Marketing and Selling the Next Best Seller: Book Launches and Bookstores

The ultimate test as to whether your book turns out to be the next best seller is the number of books you can sell to the general public. Promoting and marketing your book can play a major role of increasing sales.

How Your Book is Promoted

Once your book is released your publisher will normally fund a brief advertising campaign to promote your book. If you are an established author or a high profile person, your publisher may organise a book launch for you, and you may be asked to attend a number of book signing sessions at major book stores. Your publisher may also arrange a number of media interviews, and send advance copies to influential individuals, organisations and media outlets in the hope that they will review and recommend your book. It will also appear in book catalogues published by the major booksellers. You will generally find the majority of your sales will occur during this brief and intensive promotion campaign. Your personal input is extremely vital to your book’s ultimate survival. This means you will need to be proactive in promoting yourself and your book to the general public. As Australia is a relatively small market sales are not likely to be substantial. This is why publishers initially print 3000 copies (unless you are a high profile person and sales are expected to be relatively high). Additional copies will be printed if sales are brisk.

The Hard Sell

If you are an unknown author it could prove a very difficult task to coax potential customers to buy your book at a book signing session. It is similar to trying to extract blood from a stone. It is possible that you could end up selling no copies at all. To add salt to a wounded pride, it can be very disheartening if you later find thousands of eager customers lining up to buy a book purportedly written by a famous sports star or media personality at their respective book signing sessions. Unfortunately, it can be a very cruel world if you are not a famous author!

Bookstores

The more bookstores that have your book available for sale the greater the chance it will sell. Ideally, you would like to see your book located in their book shelves at eye level with the front cover prominently displayed. If it is tucked away on the bottom self and on its side hidden among other books, it could easily be missed by a potential customer. Also important is the amount of time booksellers are prepared to keep your book on display. And this of course will ultimately depend on the number of sales within a given period of time or if you have properly applied the tips from the best web design company in you area.

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Marketing a Business: Creative strategy, tactics, and budget for a plansbook

Two vital parts make up a plansbook: research and strategy. While research is the most important, strategies require the most artistic talent. Often times the creative strategy is thought up by a copywriting/art directing team that decides the best visuals to use for the client's message to be communicated effectively. After most of the research is finished, a creative strategy, tactical strategy, budget and control and implementation will be tailored to the client's message.

Creative Strategy

A creative strategy is the manner in which the message will be conveyed to the consumer. A clear message should be determined; this is precisely what the firm intends to communicate to the consumer. The creative team will develop a theme so that the consumer recognizes the product without having to think about it. This is where the art department develops key colors, fonts and numerous other aspects of the marketing campaign.

Tactics

When a clear message and theme has been chosen, a tactical strategy will be decided upon. This is the medium that will convey the message to the consumer. Various methods can be used to communicate to the consumers, including television, print, packaging, product placement, and the places where the product will be sold. For television and print, a comprehensive flighting schedule will created to keep the advertising as efficient as possible, increasing and decreasing when necessary.

Budget

When the tactics are established, the budget will be divided to accommodate the various parts of the marketing campaign. Researchers will look into the costs of the advertising that will be placed and fit it into the client's budget, laying out the various costs in a table. The most money will be spent in places that are best known to be communication channels of the target market.

Control and Implementations

A control and implementation will be established. The marketing firm will choose someone in the client company to evaluate the marketing strategy when it is finished to determine if the objectives were met. This is usually done with an awareness survey, distributing it before the marketing, and allowing someone in the company to distribute the same survey when the campaign is over. The difference is then measured, and the effectiveness of the marketing strategy is determined with the help of some of the best web designers.

The Conclusion of a Plansbook

A great plansbook won't abruptly end. The conclusion of the book is an opportunity for the marketing firm to hammer home the selling points. It should include why the firm should use this marketing campaign and why this advertising is the best that the client will find. This article is an overview of what a plansbook should entail. Often times key marketing concepts are jumbled together rendering a plansbook’s message difficult to unravel for the client. The creative strategy is a process of its own, and it's suggested that a company use professional talent so that the company's intended message is conveyed with accuracy to the consumer. Tactics also play a big role in advertising. The key to choosing tactics is to research the target market effectively, and know the mediums they use to communicate. Just the same a budget takes a lot of research, looking into various rates and deciding how much money will be spent in each area of the campaign for the most efficient communication to the target market. And finally, the control and implementation is the raw proof that the campaign was a success. By using such surveys, advertising firms or a marketing department can provide strong evidence that awareness was increased.

Marketing a Business: Creative strategy, tactics, and budget for a plansbook is courtesy of MasterMindSEO

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Marketing Green Initiatives: Companies Often Miss the Eco Message

One of the factors that make marketing such an exciting field is that consumers are often unpredictable. Regardless of the amount of research and demographics or historical perspectives a marketing department can compile, the effectiveness of a marketing campaign is dependent on the reaction of the consumer. Today the marketing message may hit the target. Tomorrow the consumer changes their way of thinking and the same message has now been rendered useless. With the eco initiative proven to be the one of the hardest consumer markets to read, developing marketing messages has become a challenge.

Eco Light Bulb

Strategies for the Green Economy by Joel Makower, (McGraw Hill), has a chapter called “How Many Green Marketers Does It Take to Screw in a Light Bulb?” where he shares the marketing challenges of the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). According to Makower, transitioning to the fluorescent energy savers makes a big eco difference. Consumer lighting accounts for 22% of the electricity produced in the U.S. Yet, the light bulbs have not made it into 95% of U.S. homes. The CFLs have been available since 1978 when Phillips began producing and selling CFLs under the name, Earth Light. Consumers were not attracted. Makower relates the research from Philips showing that consumers really want value first and saving the Earth comes in second. So, Phillips changed the name of the CFL to Marathon Bulb. The marketing message was save money on lighting versus save the Earth by saving energy. Consumers liked the fact that they could buy the CFLs and not have to replace the bulb for weeks or months.

Eco Marketing Messages

Consumers responded to the name change. Sales for CFLs went from nothing to 12%. After using numerous marketing strategies and having major competitors such as General Electric enter the CFL market, there are still 95% of households that have ignored this one easy to implement, cost-saving eco practice.

The messages have included:

• Save the Earth
• Conserve Energy
• Longer lasting
• Save money on electricity
• Simple Switch
• Start a movement

According to Makower, Oprah Winfrey, Wal-Mart, Al Gore, and Leonardo DiCaprio have touted the benefits of the CFL but still consumers have not responded as well as expected.

Finding the Consumer

Marketing the green message has yet to find the consumer’s emotional side like so many messages that have come before such as:

• Personal computers in every household
• Cell phones carried by every household member for safety measures of course
• Google it or Google everything
• The need to carry thousands of songs in one’s pocket so that they can be listened to during those boring times when flying or sitting in the doctor’s office or studying for a test
• Blogging or micro-blogging to share thoughts and tell everyone what is happening every minute of every day.

Eco is Important

Makower suggests that the green messages have to have “CRED” - Credibility, Relevance, Effective Message, and Differentiation. To find CRED, a company can ask three questions also developed by Makeower:

1. What does the company know about its green efforts?
2. What is the company doing for the green movement?
3. What are marketers and PR saying about the company’s green efforts?

It is a challenge for marketers to find the green message that will resonate with the consumer. The eco message is vital. Most consumers seem ready to listen. Marketers and best web designers in Traverse City are working to meet the challenge and someday it will all come together – hopefully sooner than later.

Marketing Green Initiatives: Companies Often Miss the Eco Message was originally published on http://mastermindseo.org/

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Marketing Planning Made Simple: Focus Marketing Efforts for Measurable Results

Marketing is the set of strategies and tactics by which potential customers know about a business, and know enough about it to consider purchasing the product or service. A marketing plan is one critical component of any strong business plan. Planning marketing activities does not have to be complicated. One page can create focus and efficiency, and enough data to make better decisions next year. This process presumes clarity about the business and the target customer.

Getting Started

The one page format requires a three row by three column grid. The three columns are Strategies, Tactics and Measures. The three rows are Objective 1, Objective 2 and Objective 3. Put the BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) for the year at the top of the page, and make it a measurable goal. Remember, measurable doesn't necessarily mean numbers- getting on the front page of Fast Company is just as measurable as achieving a huge sales goal.

The Power of Focus

The one page marketing plan format allows for only three major objectives or areas of effort and focus. It's critical, particularly with limited resources and in times of economic uncertainty, to focus investments of time and money where they have some chance of generating a return rather than spreading a little money across a wide range of activities. The one page plan requires that the list of wishes is culled such that there is focus on the big ones. The titles of the rows are the top three objectives that will be pursued to achieve the big goal. If the BHAG is a big sales goal, the objectives might be "steal market share from Competitor A, expand sales in new customer group and build awareness amongst influential media."

Strategies

Strategies are the general descriptions of the approach that will be taken to achieve an objective. Let's say the objective is to cross a river, for example. Three possible strategies for crossing it might be 1) build a bridge, 2) swim, or 3) row a boat across. These are very general descriptions that allow visualization of achieving the desired outcome. So in the previous example for the big sales goal, a strategy for getting known amongst influential media might be to discover and create a presence for the business on the research sites and blogs that they use for reference.

Effective Tactics

Tactics are the very specific actions that will be taken to achieve the objectives or by employing the tips from the best web design company. Following the sales example, for the strategy of getting known amonsgst influential media, the tactics might specifiy the names of the appropriate blogs and the method that will be used to reach them (write an article, send a product sample).

Measure the Results

At the end of the year, and ideally at a couple of check points throughout the year, the results must be examined. Did the expected number of calls come in? Was there any media coverage, and if so how much and where? Be rigorous in the analysis, and be sure to reflect what the results are telling saying both about the activities, but also about the goals that were set. That weekly column written in the community newspaper may not have generated a hundred sales leads, but it did get the keynote address at the local board of trade which resulted in a big contract.

Plan for Next Year

Before making any commitments to marketing activities next year, take a look at what worked and what didn't this year. What lived up to expectations and what didn't? What exceeded the anticipated results? Be sure that reinvestment occurs in tried and true tactics before throwing good money after bad.

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Marketing Tips for Self Employed Professionals: Working from Home Means Working to Create a Sellable Image

Every self employed professional, no matter how successful, can benefit from learning a few marketing tips. While good, solid self employment marketing may not guarantee instant success, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Working from home requires real work- and that means creating a sellable image to clients, employers…even the public at large.

Self Employed Marketing Tips

The self employed professional is a bit of a maverick, a lone wolf in the professional world. The self employed professional scours the ‘Net to find their own jobs, toils alone to complete work at home projects and relies upon themselves only in all matters of insurance and personal retirement. And the self employed professional, at all times, should be trying to sell themselves. With a few marketing tips, anyone can learn how to present their best professional side. Putting self employment on a resume. Many self employed (or would-be self employed) professionals struggle with the seemingly simple act of crafting a resume. Learn how to write a self employment resume that showcases skills, talent and any related work experience. Keep the resume simple but informative, professional but approachable and always, always present everything in the best possible light. Creating an online portfolio. Creating a personal, professional Web site which features a portfolio of online links is a strong self-selling tool. Having a reference point for all potential clients and employers is essential in self employed marketing, but the personal Web site is only the tip of the iceberg in online marketing.

Tips for Online Marketing

The Internet and e commerce web designers offer their own online marketplace which can be extremely useful for self employed professionals. Online marketing encompasses many different opportunities in self employment, from ads to social networking. Establishing an online presence is very important in self employment of any kind, so don’t neglect all the free marketing possibilities offered through the Internet. Create a blog. Finding success with self employment? Why not blog about it? This not only creates a potential revenue strain (many advertising agreements offer money for those who are willing to sell space on their content-rich Web pages), it’s also a great marketing tool. Social networking. Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and other social networking sites are wonderful marketing opportunities for self employed professionals. Link all those online profiles and personal Web sites together and start spreading the word. If nothing else, this can help drive traffic to Web pages that might actually help the self employed professional earn a little extra money. Write a Google profile page. Google offers free profiles which allow individuals to post all their links - Web pages, blogs, social networking profiles - in one convenient, attractive profile page. This helps online searches find who they’re looking for with more ease. In self employed marketing, this online profile provides another reference point for would-be clients and employers, and it’s yet another way to establish a strong presence online.

Marketing Tips for Self Employed Professionals: Working from Home Means Working to Create a Sellable Image is courtesy of mastermindseo.org

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Marketing Tips For Writers: Targeted Writing – Four Steps to Help Writers Sell Their Work

The writer should be clear on what age group he is writing for. Is his topic more suitable for the children’s market than the adult market or is it something that has wide appeal? What reading level is he shooting for? Is he interested in writing fiction or non fiction, poetry or memoirs?

Target the Subject

Once the writer has identified his audience, some research on his topic is in order. Whether he is writing an article about saving New England’s stone walls or a novel set in 20th century Denmark, subject research is essential. Refining the idea with research strengthens the work and makes it more attractive to an editor. Research resources abound and include, internet and print searches and networking with other writers and experts on the chosen topic.

Target the Competition

The writer has chosen a topic he feels is marketable based on tips from e commerce web developers and now it is time to take a look at the competition. What is he up against? What books and articles are in print that are similar to his idea? When were they published? What is the slant? And, perhaps the most important question the writer should ask himself, how can I make my work stand out from the crowd? A quick internet search will give him an idea what other articles, books, essays or poems are out there that are on or similar to his chosen topic. University libraries online, the Library of Congress as well as Amazon can help the writer narrow down his options. Conversations with librarians, teachers, and experts in the field the writer is interested in can also be helpful in choosing a marketable topic.

Target the Publisher

The writer has done all the leg work. He’s settled on a subject, he knows who his audience is and what the competition is. The next step is finding the right publisher, one who is waiting for just the right manuscript. If the writer takes the time to research the market, that perfect manuscript may be his. There are market guides for almost any type of writing, market guides for children’s literature, market guides for adult fiction and non fiction, magazine market guides, poetry market guides and market guides for religious based work. They can be found in print and on the web. Once the writer has found the right market guide for him, he uses it to narrow his search. He checks the category index, usually found in the back of the market guide and finds the one that most closely matches his work. From there, he narrows it down to possible publishers. He reads the publishers’ guidelines to see who is looking for the type of work he is hoping to sell. The next thing the writer may want to do is peruse samples of the publication’s work; books they published or in the case of the magazine market, articles, short stories and poems that have appeared in recent issues.

Submit the Manuscript

The writer has done his homework. He has targeted his audience, his subject, and his competition. He has researched the market and studied the publishers he has targeted. Now it is time to submit his work, confident in the knowledge that he has done all he could do to reach his ultimate goal of publication.

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How to get Free Website Content: Where Articles can be found Online for Publishing

Building a website can be difficult for many business owners and hobbyists. Website maintenance usually requires frequent updates to content published for online visitors. Expenses for building a website can cost $300 or more for a variety of online services including content ownership. Learn how to get free website content that can be published without any long term financial obligations.

Host a Contest for the Best Articles

Public competitions are one effective way to get free website content. These contests attract online content that bloggers and website owners can use to promote their business. Advertising is the first step in promoting a contest where website owners can get free content. Grand prizes must be given for the best article submissions to a website. The submissions can be sent through email or a web form, as preferences among website owners vary. A contest can also be advertised on freelance writing message boards and job websites. Prizes are also a good way to get regular visitors interested in providing free website content.

Search through Article Directories

There are several websites that operate as article directories where nearly anyone can visit to get free website content. Bloggers and website owners can use these directories as filler when building an online business. There is a catch where publishers using this content must keep the byline that states who wrote these articles. Content provided through online directories usually come with a non-exclusive license. A number of non-affiliated websites could all be publishing the same article based on this license. This causes websites that publish content from article directories to loose their page rank. The decline in page rank is the result of duplicate content penalties placed by search engines. A potential page rank consequence is one reason why website owners are safer when publishing original content. Article directories still remain popular as the main source on how to get free website content.

Use Website Content with Creative Commons Licenses

Outsourcing articles, video and images to freelance writers or producers is another way to get free website content. Bloggers or website owners can search online for specialized authors who have large inventories of content. The authors usually consist of freelance writers who may own content that was published in print but not online. These items usually contain some form of Creative-Commons license, giving permission to be reused. Website owners do not have to worry about page rank penalties with this type of free online content. The licenses vary and may allow website owners to modify any text for their own needs. Doing so can remove the duplicate content issue in some circumstances. The publisher benefits from using private freelance contacts to get free website content.

Build on Information Provided in Press Releases

There is an abundance of opportunities for website owners to get free content using publicity materials. Best web designers in Traverse City and other marketing firms release photos, video and text for their clients with the goal of promoting consumer based products or services. Text is usually the easiest form of free website content to obtain through press releases. Publicists and entrepreneurs send out press releases to encourage more news stories about specific events. Website owners can write their own version of the events, using press releases as a resource. Many press releases can be republished as well, providing automatic opportunities to get free website content.

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Article Writing and Marketing – How To Get Started

You know you need articles to promote your online business across the Internet-whether doing it on your own or with some help from a web design agency, and to establish yourself as an authority in your niche. But suppose you have never written an article before and don't know how to start? You could hire a ghostwriter. But ghostwriters charge for their services. Given that you need to produce a large number of articles to have any effect, this would really eat into your profits. So why not learn to do it yourself? It is really not as hard as you think.

Get Started Writing Articles

There are few things worse than sitting staring at a blank sheet of paper. So don't do that. Just start. First, jot down as many topics as you can think that people want to know about in relation to your niche. For instance, if it is about growing roses, it could be planting, mulching, what varieties of rose to choose, pruning, protecting from pests, and so on. But don't give people what you think they ought to know; give them what you know they want to know. Go to forums on your topic and sites like Yahoo Answers to find out what questions people have. Make a list of topics, choose one, and start writing. Yes, just start. At this stage it doesn't matter what you write -- just write anything that comes into your head, even if it seems like rubbish. Just write. If you need more information, go to books on your topic, and articles on relevant websites. Never copy what anyone else has written, but it will get your ideas flowing. Just keep writing. Do it on paper or on the computer, whichever makes you feel more comfortable. When you have scribbled down as much as you can think of, have a break - take the dog for a walk, or water the roses. That really gets your subconscious working. Then you can start to write up the article.

Get It Down

You won't need telling that an article must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you would be strongly advised not to start with the beginning. The beginning needs to be an attention grabber and you will just sit chewing your pen or gazing into space. Start with the body of the article. Imagine you are writing a letter to a friend who has written to ask you why her roses won't grow properly (or whatever the problem might be). She is a newbie rose-grower so you need to be simple and clear. But she is also a friend so you want to be chatty, friendly, and personal. If you can imagine a particular person you know, so much the better. Write to that person. Keep that person - that is, your reader - in mind all the time. Keep using "you". If you have a list of tips, don't be afraid to make them into a bullet list. Of course, you probably wouldn't do this in a real letter to a friend, but it's an unbeatable way to get your points across clearly. Plus, directory and eZine editors love them. Your mythical (or possibly real) friend will almost certainly be very upset and frustrated at his/her lack of success at rose-growing, or whatever it is. Remember that people will be reading your article because they have the same problem, and they are likely to be upset and frustrated too. So show that you understand. Write as someone who has been there, though do avoid using the pronoun "I" as much as possible. It won't take you long to write a page along these lines. When you've written a page, do a word count. You will almost certainly find you have 400-500 words which is quite enough. Now you can write your opener. It will be much easier to write an opening sentence once you have written the body of the article. But always bear in mind that it needs to be an attention grabber. By all means start off with a question. But don't make it a boring one like "Have you ever wondered why so many people find rose-growing difficult?" Would this grab your attention? Your readers are not interested in other people's problems; they are interested in their own! So make sure you come up with an opener that gives your reader that "Wow! This is about me!" feeling. If you can generate a rush of excitement, so much the better. "At last! The answer I've been looking for!" Get straight to the point - never, whatever you do, indulge in opening waffle. The ending is as important as the beginning, because it determines the impression the article makes. You can write the greatest article, but if it fizzles out at the end, your reader will be dissatisfied and your effort will be wasted. Find a sentence that will pithily sum up what you have said, and reinforce that it will work. (Do not on any account use any phrase like "in summary" or "in conclusion".) Something like "Follow these steps and your roses will be the best on the block - guaranteed!" will do.

Get A Title

You are usually best leaving the title till last. There is no need to think you have to be terribly clever – and never use puns. Just make sure your title makes it clear what problem your article solves or what benefits it contains. And don’t forget numbers are always very popular in titles. If you have bullet points or a numbered list, put the number of points in your title: “Seven Tips to Supercharge Your Roses”.

Get It Out

You have wasted all this effort if nobody can see your article. Put it on your site and submit to as many directories and eZines as you can. And then start again – the more the better!

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Create a Sellable Product: Self Employment Without Strings?

Want to create a sellable product? Inventing a hot-selling item can be a very quick route to success, but it’s not a highly-likely one for most to achieve. It certainly seems like a bit of a drag to work at home, still doing someone else’s projects and meeting someone else’s deadlines. Is invention the only way to achieve self employment without strings?

Self Employed…for Someone Else?

After days, weeks, perhaps months of hard work, it’s all finally started to pay off. The work at home job opportunities are pouring in and so is the money…but somehow, it doesn’t quite match the dream of self employment, does it? After all, there are still people to answer to, deadlines to meet and set goals to be achieved - goals set by someone else, of course. It’s hard for self employed professionals to be told what to do, and at times it can make the joy of being self employed leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Why not simply create a sellable product, market it and achieve self employed success the “easy” way?

Can’t Anyone Create a Sellable Product?

The Internet makes a lot of things easy these days especially when you have e commerce web designers, and almost anyone can strike out to become a self-made entrepreneur using this fabulous tool. Create a product to sell, create a Web site to market it from and watch the money come tumbling in…right? The trouble is, none of this is at all as easy as it sounds when glibly stated. Creating a product takes time, testing and lots of trial-and-error. Even when the product is created, there is absolutely no guarantee it will sell. Depending on what the product is, there may be patents, licensing fees and government testing standards involved all well - things which cost a great deal more money and effort. But selling online to achieve self employment certainly isn’t impossible, either.

Self Employment Without Strings

In a way, every single self employed professional out there is selling something. Whether self-marketing products and services, or shopping around online to find work at home job opportunities and gigs, the self employed story is somewhat similar for all. Even when mass-marketing a service or product to the world, there are people to please - customers and clients who expect a certain level of quality. Whether the job is writing on demand (with topics, even certain keywords being dreamed up not by the writer, but the buyer) or simply selling the Web, it’s necessary to work toward pleasing someone else. In self employment, there is little self-serving and self-pleasing, because it’s necessary to receive money from others to keep the career going. However, it is possible to carefully choose products and services to offer, to be discerning in opportunities, jobs and gigs accepted and to maintain a certain standard in work. That, in a way, is self employment without strings.

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Business Success with Web 2.0: How to Use Social Networking in Your Business Marketing Plan

Take advantage of the new interactive social networking developments to significantly grow your business. Learn how they work and which ones are appropriate for your business. Understanding how your target market uses these new tools will help you to use them to effectively impact your business' bottom line. Web 2.0 has taken the Internet and changed it from a one way conversation with website visitors to real interactions. The evolution has changed the way software developers look at opportunities to create new programming. Some of the biggest most important developments include social networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies. All of them can be used for creating new ways and possibilities for marketing your business.

Using Social Networking in Your Business Marketing Plan

Sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, Ning, Perfect Networker and Fast Pitch are all opportunities to network and interact with your target market. Developing relationships is more important than ever in today’s marketplace. These sites give you the opportunity to interact with folks allowing them to get to know you and develop that level of trust that is so important in their buying decisions.

Using Video Sharing to Market Your Business

These sites have become very popular and can be a great addition to any blog. Talk about allowing folks to get to know you and create your reputation as the expert in your target market! Posting video on sites like YouTube, Google Video, and BrightCove gives you an opportunity to make an emotional connection with your target market.

Using Wikis to Share Knowledge about Your Business

Wikis are web pages that allow anyone or a specific group of people to add to the content, comment and edit. They are great for sharing knowledge and a sense of community. Want your clients to feel connected with you and your company? Create a wiki where they can interact with you. Sites such as Wetpaint, Squidoo and Hubpages offer these options and they are free.

Using Blogs to Reach Your Market

Blogs are very different than the traditional web page which is very stagnant. Blogs are constantly being updated and allowing you to share more of yourself and who you are. Readers can comment on your posts and you can begin that all important relationship development. Even the micro blog called Twitter allows you do interact and develop relationships.

Using Folksonomies to Draw Attention to Your Site

Heard of Folksonomies? You have you just didn’t know it. Think of sites like Digg, Stumble Upon and Delicious. They are all sites that allow you to tag items on the web that you find of interest. The more an item is tagged the more attention it gets. You can tag your own items and ask your sphere of influence tag them as well to give them a higher relevance. Business owners can incorporate all of these items into their marketing plan. First, with some help from a web designer in traverse city you can do some research to determine if your target market can be reached with these tools. If not, be careful to not get sucked into the latest fad for the sake of the fad. But by all means, if your ideal client can be touched by using Web 2.0 tools, get busy.

Business Success with Web 2.0: How to Use Social Networking in Your Business Marketing Plan is republished from http://mastermindseo.org/

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How To Optimize Pages For Conversion:PPC And How Traverse City Web Design Plays A Role In Increasing Conversion

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How to Optimize Content for AdSense: Optimizing for SEO and CPC Revenue using AdWords, AdSense and Google This article is about optimizing content to attract visitors and earn revenue from them. It is geared towards AdSense, as the title implies, but the same techniques can be applied to any affiliate scheme:

• ClickBank
• Amazon
• CafePress

The key is in identifying an easy to target niche, being able to specify exactly what kind of traffic visits that niche, and identifying the keywords used by visitors ready to buy. The money that can be made from niches ranges from paltry to extreme; comparative success in small niches may only lead to moderate revenues, but this article is aimed at making sure that the content provider maximizes the potential of any niche. If you do not have a the technical skills to do this yourself, consider hiring a web design company to help you. Once your site is looking sharp, it is time to start promoting it online.

Google Optimization for Traffic

Optimizing for traffic means that the reader needs to examine the link between keyword phrases that are easy to target (niche), and relevant to their proposed article. So, before writing it, it is a good idea to jot down five or six words that encapsulate the subject matter. Go to the Google AdWords Keyword Tool;

• Enter the keywords, one per line;
• Enter the CAPTCHA text;
• Click the button.
• In the results, the researcher should then sort by Searches – this will yield a list that is ordered according to how many Google searches were performed for the keyword phrase.

AdSense Optimization for Revenue

There is also a column that the reader can activate from the drop down box, called CPC. This is the anticipated cost per click that the AdWords advertiser would have to pay and is a relative measure of the income that an AdSense publisher could earn from each click. It is not an absolute value, it is a guideline. If the list from above is sorted by CPC, then a slightly different take on the results is apparent. Some move to the top, others move right down, depending on competition, anticipated intrinsic value, etc. The advertisers have far more resources dedicated to keyword research, and a much better understanding of the market, than 99.99% of content providers, so riding on their coat-tails is an absolute must.

The Google AdSense SEO Paradigm for Maximum Income

Now that the reader understands the principles driving AdSense, it is time to pull the techniques together and look at how to optimize the SEO paradigm to maximize income. In essence, the publisher wants to both garner as many visitors as possible, whilst making the most of each potential visitor. This means picking keywords that:

• attract traffic
• attract advertisers
• can place highly in search engine results
• This last piece is vital – if nobody sees the entry in the search engine results pages (the SERPs rating), then they won't be able to click. They won't know that the page even exists.

Therefore, the publisher should be realistic in their choice of keywords, and measure the anticipated effectiveness by using the phrase length (number of words) as an indicator. Building this measure in will cause lower ranked phrases to outrank phrases with more anticipated competition, and be more readily selected by the publisher. This assumes, of course, that longer tail keyword phases have less search engine competition. To validate this for their niche, the reader will, naturally, need to experiment and test. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label="Row" make_fullwidth="off" use_custom_width="off" width_unit="on" use_custom_gutter="off" allow_player_pause="off" parallax="off" parallax_method="on" make_equal="off" parallax_1="off" parallax_method_1="off" parallax_2="off" parallax_method_2="off"][et_pb_column type="1_2"][et_pb_button admin_label="Button" button_url="tel:8559830303" url_new_window="on" button_text="Call Now" button_alignment="left" background_layout="light" custom_button="on" button_text_color="#ffffff" button_bg_color="#21c674" button_letter_spacing="0" button_use_icon="on" button_icon="%%104%%" button_icon_placement="left" button_on_hover="off" button_letter_spacing_hover="0" /][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2"][et_pb_button admin_label="Button" button_url="https://mastermindseo.org/client-application/" url_new_window="on" button_text="Request More Info" button_alignment="left" background_layout="light" custom_button="on" button_text_color="#ffffff" button_bg_color="#0ea2f2" button_letter_spacing="0" button_use_icon="default" button_icon="%%71%%" button_icon_placement="left" button_on_hover="off" button_letter_spacing_hover="0" /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

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Become More Social: Networking Is The Place To Be Seen

The phenomena of social networking sites is now old news but they are still growing stronger and stronger every day with more and more people discovering the benefits of getting more social online. This means there is a great marketing opportunity for your eBusiness. With millions of online user’s already on social networking and with new members joining up every minute if you have a web based business advertising or setting up a business profile on these websites could be great for your business. Do social networks damage your business? A lot of business owners (certainly those of a certain age) only hear bad things about social networking sites from the media such as relationship breakups, online bullying and staff wasting time on them. Because of this if even mention them in board room meetings people instantly think you must be one of those people that waste so much time on these websites. There have indeed been cases such as these highlighted by the media but if you miss out on the opportunity that social networking sites offer your competition will not. Consider the fact that Microsoft paid millions for just 1% of Facebook and that Google bought the social video site YouTube for $1.65billion and you can see that the two internet giants certainly think that social sites are important for their business. If you build a social profile for your business and encourage your staff and customers to use it to make comments about the business you can use the social networks to your advantage and build a community around your business. Whether you like it or not the fact that staff can use Facebook on their mobiles means that even if you cut their internet access to these sites they will still have access via their phones. Better to offer them limited time windows to check for updates and in return for them being encouraged to use the company profile pages meaning that even the time spent wasting time is actually benefiting the business. Why should you have a company social profile? Apart from the benefits already discussed having a social profile can help with your Search Engine Marketing campaigns. Because social networks are updated daily, hourly and so on the content is always updating and therefore can only have a positive effect on your SEO work. Google has brought YouTube into the search results. Have you noticed that the more and more you search these days on Google that amongst the results you get YouTube videos? This is no accident. Seeing the benefit of YouTube Google bought the site realising the social service it was and now includes it in the search results returned. This is a great SEO opportunity for companies to create videos about their business as mini adverts. Low budget and easy to do this could be a great chance to increase your company’s online profile. As social networks are updated so often with people updating their profiles regularly and sending messages to each other instantly they are much faster than any other medium for getting a message or news out there. SEO campaigns can take months for the message to get across whereas social networks get the message out instantly. They can aid with your SEO campaigns and give an instant news update about promotions and more. Advertising on social networks There is another great reason to look at social networks and that’s the advertising potential. With and estimate 1 in every 5 people on the globe having some sort of access to social networks let alone profiles there is an obvious marketing and advertising potential here. Add to the fact that so many people spend so much time on these sites means that their exposure to your advertising and brand is increased. The benefits of advertising on a social network though do not end there. On top of this massive market there is the added advantage of marketing to the subconscious. People associate social networking with their friends and family and therefore have a positive place in their minds. As adverts on these sites tend to be in the left or right peripheral vision areas where the mind subconsciously takes in the information then you’re branding will be being display to them when they are in a positive frame of mind providing a positive relationship between your brand and them on a subconscious level. If your advert has eye catching animation you will gain their conscious attention and possibly direct them to your website. There is no another benefit that social networks offer you in the advertising arena; profiled advertising. Profiled advertising is targeted advertising directed to people who fit your target audience. When people join social networks they give details about themselves; their name, age, where they live, job title, interests, income, likes and dislikes and more. Social networks use this information to make sure the adverts the user sees fits the profile of the person it is marketing to. So if you want to market direct to your target audience, provided they use social networking this is a great medium. A lot of the social networks now also offer pay per click advertising meaning that you will only pay for the adverts that generate clicks for your website. All in all social networks are a must for any online serious business.

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Basic Marketing Strategies that Work: General Approaches to Freelance Marketing

When a freelance marketer intends to approach small to medium enterprises as clients, keep in mind that not every owner from this segment will immediately concur to all marketing strategies as planned, particularly those strategies that are too expensive. Understand that there are some business owners running on a shoestring budget, and could request far more affordable marketing strategies to start with. This is perfectly all right; a great freelance marketer should know how to adjust to the capacity of any marketing client. So to help a new freelance marketer, below are basic marketing strategies and general approaches that might come in handy: The Power of Blog Marketing Thanks to the age of blogging, nothing is anymore impossible when it comes to getting products and services visible to a wider market – locally and internationally. There are in fact two blog marketing strategies: get a free business blog or website to kick things off; advertise on other blogs through banners and reviews. Work on a good deal with powerful bloggers to run the campaigns in their blogs. It can be through banners, links, or paid reviews that are very rampant nowadays. Nothing beats a good word to campaign an excellent brand. Don’t Underestimate Telemarketing Selling through telemarketing is absolutely a difficult approach to possible customers. What with the cold calls that have become so commonplace and annoying for homeowners, offices, and other establishments. Not to discount that telemarketing is time consuming. Nonetheless, if a freelance marketer has the effective telemarketing strategies to move toward a successful promotion on the phone, it becomes a powerful marketing strategy and rather cheap, too, that is if the business has its telemarketer than making way for call center agents to do it. Take it this way - a good talk is worth a good sale. Word-of-Mouth Marketing for Brand Awareness This strategy is simply about keeping the target market in the loop. It may not be the best marketing strategy for some, but it still works for the purpose of brand awareness. Word-of-mouth marketing strategy can be implemented in different ways though. For one, a freelance marketer can give out invites for a free product test or service trial to very few regular or loyal customers. The payback from such invite is, of course, to spread the word about the experience and promote that particular product or service, if possible, bring new customer referrals. Now, if the business owner is willing to spend more in that case, a freelance marketer can also hire few agents to campaign it to the right market, be it during functions, events, or simple, daily discussions with target customers. Be careful, however, when choosing whom to give the freebies, or agents to hire for the job. Make it sure these cream-of-the-crop agents have influences within a particular demographic, and can truly help in intensifying campaigns of the business, or else it's just a waste of energy and money. And so word of mouth becomes just that - word of mouth. A taut marketing budget should not hinder an efficient freelance marketer to campaign and provide brand awareness. Besides, there are other effective and similarly affordable marketing strategies to pursue and work with. Though using only the aforementioned strategies may albeit cramp the opportunities to capture a larger market for a time being, bear in mind that this is only the beginning of a bigger, better picture between the satisfied marketing client and a freelance marketer, after showing a good head start.

Basic Marketing Strategies that Work: General Approaches to Freelance Marketing is available on http://mastermindseo.org/

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How to Choose the Most Cost Effective Advertising Medium for Your Business

It’s tempting for a small business on a tight budget to play safe and rely on a simple Yellow Page listing and the occasional local press ad. At the other extreme, it’s all too easy to splash out on expensive but unproductive advertising. Choosing the most appropriate advertising media is essential to achieve cost effective advertising. Targeting the Customer Choosing the right media demands a clear picture of your customer base. A simple DIY market survey will tell:

• Who are your target customers?
• Where do they live?
• What media do they read, listen to or watch?
• What are they looking for?

Choosing your Advertising Media To attract “pro-active customers” - those who are actively looking for what you have to offer - a permanent Yellow Page or local newspaper listing or internet web page saying who and where you are, what you offer and contact details is normally enough. Only if you have many competitors should it be necessary to spend on more prominent advertising. Attracting passive customers- those who need to be persuaded - or to advertise a special event or product, higher profile advertising is necessary; choosing the most cost effective advertising medium is critical. The main options,in broadly ascending order of cost, include; Newspapers and Magazines Advertising The local press is normally the first advertising priority for a small business except for one with a national catchment area, like for example a hotel or mail order business. The cost will relate directly to the size of your ad and the circulation of the publication. Advertising beyond your catchment area, except as part of a planned expansion, is money wasted. A specialist publication whose reader profile matches your target customer, may well prove cost-effective even though its circulation is smaller than one with a broader reader profile. It’s normally better to concentrate spending in one or two publications, and not spread your advertising too thinly. Advertising on Roadside Signs and Billboards In some countries and areas authorities are pretty hostile to wayside advertising except on your own land and even there impose strict rules. Commercial billboards can be very expensive, especially on high profile sites. Nevertheless, they can be extremely cost effective, especially on arterial routes through rural areas and for “venue” businesses, like hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions and retailers. Leaflet and Flyers An invaluable way into hotels, tourist information centers and other visitor attractions if tourists are part of your target market. They’re also an easy way to waste advertising money unless well-designed and carefully distributed. The design must be really eye-catching if it’s to be noticed among all the other leaflets. Your key message - who you are and what you offer - must stand out boldly when displayed in a rack. Advertising through an Internet Website Can any business now afford not to have one? Over 60% of UK households now have access to the Internet and around 80% of Internet users shop or look for goods and services on the net - and these figures increase every year. Unless you’re into mail order, a simple, informative, one-page site giving contact details, is enough to start with. This is quite easy to set up yourself, or a computer-literate friend can do so, and the cost is quite small. Local Radio Advertising Expensive, particularly as a one-off ad is no use and you’ll need to run at least 15 or 20. Nevertheless, for a major sale, launch or event the potential return may justify the expense. Professional production and a simple memorable message are vital. Television Advertising Even more expensive, and with the same caveats. Nevertheless it has huge impact if you have an exciting visual image to offer.

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1-Minute Mastery: How to Build a Dynamic Sales Culture

A dynamic sales culture exists when every employee puts every customer and prospect ahead of personal concerns, comforts and considerations. Survey Employees The best place to start building a dynamic sales culture is for the sales manager to ask everyone – from the CEO to the janitorial staff, from receptionists to parts counter people, from the controller to the security guard – for their opinions on how a dynamic sales culture should look. An employee survey helps a sales manager move the company forward because it not only reveals the baseline from which people need to be educated and motivated, it also begins building consensus on how important a dynamic sales culture can be to the overall success of the company. Survey Customers and Prospects A customer/prospect survey provides insights from the best possible sources about how to build a viable dynamic sales culture. At the same time, customer/prospect surveys can and often do generate unexpected new sales and profits. To elicit the most information in the least amount of time, questions should be limited to the following four: “What do you know about our company and what do you think about what you know?” “Which of our products and services are important to you and which are not?” “What do you think of our advertising and promotional campaigns?” “What would it take for you to do business with us?” Customer/prospect surveys can be conducted in any of the following formats or combinations thereof:

• Face-to-face Interviews – allow for a dialogue to promote in-depth answers, give questioners the chance to integrate product literature into the survey when appropriate, watch for body-language signals and double-check answers for accuracy.
• FAX or Direct Mail Interviews – are costly, time consuming and don’t generate more than a five to ten percent response rate.
• Online Interviews – are inexpensive but often result in poor response rates unless surveying companies offer incentives.
• Telephone Interviews – are cheaper than face-to-face interviews but don’t give interviewers the ability to develop in-depth answers or to monitor and assess body-language signals.

Discuss Survey Results with Employees A dynamic sales culture requires strong support mechanisms to manage the flow of employee actions and reactions from the moment of customer/prospect contact to the point of disengagement. In order to create and sustain a dynamic sales culture, employees must understand, acknowledge and resolve to answer concerns expressed by current customers, former customers and prospects in their answers to survey questions. Get and Keep the Dynamic Sales Culture ‘Buy-in’ As management and employees discuss why, how and when to design and implement a dynamic sales culture, management has to understand that it can’t necessarily count on every ‘nodder’ and ‘smiler’ in the room to step out of a comfort zones to put the needs of difficult customers and prospects ahead of their own. Weekly department meetings, monthly company meetings and quarterly follow-up customer/prospect surveys can build in accountability to help monitor and course-correct a dynamic sales culture. Epilogue A dynamic sales culture cannot and will not be built quickly. People change slowly and slow change is typically the best change because it tends to be more lasting. Even after a dynamic sales culture is up and running, it will require constant attention from everyone – from the top to the bottom of the organizational chart – to enable the company to consistently increase revenues and profits.

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The Best Places to Submit Articles as a Marketing Strategy

Top Christian Article Directories The number one idea behind article marketing is to drive traffic to your website, and ultimately make a sale on your product or service. There are literally hundreds of places you can submit your article to for this valuable exposure. But, if you are particularly interested in reaching a Christian audience, then there is good news for you. There are a handful of article directories that can help you with your marketing strategy. Faith Writers Article Directory Faith Writers is a privately owned article directory that has different levels of article marketing choices. First, there is a free membership option that will allow you to post your articles in a section where individuals, churches, and businesses can reprint your submissions at no cost. But, whoever uses your article must keep your resource box intact, so you are gaining exposure on the web every time someone uses your article. Plus, you can list your articles for others to buy in a different article directory section of the website. If someone purchases your article, then you will not gain exposure through a resource box. They buy the article outright as their own. Then, there is a Faith Writers 500 Club that costs $10.00 per month and gives you extra exposure and extra tools to help you build your web presence. The extra exposure comes from home page placement of your article and short biography. The extra tools include:

• Private message board
• Article placement in the Faith Writers online magazine
• Free Faith Writers e-mail account
• Opportunity to sell your eBook in the Faith Writers store
• Free advertising for your business

Faith Writers will only accept Christian-related articles. Articles are published instantly, but the editorial staff has the right to review any article and ban it, if it does not fall within their guidelines. You can avoid this by reading the terms of the website ahead of time. Christian Article Bank Directory Christian Article Bank is a privately owned Christian article directory. The gentleman who runs the site is very personable, and likes to interact with the writers through e-mail, which is a nice touch. Joining this site is free, and you can submit as many articles as you like. There are feature writers displayed on the home page, which helps writers gain exposure. Feature writers are constantly rotated each time the website is refreshed. The statistics on the site are not very good, as you cannot see how many people have viewed your submitted articles, but the site as a whole gets many hits each month. You can, however, access a list of all the articles you have published, along with the ability to edit them at any time. Articles have to be approved before going live. Christian Article Bank is powered by Article Friendly, which is a well-known article software system. Narrow is the Path Article Directory Narrow is the Path Article Directory is a straightforward article submission website. You can sign up for membership free of charge, submit however many articles you want, and each article includes a resource box to help you gain the exposure you desire. Readers can download your articles for use in various publications, including online and offline. Narrow is the Path only accepts Christian-related articles. The articles that you submit to this site go live after receiving approval from the editorial staff. Once your article is approved, you can track how many people have downloaded your article, as well as how many words your article contains and what rating readers give to your article. The editorial staff is very good about reviewing articles quickly. Other Christian Article Directories Check out some of these other Christian article directories, as well.

• She Loves God
• Idea Marketers
• ChristianArticles.net
• Discovery Articles

There you have it. Submitting your articles to these place is sure to drive in some traffic that you might have been missing out on. Christians will specifically search for Christian article directories, and this is the place you need to be to reach your target audience.

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Are you getting what you expected from your employees?

Why are my employees not getting their responsibilities completed? In a recent conversation, with a business owner, the frustration of working with their employees has hit an all-time high. Their desperation was clear in the tone and volume of the discussion. “I just don’t get it!!! We work hard to create job descriptions with responsibilities and requirements of what needs to get done. But we still run into the same situation, time after time. They just don’t deliver when I expect it to be delivered.” Did you catch that? Right at the end, there is a clue for the reason on why the relationship was so strained with their employees. Let me share another personal experience I have had with my kids. My wife and I created a chore list for our kids as they were growing. We did this to help teach responsibility and hope to create a good work ethic. We make them purchase their own “fun” items when it is something they want that is outside of birthdays and other holidays. One of the chores was for them to keep their room clean. And as happens in virtually every home… the communication wasn’t exactly clear. You see, the chore to keep their room clean was something we expected to have cleaned and then kept that way. We wanted to room to stay relatively clean on a daily bases. However, our expectations were not the same as what our kids decided the expectations should be for keeping their room clean. You see, if they cleaned their room once a month, they had fulfilled their responsibilities. We obviously, didn’t agree with that conclusions. The lesson – Responsibility and Expectations are two separate things. We often perceive that everyone else is going to be just like us. They will think like us. They have the same background and thus when given a responsibility, will respond with the same expectations on how to complete that responsibility. NOTHING could be further from the truth. But we just assume and don’t ask and the end result is frustration, and strained relationships with all those you come in contact. Now that we can see the problem, the questions is how do we solve or sometimes salvage the relationship once it has become strained. There are two specific paths through which you may need to walk through. The first path is proactively preventing the expectations from being misunderstood in the first place and then next is salvaging the situation once something has been misunderstood. Fixing your misunderstandings: First, you need to listen. Process for listen starts with a review of the responsibilities, to ensure that they are clearly understood. Next, ask how they think the responsibility needs to complete? When will it be completed? What they plan to do in order to accomplish the responsibility? Second, be responsible and take the initiative to clearly lay out your own expectations. It is a matter of having another understand the way in which the responsibility needs to […]

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Getting to the Emotional and Logical Value Greater Than Your Asking Price.

Is the Investment to Purchase your Product Priceless? Welcome, if you are landing on this article and haven’t read the first two about creating the relationship and creating compelling reasons to purchase your product you can click the links. Phase 1: Creating the Relationship. Phase 2: Creating a compelling reason to buy. As you walked through the decision process with your buyer you will note that there are a couple of things that seem to be coming up again and again. The problems that you are solving are going to be either a logical problem (is it logical to purchase the product?) or emotional problem (is the product going to solve my emotional challenge?) To put this a different way, if the buyer is going invest their dollars with you will there be enough value for the MSRP to be ok? Here is where the test of your offer meets its first challenge. If you were able to create the emotional and the logical value high enough, where the customer believes the MSRP is under the perceived value they will jump through all types of hoops to hand over their money. If they believe that you are the only one that can solve this issue there will be no objections and they will purchase willingly. If however, you haven’t been able to answer both the logical and emotional questions, there will be objections that you will need to overcome. Let’s break down the Logic and the Emotional points of the sale and what that actually means. Logical Value Logic is one of the first parts of the brain that operates but may not be the first thing to create a buyers desire to make that purchase. It will, however, wake the buyer up in the middle of the night, in a panic, asking how am I going to pay for what I just purchase? They may also wake up thinking of the return on the investment and realize it was a poor choice to make that purchase. So while we all may know that emotion is the primary reason a buyer make the decision to purchase, logic will allow them to feel good about themselves and the purchase once the emotion has worn off. Think back to one of your many purchases. I would be willing to say that everyone that is reading this has, at one point in time or another, experienced buyer’s remorse. If we are to dissect why you felt bad, it is usually due to either the fact you could not afford to make that purchase or that you found it wasn’t as highly valued as you perceived it to be. Point in this is that the investment a buyer makes must meet the minimum logical perceived value. To avoid this mistake, be sure to include the financial value within the 2nd phase of the sales process. Emotional Value In emotional buyer’s, we discuss the different emotional reasons a buyer will make the decision to purchase. As an overview […]

Getting to the Emotional and Logical Value Greater Than Your Asking Price. See more on: MasterMind Digital

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Why is someone going to purchase your product or service?

Creating a Compelling Reason to Purchase Your Product. This is the next phase in the buying process. If you missed the first part of building a relationship with your customer, click here to see the first phase of the buying process. Once you have established the relationship with your customer you now need to take them through the process of understanding your product and why your product will take care of their problem, pain point, or challenge. The need to have your core values in place comes up once again. It will directly influence what you say when discussing your product or service. For example: if your core value is to increase your bottom line you will stop at nothing short of illegal to kill off your competition but if your core value is to have the customer find the best possible solution you would be willing to offer a someone else’s product or service to the buyer. These two opposite extremes will dictate your sales copy, your Features and Benefits, and how all of this is presented. Be careful as you proceed that your moral compass is aligned correctly. You can have tons of success and make a fortune but at the end of the day, if you have [manipulation article hyper link] manipulated your customer you cannot create a legacy you can be proud to leave behind. That said here is how the process works. Your customer is looking for two things, an emotional reason to say yes and then a logical reason to say yes. It now becomes important when crafting your message to walk the customer through all the questions that they will possible raise in why they need to purchase or why you are the only option. The format goes as follows: First, identify the problem that the buyer is experiencing. You then offer the solution to that problem. This process would be repeated as many times as you can identify the problems and the solution that your product offers. There are literally 100’s of 1000’s of examples all over our world in the form of marketing. Weight loss is an easy one to pick on so let’s go there. In this old ad, they hit a couple of problems within the first line. “Excess weight may ruin your health and your looks too.” Problem 1: You aren’t health.  Problem 2: You don’t look good.  Solution: Lose weight. Support 1: Others did it so you can too. Support 2: No risk, money back. There are so many other Problem > Solutions built into the copy. As you dig you can find the support evidence of how it changed others’ lives, it is safe and approved by doctors, and on and on. It also identifies other common problems that come along with dieting, such as starvation and the solution is that you don’t have to starve yourself with this product. If you continue to dissect the ad you will see that the core of this could […]

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Building a Relationship with your customers.

Creating the buying experience by understanding the buying process. I have seen many, many, many sales pitches over my life. I am always fascinated by the approach that the sales person takes in order to make the sale. I have come to the conclusion that the foundations of the sale are always going to be exactly the same but the delivery will always be unique to you. That uniqueness stems from your business mission statement, core values, avatar, and business model.  So while many of coaches adhere to a specific selling model they often forget that the foundations of the sale are what built that model. If you want to change the world and offer a different approach, one that gains customer loyalty and passionate followers read on to discover how to create the foundation. Are you building the Relationship? The first step in any sale is always the relationship. You cannot get to a substantial purchase without creating the relationship with your customer. Now, granted the price of an item will directly in affect the depth of the relationship. For example, someone coming in to purchase a $5 trinket from a street seller isn’t really interested creating a relationship with that seller. It is just too low of a price point to really matter much. If; however, you are building a brand, you are creating a consulting relationship, or offering a course the relationship with your buyers becomes of utmost importance. How do you build a relationship with your customer? We have all heard this but will often just breeze by the thought that the relationship must be built. If you have been in or around sales training the most common phrase is that the buyer needs to “know, like and trust you.” What does that even mean? Let’s break in down in a different format, so that we can maybe find a little more clarity. Are you Listening? In order to break this down, we have to create a base off which to build that relationship. While this seems insanely simple we often miss this simple point…. You LISTEN. Listening to your buyer seems counterproductive. After all, you are not telling them about how great your widget is or how much you are going to change their lives.  Trust me… this one step alone can help you increase your sales in ways that you can’t even image. You will be able to learn what makes them tick, what are the pain points, what problem that if solved will change their life forever, or just what their need is. When you ask the question and then listen you are creating the first step in the relationship, you can create the commonality that is needed in every relationship. If through this you are able to share a big old belly laugh and something that is a deep intimate emotional experience, you have gained something in common which then leads to trust. Do they Trust you? Trust is that ever evolving item that […]

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Emotional Buyers – Why Your Customers are Buying!

We all seek to understand exactly why our customers purchase from us. What makes them tic? Why do they purchase from us or from any for that matter? 100’s of books are written on buyers psychology, or making the perfect pitch in order to get the customer to purchase. It is actually not all that complicated to explain but might be a little more difficult to implement consistently. The key to getting your customers to buy is getting them to feel the direct link to your product through their emotional. This doesn’t mean you manipulate them but there is no doubt that using emotion to influence is an effective tool to increasing sales. Fear Of all the emotions used to create sales this is by far the most over used tactic. 2016 was one of the most brutal presidential election the US has seen. There were more fear messages presented to the American People than I can ever recall. The use of the message to create a fear of absolute doom in order to sell the presidency was actually pretty disgusting. All parties involved were incredible passionate and their pleas created splits in the general populations. Why do we bring this up? Simple to prove that the power of Fear as emotion is more intense and last longer than any other. Currently, as of Feb 2017 the messages are still echoing and the passion is still flowing from the political parties. In selling there are multiple ways to use Fear as an emotional tool. For example: Fear of loss, Fear of looking bad, Fear of being left out, Fear of not belonging, etc. To use fear effectively is to build a strong brand, to abuse the fear emotion is the best way to end the life of your product much younger than it should. Security This emotion is something that is often coupled with fear. By using this product x you won’t have to worry about this fatal flaw in your life. We often see this in the Home alarm commercials. Some masked villain is about to break in to do harm, scared away by the alarm. Other phrases say that you can rest securely knowing someone else is watching out for you. This works great for some products and not so well for others. It is an emotion that does lead to more sales or closing the sale. Excitement Every year in January and February we have an series of events in the US that draws more excitement than any other event. The weekends leading up can only be expressed in an absolutely frenzy of excitement. Fans of their favorite team anticipate this excitement as their home team advances. The home town of the winner of the Super Bowl is an absolute mad house of excitement. When selling there are multiple ways to create this excitement. It can come through your ad copy, through others that are purchasing, or something as simple as a once in a lifetime contest. […]

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