Finding a Customer in the (Un)Usual Places

Finding a Customer in the (Un)Usual Places
By James Fowler
www.mywebsource1.com
No matter where you go you can find a potential customer. This past weekend I found myself at my twentieth high school reunion. I went to meet old classmates that I haven’t seen in years since I moved away from my hometown. I also found this as an opportunity to promote my internet marketing business in a variety of ways.
Reunions, homecomings, gatherings, alumni meetings, and anniversaries are great opportunities to promote your business. While you may not be in a business environment, these social engagements prove to provide you with an audience that is more than eager to become your customer. The hard part of gaining more customers is taken care of: overcoming the unknown. These people already know you or the organization of which you belong. The “cold call” does not exist with these people. You have skipped right over the introduction – which occurred years earlier – and have gone straight to the business relationship.

The following list illustrates some examples of ways to direct advertising when it comes to these types of social engagements. Realize that while the advertising cost per person (CPP) is relatively high, the audience is so targeted that the actual cost becomes almost negligible. Look for these opportunities and take advantage of them.

Program advertising. In many cases, there will be a program for the evening and advertising can be sold for a relatively inexpensive price to off-set the printing costs. At these gatherings, relative information about the event or people is placed within these programs and they will be kept for years to come. It also gives a reason for old friends to come up to you and start a conversation. Make sure when placing an ad within this genre of get-togethers that you acknowledge the group or organization. This bit of personalization adds to your level of relationship with the group and makes your business more appealing.

Grab Bags. Grab bags are an opportunity for you to supply your brochure, business card, post card, etc… to those at a gathering. These are given out to each guest and are much less expensive than mailings and will prove to be more effective advertising after the event is over. Personalize the material within the grab bags if you can, but your standard literature is just as effective. Other materials that will ensure your business will remain in the minds of people are coffee mugs, magnets, and other promotional materials.

Sponsorship. Contact the committee putting on the event about 4-6 months prior and see if there is anything that you can do to help out. Offer to provide centerpieces, balloons, banners, napkins, or anything that you can have with your business name and web site. Most likely this will also provide you with a personal mention at the event and other recognition. Use your imagination here and make sure whatever you do decide on donating has a lasting image placed in the minds of those attending.

Business Card Marketing. What better place to pass out your business card than to people that want to find out what you have been doing over the past few years? In my article on business card advertising (The 3.5” x 2” Miracle) I illustrated the importance of passing out business cards to every person that you meet. Your business card should tell people exactly what you do and how to contact you. This is exactly what the people attending these gatherings want to know! You have it right in your pocket. Make sure you leave with your business card in the possession of someone else.

Word-of-Mouth. They call these “social gatherings” for a reason. Make sure that you socialize. If there is a pre or post gathering at a local bar, be there. In the dinner line, make sure that you are talking to people. Hand out your business cards until they are all gone. Make sure the people you meet know exactly what you are doing today. Listen to what is important to the people you meet. Be yourself and use your 30 seconds to make an impression.

Get-togethers such as these do not come around very often but the people that you meet want to know about you. This allows for you to explain to them who you are, what you do, and how you can benefit them. While these people were your friends at one time, it is the prime opportunity to rekindle those friendships and help those old friends with your expertise.

Thirty-Two Point Search Engine Optimization Report

Thirty-Two Point Search Engine Optimization Report
www.myWebSource1.com

You have a great web site, but does anyone know if it even exists? Millions of web sites exist on the internet and are all vying for a piece of the web browser’s time. Is your web site generating the traffic that you expect it to? myWebSource1 can help you!

Research shows that most web traffic comes from search engines. But if your site is not ranked high enough on the search engines (e.g. after the third page of the search result), none of that traffic will come to you. Worse, all of your traffic might go to your competitors!

Search engines are a very important source of traffic because it's highly targeted. Visitors that come to your site via search engines got there because they focused their search using keywords related to your products or services. But because there are so many pages on the web, and more submitted every day, your site is competing with an increasing number of other sites. So what can you do?

That's where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in. Search Engine Optimization is the process of preparing your website so that search engines can better understand its content and/or purpose.

Think about it! If a search engine can not clearly identify the content of your site, why would it give your site a high position in the search results? Your site must be focused on the content, products, or services you provide. Optimizing your page will save you money that you would need to spend on advertising otherwise.
Search Engine Optimization is hard work, it is tedious and requires hours of analysis and investigation by an optimization expert.

So, why do people do it?

The results can be truly amazing. Your website traffic can increase dramatically, saving you a lot of money that you would constantly need to spend on advertising otherwise.

Each web site report is manually reviewed by an SEO specialist and covers each main page of a web site. Some of the features of our conclusive web site SEO report include:

Overall Readiness Report Find out if there are problems that will keep your site from being listed. Our search engine report will analyze your site for common mistakes that stop sites from being listed or hurt your ranking. These issues are derived from analysis of millions of web pages. This report produces a checklist of issues to correct and should be run before submitting your site.


Keyword Optimization - Finding the right keywords is one of the most important steps in getting better ranking for your website. myWebSource1 finds the most popular keywords for your site, but also the keywords with less competition - where you can rank very high. We will even make suggestions for each keyword to help you get more visibility - and traffic - from the search engines.

Ranking Report – If you currently have keywords for your site, do you know how well they are doing for you? See where your site ranks within the top 100 spots on all major search engines.

Link Popularity Report - A site's link popularity is how many other sites link to it. This has become one of the most important factors search engines use to determine rank, since it is a good indication of how relevant a site is. See what your site's link popularity is on all the major search engines all in one report.

Broken Link Analysis - You NEVER want to submit a site with broken links. Search engines penalize you for this and if you have too many broken links, you'll be dropped from the listings. Each report will check for broken links on your site and inform you of the problem.

Meta Tag Generation – Major search engines rely on the information in your meta tags to determine your ranking. The SEO report will suggest meta tags optimized for your site to aid in search engine placement.

Personal Marketing Analysis – The navigation of your web site MUST be marketed towards your customer and not to your own personal preferences. This report takes a look at the overall navigation of your web site with the consumer in mind!

The success of your business is our first priority. myWebSource1 is prepared to help you analyze your web site and bring you quality traffic, which in turn, will bring you more customers. Contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION and the information to receive your own SEO analysis report for your web site TODAY.

Local Search: Creating a Buzz Close to Home

Local Search: Creating a Buzz Close to Home
by James Fowler
www.mywebsource1.com
http://mywebsource1.blogspot.com/

Local Search, as its name suggests, is a way for you to search your local business directory or phone book using major search engine technology. People use this as a way of searching for small businesses in the areas where they live. It allows the browser to search for categories of businesses as they search without the bulky telephone directory.
This style of search is becoming more and more popular, as people are using their computers for the news, shopping, and communication. Local search can also help to benefit your company in bringing local people to your web site and having them find out more about you.
The typical way to draw more people to your site through search engines is to rank well on specific keywords. This is brought about by following the guidelines of the different algorithms put in place by each specific search engine. One problem with this method is that while you have placed yourself high on a specific keyword, your competition is doing the same. The higher you place, the greater your chances are for making a sale, but if you are a local hardware store, how can you possibly hope to compete with the web sites of Home Depot or Lowes?
One way of doing this is to have huge amounts of content so that even obscure references are brought out on your page or those with little or no competition. However, the same reason that these terms have low competition is because they are so rare. You would need to research heavily to find the most unique searchable terms to make this effective.
Another way to ease your search engine problem is to optimize your site for the localized search. This can be brought about by several methods. It is similar to placing specific search engine terms on your web site, but you also become altruistic with your optimization. This method is very simple and easy to add onto your site.
Add local business listings and links to your site.
Very few people search for a specific business when browsing the internet, but if you have information on the businesses in your own community, your traffic is liable to add up, which in turn, brings more business to you. It is much easier to add rank to your web site under a company name than it is through a product or service category. For instance, back to our hardware store example: If you have a keyword that is "plumbing supplies", you are going to have a terrible time being linked in the top three pages of your favorite search engine. However, having a link on your web site to the local plumber or electrician (with links back) will accomplish two things. This will give you related links – which you need to gain rank on the search engines (both via vocation relation and through localization), and it will provide you with the opportunity to generate business since your web site link is on their site, as well.
To take advantage of this, you can create your own database of local businesses or purchase one from your chamber of commerce. Another method is to purchase a database from a company and add it to your site. Encourage others small businesses in your community to do the same. As your list grows, you will find that you may end up with thousands of people on your list.
Adding business listings is an easy and affordable way to increase traffic to your local web site. The most important thing is that you can do this yourself and it is a way to introduce your web site to other business owners in your community that may not know you are online. Start off small with businesses that match your own needs. Add your own name and start spiraling outwards to businesses that would use your services.
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James Fowler is the owner of www.mywebsource1.com , a company dedicated to educating your business to bring people to your web site, changing people into customers, and turning customers into lifelong customers who help to bring more people to your web site. If you want to learn more about increasing your business, on and offline, please contact myWebSource1 at mywebsource1@gmail.com .

It matters where you land. Tips to marketing an effective landing page.

It Matters Where You Land. Tips to marketing an effective landing page.
by James Fowler
www.mywebsource1.com
http://mywebsource1.blogspot.com/

When creating a marketing campaign online, it is important to think strategically. In fact, think of your marketing campaign as if you were a General Eisenhower leading the troops onto the shores of Normandy during World War 2. When planning out this attack, it was very important that the landing spots be chosen with the greatest care. This same care should be taken when launching your own email or internet campaign.

When you set up your campaign - whether this be a pay-per-click, banner ad, email or newsletter promotion – you want to maximize the results of your efforts. This most likely cannot be achieved if you send them to your home page. You want to send these customers to a specific page that will help you sell your product. This page is known as a “landing page”. The landing page is a web page designed specifically for making people take a certain action that is represented in your advertisement. This could be a specific product, a form to be filled out, a free download or whatever. The purpose is to create a conversion from a person that browses the internet to becoming a buyer on your web site. This page should only be focused on what your ad wants the customer to do. Do not “junk it up” with extraneous information. A link to your main site is fine, but focus, focus, focus.
Just as any advertisement, your landing page needs to be creatively written and loaded with your keyword phrases. One thing you should consider with your landing page is to expand the offer that you represented in your ad. Make sure the person who comes to this page knows exactly what you want them to do and how to do it. Don’t hide your intentions.
You should make sure the person landing on this page knows why they are buying this product. This means listing the features and benefits of your product. If you are selling something relatively simple – such as a colored rubber wristband similar to popular “Livestrong” bands – then you really don’t have to list any benefits. Make the sale. You’ll have to judge for yourself how much detail needs to be stated. One thing to also consider is that people don’t have time to read every feature and benefit of your product. Use bullet points or anchor text to tell them about your product. Make it easy for them to skim the information and then click on a link for greater detail. Please note, this is not to say that your page should not have any information on it, just make sure the key focus is the conversion. The remaining information should be secondary.

Make sure you are delivering the goods that you promised in your ad. Nothing is more disheartening when someone is drawn to your landing page with some fantastic offer you made in a Google AdWord campaign and then you turn around and they have to jump through hoops to get what you offered. If you make the offer, follow through.

Have a stimulating header that immediately catches the reader’s eye. This should be the first thing the reader sees after clicking through to your landing page. This should repeat or reflect the advertisement that you used to get them here. Keep their interest.

When deciding upon your landing page, make sure you are aware of your target audience and that the text used relates as specifically as you can make it to those people. The page should represent the people who will come to the web page.
Value-added deals, such as free shipping or a discount can also be included to increase that conversion rate. When offering the customer an added value, it is wise to get something back for your discount. Have them give you some information about themselves so you can learn about your customers. The more you know about them, the easier it will be to customize your future ads.

Add to your reputation by citing professional organizations that you or your company belong to, awards that you may have received or testimonials that have been sent to you. People like to hear how others react to your product when making a purchase so it is good to leverage these details.

Finally, close the sell. You do this by asking the customer to purchase from you. They have shown interest by clicking on your ad, it is time to ask for what you want. Make sure the button to you shopping cart is well-recognized and easy to find. There should be no doubt in the readers mind of what you want, what they are getting, and how to get it.

Good luck in creating the content for your own landing pages. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate on contacting me at: mywebsource1@gmail.com

What I had for Lunch Today

What I Had for Lunch…

By James Fowler
http://www.mywebsource1.com

I am sure you don’t care what I had for lunch today. It isn’t important that I was sitting in a little internet café, enjoying a cup of coffee, a tuna croissant sandwich and chips. You can enjoy life without the knowledge that I sat there listening to some light music watching people walk by the center of town. It was a rainy day in northeast Ohio and it was cold. Who cares?

What I had for lunch today was an epiphany. An epiphany is the realization of a philosophy. The philosophy is that to carry on a successful blog, is it important to write every day?

The dogma of internet blogging is to write the blog everyday. I have told dozens of clients as recently as last week that they should blog, blog, and blog again. Now, while I am in the process of writing my eBook on Social Networking, I think I may have been wrong. Every “serious” blogger will tell you that you should blog, but I am going against convention and my reasons are based in growing trends.

Blogging is becoming like advertising. It is everywhere. Technorati claims that the blogging community doubles in size every six months. This is about 175,000 new blogs each day. Now obviously, blogging cannot continue at this rate since there are a finite amount of people able to blog. But right now, there is just so much information out there, so why add to it? Building a readership isn’t about how much you write but how you communicate to the rest of the blogosphere. You get people to read your blog by networking with others. It is a community and to be successful, you must be social and add to the community. People can read only so much and at a rate of one blog per second, a subscriber base is difficult to maintain. Readers will stay loyal, however, if you socialize with them and share ideas.

Blogging became the phenomenon that it is because of the ability to use the RSS feed system. By use of this, your blog is broadcast over the internet. However, as stated, the blogs are coming by so fast, it is impossible to find your blog. Readership will come through subscriptions. This is where I believe blogging too frequently can hurt again. Who will want a constant stream of blogs coming to them each day? If you subscribe to 20 blogs, and each one of the writers publish one article each day, you will be swamped with 100 articles in one work week! Who can read that much information? Some serious bloggers are posting more than one time a day!

My last thought on frequent blogging is that the quality of topics has got to suffer in the scramble to come up with new material. As my own readership grows, I find it harder to communicate with the people that have helped build my blog.

So keep the words short and simple. Blog when you have something to say. And keep in contact with the people that keep you writing. You will find that you have more time in the long run and that your stories will count. Happy Blogging!