People actually come to you; they tell you that they want
to receive information by newsletter, email or possibly
through phone calls. Think about it, how much time and
money do you waste by sending information to people who are
simply not interested?

By limiting your audience to those that are truly
interested, you will find that you get a much higher
success rate.

Another bonus to opt-in marketing is that customers always
give the best advice. They will tell you what they want and
what they are looking for. You should always listen to your
customer but it is made easy with this method of marketing.

By targeting people in this way, you can make sure that
the correct people are being contacted. There is nothing
worse than receiving junk mail that is totally
inappropriate to you and your lifestyle. Not only is this
annoying but it also makes you feel that the company has
done little to understand you personally.

Opt-in marketing is particularly useful online. This way
customers can receive information directly to their home.

In a world where there is an excess of marketing, customers
can be understandably cold. The constant bombardment of
advertising can be frustrating and annoying. Direct
marketing in particular has been known to have the complete
opposite effect and actually to turn potential customers
away.

By allowing customers to choose whether or not they receive
information you are much more likely to get a warmer
reception. Be sure that you stay around to help your
customer after they have bought your product. This way they
will remain interested in your marketing and will become
repeat customers.

By allowing people the choice, you are automatically
gaining their trust as a non-pushy and pleasant company. It
is also extremely important that you have people available
to deal with after-sales issues. There is nothing more
frustrating than getting an email advertising a product
when you have been ‘on hold’ about the very same product
for the best part of an hour! Remember your customers are
your future.

Study the workings of the PPC search engines and you’ll bo
on a fast-track to success. Conversely, poor knowledge can
put your business on the slippery slope to ruin. Listen to
me carefully now! Learn how to operate PPC search engines
and you will have a great advantage over your competition.

Advertising on the PPC search engines can be a bit like
attending an auction where you can bid for the top ranked
positions on the keywords of your choosing. Every time a
visitor reaches your website by clicking on your advert at
that search engine you pay the value of your bid. Bid
values typically start at five cents but can be several
dollars for certain highly-competitive keywords.

Let’s talk about the pros and cons of PPC advertising.
First the pros :

1. You are only required to pay when someone clicks through
to you site.

2. This can be an inexpensive way to generate targeted
traffic for your website.

3. Outbid the competition and that top advertising spot can
be yours, no matter how small your business.

4. Some PPC search engines enable a campaign to be up and
away in minutes. Not very long after you could be taking
orders.

5. If the results aren’t all you expected then you can
simply cancel the campaign with immediate effect.

6. Campaigns can be tested and refined very quickly and
very easily.

Unfortunately there are some disadvantages we have to
discuss too -

1. People may click on your advert just because they can.
You will, of course, have to pay for these junk clicks.

2. The cost per click can escalate if you and and your
competition become involved in a bidding war over that top
spot.

3. Your advert may be subject to a strict review prior to
approval. This can delay the start of the campaign
considerably, and you may not like the final advert they
approve.

4. Poor or misleading ad copy may attract visitors but not
generate sales. Without a cap on your advertising budget,
your business could be on the slippery slope to ruin.

So how do you start with PPC advertising? First you need to
establish which keywords your potential customers are
searching on. No point in bidding for traffic on an
inappropriate keyword. There are many ways of doing this
research, unfortunately it is way beyond the scope of this
article. But this is an important step that shouldn’t be
missed and I’ll be covering it more fully in a future
article.

Before you can contemplate making a bid on the keywords
you’ve established it is vital that you know the monetary
value of a visitor to your site. That is you must be able
to calculate on average how much revenue each visitor
generates. Simple math will then tell you how far you can
go in the bidding process.

Admittedly in cases where a site is new and you have no
visitor experience you may want to use PPC advertising to
test your sales copy - but be careful to monitor costs and
sales closely. Also set yourself an initial daily budget
that you can afford to lose if the worst happens and no
sales are made. You can always increase this if your copy
is converting like crazy.

You’re just about ready to dip your toe in the water. I’ve
simply given you an outline here and this is only my
interpretation of PPC advertising, which I suggest you use
as a stepping stone to finding out more for yourself.

Here’s to your online success with PPC advertising.

Mark Vandorone is a great advocate of pay per click
advertising. At his site, Five
Marketing, Mark
offers a very affordable, highly effective pay per click
service.

Lacking a Marketing Plan

Most small business owners don’t have a marketing blueprint.
Many lack a working marketing plan because of the manner
used to fund their enterprise. It should not be surprising
to learn that over half of small businesses begin with very
little start-up capital because they do not seek investors
to help fund their enterprise.

Success in any business depends upon a carefully
constructed marketing plan. You would not go on a road
trip without a map, so why go into business without a plan
to guide you on the journey? Going into business is
inviting failure and if you simply break the marketing down
into its core elements, you will find that you feel more
confident about your business and its chances of success.

Ignoring the Market

When, where, what, and who are all good questions to ask
yourself. Not assessing the market is a common error. The
audience that you are targeting must be attainable. If it
is not, then failure awaits.

You want to know who will be buying your company’s services
or products. You will need a list of the demographics of
your target audience.

You also need to know where your potential customers are
also where your competition has its customer base. If your
company depends on traffic from the street, you will want
to know about the area immediately surrounding your
business.

“What” is a reference to any potential limits. Location
will always be a huge factor. Knowing the location of
your competition’s customer base is great because then you
will know if there are any limitations that need to be
addressed.

Products and Services that Interchange

It is not uncommon for business owners to go from one
endeavor to the next without being specific. People become
confused when this happens because they do not know
precisely what kind of products or services are actually
being sold. Such business consider themselves “full
service” providers for the customer and while this might
generate more profits it cannot help but confuse the
customer.

No Business Plan

Marketing 101-”Don’t begin a business without a Business
Plan!” A business plan built on the promises and actions
of others is doomed. The “dream” needs to be real and
believable. Each step should be calculated and achieved by
the efforts of one person - you. The company needs a
foundation built upon the owners experience and knowledge.

Not Responding to Customers

In the fast pace of today’s business professional, an
immediate response from the provider is expected. A slow
response leads only to a loss of business. Take the
holidays for example.

With little or no time to spare, a customer dashes into the
department store and is depressed by the sight of 50 people
ahead of him in line.

A. Does he wait patiently in line for his turn?
B. Will the manager open up another line?

Of course, the answer is (B). In order to keep the customer
happy, the retail manager opens another register to
accommodate the crowd.

It is easy to avoid some of the more common marketing
mistakes once you see that you are guilty of committing
them. Plot a course of action and check progress monthly.
You may want to invest in a business consultant to help you
get everything in order. It could be money well spent.

David Kingston runs a very interesting website at
FAT Marketing,
it’s one of the webs most up to date Business sites,
while you’re there sign up for the free newsletter.
If you want to read more Business articles go to:
http://www.fatmarketing.com/articles
There’s also a free mini-course available that will
teach you how to get loads of free targeted traffic.

It is known that Google takes into account over 100
different variables when creating an algorithm for ranking.
Whilst we may wonder how to master each and every one of
these facets, we can be sure that keyword density is one of
the most important variables and should be the first to
consider to optimize our site. Keywords are the words and
phrases that are entered into search engines so that they
can produce the results that the surfer is looking for. It
is the work of the search engine to find relevant
information based upon these keywords. So if we enter the
keyword ‘bicycle’ into the search engine, we do not want to
look at an article that has this word mentioned only once
throughout. In this case, it is unlikely that the result
would be relevant at all. This is reason for the importance
of keyword density as a variable. Obviously, if the article
mentions the keyword ‘bicycle’ ten times, then it is
a much better match for the keyword search since it is
likely to contain the information that the searcher seeks.

The Keyword density can be expressed as a percentage of the
total number of words found on a particular web page. It
represents the number of times the keyword is mentioned and
can be determined by dividing the number of keyword
occurrences by the total number of words on the page. So if
you had an article with 200 words and 10 of those were the
keyword, then there would be a keyword density of 2%. It is
generally accepted that a keyword density of between 2 and
5 percent is optimum. This may vary between search engines
but it is a good rule to follow. It is also a good idea to
include the keyword within the title as most search engines
consider a keyword title more relevant. However, be careful
with the use of your keyword since the search engines will
penalize you if you overuse it, so its a good idea not to
exceed the 5% density level.

Primary keywords are those exact phrases typed into the
search engine. Tier one keywords are those that are the
same as the primary keyword, but with a slight modification
in grammar. “Bicycle parts” would be a tier one keyword for
“bicycle part”. They should be used only once in the first
or second paragraph. Tier two keywords are words that one
would relate to the primary keyword. For “bicycle part”,
tier two keywords would be things like: seat, handlebars,
spokes, wheels, or anything else that might appear in
an article about bicycles. These do not need any specific
density but should be used naturally throughout the article.
Finally, keyword variations are the final component. For
“bicycle part”, they would be: bicycles, part, parts, and
bicycles. These need to be used throughout the article but
should never exceed 5% in total density.

Of course, the rate of success by following these rules
will vary between the various search engines. But, by using
these tips in your web page development, you will certainly
boost your search engine rankings since you are telling
the search engine that your web page or article is relevant
to the particular keyword your visitor types into the
search engine. You may wish to experiment with keyword
density to find the optimal level for the different search
engines so as to increase your ranking. It is worth spending
time on this aspect of search engine optimization since it
is one of the known variables that does have a direct effect
on your search engine rankings.

Desmond Mantor is the Marketing Manager for
Have Traffic
a company specializing in producing highly targeted website
traffic for commercial websites. Please visit
http://www.havetraffic.com for information about this
revolutionary web site promotion service

Start your marketing and distribution plan with these three
questions: Who will use what you offer? Is there a demand
for what you offer? Who are competitors and how do they
market? These question will lead you to your target market
and will give you a clue on how to reach them.

Once you know your market, you can then find how out to
reach them. What mode of advertising will reach your
audience. You will want to explore tradition methods like
radio, television and classifieds. Even if your target
market is local, don’t overlook the power of using online
marketing. A web site gives you a 24 hours, 7 days a week
advertising vehicle. Consumers love promotional marketing.
You want to include it in your marketing plan. You can give
a limited time discount. Something to entice them to try
your product.

Distribution markets are not so cut and dry. There are tons
of ways to distribute your product from, doing it yourself
directly to the consumer, to other companies moving your
product for you. This is where you will have to really do
your home. Other companies or individuals, moving your
product line would be where the term “middleman” comes
from. There are lots of different kinds of middlemen such
as: jobbers, brokers, resellers, and many more. Each one
takes a cut into the retail value of your products, which
in turn drives the retail charge of your products up.
However, if your middlemen are making tons of cash that
means you are making tons of cash. It’s the old win-win
situation.

Another part of your marketing and distribution plan should
include how to handle growth. How do you expand your
product line? How to keep up with demands of a growing
customer base? Ask your self what if… and then create an
action plan you can easily implement in times of growth and
crises. When you include the what if in your marketing and
distribution plan, you greatly increase your business
success.

Tina Valiedi is a contributing editor for
MPStrategies Firm,a company whose breakthrough service
unleashes the power of the internet to drive hidden
potential clients to your site. For more marketing articles
visit: http://www.mpstrategiesfirm.com

In the best of worlds, the media would be after you for news
instead of the other way around. If you want to gain
attention, you will need a compelling storyline that is
better than what your competitors have to offer.

Wouldn’t this be a great world if the media was hounding
you for information rather than the opposite? The
recognition you crave requires newsworthy stories that are
more compelling than that of the competition.

Creating a Story

Story Creation

Web sites like http://www.publicityinsider.com/HallOfFame.
asp is where you begin to learn more about using the Public
Relations Hall of Fame for public communication.

Initiate a Petition Drive

Petition Drives

It is even possible for you to initiate a petition for no
money and www.petitiononline.com/petition.html is one such
outlet that can help you do just that. Just browse through
the website and see what kind of petitions others have
started on the site. Petitions abound in many industries.

This is an awesome concept in PR. Hardly anyone is using
petitions to market their business; this is why it is such
a great tool.

Draw Up a List

While a list may not seem impressive it truly is an awesome
thing and the media positively love them. Year in and year
out they are the most publicised so craft one yourself.
The Most Annoying People is an example of this kind of list
and can be found at AmiAnnoying.com. Lists of this sort
probably play a large part in the explosion of people
columns in newspapers.

Tips

While you may loathe the expense, you may be best served by
hiring a professional to tackle your marketing issues.
Perhaps press releases are not your thing so letting an
outside source handle them may very well be the best idea
because they will be more likely to be able to get results
and increase business. Time constraints are another
possible motivator for letting others tackle tasks you are
not ideally suited for.

If you are intent on drafting your own press release, try
to keep these things in mind when doing so.

Simple is best. You are going to need some kind of angle
on any piece you expect a paper to print. Journalists are
savvy people and they will know precisely where you are
heading with your request. It is natural to think of our
ideas as brilliant and earth shattering, but keep that ego
in check and don’t try to impress that journalist with
your brilliance. Keep it simple.

KIP (keep it positive) Never turn your news into a gossip
column. Saying positive remarks always brings back bigger
rewards. “What goes around comes around.” Try to stay
positive and avoid criticizing, ridiculing or otherwise
embarrassing anyone. Staying positive will reflect well on
your business.

KIR (keep it relevant) The storyline must fit your business;
otherwise it is just a wasted effort to attempt newsworthy
material. When you make a list, think hard about things in
your industry. For example, “10 Top Marketing Mistakes”
someone in the marketing end of the industry no doubt
creates this list. Your story should support your
marketing message.

This is only a small part of creating a storyline and
finding marketing material. There are several public
relation options available to small businesses through a
variety of web sites and business oriented e-books. Take
advantage of all of the information you can inquire and use
some of the suggestions listed. Tell a true story about
your business.

Ken Bidgood is the chief writer for, and editor of
Advertising XP,
there’s a wealth of knowledge on the website, plus
while you’re there sign up for the free newsletter.
For more quality articles on Business why not visit:
http://www.advertisingxp.com/articles
You can also find out where to get the cheapest,
most profitable pay-per-click traffic on the net.

How to Use Word of Mouth Marketing

Influencing word of mouth can seem like a daunting task,
particularly in today’s technologically advanced world.
Having said this, the benefits from word of mouth are
considerable and with a little bit of time and effort your
company could generate considerable sales with this method.

If a customer has enjoyed your product and has had a good
experience they will be likely to share this with friends
and colleagues. In turn, the people they have told are much
more likely to purchase your product in the future.

Now you might be wondering how you are supposed to get
people to talk about your product. Well, there are different
ways of encouraging this. If you have a really amazing
product or a special product, then people are going to talk
about it. Word of mouth will pretty much happen on its own.

But you can also encourage positive word of mouth marketing
by doing something good in the name of your company.
Sometimes businesses will participate in a community event
or donate to charity as a way of creating positive publicity
for the company and generating word of mouth.

Increasing the Number of Recommendations

Word of mouth is so successful, mainly because it tells
people that you are honest. There is always a concern from
new customers that they are being taken for a ride. Once
this fear has been alleviated, potential customers will be
much more likely to purchase from you.

You should also remember that often simpler is better. And
you should never make claim that you can not back up.
Lastly, you should also treat your customers kindly and with
respect. They will enjoy the experience and then go on to
tell other people and you and your company.

Scott F. Geld is the proprietor of "http://www.marketingblaster.com">Marketing Blaster, Inc.
, a pay-per-click traffic source that repeatedly beats
the major search engines in conversion ratio and ROI.
For more information please visit:
www.marketingblaster.com

You may be tempted to think that you should be able to
spend anything in your bank account. That money in the
account is actually the cost of doing business and possibly
some profit left over from doing so. You are heading for
disaster if you go out and spend that money because then
you will be hard pressed to meet things like payroll and
other expenses.

Some businesses use holding account for times when a
significant sum of money comes in before the completion of
the job. This helps the bank account from appearing to far
greater than it truly should be. The money is not
considered earned by the company until the job is
completed. Then the accountant will transfer it to the
appropriate account.

If someone gives you a large deposit for a job they wanted
you to do for them but then changes their mind before the
job is completed, then it becomes a simple matter to refund
their money out of the holding account. But, if you did
not have that holding account and just put the deposit
money into a normal business account, it is very possible
that you would spend that money and not be able to provide
a refund.

The money in your cash flow never seems to have any
problems “flowing out”, but you have to be careful and make
sure it is adequate to cover all of the expenses that arise
when doing business. If your cash flow dries up, your

company might be dead in the water.

Profit, on the other hand, is whatever is left over after
all the expenses relating to doing business have been
cover. This is the money that you can use to make capital
improvements, investments, and perhaps even raises for your
overworked and dedicated employees!

There are some people like a former boss of mine that
refused to keep a ledger for his business. He thought that
he could just give the bank a call, ask his balance, and
that amount was his to spend on whatever he needed. While
this fantasy is nice to believe, it does not take into
account that payroll, expenses, bills, and other priorities
had to be met with that money and he was literally
jeopardizing his business by having this practice.

I have worked for people that did not keep a ledger. They
simply called the bank to find out their balance and
assumed that that was the amount of money they could spend.
These people could not be bigger fools because they never
take into account outstanding checks, upcoming expenses,
payroll, or taxes. What would happen if some unexpected
expense were to arise?

You will either become buried in debt or not be in business
at all if you do not know how much it costs to run your
company or maintain adequate cash flow to pay your expenses
on time. With a little forethought and planning, you can
come up with a one-year plan and even forecast costs further
into the future. Then, by tracking performance, you can
adjust your plan accordingly.

You do not want to run your business and not know the true
state of your finances. By allocating funds for all
expenses, you can run your business in an organized and
efficient manner that will ultimately yield you greater
profits in the end. You may want to have an accountant or
bookkeeper set your books up for you so that you need only
post transactions. The order and feeling of control you
have when doing so makes it well worth the effort.

Ken Bidgood is the chief writer for, and editor of
Advertising XP,
it’s one of the webs most up to date Business sites,
while you’re there sign up for the free newsletter.
For more quality articles on Business why not visit:
http://www.advertisingxp.com/articles
There’s also a free mini-course available that will
teach you how to get loads of free targeted traffic.

One alternative being considered is online meetings. Some
estimates indicate that the use of web-conferencing can
save as much as $2,000 per executive each year.

Web conferencing has been taken to a new level by the
introduction of high-speed, multi-megabyte broadband
connections. A combination of real-time video, audio,
instant messaging and application sharing can enable
colleagues to see and hear each other while working
simultaneously on the same documents anywhere in the
world. All that is required is a headset and microphone
plus optional webcam.

There are more sophisticated services available which
allow people to participate in an online meeting using
devices such as laptops, 3G mobile phones, or video
conferencing facilities.

In the past slow internet connections have given rise to
poor quality audio and video during web conferences. The
number of participants in online meetings was also often
restricted due to the heavy demand on limited bandwidth.

Security concerns were another disincentive to conducting
online conferences. Potential threats to confidentiality
existed when private meetings were held over an open
network. On top of this encryption also consumed more
bandwidth and slowed down the process even more.

These issues have now largely been dealt with, and this
marketplace is growing rapidly with lots of competition
including online giants such as Microsoft and WebEx.
Excellent news indeed for business. This fierce competition
is having the effect of forcing down prices, thus allowing
even small businesses access to fully managed web
conferencing suites

A word of warning before you dive in and book your first
online meeting. First understand what productivity
improvements your business can achieve through the use of
these facilities, and adopt the services which really
improve your bottom line.

For example, live video conferencing is not for everybody.
Many firms will get the most benefit from instant messaging
or VoIP (”voice over internet protocol”) service, possibly
combined with application sharing.

Another word of warning. If you require outside parties to
participate in online meetings be careful not to use a
provider who insists on all participants using their
proprietary software.

A final word, ensure that all media being used in the
conference are encompassed by any encryption facilities
that are being used.

Author Mark Vandorone is the founder and proprietor of Five
Marketing, a
quality provider of highly targeted traffic for your online
advertising campaigns. Stop putting up with junk clicks and
poorly converting traffic from PPC search engines! go to
http://www.fivemarketing.com

People will come together and complete common tasks with enthusiasm when there is a common denominator holding them together. It does not matter what size of company you have, providing employees with a friendly work environment is essential. It is those which lead who create the atmosphere that others must work in so their actions must reflect a commitment to elevating the human spirit. We will talk about 4 essential beliefs: trust, optimism, enjoyment, and opportunity.

Hope

Trust

The position of leader is an important one because they
must be both optimistic and realistic in order to foster a hope-filled work environment. While realism admits the facts in a situation, it is optimism that helps propel forward towards their goals in difficult circumstances.

Trust

You have to establish parameters in order to build trust.
Part of this process also means that people must be
empowered with the ability to make decisions and speak
freely. Obligations help employees stay honest
and responsible.

Optimism will help a group thrive by fueling the
aspirations of employees for achievement. The best
employees seem to thrive off of the praise they receive
when they tackle a tough problem and see it through to resolution.

A leader has a difficult job because they must be both realistic and optimistic at the same time in order to keep optimism alive. They must be realistic about circumstances even when things look rough but optimistic that hard work and perseverance will resolve the issue.

Pleasure

Business owners and managers would love to wake up every morning with a strong urge to be at work. True pleasure at work is possible when everyone is working together to tackle a problem and the team will stick it through to resolution. Laughing once in awhile at work really is not a waste of company time.

Yes, even the business owner and manager want to wake up the next morning with that “desire” to want to be at work! Real enjoyment at work comes when you and your team are deeply committed to a problem, and you persevere together to tackle it. It isn’t the laughs and giggles that waste company time.

It is possible to be intense and relaxed at the same time.
All that you need is a little confidence. A combination of clear goals and communication will set an inner peace on fire and encourage your team to engage.

Opportunity

You have to be able to relate with your workers when you
are a business owner so that you understand what is
important to them. Asking them where they envision
themselves in the future is a great way to find out
what motivates them. If you offer employees the
opportunity for advancement, then they are more likely to
say that they will still be working for you. Promoting
from within is always a good idea as it motivates people to want to do their best so that they can make it to the next level.

Corporations and small businesses need to evaluate their
work environment on a regular basis. This eliminates the
chance of lawsuits and the loss of valuable assets.
Recognize that your employee has value in your business,
and look closely at your total work environment.

Opportunity

Challenges help keep us motivated. A good leader gives
their associates the chance to grow into new roles and challenges. You need to reward their abilities and effort with encouragement, more money, and the opportunity for advancement.

As leader, you are empowered with the ability to inspire
people and increase their productivity. By generating an atmosphere that is conducive to trust, hope, pleasure, and the potential for personal growth, you are creating a more powerful team and cultivating future leaders at the same time.

David Kingston runs a very interesting website at
FAT Marketing,
it’s one of the webs most up to date Business sites,
why not sign up for the free Business newsletter.
If you want to read more Business articles go to: http://www.fatmarketing.com/articles
There’s also a free mini-course available that will
teach you how to get loads of free targeted traffic.