Archive for September, 2008

How to Create a Profitable Ezine on the Cutting Edge

Sunday, September 21st, 2008
Fabian Tan asked:




Although ezines can and do cover a wide range of topics, they all have one thing in common, they are current and on the cutting edge. To create a profitable ezine you must know the pulse of your readership. They want to know what is “hot and happening” so they can be a part of it.

Create your own movement

To stay on top of the scene and market a profitable ezine get your readership involved. Try creating a “heard on the street” type feature that just gives a place and name. Let the readership tell others about it. These “stringers” have been a staple of the media for centuries and interesting enough work well. Consider the club with no sign out front or advertising campaign to speak of. The club is a huge success by word of mouth alone. The spread of the word of mouth is accomplished with stringers. They just don’t know they are stringers.

The “hip” need to know

There is a reason that all the starlets and stars know about the big events, its great promotion. To market a profitable ezine get it into the hands of those that can drive sales. If you can get the celebrity to the event with your ezine you may be able to name drop with their name later on. If you want to publish a profitable ezine, self promotion is a must. The shy need not apply when you are trying to get the word out about your project.

Anita
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Successful Marketing Requires Follow Up

Thursday, September 18th, 2008
Debbie LaChusa asked:




I’d like to share the story of a new yogurt shop that opened in our neighborhood, because I think it provides some great marketing lessons we can all learn from.

The Little Yogurt Shop That Could

This little yogurt shop opened recently in a retail space that has been home to several ice cream shops over the past few years. None of the ice cream shops were successful in that retail space for any length of time.

My guess is this is partly due to the location, but probably has more to do with their lack of marketing and establishing a strong brand.

The Little Yogurt Shop Passed The Branding Test

The little yogurt shop seems to have a leg up on the branding end. It’s called DIY Yogurt and you actually get to serve yourself the yogurt and add your own toppings.

This is a unique idea (a definite marketing advantage) and kids in particular seem to get a kick out of serving themselves and choosing and sprinkling the toppings on their yogurt by themselves.

So right there, the brand name (DIY or Do-It-Yourself) is consistent with the yogurt store’s uniqueness.

Good job marketing so far.

They’re Using Smart Marketing Techniques

The second thing they did right was to distribute 50% off coupons to all the homes in the immediate vicinity of the store. The coupons were valid on two specific dates and were used to announce the grand opening.

Smart marketing.

We were made aware of the shop and we were given an incentive to give it a try, which we did, along with many other people – the shop was packed with people when we visited. They also gave us a frequent buyer card that entitled us to a free yogurt after purchasing 10.

A good start on generating repeat business.

Now they’ve done three things right.

But guess what?

They Made One Potentially Fatal Mistake

That’s where it stopped. It’s been over a month since we went in for the 50% off trial and I haven’t seen or heard anything from DIY Yogurt since. And not surprisingly, we haven’t been back. And you know the saying … out of sight, out of mind.

Perhaps they’re doing other marketing that I just haven’t seen. But my guess is they probably are not.

They’re expecting ME to remember them.

And as any good marketer knows, you’ve got to follow up again and again and again and AGAIN. You can’t rely on your customers or prospects to remember you – you have to remind them you’re there.

I’ll be curious to see how long this little yogurt shop lasts. I hope they do well. It’s a unique idea that I think has a lot of merit. Plus their yogurt is pretty tasty!

You’ve Got to Follow-Up Follow-Up Follow-UP!

But without consistent marketing they may end up like all their predecessors in that space, and, like the majority of new businesses … closing up shop because they just weren’t able to make enough sales to keep the business going.

If you have a great product or service, and there is a market for what you’re selling, there’s no reason your business can’t be a success.

But if you don’t have a marketing plan with ongoing, consistent follow-up in place, the chances of you succeeding are slim.

You need to be out there reminding people over and over and over again that you’re there for them. So when they’re ready to buy, they remember you, and they bring you their business.

I encourage you to take a look at your marketing efforts. Do you have a marketing plan in place, with consistent marketing follow-up scheduled?

A marketing plan with multiple ways to keep reminding your prospects that you’re ready, willing and able to help them so they won’t forget about you like I forgot about the little yogurt shop?

If not, I encourage you to take time now to create that marketing plan and put it into action.

The success of your business depends on it.

Walter
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3 Simple Rules For Marketing Yourself

Thursday, September 18th, 2008
Debbie LaChusa asked:




So you’ve decided to hang out your shingle as a solo-professional. You’ve decided to leave behind the safety and security of a steady paycheck in exchange for the thrill and excitement of entrepreneurship. As you may have already figured out, opening up for business involves more than just being good at offering your services.

You also now bear the responsibilities of managing that business and all that entails, from accounting to marketing and everything in between. There is certainly a lot you need to know to be successful in business. But when it comes to marketing, there are some basics that can help you get started on the right foot.

Here are the 3 most important things you need to know when marketing yourself as a solo-professional.

1) Make sure you project a professional image

These days it’s so easy and cheap to open up your own business. While this is good because the barrier to entry is low, it also has its downside.

Too many people don’t project a professional image because they are using free email services, they don’t have a professional-looking logo, and they are cutting corners by printing their own business cards and brochures on their inkjet printer.

There are certainly many ways to market yourself for little to no money, but it is important to invest in the basics. Just because it’s just you working out of your home, doesn’t mean your business should look like a hobby. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to look like a serious business.

2) You must establish yourself as an expert

If you are a solo-professional offering services, one of the best ways to market yourself is to take steps to establish yourself as an expert. That means writing articles, getting yourself quoted in the media, doing speaking engagements, and using other marketing activities that shine the spotlight on you as an expert in your field.

This will help distinguish you from all the other solo-professionals in your field. When given the choice, who do you think people want to hire? A nobody, or someone who has established themselves as an expert in their field?

3) You must target target target!

One of the biggest marketing mistakes I see solo-professionals make is that they try to be everything to everyone. They haven’t clearly identified who their ideal clients are and they are spreading their marketing all over the place. Not only does this waste valuable time and money, it won’t get you the results you want.

You need to be very clear about WHO you are trying to reach, WHERE they can be found and WHAT you are going to say to them to convince them to buy. And, if you’re working on a shoestring budget, it becomes even MORE important.

Your Marketing Step

Take a look at how you are currently marketing yourself. Are you following these 3 simple rules?

Or…

Have you tried to cut corners and sadly your image reflects that?

Are you trying to market quietly instead of putting yourself out there boldly as an expert?

Does your marketing lack focus…are you just throwing it all over the place in the hope something will stick?

Take steps to put these 3 important rules into place for your business. And, it won’t be long before you start reaping the results.

Weston
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Generate Network Marketing Leads Using Ezine Marketing

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
Travis Liu asked:




An Ezine is an “Electronic Magazine” that is sent to people who subscribe to it. An Ezine is a newsletter that is focus on a specific topic and is sent to subscribers who have shown interest and subscribed to receive more information.

There are three methods of ezine marketing:

1. Ezine Advertisng

2. Ezine Article

3. Joint Venture with Publishers

Ezine Advertising

The strategy is to search for an ezine topic that is related to your market so you can advertise and target the reader of a particular ezine. There are four types of advertising using ezine, you can advertise with classified ads, sponsor ads, solo ads and banner ads.

Classified Ad

A classified ad is the cheapest form of ezine advertising and many ezines offer free ads for their subscribers. A classified ad is usually three to five lines just like the classified ad in newspaper. If you have a low budget then you can start advertising using classified ad and see how well your ad respond and move your way up according using sponsor ad or solo ad. Classified ad usually appears in the middle or at the end of an ezine.

Sponsor Ad

Sponsor ad usually appears at the top of the ezine and is seen by reader after opening an ezne. It is important to take the time to search for an ezine that offer high quality content, the chances are the respond would be higher if you advertise on ezine that offer high quality content and it cost more than classified ads.

Solo Ad

A solo ad is an email that is sent by the publisher to the entire subscriber on the mailing list with offer that is showing only your ad. Solo ads are published at a different schedule than regular ezine. Solo ad is basically a sale letter so it is critical that you write the sale letter that is compelling for readers to click on and take a desire action.

Banner Ad

You can also advertise using banner ad in ezine. Some ezine allows you to put banner ad on the top or in the middle of an ezine that is being published.

Lawrence
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Ezine Marketing For Sales – Let’s Squash All Doubt

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
Jeff Casmer asked:




The number of ezines out there is mind boggling, over 300,000 ezines some of them with 100,000 or more subscribers.

Yet, even with number of ezines out on the web and the number of people making purchase due to a product or service ad viewed in an ezine, some people are still questioning if ezine marketing really works. Others are declaring it dead.

Ezine marketing for sales is not dead. It’s well alive and to prove it take a look these facts that squash any doubt you may have about ezine marketing.

Let’s start with one of the biggest motivators to go into business-money.

Ezine marketing is highly profitable. The “stylish” way to do business right now is through joint ventures. But all that is a fancy name for email marketing. And since ezine arrive directly in your mail it’s really just ezine marketing.

JV’s is a partnership between a person who has a product they want promoted and someone who has a powerful opt-in list. According to Return Paths Consumer report, 49.1% of consumers claimed to have taken advantage of several email offers last year. And many of them stated that they find ezines to be an important part of their shopping habits.

In other words, marketers that are working hard to get in front of as many people as possible through joint ventures are making some serious money. People don’t do joint ventures to be “trendy”. They do it because they know ezine marketing can be very profitable. But people don’t buy for the sake of buying, nor are they willing to buy from just anyone. They buy from people from they trust.

Ezines are personal. The goal of online marketers is to establish a level of trust to help them get their products to prospects faster and easier. Everybody seems to have this idea that a website alone can do this. But real money makes know that while a website does its part, only email marketing gives you the ability to deliver personal messages that take business to customer relationships to another level.

Success online is the ability to connect with customers. And email marketing gives you the opportunity to connect with people on your schedule. Ezine marketing for sales also gives the reader the ability to get you message conveniently. Ezine are time savers. Blogs are a big hit. Forums can be a fun way to learn. But all these require the reader to do something. But did your ever consider how busy people are.

For example, studies show that work from home agents work twice as much as their office counterparts. Taking the time to log on to your website takes too long. Ezines however, go directly to the reader. They don’t have to do anything to receive the message. They also save a lot of time from searching for the information themselves. I’ve learned scads of things from the ezines I subscribe to that I never would have come across on my own.

People who subscribe do so because they want the information and they appreciate the fact that it comes straight to them without hassle. One of great things is the people who subscribe all belong to a particular niche group. They share an interest in that topic which makes ezine marketing so precise.
Ezine marketing is precise. Precision marketing is ezine marketing. No other marketing method lets you target a market group so accurately.

People don’t randomly subscribe. They want that particular information. If your product or service matches the ezine’s topic your offer will be readily accepted because chances are it meets a need that niche group has. But anyone who advertises knows that persuasion comes with repetition.
Ezines are persuasive. People need to see an ad multiple times before they’ll buy. Ezines, with their regular delivery schedule are a perfect way to make your case.

The profit potential for ezine marketing for sales is phenomenal. They help you deliver your message to the right people, on your time, in the most convenient manner on the internet. Ezine marketing for sales is in a word-powerful.

Diana
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