Marketing Techniques

Beat The Phenomenon Of Awful Sale Statistics

Beat The Phenomenon Of Awful Sale Statistics
 by: Michael Keenan

It is a purely shocking statistic, that only 4 in every 100 affiliates, actually turn over more than a few dollars. This is an truly awful statistic, but one that can be easily changed. The reasons as to why this phenomenon of awful sales occurs are numerous. In this article, I will be dealing with resell rights e-book packages, as the sales example item. However overall this article, can be applied, to any sales product.

The number one reason why sellers fail online, is caused by a lack of knowledge, as how to advertise their products. FFA's are a good example of this. Visit any ffa page on the net and you will see people struggling. Thousands of affiliates and other sellers use these methods as their sales vehicle. It is certain you will fail if you use these type of methods. The only people who will ever see these type of sites will be other sellers. And it would have to be one brilliant product, to be able to make a successful sale, to another seller via this method.

The second main reason, are products which are sold with pre-built sales pages. This whole process promotes a system, by which sellers think they can promote and provide websites, built-up totally with single web sales pages, and make easy money as a result. The resell products, themselves, mostly are initially purchased by sellers, because of a main sales pitch of 'You Will Make Easy Money'. The product itself becomes second best. Potential income becomes the sellers main driving point and this simply misses the mark totally. This is a real online marketing trap. All this provides is a one page sales pitch without the backing of any real substance. This substance can only be given by the backing of a real website, with your resale products built in, as part of it. And the products you sell should always be a necessary part of the topics covered by your website. Remember always, never sell items with standalone sales pages, without a reference point. And this reference point should always initially be found exactly, in the beating heart of the pre-sale, that can be found on your own website. We will get to this point in more detail further below shortly.

As a further proof of another form of this lack of substance. I have recently received feedback from other sellers who have not even read the actual content of the product they are reselling. This just does not make any business sense at all. I myself sell a lot of resell rights e-book products. But they are only the products I have researched and want my own name and my company name attached to. I even recently had an affiliate send me a resell rights e-book package he purchased which consisted of an amazing sales package, it simply took my breath away. But the actually e-book product it promoted consisted of 9 pages. If I was the customer who purchased this package. I would be pretty overwhelmed, by the feeling of being ripped off, if I paid $49.95 for a 9 page e-book. And needless to say, the information that it contained, was useless to say the least. Any customer who may purchase this product, it would be safe to say, would be very cautious before they ever purchased a product online ever again. And it would be certain to say they would never purchase a product from that seller ever again either. Honesty is a word that needs to be applied totally in online sales. Forget the potential profit line for a moment. You need to be totally committed to the product you are selling. And you need to be totally committed to the principle of getting information of real value out there and into the hands of others.

So how do you succeed online with real success. Firstly if you want to make money online consistently you need, as stated earlier, a real website. It just amazes me how many sellers just don't even have a real website of there own. You need to show potential buyers what motivates you in what you do. If you have a website system of single web sales pages. You are never going to achieve any success online. Design a website around what motivates and excites you. Build information that you have written yourself, and quality information written by others, that has real information value. Provide a website of substance that aligns itself to great informational links. Always Align your website, with other websites that have the same commitment, with exactly the ideas you hold most valuable. Show a potential buyer or even just that website visitor cruising the net. That you know exactly what you are talking about, and promote your products around this knowledge.

Secondly learn exactly how to promote your website successfully. Seek out the knowledge of others who are successful online and take in all the information that they offer. The reason why in the previous paragraph, I mentioned the need for a real website before this topic of advertising, has other benefits as well. If you have a real website you will get indexed well in the search engines. Getting indexed well, will gain you quality targeted traffic, that costs nothing. So build a good website, submit it to the engines, and simply let time take its course. For example to get into google it is going to take about 7 months, there is no way around this except just waiting. Just submit and focus on adding real value content to your website. And focus on other methods of advertising. The perfect method is to build an email list of your own. There are thousands of real valid methods on how to achieve this. The best being, by simply starting your own ezine, built around exactly the same topics which your website covers.

I hope that this article may help to guide you too success. I myself make a living off the internet. I make around 40,000 dollars per year after tax. It is not a great deal of money. I must say that I made more in my previous full-time job. But the internet has given me the freedom, to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. Being your own boss has huge freedom based benefits. But to achieve these benefits requires on-going plain simple hard work. There is no easy way to make money online other than hard work, that is a guaranteed fact, and covers any part of life. Everyone has the potential to make money on the internet. But to achieve this requires a real commitment to the absolute requirements of knowledge, quality, honesty, and hard work. Remember always value what you do, and how you do it, and others will value you for it. That is certain.
http://www.nerdlib.com/

How To Put The Profit-Producing Power of Couponing To Work For You...

How To Put The Profit-Producing Power of Couponing To Work For You...
 by: Thom Reece

Coupons have proven themselves to be highly effective sales tools for every conceivable size and type of business.

Because coupons "pull in the business" they have gained remarkable acceptance and popularity among astute marketing managers. A simple explanation for their acceptance by advertisers is their overwhelming acceptance and use by the consuming public. In fact, Advertising Age (the Bible of the advertising industry) reports that 87% of all shoppers use coupons.

Another independent marketing research firm, the A.C. Nielson Co., reveals that 95% of all shoppers like coupons. And 60% actively look for coupons.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "In a Pinch, Snip.", states that coupon use rises, as the economy in any given area slides. 54% of shoppers surveyed said they had already stepped up use of coupons, and even more are expected to do so.

It's very easy to see why coupon advertising is sweeping the country. Regular use of good couponing strategy will provide a steady stream of new customers and high quality sales leads.

Savvy marketers cite these reasons for heavy reliance on couponing:

A. Coupons have the effect of expanding or increasing your market area. We know that consumers will travel far to redeem a valuable coupon.

B. Coupons will entice new customers that have been shopping at your competitor. It's a proven fact that consumers will break routine shopping patterns to take advantage of a good coupon offer.

C. Coupons attract new residents when they are actively in the market for products and services.

D. Coupons will re-activate old customers. Those customers that have been lured away by your competitor will start buying from you again when you give them a good reason to do so.

E. Coupon advertising provides the opportunity for additional profits through sale of related items. (Business owners often forget this.) When you offer a special "deal" on a coupon to invite a customer to do business with you, you have to remember that this same customer will probably end up buying additional items that carry a full profit margin.

In addition, you also are being given the opportunity to "sell-up" to a more profitable product or service. You would not have had this opportunity had it not been for the coupon getting the customer through the door in the first place.

F. Coupons build store traffic which results in additional impulse purchases.

G. Coupons are measurable and accountable Don't overlook that couponing is the most measurable and accountable form of promotion.

It's simply a matter of counting the number of coupons redeemed to judge the effectiveness of the offer. Wise use of this consumer feedback will guide you in creating future offers that improve your results.

Understand that the media delivering the coupon has very little to do with the response. Publications simply deliver your offer to a specific audience. It's up to you to determine what offer produces the best response from that audience. You do this through methodically testing various offers. Savvy use of this "coupon testing" technique will give you the specific knowledge you require to greatly improve all of your advertising response, your sales, and your profits.

How do you go about creating a coupon promotion that will work for YOU? Here's what I like to call...

THOM'S TWELVE TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COUPONING:

TIP#1...MAKE A SOLID OFFER!

* OFFER DISCOUNTS..."$50.00 OFF!", "60% OFF!", (percentage discounts are only good when they are high percentages and the value of the product or service is well known.)Dollars Off discounts work best.

* OFFER BONUSES..."Buy One/Get One Free!", or "2 Free with Each Case Ordered!", "Free Batteries When You Buy One Super Flashlight", or "Free Drop Cloth with Each Gallon of Super Paint", etc.

* OFFER PREMIUMS...Offer premiums for a presentation, for a trial order, for a subscription, for a demonstration, for a new customer referral, for an order amounting to $xxx or larger", etc.

* OFFER FREE INFORMATION..."FREE booklet", "FREE brochure", "FREE estimate", "FREE details", "FREE samples", "FREE trial", "FREE consultation", "FREE quote", etc.

TIP#2....USE BOLD, COMMANDING AND SPECIFIC HEADLINES!

* "Save $50.00 on Any Portable TV....This Month Only!"
* "FREE BROCHURE...'Beauty Secrets for Career Woman'!"
* "Free Catalog Saves YOU 70% on Office Supplies!"
* "Rent Two NEW RELEASE Video Movies--Get One FREE!"
* "Buy One Dinner Entree--Get One FREE!"
* "Buy Five Cases of Copier Paper--Get the Sixth Case Absolutely Free!"

TIP#3...USE LINE ILLUSTRATIONS OR PHOTOGRAPHS.

* Illustrations work best when you show products in-use.
* Illustrations enhance credibility, aid understanding, and create desire.

TIP#4...USE YOUR LOGO IN YOUR COUPON.

* Use of logo: builds company identity and awareness in the marketplace, enhances your image, lends credibility to your offer, and improves response.

TIP #5....MAKE EFFECTIVE USE OF WHITE SPACE.

* Don't clutter. Don't cram.

TIP#5...SELL THE BENEFITS.

* Save time, save money, increase profits, protect your family, improve your standard of living, be happier, improve your health, increase your income, increase your comfort, more convenient.

TIP#7....APPEAL TO THE SELF-INTEREST OF YOUR CUSTOMER.

* Your customer is only interested in what you can do for him or her. Your customer will only buy the benefits-of-use of your product or service. Let me say that again...your customer is only interested in the benefits of use of your product....not the product itself.

TIP#8...MAKE EFFECTIVE USE OF THE 18 MOST POWERFUL WORDS IN ADVERTISING.

* free, now, new, how to, save, guarantee, money, easy, simple, you, proven, love, results, discovery, fast, amazing, sex, profit.

TIP#9...ALWAYS UP-SELL.

* Offer extras when a customer requests information or places an order. Always suggest related items. Point out the added features and benefits of a higher priced item and then show the customer specifically how these features will make his life easier, safer, etc.

TIP#10...SPREAD YOUR SPECIALS AROUND--CONSIDER THE TRAFFIC PATTERN IN A RETAIL STORE.

* Set up product displays so that you force your customer to walk the entire expanse of your store. Your "impulse" buys will increase dramatically when you expose your customer to more products by well planned placement of "sale items".

TIP#11...CAPTURE YOUR CUSTOMERS NAME, ADDRESS, AND TELEPHONE NUMBER. DEVELOP AN IN-HOUSE MAILING LIST FOR ON-GOING DIRECT MARKETING USE.

* Your customer list represents your most valuable asset. Your greatest potential for sales and profits lies in the customer database. To ignore this potential is pure folly.

TIP#12...DON'T STOP AFTER THE SALE.

* Create a planned program of continuous follow-up to your customer list.

* Use ride-alongs, invoice stuffers, new catalogs, new product brochures, special sale flyers, preferred customer sales and discounts, customer appreciation events, more coupons. Keep your customers coming back to YOU!

© Copyright 2005 Thom Reece All Rights Reserved
http://www.nerdlib.com/

5 Simple And Easy Ways To Advertise Online

5 Simple And Easy Ways To Advertise Online
 by: Sandra Stammberger

Advertising is everything some people say.

Regardless if you have a product, a service, a hobby website or just want to share pictures of your wedding, you have to advertise somehow to get the traffic to your site or blog.

But not all traffic is equal.

There are services that can help you drive tons and tons of traffic to your site and it won't do you any good at all because it's not targeted traffic.

Take for example all of the many different 'surf for traffic' or 'traffic clicking' programs that are out there. If you have a website that is about your hobby, say model airplanes, then what good is this traffic really going to do you? Who's using these services?

Webmasters and marketers that want traffic on their own site.

So they most likely won't spend any more time on your page than is required by the little timer these services use and then they are gone again. Even if your site is about these traffic services (this is about the only time you will see very much benefit from using such a tool) you will still have to spend a ton of time just surfing and clicking around to get a real benefit from these programs.

Once marketers realized that they switched gears. They started promoting all the different programs to a lot of other marketers to get them in their downlines, so they could get some traffic as a bonus and that was their new focus. Problem is that that is exactly what everyone else did, so not a lot of people were surfing anymore.

Bottomline is, you want traffic, but you need targeted traffic, so here are some tips on how you can generate exactly the traffic you need and bring the visitors you want visiting your site to you instead of chasing after them.

1. Content

What is your website about? Do you just have a page with a lot of links and not much else?

If that's the case, think about adding some content to your website that will be of value to any potential visitors. You could write articles or find articles at one of the many directories that you can reprint on your site.

2. Talk about your experiences with your subject matter.

You don't have to put up some kind of resume (although that can work too), but rather try writing about what you are doing, as it relates to your topic of choice. Let's look at the model airplanes again briefly, you could talk or write about the latest plane type you built, how the last time flying your plane went, what challenges you run into or perhaps even post some pictures of your plane or of you flying it.

3. Forums and Bulletin Boards.

You could add a forum or bulletin board to your website where your visitors can interact with each other. There are a lot of free services available out there that you can use to either remotely host a forum for you, or even software you can install on your website's server. To find some of these, just head over to your favorite search engine and you will definitely find plenty to choose from.

And while you are visiting the search engine, why not run a search for any bulletin boards and forums that are already out there for your chosen topic? You could visit those and interact with the visitors there and since many allow you to post a signature or a profile, you could add a little line about your own site with a link (just check the rules of the forum first so you don't violate any of them).

4. Start a blog.

Blogs are very popular and search engines love them because they provide constantly new and fresh content. Your blog would be a great place to talk about what you are up to that day.

So if you spent some time today buying new parts for your plane you could write about where you found them, how much they cost you, why you chose those parts, anything really goes.

The really great part about this is that you can point links from your blog back to your website, so when the search engine stops by to grab and index your latest content, it will also stop by your website and you will start seeing very targeted traffic heading your way.

5. Write articles.

Writing articles isn't hard and can be a great source of fresh, new traffic to your website.

There are a lot of ezines on any topic out there and there are also a lot of directories just to share your articles at.

Basically what you do is to write an article and then add a small resource box that links back to your website (just like a signature) and then let other ezine publishers know that you are allowing them to print your article in their ezine. And many publishers go to the article directories to find new content for their newsletter and even their websites. And since there are websites and ezine newsletters on any imaginable topic out there, you can't lose. Write an article every couple of days and post it in the directories (even one a week or every two weeks will start getting you traffic) and you will all of a sudden find new traffic coming from search engines, newsletters and websites.

Best of all, these 5 simple tips will bring targeted traffic, meaning the visitors are coming to you because they are interested in what you wrote about.

So there you have it, 5 easy and simple ways to advertise and drive traffic to your website at absolutely no cost at all.
http://www.nerdlib.com/

How To Produce The PERFECT Viral Ebook

How To Produce The PERFECT Viral Ebook
 by: Harvey Segal

Viral marketing is probably the number one method for generating traffic and sales - IF it is set up properly.

Take the case of a viral ebook - which means a book that can be passed from one person to another bringing benefits (profits) for each party in turn.

How is this achieved ?

The basic concept is that the book contains links to affiliate products. When a reader of the book makes a purchase from a link then the affiliate receives the commission.

The creator of such a book will allow some of the links to be 'rebranded' which means a person (who we will refer to as the rebrander) can replace them with his own affiliate codes thus collecting commission. This is the obvious incentive for him to pass the book around and begin the viral progression.

If we want to maximize the benefits for everyone and create the perfect viral ebook we need to have THREE key factors in place.

1) Wide Distribution

There are many permutations in the ways that you can offer an ebook. It can be free or paid, and for either option you can charge for rebranding or offer it free; plus you can have part customization or full customization. On top of that, for a paid book you can offer resale rights and even the right to grant resale rights.

Let's keep it simple. What we want is the widest possible distribution so that we get the most commission from the affiliate links.

So we will have a FREE book and FREE rebranding rights.

2) Quality Affiliate Links

It goes without saying that your book should contain good content on a topic of interest.

But will readers click on those affiliate links ?

The answer is 'NO' if you copy the poor example of many authors, for instance:

- have you ever opened an ebook and been faced with a barrage of affiliate links ?

- or seen affiliate products which have nothing to do with the theme of the book ? For example in a book about hypnotism you get a link to a web hosting company.

So what is the best way ?

The secret is to have highly relevant links and weave them naturally into the content in a low key style without appearing to push for a sale. So when you discuss a particular topic and want to show where more detail can be found, or how a particular problem can be solved, that's where you can mention the affiliate product as a source of further information. If you want to see really good examples of how to do this read the free book at the end of this article.

See - that last sentence was an ACTUAL working example of how to weave in a link.

3) Maximum Return For Both Parties

You need to get the rebranding balance right.

If you give away an ebook and allow all the affiliate links to be rebranded that is a great deal for the rebrander - but what do you get out of it ? No affiliate commission, just subscribers maybe for your mailing list if you have a sign-up form in the book.

Conversely if you hand out only a few affiliate links for rebranding then that provides little incentive for the rebrander to distribute the book.

Ideally what you want is the maximum motivation for your rebrander which would be

* to allow free rebranding

* to allow ALL the links to be rebranded

but in a way that you can still benefit.

Can that be possible ?

Fortunately it is, using any of 3 different methods

* if the links in the book are for your own products

* If the links are for products for which you have resale rights

* If the links are for 2-tier affiliate programs so that you collect the 2nd tier commission when a rebrander, who has signed up under you, makes a sale

And so, if you use these techniques you can begin a viral marketing campaign which will continue to generate traffic and sales with little on-going effort on your part.

EXCEPT for two issues we need to resolve

1) What happens if everyone rebrands the book and only makes purchases from their own copy ?

Well, I have found that in practise only a minority (say 10%) will take the time to rebrand a book which means that the majority (90%) will be reading your book and purchasing from YOUR links.

So only 10% will be 'lost' to you . . . or are they ?

2) Suppose you plan to produce a viral book. It's about a popular topic - so it's bound to have a wide circulation - but you can't find any of the three types of suitable links to put in the book, i.e. links to a product of your own, to products with resale rights or for 2-tier affiliate programs.

Is there a solution ?

Yes - there are answers to both problems in my book "101 SuperTips" - they are actually tips 100 and 101.

As you might expect this book is free, with valuable information linking to highly relevant products, and you can rebrand it, again for free.

By all the rules above it's a candidate, I hope you agree, for 'the perfect viral ebook' and a profitable source of revenue for you.
http://www.nerdlib.com/

Five Tests Every Press Release Must Pass

Five Tests Every Press Release Must Pass
 by: George McKenzie

You've heard "them" say it, haven't you?

By "them" I mean the experts. The teachers. Even some people from advertising & PR agencies.

They'll tell you there's only one way to do a press release "right."

Single page, double spaced, 12 point type.

Bull...

I've been working in radio and TV full time or part time since 1972, and that means I've seen thousands of press releases.

I never threw one away because it didn't fit the "classic" or "standard" format you hear about so often.

A journalist -- especially a journalist working on deadline -- doesn't care about that stuff...

There are, however, five things that *are* important, and if your press release doesn't have them, it will probably wind up in the trash in seconds.

In my Instant Press Release Toolkit program at http://www.pressreleasetoolkit.com, I call them "The Five Tests Every Press Release Must Pass."

1) The Instant Eyeball Test

The person reading the release takes a quick glance at the overall appearance.

Does it have a catchy headline, or is the top of the page crowded with unnecessary information or big graphics (like PR agency/company logos)?

Is it readable? Does it look cramped, with block paragraphs that suck up most of the white space? Will the screener have to search through a lot of print on the page to figure out whats newsworthy?

Is there any bold print emphasizing important points?

And maybe the biggest factor of all: can he/she figure out in five seconds or less what this release is about, and what action the writer would like the news operation to take in response?

Flunking the Instant Eyeball Test doesnt mean the release will immediately drop into the trash can. But if your release is poorly formatted and visually unappealing, its definitely a strike against you.

2) The Headline Test

Even if youve just flunked the Instant Eyeball Test, youll probably still get a chance to redeem yourself by offering a great headline.

In my opinion, this is the most important part of the release.

Give the reader a catchy, attention-grabbing, interest- provoking headline, and the battle is half won.

For a quick primer on headlines that motivate journalists to "bite," see http://www.publicity-pro.com/articles/headlines-publicity.htm

3) The Hot Button Test

The next question in the screeners mind relates to the subject of the release. Actually, there are probably several questions running through the screeners mind simultaneously:

* Is it information people need to know, or would like to know?

* How much of a potential audience is there for this information?

In other words, how newsworthy is it?

There are certain universal themes, story lines, and angles that make something newsworthy. I call them news "Hot Buttons," and they're the subject of a Special Report I've written, available free at http://www.publicity-pro.com/hotbuttons.htm

4) The "Medium Matching" Test

The first question you should ask yourself is "Whos going to be reading this, and what do they need to know from me?"

Very few people take the time to tailor a release to the medium theyre pitching, but those who do tend to be more successful.

The decision-maker looks for opportunities that are characteristic of their medium.

TV news wants visuals of people doing something.

TV/radio talk or "magazine" shows look for engaging guests to interview or topics to discuss at some length.

Newspapers and magazines look for depth.

5) The "Perspective" Test

"Perspective" answers the question "What is this news release *really* all about?"

Sometimes its obviously written from the perspective of someone who wants to sell a product. They talk mainly about that product or their company, and they offer little or no "news value." (see the "Hot Button Test" for more on the meaning of "news value")

Remember, a news release is supposed to be about n-e-w-s. It reads like an announcement or a newspaper article, not a promotional flyer or sales copy.

Sometimes a news release is written from the perspective of someone who wants to pat themselves on the back. Its the kind of self-glorification that you see in annual reports.

These news releases come off as boastful and self-serving, and usually offer little of interest to journalists.

The best news releases are those written with the medias audience in mind.

They say to the decision-maker, "Heres something you can offer your viewers that will keep them from reaching for the remote..." or

"Here's something you can give your listeners to keep their fingers away from the pushbuttons on their radio..." or

"Here's something that will compel your readers to look at the page long enough to notice the deodorant ad to the left of the column."

In other words, news organizations don't want you to "touch that dial" and switch your attention elsewhere.

Give them information that keeps their audiences tuned in, and you've got a winner.

News releases written from that perspective are the ones that get attention -- and coverage.

To see a line-by-line critique of two press releases I think are excellent, go to http://www.publicity-pro.com/pressrelease1.htm

Both these release announce product rollouts, and both pass the "5 Critical Tests" with an A+ grade.
http://www.nerdlib.com/