ATILUS - Web Design | Internet Marketing

The First Two Steps to Effective Internet Marketing

I was thinking today about how scalable Internet or Web Marketing & PPC (pay per click) advertising are as a service or business. I realized that they are, but not in the sense they are typically bundled under.

The problem with Internet Marketing

I think the problem with Internet Marketing lies in the platform. The computer (and Internet Marketing) continue to have or resemble a very robotic assembly architecture. Throw in some inputs, these keywords, these marketing dollars and measure the output, more leads, sales etc. Although this is an accurate depiction of what should be done (Internet Marketing is especially powerful because it empowers you, a company owner, to cost-effectively measure the effectiveness of your marketing dollars) it is an incomplete summary of the entire process.

Input and output are only the final two stages of the equation, an equation that varies depending on the company or organization and situation. Most people forget the most important parts of Internet Marketing, the first two steps.

The following are the first two steps that you should go through in order to effectively market online:



1. Know your Clients & Audience

The first step in going online with your marketing dollars should involve the first step in EVERY marketing tweak or revision... getting to know your clients and audience better.

By interviewing your clients and audience and getting a sense of what they really want, really like, really need, and really use (not just what you assume to be true about them) you are better able to select a medium or service that will properly target others like them. Learn what sites your clients and audience frequent for business or industry news and establish yourself in the same way. Find out what networks they frequent or what magazines they read and select an advertising service that targets these publications or ezines.

2. Creativity & Application

Your children, eccentric uncle, or creepy neighbor may be your greatest asset in Internet Marketing.

The next step is usually creativity. And this is the scalability speed bump.

You can't necessarily teach creativity. The greatest marketing in any of its forms always involved creativity, at least that first time. The most successful, singular ideas, are almost always new and genuine, but then get repeated and copied and their effectiveness continues to decline with their popularity.

And this is the point where companies typically hire internet marketing firms. There are some pros and cons to this.

The pros: Internet Marketing firms have a structure conducive to creativity and as outsiders have no preconceived ideas about your business or clients. SEO (search engine optimization) or Internet Marketing firms are also typically more familiar with the solutions online that might best meet your needs or connect you with targeted clients.

The Cons: On the other hand, they are not as familiar with your company's needs and your clients and therefore cannot always provide a solution that completely harmonizes with these two things. Cost is also an issue as SEO is both time consuming. DISCLAIMER: Be wary of any Internet Marketing company that promises your company immediate great or #1 rankings with any major search engine.

And creativity is applicable even in areas that are typically considered cut and dry. Creativity is a huge component of keyword selection. I recently consulted with a large portal that needed to drive more qualified visitors to their site. They KNEW EXACTLY what their users were searching for and had already been bidding on a set of key terms that matched.

As a laymen, I was pretty sure we were leaving some very important terms out. But, the missing terms were not yet obvious. At first the company wasn't open to suggestions, but after a few months of constant tweaking our tremendous results helped us establish a level of trust and confidence with our client. We were then allowed to brainstorm on a set of terms.

In a matter of weeks we came up with a set of terms that completely doubled results and were much less expensive than the terms they were already bidding on. Unfortunately I can't go into too much detail, but the portal was essentially bidding on industry terms, terms only the most qualified visitors and searchers would know about, terms only industry insiders would know about.

As an outsider we were able to see the disparity and disconnection and bid on that first stage consumer, a consumer unfamiliar with the industry terms related to that particular service, but still completely qualified.

When it comes to creativity, having some kind of outside perspective can help a great deal. Ask your friends, your children, your wife, if something makes sense to them, as an outsider unfamiliar with the terminology of your industry.

The Key To Successful Blogging

It is a myth that blogs fail for the following reasons:

• Bad content
• Bad grammar
• Posts are too long or too short

Sure, bad content doesn't help. But can every blog author create a winning post everytime? Bad grammar can be distracting, and posts that are too long or too short can be as equally frustrating.

But, typically, the reason blogs fail is simple:

Consistency

Authoring a blog is hard work. It is hard work to consistently sit down and write, especially after a long day of doing exactly what you are writing about. But, that is what you must do. Pick a day, a time, a format, and write. I try to write one good substantive post a week. In between, when I have epiphanies and need to quickly convey some knowledge to my audience or reveal the latest gadget/cool thing online I will author a small, quick post.

And don't fool yourself, authoring a blog only gets to be more work. Too often I have seen authors pumped in the beginning, authoring lots of healthy sized posts every single day only to burn out and, 6 months down the road, be publishing every couple of months. Don't let this be you. Set a goal, a routine and stick to it. As your number of readers and subscribers grow, it will help motivate you, but remember the bigger your audience the more you will be expected to write, consistently.

E-Newsletters, The Best & Worst Internet Marketing Tools &

Found this pertinent Internet Marketing post over at Search Engine Watch regarding the most effective and least effective digital, Internet marketing tools and techniques. Topping the list, paid search listings, but in-house E-Newsletters (targeted to a home grown list of emails) came in a very close second.

Find out why E-Newsletters are both the best, and the worst internet marketing tools. And, learn how to setup and get the most out of your own Enewsletter.

The top "worst performing" tactics named were rented e-mail lists, at 56 percent, followed by pop-ups at 45 percent and e-mail newsletter ads at 42 percent.

As many of you probably already know we love e-newsletters. Referral marketing and branding is one of the most important and successful ways of bringing in new business. As opposed to a lead from the Internet or a response from a radio ad, referrals are more likely to convert because they already know you, they already trust you because their friend or colleague has already vouched for your company or services. Referrals come pre-sold. Enewsletters are a perfect internal (client) marketing vehicle, allowing you to stay in front of your clients cost-effectively, as well as an easily forward-able tool for referral marketing.

One thing we are adamant about though, in regards to enewsletters, is creating your own list.

Purchased lists are bad.

I have never actively searched for a list to market to so I can not comment on the price of these lists, but one thing is for sure even a free list, costs too much.

even a free [purchased] list, costs too much

In addition to costing you money, lists are untargeted and likely to flag your email as spam. Enough spam reports and you and your hosting company or email provider can get in trouble, ending up on a blacklist unable to send email. As spam becomes more of a problem, and inboxes continue to fill up, people are becoming less and less tolerant of what they will flag as spam.

Additionally, even if your list is targeted (with addresses of businesses and individuals interested in what you have to offer) they SHOULD NOT be contacted if your audience has never heard of you, never dealt with you or never actively, knowingly signed up. Only contact individuals and businesses you have met, talked to, or are affiliated with and have an active relationship with.

So how do you grow your lists?

Another question Unique ID is often asked: How do I grow my list? There are a number of ways in which you can grow your list; the speed at which it grows is proportional to the role you allow email to play in your own marketing efforts and the amount of time and effort you put into it.

But, before you ask this question (how do I grow my list), and before I answer it, I urge you and your company to get started!

Go to Constant Contact, or a similar email platform and create an account. Add a small list of emails, and begin creating content for your audience. The truth is, even a large list of targeted acquaintances will lead to nothing if you or your company is incapable of creating an email with relevant useful content and consistently sending it to your audience. Go ahead, click on the link, create an account, create an email, import some addresses... I'll give you a few minutes.

Now that you've created your account and know you can stick to a schedule of generating quality enewsletters, where can you get some email addresses?

Here are our typical suggestions on how to immediately create and grow your email list:

• Perform an export from your email client (Outlook) and all of your employees" computers
• Perform an export from your CRM, particularly helpful for sorting out lists
• Go to networking events and ask everyone you meet, if they would like to be added to your mailing list, a surprising number (almost always 100% will say yes), and then immediately when you get home add them to your list
• Create some kind of special free prize drawing at a networking event or seminar event. Business people who provide you with your business card, and agree to receive enewsletters can enter to win a free sample, prize, or service of yours

Things to keep in mind:

Figure out what your priorities are and organize your list from the beginning. It is a pain in the ass, and will take some time depending on how many lists are appropriate for your business or marketing efforts and your list site, but organize your list from the beginning.

Is there a possibility you may want to market only to clients with brown hair who are missing their big left toe?

You know you have a solution for these targeted individuals!

Then create a list for it, and make sure to stick with it. Often client accounts either have all emails in one account, or have jumbled dozens of half-targeted lists together, but have forgotten what list is for what purpose. Organize your self and your list from the beginning for a more successful, effective enewsletter solution.

Stay tuned for part 2 of our Enewsletter Series where I will outline:

• Enewsletter Titles for Success, the secret to getting people to open and click on your enewsletters
• Frequency, how often you should send your Enewsletters
• Results, what kind of results you can and should expect

To find out more about developing an enewsletter for yourself or your company, please visit our enewsletter vendor of choice, Constant Contact, for pricing and details.

New Website Coming

If you received our enewsletter a couple of weeks ago, you're probably already familiar with our redesign. We gave everyone who received a copy of the enewsletter a small, thumbnail sneak peak of what the new design will look like. And yes, this blog too, will incorporate the same look and feel as the entire website. Right now we've been going through some growing pains as we've had a lot of web design/redesigns lately and have been slammed all at once. My own personal site has even fell victim to the craze. I recently botched an upgrade of my own blog and am in the process of redesigning it with a friendlier, more easily readable look and feel.

But, I can safely assure everyone, both new visitors and our friends and colleagues that, by the end of the week, Unique ID will have a new, fresh website and blog. We look forward to presenting it and making a more active contribution to our readers through it.

As I've already informed select clients we will be using and pooling all of our resources to create a unified networking solution for our friends and colleagues. The blog will be central to this. So, if you are a new reader, a client, or an old friend and you have an idea or product and would like to get in front of our network of close, friendly, entrepreneurs please contact us with your ideas or suggestions. As always, if you have any ideas for the website or blog, all comments and suggestions are also encouraged.