• LED Sheep – Great Publicity Tactic
  Posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 in Marketing Strategies – Comments: (0)
  I absolutely love this video, it’s such a great marketing and pr tactic.And yes, it was such hard work, but the guys had soo much fun by the looks of it!(hmm, not sure about the sheep though…!
• Should you be in business?
  Posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 in Business Basics – Comments: (1)
  Just because you are good at what you do – doesn’t mean you should be in business.I want to tell you about an experience I am still currently undergoing. I decided to expand my skills and learn about xyz. (names will be changed as the situation is still current)So I’d heard of MRS XYZ – the best in her field. I’d been following her for a while now, reading newsletters etc.I thought I’d give one of her products a whirl. So I go looking through the website – find all these great testimonials. Fantastic – makes me think that these skills that I am going to learn are worth whatever amount I will pay. Find plenty of coaching tools, but no real online learning course – which is what I’m after right now.So I send an email, just asking if there is anything like what I’m after.
• Small Business Marketing Strategies – Email Marketing
  Posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 in Marketing Strategies – Comments: (0)
  Welcome to the May 4, 2009 edition of marketing strategies.Stephen Dean presents Conversion Rates Are Relative posted at Copywriting Dean.presents Beginners Simple Guide To Get More Sales posted at Home Business Views, saying, “Do you find yourself frustrated with your promotion andmarketing of affiliate programs? Are the sales that you hadhoped for just not coming in? For years I experienced thesame problem. Finally it dawned on me what I was doingwrong and how to correct it.”Erick Simpson presents Uncovering Big Opportunities in Your Existing Client List posted at Managed Services Blog.presents The Top 3 Money-Making posted at Home Business Views, saying, “So, what are these core practices for building an internetbusiness? There are three things – and three things only – thatyou need to concentrate on with your business”Email MarketingJimmy Adames presents Email Marketing Tips – 7 Quality Tips For A Successful Email Marketing Campaign posted at Internet Business Building, saying, “If you are serious about building a long-term successful Internet business the way to ensure success is by creating a responsive targeted list of subscribers.

I want to tell you about an experience I am still currently undergoing. I decided to expand my skills and learn about xyz. (names will be changed as the situation is still current)

So I’d heard of MRS XYZ – the best in her field. I’d been following her for a while now, reading newsletters etc.

I thought I’d give one of her products a whirl. So I go looking through the website – find all these great testimonials. Fantastic – makes me think that these skills that I am going to learn are worth whatever amount I will pay. Find plenty of coaching tools, but no real online learning course – which is what I’m after right now.

So I send an email, just asking if there is anything like what I’m after. I get a reply within a few hours. “Yes, Emma, we have xyz program – you’ll find it here”. Gives me the link. That’s about it.  So I go into the link, read all about the program (which mind you is somewhere listed on the website…I probably wouldn’t find it without the link given to me).

Costs a few hundred dollars to purchase. From what I’ve been reading about MRS XYZ,  she has some fantastic knowledge and charges upwards of $9,000 for her time. So I kind of think that this price for this course is pretty reasonable.

So I buy it.

I get the usual automated emails – thanks for your purchase etc. One of them comes from a different person with the same surname – MR XYZ I’m presuming??? In this email I have a link to click on to enter some details about me and access my course information.

Link doesn’t work.

The page acutually says that the information is now out of date, but wait whilst you get transferred to the new site….. hmm, I’m still waiting. The redirection doesn’t work.

So this is Monday 18th. I purchase and get this email. So I send email back -no response. That’s ok, must be an automated email address. So I send one to MRS XYZ explaining that the link that you have given me is not working.

No response.

Tuesday rolls around and I get a generic email from MRS ZYX promoting something else. Ok, so it appears that she is still working ,and her email still works…. where is my response?

Finally get a reply late Wednesday afternoon – ’sorry about that Emma, we will have it fixed tonight for you”

Excellent, thanks heaps!

Thursday morning, log in and…. link still not working.

I try it again later wondering if there is some kind of time delay as she said it would be fixed last night. Still not working.

Another email gets sent  -”Hi, just letting you know the link is not working. Can you check it out please” Still very polite at this stage, because of the fantastic reputation of this person.

No reply, so I thought it was about time that I phoned. Tried the contact number on the bottom of the purchase email – “The phone number you have called is not connected. Please check the number and try again…” Hmm, not very promising… By this stage, I am starting to get midly annoyed that it is so hard to access what I had paid for.

I troll through the website looking for another number. Ring it….. Get a message bank. Yet another strike… So I leave a message, just kindly stating that the link is still not working, and I’ve not had any response from my emails, can you please call me back. Leave my mobile number.

No call back.

I receive absolutely no response until Sat arvo – with a brand new email giving me a new website link, with some login details. No acknowledgement that I took the time to ring, or sorry for not returning my call… nothing. Competely ignored it.

So I go to log in – need a password… guess what.

I don’t have one! So another email gets sent on Sunday.

It is now Tuesday lunchtime, and I still do not have a response. Have I complained to them as yet? No. I’ve written this blog post instead. I will also have no hesitation in naming the person should they not respond to the latest email.

So, even though you are great at what you do, which I have no doubt whatsoever that MRS XYZ is fantastic at what she does… she shouldn’t be in business. Not with this kind of service.

The answer for her, is to get an office manager. Get someone else to the be the front of the business because at this point in time, in my opinion, her business shouldn’t be operating.

I’m on the verge of asking for my money back… and will do should I not get what I paid for very soon. Mind you, there are other people out there who have the same business, who offer a very similiar program to this one. I feel like I’m being pushed to their business rather than hers….

I think I’ve given MRS XYZ and her product enough chances – do you?

And yes, it was such hard work, but the guys had soo much fun by the looks of it!

(hmm, not sure about the sheep though…!)

• Public Relations – How does it work?
  Posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 in publicity – Comments: (0)
  Publicity and writing press releases can yield plenty of new customers to your business. The best thing is that, done correctly, a publicity campaign can be completely free! Learn how the publicity experts do it.I was recently lucky enough to be part of a brainstorming session conducted by a professional and very successful Public Relations Expert. I want to share some of the information that came out of that session – tips used by the experts themselves to get their clients’ media releases read, and published.Spread the NewsMake your press release say something. No one wants to read boring articles, so make sure your media release is actually newsworthy. Simply stating that your business is open, won’t cut it. (Unless of course the place that publishes it have no readership and nothing else to report on!) Have an event such as a grand opening. Many companies have a grand opening or a special day where they use a gimmick of some sort and invite the media to come along.
• Top Marketing Strategies – April 9, 2009
  Posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 in Marketing Strategies – Comments: (0)
  First, tenApril 2, 2009 – This is so simple, it’s amazing!!
• Top Marketing Strategies – April 2, 2009
  Posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 in Marketing Strategies – Comments: (0)
  Is marketing evil?March 26, 2009 Timeless Marketing Tool: The Power Of TestimonialsMarch 26, 2009 – Testimonials will always be one of the best marketing strategies to use…What is attraction marketing?March 26, 2009 – Many newcomers to the business arena find this type of marketing very refreshing. Gone are the pushy door to door or telemarketing…Tips for writing marketing materialMarch 26, 2009 – Fantastic ideas here on writing your own marketing stuff.
• Marketing Strategies – April 9th, 2009
  Posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 in general – Comments: (0)
  Welcome to the April 9, 2009 edition of marketing strategies.If you’re looking for plenty of marketing tips and strategies to use in your business, why not check out the Marketing Kit? At only $11, it’s a bargain considering it has tools such as Press Release templates, SWOT analysis templates, plus pages and pages of no cost marketing strategies!! Get yours now! Social MediaJordan presents Use Twitter To Make Money For Yourself/Business posted at Jordan’s Internet Marketing Guide, saying, “Thanks!”SEO TipsLee McCoy presents Keyword Density Tips posted at The Secret Affiliate Society, saying, “I will run through the most common questions as best I can, but please keep in mind that Keyword Density is not an exact science, or at least the formula has not been cracked yet. The information I will provide is based on my own experiences, success and failures.”Email MarketingDebbie Ducker presents Create Powerful Viral E-Mail by Using Humor posted at Ducker Promotion Ezine, saying, “include humor in your e-mail ad campaigns”BloggingNicholas Powiull presents Conscious Flex: How to Live Your Passion (How I Became a Fulltime Blogger) posted at Conscious Flex, saying, “Many people have emailed me about my new opportunity in becoming a fulltime blogger.

I was recently lucky enough to be part of a brainstorming session conducted by a professional and very successful Public Relations Expert. I want to share some of the information that came out of that session – tips used by the experts themselves to get their clients’ media releases read, and published.

Spread the News

Make your press release say something. No one wants to read boring articles, so make sure your media release is actually newsworthy. Simply stating that your business is open, won’t cut it. (Unless of course the place that publishes it have no readership and nothing else to report on!) Have an event such as a grand opening. Many companies have a grand opening or a special day where they use a gimmick of some sort and invite the media to come along. Some places invite radio stations to broadcast from their place of business for a certain amount of time.

You can also sponsor a sporting event, partner with a charity or tie your media release into a particular event at the time. For example, as I write this, interest rates are about to be cut for the first time in 7 years. If you can use this to your advantage in your business, then send out a media release. Chances are, it will be picked up pretty quickly! If you have a fashion business for example, run a media release close to the Melbourne Cup talking about this year’s fashion.

Send it on up

Most media releases are sent by email these days. Be sure however, not to send your media release as an attachment. Many a reporter has been stung by a virus this way and no will not open anything with an attachment. Ensure your press release goes to the appropriate journalist as a full email.

Contact me please!

Believe it or not, many people forget to put their contact details on a press release! Ensure you have full contact details either at the top of the release or at the bottom. This includes any addresses and full contact numbers – not just a mobile phone number.

Try to keep your press release to one page and ensure that no blatant advertising is included. Follow up with each journalist that received your media release until you receive an answer from them.

Using publicity as part of your marketing strategy and your marketing mix can bring in plenty of free business – so ensure you get the basics right the first time!

To start your very own media campaign today, simply contact Diva Promotions Publicity

April 2, 2009
– This is so simple, it’s amazing!! ]]> http://www.divapromotions.com.au/blog/marketing-strategies/top-marketing-strategies-april-9-2009/feed/ 0 http://www.divapromotions.com.au/blog/general/marketing-strategies-april-9th-2009/ http://www.divapromotions.com.au/blog/general/marketing-strategies-april-9th-2009/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:02:49 +0000 admin http://www.divapromotions.com.au/blog/?p=182

March 26, 2009

March 26, 2009
– Testimonials will always be one of the best marketing strategies to use…

March 26, 2009
– Many newcomers to the business arena find this type of marketing very refreshing. Gone are the pushy door to door or telemarketing…

March 26, 2009
– Fantastic ideas here on writing your own marketing stuff. ]]> http://www.divapromotions.com.au/blog/marketing-strategies/top-marketing-strategies-april-2-2009/feed/ 0 http://www.divapromotions.com.au/blog/marketing-strategies/best-marketing-strategies-from-mar/ http://www.divapromotions.com.au/blog/marketing-strategies/best-marketing-strategies-from-mar/#comments Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:00:00 +0000 admin http://www.divapromotions.com.au/blog/marketing-strategies/best-marketing-strategies-from-mar Learning the best small business marketing strategies can sometimes take up too much of your time. In case you missed them, here is last month’s top marketing ideas:

• Guaranteed web site traffic…
  Posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 in Marketing Strategies – Comments: (0)
  Imagine getting 20,000 unique daily visitors…and how many new sales that could bring in for you!!I have something so exciting to share with you. But first, I want you to imagine getting those unique visitors directly to your site. Can you also imagine if they were targeted visitors? And what if…a % of those new visitors bought from you… how’s your life and your business looking now??? Well, it can actually happen to you. No matter what business you are in, if you have a website, then you need to drive traffic to it.Let us show you how.  Due to some fantastic survey results, we’ve discovered that most people are currently struggling with driving traffic to their business. You’ ve tried so many strategies but none give you the long lasting results you need to make your business successful. So if you’re doing it tough right now or just need to improve your results, don’t despair, let us guide you, step by step, through the confusing myriad of traffic driving strategies – and show you the most productive tactics to get visitors to your site – right now.
• flat screen tv’s – is this our problem?
  Posted on Saturday, March 21st, 2009 in Marketing Strategies – Comments: (2)
  ok, so I don’t read magazines that much, but I’m reading through my Mums recent issue of “Notebook”. Now, this is the first time that I have read it and I’m only a little bit of the way through. But I just had to stop and write about a small exerpt of a book that they have published. It’s all about our economy and they have entitled the piece “Australia has… a flat-Screen TV crisis”. The main reasoning behind this is that although many Australians actually earn over $50,000, we still think of ourselves as battlers. Rather than lose a tiny bit more of our income to improve our health services and roads etc, we would rather keep that money and buy flat screen tv’s.And it wasn’t until my father passed away last May that I realised that no amount of money could really make me truly happy. So instead of striving for riches until there was no more time left to spend it all, I started looking at the things that really matter to me.
• Customer Care – what?
  Posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 in Business Basics – Comments: (0)
  When was the last time you received a card in the mail. no, not your email inbox, I mean by snail mail?Well, I’ve decided to go back to the old ways of keeping in touch with my clients. By sending them cards. And, I’ve found the easiest way to do it. Right from my computer.No more trips down to the post office  to buy stamps.No more trips to the little red box by the side of the road…No more $4.95 cards either! What a rip-off!! No wonder people stopped sending them.Imagine if you got a card saying – “thanks for being such a valued client”. I mean, who does that these days?No-one.And that’s what is going to make you stand out from the rest of your competition.  Would you go back to that business if they took the time to value you? I know I would.

Well, I’ve decided to go back to the old ways of keeping in touch with my clients. By sending them cards. And, I’ve found the easiest way to do it. Right from my computer.

No more trips down to the post office  to buy stamps.

No more trips to the little red box by the side of the road…

No more $4.95 cards either! What a rip-off!! No wonder people stopped sending them.

Imagine if you got a card saying – “thanks for being such a valued client”. I mean, who does that these days?

No-one.

And that’s what is going to make you stand out from the rest of your competition.  Would you go back to that business if they took the time to value you? I know I would. Even if their prices were a little higher, for me, being valued is so important.

Check out this system that I’ve come across – it’s called Send Out Cards, and you can send a card from your computer, including a photo or business logo custom printed for under $1.20! Yes, that includes your postage!!! you can get a free gift account at http://www.sendoutcards.com/divapromotions

If you need a hand with it, just comment here, or send me an email…

Imagine how much value you can add to your business and keep your clients coming back, for as little as $1.20 per card!!!

Can you see now why I’m so excited by this system..?

oh, and by the way – the cards come from Melbourne, Aus or if you are o/s -they can come from there as well!

Check it out -so cool… http://www.sendoutcards.com/divapromotions

I have something so exciting to share with you. But first, I want you to imagine getting those unique visitors directly to your site. Can you also imagine if they were targeted visitors? And what if…a % of those new visitors bought from you… how’s your life and your business looking now???
Well, it can actually happen to you. No matter what business you are in, if you have a website, then you need to drive traffic to it.
Let us show you how. 

Due to some fantastic survey results, we’ve discovered that most people are currently struggling with driving traffic to their business. You’ ve tried so many strategies but none give you the long lasting results you need to make your business successful.
So if you’re doing it tough right now or just need to improve your results, don’t despair, let us guide you, step by step, through the confusing myriad of traffic driving strategies – and show you the most productive tactics to get visitors to your site – right now.

Visit…http://www.business-successclub.com to get immediate access to free videos and start driving traffic to your site today!

See you there!
Emma.

The main reasoning behind this is that although many Australians actually earn over $50,000, we still think of ourselves as battlers. Rather than lose a tiny bit more of our income to improve our health services and roads etc, we would rather keep that money and buy flat screen tv’s.

And it wasn’t until my father passed away last May that I realised that no amount of money could really make me truly happy. So instead of striving for riches until there was no more time left to spend it all, I started looking at the things that really matter to me.

And my business has taken a turn as a result of this. Rather than trying to make money all the time, I have now shifted my focus onto really helping people. Helping others to meet their income goals with their business.
And I love it.

So what about you? Has this post made you think any more about what is really important in life?? Share with me.

Your customers are your lifeblood. Without them, you don’t make any money. So why don’t people treat them well?? One of the questions I always ask my new clients is “what makes you different from your competitors?” Picture this, say you sell widgets in the local main street. What happens if a new store across the road opens up and sells the same widgets? Do you drop your price and market that? What happens when you start losing your profit margin?  You go broke. Your business is outa there! So what would make people still buy from you, even if your widgets were a little more expensive?

You.

Your customer service. How you treat people will make them stay and pay whatever they need to. Relate this back to some of your own customer service experiences. I know I pay extra for plenty of things, just because of the service I receive. Share some of your experiences here.

Cheers,

Emma
Diva Promotions

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Donna-Maries Post.

When it comes to building strong customer relations it’s often the little things that count.

This week I’ve received two pieces of mail that left me a little disappointed. The first was a magazine I had requested as I was considering advertising in it and I also thought that the members of my local business group might be interested. I sent the magazine publisher an email requesting a copy and stating my interest (this very small, very new publication is available by subscription only but they do offer a free copy to prospective advertisers).

Although I didn’t receive a reply to my email, the magazine arrived about two weeks later… with no cover letter, with compliments slip or anything. Just the lonely magazine.

Now this would have been the perfect opportunity for the publisher to make some effort to build a relationship and encourage my support of their magazine. Firstly, a quick reply to my email along the lines of, “Thanks for requesting a sample copy of xyz magazine. I’ll pop one in the mail for you today.”

This could have been followed up with a brief note or even just a with compliments slip in the envelope.

But… there has been no personal interaction from this publisher at all and I’m not sure if they even want my business. They’re certainly not trying to win my confidence in them.

The second piece of mail was a booking form for a series of workshops. Again, the sender went to the trouble to hand-address an envelope to me and pay for postage, but there was no cover letter – not even a generic letter photocopied for all recipients. And there was nothing to say how they knew me. In fact, how did they even know I might be interested? (Truth be told, I wasn’t. It’s not something even remotely related to my interests).

Apart from the 1,001 Direct Marketing mistakes we can get side-tracked by here, if the sender had spent two minutes introducing themselves it would have made the world of difference. I may have even passed it on to someone who may have been interested… instead of putting it straight into the recycling bin.

So, if you want a successful small business, remember to pay attention to the little things and the personal touches that go a long way in building strong customer relationships.

Cheers,

Emma
Diva Promotions

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Price Isn’t Tied to Your Product

When pricing your product, who you’re selling is more crucial than what you’re selling.

This excerpt has been taken from No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent by Dan Kennedy, available from Entrepreneur Press.

There was a time when coffee was coffee. Ice cream was ice cream. A phone was a phone. Even a pair of shoes was, well, just a pair of shoes.

At one level, at the lowest price/profit level, there are still merchants stuck in this time warp, continuing to conduct business as if people still bought products.

Today, that cup of coffee comes with more options than a Lexus. Would you care to add vanilla or caramel syrup? A double shot? Foam? Cinnamon sprinkles? Thus the $5 price for the 50-cent cup of coffee. But even that is only half the story. Ordinary products morphing into complex arrays of choices, options, add-ons, brands and luxury brands is one way prices have been inflated and margins inflated even more. The profit margin of the double-shot of extra something or other far exceeds the profit margin of the cup of coffee itself. The designer name bag selling for $11,000 doesn’t cost 100-times more to make than the similar appearing bag sold at Target for $110. This is a path to profit–and to greater acceptance by affluent consumers. But, as I said, it is only half the story.

Starbucks does not define itself as a coffee shop or even more elegantly as a coffee house. They describe themselves as being in the ‘third place business’–home, office, Starbucks in between. They are not merchants just of jazzed up coffee drinks. They are merchants of place, of feelings, of status, and maybe most of all, of experience. Their inspirations are more Disney than Denny’s. One of the many students of the Starbucks phenomenon, Ken Herbst, assistant professor of marketing at Wake Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management makes the obvious point: “If you walked up to someone about to buy a pound of coffee at the grocery store (at about $4 a pound) and tried selling them just a cup for $5, they would tell you that is too expensive. But if you are at the coffeehouse, you are going to pay for the experience.”

This means that price is not tied to product. As soon as you disconnect those two things in your own mind about your own products and services, you are liberated to make a great deal more money and to have much greater success appealing to affluent customers or clients. To be redundant, for emphasis, most business owners are severely handicapped by keeping price and product linked in their own minds. What I call “The Price-Product Link” is as restrictive and antiquated as “The Work-Money Link” that I take apart in my book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction For Entrepreneurs. These links are imaginary. They exist only in your mind, not in the marketplace, yet they are ties that bind as if real, physical, 1,000-pound chains.

The Price-Product Link becomes ingrained religious belief in most business owners beginning with textbook formulas for setting price. Retailers are taught the doctrine of “keystone” pricing, meaning double their own cost. If you buy it for $1, it should be priced at $2, then, at times, discounted from there. In my line of work, direct marketing–what was once called mail-order–we’re also taught formulaic mark-up as doctrine, although ours is 8 times rather than 2 times. In businesses where raw materials are converted to finished products, like printing, there is a plethora of price calculating software to do the thinking for you, using standardized mark-up formulas. In every case, the price is chained to the product. There is the fundament that a particular product is worth only a certain multiple of its cost and not a penny more, period, end of story. Unfortunately, this widely and deeply held belief is completely and utterly stupid.

The two biggest “chain cutters” that de-link price from product are who is buying the product and the context in which the product is presented, priced and delivered.

Who you sell to you what matters. The simple act of selling whatever you sell to more affluent consumers may allow its price to rise, with no other modifications.

Price for the same product also varies by context. This is easy to see with commodity items like food, even though many restaurant owners still never grasp it. When is one-third pound of peanuts not one-third pound of peanuts? In a jar, on the shelf, that’s all they are, unless dusted with Starbucks mocha latte powder and packaged in a fancy tin. But when served hot, from a vendor’s cart in the park, scooped into the bag and sprinkled with cinnamon by a handlebar mustached man in red-white striped jacket and straw hat, with calliope music playing from the CD player in the cart–then they are not peanuts at all. They are an experience that evokes emotional feelings. Even as you read my words, your mind may have flashed to Mary Poppins in the park or a trip to the circus as a child. While it is not so easy for most to transfer this idea to other businesses, it does, in fact, transfer to any business. Context alters or liberates price. Move the exact same product from one context to another and its price can easily be altered.

Dan Kennedy has earned him the moniker “Millionaire Maker” through  his network of consultants, which help more than a million business owners succeed every year. He is the author of the bestselling No B.S. Series and co-author of Uncensored Sales Strategies, available from Entrepreneur Press.

Seven steps to overcoming procrastination

Procrastination isn’t a long term strategy, but sometimes us soloists treat it as though it is! If you’re constantly putting things off that need to be done, then read on for ways to overcome procrastination and get you off the avoidance treadmill.

Procrastination happens to the best of us. And we rationalise our action, or lack of action in this case, in so many ways.

The harsh reality is that procrastination is just a nice way of saying avoidance. Why do we avoid things? Simple – because we don’t enjoy them, or because they take us out of our comfort zone.

So instead of succumbing to the dreaded beast – try these tips for overcoming procrastination:

1. Be honest about why you are avoiding the activity. Is it fear, is it that you don’t get on with someone, is it because you have to deliver bad news and you’re not sure how to go about it?

2. Commit to doing it at a certain time. I usually do the things I’d prefer to avoid in the morning, so they are out of the way.

3. Prepare! If you need to write yourself a script, do it. If you need to have absolute quiet, switch off the phones for a couple of hours. Whatever it takes – set yourself up for success.

4. Just do it!

5. Reward yourself when you are finished – but only when you are finished. I reward myself by going out for coffee afterwards, or taking a break.

6. Appreciate the feeling of getting something done that would normally sit in your in-tray for ages.

7. Consider whether you should actually be doing this job. There are some things that we just aren’t suited to, or that we don’t have the expertise for. If the things you avoid fall into this category, consider outsourcing them to an expert.

What tasks do you tend to put off? Which of the above strategies for overcoming procrastination might work for you?

Enjoy! Emma -

Diva Promotions

Posted by Tom Kulzer (AWeber CEO)

Your web business probably gets product inquiries from potential customers around the globe. Inquiries come via e-mail and your web site, and you try to send information to each hot prospect as quickly as you can. You know that you can drastically increase the likelihood of making a sale by satisfying each person’s need for information quickly!

But, after you’ve delivered that first bit of information to your prospect, do you send him any further information?

If you are like most Internet marketers, you don’t.

When you don’t follow that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp! This is a potential customer who may have been very interested in your products, but who lost your contact information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him.

Often, a prospect will purposely put off making a purchase, to see if you find him important enough to follow up with later. When he doesn’t receive a follow up message from you, he will take his business elsewhere.

Are you losing profits due to inconsistent and ineffective follow up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process – it’s an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.

Consistent follow up gets results!

When I first started marketing and following up with prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the “List Technique.” I had a large database containing the names and e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested information about my products and services. These prospects had already received my first letter by the time they requested more information, so I used the company’s latest news as a follow up piece.

I would write follow up newsletters every now and then, and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had previously requested information from me. While this probably did help me win a few additional orders, it wasn’t a very good follow up method. Why isn’t the “List Technique” very effective?

• The List Technique isn’t consistent. Proponents of the List Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their companies have “big news”.
• List Technique messages don’t give the potential customer any additional information about the product or service in question. He can’t make a more informed buying decision after receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that you’ve just moved your headquarters?
• List Technique messages convey a “big list” mentality to your potential customers. When I used to write follow up messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal message to each individual who wanted to know more about my products.

What follow up method really works?

Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

First, you’ll need to develop your follow up messages. If you’ve been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter. Your second letter marks the beginning of the follow up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this letter with details that you didn’t have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services!

Your next 2-3 follow up messages should be rather short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the contents, and still see the full force of your message.

The next couple of follow up messages should create a sense of urgency in your prospect’s mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to order immediately!

Phrase each of your final 1 or 2 follow up messages in the form of a question. Ask your prospect why he hasn’t yet placed an order? Try to get him to actually respond. Ask if the price is to high, the product isn’t the right color or doesn’t have the right features, or if he is looking for something else entirely. (By this time, it’s unlikely that this person will order from you. However, his feedback can help you modify your follow up letters or products, so that other prospects will order from you.)

The timing of your follow up letters is just as important as their content. You don’t want one prospect to receive a follow up the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while another prospect waits weeks for a follow up!

Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterwards. You want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they can make informed buying decisions!

Send the next 2-3 follow up messages between 1 and 3 days apart. Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and services, as opposed to your competitors’. You will make the sale! 

Send the final follow up messages later on. You certainly don’t want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters are at least 4 days apart.

Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn’t have to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor follow up – don’t you want to be one of the few to get it right?  http://www.aweber.com/?309585

The move was as stressful as you can expect, although a big thanks goes to my friend D, for taking the kids off our hands for quite a while, and also to my sis in law who drove the massive truck down for us! She was the only one with a truck license and it was quite funny to see her tiny frame behind the massive wheel.

I have no internet access at the moment out at the farm where we are staying, so I have to come to mums house to hook me up. Hopefully I will fix that shortly after the new year so please bear with me if you’ve sent me an email and it’s taken a while to respond.

The kids are loving it here and  H can’t wait to start school on 30th Jan.

Keep an eye out in the new year for some new training courses and marketing products to help propel you all into a properous 2009!!

Have a very merry xmas and fantastic new year and wishing you all fun with your families and friends!

Em.

Out of Your Advertising Dollar.

1) What do you want from your advertising? Why are you advertising in the first place? This step is crucial to get right before you undertake any type of advertising or marketing. Ask yourself the following questions. If you answer yes to more than one, then you need to do separate advertising campaigns. More on that later…

• Are you trying to raise awareness of your brand?
• Do you want more clients?
• Are you after more visitors to your website?
• Would you like to increase your database?

2) Know your target market. Who are they? And don’t just say the general public! You may have more than one particular market. Just ensure that you choose only one market per advert. The worst thing you can do is write one advert and try to get everyone in from it.

Your target market can be made up geographically- (i.e. a bakery may look for anyone within a 10klm radius of their shop) or it can be made up demographically (i.e. – new mums, business owners, women, football fanatics etc). You can then narrow that down even more to new mums with girls, or boys; AFL fans, or Rugby Union fans etc. The more you narrow it down, the more targeted your advertising will be.

3) Write your advert. Use the above steps to come up with the first few pieces of your advert. Your headline should capture the attention of your target market. You also need to utilize the headline to tell readers why they need to keep reading. This is called the ‘benefit’. Why should they read your advert? Try some of the following for examples:

• “Attention new Mums- Here’s how to get more sleep”
• “Recent research suggests new mothers are not getting enough sleep”.
• “Find out how to get more sleep now!”
• “Discover how to increase your profits in 1 day!”

4) Include Incredible Offers. Giving something away for free is one of the best offers. It doesn’t have to be a product of yours- try to build relationships with other business owners who share the same target market, but are not competitors. For example: An air conditioner installer may team up with the local air conditioning sales centre, and offer their services to the customers to install them. This way, the installer gets more work, plus the sales centre can offer a value packed bundle for their customer.

5) Include a Call to Action. Ensure you include a call to action and deadline in your offer. People always hate to feel they are missing out on something and the deadline will compel them to act. Utilise some of the following examples:

• ‘Hurry- competition closes next Friday! Email today to ensure you don’t miss out!”
• Visit us before 28th October to claim your Free Gift!
• Bookings close by 24th December- Call us today to ensure your placement!
• Come in to The Plaza on Friday between 8am- 1pm to receive your Free Photo

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO HOO, What a Ride”

What about you? What are your thoughts on this??

I realise it’s not.

Well, it can be, if that’s what you believe in. But what I’m talking about it actually having faith in your beliefs. Having faith in whatever you believe in, and being honest with yourself about it.

I was always quite skeptical of ‘the secret’ when it came out. But I jumped on the bandwagon and got the movie, read the books, downloaded the audios etc, but nothing ever happened. And I realise now, that it’s because I didn’t really believe in what I was telling myself.

I have two stories I want to share with you all. One is about my father – who passed away in May this year. Well it’s a tale of the universe actually, but it concerns him…

For as long as I have been able to drive, or to even be able to look at cars in a admirable way, I’ve wanted a Suzuki Vitara. From the tiny little two door soft tops, right the way through, every time they bring out a new one, I renew my interest in the cars. And I’ve always said to myself, that I was going to have one. I never really thought about how that would happen, but I knew in my heart that I would have one (meaning that I was going to buy one. With what money I had no idea, but I was going to buy one). Anyway, my father recently got sick with an asbestos related illness and was sick for a year before he passed away. During that year, his solicitor put him into the class action suit against Hardies etc. He never saw any of his money, but both him and Mum decided to give me some to buy my new car -  A Suzuki Grand Vitara.

Now, this car will never replace my father, but it’s an example of the universe at work. So be very careful about what you dream about, and what you ask for,  because it can not always come to you in a good way.

The second story has to do with having faith. I believe Dad is around me all the time and truly looking out for me. Because I believe this, I have no problems in taking that step to get me out of my comfort zone and having faith in the decisions I make. An example of this is moving house.  After Dad passed away, we decided to pack up and go back home to the rest of our family, and give our kids the support and love of relatives and family. We had no idea how to get work(it’s a regional centre, so not a lot of work), no idea where we would live, schools for the kids etc. But, we made the decision to go, and low and behold, everything has turned out for the best.

Im amongst this, I decided to set a date for moving house. We still hadn’t sold our house, we didn’t have a place to go to, but I took that risk, believed in my faith, and made it on the 15th Dec 2008.  As of last week, we sold our house and have been able to move in with some family.

So, the motto here is to take that step – believe in yourself, your abilities, whatever it is. But trust yourself. Do it.

Don’t keep saying “when I” because nothing will ever happen. Make the decision first, and then everything will fall into place.

Do you have a similiar story to share?

Most people don’t realise that there are so many new plugins being added every day, and it’s so simple to install them.

So here is the list, and I suggest you visit Robert to get more ideas on how to use these plugins to the max!

WordPress is great right out of the metaphorical box, but there is a wide array of thousands WordPress Plugins out there that will help you leverage the platform and make the most out of it. Here’s a list of the 16 WordPress Plugins that you need to have to get your site ready for prime time and make the most out of it and the information it can feed you.

On to the list!

1. Akismet – Akismet helps protect you from comment spam. Very easy to use and extremely effective. You’ll need to get a free WordPress.com API key to use this.
2. WordPress.com Stats – Since you’ll be getting a WordPress.com API key anyway, go ahead and download this plugin that gives you basic but useful stats in a nicely formatted and easy to read style.
3. All in One SEO Pack – Gives you quick and easy SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your WordPress blog. Re-writes your page titles first, adds in meta keywords and descriptions, allows you to eliminate apparent duplicate content simply and easily.
4. Contact Form ][ -This is a drop-in form that you can use so site visitors can send you messages, as opposed to restricting them to comments on your posts.
5. Executable PHP widget – Sooner or later, you’re going to decide you need to have PHP snippets in your sidebar, and this modification of the standard WordPress text widget will allow just that.
6. FeedBurner FeedSmith – This plugin redirects all your feeds to your FeedBurner Feed so you can track them.
7. FeedBurner StandardStats – Helps you integrate FeedBurner’s StandardStats into your site.
8. Google Analyticator – Enables Google Analytics to log visitors and other critical information. This information is more detailed than some other stats but somewhat unwieldy for daily “how are things?” checking.
9. Google XML Sitemaps – Generates XML sitemaps usable by Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. This is critical to helping drive search engine traffic to your blog.
10. Popularity Contest – Allows you to rank posts by popularity using a configurable score based on type of view.
11. Show Top Commentators – This plugin encourages reader comments by displaying the most active commentators and their linked websites, if given.
12. Simple Tags – All sorts of great options for tagging your posts, managing tags, Related Posts, and more!
13. Subscribe To Comments – Notifies commentators of replies as they are posted so they can continue the discussion.
14. WordPress Database Backup – Backup your database on-demand or via basic scheduling.
15. WordPress Reports – Provides good at a glance stats from Google Analytics and FeedBurner data.
16. WP Super Cache – Enable caching for your blog to help you over the Diggs, Stumbles, and Slashdottings.

These are a list of the basic plugins you’ll need. You’ll notice that several revolve around WordPress.com, Google, and FeedBurner. These sites have a lot to offer and future posts will detail the things you’ll use them for.

Why?

Because it will only effect you if you let it! It’s not bothering me in the slightest. There are so many people out there trying to cash in on all the hype with books, magazines, new software and products designed for your business to ‘beat the recession’.

What nonsense.

New research has shown that people are willing to spend the same if not more on christmas this year. I was out at the shops yesterday and the people who were buying big was amazing. Everywhere you looked, people were buying so many luxury items and there was not a hint of a big bad global recession anywhere.

Just a load of bulldust…

Has it effected you at all?

It originally started with a joomla template, but that didn’t quite work out the way it was supposed to. With my web programmer on a well deserved month’s holiday, it was up to me and my resources to see how to fix it.

What surprised me the most was that no-one wanted to take my money and fix it! They just didn’t want to touch joomla. Some people tried to give me free advice, but the site was way too far gone for that.

I ended up getting a ‘joomla expert’ in the UK to fix one problem, which of course then caused other problems to arise!!

 I gave up a week trying to fix it, and then threw my hands in the air and put my site onto Wordpress. Take a look – http://www.divapromotions.com.au and let me know what you think.

Hats off to Ally from Web Graphics By Email who created the concept design for me. She worked with me tirelessly changing bits and pieces here and there and not complaining at all! http://www.webgraphicsbyemail.com.au Thanks Ally!!!

Please put some comments below about the site, and if there is any fuction that doesn’t quite seem to be working, or if you notice anything out of the ordinary- please tell me!!!

There is a fabulous post over that flying solo website that you must read if you are in business for yourself.

Read the whole article over here: – http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p279478226_How-your-work-impacts-your-self-worth.html

As consumers, we make hundreds of choices each and every day. For those of us who are parents, we make so many more on behalf of our young children. No wonder that by the time it comes to dinner and the question “What are we going to have for dinner” just hangs in the air…

But did you know, that giving your customers too many choices actually inhibits your sales? A 2000 study at Columbia University compared consumer behaviour when faced with a selection of either six or 24 gourmet jams in an upscale grocery store.

Whilst the bigger selection actually stopped people to check it out – 60% vs 40% for the limited selection, the interesting fact was in the actual conversion. Whilst 30% of people who stopped to look at the limited section made a purchase, only 3% that looked at the larger selection actually purchased one.

Let’s run some figures on this - You have 250 people in your store in your jam isle. Of those 250 people, 150 of them stopped to look at your larger selection, whilst 100 of them looked at your smaller section. 30 people actually bought a jam of the limited selection for $5 (example only), which made you sales of $150. Only 5 people bought the same jam from the larger selection, amouting to a mere $25.

Which amount would you rather?? And all for offering less!!

Why does this happen?

According to some further research by Kathleen Vohs at the university of Minnesota, too many choices can sap one’s stamina and ability to stay focused. So rather than making the choice, they throw their arms up and say “I give up!” and walk away. I’ll bet you have done this before – especially in the shops. I know I have!

So how can you choose the right amount of products to offer?

 Well this depends a lot on your industry and your customers. Some good market research would help here. Think though about your customers time. Do they spend time looking over your product? Do they take their time about a decision? Do they absolutely positivitely need your product?

If a leisurely decision can afford to be made, then you should be ok to offer a few more products in your selection. If those people looking to buy your products just want  to grab one and forget about it, then fewer choices is the way to go.

Customer Guidance will always help. Imagine if you were in that grocery store above, and someone walked over to you and asked a couple of questions about your preferences, would you be more inclined to buy – now that your choices have been limited? You bet you will be!

Even if you have an online store and cannot be available to talk to your prospective customers, have a think about this when writing your descriptions of your products. Give them some guidance in the form of : ” If you have children who like to climb and hang of things, then our tear-free range of kids clothes is more for you” (for example!) This also helps to direct your prospective clients around your website, and help your conversion rates.

Read the full post over here.

Have you heard the stories of those people who make thousands of dollars just from one email?

Well it didn’t happen overnight. Email marketing takes time and it takes effort. The whole concept of email marketing is to build a relationship with people who have subscribed to your site. There are a few steps to remember to get it right from day one.

1) Put a subscription box on your website. Now, about 5 or so years ago, offering people a free newsletter was fantastic. Now, it’s a pretty lame offer. People are getting so much junk in their inbox, that they are becoming selective about who they receive emails from. So try something different. Offer people something of real value in exchange for their email address. For example, on Diva Promotions.com.au you will find the opportunity to get a free marketing report. In this report, I give out some fantastic free information. People also get automatically subscribed to my fortnightly publication.

Make sure your subscription box is in the top right hand corner of your website. Studies have proven that this is the best place to get the best reponse.

2) Give value! Now that you have people on your database list – give them some good stuff. Make it worthwhile for them to receive your emails. You are now building a relationship with them for future efforts.

3) Be professional. Use a newsletter system that allows your subscribers to unsubscribe easily at the click of a button. This complies with the spam laws and also builds that trust factor

4) Take the time to build a relationship with your database before you try to sell anything. Give it time for them to get to know, like and trust you. Then when you have successfully done this, they will be ready to purchase from you.

5) Make your emails personal. Again, you are building a relationship. You don’t need to tell them about your marriage, or how your kids are getting into trouble at school, but don’t put up a corporate front. Tell people what you are doing in your business, any seminars you are attending, new products you are working on. Give some of your personality in your emails.

6) send them regularly. Once a month is ok, but weekly is much better. However, don’t just send them weekly if you have nothing to offer. In this situation, remember that quality is much better than quantity. Outsource your email marketing if you need to. Remember, this is a fantastic investment – you are building a relationship with potential buyers.

Email marketing can be complex, but it can also be very rewarding. Remember not to treat it as trying to make a quick buck, but rather than building a long term relationship with your subscribers and they will reward you in time to come.

Enjoy!

You can find more  about email marketing over at http://www.divapromotions.com.au/marketingkit.html plus some other fantastic information about finding your target market, segmenting and plenty of other marketing strategies.

Donna-Marie over the Small Business Diva has the following fantastic post on why market research is so important.

What is Market Research and Why is It Important?

But is this really detrimental? A Neuromarketing study suggests that people are actually more alert during fastforwarding due to the fact that they may miss their show. Interesting facts came from a study of 100 people suggesting that people who fast-forward their ads had a much better recollection of them than those who watched live TV.

However, some other bloggers out there(me included) seem to feel that this is only a last ditch effort from the tv studios to reassure their advertisers that fast-forwarding is actually more beneficial for them! Don’t be surprised if you see prices for the 30sec slot start to rise!!

What do you think? You can Read the entire article here.

Seth Godin has recently put a blog post on “How Much Would You Pay…” He asks the question how much would you pay for a little extra customer service. Would you slip a $50 to the car park valet for some extra service? And, also, would he give it to you? Of course he would.

So how much then, would you spend on your business, ensuring you get the proper tools to give your customers what you need? Read Seth’s post and have a good think about it…

• After distributing a media release, make sure you are contactable at all times on the number/s you have provided on the release. Journalists will only try to contact you once or twice, and if you are not available, will run with another story instead – your opportunity will be lost!

• It is preferable you do not contact the journalist/publications yourself to follow up – leave this to the professionals. You could risk ruining your chances at publicity if handled the wrong way.

• Journalists work to tight deadlines and under a great deal of pressure. Do not come across as aggressive or demanding – always be courteous and helpful if contacted.

• Provide the information they request as quickly as possible, bearing in mind their tight deadlines.

• If you have agreed to offer a media release or story to one particular journalist or publication as an exclusive, don’t contact other publications with the same/similar story. This will just spoil the rapport you are forming.

• Remember that advertising and editorial departments are entirely separate in media outlets, and usually have little or no knowledge of what the other is doing. Therefore, it is pointless to mention to the journalist any advertising dollars you may have spent with the outlet in the past.

• If in doubt about a question/request from a journalist, rather than making something up off the top of your head that may not be accurate, ask them if you can find out and get back to them – then do so ASAP!

• Make sure you have a News Room on your website that journalists can refer to, and ensure it’s kept up to date. For further information, contact Kerry McDuling at Diva Promotions.

Listening to the loud people

Of course you should listen to your customers.

But which ones?

Should you listen to the loud ones, the ones who call the sports radio stations to complain about the pitching, the ones who post websites about your lousy service, the ones who organize nationwide boycotts? Should you listen to the angry ones, the ones with a limited vocabulary (heavy on profanity, short on spelling) who know how to use email and aren’t afraid to use it?

Or, should you listen to the customers that are the most profitable, the most loyal or the most likely to spread word of mouth among the people you want to become your customers?

Here are three common listening mistakes:

1. Believing that your customers are monolithic, that they all want the same thing.
2. Believing that loud customers speak for all customers.
3. Worrying that if you don’t satisfy short-term, loudly articulated needs, you will fail.

There’s an art here, it’s not a science. I’d focus on a few tactics:

• When someone is in pain, recognize it and address it if you can.
• You decide, not your customers, where you want to go. Lead, don’t follow.
• Amplify the voices of the people you care about, those with the most value to you in the long run. Give them a platform and make it easier for them to speak to you and the rest of the market.

And here’s one thing I’d do on a regular basis: Get a video camera or perhaps a copy machine and collect comments and feedback from the people who matter most to your business. Then show those comments to the boss and to your staff and to other customers. Do it regularly. The feedback you expose is the feedback you’ll take to heart.

Check out the first post – http://www.marketing-ideasblog.com/marketing-ideas/marketing-ideas

If you are an individual or a company looking to get involved in social media then you need to be prepared to receive positive feedback and negative feedback.  In my opinion the negative feedback is more important and in fact I would argue that all the feedback you receive is actually positive.  I call it negative feedback because it is portrayed in a critical light, meaning that instead of someone saying how great and amazing you are, someone will tell you that you suck, but the important thing is to find out why.

Positive feedback is easy to give.  Let’s say you release a new widget, next thing you know people are praising you saying your widget is the greatest thing since sliced bread…ya…so?  Sure positive feedback is great, it let’s you know that you are onto something, that you are doing something right.  The positive feedback you get is a good indication that your product or service is satisfying customer needs or wants.  However, you are never going to get 100% positive feedback.  Some of (if not a lot of) the feedback you receive is actually going to be negative, what matters is how you deal with the negative feedback.  Make your negative feedback actionable and turn it into something positive.

Negative feedback is actually positive feedback, stay with me on this one.  Let’s say you create a widget and release it, now instead of praise, people are making voodoo dolls out of you and telling you that your product sucks (ok if they are making voodoo dolls then you probably have a serious problem).  Instead of going into defensive mode, listen to what your users are telling you and make the changes they are requesting.  Look at negative feedback as constructive criticism because that is what it is (minus the voodoo doll).  If people tell you they don’t like something about your product then you know what you need to fix.  If someone tells you that your product or service is buggy, doesn’t work, looks bad, etc. then you know what you need to improve upon, this information is priceless as it shapes your product or service into what it is.    Collectively, your feedback is a giant focus group comprised of users who want to tell you what they think about your product (or you, your brand, your company).  No focus groups is always going to have 100% of the people say they liked the product.

The reason I wanted to address this is because a lot of people are scared to use social media because of the negative feedback they may receive.  I’ll share a little story with you about some negative feedback I received when I first started writing.  During the first month of my blogging I was chastised by a reader who called me out for not editing my posts for grammatical errors.  The criticisms were rather harsh and at first I felt a little upset and defensive, but then I realized that the reader just told me what I needed to fix.  I thanked the reader for his comments and have since tried to be more vigilant of my grammar.  This is just one of the many ways to take a seemingly negative piece of feedback and turn into positive feedback.  I receive comments and emails from readers all the time critiquing my posts or asking me to remove certain aesthetic things, and guess what, I listen and respond to all of them.  Every piece of feedback I receive I consider positive.  The fact that someone is taking the time to interact with me and share their opinion is humbling and I am grateful for every comment or e-mail I get.

How do you respond to the feedback you get?  How have you been able to take a seemingly negative piece of feedback and turn into something positive?

Enjoy.

Old Marketing With New Tools

Remember hand-written thank you notes?

Then they became xeroxed form letters.

And then mail-merged form letters.

And then Amazon order confirmations by email.

We tend to use new tools to do less. We try to save time and money at the same time, and end up depersonalizing and commodifying what we do.

A simple example: cost and speed pressure means that when you get your car serviced, it’s unlikely you’ll be greeted by the mechanic himself, wiping his hands on a greasy rag, telling you exactly what he did to your car. Instead, you’ll get a difficult to decipher printout.

Why not use the technology to give more?

The mechanic can have a simple digital voice recorder. As he works, he can describe each thing he’s testing and what he finds. You can then email the digital file to Iowa, India or Israel, have it typed up and beautifully formatted and waiting for the customer when he returns. How can that not be worth the $1.50 it would cost?

Or have your private school or summer camp record a 7 minute video on every student every month (that’s a seven minute a day commitment per teacher) and post them privately. Seven minutes is the equivalent of a three-page personal letter, with far less resistance on the part of the teacher.

A friend of mine is wrestling with this right now. It’s so so easy to hide behind technology, to use it as a shield, instead of as a clever tool to actually get you closer to the customers you depend on.

Another example: if you have high-value customers, you should never give them a mass Survey Monkey type survey. It’s dehumanizing and it sends exactly the wrong message. Instead, ask them for feedback by email or web form. A few easy toss up questions and then just ask whether they’d recommend you and why.

If you get 200 responses, you ought to care enough to read and reply yourself. If you get 2,000, go hire someone to digest them all and make it easy for you to see the trends.

Inertia is one reason that techniques like these aren’t done often, but the real reason is fear. We use technology to insulate us from our customers instead of bringing us closer.

The basic concept is not about the money, but the process involved to set up a website or blog and to use it and social networking to get indexed with the search engines, and selling an information product.

It’s amazing how much I’ve learnt already about social networking and the instructions given are very clear. I suggest that if you have approx1/2 hour per day to spare, jump online and give it a go. Thirty Day Challenge

The Marketing Mix For Small Business Marketing

All marketing resources will eventually talk about your marketing mix, but what do they mean exactly? Marketing mix is a term that the marketing world tries to hold as a private term that only the industry knows about, but as a small business owner, you need to understand how to plan and implement your marketing mix.

The marketing mix is defined as the four P’s of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. These four areas make up the complete outline for product or service marketing. Once you have defined the variables for each P, you have a basis for proper marketing.

Market research will play a major role in each area of your marketing mix. You must understand what you are competing with in regards to products and pricing. Although you may have a new and unique item with an innovative type of distribution, you still must compare your product or service to existing ones.

Here are the four P’s of your marketing mix for small business marketing.

P #1: Product

The product or service or selling must be defined first. What are you selling? How will it be packaged? Determine your product’s features, and then build the benefits from them. At this point, you will make all of the decisions relating to your product or service: style, quality, packaging, warranty, etc.

P#2: Price

Pricing actually plays a vital role in the branding and image of your product. Determining your price can be difficult, especially if you product is in a widely-variable industry. You must determine pricing strategy, retail and wholesale pricing, possible bundling, and any type of discounts.

P#3: Place

Place refers to how you will distribute the product. Will you sell to retail stores, or will you sell directly to customers? Is your product a wholesale item? The decisions made about distribution will affect your marketing mix in terms of how you will warehouse your products, how you will process orders, what types of channels will you use, and how will you cover the market.

P#4: Promotion

Promotion is the area where you will make decisions on how people will learn about your product. What types of sales strategies and promotions will you use? What kind of sales force will you need to sell your product? How will you use public relations and publicity to support your product? There are many aspects of the promotion element of your marketing mix. In fact, the other three P’s will affect your promotion strategy.

Decide on the first three P’s before you tackle Promotion, but ultimately, each P will coordinate with the others. Once you complete your marketing mix decisions, review the entire plan to make sure you have a consistent and precise marketing mix plan in order to properly sell, distribute, and promote your product.

Nate Stockard is the owner of Stockard & Associates, Inc, a marketing and design firm in Houston, TX specializing in small business solutions. He is also the author of The Market Seedling, an informative source of information, articles, tips, and advice for small business owners and marketers.

Emma Rhoades is the author of the “ Start up Marketing Kit” – marketing basics presented to you in step by step format, allowing you get promoting your business straight away. Drop by www.divapromotions.com.au/marketingkit.asp for your FREE preview.

Using email marketing is a rapidly developing method, allowing you to keep in contact with your customers and helping you to develop your relationship with them. Marketing Consultant Susan Burnash recommends the following guidelines to help you get the most from your email marketing campaign:

Good Planning and Preparation – The best way to prepare for an e-newsletter campaign is to start by creating your own editorial calendar.  Define your theme and topics in advance and then start an e-newsletter file to collect information you may want to include.  Whether it is an electronic file or paper one, you should add content ideas, pictures, industry or business news, event information, or anything that might inspire you and benefit your readers for an upcoming issue.

2.       Proper Brand Communication – The attributes that define your organization should set the tone for your e-newsletter.  Done well, your e-newsletter should be able to communicate your brand through your writing style, voice, logo, colors, fonts and choice of images, and content.  And if you are the brand, don’t forget your picture. Readers like a face to connect with a name. 

3.       Relevant and Valuable Content – Relevancy is the number one ingredient for a successful e-newsletter.  Relevant content can include: How To articles, Case Studies, Client Profiles, Industry or Business Trends, News Stories, Expert Advice.  If it speaks to what your readers want or need to know, you can’t go wrong.  And mix it up!  Write some content yourself, or hire a professional writer, and make sure to include content from, or links to, other experts in your field or business.

4.       Balance Between Text and Images – Using images to support your topic is a good idea, but because many people have images turned off, it is critical that your e-newsletter communicates equally well without them.  To test how your text works alone, turn off your images in your email client and send yourself a sample.  If the text is as effective without the pictures as it is with, it will be effective to all email recipients no matter how they have their email options set.  

5.       Click-Through Opportunities – Because e-newsletters need to be short and easy to read quickly, providing brief articles with “to read more” or “for the complete article” click-through links is a great way to go.  Summarizing or condensing an article serves as a teaser designed to drive readers to your website for a deeper experience.  It also enables you to get valuable click-through information about your customers’ behaviors and interest when you review your tracking reports.       

6.       Reader Engagement – E-newsletters should serve as a springboard for further conversation with your readers and you.  There are many ways to create an interactive relationship.  You should always include a Contact Us link to your email address or an online form that is easy to fill out.  You can also utilize polls and surveys.  All of these show your readers that you are interested in what they have to say and value their input.  But make sure you respond in a timely manner.  If you don’t, you may be hurting yourself more than leaving these items out altogether.  

7.       Tracking and Reporting – Keeping your email database current and monitoring the behavior of your customers are the primary reasons for sending out an e-newsletter on a regular basis.  If you aren’t using email campaign software with tracking capabilities, you are totally missing the boat.  Many of my clients use Constant Contact, My Emma, Blue Sky Factory, or Swiftpage.  All provide self-service options for those that want to manage their campaigns in-house or they can provide full-service options such as creating custom template designs, executing your campaign, managing your database, and reporting out results through campaign tracking.  

No matter how you go about it, you can see that by not using this method you are most definitely missing out!!

Emma Rhoades is the author of the “ Start up Marketing Kit” – marketing basics presented to you in step by step format, allowing you get promoting your business straight away. Drop by www.divapromotions.com.au/marketingkit.asp for your FREE preview.

Very happy and pleased with myself!

The awards will be presented on Monday 18th August at Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

I’ll most definitely keep you all updated on how I go!!

Not only does it have very active forums, you can create your very own page that details who you are and how you can help. Everything is linked back to this page so people can check you out, visit your site and contact you.

The social networking buzz is taking off more now in Australia and Business Women Unite is just one way to get your business noticed.

Join today – it’s completely free!!

Emma Rhoades

Diva Promotions

But I’m back and I want to share with you some of the low cost marketing strategies that are making a huge impact today.

I’m going to share these with you one at a time so you can go and do some extra research on them.

The first is article marketing. This is one of my favourite marketing techniques. Purely because it’s free and it gives such an impact to the reader. It positions you as an expert in your field.

And to potential clients – this is incredibly important. Would you go to someone who is an expert, or someone who is mediocre for your services? And how best to establish this expert status? By being written about.

When you write articles, you write them not about your business, but about a particular topic. For example, I am going to write an article on low cost marketing strategies and creating action plans. I’m not going to mention anywhere that I actually can create a personalised action plan for you as this is deemed advertising.

Instead, I’m going to give you so much good, useful information that you can use right now in your business that you are going to come back to me and my site when you want more info.

Think about it.

If you read an article in a business magazine for example. How many times have you read that and thought – “wow, that was so helpful” and then visited that persons website.

And the good thing is, is that you can write that article!!

I know – I’ve done it! I’ve been published in a few different magazines from articles that I’ve written. And I don’t have any formal knowledge in writing articles.

It’s easy, it’s cheap and you’re missing out on a lot of business if you don’t start exploring the concept of article marketing.

Until next time,

Emma.

 Marketing Strategies – www.divapromotions.com.au

They are currently running a competition where you can win $10,000 worth of business coaching! It’s for small business and soho business so go along and check it out. It’s free to enter and you just need to answer 3 quick questions.

It’s sponsored by Optus, so you will end up on their mailing list, but you never know – you just might win!!

So go along, nominate your business and then vote for your own business plus others. The popularity vote also plays a part in winning.

Good luck!!

Emma Rhoades,

Diva Promotions – www.divapromotions.com.au

P.S – whilst you are there, give Diva Promotions a vote!!

 Nowadays, Social networking sites popularity is increasing day by day like facebook, myspace, orkut, digg etc…., we can say social networking is one of the best and free ways for increase traffic on our site. Social networking is important in blogging and if you can’t do social networking then it’s a rare chance that you’ll be successful in blogging. Leaving comments and trackbacks is part of social networking. Apart from that is part of one of the popular Social news networks.

(1). Increase traffic through Friends
Friends are the heart of the social networking attitude, and when promoting content this can be a valuable tool in viral marketing. The more friends you have in your network, the more visibility you will have when promoting.
(2). Increase traffic through Blogs
Blogs are one more great way to spread the word, most blogs allow you to post nameless comments. I use these blogs to post a comment then I include a link to one of my sites. I achieve a free back link for simply commenting on a story.
(3). Increase traffic through Picture Perfect
You may not understand it, but by passing on uploading your picture, you are also passing on an opportunity to get more people clicking on your articles. Why? Well, for one, it is known that spammers never take the time to upload a picture. Second, it is called ’social’ networking and ’social’ bookmarking sites. If you are trying to be ’social’ then you should put a face to your name.

(4). Increase traffic through Profile Pages
If you are a keen online social network’s, you will have a pimped out profile page. Here are a few examples of how you can increase visibility to your content. On my profile pages at myspace.com, digg.com, linkedin.com, stumbledupon.com and yahoo.com I have links to all my social network profiles & personal projects. This does 2 things; increases my link back total to my projects and shifts visitors to my other profile pages so I get more friends! to promote your RSS feeds via your profile pages, the service displays recent RSS activity and the service is free. Another service you find interesting is myspacestats.net myspacestats.net, a service that tracks and stores your social networking traffic. The service simply puts an image on your profile and counts the total amount of visitors per day, month and year.

(5). Increase traffic through bulletin
Bulletins use your friends list, basically the more friends you have the more views your bulletins receive. Common sense! Some people use bulletins way to much and if I grasp these spammers they get deleted ASAP. So my advice is to use this angle a few times a month and keep them simple, this raw move toward keeps the bulletins friendly and not to over bearing.

(6). Increase traffic through Content
Nothing is more important than content. If you are a good writer and you write about interesting topics, you are going to do well on the social networking sites. People seem to like top 10 lists, top 20 lists, etc. I suggest that you look at digg.com to see what gets the most diggs. I have failed multiple times on getting a post digged or stumbled, even when I thought that it was the best article ever. You don’t always win.

(7) Increase traffic through clipart and screensavers
If you have some skills in this direction then try creating clipart and screensavers. Offering these for free is also a good way to get more traffic.

Finally, make sure that you are part of a few of the more popular social networking websites. These memberships will be only destined to build your own network and not of overt marketing. As your social network grows you can invite your contacts to join you on the social networking website. This should start a sequence reaction that will get them inviting their own contacts and so on. Finally your network will grow to a point where it becomes truly helpful.

Written by Cindy Battye
http://www.trafficbunnies.com
http://www.nettrafficchat.com

http://www.trafficbunnies.com
http://www.nettrafficchat.com

Article Source: http://www.therepozitory.com.au

I’ve submitted my entry form which was a mammoth task!

I’ll ensure that I keep you updated of my progress!

Wish me luck!

placed an advert showcasing your website, with the intention of getting more subscribers, only to find that you received some visitors, but very little subscriptions to your database?

If you’re still reading, them I’m guessing quite a few times!

Getting people to sign up to your database sounds pretty easy, but it’s not. You need to give them some valuable incentives for them to give you their name and email address.

The following article will show you how to get maximum subscriptions for your visitors.

Did you know that only about 1% of people will purchase on their first visit to your site?

So this means that approx 99% of your visitors will look, and then click away.

You need to get their details on this first visit so that you can remind them later on what you can offer them.

It takes the average person approx 9 times of viewing your business before they will act and purchase. This is where building a database is critical to the success of your business.

Firstly, you are going to need a capture device on your website. This is an incentive that will ‘capture’ the details of your visitors.

Incentives usually come in the form of eBooks, or Mini E-Courses, or competitions.

Some people still use the words “sign up for my newsletter”

Ask yourself this – why would you sign up to someone’s newsletter? What incentive does it give?

However, look at this sentance in comparison – “ Find out how you can make an extra $200 per month with this FREE EBook!”

Which one are you going to give your email address to???

Using Competitions

Competitions are a fantastic way of increasing your database. Most people though believe that they have to actually give one of their products away, or provide the prize themselves.

Not so.

Why not form an alliance with another complimentary business owner, and give something of theirs away? They will gain some extra exposure from your site, and you get a free prize.

Make sure the value of the prize is relevant to the exposure they will receive.

Then promote your competition everywhere and watch your database flourish!

Making the most of EBooks

eBooks can be hard to put together, however if you can write a simple article, then you can put together an eBook.

Make the topic interesting and the information valuable. If the visitor can sense value, they will have no hesitation in passing over their name and email address.

Your headline and incentive must be clear and exciting for the visitor.

Something like “ See how you can work extra hard and earn $200 per month extra” is not going to cut it.

Try something like:” Would an extra $200 per month be useful to you? FREE info on how you can earn just that!” This entices your visitors to give their details.

Then ensure you actually tell them how they can earn that $200 per month. Tell them in detail, and give them value.

Mini E-Courses for database building

A Mini E-Course is like an eBook, however the information is delivered via email, in successive days.

You will need to set up an autoresponder system, such as aweber.com

Again, your headline needs to entice people to give their name and email address in return for a e-course on how to make an extra $200 per month.

These are ideal if you want to sell an information product – you can give tidbits of information from your product, and tell them they can skip ahead in the course by purchasing the full product.

Once you start to use capture devices all over your website, you will see a massive increase in your database.  How can people resist free information that is going to help them?

I have at least 3 capture devices on my home page of my website – and all 3 generate new people on my database.

I also recently created a mini E- Course and the growth to my database has doubled! It was so easy to create – I already had the information in my head, it was a matter of putting it down into some emails!

Start writing down some pointers today, ready to turn them into an eBook or simple mini E-Course.

Or better still, contact some other business owners whose products are complimentary to yours and see if they want to join you in a promotion. You can bet that most will!

Emma Rhoades is the author of the “ Start up Marketing Kit” – marketing basics presented to you in step by step format, allowing you get promoting your business straight away. Drop by www.divapromotions.com.au/marketingkit.asp for your FREE preview.

There’s nothing that comes close to its power in online marketing.

In fact, many of the most critical elements of eBusiness are tied to it: joint ventures, newsletter publishing, automated follow-up, article distribution, free reports, autoresponder messages and eCourses, networking… the list could go on and on.

Of course, I am referring to EMAIL MARKETING. It is impossible to be successful online without some form of marketing via email.

Nothing else can boost your business like a good list and an understanding of how to use it.

You can *literally* send a mailing in the morning and earn several thousand dollars by the end of the day with email marketing.

What I want to share with you in today’s lesson is how to increase your email marketing leads, sales and profits. So, let’s get at it…

–> Develop an attention-grabbing subject line.

Russell Crowe would have never won an Academy Award for Gladiator if no one had watched the movie. Britney Spears wouldn’t have gone quadruple platinum with her latest CD if no one listened to her music.

And you ain’t gonna earn a single penny in profits from your email marketing if folks don’t read the message you send.

It’s one thing to send an email out to 50,000 prospects, it’s another thing to get any of them to read it.

And whether or not you need to start writing your Oscar acceptance speech depends upon how well you craft the “subject” line of your email promotion message.

There are three keys to writing subject lines that are so compelling that the recipient is practically forced to click and open your email.

1. Personal. There is something both attention-grabbing and exciting about seeing your name in the subject line of an email.

For one thing, we just love to see our own names. Nothing grabs our attention quicker than something that is specifically about us or for us.

And, for another, personalization *typically* means it isn’t SPAM. While some spammers do have access to databases with our names, for the most part their lists are built by harvesting emails.

So, when we see our name in the subject line, we immediately are drawn to it…

“Jimmy, here is the information you requested”
“Jimmy, I’d like to give you a free copy”
“Jimmy, did you forget about this?”

Almost every good autoresponder or email distribution system will have a “personalization” feature that will allow you to automatically insert your prospect’s name into your email messages when sending your mailings. It works like this…

A. Person joins your list through a subscription form, which captures their name and email address.

B. You insert a predetermined code (like ) that your autoresponder or mailing system provides you, into the email message.

C. The system automatically converts that tag into the actual recipient’s name before delivering the email.

Voila – you’ve got personalized emails. You can generally use these personalization features in both your SUBJECT line of the email and the BODY of the actual email message itself.

An additional attention-grabbing feature to the ‘ol subject line is to TARGET your audience. Of course, you will *always* want to send your emails to a targeted audience. I.E. Don’t send your Wrestling email to a homemakers’ list. )

For example: I recently sent a mailing out to a smaller list I have of folks who are interested in reprint rights to products. I had made reprint rights available to my new product, and I wanted to let them know about the licenses. Here are some sample subject lines that I might have used…

“New reprint rights released today…”
“Reprint rights are available…”
“Sell this new product and keep every penny”

You may receive 500 emails a day, but if you are interested in reprint rights (and you would be, or you wouldn’t be on that list) then this particular subject line is going to stand out when you download your emails.

When you combine personalization AND targeted audience, then you have a very compelling subject line…

“Jimmy, new reprint rights released today…”
“Jimmy, reprint rights are available…”
“Jimmy, sell this new product and keep every penny”

That’s an email I’ll read every time. )

2. Powerful. Another key to writing an email subject line that entices the reader to take a look at your message is to use “power words.”

A “power word” is a word that appeals to the senses. It’s been shown over and over that we do not buy based on logic, but rather on emotion. Email marketing works on that same premise.

A few “power words” include: Free, New, Exclusive, Amazing, Fast, Results, Guaranteed, Unlimited, Step-by-Step, Overnight, etc.

Etc. means “and so on.” Don’t put “etc.” in your subject line. That’s not a power word. )

“Power words” are strong motivators for reading further. Why? Because they trigger our emotions. They create curiosity. They are compelling.

So, use them.

— Sidebar —

Since I’ve mentioned something you SHOULD include in your subject line, let me also mention something that you SHOULD NOT use.

Avoid two things like you avoid an angry rattlesnake… hype and in-your-face symbols.

Don’t make outlandish claims like “Earn $50,000 overnight.” If it isn’t believable, then folks will simply delete your email without ever reading it.

And for goodness sake, don’t use “in-your-face” symbols!!!!!!! No one reads *****URGENT******* or (((((Read Now))))) or
@@@Newsflash@@@

Kind of gets the same response as that obnoxious alarm clock at five in the morning.

In other words, it’s a turn off! )

— End of Sidebar —

Another “type” of power words is a DEADLINE: 24 hours only, next 3 days, only 5 will be accepted, the first 10, etc.

Power words, especially the word “FREE” are particularly effective in getting people to read your email. Combine a power word with a deadline and you’ve got a winner.

3. Promising. The third key is to present a desirable result. Your subject line must make a promise. It must inform the reader, in that split-second that they view it, that there is something that awaits them if they read your email.

And that something must be desirable. It must be something that the reader does not want to miss out on. It must appeal to the emotions and pull the reader to the edge of their seat like they were waiting for the climax of a really good movie.

Your subject line should create expectation.

Understand this: folks don’t buy products because they want your product… they buy products because they want the result of your product. We buy exercise equipment because we want to look good. We buy candy bars because we like the taste. And we visit the dentist because we ate too many candy bars. )

We revolve around results. We work because we want the paycheck. We drive our vehicles because we want to get somewhere. We play golf because we enjoy it. We are a results-driven society.

By creating an email subject line that promises results you create expectation. Look at the difference between these two subject lines…

“Free 7-day eCourse released today…”
“Free 7-day eCourse you can obtain in 5 minutes…”

Both have a power word. Both are fairly interesting. But…

…which one creates expectation? The second one makes a promise… I can have it in 5 minutes!

This is one of the biggest keys in email marketing, and yet is often overlooked. It amazes me how many ezine publishers, for example, have this subject line…

“Bob’s Newsletter, Issue 212″

Whew, hold me back. I can’t wait to read that. )

Sure, some folks will read it anyway — especially if you have a loyal readership who knows your stuff is first rate.

But, I don’t care WHO you are, you will ALWAYS have better results with a subject line that creates expectation.

You can apply these three keys, “Personal, Powerful and Promising” to any form of email marketing you use… autoresponders, newsletters, free reports, solo mailings, joint venture offers, virtually anything to do with email marketing.

Get this right and it will be time to start working on the ‘ol Academy Awards acceptance speech for your Best Email Oscar. )

Are you ready to learn more from Jimmy D. Brown how to get your subscribers to open, read and act upon the messages you send them? Then grab your copy of Subject Line Secrets today at http://www.SubjectLineSecrets.com Not only will you find out which words trigger your readers to click on your emails, you will also get 20 proven templates you can start using right away.

Are you a “traffic juggler”?

That is, do you attempt to get traffic to your site by doing all kinds of activities ranging from SEO to PPC
listings to buying solo mailings?

In other words, do you “juggle” your traffic generation activities like multi-colored balls – never holding on to one for very long and always moving on to the next one?

As a recovering “traffic juggler” myself, I can tell you this with great certainty … you and I aren’t alone.

Sadly, most internet marketers wear the same hat. They complicate things by trying every new traffic strategy, buying ever new traffic tool and joining every new traffic program.

It doesn’t need to be that way.

In fact, what I want to suggest to you in this article will make your life a whole lot easier, and, as a direct result, will actually get more traffic to your site than ever before.

Brace yourself for a life-changing statement –

** If you have your own product to sell online, you only need to focus on ONE traffic strategy! **

Yep, you read that correctly.

Instead of trying to do a gazillion things, there is a very simple, very effective approach: focus on the ONE thing that really matters, the ONE thing that produces the greatest results, the ONE thing that will get you all the traffic you’ll ever need.

And that ONE thing is to…

** Start, Strengthen and Spread Your Own Affiliate Program*

Let’s look at that statement in 3 steps for simplicity purposes…

Step 1: *START* Your Affiliate Program.

There is one major reason why you need to start your own affiliate program that stands head and shoulders above the rest: every traffic generation concept (past, present and future) can be done FOR YOU, BY OTHERS if you have your own affiliate program in place.

Let that sink in. Chew on that for a while. It’s such a paradigm shift that most people don’t even realize the tidal-wave-like power behind the concept.

Instead of you working with PPC ads and you working on the SEO stuff and you buying the solo mailings, you can get others to do this FOR YOU as a member of your affiliate program.

So, to begin with, you need to start your own affiliate program. A great place to do this is Clickbank.com.

Step 2: *STRENGTHEN* Your Affiliate Program.

After establishing your affiliate program, it’s important to “strengthen” it. That is, you will need to train your affiliates to do all of the marketing for you. You’ll also need to provide them with marketing materials such as brandable PDF reports, articles, advertisements, banners, etc.

But, let’s take this another step.

Instead of loading some marketing and training materials to your affiliate center and leaving it up to your affiliates to figure out how to use them, why not point out how to use them?

Example: List 10 great newsletters where they can purchase solo mailings to promote your offer. Put something in there for every budget. (What a nice treat it will be when one of your aggressive affiliates purchases a $500 solo mailing to promote your offer!)

You’ll be SHOCKED to see what this one additional step can mean to your bottom line.

But, you could take it even another step further.

How about offering to personally train 10 affiliates in how best to promote your offer? You could teach one how to use ezine advertising; another how to buy PPC ads in numerous engines; still another how to distribute ezine articles.

(Here’s an idea: how about you purchase a copy of the latest traffic tool or manual for one of your affiliates and get them involved in using it to promote you?!)

Can you imagine the impact?

Step 3: *SPREAD* Your Affiliate Program.

Finally, you want to continue growing your program by recruiting more and more affiliates. As your numbers grow, so will your results.

The bottom line is simple: instead of “juggling” a bunch of different traffic ideas, a much more effective use of your time is to focus on ONE source of traffic: your own affiliate program.

Juggling is great for clowns, but lousy for internet marketers.

Don’t be a clown when it comes to your business.

Jimmy D. Brown is the author of Sales Army Secrets, the most comprehensive, creative product available on the subject of profiting from your own affiliate program.

Get a free mini-course at http://www.SalesArmySecrets.com

By Yanik Silver
www.SurefireMarketing.com

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Advertising is expensive. And it costs you the same amount of money to run an ad (or mail a letter) that brings in 2 customers as one that drives in 20 customers. So that difference is in your ad (or letter).

Let’s say you’ve come up with what you think is a good ad (powerful headline, good offer, sizzling copy, etc.), now you’re ready to test.

Testing will help you:

1. Save yourself a bunch of money.

2. Improve any results you’re currently getting.

3. Stop guessing about what works.

I’d say those are some pretty good reasons to learn all about testing and how to apply it to your business. So before spending loads of money on your new ad you can (and should) do a few low-cost/no-cost tests:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Sleep On It Test
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

First, you should let your ad sit for at least a day. Then the next day you can come back to it with new eyes and a fresher perspective. You can find errors that weren’t apparent before. Also, your chances of writing a good ad are significantly improved with rewriting. (I will rewrite an ad or letter 3, 4 or 5 times before I’m done.)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Reading Aloud Test
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I don’t know what it is about reading something aloud versus reading to yourself, but you’ll pick up lots and lots of insight into how good (or bad) your ad really is by reading it aloud. All the bumps and rough spots jump out at you.

Or a variation on this is to have someone else read it you. This is even better. As they’re reading it, you should take out a copy of the ad and make notes on it. One big advantage of this is your reader is completely impartial. They won’t stress certain phrases or words to make the meaning clearer. And if the reader is having trouble you know that’s an area to edit.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Sneaky Opinion Test
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This test is really great. Take your ad off your printer and make a photocopy of it. Then go around to a few people who should be in your target market and say something like, “Take a look at this, I just found this in a magazine.” Key point: Do not tell people you wrote the ad because they’ll say how nice it is.

You’re gauging their response. If they say something like “Did you write this?” or “This is really good.” What that really means is your ad stinks.

But if you start hearing “Do you know how I can get this done?” or “Do you do this?” then you know you’re on to something good and ready to spend money on your test.

Opinions are great, but the only votes that really count are the ones that are paid for. The first thing you *don’t* want to do is call every newspaper, magazine, throw-away, etc. You need to start by testing small. And that means spending as little as possible to get accurate results.

=-=-=-=-=-=-
Test Small
=-=-=-=-=-=-

Joe Sugarman (He sold millions of Blu-blocker sunglasses) tells how he would test all his ads in the Southwestern edition of the Wall Street Journal. Because this was the cheapest and smallest edition of the Journal to test.

That way he was able to read results quickly and then decide whether or not to ‘roll-out’ to other editions. So how can you apply this information to your business?

Easy.

Let’s say you’ve been running ads in your local paper. Well, usually newspapers have zoned editions based on postal codes. So instead of paying for your ad to appear in the entire circulation, you simply put it in one of the cheapest and most representative zones available.

And by tracking the response (using a specific phone#, person, extension#, etc.) you can safely predict what results you’ll get once you go out to the entire circulation.

One more point: It’s better to run your test ad in a daily paper instead of a monthly magazine. Simply because you can ascertain information more quickly.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Don’t Fall For Your Ad Rep’s Traps
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

You cannot multiply zero. That means if there is no life in your ad — kill it before it drains more money and time from you.

Don’t listen to your media rep’s b.s. about repetition and getting discounts for multiple insertions. Remember, these guys have no clue about how to create advertising that works. If they did, they’d be running ads in their own magazines and making tons of money.

Infomercial marketers realize this point. Imagine spending $100,000.00 to produce one single 30 minute spot and then buying $400 – $1,000 in media to test it out. That’s whatbinfomercial companies do.

They know if the phones aren’t ringing after a couple of TV spots — they’re definitely not going to ring if they throw tens of thousands of dollars in media at it, either.

Follow these tips and you’ll be able to save a lot of money plus increase response. Just test until you come up with a winner and then keep running it!

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

==========================================================
Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on
creating automatic, moneymaking websites…and he still
doesn’t know how to put up a website.

He is the author, co-author or creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, which can be
found at http://www.SurefireMarketing.com/?52513
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Firstly – what is a database? A database is where you store all of your clients names, emails and details and also your potential clients. This is where you put your leads’ information so that you can contact them later.

You use your database to collect details of your website visitors. Generally people need to see your business or your products 5-7 times before they will act upon buying. Most of the time, people will not buy off your site on the first visit. So your main purpose of your website should actually be to capture these visitors’ details so that you can email them later with specials, great offers etc.

How do you do that? You use capture devices. A capture device is normally in the form of an ebook, or competition and people still to this day use “sign up for my newsletter” (why would I want to do that???) make your capture device exciting – let potential visitors know that you have something free to give them if they just enter their first name and email address in this little box…

Hey presto – you have a database!

Then you can use your marketing efforts to contact these people again to convert them from leads to sales!

More information on capture devices in the brand new Start Up Marketing Kit – Get yours today!.

Are you faced with lack of qualified prospects?

Emma Rhoades
Diva Promotions
t:1300 76 36 76
e: admin@divapromotions.com.au
w: www.divapromotions.com.au

Just Launched…. “Start up Marketing Kit“…. All of your marketing resources and tools in the one kit!

You will see the elements in this contain my name, my Business name, my phone, web and email contact details. This is so the reader has quick access to contact me if they need to clarify something in the email itself. Ensure you put clear contact details in your signature.

You will also see a small ‘tag line’ at the end of the signature. This helps to inform potential clients about new services they might not yet know about. It also provides a link back to my website therefore increasing visitors.

Using an email signature helps to build brand awarness and promotes brand recognition and reinforcement. It also helps to convey a professional image for your business.

Whether or not to use html or plain text is a common question and is best answered by you thinking about the receiver of your emails. Are they tech savvy? Do they microsoft outlook, or web based email? Often going plain text is the safest, however the most boring option! Try both and send a few emails and get some feedback as to how it’s being received.

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

Well, no longer with the New Diva Promotions Start Up Marketing Kit!

Find out how to:

• Gain new ideas for free/low cost marketing which will help to grow your business whilst keeping your overheads tiny – which will get you in front of your competition!
• Understand the benefits of building strategic alliances, and how using this strategy can keep you in the loop in the business community, so you are always first to know of new opportunities!
• Realise how to track and monitor your advertising and marketing strategies, so you can chuck out what’s not working and keep those initiatives that are, allowing you to keep those extra profits!
• No longer be frustrated at how complicated marketing is! You can follow a step by step system that will allow you to build your foundation as you move through the marketing concepts

Available at an introductory price of only $27!!!

Click on the image to go and order now!

Happy Marketing!!

How can you protect your identity and that of your business when moving into this marketing medium?

1) Always be suspicious! Before giving away some personal details, ask yourself why they need it. Do some more digging.

2) Always remember your password! Don’t write it down online anywhere, or keep it near any other related documents. Make your password something you can remember and always destroy emails containing passwords – or change them asap.

3) Don’t put personal information on the web. Simple really. What is the first question a business will ask you if you have lost your password? You can bet it’s one of: Mothers maiden name, birthday, street address, dogs name. If you have this info anywhere online, all a fraudster needs to do is click on one of those “Forgotten your password?” links.

4) Don’t put anything up that you wouldn’t want your grandmother seeing. I remember a story about a teacher who put a photo up of her drinking. This action got her fired from her job. Why? Because her employer saw it, and she was only a student teacher at the time, and underage. A prospective business owner will more than likely check out to see if you have a facebook or myspace profile before working with you, so keep it professional.

5) Remember this golden rule – if someone walked up to you in the street and asked you for your street address, would you give it? If someone asked you to walk behind a building because they have some fantastic wares selling cheaply, would you go? Use this same commensense when it comes to online networks.

6) Don’t put it up, thinking you can always take it down. Search engines cache a page, and someone might have already seen it, and pasted it around the net for others. Best bet – just don’t put it up.

Have fun venturing into the world of Social Media, and just remember to use your commonsense!!

Joan Stewart is the Publicity Hound, and is now the resident PR expert on Entrepreneur.com. She also a former newspaper editor and a small business owner, so she knows her stuff!

How to create a Media Plan is an 8 part course that will teach you all about a 12 month media plan, blogging, podcasting, how to manipulate story ideas, using social media to spread your message, targeting TV & Radio, how to follow up plus the most amazing tips on what to do and what not to do!

If you are really serious about doing your own PR and publicity – then this course is just what you have been waiting for – plus, you can do it from your own home!! Check out the rave reviews!

Plus, there are so many other ebooks on the Publicity Hound – take the time to read through the tips and sign up for the weekly publicity tips.

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

If you’ve not heard of a Mums Night Out yet, let me introduce you to it. Run by Amanda (aka Mad Cow) from Real Mums, the night is soley for mums to go out and have a good time – kid free!

This latest event is in support of the Womens Domestic Violence Crisis Service and you can find the information on it here.

Want to know more about Real Mums? Visit ther site today to mix with other mums who are more than real -they’re amazing!

Our winner was Rachel Quilty from Jump the Q. Congratulations Rachel – you’ve just won 80 “Diva Dollars” to spend anywhere on the site!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

You can take a look at it at www.divapromotions.com.au/essentialbusinessguide.pdf

A big thankyou goes to the contributers and the distributers of the guide. You can find a copy at:

www.freebusinesstips.com.au

www.mumsinbusiness.net

www.jacaranda-business-support.com

www.beautybanquet.com.au

www.themessydesk.com.au

For those who aren’t aware of the guide and what it is: It’s a business start up guide, full of articles and advice from those who have walked the start up path and survived. They are sharing their knowledge and secrets with you and best of all – it’s FREE! So grab a copy today!

Thanks again for the help given to me by Alison Basson-Mums in business, Donna-Marie Coggins – Jacaranda Business Support and Beverley Neil- D’Scriptive Words. I will forever be grateful for your time and your help!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

On the downside though, I didn’t back up my previous blog before beginning. (lesson learnt). As such, we have lost a few posts about building strategic alliances, sales letters and writing proposals.

 Not to worry though, I will be updating with more good stuff as time rolls on!!

And, I have to confess, a change is coming to Diva Promotions with some fantastic new products and services so make sure you keep coming back and checking this blog or our facebook group for more info!

Diva Promotions- for Women in Business.

 Facebook is a social networking tool that can be used to help build your business. There are many different paid advertising avenues with facebook, however none more important than building an expert status, plus some great google love!! And, this is free!

Simply come along, join the group, post a link back to your URL!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

 Congratulations to Vicki from Bubble Bubs!! Vicki has won 120 personalied choc bite bars, valued at $75. Courtesy of Lisa at Moments in Chocolate.

Celebrate your special moments with Personalised Chocolate Bars.Our lives are full of moments. Moments bring us joy. Moments can forever remain memories. Celebrate all of them.

Wedding coming up? Birthday party perhaps?
Maybe you want to promote your Business?
Or send out a chocolate Birth Annoucement?
Whatever the occasion, Moments in Chocolate have something available for you.

Congratulations Vicki and enjoy!!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

Melinda Dunlop from Virtual Sanity!

Melinda won a Mums in Business Membership, and was told on her birthday!!

Yes, at Diva Promotions, we know how to keep our visitors happy!!!:)

 Stay tuned for a new competition winner to be announced shortly!

And many of us have our own way of managing, coping, whatever you want to call it! We all have different aged kids and some are at school, whilst others are still babies.

So how do we do it? I must admit, not very elegantly!!! I know sometimes my washing sits on the futon waiting to be folded for a day or two (sometimes 3- eek!!) and the kids just come out take some clothes and go.  But I justify this with ” I’m busy making money!!”

Then it’s the TV- yes unfortunately, I use this contraption way too much.  But how I love Playschool….

At the moment, my kids go to kindy for 2 days a week and it is in this time that I get the bulk of my work done. It’s my quiet time to research and plan my business. The other days I just work in my business, answering emails, writing invoices, organising advertising etc.

It can be challenging at times, when you have a business to run, kids to feed, clothes to wash, floors to clean, hubby that needs attention and don’t forget the dog!!

I have one word that I am growing very fond of…

…outsourcing…

So, how do you do it??

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

So if you are finding the same kind of feelings, here is a quick few tips to help get you going again and make this new year fantastic!

1) Get your desk and office organised. Clean up and clear all the clutter off your desk. Do all the filing that has been sitting waiting and give your computer a good clean.

2) clean up your emails. If you are anything like me, I like to hoard all emails in case I need them again!! Get rid of them! Start from the bottom of your email list and work through them- deleting those that you really don’t need and following up on any business leads sitting there. It’s a good excuse to touch base again and say happy new year!!

3) Get your invoices in order. Pay any outstanding debts, and clear up any to-do’s left in your accounting. This will help keep your accounts nice and tidy and make handling your money a lot easier this year.

4) Join some business networks. Take a look around and start posting on forums. Other peoples motivation can help give you a kick along!

5) Write down some goals. Write down what you want to achieve this year and then come back and fill out the ‘how’ of your goal list. Once you get the goals down on paper, the job is much easier!

Start now!!!

All the best,

Emma.

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

 Apparently the figure has grown, but is still only 30%! 

And the statistic incorporates those who have a ‘web presence’- either their own website, or listed on someone elses.

That shows that there are still so many businesses out there who are not on the web as yet. Considering the growth of the internet, and the many capalibities for communication, this spells disaster for business growth!!

I wonder when they will start to realise the potential of the internet and what it can do for their business. For those of us who have an online business, now is the time to shine and charge forward, leaping in bounds ahead of these other businesses who somehow refuse to embrace todays technology!

All the best,

Emma.

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

No wonder we have such an obesity epidemic!!

The top 10 were listed in this order:

1) 7-eleven

2) Subway

3) Dunkin’ Donuts

4) Pizza Hut

5) McDonalds

6) Sonic Drive in Restaurants( ??)

7) KFC
Intercontinental Hotels Group

9) Dominos Pizza

10) RE/MAX ( real estate)

I was actually suprised that there are no cyber business in there, or no health related business.  Let’s keep an eye on this and see what comes about at the end of 2008!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

The office will be closed from Friday 21st through to Monday 7th January, however emails will still be checked at times.

It’s been fantastic working you all this year and I look forward to doing so again in the New Year!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

This is not the first feedback like this that we’ve had in regards to our birth.com.au campaign. There have been at least two other businesses that have experienced positive results from this campaign.

Congratulations Kelly and I hope the New Year brings lots more business and growth to you!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

Christmas is just around the corner, and we can’t wait!! Business has died down a little and it seems that people have been on holidays whilst at work for well over a week now!! I seem to get the lazy email response, and the no-one in the office when I call response….

It appears that we wait all year just so we can slack off at work and have an excuse!! Well, not entirely at Diva Promotions……

We’ve unfortunately had to say no to a couple of clients this year and one more recently who offered us a very outstanding opportunity to really propel Diva Promotions into the New Year. Why did we say no??

A few reasons- the first is due to the new services that we will be offering in the new year. We are just finalising the research now and will have some exciting news after the holiday break.

The second was due to time. What we were asked to do was terribly time consuming and it meant then that we wouldn’t have the time necessary to see through the growth stages of the above services we will be rolling out.

The third was a combintion of the above- we are just not ready, growth wise yet to take on such projects. So, how do we get ready???

By taking on an employeee(or contractor). Wow!! Big things! But we recognise an area that needs to be fulfilled and it’s incredibly frustrating that we are just not quite there yet.

All I can say is bring on 2008!! Diva Promotions is dusting off the wings (or maybe getting ready to attach some!) and about to fly sky high and I can’t wait!!!

 Have a fantastic holiday to all!!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

As for Diva Promotions, well I’ve been madly working in the evenings to get my new services up and running for the new year as well. I won’t elaborate too much here except to say they concern: joint ventures, Ebooks and Newsletters.

I can’t wait to have this xmas break and visit the family again. Dad is doing ok- they’ve stopped his chemo as he was getting too sick and is just giving him a more specialised form- directly targeted at asbestos victims. The inlaws have recently bought a hobby farm and have sheep, ducks and are about to get some cattle on it. Liana will be in her element when we visit!!

Bring on the holidays!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

I can feel the kids getting a bit antsy with the christmas period upon us!! I think putting the xmas tree up had something to do with it. I’m finding it harder to get work done as I’m slowly slipping into holiday mode too!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

Nearly had a small fatility yesterday. Whilst cleaning the biscuit and juice out of the fishtank that my darling daughter gave to the ‘hungy fishies’ the motor went kaput. So we had the decision- either find a replacement lid for the tank, buy a new tank, or let the fishies die and get a new one down the track. So being a RSPCA volunteer, the last option was out for me and I opted for a new tank. Little did hubby know what kind I had in mind!! We’ve now got a 60L tank, on a wooden stand with a flip top wooden lid!! Quite a change from our old little 18L tank that sat on our coffee table.

now hopefully only mummy gets to feed the ‘hungy fishies’!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

There were heaps of us there- over 65 I’m told and the food was delicious!! I made some new contacts, renewed some old ones, have a laugh, drank some champas, and won a prize!!! I won a family portrait from Tessa Gallery Studio valued at $450! Yes, I did a little song and dance and pumped my arms in the air and let out a “woohoo!!” and made a bit of a fool of myself, but I was chuffed!!

Then Alison took the time to thank me for all the help I had given her over these last few months which was great to be recognised. I returned the favour and thanked her for providing such a valuable network for all of us.

So, my last two weeks have been so busy, but it’s back to normal next week and if you called and I didn’t answer- I’m sorry!! Try again this week!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.

Yep- right then!! I had completely forgotten again!! So I ring up and we had to make a new one for next week but I felt like such a ditz!!

So we went out and bought a new diary for next year- and I pledge to use it!!!

Diva Promotions- not just advertising.