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Marketing Articles |
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| Using Direct Mail |
| The advantages of using direct mail to promote your home-based or smallbusiness are:
Selectivity-the ability to send your advertising only to people and organizations who can use and pay for your product or service.
Flexibility-the freedom to use either the simplest or the most elaborate presentation, ranging from a single-sheet mailer to an entire package, and the flexibility to test all sorts of minor changes in your mailing pieces.
Control-unlike the random placement of a newspaper ad, you More.. |
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| A Forgotten Marketing Tool - The Postcard |
| The postcard can be a very powerful marketing tool. Many of our customers and/or students use them in their business. The key is to set up the card to market effectively for you. Concentrate on a specific item or niche.
When used correctly a post card can become very powerful marketing tool. Be sure the front of your card is explicit. It should be clear to your customer what you are selling. A color postcard is a must, unless you are using black and white to your advantage, that is, to make a p More.. |
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| Modern Marketing With Postcards |
| Postcards may be one of the best kept secrets of modernmarketing. They produce even better results now than in thepast. That's probably because postcards deliver informationthe way people want to get it today ...fast and with littleor no effort.
Use Postcards to Generate Website Traffic and Sales Leads
A brief captivating message on a postcard with an enticingoffer sent to the right prospects will generate a flood oftraffic to your website - or a large number of sales leads.
Keep your postcar More.. |
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| Costly Web Copy Pitfalls |
| One secret to a site that sells: Look at your site from your customer's perspective. Another secret: Watch out for these common web copy pitfalls.
Welcome to?nothing
Look at your site's web copy. Does it begin with "Welcome to??" If so, get rid of it. It means nothing. It doesn't speak to your customers. It's just a waste of your customers' time and space. Rather than the worn out phrase, "Welcome to?" try a statement that captures the essence of your company, explaining it in terms that'll be More.. |
| Read more About Costly Web Copy Pitfalls |
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| Five Steps to a Web Site That Sells |
| I'm always amazed that people would spend months to develop their web site, pay thousands of dollars to have it put together and then... they just let it sit in the cyber space without generating any new leads.
Listen, if you hired a sales person for your business and they didn't perform what would you do? You would fire them faster then they could say "but, I tried", wouldn't you? So why do you put up with a web site that doesn't sell?
Right now I can hear you scream "but I don't know what to More.. |
| Read more About Five Steps to a Web Site That Sells |
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| How to Market and Protect Your New Ideas |
| he intellectual property transfer market is now estimated to be worth over $100 billion. If you have a new idea, a patent or an invention, you may be able to license it or sell it for millions of dollars. Many Fortune 500 companies are now making their intellectual property available for sale or licensing at new online intellectual-property exchanges. These companies are trying to maximize their return on research and development investment and generate a new source of revenue by licensing their More.. |
| Read more About How to Market and Protect Your New Ideas |
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| How Your List Affects Postage Costs |
| HOW YOUR LIST AFFECTS POSTAGE COSTS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!
The quality and accuracy of address information in mailing lists is one of the areas least understood and largely overlooked by most businesses using direct mail. To get an advertising message delivered the address must be correct! Many firms that use direct mail neglect this vital aspect. Is there a "printing" mentality of creating "one" and reproducing it "thousands" of times? The "one to one" aspect of valuing each individual' More.. |
| Read more About How Your List Affects Postage Costs |
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| Write Better Web Content |
| If you're reading this article, chances are that you, like most professionals these days, understand the value of the Internet. It may be where you go to buy movie or concert tickets, browse restaurant menus, or plan your vacations. Most likely, you also turn to the Web to research business strategies, vendors and other companies.
But what about those surfers who are researching your company? When they visit your Web site, will they find what they're looking for? Does your site provide the info More.. |
| Read more About Write Better Web Content |
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| Refresh Your Web Site |
| so you have a Web site. And so does most every business these days. But what you really need is a way to set your business apart from the competition, an online presence that will keep clients and prospects coming back again and again.
As usual, outstanding content may be your solution. While clear, well-written content is vital (see my June 2004 newsletter for tips about this), fresh, well-written content may be even more important for bringing new and repeat visitors to your site. Fresh, or r More.. |
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| The Magic of Keep-in-Touch Marketing |
| Yesterday I received a phone call from an acquaintance that I've met once or twice but haven't seen in over a year. She wanted to let me know that she was referring me to a client of hers who needed help with his Web site copy. Although I hadn't thought about her in months, she mentioned that she'd received a postcard from me for the past two quarters - and that's why she instantly thought of my services when her client voiced his need. Although it wasn't really magic, it sure felt like it. That More.. |
| Read more About The Magic of Keep-in-Touch Marketing |
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| Planning Your Postcard Marketing Campaign |
| Before you create your postcard, do a little planning. Ask yourself:
1. Why are you doing this card mailing? Do you want to get new clients? Or do you want to stay in touch with existing clients?
2. To whom are you going to be mailing these cards? Which begs another question: who's on your mailing list?
Now, you may be saying, "Martha, how can you ask such a thing? I don't even have a mailing list!"
Okay, you don't have a proper list quite yet, but do you know anyone? I mean, do you have any More.. |
| Read more About Planning Your Postcard Marketing Campaign |
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| Getting Ideas for Your Postcards |
| If you're going to do postcard marketing on an ongoing basis, it's a good idea to have a collection of cards to inspire you. In advertising and marketing circles, this is called a "swipe file."
How do you start a swipe file? By watching your mail!
Save all the postcards that arrive in your mailbox for one month, and I guarantee that you?ll have a bumper crop of ideas to choose from. (During the political campaign season, it'll only take a week.)
NOTE: The swipe file is intended to be an inspi More.. |
| Read more About Getting Ideas for Your Postcards |
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| People Do Business with People They Like |
| People do business with people they know and like!
In my networking classes I have been saying this for six years. Can't say I was the originator of it, yet it appears people are catching on. Finally, people are referring to this statement in casual conversation when they are talking about marketing.
BAN COLD CALLS
Just this morning the news reported there have been 400,000 complaints registered by people who had received unsolicited calls even though they had registered on the "No Call List. More.. |
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| Shopping Comes Back To The Community |
| THE GREAT BRITISH TRADITION OF STREET MARKETS IS UPHELD AT STREETTRADERSUNITED.COM
Hammer Force Ltd, a Croydon-based online service provider offers people who enjoy an alternative to impersonal shopping malls a chance to access a site which lists more than 708 UK markets, arranged by region in an easy-to-use format.
StreetTradersUnited provides readily accessible information that caters for UK shoppers, community groups, and tourists who wish to visit historic markets near where they are stayi More.. |
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| Ten Crucial Questions |
| Ten Crucial Questions
for Your Business Future
I'ma business coach. I've worked with hundreds of small, medium and very large business, and over the course of the past eleven years, I've asked my business coaching clients endless questions which have helped them achieve much greater levels of success than they would have otherwise. While the following may not be the only ten questions -- or even THE ten questions, they are ten questions that you must answer if you want your business to flourish More.. |
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| Why Cutting Prices Is Like Cutting Your Own Throat |
| Why cutting your prices
is like cutting your own throat.
It's the oldest sales tactic in the world?
And one of the worst?
Price cutting.
Before you make your next price cut in the face of sales resistance, the question you have to ask yourself is not, "Does it work?," but rather, "Can you live with the bargain?"
Here's a pop quiz: you - in your role as salesperson - go for the close. You ask the prospect to make a commitment and they don't. What's your first response?
Well, if you are like More.. |
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| Thinking About More Business |
| What does an old Russian joke have to do with getting new business?
Did you increase your business in the past 12 months? Don't discriminate between more new clients or old clients spending more money--count the increase either way. If you didn't, you really should be asking yourself why not.
Yes, I know--it all started with the Internet implosion. Then came terrorist attacks. Next, the global recession. And after that a war that threatened to destabilize the worldwide political structures for More.. |
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| Marking Your Territory |
| We all know the familiar adage "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck..." it's nearly always a duck. The same is true with image, particularly when it comes to the images we portray of ourselves as writers.
My e-book "Articles That Sell", teaches the how-to's of effectively marketing your business by writing and publishing articles. These ideas will help you literally take your marketing act to the street by presenting yourself as a professional writer.
A professional writer? Of course.. More.. |
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| Using Flyers In Your Business |
| If you are not using flyers in your business you are missing out. Flyers can be used to sell your product, promote your product, promote your services, and in a number of other areas.
Our lease purchasing students learn very quickly the importance of using flyers. Flyers, however, are not exclusive to lease purchasing. They are useful in almost every business I can think of. I'm sure there might be a business out there they don't work for, but I can't think of one.
To give you an idea of how w More.. |
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| 10 Ways to Get Your Flyers Noticed |
| An inexpensive way to promote your services is to create
various flyers and distribute them wherever you go -- pin
them to the bulletin boards at the library, bookstore,
handout out at networking events, or playing tennis. Here
are 10 tips on how to get your flyer noticed and remembered.
1. Include your picture. People like to connect with others
visually. Color is great, yet black and white is fine too.
2. Hook your prospective buyers with the headline in the
top line. For example, read about More.. |
| Read more About 10 Ways to Get Your Flyers Noticed |
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| Mail Orders Most Common Mistakes |
| THE GREAT MAIL ORDER MYTH There are a number of totally unrealistic beliefs about the mail order business. To belive in any of them can be dangerous to your pocketbook. Here are some of the most common ones:
1. It is possible to make vast amounts of money in a short period of time under the following conditions:
a. No experience b. Little or no investment c. Insignificant work effort
If this were a multiple choice test, then A, B, and C, would be FALSE-- FALSE AND FALSE AGAIN
It does take ex More.. |
| Read more About Mail Orders Most Common Mistakes |
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| How to Create a CountdownMarketing Calendar |
| Just like there are reverse dictionaries, there is a reason to create a count down calendar. A count down calendar starts with Franklin Covey's philosophy, "start with the end in mind."
The biggest advantage to a countdown calendar is that it makes you think and focus harder as well as makes the planning easier.
First, you write down the exact results you want or expect. Let's say you have a teleclass, seminar, speaking engagement you are delivering on X date. This becomes your D-day -- sort o More.. |
| Read more About How to Create a CountdownMarketing Calendar |
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| Features and Benefits Brainstorming |
| This is it what I use BEFORE I begin to write any marketing copy or launch any new product or service. You can complete this with the by-hand method listed here or use the form that I've created (available in the FORMS section of our web site, http://www.abundancecenter.com/forms/main.htm).
I complete this exercise even when I think I'm sure that I have it done. The mind plays some funky games, by redoing this exercise, my thoughts zone into what I'm working on, and my mind becomes razor sharp. More.. |
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| Renting Your Mailing Lists to Others |
| RESOLVING THE "PROPRIETARY" DILEMMA... SHOULD YOU RENT YOUR OWN MAILING LIST TO OTHER BUSINESSES ?
Mail order dealers are always looking for more people to send their offers to. You'll find this out in your own business. Besides sending your offers out to people who answer your ad, you can expand your business by doing mass mailings to lists of people who have responded to offers similar to yours. You can make extra profits by renting your customer list to other dealers.
Take note of the term More.. |
| Read more About Renting Your Mailing Lists to Others |
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| Marketing Lessons from Santa |
| If a nonexistent man can change the world and millions of people with a message of joy then his marketing plan surely works. Right? Then what has Santa been doing right all these years that we can learn from?
Santa's message is short--joy. His target market-- children and the young at heart. When you think of name Santa, you automatically associate it with giving, kindness, thoughtfulness, joy, magic, and usually a lighter heart.
Yet, his campaign began long ago in another country with a diffe More.. |
| Read more About Marketing Lessons from Santa |
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| Keeping Your Mailing List Clean and Efficient |
| Your mailing list retains its value best if it is kept clean and efficient. Thisreport will first talk about why you should maintain your list in this manner. Then, the procedures you can follow to update both the mailing and databaseinformation associated with the names on you list will be discussed.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING A CLEAN AND EFFICIENT LIST
What makes a list clean and efficient? Lists are clean and efficientwhen they are: * accurate. * current (up-to-date). * as free of duplica More.. |
| Read more About Keeping Your Mailing List Clean and Efficient |
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| Insiders Secret to Selling Mailing Lists |
| If you've got a mailing list of at least a thousand names or more, you'resitting on a gold mine. All it takes is for you to get the word out that you'vegot a mailing list for rent, at a competitive price, and you should be home free!
First of all, you've got to have a bonafide list of customers - a list ofnames of people that have responded to an ad or bought from you.
You can accumulate such a list simply by noting on 3 by 5 index cards - the names and addresses of each person sending you som More.. |
| Read more About Insiders Secret to Selling Mailing Lists |
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| Creating And Maintaining A Mailing List |
| Starting to collect proper information to create a mailing list is not difficult, once you know how to proceed. In this report, uses for mailing lists are briefly described. The first steps in identifying the names that might be included on your mailing list are also outlined. Finally, the important concept of a database is introduced.
WAYS TO USE A MAILING LIST
Mailing lists are a versatile tool that your business or organization can use to help achieve many administrative and marketing objec More.. |
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| Benefits of Developing & Maintaining a Database |
| A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turnsa list into a database is the additional information, coupled with your abilityto select names from or report on the list using any combination of dataelements.
In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developingand maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database cancontain will be detailed.
BENEFITS OF A DATABASE
By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many way More.. |
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| 10 Important Steps to Mail Order Success |
| There are a number of difficulties a beginning entrepreneur may encounter that can "torpedo" his business almost before he knows it. But the wise mail order dealer can sidestep some of the pitfalls of operating his own business by recognizing and avoiding the following common mistakes.
1. Figuring that the one "How-To" book, booklet, or report that you read about starting a mail order business told you everything you need to know. You never really stop learning about this business as long as yo More.. |
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| Stop Your Marketing Leaks |
| Thirty percent of all the drinkable water that runs between the plant and your faucet is lost to leaky pipes. In marketing, thirty percent of our business is lost to leaky follow up. Even professional sales people have leaky follow up when they stop after one or two contact points.
How much business are you letting get lost to your leaky pipes. Here are some ways to tape them up or you may have to replace some fittings:
1. Do a check up of your follow-up system from the time of precontact to s More.. |
| Read more About Stop Your Marketing Leaks |
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| 21 Ways To Expand Your Subscriber List |
| Expanding your subscriber list, whether it be for your ezine, newsletter -- printed or electronic -- takes persistence, and commitment. Not to mention time and letting go of the frustruation of it all.
Marketing Master, Catherine Franz, is sharing with you twenty- one methods, strategies, and ideas all located in one spot on how you can expand your list.
1. Keep your subscription form easy to find on every web page. Preferably, add it on your navigational bar. If the form is to large for the b More.. |
| Read more About 21 Ways To Expand Your Subscriber List |
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| Why Your Business Need a Website |
| Web Presence gives your business a distince edge over your competitors, especially when you want to expand your current customer base.
For exmaple, if Jane wants to find a real estate agent but she does not know who is the best in her area. Then she goes to the yellow book to find out the potential agent she wants to go to. If you have a website address besides you name, she will go to your website to find out whether you are the best agent for her.
A web presence alows your potential client t More.. |
| Read more About Why Your Business Need a Website |
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| What Is Multi-Level And How Should It Be Worked |
| Multi-level marketing is really a partnership. You go into business with someone that has the same interests and goals you have. You make a commitment to each other. You work with the same people. Working multi-level marketing correctly not only makes success easier, it eliminates many problems.
The hardest thing is to find the person you want to work with (your sponsor). You want someone who is willing to work and assist you when needed. You should join programs under the same person all the t More.. |
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| The Bare-Bones Basics Of Multi-Level Marketing |
| Multi-level marketing is the biggest growth industry in the 1980's. It is the industry that has made corporate giants of Amway, Shaklee, Mary Kay and Herbalife. It has been termed as the last true rags-to-riches opportunity left in North America, and its ability to bring enormous incomes to almost anyone is legend. In fact, it is expected to make more new millionaires by 1990 than any other industry, and soon after will be the single most popular method of bringing new products to the consumer.
More.. |
| Read more About The Bare-Bones Basics Of Multi-Level Marketing |
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| Smart Ways To Rocket Launch Your Profits |
| mart Ways To Rocket Launch Your Profits
If you really want to pull more profits from your business, you really need take some of the actions listed here.
1. Advertise your web site with banner ads that are animated and include a call to action. You must grab people's attention and make them to click.
2. Use pop up windows or advertisements on your web site. They grab your visitors attention because they jump right out at them.
3. Buy internet business books, ebooks, private site memberships More.. |
| Read more About Smart Ways To Rocket Launch Your Profits |
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