Use These Tips for Increasing Revenue Through Your Thank You Pages

Are you making the most of your thank you pages? After someone buys your product or registers for something on your site, take advantage of the moment and the state of your customers. Here are some tips for leveraging your thank you pages and increasing share of wallet.

Cross-Sell - If you know your customers bought something that goes well with another product or service you offer, offer it to them right on the thank you page. You'd be surprised how many people decide to go back and try again. If you offer more than one newsletter, include links to the opt-in forms for them.

Send to a Friend - After someone purchases from you or signs up for your newsletter this is the perfect time to ask them to get a friend to do the same. They've just had a super-positive experience with you and trust you enough with their information. Why not either just ask them to tell their friends? Give them something for getting their friends to sign up too if you can.

Tips - Does your product or service have some tips or tricks that go along with it? Your thank you page is the perfect place to put them!

Product Tour - If you have a video or tutorial for your product, your thank you page might be a perfect place to put it. Check out Marka Online, they sell computer bags for women and include videos of their products.

Customer Support Information - Perhaps you'd like to put your customer service hours, phone number and links on a thank you page. Did they purchase something from you? Include shipping information so your customers know when they can expect their product.

Advertising! - Make some dough on your thank you page by including 3rd party ads for affiliate products or targeted Google Adwords. Word to the wise: make sure you suppress your competition. The last thing you need your customers seeing is your competitor's ads on your thank you page.

Tell Your Story - If you've got a story to tell, reinforce your customer's decision to buy or sign up to your newsletter Make them feel better about taking an action with you by telling them the story behind your product or service. It's a great way to make your customers feel closer to you.

These are just a few ideas.. add your own, experiment, and measure the result. When you find what works, make sure to apply it across all of your thank you pages!

Allocating your Budget is Critical to Trade Show Success

Take a look at your trade show budget. Is it focused on developing sales or just on generating leads? Of all of the important line items in your budget, how many focus on converting the leads into sales? Chances are that if you are taking a traditional approach to allocating your trade show budget, your marketing efforts may fall short of producing the number of sales and revenues that they should.

Here's why. Industry statistics show that a staggering 80% of trade show leads are not followed up on. If your follow up plan does not extend much beyond giving the leads out to the sales team, then you're the rule rather than the exception. Developing trade show leads into sales opportunities takes a more strategic approach. By helping your sales team at this crucial stage you can significantly impact their effectiveness and production.

It's critical that your trade show marketing plan does not stop at the show floor. There are several important steps necessary to develop the leads into sales opportunities. Leads must be called, decision-makers must be reached, and opportunities must be qualified to leverage the time of your sales team.

Allocating a portion of your budget for marketing to qualify the leads before the sales team takes over will impact the success of your show tremendously. Whether you invest in your marketing team, an inside sales team, or a lead qualification company like Lead Generation Solutions, the key is having the expertise that you need to execute the following techniques:

• Call every lead immediately after the show. This allows you to reach the prospects when their interest level from the show is at its highest. It also allows you to beat slow moving competitors and make sure that no leads fall through the cracks. While calling six weeks or six months later is better than not calling at all, it's critical to call every lead immediately after the show. You are investing a lot of money on the show to initiate a personal relationship. Mailing catalogs or a power point presentation and hoping the prospect will call is not enough to maintain it.

• Call several times until you reach the decision maker. It takes several calls to reach the decision-maker. The higher their level of authority, the more calls it takes. This is one of the areas where the breakdown occurs. It's very difficult for sales reps to make enough calls to reach the decision-maker. To make things more challenging, often the right company stops by your booth but not the right decision-maker. Many sales are lost because it is difficult to maintain the follow up needed to penetrate deeper into the company to find the opportunity. While some sales take extra resources to develop them, the investment will pay off in the long run.

• Quality grade and prioritize the opportunities for the sales team to leverage their time. The sales reps time is valuable and is best spent only with the leads that have a qualified opportunity. However, even among these ideal prospects, they need to know exactly who to focus their time on. The first priority is the prospects that have a need and want to meet right now. Second are the prospects that have a need and want to be followed up on within a specific time frame. This way they will never waste time with non-qualified prospects.
  

Put your trade show budget where your sale is. There is a sports saying that holds that every baseball team will win one third of its games, and lose one-third of its games. What separates the winners from the losers is what they do with the remaining third. It is the same with companies exhibiting at a trade show. There will be obvious leads that will be cherry picked and quickly result in sales. There will also be leads that will never turn into sales opportunities. But how you budget and execute the qualification process with the remaining leads will really determine how successful your trade show will be.

About the Author
At Lead Generation Solutions, we specialize with helping companies to maximize the effectiveness of their trade show follow up. Please give me a call me for a no-obligation discussion or take a moment to visit our web site at www.leadgenerationsolutions.com.

Why link popularity is the top factor in top search engine rankings

The Value of Links versus Content
It used to be said that content is king. And while content is an important ingredient in developing a commercially successful website, link popularity is proving to be the deciding factor on what will or will not rank well, especially on Google. Off page criteria has grown into the primary ranking factor in the major search engines.

Link popularity analysis makes Google famous
The biggest feature that sets Google apart from their search engine competition was PageRank. Most search engines at the time looked at on-page factors to analyze what a web page was about. On-page factors are essentially how a website reads and the words contained therein. There was no verification from other parties.

What Google did was analyze what other websites were saying about a particular
web page by analyzing incoming links to a website. Google’s algorithm ranks websites primarily on:
1. The volume of incoming links to a webpage.
2. The quality of the incoming links to a webpage.
3. The anchor text (link text) of the incoming link to your webpage.

Volume of Links
The more links pointing to a website, the more important it is assumed to be. This is part of what goes into the mix of calculating PageRank.

A website like Yahoo is judged to be important because thousands of websites around the web are pointing to it. And if an important website links to your website, then your website is also judged to be important, which brings us to the aspect of quality.


Quality of Links
All incoming links are not the same. A link from Yahoo is judged to be more authoritative than a link from a poorly linked website. A link from a website that has a high number of naturally occurring inbound links and is themed the same as your website is a high quality link.
The web is divided by “neighborhoods” relative to their theme as well as quality. Google makes reference to “bad neighborhoods” and it’s important to stay out of them. Free for all (FFA) link exchanges are an example of a low quality link neighborhood.

Anchor Text
Since people naturally use descriptive text when linking to other websites, Google analyzes anchor text. It used to be enough to attain a handful of high PageRank links with relevant anchor text in order to rank well, but now it is important to achieve links from a wide variety of websites with descriptive anchor text. As search engine space becomes more competitive it will be imperative to secure a high volume of high quality incoming links.

How Links Help Your Website
The citation analysis model allows the web community to, in essence, vote for the top results. The problem is that if the web community cannot see your website (it currently does not rank well on the search engines), it’s never going to vote on it.

Another flaw is that while a natural growth of links is possible with a website that is creating ideas, such as a blog, this does not happen naturally with most commercial websites. Commercial websites are obligated to create content that inspires linking and take a proactive stance toward developing inbound links.

With the right content, tools, and resources, more sites will provide one-way links. The result is higher search engine placements and increased traffic to your site.

About the Author
Michael Fleischner is a Marketing Expert and Search Engine Optimization Specialist with more than 12 years of marketing experience.

Why You Should Be Using Google Analytics

If you own or operate a website, then you know the importance of web analytics. Without the right data, its virtually impossible to know which areas, features, and sections of your website are creating a desired result. Where are your visitors going? What sections are most popular? Knowing this information can help you to optimize your site and improve conversions. Today Sasch Mayer gives you the inside scoop on Google Analytics - fast becoming one of the most used website analytic packages.


Having used a large number of web site visitor trackers over the years, I first approached Google Analytics some time ago, with the somewhat jaded attitude of someone who's 'seen it all' or at least 'seen most of it'. What could possibly make this particular utility stand out in such a large crowd of competitors?

But first... What is Google Analytics?

Analytics is Google's very own visitor tracking utility, allowing webmasters to keep tabs on traffic to their site, including visitor numbers, traffic sources, visitor behavior & trends, times spent on the site and a host of other information gathered via two pieces of JavaScrípt embedded in the source-code.

Unlike other frëe visitor trackers, which insist on displaying annoying and often amateurish badges or buttons when they are being used, Google Analytics simply runs quietly in the background, gathering the necessary information without any visible signs of its presence.

Which brings me quite neatly to Analytics' first major plus-point; the price.

What webmasters are effectively getting, is a fully fledged visitor tracking utility without all the irritations and limitations normally associated with frëe products of this type.

Ok, so its free; but is it any good?

In a word; yes.

The sheer depth of information gathered, really leaves very little to be desired. From search engine analysis to page views, bounce-rates and more, the available data is presented so as to give users an easy overview of the most essential elements, with the ability to 'drill down' to less commonly accessed or more in-depth statistics and figures.

Additionally, on the 18th of July 2007, the Google Analytics old user interface was discontinued, making way for a newer, more ergonomic look which makes reports more accessible and the interface itself more intuitive for the user.

The new Dashboard provides 'at a glance' visitor statistics for the previous month, as well as a graphical breakdown of your visitor's geographical locations in the förm of a world map. A pie chart clearly shows what proportion of visitors reached the site through search engines, by referral or through direct access, whereas the 'Content Overview' provides a líst of the most commonly accessed pages.

What makes Google Analytics special though?

Although Analytics boasts all the features and statistical data to be expected from a top-class keyword analysis and statistics tracker, it also features a number of additional tools which put it ahead of most of the pack where ease-of-use and depth-of-information is concerned.

1. The Map Overlay

Essentially, this feature brings up a map of the world, highlighting the countries a site's visitors stem from. Clicking on a country produces a close-up view, along with a geographical breakdown according to the region and/or city from which visitors accessed the site. This tool in itself is invaluable for all those webmasters with geo-specific sites, concentrating on a particular catchment area.

2. The Site Overlay

This is conceivably Google Analytics' single most important feature from a webmaster's or online business owner's perspective, as it provides a hands-on view of visitor behavior. When clicked, 'Site Overlay' opens the tracked web site in a new window and, after a moment's loading time, overlays each link on the screen with a bar, containing information about clicks to the target page and goal values reached [more about goal values in a moment]. Since it allows the webmaster or site owner to navigate his or her site and see exactly how visitors flow through it, it is difficult to imagine a more effective tool than this as far as raising a site's conversion rates is concerned.

3. Goals and Funnels
Unless the site being tracked is an information site which does not rely on generating sales or inquiries, conversion rates are as important as sheer visitor numbers. The 'Goals & Funnels' feature allows users to set up specific goals for their site, such as tracking a visitor to the 'Thank you for your inquiry' page for instance. It also allows the user to set up specific monetary values for each goal, and thus track the site's financial performance and profitability during any given period of time.The term 'Funnels' refers to the specific path a visitor takes to reach the goal's target page. Since most web sites sell a number of different product ranges or feature a number of ways to inquire, all of which lead to a single 'Thank You' page, the funnel allows for the tracking of each individual path with a minimum of fuss.

4. Graphical Representations

A great many visitor trackers out there will present the collected information in a certain way, be it a líst, graph, pie chart, flow-chart or whatever. Whilst all these methods of presentation are of course valid, it is nevertheless a fact that most users are different, and a pie-chart is not necessarily ideal for those users preferring to work with graphs or vice versa. Google Analytics, however, allows users to choose between views on many of its reports. Although this may seem like a relatively minor point, it nevertheless makes things easier, as it allows the user to work with the view he or she is most comfortable with.

In Conclusion:

Google Analytics provides webmasters and site owners with a highly effective means of tracking visitors and analysing statistical data, easily the equal of most subscriptíon based services in the industry.

Although some concerns have been voiced amongst more paranoid internet users, that Google puts everyone's collective data to its own evil demographic uses, there really are precious few reasons not to recommend this fantastic tool as one of the best means to boost any web promotion and marketing campaign.

About The Author
As a technical writer with over a decade's experience, Sasch Mayer has been living and working in the Republic of Cyprus since 2005. Currently under contract to IceGiant Web Design and Promotion Services, he mainly covers topics such as SEM and Site Promotion.

Article Submitters... Worth the Hype?

If you're new to Internet marketing or a marketing expert, you know the power of quality content. Article marketing takes quality content to the next level - it's one of the best tools available for increasing your search engine result placements on Google, Yahoo, and others.

What is Article Marketing?
Article marketing is the practice of writing an article and distributing it via the web. The best part is that you can write an article about almost any topic that you do (or do not) have experience in - more on that later.

Once you've created an article, you simply post the article to an Article Directory which is used by Webmasters to feed content on their website(s). Websites are always looking for new, quality content, and rely on article directories to feed it to them.

When webmasters place your article on their site, the article includes an "about the author" section. Place a link or series of links back to your website in this section and watch your link popularity soar. Your link popularity is the number of times that websites link back to your site.

Does Article Marketing Really Work?
The best way to answer this question is with an actual example. A while back I published an article titled 7 Strategies for Improving Your Alexa Ranking. Go to Google and type in the title of my article. This will give you an accurate picture of how many times the article has been published on the World Wide Web... more than 100,000!

Each time the article has been published, a link back to my website is present. The benefit of article marketing is the viral effect. The more quality articles you produce, the more that your content is distributed which results in more links pointing back to your site.

How to Get Started
I use article marketing as a key search enging optimization strategy. Getting started is easy and you can either do it manually - by seeking out article directory sites on your own - or by using article submission software like I use.

If you would like to start the process manually, I recommend the following sites:

eZineArticles.com
ArticleAlley.com
GoArticles.com

You can register with each of these sites, proving some basic information. Once you've been accepted as an author, you can start submitting your articles to each of them. Shortly after they've been posted, webmasters will starty utilizing your articles on their own websites.

To automate the article submission process and get your articles distributed to thousands of sites much more quickly than manual submit, I recommend any of the following:

Article Submitter Pro
This tool is the best on the market for submitting your articles to article directories and other sites that feed the internet with fresh content. Article submission is one of the best and most effective ways to increase your search engine ranking results.

Article Submitter
Brand new article Submission software lets you instantly submit your articles to over 660 high quality article directories resulting in unlimited back links to your webiste.

Instant Article Submitter
Amazing software stuffs any Website you want full of free targeted traffic. Your articles are a powerful resource for driving traffic to your site and building link popularity.


What if I've Never Written an Article Before?
All it takes is a little practice. If you've never written an article before, I would recommend visiting an article directory site and reading some articles in your particular area of expertise. Learn how others are writing and model their strategies. Write about something you know well or that you're passionate about. The rest will take care of itself.

Another option you may consider is article generation software. I don't personally use this type of software, but a colleague of mine has used the Instant Article Wizard product to help him produce tons of articles on a variety of topics.

Instant Article Wizard
Create Top-quality Articles On Any Subject In 15 Minutes Or Less (even If You Dont Know Anything About The Topic)!

Although article generation software is a good option if you don't know where to start, I recommend that you take a shot at creating your own articles. Doing so can give you an SEO skill that no one can take away and that you'll always have at your disposal.

Article marketing is a great tool for improving your link popularity and therefore your search engine result placements. Begin using article marketing today and see yourself succeeding!

Spur List Growth by Revamping Your Opt-in Process

In the world of email marketing, gathering opt-ins is critical to the success of your efforts. One of the most effective ways to build a solid prospect list is through a clear opt-in email marketing strategy.

There are four permission levels associated with email marketing that range from loose to rock solid. Depending upon your goals and the amount of risk you're willing to take when it comes to deliverability and blacklisting, the following are your options:

• Opt-out. In the opt-out level of permission, recipients will receive messages unless they actively decline. Examples of opt-out messages include unsolicited email that contains a functioning opt-out link or pre-checked boxes on an order page or preference center that customers must uncheck in order not to receive email marketing messages. The opt-out level of permission assumes approval is granted unless explicit action is taken on the part of the recipient to decline. Although legal under the U.S. CAN-SPAM provisions and commonly used by some companies, it is not considered a best practice among legitimate email marketers. Still, according to MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007, 35 percent of BtoB marketers and 21 percent of BtoC email marketers use an opt-out permission process in their email marketing program.
• 
  
• Single Opt-in. Interested parties must actually check a box or click on a link to sign up to receive emails. As the most basic level of permission-based email, the single opt-in is also the most popular. Nearly four out of 10 BtoC email marketers use the single opt-in option and 20 percent of BtoB marketers do, according to MarketingSherpa.
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• Confirmed Opt-in. In a confirmed opt-in, you not only receive permission, you also follow up with an email message that confirms the person has opted-in. The confirmed opt-in allows you to get explicit permission from a recipient and immediately test your new relationship, creating a good brand impression. Confirmed opt-ins also allow you to verify that the email address you have is valid before it can damage your deliverability. Although this is a best practice, Silverpop has found marketers are lax in implementing such a program. In Silverpop's "2005 Retail Email Marketing Study," only 43 percent of online retailers sent a registration confirmation message.
• 
  
• Double Opt-in. A double opt-in takes the confirmed opt-in one step further by making the recipient confirm and then reaffirm that they did indeed want to receive emails from you. Only after they take this action is the double opt-in considered complete, and only then will your recipient begin to receive information. Less than 7 percent of marketers use double opt-in, according to MarketingSherpa.
  

When evaluating the opt-in process, most marketers need only make a few simple changes to revitalize their list growth efforts. If you're not currently sending confirmation emails, for example, this is a terrific place to start to improve list growth. Additionally, consider these elements of a strong permission-based email marketing program:

• Clearly ask for permission--don't bury the call to action off the home page.
• Provide a good reason for prospects to give you their email addresses by offering relevant topics, programs, messages, etc.
• Give customers choices in content or frequency when possible. A one-size-fits-all mentality fails to achieve the full potential of email marketing.
• Help improve deliverability by sending confirmation messages following registration and requesting addition to recipients’ address books.
  

Based on the level of permission appropriate for your unique business needs, you can implement the right opt-in process to create a list of recipients that are truly interested in your company’s products or services.

Source: SilverPop

The Secret to Creating Online Ads That Sell

Today's post is all about making your online ads as effective as they can be. Whether you are starting a new business or looking to attract new sales there are a few things you can't afford. Losing potential clients to your competitor and wasting money on ineffective advertising.

Unfortunately, these things happen more often than not. So, why do some businesses do so well while others fail? It's not due to more marketing dollars spent. Instead a strategic plan was evoked to produce an effective advertisement.

There are many important elements that go into producing an effective ad. First, let me start by saying that coming up with a great ad it isn't rocket-science. There are no complicated formulas to follow in order to create an ad that grabs the readers' attention.

Second, using just creativity can kill your ad. Let me explain. Creative ideas are just that, creative. Before you slap down an idea and call it "brilliant" take the few minutes and ask yourself the following questions:

* Who is my targeted audience?
* Does the ad clearly communicate my message?
* What is "unique" about my message?
* How does my ad compare to my competitors?
* What will motivate my targeted audience to respond?

Your ad has to be more than just creative. It must exude value in its message. Think of the reasons why you buy a product or service. Almost every reason for a purchase has some sort of value tied to it. Whether it saves money, tastes good or satisfies an emotional need, it serves a valued purpose.

Make Headlines Work for You

The headline is by far one of the most important elements in creating an effective ad. There are thousands of pages both in print and online that cover the subject of headlines. Why? Well, quite frankly, it makes or breaks an ad. The headline is in essence the voice of your ad. It shouts out: "Hey This Product Will Make You Rich, Here's How!"Rather than using: "Jane's Homemade Cookies" use "Instant Smiles with Easy to Bake Homemade Cookies".

Always use appealing keywords in your headline that attract attention or stir up curiosity. The goal is to get your targeted audience to read the rest of your copy. Consider using the following keywords when writing your headline:

"New, How, Why, Free, Save, Fast, Now, Announcing, Introducing, Wanted, Make, Grow, Sale, Limited, Guaranteed."

Next time you notice a headline that grabs your attention; use it and test it on your product or service. But always keep away from exaggerating your offer. You will quickly lose credibility if you are not honest with your targeted audience.

Writing Simple Yet Effective Body Copy

Once you accomplish transitioning the reader from the headline into the body copy, build momentum by relating to the viewers' needs and satisfying their desires with each written word.

When writing the body copy; keep words simple and to the point. Use sub-headlines whenever possible and keep paragraphs short.

It's important to make it easy for the reader to scan through the copy. If your offer consists of many benefits, use a bulleted list.

Avoid cluttering up your ad by trying to cram too much in the space provided. Eliminate unnecessary words that can drown your message.

Using Visual Elements

There are no set rules of where the graphics must be placed on your ad. However, when selecting illustrations or photographs, display your product or choose ones that are relevant to your offer.

Using graphics can enhance your message as well as grab a viewer's attention when they glance around on a page. Remember, graphics can communicate a message before a single word is read.

Ask for the Sale While Creating a Sense of Urgency

Limited-time offers can create a sense of urgency, but giving your reader a valid reason why they should act now generates more sales. Again, use benefits to attract the reader to take action.

Is there a free gift with the purchase? Will it enhance their lives immediately? Is it a special one-time low price offer?

People love bargains. Use discounts to attract those who want to take advantage of your offer by providing a coupon with an expiration date.

Lastly, specify how your product or service can be obtained and ask for the sale. If it requires a phone call ask them to pick-up the telephone and call. If you require payment, tell them what forms of payment you accept and how to make them.

Today's post by marketing expert Tom Killian. Tom is a partner at Media D'Vine. An Orlando, Florida based agency specializing in marketing and advertising. Tom has been successfully building online businesses for over 9 years. http://www.mediadvine.com/.

7 Tips for Effective Reciprocal Linking

Reciprocal linking...does it work? Yes it does. One can debate the value of reciprocal linking compared to other linking strategies. And without a doubt, one way links far outway the value of a reciprocal link. However, if done correctly, reciprocal linking can be a powerful SEO strategy for your website (See Search Engine Optimization Specialist for additional tips).

Tip #1
Search for reciprocal links from pages that have a Google PR equal or greater to your own. By doing so, you are enhancing the quality/value of the reciprocal link improving your overall success in the eyes of the search engines - especially Google.

Tip #2
Exchange links only with sites that are related to your site/industry in some way. For example, don't link to web sites about athletic clothing if you're selling hardware. Sites that you're exchaning links with need to be contextually relevant.

Tip #3
Make sure that your anchor text, the text that comprises your link contains your keywords. For example, a link to my primary site should look like this: Internet Marketing Expert Marketing Secrets instead of http://www.marketingscoop.com/.

Tip #4
Your links page should never include more than one hundred links. Keeping your link quantity below one hundred ensures that search engines do not discredit the value of your site or challenge it as SPAM.

Tip #5
Check your partner's websites on a regular basis to ensure that they are still linking back to you. Often I've exchanged links with a site only to find that they removed the link back to my site only days after the exchange. You can do this manually or utilize software to do it for you ( I use SEO Elite).

Tip #6
View the title of the links page where your link will be placed. You can do this by visiting the link page and then pressing "view" on your browser menu bar. Then select "view source code" and find the meta tags. The title tag should include keywords relevant to your site. It doesn't have to, but if it does, the more valuable it becomes.

Tip #7
Quality over quantity. When you being the process of building reciprocal links for your website, go for quality over quantity. Once you get started, you will undoubtedly have numerous sites looking for an exchange. If the sites don't meet your linking criteria, you must say no to the link exchange.

In summary, make sure your reciprocal link program includes relevant links that have an equal or greater Google PR. Check your links often and make sure not to include more than 100 links on your link exchange page. Follow these tips and you're well on your way to successful reciprocal linking! For an example of my reciprocal link page visit http://www.marketingscoop.com/links.htm.

Posting to Social Bookmarking Sites

By now you've heard of Web 2.0 and how social media is changing the way we view the web. The question marketers must ask is how to embrace Web 2.0 and use it to better communicate to prospective customers and most importantly, propell your search engine results to #1.

I was recently struggling with one of my keyword placements which got bumped down to the #2 position on Google. At the same time, I was beginning to better understand the use of social bookmarking sites like Digg, Delicious, etc., and the tremendous power these sites have.

For those of you who are not familiar with social bookmarking sites, these sites allow users to "bookmark" a particular site, newstory, or content. When the content is selected, it is placed into a HUGE database that displays the sites selected. When multiple people bookmark a site or webpage, that site or webpage moves to the top of the display list (it's all about social popularity and voting).

In putting two and two together, I decided to look for tools that could help me place bookmarks on many of these sites... not just one or two of the most popular. The good news is that I found them and I'm going to share the sites here. It's not automatic, but that will come. In the meantime, register and start posting.

• Social Poster


• Only Wire

Oh yeah... the conclusion to my recent struggle with SEO. MarketingScoop is now back in the #1 position on Google for "Marketing Expert". Talk to you all very soon - Keep Blogging!

Ezine Basics: How to Increase Traffic to Your Website

Let's begin with defining what an "ezine" is and how it can help you drive tons of traffic to your website and help you sell products and services. An ezine (electronic magazine) is much like a traditional magazine or newsletter. However, it is only delivered via email. People sign up to receive ezines for free or a monthly subscription fee. Most ezines are published weekly, but some are published daily, monthly or bi-monthly.

Generating Traffic with Ezines (Ads)
Classified Ads: the cheapest ads you can buy. Classified ads are limited to two or three lines and placed at the end of the ezine. Unless you place a classified ad in an ezine with 30,000 subscribers or more, your chances of getting a response are very small.

Sponsor Ads: these are more expensive than classified ads, but will give you much better response. Sponsor ads can be placed at the top, middle or bottom of an ezine issue. You can include more text in a sponsor ad so it's a good way to test your copy before going all out on a solo ad.

Solo Ads: these are the king of all ezine ads because your offer is sent exclusively to everyone on the mailing list and gets the full attention of the subscribers. No articles or other content is included. Solo ads can be expensive, but they can increase your response by as much a 100% over sponsor ads. You can usually expect a 10% response rate from a good solo ad. In other words, if you purchase a solo ad for $100 in an ezine with 10,000 subscribers, you should expect about 1,000 highly targeted visitors.

Note: Solo ads can be purchased for as little as $10. You will usually get a better response from a $10 solo ad sent to 500 subscribers than you will from a $10 classified ad sent to 5,000.

Here's your step-by-step guide to successful ezine advertising.

Step One: Subscribe to 3 or More Ezines
Subscribe to ezines that offer top sponsor and solo ads within your budget. Subscribing to ezines before you place your ads will allow you to determine the quality of the list and potential profitability of your campaign before you spend any money. You can also make sure your ad goes out.

You can find a wide variety of ezines at: http://bestezines.com/

Step Two: Contact the Advertisers
The surest way to maximize your results from any ezine is to ask people who have already advertised. Take a few minutes to contact one or more people who have placed ads similar to the one you want to place. Tell them you're new to ezine advertising and are afraid of losing money. Most people will be glad to help you out. And if they had a bad experience, they'll definitely let you know.

In addition, if you see the same ad running multiple times, that's a good indication that it was profitable. Smart marketers will run the same ad at least three times if the first one was successful.

Step Three: Contact the Ezine Publisher
Contact the publisher to find out if anyone has else has purchased an ad within the last month for the same product you want to promote. This is critical because you don't want to advertise the same product to people who may have already purchased.

Here are some additional questions to ask (if they are not stated on the website):

• Can I personalize the subject line?
• Can I personalize the message?
• If yes, what are the personalization codes?
• How often to you publish?
• When is your next opening?
• What is the maximum word count?

Step Four: Set Up an Ad Tracker
You will want to create a tracking campaign for each ezine that you advertise in. The system will create a link for you to use and it will track your visitors and commissions just like your regular affiliate link.

Never pay for adverting unless you can track the response. You need to know how many visitors and sales you get for each ad you place so you can determine whether or not you want to run another ad in a particular ezine.

This information is critical for determining how well each ad campaign does and how well you're converting visitors into sales. Sometimes you just need to tweak your ad copy and run the ad again for better results.

If you get good results the first time, run your ad again in a week or two. Not everyone will buy the first time around. And many who were "on the fence" the first time they saw your ad, may purchase the second time around.

Step Five: Write Your Ad
Most affiliate programs provide pre-written ads for you to use. While that is convenient, you'll get much better results if you don’t repurpose them word for word. Make them unique and follow some of these suggestions:
• Add a personal endorsement. With all the hype online, people are more likely to read and click on something that you personally recommend.

• Use a testimonial from the sale letter for the product you are promoting. That's an easy way to get content for a good solo ad.

• Use other people's ads. One of the bests ways to come up with ideas for good ads is to read ezines. Look for ads that catch your eye. Modify them to fit the product you're promoting and add your own personal touch.

Step Six: Place Your Order
This is the easy part. You simply fill out a form with your ad copy and credit card information. After you process the order you will receive a confirmation telling you when the ad will run. And since you are already subscribed to the ezine, you can verify it yourself. Don't rely on them to send you a "courtesy copy."

Step Seven: Put Half Your Profits Back Into Advertising
Once you start generating sales from your ezine ads (this is why you need to track them accurately), take half of your profit and use that to purchase more ezine space. This ensures profitable growth and proper allocation of your marketing spend.

Ezine marketing and advertising is the same as any other online marketing vehicle. The key is to start small, test, evaluate the results, and channel your marketing to those ezines that produce a positive return. Once you’re up and running, continue to tweak your ad to see if you can increase response rates.

*Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert and the President of MarketingScoop.com. He has more than 12 years of marketing experience and had appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. Visit MarketingScoop.com for further details and more free marketing articles.

The Great Turn-a-Round...

For those of you who never read or heard about the Harvard Business Review (HBR), you'd be amazed at the insight it provides into building companies and improving your marketing. I for one was always intimidated by "elite" papers like the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, etc. Once I got the nerve up to give them a read I found that my assumptions were false. Both of these periodicals and others like them are actually easy to read and incredibly valuable.

Last night I was discussing one of the recent articles from HBR. This particular one was about a company that thrived under its current leadership. But when the current leadership left, it went down hill.

Soon thereafter, leadership returned with the added responsibility of turning around an ailing company - one that was at the top of the industry just a few years before. How on earth can you manage such a daunting task? Especially when the momentum is in the wrong direction?

Well, I'll tell you how the returning executive handled it...FOCUS! But what to focus on? How's this for simplification: Products, Quality, and Service.

That's right, developing "must have" products that work and delivering service excellence. Think about the companies you buy from. Do they have products that meet your needs? Do they provide the level of service you require. Sounds simple but not always well executed.

Think about the company you work for. Do you consider the products really cool or must-have? What is the service like? Friendly? Helpful? Consistent? If you're going to turn-a-round your own business, focus on Products, Quality, and Service.

New Twist on Old Theme - iPhone?

Of course everyone's been talking about the iPhone... they've been search for it too (online that is).

According to a recently posted comScore study about Internet search activity for Apple’s new iPhone suggests that Americans have conducted an average of 274,000 iPhone-related searches each week since the beginning of the year.

After the product was first announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at Macworld on January 9, iPhone search activity reached 1.1 million searches for the week ending Jan. 14.

From February to May, the number of weekly searches was between 80,000 and 200,000.

As Apple's major iPhone advertising campaign kicked off in June, search activity climbed to 704,000 iPhone-related searches for the week ending June 10, followed by 727,000 during the week ending June 17, and finally maxing out with 1.2 million for the week ending June 24.

Through June 24, almost 6.9 million searches were conducted that included the keyword "iPhone." Of those searches, 3.7 million were for "iPhone" and 638,000 were for "Apple iPhone." The most common related topics were price and release date.

IPhone-related searches have generated more than 7.8 million click-throughs to Web sites since the beginning of the year, led by Apple.com with 2.3 million.

This concept of searchability has been going on since the launch of the Net but never used frame the success of a given product launch. You've got to love trackability!

Helpful Resources:

Marketing Expert

Search Engine Optimization Specialist

Targeted Marketing - Your Key to Success

Just the other day I was traveling down a familiar road. A new building, which had just been completed, started their advertising campaign - using sinage. To my surprise their form of advertising was more than just a sign that read Hilton Garden Inn.

The building itself is located off of a U-turn/exit. As I drove towards the building I noticed small signs around the exit that said, "banquets", "parties", "meetings", etc. Not only would drivers by see the signs, but those stopped during the normal rush hour back-up would notice what the signs read. "What great advertising" I thought. Why? Because they were taking their advertising to the very people who would benefit from their services and capturing their attention in an unlikely manner.

One might ask, "but isn't this traffic untargeted?". I would argue no. This type of facility caters to the local market. And the majority of the people exposed this messaging would be locals entering a shopping center right across the highway. This type of advertising, one could argue, is even more cost effective thatn newspaper advertising.

I thought that the creativity of using $20 signs - placed in a great location - was brilliant! It goes to show that no matter what type of medium you use, there's always a new twist!