by: Vinai Prakash

by: Kathleen Ann

Many people get confused about the role of advertising in the marketing mix so here’s a simple view of where it fits in.

In the traditional marketing model, we talk about the 4 P’s

• Product

• Pricing

• Place

• Promotion

The last section – Promotion is what we mean when we say you are “doing your marketing”. It’s your communications or your actual marketing activities.

But first, let’s get clear about the PURPOSE of marketing and why you want to get good at it.

“The PURPOSE of marketing or it’s biggest task is to

persuade prospects to visit you online or offline so you

can present your offer. Done well they come waving their

credit card and ready to buy so there’s no need for hard sell.”

Whenever and wherever you get in front of your potential market is your marketing opportunity – you are communicating or getting your message across.

You could say this started as far back as Babylon when the Town Crier was the only delivery method! They went around town shouting out to people to go to the marketplace and you went to the marketplace with your goods to “present your offer”.

With the invention of print and other technologies you now have a smorgasbord of delivery methods or media to reach people such as

• Print – newspapers, magazines, catalogues, newsletters

• Phone, mail, fax o Radio & TV,

• Internet – through websites, blogs, social networking sites, email, video & Audio podcasts

• Teleseminars & webinars o Mobile media – Blackberrys and mobile or cell phones

• And lets not forget in person public speaking and networking

Now that range adds a level of complexity. But choice is good and you don’t have to use all of these but they are available to you.

In any event you’ll either be speaking or writing. Simply narrow down what makes sense for you and your business and use your strengths to work out a plan.

JUST remember the marketing principles remain the same no matter the medium – so the PURPOSE of your marketing is still the same. To persuade prospects to visit you online or offline so you can present your offer.

So where does advertising fit into this?

Advertising is simply a subset of your marketing activities it’s the SALES function when you make the sales pitch or “present your offer”. This could be verbal or written in all the same media you use for your marketing communications. What adds to the confusion is sometimes big companies use image based ads for awareness so the “sales pitch” isn’t obvious.

But the primary purpose of advertising is to SELL.

So you create ads in one form or another and get them in front of your audience.

Small businesses can’t afford to waste money on image advertising that is designed for the masses to promote a well known brand. It simply isn’t designed to sell, NOW.

What I do and recommend is Direct Marketing which is based on one-on-one relationships and uses proven direct response advertising techniques instead of mass advertising.

The purpose of a direct response advertisement is to get a response, NOW! Which means these ads actually ask the prospect to DO something.

Whether you’re building a list, selling a product or service, an appointment or even something you are giving away – you still need to “sell” it to your prospect. And ask them to take the action you want them to take to move them through the sales process.

In a nutshell, advertising is a subset of marketing and direct response marketing and advertising is the champion for small business.
Small business marketing expert Kathleen Ann is the “Marketing Champion for small Business and entrepreneurs.” As a Certified Money, Marketing and Soul Coach Kathleen delivers breakthrough marketing strategies so soul-inspired entrepreneurs can Brand, Package and Price their services to quickly create more money, time and freedom in their business. For free articles, free resources and to sign up for her free audio and transcript “7 Must Know Secrets to Business Branding Success”, essential Branding strategies to help you attract qualified ideal clients in droves, visit www.powerupyourmarketing.com

The author invites you to visit: http://www.powerupyourmarketing.com

by: Suzanne E Morrison

Affiliate program sales are no different than any type of selling since the beginning of time. People need things and they are going to buy it somewhere.

The nice thing is that in today’s world economy they are buying things on the Internet. Affiliate merchants know this and will pay you very well to help them make sales.

I think you can summarize the secrets to doing this in 3 parts.

1. Sell products people are spending money on. There is no sense trying to create a market where there are no shoppers.

The Internet is too large and way too competitive to worry about selling something you like if nobody else is interested in it. Find high interest, low competition niches, and you can make a lot of money selling products to people who are willing to buy it.

2. Get a system in place to promote and follow up. Generally this will involve going beyond what the affiliate merchant gives you.

Most merchants have excellent marketing materials. You’re going to want to use some of those to help you get your system up and in place.

One thing you do not want to do is rely strictly on the affiliate sales website. You are better to create your own website or at the very least a review page or presell page before passing your visitors through to the affiliate sales page.

You should also have a sign up form on your own website so people can subscribe to receive a free gift from you. This way you can follow up with your subscribers and make more affiliate sales in the future.

Most people will not buy on the first visit and that is why you need to have that name and email address for future follow up.

3. Advertise it like there is no tomorrow. This does not mean run one ad in an ezine and quit either.

You are going to have to develop an advertising campaign that is effective. The quickest way to start is doing pay click advertising.

This can get expensive so you will want to incorporate free advertising as well. Article marketing and blogging is an excellent combination.

You can also work in video marketing to attract an audience of people who searches the Internet via video. Don’t worry about doing all this in one day. You can focus on one form of advertising and then add to it as your business begins to grow.

Many people underestimate how much traffic it takes to make a sale on the Internet. If you follow these tips you will generate more quality traffic and have the right products in front of them when they are ready to buy.
Suzanne Morrison is on the staff of the Affiliate Power Group where they help people learn affiliate marketing. Check out their free affiliate marketing course if you need help making money as an affiliate marketer. It offers helpful tips on doing affiliate marketing the right way to make money online. http://www.affiliatepowergroup.com

The author invites you to visit: http://www.homebiz-direct.com

by: Bryan Wong

Most of you might wonder what is wrong with your affiliate website. You really wonder why you still cannot earn any money from home. You’ve spend hours and hours tweaking it, adding new products, adding new reviews, comparing between products and the list goes on and on. Yet, nothing seems to bear fruit and you are on the brink of giving up.

There is a saying that there is only one thing you need to do to ensure success from your website. Fix this and you will see sales after sales coming from your product or your affiliate products. So what exactly sets you apart from the top 1% of all internet marketers online?

Its creating an email follow up system.

What you need to do is to remind your visitors about your products again. Most of the time, people who visit your website have a specific interest in a product, or they already have what they want in mind. Chances are they are really interested in getting your product but they would like to look for other options before making their decision. They could have many other reasons. They might be too busy or forgot about it. And your job is to remind them!

In fact every single product you are promoting or selling should have a good follow up system to remind them exactly what they have “missed” or forget. Remember, people visit your website for a reason. You might already have good traffic coming in with an average conversion to sales rate of about 5/100. And what if about half of all those “missed” visitors could have been translated into sales? You don’t need me to tell you how much that difference could make.

A good follow up system also helps automates your business. Yes, there are 24 hours in a day but of course you don’t have all the time in the world for your home business. You need to have a system to help automate them. Basically having a well written follow up system is like having a mini sales person doing the job for you everyday throughout the year.

Most of the top internet marketers have a list of subscribers and they always start from their list. Every one of their site has an opt in page to allow subscribers or visitors to put in their details. This is the first step in following up with your prospects. Why do they do it? Because the system works and without a doubt having a good follow up system works and it sells. So work on your follow up emails. Tweak them, make it personal as if you are having a face to face conversation.

To Your Success,

Bryan Wong YH
Bryan Wong is the owner of Earn Money From Home – Home Business Opportunities.

For More Articles, visit http://www.earnmoney-fromhome.com/blog2

The author invites you to visit: http://www.earnmoney-fromhome.com

by: Anthony Harris

Multi-level marketing or MLM is a popular form of business structure. Basically, this type of business is associated with direct selling, but it is actually more than that. Most multi-level marketing activities include recruiting members, selling, and earning commissions on whatever sales the person under you transacts. Also, it follows the concept of franchise companies in the sense that multi-level marketing would pay some kind of a royalty fee to an individual based on the sales he has been able to achieve in his particular area or based on the sales of the group he manages.

Most multi-level marketing companies would not pay based on the amount of people you recruit itself because it would constitute as a pyramid scam. Rather, they pay you based on the amount of sales you had been able to generate and the amount of sales that your recruits had been able to make. That is not to say that you would not receive a bonus when you recruit because you will most likely will but it is very important to discern whether the money you would receive actually came from the company’s earning based on its performance or the money they had received from the person you had bought into the company. If it did come from the person in your downline, then the company is most likely illegitimate and it is bound to collapse sooner or later when it is not able to sustain the amount of recruits it needs to remain afloat.

There are some multi-level marketing companies that got around this though and their usual strategy is to lure new recruits into buying products or even services they offer at a high cost but with an opportunity to enter their company attached. When a particular MLM company uses type of operation then it is most likely also illegitimate because the cost they had paid for the products is not sustainable and people outside that company would not be willing to purchase a product at that high price. When this happens then it is safe to arrive at the conclusion that it was a pyramid scheme albeit with some products that was sold.

Multi-level marketing also has varied compensation plans for its members depending on the policy of the particular company you want to enter. One of the most widely used structures is the unilevel plan. This is actually the first type of compensation plan that was introduced and it retains its popularity up to now because it gives a lot of possible income to its members so it is the most attractive type to lure in more distributors of your products.

On the other hand, there is also the matrix plan. In using this particular type of model to give compensation, an MLM company limits the amount of recruits a particular individual can recruit, but that is not to say that a diligent member would not benefit at all from his efforts in promoting the company because there are various ways to get around this and one is called the spillover. Basically, this will allow the diligent members to give up their recruits to other people that is still under them, thus more people will benefit although the diligent individual himself will not get as much commissions as he could have since some of the commissions already went to his previous recruit. But it is really not at all bad because people do get attracted to this type of model as they have the chance to earn commissions through the effort of others.

For more information about Multi-Level Marketing be sure to follow the link in the resource box below to receive your free home business Cd.

All rights reserved. Article may be reprinted as long as the content remains intact and unchanged and links remain active.
FREE! How To Get Up To 37 Checks Per Month, Earn Upwards Of $4,954.55 While You Sleep At Night, And Recruit WITHOUT Ever Having To Pick Up The Phone http://www.thenewbizsuccess.com

The author invites you to visit: http://www.thenewbizsuccess.com

by: Corick Stephunt

There are many products and services that you can promote online, but for any of them you need a proven marketing system to make it work. You need this marketing plan so you know how to proceed with your business. It will be hard to make progress if you don’t have a plan to generate website traffic or advertise your site. Let’s take a look at some solid internet marketing techniques that you can begin using right away.

When you promote your products or services, don’t forget that your prospects will see things differently than you do. So when you’re creating your product, you should make sure that it has all the benefits your customer needs. Keeping your customers happy should be your main concern. Next, target your promotions towards a specific group.

It’s easier to sell to a target audience than to everybody. No one product or service is for everyone. Become an expert in your niche. When your knowledge in this area starts to be recognized, prospects will look to you for help. Your reputation as a trusted authority will grow. A good Internet marketers understands how to harness the power of words for his own benefit. Choosing the right words could mean increased profits and higher sales conversions, but choosing the wrong words can give you the opposite effect. Your internet marketing efforts are heavily dependent on the words you select when you’re crafting your sales copy. The more people understand about how your products can benefit them, the more profits you’ll reap. It all comes down to finding the right way to convey your meaning so it can’t be mistaken. Creating high converting sales copy could be the key to unlocking the success of your Internet marketing campaign.

If you want to narrow your focus, you can start your own forum that is based on your own particular area of interest. For example, if you’re targeting the fitness niche, you can have a forum set up in this area and have interested people join in and start discussions. Having your own forum is great for marketing purposes, as you will have a growing base of potential customers to whom you can target your products and offers. A popular forum will be a natural traffic magnet, and it’s also a good way to achieve expert status in your niche. You can start an internet marketing business with little or nothing and take it to great heights if you give it your best effort. If you want to succeed, however, remember to study your competition at all times. Your success depends on this. If you are serious about building a profitable business, be sure that you remember the testing and tracking part of your marketing.
Corick, 28. Another website review’s: http://www.braided-hair-styles.com, http://www.blinds-galore.net, http://www.disc-golf-courses.com.

The author invites you to visit: http://www.car-payment-calculator.net

by: Jimmy Vee

By now I’m sure you are acquainted with Reality TV phenomenon Susan Boyle and her Brittan’s Got Talent performance that captured 51,505,616 views and over 230,000 comments in just some months on YouTube.

If you haven’t watched this video that includes the frumpy Forty something woman who literally hits it out the park her 1st time performing on the show, go online now and give it a look.

There are some powerful lessons you can learn from this viral success that can effortlessly be put into action in your car dealership.

After all, we always encourage our readers and training students to look beyond huge successes in the media or in business and see how you’ll be able to imitate those results in your own store.

Accomplishment leaves clues, whether it’s a viral video, a quote or an off-handed remark about what’s working for someone else in a fully unrelated business. Asking better queries and digging for gold nuggets is the dirty work we do everyday… it’s what we live for.

Thus back to our instance study on Susan Boyle.

This YouTube Video heard around the globe was initially posted on April Eleventh, 2009. Within four days, the video had over 9 MILLION views and had been commented on by over 50,000 people. Of course the statistics are still ridiculous and off the chart-but the big question is… why did this video get so much activity in such a short amount of your time?

What makes one video, one plan or one message spread around like wildfire and other messages (like your dealership’s marketing messages) go completely ignored in the marketplace?

Well we’ve identified Two essential reasons this….and for the rapid success of Susan Boyle’s video. Both that are easily duplicable and ready to use instantly when marketing your local store.

The Video Creates Burning Anticipation

If you’ve ever studied an tremendously successful viral campaign similar to this one, you’d see a video’s capability to form and preserve anticipation is one of the key common denominators behind its success.

In this particular video, the expectation builds deeply before Susan ever steps foot on stage. We hear her back story as we’re introduced to a frumpy and rather eccentric looking woman who clearly stands out from the other contestants in the race.

She’s then brought before the panel of judges and you’re on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what’s going to happen. Are the panel of judges going to laugh her off the stage? Can the spectators like it or hate it? Is she going to be horrible? Could she probably be any good? You’ll find out after these messages.

There’s a powerful headline smart promoters have used for decades. It goes something like, “They all laughed when I did ________ (i.e. stepped up on stage, sat down at the piano, got behind the wheel), until I _________ (insert the wonderful thing the person just did). It’s a headline that gets read each time… and it’s the same anticipatory force at work in this video.

Then again, it’s vital to keep in mind that expectation is a type of desire. Yearning is something we all wish our prospects and clients to have for our messages, our vehicles and our dealership. It’s really easier said than done, but anticipation is a very genuine kind of desire you can use to the advantage of your store.

Sadly, most dealers think they’re doing a nice job creating “yearning” and “expectation” because each year the producer sends them a new model and a few fresh banners to show off. What might be a lot more thrilling…right?

Well friends, I hate to break it to you, but your new banners and poster boards showing off this year’s most recent minivan isn’t all that exciting to your clients. And used car dealers- you don’t even have the luxury of receiving these promoting “tools’.

So instead, a more dependable and successful method to create expectation would be to offer your audience one thing they actually anticipate to. Though it sounds pathetically easy, it truely is. The secret’s to get inside the mind of your prospects, determine what they really, really want and tie it to a powerful promotion that builds expectation on what they’ll get by shopping at your store.
Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller are the leading experts on attracting customers of Gravitational Marketing. Get important automotive advertising tips for FREE by requesting FREE video training called The New Rules Of Automotive Marketing especially for Dealers by visiting http://www.RichDealers.com

The author invites you to visit: http://www.richdealers.com