Everything your business does affects your place in the market. The goal of marketing is a concept called "Top of Mind." This can be described by saying that you want your potential customers to think of you / your company immediately when they realize or decide they need what you have to offer.
Showing posts with label Internet Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet Marketing. Show all posts
Monday, May 17, 2010
Everything Is Marketing
No matter what your business is, you are a marketer. Marketing is a lot more than advertising. It includes how you design your product, your packaging, your customer service. It's all related.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Which is Better? Natural Traffic or Pay Per Click?
And the answer is: Yes.
After seven years of off again on again Internet Marketing, I have finally become convince that I should learn Pay Per Click. Now, maybe you think “Duh, what took you so long?” Here's the thing: There are enough free ways to get traffic that I wanted to champion the natural (also called organic) search engine optimization. I felt that people already spent enough money on scams and training that good content and sound elbow grease would be the hallmark of my expertise.
Where did things change for me? Right where they do for most businesses: my bottom line. As more and more people are making money online, the competition has increased. To keep myself marketable as a mentor for Internet Marketing, I no longer wish to turn away customers who want PPC. So now I embark on a learning curve and become, again, the student.
I still champion free traftic. Just like Word-Of-Mouth Marketing, it's one of the axioms of Internet Marketing. If someone finds me because of a referral, and if I have exactly what they want, the profit from the sale still tastes sweeter.
I don't believe good content will ever go away. Even with mobile media on the horizon. Now, I have to admit I may be wrong. One of my mentors once said that blogging was a fad and would soon fade. I'll folllow his example and state my best guess, stake my profits on it to some extent.
I challenge you to do the same. Become committed to life-long learning of your field. It used to be said that computers and programming were the primary fields where life-long learning was required. Now it is every field. If you don't learn more as you go, you'll miss out to someone who has been.
After seven years of off again on again Internet Marketing, I have finally become convince that I should learn Pay Per Click. Now, maybe you think “Duh, what took you so long?” Here's the thing: There are enough free ways to get traffic that I wanted to champion the natural (also called organic) search engine optimization. I felt that people already spent enough money on scams and training that good content and sound elbow grease would be the hallmark of my expertise.
Where did things change for me? Right where they do for most businesses: my bottom line. As more and more people are making money online, the competition has increased. To keep myself marketable as a mentor for Internet Marketing, I no longer wish to turn away customers who want PPC. So now I embark on a learning curve and become, again, the student.
I still champion free traftic. Just like Word-Of-Mouth Marketing, it's one of the axioms of Internet Marketing. If someone finds me because of a referral, and if I have exactly what they want, the profit from the sale still tastes sweeter.
I don't believe good content will ever go away. Even with mobile media on the horizon. Now, I have to admit I may be wrong. One of my mentors once said that blogging was a fad and would soon fade. I'll folllow his example and state my best guess, stake my profits on it to some extent.
I challenge you to do the same. Become committed to life-long learning of your field. It used to be said that computers and programming were the primary fields where life-long learning was required. Now it is every field. If you don't learn more as you go, you'll miss out to someone who has been.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Commenting On Blogs
One of the primary tasks of Internet Marketing is commenting on other people's blogs. Find blogs that match your niche and comment on them regularly. This should be a weekly thing. This is one of those things that is easy to do. The caveat is that it is also easy not to do. Just like posting new blog posts (which I struggle with), commenting on blogs is one of those things that you ought to do regularly, following the philosophy of The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life
How to Comment on Blogs
When you find a blog post that matches your niche, read it. This may seem obvious, but a common faux pas in blogging is a commenter who obviously has not read the post. Read the post. At the bottom of the post there is usually a link that says how many comments there are or to leave a comment. The etiquette is that your comment must add value to the conversation. You do not want to simply put in a plug for your website. If you are commenting on a blog that allows you to enter your URL along with your name, then your name will become a link to the URL you enter. There is no need to plug your website. Simply write a sincere, valuable comment and let the link do its work.
How to Comment on Blogs
When you find a blog post that matches your niche, read it. This may seem obvious, but a common faux pas in blogging is a commenter who obviously has not read the post. Read the post. At the bottom of the post there is usually a link that says how many comments there are or to leave a comment. The etiquette is that your comment must add value to the conversation. You do not want to simply put in a plug for your website. If you are commenting on a blog that allows you to enter your URL along with your name, then your name will become a link to the URL you enter. There is no need to plug your website. Simply write a sincere, valuable comment and let the link do its work.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Network Marketing
I used to think Multi-Level Marketing was bad. All of it. All the companies. My parents joined one and had a terrible experience, and several people pitched me over the years. Very pushy. I joined one a few years ago, and was told to be pushy.
I'm not pushy. I don't believe in pushy.
As you might read in my blog, I am an Instructional Designer by trade. I was given the assignment to develop a course of instruction that would teach people how to be successful in Multi-Level Marketing companies, so off I went to do research. I found an organization, Mentoring -for-Free, that convinced me that Multi-Level Marketing is by itself not bad or evil. There are scams and unscrupulous people, but if you have the right information you can choose a good company to join and you can find success. I joined Mentoring-for-Free, and promote it.
Mentoring-for-Free is not an MLM. It is a teaching organization that will train anyone from any company. There are even parts of the training that are relevant and open to people who want to succeed in other industries - not MLM at all. If you are interested, click the image to the right and download the eBook, Success in Ten Steps.
If you do, you will learn that only 15% of the general population likes pushy and thinks a pushy salesman is a good one.
My mentor, Michael Puskas, has as his "day job" a sales job. He has been in traditional sales full time for over 15 years. He has been very successful. He taught me yesterday that his success comes from not being pushy, but by finding the true need of potential clients and offering a sincere, valuable solution to their need. "They sell themselves," he says.
The same goes for Internet Marketing. You see a lot of hype on the Internet. Hype must work, because like spam, it would cease to exist if it didn't work. But I couldn't sleep at night if I used hype in promoting my network marketing (MLM) business or on my websites. Not only do I not like pushy, I think it is wrong. At least when it results in a customer buying something they don't really want, that isn't what is promised, or isn't what they really need.
It is possible, and in my opinion more lucrative in the long run, to present what you have to offer and let people sell themselves. If your product or service is of value, it will happen value is always rewarded. Your marketing purpose is to get potential customers to see you. You need them to see you often enough to remember you. This way, in the moment when they realize they need what you offer they will then buy you. This is the source my pen-name for this blog. I say buy "you" because people buy people, not stuff. If they are going to buy stuff they will go to Wal-Mart or Amazon.
You can get people to see you, remember you, and buy you without being pushy. Here are some sound tips to sponsoring.
I'm not pushy. I don't believe in pushy.
As you might read in my blog, I am an Instructional Designer by trade. I was given the assignment to develop a course of instruction that would teach people how to be successful in Multi-Level Marketing companies, so off I went to do research. I found an organization, Mentoring -for-Free, that convinced me that Multi-Level Marketing is by itself not bad or evil. There are scams and unscrupulous people, but if you have the right information you can choose a good company to join and you can find success. I joined Mentoring-for-Free, and promote it.
Mentoring-for-Free is not an MLM. It is a teaching organization that will train anyone from any company. There are even parts of the training that are relevant and open to people who want to succeed in other industries - not MLM at all. If you are interested, click the image to the right and download the eBook, Success in Ten Steps.
If you do, you will learn that only 15% of the general population likes pushy and thinks a pushy salesman is a good one.
My mentor, Michael Puskas, has as his "day job" a sales job. He has been in traditional sales full time for over 15 years. He has been very successful. He taught me yesterday that his success comes from not being pushy, but by finding the true need of potential clients and offering a sincere, valuable solution to their need. "They sell themselves," he says.
The same goes for Internet Marketing. You see a lot of hype on the Internet. Hype must work, because like spam, it would cease to exist if it didn't work. But I couldn't sleep at night if I used hype in promoting my network marketing (MLM) business or on my websites. Not only do I not like pushy, I think it is wrong. At least when it results in a customer buying something they don't really want, that isn't what is promised, or isn't what they really need.
It is possible, and in my opinion more lucrative in the long run, to present what you have to offer and let people sell themselves. If your product or service is of value, it will happen value is always rewarded. Your marketing purpose is to get potential customers to see you. You need them to see you often enough to remember you. This way, in the moment when they realize they need what you offer they will then buy you. This is the source my pen-name for this blog. I say buy "you" because people buy people, not stuff. If they are going to buy stuff they will go to Wal-Mart or Amazon.
You can get people to see you, remember you, and buy you without being pushy. Here are some sound tips to sponsoring.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Get Rich Quick
No matter how you slice it, any program you see on the Internet that says you can earn large amounts of money quickly with little work, little time, and little education needs to be carefully scrutinized before you spend any money on it. I have been in business since I was 12 years old when my dad and I started Gary and Larry's Yard Care. I have never seen nor do I ever expect to see a legitimate program that is guaranteed to make you a lot of money in a short period of time.
While 85% of the people hate to be hard-sold, more than 85% of people seem to get hard-sold quite often on these programs with grand, quick promises. But when you read the guarantee, it is actually quite different.
In my personal business, I have taken point from one of my mentors, Jeremy Cobb. Jeremy is the CEO of the company I work for, and I have my own business on the side. Jeremy's company and mine both have the same guarantee: "We will work with you until you say you don't need us anymore"
If I do some work for someone as my own company and they are not satisfied, I will continue to work on it until they are--within reason. I don't want to get in any situation where I am taken advantage of. But if someone is sincerely dissatisfied, I'll do what I can to make it right. Since I give a service, I cannot give the product back, so I do a little more.
Omni, (Jeremy's company), has the same guarantee: We work with our clients by being available via email for as long as they need us.
When you are looking at programs that promise to teach you how to make money online, look for these kinds of guarantees. They are more realistic, and chances are they come from reputable companies like ours.
Gary
While 85% of the people hate to be hard-sold, more than 85% of people seem to get hard-sold quite often on these programs with grand, quick promises. But when you read the guarantee, it is actually quite different.
In my personal business, I have taken point from one of my mentors, Jeremy Cobb. Jeremy is the CEO of the company I work for, and I have my own business on the side. Jeremy's company and mine both have the same guarantee: "We will work with you until you say you don't need us anymore"
If I do some work for someone as my own company and they are not satisfied, I will continue to work on it until they are--within reason. I don't want to get in any situation where I am taken advantage of. But if someone is sincerely dissatisfied, I'll do what I can to make it right. Since I give a service, I cannot give the product back, so I do a little more.
Omni, (Jeremy's company), has the same guarantee: We work with our clients by being available via email for as long as they need us.
When you are looking at programs that promise to teach you how to make money online, look for these kinds of guarantees. They are more realistic, and chances are they come from reputable companies like ours.
Gary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)