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Internet Marketing Quick Tip For Local Businesses     
 
Advertising,Internet Marketing,Small Business
  
 
Is your business dependent on where you’re located? Have a website? Then here’s a quick tip you can implement into your website today that can help your customers, or potential customers find you easier through a major search engine.
Good Descriptive Title A good title for your site might be: (TITLE)Modesto California Red Wine Makers - Modesto Red Wines Companyxyz at 1234 Wine Makers Way Modesto California(/TITLE)

NOTE: I’m using “(”, and “)” instead of the correct “<”, and “>” so it will display correctly on this page.

Meta Tags Meta tag your website with “keywords” and a good “description” of where you are specifically on the global map, i.e. if you do business out of say Modesto California ( as the title of your website makes clear ), and your a Red wine producing company, use words like: (meta name=”keywords” content=”Modesto California, Modesto Red Wine Companyxyz, October Wine and Cheese festival, Modesto California Wines, Best Red wines in Modesto California, Modesto California Merlot Wines, 1234 Wine Makers Way Modesto California”)
And of course a good description. Something like:

(meta name=”description” content=”Modesto Red Wines Companyxyz at 1234 Wine Makers Way Modesto California offers the best Northern California Red Wines”)

Plus a memorable domain name couldn’t hurt! For example: www.ModestoCaliforniaRedWineMakers.com. or www.Modesto-California-Red-Wine-Makers.com or better yet, register both of them! Then point the latter URL to the first for better search engine placement! Yes, the search engines will give you a higher rating if you have dashes between the words in the website address.

Why point www.Modesto-California-Red-Wine-Makers.com to your primary website address www.ModestoCaliforniaRedWineMakers.com you say? Wouldn’t this confuse the customer?

Exactly the opposite! Many people will forget to put the dashes in the URL, so you have both. One for better search engine placement, and one your customers, and prospects can remember easier! So if you can afford to register both, I suggest you do so.

Last but not least, the first 200 words on your homepage should have a good concentration of words specific to your location, and specialty products and/or services you offer.

Anyone may republish this article in their e-zine, e-book, web site, magazine or newsletter, as long as the resource box is included. Thank you.

Go Vertical Or Bust!     
 
Advertising,MLM,Small Business
  
 
Are you going horizontal, or vertical? If you are a small business person, Entrepreneur, etc. I hope you answered the latter.
If you don’t have a clue of what I am talking about, then please lend me your ear. It could save you a lot of time, money, and heartache.

Those who are trying to be everything to everybody offering everything under the sun are going horizontal. Bad choice if you are a small business person with a limited advertising and promotional budget. Excellent if you are an Amazon with a almost unlimited budget.

For example, look at the health care industry. If you are a specialist, you command top dollar. If your a general practitioner you don’t, i.e. a dine a bakers dozen. Simple as that.

So why are so many Entrepreneurs, and home based businesses with a limited budget to get the word out trying to go horizontal online? ( i.e. WorldshoppingMall.com ).

My first educated guess is they think they can compete with the Amazon’s, Walmarts, and Yahoo’s of the World online because they are under the misconception that the Internet levels the playing field against these BIG guys.

My second guess is that they are looking for the “get rich quick” answer without the time, money and effort involved with a truly successful long term business plan.

Nothing could be further from the truth on my first guess, and nothing could be further from reality on my second.

Don’t get me wrong. The Internet is the greatest thing since Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone when it comes to getting the word out about your products and/or services, but going “head on” with the “BIG BOYS” is not exactly a marketing strategy that I would recommend. Nor has it proven to work. Matter of fact, I can’t even provide you with one example!

Who would you most likely make a purchase from online when you decide you want a certain book, tape, or CD?

Amazon, or John Doe’s online bookstore from who knows where?

Case closed.

ANSWER: GO VERTICAL AND LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD!

So become a specialist, and provide a product and/or service so rare, or hard to get anywhere else-( that is in demand of course )- that you are practically the only one online that provides it!

Or better yet. You’re the product/service, or you own the product, that fills a niche market online that hasn’t been exploited yet.

I know that’s a tough order to fill, but if you can, you’ll have the odds stacked in your favor.

You don’t have the money to develop your own product? Or enough expertise to offer a specialized service? Then offer a unique bundled package of Affiliate products and services along with your own *special* customer service!

GET CREATIVE! As Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”.

So go vertical, or BUST. Don’t end up like one of those guys I see at the corner of a freeway off ramp in Las Vegas on my way to Comdex every year, with a sign for food and gas money after they’ve just lost their shirt in a casino.

Happy Marketing!

Anyone may republish this article in their e-zine, e-book, web site, magazine or newsletter, as long as the resource box is included. Thank you.

Pick up your palette and slap that paint on the canvas……We are about to prepare a masterpiece!

Creating an advertising plan is a mix of analytical preparation and creative conceptualization. Who are you trying to reach? What do you want to say to them? How, when and where are you going to reach them? In preparing the guideline or framework for your advertising plan you need to concentrate on defining your target market. You want to look at their age, location, marital status, income, and life stage.

Strap down your easel and get ready to develop, is time to begin the creative process and strategy. We want to concentrate on appealing to the needs or wants of the consumers or target base. We need to focus on where people are going to first see our product/service to make an immediate lasting impact. Remember it is all about getting noticed, we need to create ads that resonate on the minds and hearts of our viewing audience. There are numerous forms of advertising media we can use, such as; direct mail, public relations promotions, display advertising, directories, brochures/flyers, door to door leaflets, transit ads, internet, TV, radio, Cinema, exhibitions, and trade shows. In its simplest form, your creative strategy needs to answer these three things: What benefit are you promising and what’s your selling proposition? Who are you making it to? Why should they believe you? There are two modes that our customers shopping habits can be classified as, transactional and relational. Transactional customers focus on today’s transaction and they fear paying more than they should have. They are very research oriented and they enjoy comparing and negotiating. At the same time these costumers are great for word-of-mouth advertising. Relational customers think of today as a beginning to all the transactions to follow.

Timing is an important aspect when placing advertising. If you place an ad too soon, people may forget about your event. If you place an ad too late, people may already have plans or purchased another product. For a seasonal plan, you may want to begin running a campaign early enough to catch the people who plan and continue running your ad in order to catch the last-minute trip crowd. When developing your plan you need to concentrate on the timing of your advertising. We refer to this as the purchase frequency -that is, the more frequently the product is purchased, the less repetition is required. Companies need to consider the rate at which your advertisement is forgotten, or the speed at which buyers forget the brand if advertising is not seen nor heard. Most approaches to advertising are divided into two timing schedules; continuous and flight schedules.

The law of “3″ has long applied to visual and audio advertising. That is, if a target customer can read your message 3 times in a short period of time, or hear your ad 3 times, it will increase the chances of them remembering the product. When developing slogans, phrases, or any words that we will use in ads we need to use evocative words. Words that evoke a reaction from the viewer, remove them from their current thoughts, and place them on your message. The most important part of developing an advertising campaign is to be consistent. If the product/service can be recognized in numerous areas of placement through a consistent message delivery, it will become a part of the consumers buying habits.

When deciding which type of firm to use in implementing your advertising plan you should look at the options. A full service agency does research, selects and purchases media, and develops ad copies and produces artwork. A limited-service agency specializes in one aspect of the creative process and they can provide a range of services depending on the company needs. Your last option is visiting a business incubation professional who can help you develop a plan utilizing a mix of limited services and consulting based on in-house resources you can use to do it yourself. If you utilize all the tools that have been mentioned in the article you will be able to develop and implement a great guideline for your advertising plan.