I recently entered into a debate with a Direct marketing guru about email marketing. It’s amazing what you’re reminded of when you talk to someone with a similar background and a wealth of experience.

When considering a new campaign, we talked about our list. As you probably already know, studies have shown that the success of any direct marketing campaign is comprised of 40% the list, 40% the offer, and 20% creative. I often have to remind people of that stat when they start commenting on design saying that this box should be bigger, the blue should be a different shade, etc. Sorry, I digress.

So anyway, we’re having this discussion about emailing the entire list a few times each month or just simply emailing “new” people who have been added to the list - and obviously purging opt outs. My argument was that if an individual didn’t respond to the first few emails, they should be suppressed. I mean why keeping Spamming someone if they’re clearly not interested.

My friend said that a lack of response doesn’t mean they are disinterested, just that they are not interested at the moment. Hmm.. pretty deep but true. When life events happen, people often move from not interested to very interested and it can happen quickly. So if you stop reaching your audience just before a change, life event, or sudden need - and someone else comes in with an offer - you lose.

The motto of the story is that when using email marketing, don’t be afraid to reach out to your audience again and again until they opt out. Chance are that if they showed initial interest, at some point they will be ready for your product or service and you want to be there when they are. Vary your message a bit so that people don’t get annoyed. However, don’t be afraid of over communicating. A valuable reminder to anyone who using direct marketing!

Article marketing is a powerful tool and one that I use on a daily basis to promote products and deliver value. Make the most out of your time and efforts by creating a submission strategy for your article marketing. Both beginners and experts can and should use a submission strategy that will evolve over time.

Your strategy, at a minimum, should brand you as an expert in your field, define your target audience and help you measure your results. Use your word processing program to develop your strategy and keep it front and center when writing and submitting your articles.

To begin creating your article submission strategy answer the questions below:
1. Your target audience: Who is your most desired reader? What size business does your reader own or work for? What needs does your desired reader have that you can fulfill?

2. Submission goals: Are you submitting in order to receive incoming live one-way links? Will you be promoting a blog, forum or website? Do you hope to become an expert and prove your capabilities? Are you hoping to increase sales of a particular product or service?

3. Search engine benefits: What targeted keywords will you use in your title, article and byline? How will the one-way links from sites publishing your articles increase your search engine rankings? Will you agree to a reciprocal link if asked by a publisher? Will you display a “Featured Author” graphic on your site if requested by the publisher?

4. Submission formats: Which of these formats will you offer when submitting your articles? PDF HTML Word Text

5. Submission list: Will you be submitting your articles in print and/or online? Do you have an existing submission list that targets topics of interest to your target audience. If you do not have a submission list where will you obtain one? How often will you search for new submission sites to add to your list?

6. Scheduling submissions: How often will you write an article for submission? Will you be sending out an article weekly, monthly or quarterly?

7. Stand out in a crowd: What will you do enhance your relationships with publishers? Will you offer customized versions of your articles for free or for fee? Will you display the list sites that published your articles on your web site? Did you consider allowing publishers to insert their affiliate link in your article or your byline?

8. Tracking your results: Have you asked publishers to notify you when they use an article? Will you spend time checking to see if sites publishing your article gave you a live link to your site as required? During what time intervals after submission will you search Google for your article name? How often will you check your website metrics to see traffic driven by your article submissions? You will be ready to forge ahead with a submission strategy after answering these questions and recording your answers.

There are many excellent marketing strategy checklists online that you can use to consider any other questions you should answer for your strategy. You may want to network with your colleagues who are experienced in article submission to get their suggestions for your strategy. Continue updating and using your strategy as your business changes over time and you will be miles ahead of your competition!

Guest post by Bonnie Jo Davis who is an article marketing expert and prolific writer who teaches other businesses how to profit from this free marketing strategy. She created Article Submission Sites in order to provide others with her frequently updated list of submission sites and she offers visitors a free copy of her “Article Submission Summary Sheet” at http://www.articlesubmissionsites.com

On-page optimization is a great place to start your next search engine optimization campaign. Even though off-page optimization is essential for improving your Google rankings, on-page techniques can be used to build a strong SEO foundation and support good results on Yahoo!, MSN, and other major search portals.

For more free marketing advice, visit the marketing experts at Internet marketing expert at http://www.MarketingScoop.com.

When thinking about search engine optimization and where to begin, think about on-page optimization. Although off-page optimization is essential for improving your Google rankings, on-page techniques can be used to build a strong SEO foundation and support good results on Yahoo!, MSN, and other major search portals.

Here are a few SEO tips you can use starting immediately to make your site more search engine friendly and begin enhancing overall rankings on all types of search engines.

Optimize Your Website URL. If you have not yet picked a domain name for your website, do not try to purchase yourkeyword.com. Rather, pick a name that will be memorable and is something you want to build your company or brand around. You do not want to limit your options too severely. That said do try to include your main broad keyword into your URL.

Optimize Your Page Title, H1 and H2 Tags. Create a title that is relevant to your site content and which is no more that 60 characters in length. The reason you want to limit the size of your title is because larger titles cannot be fully displayed on search engine results pages. The reason why the title is so important is because it gives you an opportunity to display your keywords first.

The first headline that appears on your page should include your keywords and be in the form of an H1 tag. The sub text should be presented as an H2 or H3 header. This reinforces the importance of your keywords and indicates prominence oriented around the specific content included on your web page.

Optimize All Your Meta Tags. SEO experts continue to debate the value of meta tags. I can tell you that although meta tags including the title, description, and keywords is less important that it was many years ago, it still plays an important role in optimization.

Today, meta tags are used as a starting point and a reference point for search engine crawlers. Your meta tags need to be aligned to your page content and also include your keywords. This creates consistency, something that search engine spiders yearn for. So make sure to fully develop your description and keywords. I suggest limiting your keywords to no more than twelve and limiting your description to about 150 words maximum.

Optimize your keyword density for Google. Creating a keyword rich content page is essential but do not get carried away. Your keyword density should be around 3 or 4 percent, no more. Some people believe that you could go as high as six percent for Yahoo! optimization but Google seems to like pages that have a smaller keyword density. From my perspective you are better off focusing on the placement of your keywords and the type of emphasis you provide. Remember to focus on H1 and H2 tags and place keywords at the beginning, middle, and end of your web page. In addition you should have an instance of each keyword phrase in bold, italics, and underlined. This variety again reinforces the value of your links.

Keyword Variation. The last piece to focus on is keyword variety. Instead of stuffing your page with the same keyword phrases again and again, use some variety. A great way to do this is to add a word or two before your keyword phrase and after it. Creating variety is important because it shows each search engine that your site has a focus but that you are not intentionally trying to improve your ranking.

The most important part of any search engine optimization campaign is to make your site appear natural, present valuable content, and follow on-page optimization best practices. If you use the above suggestions as a guide, you will be well on your way to a fully optimized website.

For more free marketing advice, visit the marketing experts at Internet marketing expert at http://www.MarketingScoop.com.

Branding is the cornerstone to any good marketing campaign. Without your brand, your business will never amount to its full potential. What are the benefits of branding? Branding results in:

- word of mouth
- recognition
- repeat business
- improved reputation

There are a number of ways to enhance the branding of your business for little if any money. These techniques are often overlooked by most marketers because they are so simple and cost effective. Offline opportunities include:

- Stickers
- Flyers
- Bulletin Boards
- Bumper stickers
- Business cards

Opportunities online can include:

- Bios in articles
- Forum Signatures
- Email Signatures
- Social Media Pages
- Blog Comments

There are certainly plenty more options available but some of these are commonly overlooked. Giving away products can be good for branding as well as long as the samples are small or made available on a trial basis. Giving employees items with your company logo can spread your brand as well.

Keep these tips in mind if you want to build your brand and save money too.

I’m sure most of you are aware of the marketing power of a well-written promotional article about your industry or business. A compelling and educational article on your audience’s topic of interest will drive traffic to your website and increase customer confidence in your expertise. Best of all, it requires no investment aside from your time and effort.

But where do you start? The following quick tips (presented in chronological order) should serve you well in starting out upon this method of online advertising. All of these points could be several pages in themselves, but this should give you a good overview of the process.

Think of an Article Topic

Write what you know about, first and foremost. Brainstorm topics of which you have specific knowledge. It doesn’t have to be something obvious either. Write about a recent challenge your company faced and how you overcame it. Write about an interesting situation that you know is a common problem in your industry but that is not often addressed. Don’t be afraid to present yourself or your company as imperfect, or as facing challenges.

For instance, one of the articles I plan to write in the next few weeks will be about our video production company’s work on a forklift training video. It was the first industrial training video our company had done, and I plan on laying out our specific challenges and what we learned from the process. Of course I will include the fact that the customer was very happy with the finished product, but I will also express the worries and difficulties we had along the way. (Also make sure you get permission from your clients if you plan to mention them specifically in the article.)

Keyword Research

If you’ve done any work on doing search engine optimization for your website, producing an effective web article is quite similar. Because you want your article to be relevant in searches, you need to put a lot of focused keywords in your content. First make a list of all the keywords and phrases that you want your article to be relevant for.

For instance, in preparing for this article, I thought about who I wanted to read it. I did internet searches to research what kind of language was being used in the industry, and I used a thesaurus to find similar terms. I came up with a list of keyword phrases that included: ‘writing promotional articles’ ‘how to write online articles’ ‘writing web articles’ ‘how to write articles that advertise’ ‘tips for promotional internet writing’, amongst many others. Research will give you a good idea of the kinds of search terms that are relevant, and this will allow you to use these synonyms and phrases in the body of your article.

Winning Article Writing Strategies

Excessive self-promotion won’t often work in the web article format. Your audience doesn’t want an obvious advertisement; they want to be educated and/or entertained, and that’s what you should be striving to do.

Be concise and use short paragraphs. If you find yourself writing more than 1,000 words, think about splitting your content into two articles. You’re writing for an often impatient audience, used to immediate gratification, so don’t get literary or meander. Of course, this isn’t always the case; if you’re writing for potential customers in your industry and you know they like to read dense, jargon-y content, you should cater to them.

Multiple Titles

Put specific effort into coming up with several good titles for your article. They should be as straightforward and as keyword-rich as you can make them, as the title is the major thing that search engines will be noticing, and because a good title will make relevant potential customers want to click on it. You will want to alternate these titles when you post your article on different article database sites.

For example, the first internet article I wrote I titled ‘Tips for Effective Website Video’. Some alternate titles I posted it under were ‘Producing Effective Website Videos’, ‘Tips for Making Company Website Video’, and ‘Pointers for Avoiding Bad Website Video’. You get the idea; the more good titles you give your article, the more likely it will come up for these different combinations of keywords.

Posting Your Internet Article The Right Way

Research good article-posting databases, particularly ones that focus on your industry. No two sites are formatted exactly the same. Some require you to break your article into bullet-points with headings above each paragraph. Some require you to know some basic html code for putting in your website link or making your title bold or in italics. Some will require you to enter in a short synopsis of your article. Some will require unformated basic html code, so you should save your article in a basic text format as well.

The Article Resource Box

The resource box is the section, usually at the bottom of the article, where you can put in a short bio and a link to your company website (the format varies from site to site.) Some of the sites will require you to know a tiny bit of html coding to put in your link manually. You can find this easy enough by doing a search for basic html code.

Give on-line article writing a try, and let AddMe know how it has worked for you. We’d love to hear your stories about how it has increased business for your company.

This post provided by Zachary Elwood is a Producer/ Writer for Engaging Media, a video production company in Portland, Oregon.

Hi all.. real short post today. I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately on how to use Web 2.0 in marketing plans and activities. The bottom line is that we should all be paying a great deal of attention to the happenings on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flicker etc. Combining these social networks and funneling the traffic these generate to your site is proving highly valuable for customer acquisition.

Here are some suggestions for using the different types of new (they really aren’t that new anymore but may be for some) media…

Facebook – Create a fan page for your product or service

Twitter – Play around with this micro blogging tool, prompt your customers to join and keep them posted via real time updates

LinkedIn – Great for finding the right person to speak to within a organization

YouTube – Now being used to upload informative product reviews and “How To” videos

Flicker – A powerful photo sharing social site, great for sharing photos of your products and industry events.

Gone are the days where we can solely rely on just one website, one new fad, or a new outlet to build brand and drive traffic. I suggest having some fun with these new and exciting tools. Every one’s business is a little unique, so you’ll have to give some thought to your specific goals and different campaigns or format to test. But one thing is certain… you need to start.

Before the Internet, small business owners like yourself were usually limited to a local market -resorting to expensive advertising and brochures, direct mail, cold-calling, networking at the local Chamber of Commerce or Rotary. You hoped customers found you through word- of- mouth or a Yellow Pages ad.

Today, you can work with a consultant, a financial planner, or a business coach across the country as easily as someone across town. In the Internet age, prospects often find you (instead of the other way around).

This is the age of the virtual customer. Yet, although the Internet has made it perfectly reasonable to land a major client you’ve never met in-person, it has also created new expectations among consumers.

Prospects now “Google” around to find someone with your skills. They expect you to make a good virtual “case” for yourself. If you don’t pass the test, or make a bad impression, or appear lackluster compared to your competitors, you will lose the potential client.

The only way to be truly successful in business is by establishing a good reputation. And understanding the way business has shifted in the Internet age can help you bring the potential of marketing your business into the virtual world.

The Virtual First Impression

The Internet has increased the expectation among consumers that businesses will have a credible online presence.

Many of us now form “first impressions” of people and companies via our Internet browsers. From the moment your name and business appear in a Web browser to the moment your Web site loads, your first impression often means the difference between a shot at your prospect’s business, or being shut out.

Think about it. You have probably used the Internet to research a company or a person you’re considering doing business with. Certainly potential clients and customers are checking you out online, too.

Prospects you’ve never met are forming opinions about your business at the click of a mouse. Internet first impressions are not just influenced by how your Web site looks, but also by how often your business appears or how high it ranks in a web browser.

Become an Online Center of Influence

We all know people who command rapt attention whenever they speak. Others want to listen to, learn from, and emulate them. They are centers of influence, a distinction you can pursue online by developing the following qualities:

Share inside knowledge with your target market;

Participate, listen, contemplate, and offer thoughtful responses;

Be willing to voice an opinion;

Assume leadership positions in your industry

Certainly, experience counts. But this is not the only prerequisite to becoming an online center of influence that will earn you the distinction of ‘trusted advisor’ within your target market.

Start by making your Web site a resource for your industry. Feature lots of useful information, including articles, links, downloadable files, customer resources, and anything else of use to your target market. Be generous and give, give, give!

This post provided by Net Insiders, taking you to a new level. The Internet’s best marketing blog is here:
http://www.netinsiders.com/

There has been a lot of discussion on the subject of email deliverability and I wanted to share some important suggestions to help you improve your e-mail marketing campaigns. Before we discuss guidelines for boosting your e-mail delivery rates, it is important to understand what deliverability is and what it means to your e-mail marketing campaigns.

E-mail deliverability represents the probability that your e-mail campaign will successfully reach a recipient’s inbox and that it will arrive in a legible, presentable fashion. Ultimately, higher delivery rates will increase your chances of seeing a return on your marketing investment.

Unfortunately, few marketers today can expect to achieve perfect deliverability. For many, deliverability can be a confusing and painful issue. But by configuring things correctly from the start, adhering to best practices, and monitoring industry trends you can feel confident that you are achieving the highest relative deliverability for your industry, brand, and type of messaging. Now, here are some important rules to follow in your email marketing efforts. Class is now in session.

Get Permission From Your List

This is the most important step of the e-mail marketing campaign. Make it clear to subscribers what they will be receiving from you and why it is they are receiving your messages. Of course, make sure they have an easy way to unsubscribe. And it’s the law to remove recipients after an unsubscribe request within 10 days or less.

Maintain and Cleanse Your Lists
Be sure to remove undeliverable e-mail addresses that bounce on an ongoing basis. A clean e-mail file will help your reputation. Be sure to process your list through a hygiene service and make sure addresses comply with ISP standards. A good rule of thumb is to always keep hard bounces below 10% of the total messages being sent.

Focus on Authentication

Authentication lets ISPs know who you are. When they know that, your chances for reaching an inbox are much better. Authentication prevents the forgery of e-mail messages and allows senders to build a positive reputation with receivers based on e-mail behavior. DK, DKIM, and SPF are probably the most well known and adopted authentication methods.

Follow the Rules and Regulations

It is important that all of your messages meet legal approval and follow all of the Federal CAN-SPAM laws. There are several important ones to follow, so make sure you are familiar with each of them. The FTC authors these and has a good online resource site to help guide you through the legislation. Also, be aware of what state level e-mail laws exist.

Develop the Right Creative

What you say has an effect on your deliverability, and of course an effect on response. Don’t use language associated with negative marketing tactics. Do not promise anything you can’t actually deliver. Use images sparingly and avoid sending attachments. Ensure your subject line is relevant and pops especially for preview pane viewing. And having a text version keeps your recipients using text only email viewers from being alienated.

These base email tips should help you improve email deliverability success and generate the success you’re looking for.

What’s the fastest, simplest and cheapest way to promote just about any business? The answer is postcards sent by direct mail. You can get your message to a targeted group of prospects or to your existing customers for a cost of about 25 to 30 cents each including postage. You can actually send someone a postcard every 30 days for only three dollars a year. You can generate leads, create sales, ask prospects to give you a try or convince existing customers to buy more or buy more often.

What are the 2 biggest secrets of marketing with postcards?

1. Regular, repeated mailings are the way to create big predictable results. When you mail every 30 days for a year you will cause a dramatic growth in your business. People respond to repetition. If you are a parent you know how hard it is to refuse repeated requests for a cookie or a desperately wanted toy. If you are not a parent, I’m sure you remember asking, even begging for a toy, treat or permission to stay up past your bedtime until your parents finally gave in. Your customers and prospective customers are similar. They need to be asked repeatedly too.

2. There are really only 4 reasons people don’t buy your products and services. Look at your own buying behavior and see for yourself if you believe me when I tell you these 4 apply to you too.

a) No need.

When people don’t buy from you, it’s because they don’t want what you are offering. They may need what you are offering and not know or acknowledge that need, but the bottom line is they don’t want it. Save lots of time, effort and money by targeting your postcard mailings to groups of people who have demonstrated they want your product or service or one’s similar to yours and then mail to them. Follow at least this one piece of advice and become more profitable immediately.

Examples of those who have demonstrated they want your products and services are:
1. your own customers,
2. your competitor’s customers and
3. people who have bought products and services which your products and services supplement or complement.

Target your marketing. Promote your business exclusively to people likely to have a strong desire for the benefits provided by your product or service.

b) No money

Businesses and consumers don’t usually avoid purchases because they don’t have or can’t get the money necessary to purchase. They usually don’t buy because they decide buying something else is more important to them (like food). You can get them to buy from you by making it clear to them that buying your product or service will get rid of something they don’t want or will get them something they do want or will get them more of something they already have that they like having.

It is your job to get your people and businesses to see that your products and services give or get them what they really want. Consumers and businesses rarely avoid buying something because they don’t have (or can’t get) the money needed to make the purchase. They avoid buying what you offer because they place a higher priority on spending money for something else. What is the most nagging problem you can solve for prospects in your targeted market? Make it real to them how they’ll feel when your product or service eliminates that problem. Use postcards to communicate how they can get their problem solved.

c) No hurry

People tend to drag their feet after they decide to buy something. The longer they wait to purchase the more likely they are to forget why your product or service is valuable or even absolutely necessary to them. Keep your message in front of them with repetitive mailings. If you don’t…You’ll lose the business.

The reason repetitive mailings are so effective is that they remind your customers and prospects of what they are missing by not having your product or service working for them in their life. You can avoid losing sales because of “no hurry” by rewarding customers for taking immediate action and penalizing those who don’t. For example, offer a special discount price or a special bonus for ordering before a deadline. Do repetitive mailings to targeted customers and prospects and you will make more sales.

d) No trust

Most people’s fear of losing something is a bigger concern than getting something that they want. This fear causes them to frequently avoid buying something they truly want. They don’t want to buy and then find out that your product or service won’t solve their problem. They don’t want to be or even feel ripped off or still at a loss over the solution to their problem. You must take away their risk in doing business with you. You must provide a way that they can “trust” you. If you don’t they won’t buy and you will lose business.

Most peoples’ fear of losing something is a bigger concern than getting something that they want. This fear causes them to frequently avoid buying something they truly want. They don’t want to buy and then find out that your product or service won’t solve their problem. They don’t want to be ripped off, feel cheated or even feel at a loss for not getting a solution to their problem. You must take away their risk in doing business with you.

You must provide a way that they can “trust” you. If you don’t they won’t buy and you will lose business. 1. Eliminate the risk with an unconditional money back guarantee. 2. Give them testimonials from satisfied customers and/or provide references that prove the quality and reliability of your product or service. 3. Make it easy for your prospects and customers to communicate with you and get their questions and concerns answered. Let them see you and your business are real and that you value getting and keeping their trust and present and future business. These are really the only 4 reasons why people don’t buy from you.

You can increase your sales and profits by knowing them and doing everything you can to mail your postcards to the people and businesses most likely to want and benefit from your products and services, make it clear to them how valuable the benefits of your products and services are to them, get them to see the urgency of getting the value of your products and services now and finally that they can trust you to help them get the benefits you promised your products and services would give them. When you do all these things, guess what? People will buy from you like crazy.

Postcards are a perfect low cost medium to overcome the 4 reasons people don’t buy from you. Use postcards in repetitive mailings and make your business soar.

This post provided by Joy Gendusa. Using a powerful, simple, extremely cost effective way of communicating with customers has earned Joy Gendusa Inc. Magazine’s recognition as the nation’s fastest growing direct mail postcard-marketing firm with year 2007 revenues close to $19,000,000. Gendusa began in 1998 with zero investment capital. Today, her Clearwater, FL firm called PostcardMania, employs over 150 people and prints 4 million and mails 2 million postcards representing 31,000-plus customers in over 350 industries each week. Visit at www.PostcardMania.com