Another fantastic article coming to you direct from the Debbiestubbs blog. Enjoy!

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Putting up a company would of course require a lot of things, to get straight to the point, you need a capital. To make money requires money as well. But of course, with the versatility the internet offers, there are many ways you could find that could help optimize the potential of your site or business in generating traffic.

While there are ways to jumpstart your traffic flows, many sites don’t have the resources that others have to generate more traffic for your site. Well, you don’t have to spend a cent; all you need is the proper mindset and a lot of eagerness. You also must have the drive and perseverance to do hard work and research to generate more traffic for your site.

How sweet it is to have more traffic for your site without spending a single cent.  Now it’s a sure thing that many sites have articles that offer tips and guidelines in how to generate traffic using only free methods. Because it is possible, you don’t need to speed a single cent, it may take time, to say honestly, I’m not going to beat around the bush with you. You get better chances by paying for your advertisements, but at least you get a fighting chance with some of these free methods I’m about to tell you.

Take advantage of online forums and online communities. The great thing about forums and online communities is that you can target a certain group that fits the certain demographic that you are looking for. You can discuss about lots of things about the niche that you represent or offer.  Another great advantage is that you know what you are getting into and you will be prepared.

With online communities and forums you can build a reputation for your company. Show them what you are made of and wow them with your range of expertise about the subject, with that you can build a reputation and build trust with the people in your expertise and knowledge.

You can also make use of newsletters. Provide people with a catalog of your products and interesting and entertaining articles. If you make it really interesting and entertaining, more people will sign up for your newsletter and recommend it to other people. The more people who signs up for your newsletter, the more people there will be that will go to your site increasing your traffic.

Another great idea is trading links with other sites. You don’t have to spend a cent. All you have to do is reach an agreement with another webmaster. With exchanging links, the efforts both sites do will benefit both sites. Every traffic that goes to the site could potentially click on the link of your site and visit your site as well. This works well especially when both sites feature the same niche.

Write articles that could pique the attention of people that have interest in your product. Try writing articles that will provide tips and guides to other aficionados. Writing articles that provide good service and knowledge to other people would provide the necessary mileage your traffic flow needs. 

Many sites offer free submission and posting of your articles. When people find interest in your articles they have a good chance of following the track by finding out where the article originated. Include a link or a brief description of your company with the article and there’s a great probability that they will go to your site.

Write good content for your site. Many search engines track down the keywords and keyword phrases your site uses and how they are used. It is not a requirement that a content should be done by a professional content writer. You could do your on but you have to make content for your site that is entertaining as well as informational. It should provide certain requirements as well as great quality.
Generally, internet users use search engines to find what they are looking for. Search engines in return use keyword searching in aiding their search results. With the right keywords, you could get high rankings in search engine results without the costs.

All of these methods and more will drive more traffic to your site for free. All it takes is a bit of effort and extended man hours. Learn all you can about the methods depicted here and you will soon have a site with a great traffic flow without the usual costs that come with it.

Technorati Tags: cheap marketing ideas, marketing mix, marketing strategies

I found an interesting post from over at The Wealth Page Blog and just had to share it with you. Dan Kennedy is also one of my top marketing gurus and the stuff that is talked about in this post is fantastic.

“Poor Boy” Marketing Techniques

Technorati Tags: cheap marketing ideas, marketing mix

Following on from the previous post about how email marketing can influence your marketing mix, here is another great article written by Harry Hoover.

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If you are serious about adding email to your marketing mix, you should take email seriously enough to develop a plan for it. Too many organizations launch a half-baked email program and then are disappointed when it doesn’t live up to expectations.

The plan does not have to be as long as War And Peace, but it must include a few key elements so that you can develop a focused, targeted, measurable program that gets results. At a minimum, here are the elements that Hoover ink recommends:

* Objectives

* Audience Definition

* Key Messages

* Format

* Tactics

* Timeline

* Budget

* Measurement

First, determine what is it that you want the email program to achieve from marketing and communications perspectives. Is this a newsletter designed for relationship management purposes, or is it a sales-oriented vehicle? Are you trying to build awareness, generate leads, increase web traffic, encourage loyalty, or close sales?

Next, you need to define audiences. Who are you trying to reach? What do you know about them from demographic and psychographic perspectives? Are you addressing multiple audiences? If so, do you need to segment your audiences and develop emails with different messages? How will each audience profit from our communications.

Now, what is it you want to say to each audience? What’s the nature of the content? Will this include just editorial information or will it also contain some sales-oriented material?

Closely tied to messages is your format. Are you producing a newsletter with a lot of editorial material, or does it contain just brief snippets of information? Is it an announcement list, a discussion list, or just commercial messages? Think about your audiences as you develop the most appropriate format.

Your tactics section lays out tasks and who is responsible for them. What technology do you need? Do you have in-house email capabilities or should you use an application such as nTarget? How will you build and manage your list? How will you acquire new subscribers? Who will create content, design and distribute the email?

After you answer those questions, it’s time to turn to your timeline. Develop a schedule for having your technology in place, building your list, creating content, designing and distributing the email. Determine if this will be a one-time mailing, or if it will recur on a weekly or monthly basis.

Your budget may help you answer many of the questions above. Small budgets may mean you complete a lot of the work in-house.

Finally, it’s time to establish criteria for measuring the program. An awareness program may call for some baseline research so you’ll know how you are doing. A relationship management program may measure customer retention. Increased click-through from your email to your website is also a measurable element. Sales-oriented programs might measure total sales from email, or incremental sales increases with individual customers.

No matter what your objective in using email, spend a little time cooking up a plan so your results won’t be half-baked.

Harry Hoover is a partner in [http://www.my-creativeteam.com]My Creative Team. He has 30 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Bank of Commerce, The Bray Law Firm, Brent Dees Financial Planning, CruisingTheICW.com, Duke Energy, Focus Four, Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.

Technorati Tags: email marketing, marketing mix

Many people have asked me how email can fit into the marketing mix of their business. Hopefully the article below will explain how you can use it!

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The advances in technology over the last twenty years have drastically changed  the marketing mix.  These days almost everyone has an email account and many companies have successfully channeled this as yet another opportunity for reaching their customers.  When thoughtfully integrated into your marketing plan, email is a valuable tool.

Without an email list there is no email campaign.  Find ways to solicit the email addresses of your customers at each touch point.  Include a line asking for email whenever you ask for customer information such as on business reply cards, direct mail and in telemarketing efforts.  You should place opt-ins in prominent spots on your web site.  The more your customers and prospects voluntarily give you their emails, the better since these are people who have told you that they want to hear from you.

Most marketing is a one-way communication.  If you just rely on traditional marketing methods, you are missing out on an important opportunity to start a dialog with your customers.  Email provides a chance to solicit feedback from your customers in a way that other platforms simply cannot.  Quizzes and surveys can help you find out what motivates and impresses your customers.  You can track which customers follow links to other promotions. This kind of interactive capability is a fantastic supplement to your other marketing efforts.

Often, consumers research an item on line and then purchase it from a local retailer.  You can harness this dynamic to track your efforts in other media.  Try distributing discount codes and coupons through your email list and track how often and where they are redeemed.  This can help provide valuable market research about which approaches work and which segments respond to which approaches.  Use email to help you allocate your precious marketing resources toward efforts that garner the most results.

One of the big advantages of email is that it allows an incredible amount of customization.  Use this potential to call attention to specific offers based on a consumer’s profile and preferences.  Direct people to specific offers in your print catalog or web site.  Customization allows you to more sharply focus various pieces of your campaign to different segments of your list.  You can also use email to increase brand loyalty by targeting customers throughout the purchase cycle.

If you are going to use email for marketing, it is crucial that you fully incorporate it into your overall marketing campaign.  It should have the same look and feel as your other marketing efforts and should play a specific role.  If email is handled by another department or just added on, then you run the risk of looking sloppy and confusing your customers.  Determine the timing of email messages related to the larger campaign.  Should it hit simultaneously with your print and television ads?  Perhaps you can use it as a sneak peek for more loyal customers.  Maybe it can be a wrap up to a successful campaign.  If planned well, the email component of your marketing efforts can become a crucial piece.

Email can become a valuable piece of  your marketing tool kit and really add to your campaigns.  You can use this medium to bring parts of your campaign into sharper focus for specific market segments.  The customization capabilities allow better targeting.  However, make sure it is thoroughly integrated into your efforts and not just added on.  Take advantage of the fact that you have a list of people who want to hear from you.

This article is written by Justin Bryce, founder of Emails That Sell.  Justin Bryce has used    Online Email Marketing
that helped him earn $3,457 with just one email.  Now, he’s
giving access to his Email Marketing training system. http://www.emailsthatsell.com

Technorati Tags: email marketing, marketing mix

I came across this fantastic article written by Charles Warnock.

For those of you are aren’t sure about podcasting or how you can add it into your marketing mix, the article below is a must read.

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In the world of interactive marketing, one never has to look too far for the next big thing. One promising channel that has become buzzworthy in the past few months is podcasting - the Internet distribution of audio or video content, usually using an RSS feed.

As usual, though, standing behind the early adopters gushing praise for a new technology, someone will have to figure out how to turn podcasting from a promising technology into a trusted marketing tool.

There seems extraordinary growth potential for podcasts in the next few years, but that’s just untapped potential until podcasting novelty is replaced by podcasting utility.

Even if there’s no money exchanged, the content at a minimum has to be worth the trouble to download. If I have to actively search and download, I will listen to few of them. If I can automate the downloading of a few that I’m interested in, as with an RSS feed, I’ll be more likely to check them out.

Podcasting may or may not develop into a marketing channel with broad applications, but there certainly are opportunities to deliver targeted content. I have a stack of articles on my desk that I’ll get to sometime -? behavioral marketing, presenting effective web seminars, how to reinstall Windows XP - if someone came along and made these into mp3s for me so I can listen to them in the car, I would be most grateful. Perhaps even to the point where I would listen to a short ad. You might even put up with a commercial if it’s wrapped in sports highlights (More March Madness coming up, but first a word from Gillette?s new XtremeTrac 5-blade, now with Unibrow Control).

One interesting facet is that as more and more marketing moves to interactive channels, podcasting is sort of a one-way, more passive medium. Maybe its’ just a matter of time until players have some kind of feedback button you can push to indicate yes, download the next e-book chapter, that podcast was valuable to me, or send me more information.

Then next time I plug my player back into my laptop, my preferences are sent back to the podcasters. Or maybe there’s no rush for that…

Overall I think it’s very positive that this form of new media marketing is accessible to nearly anyone who wants to create a podcast. Certainly, consumer-controlled media is an exciting trend and there’s a lot of home-grown content out there that’s much richer and more original than what’s generally available from commercial radio.

There is a possible downside if personalization is carried too far. One day soon, as you’re motoring down the highway, you may hear a podcast from your spouse reminding you to pick up orange juice and warning you not to speed.

The Marketing Mix - Will Podcasting Pay the Rent?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Charles_Warnock]Charles Warnock

In the world of interactive marketing, one never has to look too far for the next big thing. One promising channel that?s become buzzworthy in the past few months is podcasting ? the Internet distribution of audio or video content, usually using an RSS feed.

As usual, though, standing behind the early adopters gushing praise for a new technology, someone will have to figure out how to turn podcasting from a promising technology into a trusted marketing tool.

There seems extraordinary growth potential for podcasts in the next few years, but that’s just untapped potential until podcasting novelty is replaced by podcasting utility.

Even if there’s no money exchanged, the content at a minimum has to be worth the trouble to download. If I have to actively search and download, I will listen to few of them. If I can automate the downloading of a few that I’m interested in, as with an RSS feed, I’ll be more likely to check them out.

Podcasting may or may not develop into a marketing channel with broad applications, but there certainly are opportunities to deliver targeted content. I have a stack of articles on my desk that I’ll get to sometime ? behavioral marketing, presenting effective web seminars, how to reinstall Windows XP ? if someone came along and made these into mp3s for me so I can listen to them in the car, I would be most grateful. Perhaps even to the point where I would listen to a short ad. You might even put up with a commercial if it’s wrapped in sports highlights (More March Madness coming up, but first a word from Gillette?s new XtremeTrac 5-blade, now with Unibrow Control).

One interesting facet is that as more and more marketing moves to interactive channels, podcasting is sort of a one-way, more passive medium. Maybe its’ just a matter of time until players have some kind of feedback button you can push to indicate yes, download the next e-book chapter, that podcast was valuable to me, or send me more information.

Then next time I plug my player back into my laptop, my preferences are sent back to the podcasters. Or maybe there’s no rush for that…

Overall I think it’s very positive that this form of new media marketing is accessible to nearly anyone who wants to create a podcast. Certainly, consumer-controlled media is an exciting trend and there’s a lot of home-grown content out there that’s much richer and more original than what’s generally available from commercial radio.

There is a possible downside if personalization is carried too far. One day soon, as you’re motoring down the highway, you may hear a podcast from your spouse reminding you to pick up orange juice and warning you not to speed.

Charles Warnock is Marketing Director at PartsBase, Inc. He writes often on marketing, e-business, finance, and real estate. His weblog is [http://marketing-interactive.blogspot.com/]http://marketing-interactive.blogspot.com.

Technorati Tags: marketing mix, podcasting

I came across this recent news article from Refreshed Media about the growing trend of email marketing. Remember, the marketing mix that you use and the web site promotion that you choose, is probably different from that which someone else chooses.

Read the information below and decide if this is for you.

26/08/08 Email marketing showing rapid growth

Advertising cutbacks aren’t affecting growth of email marketing. New research shows growth among the increasingly popular medium is expected to grow by 24 per cent in the next year. Research in E-consultancy’s 2008 Email Marketing Platforms Buyer’s Guide predicts companies will increase their focus on email marketing. The guide notes that if email becomes more integrated with a marketing mix it will draw more attention from advertisers.

Marketers who aren’t doing so now, the study says, will start turning their attention to the email’s potential. The truly savvy visionaries will being building their customer lists, improving customer analysis and concentrating on email marketing as a serious aspect of their overall efforts. A better understanding of ROI with email campaigns will only serve to increase spending in that area.

A global credit crunch and increasing economic issues mean the importance of email marketing will become a vital part of companies’ retention strategies as well.

E-Consultancy says the new trends in email marketing include:

- Companies increasing their focus on email marketing as it becomes more integrated within the marketing mix.

- Better understanding of ROI is leading to increased investment.

- Savvy company marketers turn their attention to building and improving lists.

- Companies seek to learn more about customers to make messages more relevant.

Linus Gregoriadis head of research E-consultancy says: Despite the general economic downturn, email service providers will continue to prosper. In turbulent times, it makes more financial sense than ever for companies to focus on marketing to their own customers and prospects. Companies are continuing to invest in strategic email services over and above the basic broadcast of email.

He adds: Marketers increasingly want to segment their audiences and tie in their email activity with Web analytics in an attempt to make communications as relevant as possible. Spending on email marketing is proving to be more cost-effective than other areas of digital marketing.