Above And Beyond Promotion

Posts Tagged ‘Read’

7 marketing mistakes to avoid when promoting your business

Word Count:
803

Summary:
Promoting your business is one of the most important things to do to ensure that your company succeeds. However it can be very difficult market your business correctly. Read on to find out 7 marketing mistakes to avoid when promoting your business.

Keywords:
marketing, advertising, marketing stratergys and tips

Article Body:
Many people rush into business thinking it will be easy to run, but very soon they realize that it is not as easy as it looks. A successful business is a finely tuned machine. In order to keep your business running smoothly it is important to avoid making mistakes.

Here are the 7 most common mistakes to avoid:

1. Not having clear objectives: Many business people start a business without clear objectives. They fail to set realistic goals for their marketing and consequently set themselves up for failure. It is important to make a list of goals and objectives based on a quarterly time line. If you do not have company goals and objectives you are like a car driving without a road map. Make sure all employees are briefed on company objectives. When your employees are not properly prepared you will not be able to achieve company objectives.

2. Neglecting to analyse your potential customers is a dangerous mistake. It can lead to many problems. When you do not analyse your customers wants and needs you do not know what products and services to develop for them. This will lead to targeting the wrong market and neglecting to understand your own niche market. It is important for any business to do their marketing analysis so that you can target your market and maximise your sales.

3. Not testing: By not testing your sales copy and places you advertise with split testing your advertising, you will be losing sales. Split testing is simple to do but many businesses fail to do this. This results in a lot of wasted time and effort. If you do not test your ad copy and marketing promotions you will not have a proper idea of the ads and promotions that are pulling and what is not working. It is simple to do by placing 2 ads for the same product in a publication or website etc. You can then see which one is performing the best.

4. Not budgeting: Budgeting is extremely important in business. Your business should never run out of money. This is especially true with your marketing and advertising ventures. It is important to have a monthly or quarterly budget for your marketing. Within that budget put aside money for each promotion you will be doing. Start small, test and then build on successes. This will allow you to always stay solvent and have enough for promotions.

5. Giving up too soon: Companies go out of business at an alarming rate these days. One of the reasons is that the owners give up too soon. Just when success might be just around the corner they give up and decide to close the business down. In exactly the same fashion marketing promotions can fail. You need to give your promotions at least 3 months before you decide to scrap them. Some promotions will take longer than others to bring results. As always, test all marketing tactics before you launch a larger promotion. Patience is one of the hallmarks of business and you need to implement it.

6. Poor sales copy: How often have you wanted a product but when you read the sales page you had serious doubts? Poor unprofessional ad copy will cost you sales. In fact without good sales copy you will not be able to sell effectively at all. It is critical to your business to get this right. If necessary get an experienced copywriter to do this. It is worth the investment, as you will see returns when you make sales.

7. Not screening your employees carefully: To handle the extra load for the Christmas season you will need to hire new employees. It is very important not to rush into this. There is no dearth of people needing employment but you need to screen them carefully before hiring. One rude customer service agent can cost you customers. Do not take this type of risk. You want to preserve the integrity of your company at all times and screening employees is the way to achieve this. You will then be able to build a core of loyal professional employees that will be an asset to the company.

The golden rule is to diversify. You should always use multiple forms of marketing promotions in your business. Do not just do one or two promotions and then wait for results. This will slow company growth and your business will stagnate. The last thing you need is to slow your marketing in the Christmas season. So remember to diversify and enjoy the increase in sales.

By avoiding these mistakes you will take your company to the success you deserve. You will be able to have year round success for your business and really be able to cash in on the Christmas season. So plan ahead and be careful not to make these common mistakes.

Internet Advertising And Your Business

Word Count:
567

Summary:
If you have a new or existing business, you are always looking for ways to advertise your goods and services. When you use internet advertising as a marketing tool, you are sure to give your business exposure to a wide variety of people. Read on to find out if this tool is right for your advertising campaign.

There Should Be Truth in Internet Advertising

When you decide that you are going to use internet advertising as a tool to make your business more successful, you s…

Keywords:
Internet advertising, advertising

Article Body:
If you have a new or existing business, you are always looking for ways to advertise your goods and services. When you use internet advertising as a marketing tool, you are sure to give your business exposure to a wide variety of people. Read on to find out if this tool is right for your advertising campaign.

There Should Be Truth in Internet Advertising

When you decide that you are going to use internet advertising as a tool to make your business more successful, you should be aware that there are rules in place by the FTC or the Federal Trade Commission that protects the consumer from false advertising. Whatever claims you make in your internet advertising must be substantiated. You have a responsibility not to mislead potential customers.

What Kind of Internet Advertising Works Best?

There are many types of internet advertising and what works best for one may not be the way to go for another. There is MLM or multi-level marketing that is a way to sell your products or services using distribution methods that promise those who sign up will receive commissions through sales of their own and those of their recruits.

Pay Per Click Internet Advertising Programs

This mode of advertising has become quite popular with those with businesses that are based on the internet. The way it works is that your ads are placed on web pages and you only pay when a potential customer clicks onto your ad. There are various programs that are available for an internet advertising program and the price will vary depending upon the type of program you choose.

Using Email for Marketing Purposes

An effective marketing concept can be a mass email distribution. Using this method to advertise products has become less valuable with the advent of tools to prevent spamming. Finding a list for email addresses can be difficult too and not target the audience you were looking to reach.

Creating a Blog

A growing number of merchants are using a blog as a way of internet advertising. This allows you to deliver up to the minute information to your potential customers. A blog also lets you use the atom feeds or the rss feeds to format the data that is distributed for syndication to the directories.

Pay Per Inclusion and Pay Per Performance Internet Advertising

If you are a small business owner, it may be well worth the cost to get yourself listed in the Yahoo! Directory. They use the pay per inclusion system for getting yourself listed in their directory. For the pay per performance mode of advertising, large sites for shopping such as Bizrate.com and Shopping.com, to name just a few, use this method to merchandize your goods and services. They offer the consumer a directory of specific products in order for the consumer to use for comparison shopping. You are only charged when a customer clicks to your website when they browse the directory listing.

In Conclusion

There are many ways you can market your business when you use internet advertising as an advertising tool. When you do your research, you are bound to find the perfect program that will not only meet the needs of your budget, but your desire to succeed and expand as well. It is well worth your time and effort to look into the different ways that the internet can serve your needs.

MARCH MADNESS-You Can Bet on It

Word Count:
1739

Summary:
Important upcoming dates on your calendar should include March 15th, 17th and April 1st. March 15th, the Ides of March, marks the day that Julius Caesar met his demise, and it’s also the day after March Madness tips-off. March 17th is, of course, the day when everyone is Irish, and it’s also the mid-point between the NCAA Tournament’s first and second rounds (March 16-19, 2006).

Keywords:
march madness; basketball; NCAA; betting; wager; wagering

Article Body:
You’re a fool if you don’t know that April 1st is when the Final Four contests commence, with the NCAA National Championship being determined on April 3rd.

It is a crazy time of year all-around and college basketball embraces this insanity whole-heartedly. If you’re planning on wagering on March Madness-the biggest sporting event of the month and one of the most heavily bet events each year-you may want to consider a few important facts when choosing your brackets or making a team-on-team wager.

March Madness features 65 teams from some of the best known and also from some of the lesser-known college hoop conferences. Certainly you’ll see teams from the prestigious Atlantic Coast, Big East, PAC-10, SEC, Big 12 and Big 10, and you’ll also find various other conferences represented, such as the Metro Atlantic, Big Sky, Big South and America East. Most fans will have heard of and know something about the teams from the more competitive conferences, however the schools from conferences that are not closely followed during the year are often difficult for even experts to analyze.

In the first round, bottom seeds contend against top seeds with the results usually being predictable-the top seeds more often than not win. However, as far as covering goes, that’s a different story. When you look at underdog teams from lower ranked conferences they rarely win, but about half of the time they beat the spread, which spells “upset” for the bettor.

Whether you’re considering the first round or focused on the Sweet Sixteen, which is when making your picks gets extremely difficult, here are a few guidelines to help you make productive wagers.

Ranked Number 1? Big Deal:

In the last 20 years, the team nationally ranked number one going into the tournament has won it only three times. Since 1966 the top three NCAA teams have all battled it out in the Final Four only once. Let’s face it, most teams competing in March Madness are pretty good and when you come down to it, what’s the difference between the seventh and first ranked team? Not a whole lot. This is especially true in a sport where during the regular season there have been virtually no head-to-head match-ups between initial tournament participants. An additional fly in this year’s ointment are the numerous conference changes that various teams have initiated, with more than a half-dozen perennial March Madness contenders switching leagues.

The bottom line is-do your homework. Read up on the teams and find one or two experts who have crunched the numbers for you and really analyzed each club according to how they’ve performed in various situations.

Some Things Won’t Change (Probably):

Teams that play well on the road tend to do well in the March Madness frenzy, where almost every team, except for the top seeds, play away from comfortable, familiar surroundings. So, if a team has been a road warrior all season, they will probably continue to be that same animal in March and possibly into April.

During March Madness teams usually step it up, performing at an extremely high level. If throughout the regular season a team has played and consistently beat good teams, chances are they will continue to do so from March 14th to April 3rd. It is a tough, grueling tournament, and you want to back teams that can step up to the challenge every time. Who are they? They tend to be the clubs that have been stepping up all season.

More experience and less talent will more often than not beat more talent and less experience. Why? It’s the nature of March Madness. Teams are under a lot of pressure, playing in unknown arenas and in the national spotlight against teams they’ve never seen. There’s a lot of travel and little rest between games, which translates into an advantage for a team that’s been there before with a coach who has experience in the March Madness pressure cooker.

Numbers That Don’t Lie (Well, Usually They Don’t):

There are no guarantees when it comes to any sporting contest. With that in mind, here are a few basic statistical observations to consider. When it comes to championships and March Madness, 13 of the last 15 teams have either been a number one or two seed. In the past 26 years (since 1979), the final two teams vying for the championship have been there before. (Limits the field a little bit, doesn’t it?) Finally, in the last 24 years there has always been a number one seed in the Final Four. Do long shots win it all? In this contest, hardly ever and certainly not in the last quarter century.

Conferences are important. If a team plays in an elite conference, has faced the type of competition that a tough conference offers, and has done well in their conference, they are definitely a contender. If they play consistently well, that means more than the occasional blowout victory amongst various games they’ve blown in the final minute. Look for teams that play well under pressure.

With those tips in mind, you’ll want to consider that in the past seven NCAA Tournaments, two teams in the Final Four came from the same conference and in the last five of six tournaments three teams in the Elite Eight came from the same conference. In eight of the last 11 Sweet Sixteen rounds, one conference has contributed four teams and last year nine of the sixteen came from three conferences-the Big East, Big Ten, and ACC.

You’ll want to look closely at top seeded teams from powerful conferences. Although it’s called “March Madness,” remember that wagering on teams that are presently strong and have been strong contenders in the past may be conservative but it makes sense. Look for a conference that has at least four teams in the tournament and stick with them. Odds are that you’ll have someone in the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, and Final Four.

Also, consider a well-conditioned 10 or 12 seed for one of your picks. Why? Since 1997 each Sweet Sixteen round has had at least one 10 seed and in five of the last seven Sweet Sixteen’s a 12 seed has been there. How do seven, eight, and nine seeds do? They don’t even come close to performing the way 10′s and 12′s do. However, more often than not a three to eight seed makes it to the final four. Do your homework and pick one from this group to become a member of that heralded quartet.

Team and Tournament Specifics:

If you’re serious about wagering, you’ll want to read at least one or more of the many in-depth reports available through various media-magazines, newspapers, and the Web. A good report will include an analysis of the team, especially the point guard and the interior players, road and home record, recent performance, playing style, turnover ratio, penchant for committing fouls, injuries, tournament history, bench, and coaching.

As an example, consider these few key elements as they relate to the tournament.

Point Guard and Interior Players:

Point guards are often the playmakers on the court-controlling the tempo, keeping the team on the same page; and leading by example. A sound, dynamic point guard can be the difference between long-term survival and immediate elimination. As the stakes get higher, the position becomes even more important.

Strong, solid interior players who can bang inside and control the boards are essential. Teams in the top conferences work hard to secure guys who will wear down and dominate other teams inside. The Big East, ACC, Big 12, Big 10 and PAC-10 are noted for tough, interior play. In this brutal tournament these types of players can be the difference in the second half of any and every game.

Fouls:

A team with key players who get into foul trouble can be in big trouble in the tournament. The best of the best referees will be officiating and they won’t hesitate to make a call no matter how close the game is or how little time is left. During crunch time, when mistakes tend to happen, is also when cool-headed experience can pay off for a team.

The Bench:

It’s a long road from the March 14th tip-off to the April 3rd final game showdown. A deep, mature bench offers a huge advantage to any team. There’s no way around it, every player is important during this three-week period.

Turnover Ratio:

If teams are making mistakes during the regular season, they will continue to do so in the post season. Turnovers will kill any team’s chances of advancing to the next round. Again, think-point guard and the bench.

Toughness:

How do you evaluate toughness? First look at the coach and his staff. Consider how disciplined the team is. Find a time when the team lost a tough one or got blown out and look at how they responded. Don’t just consider the next game but the next series of contests. Did they meet that opponent again?

How durable are the starters and how driven are they to play? Is this a team that has players sitting all the time due to injury?

Is there one guy, a true team leader, who may not be the most talented player on the court but is savvy, dedicated, and focused on one thing-winning? Does he push the other players to excel through example, team play, and determined grit?

Another part of toughness relates to a team’s legs or ability to play up-tempo ball. If a team can control the tempo and run with the best of them, they’re not going to give up, and they will usually not be intimidated. If pushed, they’ll push back. They’ll counter the energy of the other team every time.

These are just a few ways to assess a team’s toughness, which translates into durability and resiliency. Both are needed to go deep into the NCAA Tournament.

A Final Thought on the Final Four:

Often people make gut choices rather than analyzing a team’s performance, reading some expert analysis, and considering match-ups and trends. If you really want to go deep into the tournament, then do your homework. It can payoff, taking you to the National Championship by insuring that you make sane picks without bending to the pressures of March Madness.

Simple Blog Web Promotion Ideas!!

Word Count:
832

Summary:
Getting your blog off the ground is not as tricky as people make it out to be. If you follow some really basic steps then it can be as eating a piece of pie. I have found a couple great blogs that have taught be something very unique and extremely rare. What I have learned will benefit any and every blogger out there. Read on to find out more.

Keywords:
blog, promotion, blog promotion, web promotion, blog traffic, web traffic, traffic, business, startup

Article Body:
Getting your blog off the ground is not as tricky as people make it out to be. If you follow some really basic steps then it can be as eating a piece of pie. I have found a couple great blogs that have taught be something very unique and extremely rare. What I have learned will benefit any and every blogger out there. Read on to find out more.

If you talk to bloggers about how many readers they had from the word go most of them will say absolutely NONE. They will tell you that it takes weeks if not months to get a small, simple blog off the ground and get people reading, reviewing, and subscribing to your blog. How would you like it if I told you that you did not have to weeks promoting your blog? How would you like it if you didn’t even have to spend days promoting your blog?

Well I am going to tell you how you can get hundreds if not a thousand visitors to your blog in its first week. There are a few things that you will have to do. The steps are really simple to follow and you can either do it in one big load in one day or you can spread it out spending no more than half an hour or so a day over the span of about a couple weeks for best results.

Content

Many bloggers will start out with one to five post on their first day and then post once a day or week. This is the first thing that they are doing wrong to get their blog off the ground. You ask all of the bloggers that have done this and they will tell you that it took a week to a month before they started to get readers.

Having five posts when your blog is started is not enough to get people to hang around and keep reading. You have to have enough posts pre-written so by the time your blog goes live you can post them all one after another. This will allow a visitor to be able to have a look around at what your writing and the more they read the higher the chance that they will subscribe or come back for more.

To get returning visitors from the start you have to have ATLEAST 20-30 post pre-written and ready to post as soon as your blog goes live. If you have 20-30 quality posts ready to go you can be assured that your visitors will stick around and read.

Tagging

While researching blogs and blog promotion I came across something called Technorati Tagging. I had never seen this before and I didn’t have a clue what they did so I looked into it further. I found out that Technorati Tags are actually able to deliver mass amounts of traffic. They way it works is as your writing your post when you come across a word that could categorize your post you add and close the word with a ) around it. This will ‘tag’ that word and once your blog is pinged to Technorati your blog will be placed under the category of that word. When someone searches a word that you have tagged your blog will show up.

Social Bookmarking

You will definitely see results by social bookmarking. It is very simple and all it requires is a little time. All you simply have to do is notify them of your post :O that sounds so hard. I managed to find a great list of the best social bookmarking sites. Take your pick of these top 20. They are all great and will improve your search engine results greatly.

1. 30daytags
2. BlinkBits
3. BlogHop
4. BlogLot
5. BlogMarks
6. BlogMemes
7. BlogPulse
8. BmAccess
9. browsr
10. Fark
11. CiteULike
12. clipclip
13. clipmarks
14. Complore
15. Connectedy
16. Connotea
17. de.lirio.us
18. del.icio.us
19. digg
20. diigo

Tell Other Bloggers

If you are after highly targeted traffic then this is a MUST. Before your blog goes live search through Google and other search engines for blog that are highly ranked on the topic you are writing on.

Create some personalised emails for each of the blogs you find (I recommend around 30-40 as you should recieve 75% positive results). Do not email the bloggers until you have made your initial posts.By notifying other bloggers about your blog you will get the ‘word’ out and you should recieve some good traffic and links from these other blogs.

You’re Done!!

If you do all this correctly then not to long after you made our first post you should be receiving some quality views. This has to be the easiest web promotion for your blog ever. You will be receiving many return readers if you have followed these steps because the traffic is so targeted. If you wish to read more on this topic just head over to http://www.splur.net as we will be adding this full article to it soon.

The speed and ease of internet online advertising has become attractive to an increasing number of employers looking for qualified employee candidates. Not only is advertising immediate, reaching a broader audience than any other form of media, but ads advertising online yield quicker responses from interested persons.

The Benefits of Ads Advertising Online

Aside from being a quick and easy form of advertising, more and more job seekers are turning to the internet for online job search purposes. They know tapping into online resources when looking for employment, benefits them by broadening job possibilities, and online profiles and résumés are made readily available to employers at the click of a button.

Employers save precious time not having to meet with job applicants in their offices, only to discover minutes into the interview the person is unqualified. Handling resumes online and viewing the applicant’s online profile equips the employer with a time-saving method of culling ineligible applicants to find the perfect candidate.

Internet online advertising also provides the employer with an effective means of sharing employee information with sister offices or other staff involved in the hiring process. E-mail applicants and online resumes are easily forwarded and can be easily retained in an online “bank” of possible candidates for future purposes.

Employer advertising trends reveal that the job online market is the wave of the future. Web sites catering to employer/employee matchmaking services such as istaffsolution.com make world-wide advertising online affordable, and an effective means of networking for online job search purposes.

Advertising Online; a Win, Win Solution

Advertising online is a win, win solution for both the employee and the employer. Broad range distribution of “employee wanted” and “employee for hire” type advertisements increases success in a shorter time span than other forms of advertising.

With a possible savings of $100s or even $1,000s of dollars in advertising, advertising online is also the most cost-effective method of advertising available, and yields better results.

In fact, some online resources allow the employer to “test drive” their services before paying. At istaffsolution.com, for instance, employers have the opportunity to register for free, before becoming a member.

A test search for available employees, and an opportunity to view profiles and resumes provides the employer the chance to determine for themselves whether or not that service is the recruitment solution for them.

And, with no finders fee, no unnecessary time wasted interviewing unqualified applicants, and complete control over whether or not to initiate direct contact with applicants, employees are shouting a resounding “Yes” to internet online advertising!

© 2006 Lori S. Anton for istaffsolution.com