| Marketing
for the 21st Century. What are you doing about it? |
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Picture this. You wake
up late and you’re not rushed! You get dressed
and get ready to go out for breakfast. As you sit
enjoying your coffee, you can actually read your
newspaper and then catch up on the small things
that you never found the time to do. Does this sound
like a dream? I’ve got good news for you, |
it isn’t! We like many others, have taken our business
to a level of automation where instead of getting bogged
down in the mundane repetition of daily tasks there’s
time and attention to focus on growing the business and
taking it to the next level!
Taking your business and automating it is something
that is very important for any business owner. Today
I will be discussing the benefits of how you can take
your marketing efforts into the 21st century!
e-Marketing: The way
of the future
Before you go any further, ask yourself this simple
question, “What good is my web site if no one
even knows it exists?”
On-line marketing – eMarketing – allows
you to easily target a global market 24 hours a day,
7 days a week at a fraction of the cost of conventional
marketing.
Some of the best and most cost effective ways to market
your web site on-line include:
1. Affiliate Programs
2. Reciprocal Link Exchange with Non-Competing Web Sites
3. Natural Search Engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN) Placement
Are all web sites created equal?
Let’s face it… every company needs a web
site. After all, it will end up being the most cost
effective sales and marketing tool in which your company
could invest.
A couple years ago, when we started working with our
eCommerce and design consultant from MerchantCorner.com,
he told us that OUR web site should be more than just
a web presence, it should be one of the most useful
tools that we ever chose to purchase. This really hit
home… and it should for you!
Businesses and organizations alike are discovering
that a quality Web Site can make a big difference to
their bottom line. According to Entrepreneur Magazine
(Dec., 2002) "Twenty percent of people say the
Internet is the 'most essential' medium in their lives."
When people visit your site your business will be judged
by its quality and the level of valuable information
that is made available.
No two businesses are the same and neither should two
web sites be the same.
Your web site should be less focused on pretty eye
candy and concentrate more on product / service depth
and offer constantly changing, yet relevant information
to your visitors. If you don't have the time to improve
and maintain your web site, have someone do it for you!
If your content remains stagnant and old, chances are
very high that your business will fail on-line!
The First steps to your Online Marketing success
Take some time and get informed so you can understand
the various online marketing tools that are available
and acquire the tools needed in order to effectively
maintain and update the content of your web site.
Quick Tip: You can get a free 9 Part
Search Engine Optimization course at – www.merchantcorner.com/free-search-engine-course.htm
E-Marketing Success -
What you need to focus on:
1. A web site Marketing Plan: Start
with a clear vision of your business: its mission, its
purpose, its services and products. Set your goals for
both the short term and the long term. Once you have
clarified your online business goals, picture yourself
as a customer, in other words, put yourself in the shoes
of your customer, and view your site from their perspective
not yours. Refine your ideas.
2. The definition of your target market:
Some marketers think big from the start. For example,
if they sell fitness equipment they will want to target
every person on the web that needs that product. This
strategy can work, however it will end up being very
time consuming and costly!
By targeting a specific market, you will be able to
refine your list of potential clients and keep your
advertising costs reasonable.
3. Utilize various online promotional strategies
Try and complement your search engine marketing efforts
with one of the following for the best results:
Affiliate Program - Encourage others to sell your products
and offer them a percentage of the completed sale.Ø
Reciprocal Link Exchange – Target and request
a reciprocal link from companies that work with your
chosen customer demographic. However, make sure they’re
not in direct competition with your company. Ø
Email Marketing –Use e-mail to spread the word
about your products and services. Ø Write Informative
Articles – Allow others to post your articles
on their web sites. In exchange, ask that they post
your BIO and a link back to your site.
4. To track or not to track that is the question
Detailed yet concise web site tracking is paramount
to your on-line web site's success. It is important
to be able to track where your web site visitors are
coming from and get a better understanding of how they
browse your web site!
Successful Online Marketing requires:
Web site maintenance: Adding new, relevant content
to your web site is one of the key determining factors
that the major search engines look for when deciding
how to rank the site. By keeping your content fresh,
you keep both the search engines and your customers
happy!
Merchant Corner, the firm that developed our web business,
FITForces, provides a service where by you can easily
update and change the content of the web site yourself
with little or no computer knowledge.
You can review this service at www.merchantcorner.com
Web tracking – Your potential
customer, the online browser, has specific needs, they
are what we call the mysterious consumer.
In order to get a better understanding of your web
visitors’ habits and to determine into which demographic
they might fall, we need to have a tool that tracks
their activity. By getting to know their habits, you
can get to know their needs!
Search Engine optimization – As you probably
already know, once your web site is built it takes time
and hard work to attract visitors.
Search engines, like Yahoo, Google and MSN are a primary
source of getting targeted traffic to your site. Keep
in mind that since there are millions of pages on the
web, with more being submitted every single day, your
site is competing with an increasing number of other
sites. So what can you do about this?
This is where Search Engine Optimization is needed.
Search Engine Optimization is the process of preparing
your website so that the search engines can better understand
and ultimately rank your site.
You need to clearly identify the content of your web
site, otherwise the search engine would not understand
its purpose. Why then would it give your site a high
position in the search results? When you submit your
site to search engines, you should only focus on the
content, products, or services you provide.
Our budget limits us as to how much we can afford to
spend on advertising online. Online marketing, especially
search engine optimization, is not cheap. However, if
your company is still growing, this is where you should
invest your advertising money. Your goal is to make
your online business grow and that will allow you to
make money while you sleep.
When does my business need a Shopping cart?
A shopping cart allows your customer to purchase your
products in a safe and user-friendly environment. In
some cases, having a shopping cart is not a pressing
need.
For example, with our company, we chose not to launch
with a Shopping Cart. Instead we chose to focus our
efforts on building the free fitness and well being
information aspect of the business first.
Now, nearly 2 years later, we are in a position where
we can start offering products for sale, through a shopping
cart, to our large membership base.
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Rana Sioufi Rodeck, BA. Communications
and Advertising, Université de Montréal.
Certified from YMCA Montreal since 1997 as a Group
Fitness Instructor and FIS CanFitPro.
Rana joined Muscle Mania Eastern Canada and competed
in the Fitness Model Disvision June 2003, organized
by World Natural Sports Organization (WNSO).
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