Search Results for ‘online advertising’
The whole point of advertising is to get noticed. With all the noise these days both online and off, it is difficult at best to get seen…
That’s why I recommend publicity over advertising. Do things like createingan event or a stunt that will get you noticed in your niche. Get busy on social networking sites where your customers and clients hang out, including the top 3 Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Having said that, there are reasons and places to advertise online that will pay off without spending a fortune.
Here are some tips to “advertise”:
List your online business in free directories such as Google (http://www.google.com/local/add), Yahoo (http://www.listings.local.yahoo.com) and Bing (http://ssl.bing.com/listings), DMOZ, The Open Directory Project (http://www.dmoz.org/) and ZoomInfo (http://www.zoominfo.com/). By the way, if you do list your site in these directories be sure and only list once because you could get banned for multiple listings of the same company. You can also show videos and photos which can be added to your listings.
In addition, list your business in LOCAL Directories such as YellowPages http://listings.yellowpages.com, City Search http://myaccount.citiysearch.com, AOL Local Search http://localsearch.aol.com, Local.com at http://register.local.com and Merchant Circle at http://merchantcircle.com.
When you list your business above, use keywords to describe what you do using benefit words (eg. “24 hour turnaround” or “loose weight or you don’t pay”) rather than vanity words (like BEST, AWARD WINNING) – people don’t believe that anymore and they don’t search for businesses that way.
This will take you less than an hour to set up and about 10-15 minutes a month to maintain.
Find sites that sell to your audience that compliment what you do and see if they will either sell you space on their site, list you in their links or if they have a newsletter that goes out to your target audience see if they do ads. Most of the time these ads are innexpensive and you can test for very little money. BTW, one insert is not a test. You need to create a campaign and keep your ad in for a minimum of 5-6 issues to see if it is going to work. Remember that it takes that many impressions before people begin to recongize your company. It also builds credibitly.
And remember to add social networking to your marketing plan. I know so many people who just hang out on SN Sites but don’t really know how to effectively use them to get attention for their businesses. Before you waste a lot time check out what those you admire are doing and model them. Don’t copy them, learn from them. See what they are doing and what is working for them. See how you can adapt to your own situation.
As you can see, I could go on and on about this topic. Let’s just say there are many ways to advertise without breaking the bank and many of them are FREE. The price you pay is TIME which by the way IS NOT FREE. Once its spent you NEVER GET IT BACK. So use it wisely.
September 12th, 2009
So you want to start a direct mail campaign for 2009, but you aren’t sure where to begin or what type of campaign to run? Before you do, you should know your options.
Here are Eleven time-tested direct mail options for you to consider:
Package inserts ~ a package insert can be anything from an informational brochure to a postcard to a little business card size document. The purpose of the insert is to get the recipient to take an action such as go to a website, call the company for more information, send in a warranty card, redeem an incentive such as a coupon and gift certificate.
Co-op Mailings ~ A form of trade sales promotion where a marketer offers non-competing companies the opportunity to share the cost of mailing to a particular database or group of customers and prospects.
Postcards ~ an economical way to promote a business or particular product or service less expensively than mailing a letter. Postcards can be very effective because there is no envelope to open and the prospect can see the offer at a glance .
Flyers ~An offer detailed on a single sheet of paper.
Card Decks ~ a package of individual cards wrapped together and mailed to prospects. These decks vary in quantity, and can contain 60 cards or more, each competing for the prospect’s attention.
Sampling Programs ~ A method of encouraging trying products free-of-charge or very inexpensively.
Statement Stuffers ~ Marketing brochure in a customer’s billing or account statement containing an offer or brief sales message along with a call to action mechanism such as a short-form, postcard or toll-free telephone number. Statement stuffers are an inexpensive way to market additional products and special offers to current customers.
Catalogues ~ A publication, such as a book or pamphlet, containing a list or display of products, services and offerings to a specific group of prospects and customers.
Door Hangers ~ door hanger marketing is where you create a small flier (often in mixed in with a few other direct mail pieces that are included in a plastic bag to be hung on the door knobs of prospects. This form of direct mail is often seen in residential areas however has also been effective in large office buildings (provided leaving them is allowed).
Webserts ~ A websert is a text or graphic link that appears after an online purchase is made. Webserts are more cost-efficient, offer more accurate source tracking, and can be dynamically served more easily.
Classifieds ~ Print advertising that is limited to certain classes of goods and services, and usually limited in size and content. Classified ads can appear in print media such as newspapers, magazines and catalogs as well as in digital media such as ezines, online magazines and websites.
In my next post I will be sharing 8 tips to run a successful direct mail campaign.
For a complete list of marketing definitions, visit: Speaking With Spirit and download your FREE copy of the Self-Marketing Dictionary TODAY!
January 8th, 2009
Need some ideas to advertise your website in the coming months? Here are twelve tips to get you started:
Tip #1
Put your URL on every piece of advertising you use to promote your company, your business card, letterhead, bills, checks, invoices, delivery vehicles, personal vehicles, magnets, yellow pages, newspapers, notecards, etc.
Tip #2
Partner with vendors, and suppliers to offer giveaways or freebies to your customers.
Tip #3
Make your website part of your overall marketing efforts including networking, print, radio, etc.
Tip #4
Create a registration page on your website and offer something for free to encourage them to leave you their contact information. It could be a register to win something just for stopping by, or something they can download when they register. Be sure to track where the leads are coming from.
Tip #5
Offer a “hidden prize” on your site such as a dinner for two or free product. This will encourage people to visit other pages to find the prize. It is a great way to force people to read all the pages on your site, so they learn more about your company in the process.
Tip #6
Design and write a newsletter or ezine about your area of expertise, industry news, tips, answers to difficult questions, and ideas about how to make the most of your products and services. Create a sign up box for people to subscribe (I use Aweber).
Tip #7
Place banner adds on local sites such as city/town/municipal sites and radio stations. If these are your customers you can probably “trade” links. On radio stations, you can offer to provide a giveaway to the listeners for visiting the website.
Tip #8
Cross promote your newsletter with other complimentary companies or companies and individuals who target your audience.
Tip #9
Create a postcard campaign announcing your website and send to everyone in your current database or at least those who would benefit from visiting your site.
Tip #10
Include a voice message for your phone system (or cell phone) inviting callers to stop by your website – be sure and include your website address and spell out anything that would be difficult for someone to understand or has an unusual spelling.
Tip #11
Try a classified ad campaign with an incentive to get people to stop by and take advantage of your special offer.
Tip #12
Ask other complimentary website owners to “trade Links with your site. Start with those you visit and shop and then expand to others that serve your client base.
And be sure to check out the Internet Business Success Report for the 21st Century for more ideas to Start and Grow and Online Business.
December 18th, 2008
Longing to increase your traffic for the holidays and turn those prospects into buyers? Here are eight sure-fire ways to do so.
1. Links, Links, Links - Links are the “currency” of search engines. When you have high quality relevant inbound links the search become more “attracted” to your site – and increase your rankings. What are considered quality inbound links? A link that has a high page rank (according to PageRank the tool Google uses to evaluate the links scores from 0 to 10 – An 8 or above are considered very high ranks. You might be able to get these high-ranking sites to link to you if you advertise on their sites, sponsor their events.
2. Start a Blog – having an online journal is a good start as long as you are committed to keeping the content fresh and relevant. Posting a minimum of once a week is a must – daily is best. Spiders crawl the web looking for fresh content and because a blog is an online journal it was designed to have the latest content posted or seen first.
3. Encourage bloggers to “blog” (write about) your company. You can do that by sending them your stuff such as product samples, books you have written, etc. If they like your “stuff” they may write about it and link to you. Make sure the “gift” is of value – a keychain is just an advertising tool unless someone needs a keychain so sending a blogger a keychain (unless it lights up, writes, send messages, stores data) probably won’t go over big and will undoubtedly just get tossed aside.
4. Get involved in a social network or two. Toyota has done this by targeting younger customers using digital entertainment and online community to launch it’s new Yaris. Yaris has its own Web site with free music downloads, games, and wireless mini-episodes of “Prison Break.” It has tapped into the generation by advertising on MySpace, Youtube and several blogs that are highly trafficked by their target audience.
5. Optimize your website with “gift ideas” pages. Place them one or at the most 2 clicks away from your home pages for greatest effectiveness. Offer gift certificates and make them prominently displayed on your website homepage.
6. Showcase your Free Stuff – if you offer free delivery, free gift wrapping or a free gift with purchase make sure it is listed on the homepage – create a visual (with the words imbedded in the image) so that when the visitor scrolls over it, they know the “click here” and go to the page that explains the offer. Consider putting the offer in your title tag (using a minimum number of words – less than 12 is ideal)
7. Rearrange your site to fit the seasons. for instance, Christmas ideas should be most prominent during the holiday shopping season and everyday items should take a less prominent position. Make the holiday shopping area just one click away from the homepage. Remember you have only about 5 seconds to “grab” and “keep” their attention. Help prospects make the best use of their time and turn into customers.
8. Update your site map to include any new pages you create for the holidays.
NOTE: We just updated our retail florist website, Eden Florist & Gift Baskets. It now has a built-in Site map that updates itself (that and so much more). I invite you to check it out and see what Laura Wheeler and her staff at Firelight Web Studio did for us. It is amazing! For a view of our “old” website visit the Wayback Machine and see what we started with.
December 7th, 2008
November 18 – 24 is National Cookie Week – When Debbie Fields opened up a new cookie store in any city, the first thing she did was give away cookies. People liked them, began to talk about them (and the experience) and ultimately returned to buy more cookies. She was not the only cookie store in town. She was not the only bakery in town. But she ended up being the most successful in town. There are two things you need to do: 1) Bring testimonials from existing customers in video format to your new city. Testimonials are proof that your product is great, that your service is great, and that you deliver what you promise. 2) Find one or two great prospective customers and give your product away in exchange for local testimonials. Most companies make the foolish mistake of trying to make sales before they make friends or build relationships.
Once you have developed a few loyal customers, begin a testimonial advertising campaign — letting your customers speak for you. (source: Jeffrey Gitomer – Sales Caffeine)
Note: What was once a small business grown in her home town soon became a nationally recognized brand that withstood years of peaks and valleys. They still have an online store and are in the process of reorganizing after filing Chapter 11 (bankruptcy).
November 21st, 2008
Welcome to my Preferred Vendors Page!
This list includes people I have worked with on more than one ocassion and recommend them for the quality of work they do, service they provide and ability to understand my needs as a customer/client. I feel confident that you too will find them to be of the highest integrity, fair in their business practices and knowledgable in their particular areas of expertise.
Should you have any questions about an individual Vendor, feel free to Contact Me.
Heidi Caswell and Jessica Sellers of Chrysalis Business Ventures, LLC ~ http://chrysalislogos.com ~ create a brandable image with logos as well as additional design services including business cards, flyers, website graphics and custom blog design.
Ginger Marks of DocUmeant Designs ~ http://www.DocUmeantDesigns.com ~ Custom digital designs; copy edits, layout and covers for books, eBooks and magazines; business stationary, marketing tools and more. Get the professional look you deserve without going into major debt.
Laura Wheeler of Firelight Web Studio ~ http://www.firelightwebstudio.com/ ~ comprehensive Website Design Services including website design, copyrighting, website assessments, and more.
Jay Berkowitz of Ten Golden Rules ~ http://www.tengoldenrules.com/ ~ Ten Golden Rules is B2B internet marketing agency with a wide array of internet advertising and marketing consulting services to help small, medium and large businesses get qualified traffic to their websites.
Teresa Morrow of Key Business Partners ~ http://www.keybusinesspartners.com/ ~ Teresa helps coaches, speakers, authors and writers with their businesses’ by handling many online administrative and marketing tasks which eliminates the stress of trying to complete these tasks along with running their business.
Sheila Finkelstein of Through and From the Lens ~ http://www.eteletours.com/throughandfromthelens608.html For Coaches – In person classes using photography as access to inspiration, revitalization and expanded creativity.
Roy Montero, The Twitter Guy ~ www.Twitter.com/RoyMontero ~ virtual classes on how to effectively use Twitter to promote your business… and more.
October 14th, 2008
1. Create a compelling headline – if you want the reader to read the rest of the ad, you gotta “grab” her with the headline.
2. Use the five-second rule – according to the Direct Marketing Association, you only have 5 seconds to convey what you are selling.
3. The offer must be obvious – if the reader has to guess what you are offering, how they can purchase it and where, you’ve lost them. Period.
4. Don’t make your logo the most important element in the design. Make the products or services prominent, not your company.
5. Where’s the phone number? If the reader cannot find the number to call or website to visit (or needs reading glasses to do so), chances are they will toss the add. Go back to the 5 second rule and subtract 2 seconds.
6. Focus on BENEFITS – what benefits does the reader want when purchasing your product or service. Make sure your message TELLS THEM!
7. Discounts raise conversion rates dramatically. Offer a coupon or pe rce nt off when the reader makes a purchase. Make it look like a coupon in the ad and you will see how effective it is when they redeem it. If they have to visit your business to redeem, they will bring it with them. If they have to call or purchase online, make sure you include a discount “code” so they can enter it on the order form.
September 17th, 2008
Excerpt from Promoting Your Business on the WEB Special Report.
In the Promoting Your Business on the WEB Special Report, I share 15 Strategies to Establish Your Brand, Get More Traffic and Make More Money on the Internet. Over the next few days I will share some of those with you. If you’d like to get all 15 strategies at once, instructions to get your FREE copy are listed below.
1. Capitalize on SEO – One of the most important and least expensive strategies to promote your business online is to rank high for your preferred words on the main search engines in “organic” or “natural” searches (versus paid advertising). Because search engines send robot “spiders” to index the content on your webpage it’s important to prepare your webpages for optimal indexing. Your search engine strategies are your Page Titles, Description and Keyword META Tags; proper use of Keywords in appropriate places such as your header tags, the First Paragraph of Your Body Text and in your hyperlinks.
It’s also important to make your Navigation System Search Engine Friendly. Create several pages that focus on keywords specific to your target audience. Titles and keywords are also important. Use Wordtracker to analyze and find the best keywords for your website.
2. Submit Your Webpage URL to Search Engines (such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.com), to Key Directories (such as DMOZ and Yahoo Directory) and to industry specific Sites Directories in your niche or target market.
Get a FREE copy of the 8-page Special Report Promoting Your Business on the WEB TODAY!
August 29th, 2008
Privacy Policy
At REDHEAD MARKETING, INC., hereinafter referred to as RHM, we are committed to protecting the privacy of all visitors to our Web site by creating an environment where you feel safe to share your information with us. Your personal informatio, and the information of all RHM visitors is used by us to insure that we are providing you with the most relevant information, content and opportunities. Please read the following privacy information carefully, which outlines how and why visitors’ personal information is collected and how our Web site and businesses use it.
How we collect information
RHM obtains information from and about you in a variety of ways. Some information is gathered automatically when you access the Site such as IP address, browser information and operating system, as an example. We gather and store statistics and other information about online activities of our visitors on a collective basis. For example, we track the number of people who view each page to learn which features are most popular. When you visit the RHM Web site, you may be asked to provide personal information (name and contact information) for various reasons. They include:
a. To download digital documents and products including ebooks, special reports, white papers, ecourse, audio and video products.
b. To purchase intellectual property and other products sold at the RHM website/blog.
c. To register for an RHM-sponsored event.
Personal information is not gathered automatically at the site. If you wish to provide personal information, you must do so voluntarily such as a submission of an online form or via email submission. Personal information is NEVER given to third parties for advertising or any other reason. Some personal information is published on the Web site such as your business name and business address in areas where you have volunteered and are willing to have that information published so that we can promote your business on the internet.
Cookies are small pieces of data that are stored by a user’s web browser on the hard drive of a user’s computer. Cookies can remember what information a user accesses on one web page to simplify subsequent interactions with that web site by the same user. Cookies are usually used to store information such as products you have clicked to add to your shopping cart. They also allow you to store your password without having to constantly re-enter it. The shopping cart cannot “tally” a total without using Cookies to remember what you have selected to purchase so far.
Other Uses of Information
In addition to the uses outlined above, RHM may, from time to time, use your personal data to send you information about news and events that may be of interest to you. However, we value your interest in and relationship with RHM and are committed to protecting your information from unauthorized use. RHM limits the collection and use of personal information to what is necessary to administer our business and to deliver superior service to you. This may include advising you about our products or services, those of our business partners, and other opportunities that we believe may interest you. To serve you better, we may combine information you give us on the Internet or through other channels.
Community Programs
RHM cautions you to use discretion when sharing personal information in community areas on this web site such as message boards, mailing lists and directories. If you disclose personal information in such areas, you understand and agree that such personal information may be used and disclosed by others without restriction.
Other Sites
Please note that if you provide any information on your own or directly to parties who provide service to RHM, any merchants who offer discounts to our members, or any other sites you encounter on the Internet (even if these sites are branded with our branding), different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the personal information you disclose to them. We encourage you to investigate and ask questions before disclosing information to third parties. (Note: RHM places advertising on our sites that originates from outside advertisers and/or advertising agencies. In some cases, if you click on or view these ads, a cookie may be assigned by the advertiser).
The Limits of Our Abilities
Although your privacy is very important to us, due to the existing legal regulatory and security environment, we cannot fully ensure that your private communications and other personally identifiable information will not be disclosed to third parties. The government or third parties under certain circumstances may intercept or access transmissions or private communications.
Security
We use industry-standard efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal identifiable information, such as firewalls and Secure Socket Layers where appropriate. However, no data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. When you transmit data over the internet, you do so at your own risk. In many cases – such as event registration – other options may be available to you such as snail mail, the telephone or by fax.
Corrections
We will update and correct any information that is found or known to be incorrect either through our own record-keeping or as advised by RHM.
If you require additional information about the REDHEAD MARKETING INC. Web site privacy policy, please contact Heidi@redheadmarketingblog.com or call 1-877-947-3667 (in the United States).
August 18th, 2008
Event marketing has been a mainstay of B2C marketing – in 2006 marketers spent an estimated $14 billion and 2007 projections close to 17 billion according to the Jack Meyers Media Report. According to TBA Global and Event Marketer Magazine 89.2 percent of those sureveyd responded that they are seeing more value from their current event portfolios than they did just 3 short years ago. 36.5 of the respondents said that experiential marketing is the most effective for developing a bond between company and customer coming out ahead of advertising, DM, sales promotions, online and PR. Beyond the traditional trade show, however, B2B marketing is experienceing an upswing in event marketing. MTV Networks is an example, taking their show on the road to chief marketing officers and decision makers.
Here are 3 examples of companies who have successfully used Event Marketing to promote their companies.
9 lives is worked its way through a 34 city tour with Morris the CAT at animal shelters. The company’s goal is to meet its most valuable customers at the shelters and also to drive a million new cat adoptions.
The Chrysler Aspen SUV marketing team enlisted younger active customers where they live, work and play. Adopting Sudoku, (the oriental crossword puzzle game) to the great outdoors, the company fashioned a supersize sudoku puzzle out of 36,000 pounds of snow and ice. The puzzle was solved in 4 minutes and 26 seconds by a group from the University of PA swim team. The grand prize was a trip to Aspen, CO – the Aspen SUV was their transportation during their stay.
(Another American Idol?) Guitar Center launched a “king of the blues” competition in each of its 199 registration stores. Winners advance through, store, district and regional elimination rounds before reaching the grand finals which took place in June, 2008.
What kind of event could you create to market your small business and get big exposure?
August 17th, 2008
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