time. Your price increase should be reflective of the individuality of your customers.

In closing, one thing to keep in mind is that you should really understand who your customers may consider purchasing from if you weren't providing them products or services. Then, be sure to understand what their pricing structures look like.

For companies that can provide good products at a fair price, switching is not a major concern. However if you are over priced or your product is not equivalent to something a competitor offers, then your job becomes more difficult. Marketing professionals may need to encourage their business to invest dollars in product enhancement in order to justify the price increase. Regardless, focus your messaging on value which can help lesson the blow of higher prices.

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Posted in: Price increases

Private Label Rights Articles and Products

I've been doing a lot of reading lately about Private Label Rights (PLR) content. I used to think that it was only for lazy people who didn't want to do their own writing. But as I learn more, I've come up with lots of great ways I can use PLR in my own business.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, PLR is content that you get from the original author along with their permission to use it as your own. So you can get a great report, put your name on it and have your own product to sell or give away!

The first couple of products I created using PLR only took me about half an hour. There have been a few sales so far from them so that was definitely time well spent.

When searching for PLR content to use, I found there were a lot of different types of sites available. Some offered monthly memberships and others offered just one time purchases. So be sure to look around before you decide where to buy.

The site I found that was by far the best was PLRWholesaler. Not only do they have an unbelievable amount of content, but it's completely FREE. Most sites charge an arm and a leg for the amount of content that this guy is giving away.

And although I haven't been through everything yet, what I have read is very good quality. It's stuff you would actually want to use as your own.

Since it's free, I highly recommend that you check out PLRWholesaler and see if they have anything that you can use in your business. There just may be an ebook or audio recording that you could quickly brand with your information and start selling to your list.

Check it out and let me know what you think... access here!

-Michael

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Posted in: PLR

Focus On Your Content If You Want To Grow Your Business

By creating content that is well designed and of interest to a specific audience, you can create a compelling experience for your audience. Whether your content is developed by you or professionally written and designed, when done correctly it can pay huge dividends for your and your website.

This is especially true when focusing on the value of search engine optimized content, images, and other on-page factors. The outcome of good optimization is a steady flow of targeted website visitors that take appropriate actions on your site.

After attracting users to your site be sure that your content provides value. As website browsers engage your content, consider how they might move through the purchase decision process. Is you content directing them to where you want them to go or providing adequate opportunity to convert them in a variety of ways? Good content encourages your website audience to navigate beyond your home page and through your website.

The more a visitor values their time on your website, the more likely they will be to convert to a customer. They will also be more inclined to refer others to your website. Never underestimate the power of referrals. All websites should be viewed a viral marketing tools. Remember that the quality of your referrals comes down to the quality of your content.

If your content is engaging and meaningful, you will attract links to your website and not just your home page. Deep linking can improve your rankings dramatically and are largely based on external links.

With improved content, in-bound links, and higher search engine rankings, you'll be amazed at how much traffic you can command. With the right amount of traffic, your opportunity for increased sales and conversions grow exponentially. Again, good content comes in handy because you can engage your visitors an determine what elements provide the highest return on your investment.

No online business can be successful without quality content. Not only does quality content engage your browsers, but it provides an increased awareness of your website, your products and services.

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Posted in: content

Improve Web Site Rankings With On Page Optimization Techniques

On-page optimization is where you should begin and SEO campaign. What you do on your web site and various web pages has a significant impact on search engine results. Even though off-page optimization is a critical component for higher rankings, on-page techniques are essential for building a strong SEO foundation.

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Here are a number of on page optimization tips and strategies you can apply immediately to enhance your website and make is truly search engine friendly. As search engines crawl your website, they can apply the proper weight to different content.

Optimize Your Web Site URL. When planning to build a new website, be very careful about the domain name you choose. Select a name that will be memorable and is something you want to build your business around. You obviously do not want to limit your options significantly. Do so can limit the future development of your business. You should however, include your keyword or keyword phrase into your URL if possible.

Optimize Your Page Title and Header Tags Including H1 and H2. Develop a title that is relevant to your website content and which has no more that sixty characters. The reason you want to keep your title to a fixed width is because longer titles wont display fully on search engine results listings. The title is important because it gives you an opportunity to display your keywords and entice browsers to click on your link.

The first title or headline that appears on your web page should include your keywords. It is best to have this title display with an H1 tag which signals each search engine as to the importance of the content being displayed. The sub text should be presented with an H2 or H3 tag. This shows the search engines how important your keywords are and helps them promote the key elements of your web page.

Optimize Your Meta Tags. Search engine optimization experts debate the value of meta tags for search engine ranking enhancement. I can tell you that meta tags include a variety of tags including title, description, and keywords. Even though meta tags are less important that it was many years ago, it still plays an important role in optimization.

Meta tags are used as a starting point and reference for search engines seeking to rank your website. Your meta tags need to be aligned to web site content and include your most important keywords. I suggest limiting your keywords to twelve and limiting your description to about 150 words. By doing so you eliminate the chance that a search engine considers your content as questionable.

Optimize your keyword density. Keyword density is an important factor in search engine rankings. Your keyword density should be no more than 5 percent on any given page. Instead of focusing on keyword density alone, you are better off focusing on the placement of your keywords and treatment of your keywords. Focus on H1 and H2 tags and place keywords through out your web page. You should have an instance of each keyword phrase in bold, italics, and underlined to complete your on-page optimization effort.

Vary Your Keywords. The last piece for us to focus on in the area of on-page optimization is keyword density. Instead of cramming your web page with the same keyword phrase again and again, you must use variety. A great way to do this is by adding a word or two before your keyword phrase and after it. This strategy is important because it shows search engines that your website is focused and not trying to manipulate the rankings.

The most important part of any SEO effort is to make your website appear natural and have a good flow. You want to make sure that your site presents valuable content and follows on-page optimization best practices. Use these suggestions as a guide, you will be on your way to a fully optimized website.

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Posted in: improve search engine rankings,search engine optimization

More On Unique Article Wizard

Why do some Internet marketers seem to get all the search engine traffic while others get hardly any? The answer is more simple than you might think.



The reason why their getting all the traffic is because they are using the power of article marketing - with a twist. Article marketing has been a popular technique for building back links to web sites, blogs, and jump pages for a few years now.

In recent months, Google has begun to penalize web sites who post duplicate content and devalue the content when it appears identically on other websites. As a result, today's top marketers have begun leveraging a new aspect of article marketing... unique article distribution.

This technique is so powerful that many website owners have abandoned traditionally pay-per-click advertising and reinvested in article creation and unique article distribution. If you want to get the most from your article marketing, check out Unique Article Wizard.

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Posted in: unique article wizard