Online Marketing

Low to No Cost Marketing Plans – 3 Effective Strategies Online

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Attracting consumers and keeping them interested entails imagination and creativity. Marketing on a small budget is pretty tricky nowadays since the public wants to know more before shelling out for a product. Low to no cost marketing plans would normally include direct marketing strategies and guerrilla marketing ideas. But sometimes, even these two seem counter-intuitive to the goal of being cost-efficient because they can use up so much time and manpower.

The internet is a tool that can be harnessed to solve your low budget marketing woes.
Because it is used all over the world, the internet can be a very easy yet powerful way to reach your desired audience. There are plenty of low cost marketing ideas lurking around the internet, waiting to be put to good use.

Here are 3 effective strategies online:

1. Special ‘Today Only’ Offer

The next time you send out an email to your clients or post an ad online, do not forget to include a special ‘today only’ offer. Why does this work? As in direct marketing, ads on television and other media, people are attracted to the sense of urgency of the limited time offer.

Check your marketing budget or marketing objectives to know which products and/or services you can offer for these particular situations.

2. Blogging

The blogosphere is a highly populated area of the worldwide web. It is rich in information about almost anything under the sun. Blogs should really be a part of your list of low to no cost marketing plans because they are free and easy to make!

Why not blog about your business and offer suggestions of reading materials related to your work? Your blog doesn’t have to be wordy or nerdy. Posting lots of pictures and offering link exchanges and making use of search engine optimization could help your blog rank up search engines too. The higher your rank, the more visible you are. More visibility means your business marketing strategy is working well and it’s easier for you to reach your target market.

3. Social Networking

Utilizing social networking sites is a highly recommended business marketing idea. Posting on Facebook, Twitter and other popular sites such as YouTube makes it easier for your target audience to find you. Making your details available on these sites also gives your clients the ability to leave feedback and suggestions which is essential to market research.

These are just three low to no cost marketing plans to give your small business a boost. Once these strategies generate results and give you much needed revenues, you may move on expanding your marketing plans without forgetting what you’ve learned along the road of scrimping and cost efficient marketing— how to budget!

What are The Five Major Types of Marketing – that Give Results Without Hurting Your Pocket!

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A huge percentage of budget for business goes towards different forms of advertising. After all, getting your consumers interested and hooked in what you have to offer is the key to being a smashing success in your business of choice.

So what are the five major types of marketing that give results without hurting your pocket?

1.  Word of mouth – In marketing jargon, this falls under the category of direct marketing. Of all the different types of marketing, this makes it to number one for being the most cost efficient and effective at the same time.
Word of mouth can come in both oral and written forms. The best part about it is you don’t have to pay people to do it for you. Rants and raves about your business can spread like wildfire in the blogosphere, review sites and much more.
This type of marketing works because consumers tend to believe someone who has authority and reliability or someone who has actually tried your product/service.
Different types of business strategies would suggest keeping yourself abreast with how people react to your business and to make sure that there are more good publicity that goes around to benefit from.

2. Referral Programs – One of the relatively new types of advertising is the referral program. This marketing strategy does not hurt your pocket because its mechanism is to only give rewards to people who bring in a certain number of referrals or revenues.
The tendency is for consumers to make use of their own personal networks to bring in referrals, thus marketing your business well without you having to shell out big time or do the legwork.

3.  Social Media Marketing – Social media marketing is indeed one of the recent five major types of marketing that really generates results. Making a page or profile in social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and much more is simple and free. Putting up ads in these websites can cost you but your ads are sure to be seen by millions of people all over the globe.

4. Event-based marketing – This marketing strategy is more specific in a way that you advertise your business in an event that has majority of your target market. A good example of this is sponsoring an inter-high school cheerleading competition or sporting event in your locale if your target market are teens. Giving away special awards or samples give you publicity as well as a chance for your audience to sample your product and talk about it.

5. Online business listing – There are ample websites that offer free online business listings. This is very useful since consumers need direct to the point information like where to find you and how to contact you. Online business listings give you the chance to advertise and give factual information about your company without having to spend at all.

Next, to learn more on five major types of marketing, sign up to get free invitation to the next coming online seminar.

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Marketing Trends for The Future – 4 Effective Methods to Promote your Business

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Businesses nowadays are more competitive than ever before. With the ever-changing needs and wants of the market, it is essential to stay informed to keep the business afloat.

Keeping up with industry analysis reports and learning more about marketing trends for the future ensure that your company will stay one step ahead of the competition. Promoting your business entails careful market research, cost-benefit analysis and strategic planning.
No one wants to spend money on inefficient marketing strategies. And the most recent trends are pointing to the use of technology for marketing success.

Here are 4 effective methods to promote your business:

1. Search Engine Optimization
Creating a website that is search engine friendly makes your business very visible not only to your local market but worldwide. Using search engine optimization takes some level of skill; you may do it yourself of ask your web designer for help. It involves the use of keywords and links in achieving your desired page rank. It might sound a bit technical, but the more you make use of SEO, the more visible you get and that roughly translates to revenues and sales.

2. Social Media
It is an established fact that social media has become a great part of most people’s lives all around the globe. Statistics have shown that businesses have shifted their budget towards social media marketing and other digital initiatives because consumers spend more time online these days than ever before! Today, it is possible for a post in Facebook, YouTube or Twitter to trend and go viral in a matter of hours.
Creating an enticing (yet truthful) page about your business on reliable social networking sites enables you to reach out to more people and spread the word about your company, while also getting a sense of what your market is like through reviews, comments and statistics.

3. Internet as tool for localized marketing and geotargeting
Taking into consideration your target market’s needs and wants and bringing your products/services closer to them is what localized marketing and geotargeting is all about. The future of the internet in the field of marketing can be seen in the boom of local discount websites and review sites. Websites such as Groupon, Yelp and Reviewstream make it easier for consumers to find and learn more about your business. And as an added bonus, you get to learn about your competitors too.

4. Mobile marketing
2012 onward is undeniably the year of mobile marketing internationally. With the recent surge of mobile apps worldwide, marketing your business through mobile advertising and apps like Foursquare is simply a must.

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What are the Top 4 Free Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Web Site

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So you’ve put up your own website. No doubt about it, this is a terrific way to get your ideas across to other people around the globe while earning money. Having a website is just the beginning. Letting people know of your website’s existence and generating traffic to the site is the more challenging part.

A website with little to no visitors is pretty much invaluable. Yes, increasing traffic to your website is difficult; some people spend a great amount of money just to do this.

Here are the top 4 free ways to increase traffic to your website:

1.  Article Marketing
Attracting website visitors could be done by article marketing. Write three articles pertaining to the core topic of your website, include a brief bio and link to your website. Submit these articles to webmasters, ezine owners, article directories and bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon and Technorati.

2. Maximize use of links and trackbacks
Links are very useful and powerful parts of your site. Links increase your traffic by getting the search engines to take notice of your site. Links, as the name suggests, help you connect to other bloggers and webmasters who are likely to look up your site too.
Linking up with other websites could also be done by leaving comments and trackbacks on the other site to let them know you’ve linked to them. And people who are browsing are naturally curious and tend to click on these links and trackbacks, increasing web hits to your site!

3. Social Networking, Forums and Webrings
Nowadays, almost everyone has an online profile at social networking sites such Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc for the purpose of sharing questions and ideas with friends and like-minded individuals. The simple act of adding a link in your signature line or profile can increase site traffic because your profile indirectly promotes your website. The more interesting your profile gets, the more people want to know about you and chances are, they will click on your website link too.

In relation to marketing your website through social networking, generating targeted site traffic is essential as well. This can be achieved by joining forums and webrings that are related to the topic of your website. Getting involved in at least three forums in your niche gets you free website visitors. Making yourself visible in these forums by posting and answering questions with an attention grabbing signature (while avoiding spamming people) will get your co-forum members interested in your website thus, increasing traffic.

4. Search Engines
Add your website to Google or Yahoo by submitting your URL to these sites; most search engines have a ‘submit’ link that helps notify them of your site’s existence. Site traffic will be generated because these search engines could possibly include your pages in their search results.
Making use of search engine optimization is also another way of using search engines for driving traffic to your blog. When writing your pages and blog posts, optimize your pages for search engines by including relevant keywords and links.

Increasing traffic to your website can be simple, free and fun. Attracting visitors to your website is similar to attracting people to your life: keep it light, factual/informative and never overdo things (a.k.a. spamming) or you might end up repelling rather than keeping your visitors coming.

Television Advertising on The Internet – How Can Businesses React to the Shift in Consumer’s Behavior?

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The internet is major source of information these days. A large part of today’s global population is hooked on the internet and get their daily dose of important news, gossip, shows, downloads and other updates online. The internet is accessible from a wide variety of devices including mobile phones and tablets; and it is this convenience that makes people opt to rely on the internet rather than any older forms of media.

The change in the public’s behaviour has shifted the trend towards television advertising on the internet. Businesses are now more open to the idea of using the worldwide web to broadcast tv commercials and widely advertise on the internet.

Advertising media planning entails careful consideration of available forms of media (e.g. radio, television, newspapers and magazines, internet) vis a vis available resources for media spending. So what makes online media advertising a very sensible choice for tv advertising agencies? Here are a few reasons:

•    Advertising on the internet provides a greater range – The internet spans the globe and provides a constant flow of audiences around the clock. People are constantly looking at videos, checking into social networking sites, searching for goods and services and much more. The target market is available in different parts of the world and they are all targeted at once through the internet, rather than finding specific stations and publications to cater to a particular area.

•    Internet commercials are more concise and  seemingly unavoidable – TV commercials are known to be lengthy and sometimes disruptive, making it easy for viewers to quickly switch channels during commercial breaks. Television ads on the internet on the other hand, are unavoidable because they are either banners or commercials before a show on the internet begins.

•    Internet advertising is targeted – A company with a specific market in mind may put up online commercials to reach a specific audience. TV commercials geared towards certain topics of interest can be placed in websites of similar categories to ensure that they reach people that will be interested in the item or service being sold.

•    Advertising on the internet can be cheaper –  Internet advertising has lower entry level fees. Much of the internet advertising companies offer rates depending on the size, length and positioning of the ad. And because of the targeted nature of online advertising, it is easier to check the effectiveness of the tv advertisements on the internet.

When the television was invented centuries ago, people didn’t think it would be this contagious. Now the internet is following suit. Advertising has to move with the rapid changes in technology to ensure that the market stays abreast with the newest offers and trends. Using the internet for television ads will make sure more people get the message and the revenues will keep coming in.

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Direct Selling Network Marketing Consultant – Top 3 Ways to Recruit Online

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Direct selling has been a popular method of getting products across for the past century. The ease of access and convenience of getting to know products first hand from direct sellers has kept consumers interested in acquiring products from direct sellers. Statistics from the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA) state that US$114 Billion was generated in retail sales in the year 2007 alone, indicating that there is indeed ample profit in being a direct selling marketing consultant. Also, the United States Direct Selling Association (DSA) reported that 55% of American adults has purchased through direct selling at some point in their lives, pointing to the stability of the target market.

Direct sales also offers opportunities for financial growth aside from having personal contact with consumers. Recruiting direct selling network marketing consultants can surely boost income. There are so many ways to come up with a team, especially with the use of today’s media.

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Here are top three ways to recruit online:

1.    Social Networking – Many success stories of recruitment talk about the use of social networking sites such as Facebook. Simple ways such as creating a page for your career, tagging friends in product pictures, sharing fun stories on how to earn money through direct sales somehow entice the general public to get involved or become a direct selling network marketing consultant too. Since social networks like Facebook allow others to like and re-post, your content can get viral, your team could get bigger, and your target market could get larger—all for no extra monetary cost!

2.    Blogging, Videos and Podcasts – An online journal that chronicles your adventures as a direct sales consultant is another effective way to get others interested in the career. Describing your adventures, successes and gains together with tips and tricks on how to go about the business are some ways a blog can be useful to recruit people into direct selling. Including videos and podcasts keep your blog interesting and interactive as well. Make sure your blog is open to feedback from happy clients and leave contact information so that people interested in following your footsteps can easily reach you. The video and podcast is a bonus!

3.    Helpful Content, Guest blogging, Community Threads – Publishing helpful content in other people’s blogs, networks such as Linked In and commenting in community forums does wonders for visibility. The more visible you are, the easier for your target market to remember and for your potential direct sales team to get in touch with you. Also, having access to these sites allow you to screen the candidates for your team—perhaps the ones that have best people skills, who communicate well and are eager to work would make the cut?

These are just three of the best ways to recruit a team online; using the internet as a medium to enlarge your business and establish a network is easy and can be a lot of fun. Remember however, to be careful in maintaining the image that your product is speaking for. Spamming, over-tagging and ranting online are total turn-offs to your potential direct sales team. The key is striking a good balance between stating the facts and plugging in the myriad of interesting possibilities brought about by direct sales marketing.

Next, if you are looking for ways to recruit downline or find difficulties in convincing them to join your team, you might want to look at this.