This is our current bottleneck with www.theaestheticsclinic.co.za
From www.earlytorise.com:
"Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen."
Robert Bresson
Kicking Off 2008 With ETR: 7 Foolproof Ways to Increase Your Market Presence and Build Your Business
By Wendy Montes de Oca
Whether you’re talking about the articles you include in your e-zine or about your sales message, one thing is certain: Content is king. The written word has the power to educate and inform… as well as create buzz about your website, product, or service. That’s why one of my jobs here at Early to Rise is to circulate our e-zine articles through multiple delivery channels. Reaching potential subscribers this way helps us increase our readership and, ultimately, our revenues.
ETR’s publisher MaryEllen Tribby and I are firm believers in leveraging our marketing message too. By circulating it in multiple channels - online, e-mail, print, direct mail, and so forth - we are able to touch our prospects through whatever medium they prefer. And for those who like to receive their information through more than one medium, our message is re-enforced every time they see it in another channel.
I strongly encourage you to take this multi-channel marketing approach with your own online business. Here are seven of the best and most cost-effective channels to include in your marketing plan:
1. Paid Search Ads (Pay-Per-Click)
Google and Yahoo are the Titans of the paid-search ad world, with nearly 70 percent of market share. But there are other search engines that have a loyal following, such as MSN.com (with 16 percent market share), AOL.com (with 9.6 percent), Ask.com (5.1 percent), Infospace.com (1.1 percent), and Lycos.com (0.9 percent).
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads with any of these search engines is a cost-effective way to target prospects looking for your specific product and get broad exposure. You create a text ad, then bid on keywords (the words or phrases your target audience will be searching for) to determine your ad’s placement.
PPC paid search ads are perfect for acquiring new customers. That’s because leads that come in this way are searching specifically for your information (via targeted keywords). This makes them highly qualified prospects. For ETR’s sister publication, Total Health Breakthroughs,PPC represents more than 30 percent of its online marketing mix.
2. Organic Search Results (Search Engine Marketing)
Search engine marketing (SEM) has a nominal cost. Annual fees with search engine networks or directories typically range from $25 to $95 per year.
Some consumers give organic search results more "credibility" than paid search ads. And because they "trust" the results of an organic search more, they are more likely to click on an organic link. A recent survey by Jupiter Research illustrated that 80 percent of Web users seek organic search results. Their rationale is that organic results are un-biased. The marketer didn’t pay for that ad space. So the link’s appearance in the search results is based purely on various search algorithms and Web crawlers.
Your goal should be to balance your online presence with both paid ads and organic search results. Alexis Siemon, ETR’s Search Engine Marketing Specialist, optimizes our efforts by (among other things) making sure we have keywords in all the right places. That includes our title tags, URLs, and inside the ETR articles themselves.
3. Banner Ads
Running banner ads on other websites can be another cost-effective part of your online marketing mix. The pricing model for this is typically CPM - a specified price for every 1,000 impressions/views you receive (usually between $3 and $10).
Your media budget for banner ads will vary by:
website
ad unit size/type (300 x 250 typically performs best)
location on website (home page, inside pages)
whether the ad is targeted to a specific page or is on every page of the site
the time of year the ad is running
Online ad networks are a cheaper alternative. Their CPM usually ranges between $2 and $6, and they have a wider reach. Some networks to consider: Advertising.com, ValueClick.com, and FastClick.com. You can find a full list of sites here: imediaconnection.com/resourceconnection/adnetwork.asp.
4. Reciprocal Ad Swaps
Some of your best resources will be your fellow publishers. This channel often gets overlooked by marketers who don’t give it the respect it deserves. In the work I do for ETR and Total Health Breakthroughs, I spend a good portion of my time researching publishers and websites in our industry. I look for relevant connections between their publications (print and online) and ours.
Let’s say I come across an e-letter about marketing that has a list of readers similar in size to ETR’s. Since many of ETR’s subscribers are interested in marketing, they might be interested in a product offered by that marketing e-letter. And that publisher’s subscribers might be interested in one of ETR’s marketing products.
Swapping ads will save you money on lead-generation initiatives. Since you won’t be paying for access to the other publisher’s list of subscribers, you can get new customers for free. The only "cost" is allowing the other publisher to access your own list. It’s a win-win situation. This technique also opens the door to potential joint-venture opportunities.
5. Co-Registration
Marketing expert Andrew Palmer defines co-registration - or "co-reg" - as "the practice of referring leads, subscriptions, or memberships in conjunction with another registration process."
Co-reg ads use a CPL (cost per lead) payment model. You pay for the leads you capture. Your text ad and a small image of your publication appear on a webpage on another publisher’s website after a primary transaction occurs. Your ad shares the page with other publishers looking to build their own e-mail lists with free subscriptions to their e-letters or free e-reports.
To make this work, I’ve found that you need to send special introductory "bonding" e-mails to the people who sign up for your newsletter before they get added to the general circulation. This helps them remember that they signed up for your e-letter. (So when it shows up in their inbox they won’t think it’s spam.) And it helps increase the potential that those subscribers will convert to paying customers.
For more about this channel, check out Andrew Palmer’s ETR article about using co-reg to attract customers.
6. Direct Mail
Direct mail is still a consumer favorite - and another good way to get your sales message out. It can be especially effective used in concert with another effort, such as an e-mail campaign. A recent survey published in DM News indicated that 70 percent of respondents preferred receiving unsolicited correspondence via mail vs. e-mail.
As with any marketing medium, though, you can end up paying a lot. The most costly direct-mail packages are magalogs and tabloids (four-color mailers that look like magazines). However, 6 x 9 postcards, tri-fold self-mailers, and simple sales letters are three low-cost ways of taking advantage of this channel.
Although 100 percent ROI (return on investment) is what you should aim for, many direct mailers are content with 80 percent. This lower figure takes into consideration the lifetime value of the names that come in from this channel, because they are typically reliable buyers in the future.
7. Print ads
This is another channel that’s gets a raw deal. One reason is because it can be costly. To place an ad in a high-circulation magazine or newspaper, you could shell out serious money. But you don’t need a big budget to take advantage of print ads. If you don’t have deep pockets, consider targeted newspapers and periodicals.
Let’s say you’re selling an investment report. Try using the Internet to research the wealthiest cities in America. Once you get that list, look online for local newspapers in those communities. These smaller newspapers hit your target audience… and offer a much cheaper ad rate than some of the larger, broad-circulation publications. You end up getting quality rather than quantity.
I once paid for an ad in a local newspaper in Aspen, CO that had a flat rate of less than $500. My ROI on this effort turned out to be more than 1,000 percent. How’s that for a positive response rate!
The seven marketing channels I’ve just described can help you reach more customers… and eventually add dollar signs to your bottom line. So start the Near Year off with a marketing bang. By leveraging the seven channels of multi-channel marketing, I’m confident you will be amazed by the results.
We'll give it a go.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
SEO - Search Engine Optimisation
We're beginning to gain traction with www.theaestheticsclinic.co.za. The site has been up effectively for three weeks or so. I'm still fiddling and trying to fine tune the site.
Do we include a costs page? Will it frighten people away? Should we get clients in and sell the package (price) to them? Are we losing potential clients because the don't want to make a R250 appointment just to find out it's too expensive?
In January, we got 40 unique hits. In Feb, we're already on 56 unique hits, and are generating business from the site - i.e. hits are being converted to actual business.
We've added the costs page. We've made it a little more expensive than we're completely comfortable with (although still completely within reason, and still cheap as far as these things go) and added 'book here' links to the page. If enquiries come through from these link, we'll consider the addition of the page a success. If we find that people are navigating through to the page and then not making enquiries, we'll call the page a mistake and remove it.
Will let you know.
Do we include a costs page? Will it frighten people away? Should we get clients in and sell the package (price) to them? Are we losing potential clients because the don't want to make a R250 appointment just to find out it's too expensive?
In January, we got 40 unique hits. In Feb, we're already on 56 unique hits, and are generating business from the site - i.e. hits are being converted to actual business.
We've added the costs page. We've made it a little more expensive than we're completely comfortable with (although still completely within reason, and still cheap as far as these things go) and added 'book here' links to the page. If enquiries come through from these link, we'll consider the addition of the page a success. If we find that people are navigating through to the page and then not making enquiries, we'll call the page a mistake and remove it.
Will let you know.
Work Avoidance Behaviour contd...
Yep, let's put off stating our goals for another blog... but...
"A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive."
Walt Disney
The pressure is building.
"A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive."
Walt Disney
The pressure is building.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Work Avoidance Behaviour...
In a valiant attempt to not refine and state my goals, let's talk marketing... My wife's business should be a licence to print money - which it would if people knew she existed.
So, marketing. Me, I'm an IT professional, what do I know about marketing? If anyone would be starting at the bottom of a profession, when it comes to marketing, it is me. So here goes - have contacted two local radio stations, one magazine and one newspaper. Not even sure how best to go about it - direct contact via email, press releases, what!? At which point, I figure, being an IT professional, this info must be available on the net. I will go look.
(Meanwhile, I need to set my goals...)
So, marketing. Me, I'm an IT professional, what do I know about marketing? If anyone would be starting at the bottom of a profession, when it comes to marketing, it is me. So here goes - have contacted two local radio stations, one magazine and one newspaper. Not even sure how best to go about it - direct contact via email, press releases, what!? At which point, I figure, being an IT professional, this info must be available on the net. I will go look.
(Meanwhile, I need to set my goals...)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
School Fees...
When you sets up a new business, you know that you are going to go through a learning curve, and that any lessons you learn on the way, be they financial or dealing with business relationships, will be "school fees".
My wife and I have got involved in a business relationship with a local business man - my wife would run some equipment that he needed a specialist to operate. The deal was fairly informal - the basis that he would supply and maintain the machine, and my wife would supply all other consumables. They would then share the income from the machine according to a ratio that they agreed on.
Advertising and clients would be supplied by him, my wife committed being available to run the machine for a minimum of 60% of a working week.
A simpler deal one couldn't really come up with.
However. It now seems that as far as he is concerned, my wife had agreed to supply the consumables to keep the machine running, as well as supply clientelle.
This, I suspect, has come about due to cash flow issues - brought about by:
1. Alienating and firing the champion of his business
2. Bringing in his daughter as 'Marketing Manager'. Daughter mainly spends her time smoking on the back step, and no obvious time doing any marketing. Not to mention leaving 'drop-in' clients (as well as the occasional booked client) hopelessly ringing the bell and not being allowed in.
The relationship is now coming to a head as my wife will no longer pay for consumables to keep the machine running. It is still a good deal for us, so despite the frustrations, we'd like to settle it down and continue.
So, lessons learned:
1. When setting up a business relationship, MINUTE the meetings. Seems pretty obvious, but we did not, and now we have no records to refer to when it comes to "he said, she said" arguments.
2. Make your contract as detailed as possible. We did the best we could, but nowhere does it specify who will provide the consumables for the machine.
Both pretty obvious points really.
Meeting to be held in the next week or so - watch this space!
My wife and I have got involved in a business relationship with a local business man - my wife would run some equipment that he needed a specialist to operate. The deal was fairly informal - the basis that he would supply and maintain the machine, and my wife would supply all other consumables. They would then share the income from the machine according to a ratio that they agreed on.
Advertising and clients would be supplied by him, my wife committed being available to run the machine for a minimum of 60% of a working week.
A simpler deal one couldn't really come up with.
However. It now seems that as far as he is concerned, my wife had agreed to supply the consumables to keep the machine running, as well as supply clientelle.
This, I suspect, has come about due to cash flow issues - brought about by:
1. Alienating and firing the champion of his business
2. Bringing in his daughter as 'Marketing Manager'. Daughter mainly spends her time smoking on the back step, and no obvious time doing any marketing. Not to mention leaving 'drop-in' clients (as well as the occasional booked client) hopelessly ringing the bell and not being allowed in.
The relationship is now coming to a head as my wife will no longer pay for consumables to keep the machine running. It is still a good deal for us, so despite the frustrations, we'd like to settle it down and continue.
So, lessons learned:
1. When setting up a business relationship, MINUTE the meetings. Seems pretty obvious, but we did not, and now we have no records to refer to when it comes to "he said, she said" arguments.
2. Make your contract as detailed as possible. We did the best we could, but nowhere does it specify who will provide the consumables for the machine.
Both pretty obvious points really.
Meeting to be held in the next week or so - watch this space!
Predictions...
More from Tom Venuto:
(http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2008/01/happy_new_year_this_is.php)
For "Why should I read all this crap!?" read the previous post.
"...here are my 20 fitness predictions for 2008:
I PREDICT that if you can reach into your pocket on any day in 2008 and pull out a card or piece of paper with all your body and fitness goals written on it in vivid detail, the odds are 95 to 1 in favor of you achieving every one of those goals before the end of the year.
I PREDICT that if you focus your thoughts on your goals and how you are going to achieve them, all day long, you will reach your goals so fast in 2008, it will make your head spin.
I PREDICT that if you focus your thoughts on health woes and body fat problems and if you think about what you don’t want, all day long, your problems will get worse than ever this year.
I PREDICT that if you made a new year’s resolution, but you didn’t turn it into a specific, written goal with a deadline and a strong reason why you must achieve it, you will freely abandon it the moment the going gets tough.
I PREDICT that if you can tell me all the reasons why achieving your health and fitness goals are important to you, you will be motivated from within to stick with it when the going gets tough
I PREDICT that at times, the going is going to get tough.
I PREDICTthat if you can tell me today what is your life purpose and what is your lifelong vision for your body and your health, you will still be as motivated and driven at the end of the year as you were at the beginning.
I PREDICT that if you don’t have long term goals and a “big picture” vision for your life that you will lose your New Year’s enthusiasm and motivation in a matter of months or even weeks.
I PREDICT that the way you see yourself in your mind’s eye today will be an exact reflection of what you see in the mirror at the end of the year.
I PREDICT that if you have a setback that seems to get in the way of you reaching your health and fitness goals and you tell yourself “this just is temporary; this too shall pass,” then it won’t set you back and it will pass.
I PREDICT that if you believe the way your body looks today is out of your control and you feel helpless or powerless to change, you won’t even make much of an effort this year.
I PREDICT that if you accept complete responsibility for the way your body looks today and you believe that you have the power to change, that you will take action and keep taking action, even through the tough times.
I PREDICT that if you’re unhappy with your physical condition and you say, “it’s not my fault” or you blame it on genetics, hormones or age, then your body will look pretty much the same at the end of 2008 as it did on New Year’s day.
I PREDICT that the more you have patience, a long term perspective and the ability to postpone immediate gratification, the more likely you are to be a success one year from now.
I PREDICT that the more you seek “miracle pills” or “quick fixes,” the more likely you are to be a failure one year from now.
I PREDICT that you will be tempted by many quick fixes in 2008.
I PREDICT that if you hang out with losers and negative people this year, you will become just like them.
I PREDICT that if you hang out with winners and positive people this year, you will become just like them.
I PREDICT that you will run into more negative people and losers this year than positive people and winners.
I PREDICT that if you recruit just one friend or support partner that stands behind you and the lifestyle changes you want to make in 2008, you will double your chances for success. If you surround yourself with numerous support partners, you will become virtually unstoppable.
So how does your future look for 2008?
Based on my “predictions,” if it doesn’t look as bright as you’d like it to be, then don’t worry, because a prediction is not predestination.
You can’t do anything to change the past, but by changing your thoughts, attitudes and actions in the present moment, the future is yours to create."
You beginning to see the picture here...?
(http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2008/01/happy_new_year_this_is.php)
For "Why should I read all this crap!?" read the previous post.
"...here are my 20 fitness predictions for 2008:
I PREDICT that if you can reach into your pocket on any day in 2008 and pull out a card or piece of paper with all your body and fitness goals written on it in vivid detail, the odds are 95 to 1 in favor of you achieving every one of those goals before the end of the year.
I PREDICT that if you focus your thoughts on your goals and how you are going to achieve them, all day long, you will reach your goals so fast in 2008, it will make your head spin.
I PREDICT that if you focus your thoughts on health woes and body fat problems and if you think about what you don’t want, all day long, your problems will get worse than ever this year.
I PREDICT that if you made a new year’s resolution, but you didn’t turn it into a specific, written goal with a deadline and a strong reason why you must achieve it, you will freely abandon it the moment the going gets tough.
I PREDICT that if you can tell me all the reasons why achieving your health and fitness goals are important to you, you will be motivated from within to stick with it when the going gets tough
I PREDICT that at times, the going is going to get tough.
I PREDICTthat if you can tell me today what is your life purpose and what is your lifelong vision for your body and your health, you will still be as motivated and driven at the end of the year as you were at the beginning.
I PREDICT that if you don’t have long term goals and a “big picture” vision for your life that you will lose your New Year’s enthusiasm and motivation in a matter of months or even weeks.
I PREDICT that the way you see yourself in your mind’s eye today will be an exact reflection of what you see in the mirror at the end of the year.
I PREDICT that if you have a setback that seems to get in the way of you reaching your health and fitness goals and you tell yourself “this just is temporary; this too shall pass,” then it won’t set you back and it will pass.
I PREDICT that if you believe the way your body looks today is out of your control and you feel helpless or powerless to change, you won’t even make much of an effort this year.
I PREDICT that if you accept complete responsibility for the way your body looks today and you believe that you have the power to change, that you will take action and keep taking action, even through the tough times.
I PREDICT that if you’re unhappy with your physical condition and you say, “it’s not my fault” or you blame it on genetics, hormones or age, then your body will look pretty much the same at the end of 2008 as it did on New Year’s day.
I PREDICT that the more you have patience, a long term perspective and the ability to postpone immediate gratification, the more likely you are to be a success one year from now.
I PREDICT that the more you seek “miracle pills” or “quick fixes,” the more likely you are to be a failure one year from now.
I PREDICT that you will be tempted by many quick fixes in 2008.
I PREDICT that if you hang out with losers and negative people this year, you will become just like them.
I PREDICT that if you hang out with winners and positive people this year, you will become just like them.
I PREDICT that you will run into more negative people and losers this year than positive people and winners.
I PREDICT that if you recruit just one friend or support partner that stands behind you and the lifestyle changes you want to make in 2008, you will double your chances for success. If you surround yourself with numerous support partners, you will become virtually unstoppable.
So how does your future look for 2008?
Based on my “predictions,” if it doesn’t look as bright as you’d like it to be, then don’t worry, because a prediction is not predestination.
You can’t do anything to change the past, but by changing your thoughts, attitudes and actions in the present moment, the future is yours to create."
You beginning to see the picture here...?
A Master Plan...
Tom Venuto is a guy who helps people acheive their goals... in his specific domain, it is weight loss. But he has realised that goals don't get realised if they are not set in the first place.
This from his latest newsletter:
BURN THE FAT - Fat Burning Tips Newsletter Brought to you by Tom Venuto and www.burnthefat.com =============================================
Fat Burning Tips "Live" Weekly e-zine
January 24th, 2008
The Master Plan and the Original Secret
"I will come to America, which is the country for me.
Once here, I will become the greatest bodybuilder in history."
"While I am doing this I will learn perfect English and educate myself - but only with those things I need to know. I will get a college degree so I can get a business degree."
"Simultaneously I will make whatever money possible from bodybuilding and invest it in real estate where I will make the big money."
"I will go into the movies as an actor, producer and eventually director. By the time I am 30 I will have starred in my first movie and I will be a millionaire."
"I will collect houses, art and automobiles. I will see the world. Along the way, I will learn to impress people and I will hone my mind to outwit all of them."
"I will marry a glamorous and intelligent wife. By 32, I will have been invited to the white house..."
If you didn't figure it out yet, this list of achievements belongs to none other than the great American Success Story - Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Here's what's striking about this, and it's the reason I'm sharing it with you today.
It looks like this is a biographical sketch of a man so famous that his first name alone, like Oprah's, is a household word.
But this is not looking back at history...
This was looking forward to the future!
This was Arnold's list of goals which he created BEFORE any of these things happened... while he was an unkown body builder in a small town in Austria.
George Butler, a writer, photographer and film maker, and long time friend of Arnold, said that this vision of the future was was not a silly dream, it was a very calculated "Master Plan."
"As I remember," recalled Butler, "It was a campy mix of Nietzschean philosophy and a Soviet Five-year plan.
But before I dismissed it as one more weird thing we heard on a California beach (in the 1960's), we scratched our heads in awe because Arnold, as we could see with our own eyes, was actually beginning to make it work."
Arnold himself said,
"I had a master plan from the moment I arrived in America, that's still in me. Every year I set a goal. Every year I make a plan. I do it. It will be done."
What a testament to the power of goals! Arnold did not succeed by accident or luck.
No one does.
Success doesn't just happen to you.
You succeed in your own mind first and then you take action to turn it into reality."
Nicely said.
This from his latest newsletter:
BURN THE FAT - Fat Burning Tips Newsletter Brought to you by Tom Venuto and www.burnthefat.com =============================================
Fat Burning Tips "Live" Weekly e-zine
January 24th, 2008
The Master Plan and the Original Secret
"I will come to America, which is the country for me.
Once here, I will become the greatest bodybuilder in history."
"While I am doing this I will learn perfect English and educate myself - but only with those things I need to know. I will get a college degree so I can get a business degree."
"Simultaneously I will make whatever money possible from bodybuilding and invest it in real estate where I will make the big money."
"I will go into the movies as an actor, producer and eventually director. By the time I am 30 I will have starred in my first movie and I will be a millionaire."
"I will collect houses, art and automobiles. I will see the world. Along the way, I will learn to impress people and I will hone my mind to outwit all of them."
"I will marry a glamorous and intelligent wife. By 32, I will have been invited to the white house..."
If you didn't figure it out yet, this list of achievements belongs to none other than the great American Success Story - Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Here's what's striking about this, and it's the reason I'm sharing it with you today.
It looks like this is a biographical sketch of a man so famous that his first name alone, like Oprah's, is a household word.
But this is not looking back at history...
This was looking forward to the future!
This was Arnold's list of goals which he created BEFORE any of these things happened... while he was an unkown body builder in a small town in Austria.
George Butler, a writer, photographer and film maker, and long time friend of Arnold, said that this vision of the future was was not a silly dream, it was a very calculated "Master Plan."
"As I remember," recalled Butler, "It was a campy mix of Nietzschean philosophy and a Soviet Five-year plan.
But before I dismissed it as one more weird thing we heard on a California beach (in the 1960's), we scratched our heads in awe because Arnold, as we could see with our own eyes, was actually beginning to make it work."
Arnold himself said,
"I had a master plan from the moment I arrived in America, that's still in me. Every year I set a goal. Every year I make a plan. I do it. It will be done."
What a testament to the power of goals! Arnold did not succeed by accident or luck.
No one does.
Success doesn't just happen to you.
You succeed in your own mind first and then you take action to turn it into reality."
Nicely said.
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