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Archive for January, 2010

Stamp Yourself And Go By Mail

Everyday you follow the same mailchecking routine. Coming back from the mailbox you casually flip through the envelopes separating them on your countertop.

It usually goes something like this: junk bill bill magazine that you pay for another bill and then more junk. The junk mail goes straight to the trash and the bills go into the Ill get to them later stack. Then you take a seat with the winner the magazine.

Did you ever think of how much money is wasted in all of the junk mail you trash? Somewhere there is a businessman who cries at the thought that the 50 he spent on that piece of mail has been completely wasted.

Well whose fault is that? Not yours. With all the mail we receive on a daily basis we have been trained to sift through the envelopes with a Terminator eye. We discard whatever looks like junk mail without even noticing what it is.

Here is the conundrum: What if there was actually a product worth looking at in that stack of junk mail? What if the meaningful products you send to potential customers are passing as everyday junk mail?

Trying to make the envelope look official or slapping the words Do Not Discard on the envelope wont save it from the trash. The solution is to make your envelope stand out from the rest to make it appealing to your potential customer.

Start by working backwards. Take a stack of mail from your home to work tomorrow. Place it square in the middle of your oversized conference table. Sit and stare at that pile of mail for awhile. What could you do to get your envelope noticed among all the others?

Think about the details of each piece of mail in the pile. What colors are they? How many have a real stamp on them? How many have address labels? How many have the address printed right on the envelope? You will likely see a pattern to the pieces and find easy and unique ways to separate your envelope from the others.

Let your creativity inspire you to try something new. For your next mail piece buy thousands of bright green envelopes stamps and a pack of ballpoint pens. Then spend the weekend at your kitchen table hand addressing the colored envelopes. Fold your mail piece stuff the envelope and mail them on Monday. By Thursday your phone will be ringing.

Be as unique as you want to be when it comes to your mailings. There are really only two rules: dont mail any hazardous materials and make sure you have enough postage. Thats it. The rest of the details can be as creative and personal as you want and should make them.

Dont worry about looking unprofessional with handwritten addresses and nonstandard envelope colors. Professionalism is all about the image you create; its about clearly communicating your message in a unique and interesting way. Whats unprofessional is letting your message pass as useless junk that slips through the hands of potential customers.

There are no shortcuts to being personal and there is certainly no way to fake it. You cannot print a font that looks handwritten on a green envelope and expect the same results. People arent stupid; they check their mail the same way you do.

It may seem impossible to put this kind of time and effort into all of your mailings but it is more than possible and more than worth it if you are willing to do it. Just picture yourself walking back from your mailbox with a pile of envelopes in hand. In that giant stack a bright green handaddressed envelope catches your eye. What would you do with it? I promise your customer would do the same thing you would not only open it but probably open it first.

About the writer:  Tom Richard of Tom Richard Marketing works to create amazing marketing solutions to build your business. His company provides handaddressing and handwritten services for mail campaigns Thank You notes invitations and more. For more information visit www.tomrichardmarketing.com

Writing Killer Ads: 5 Tips To Help You Stand From The Crowd

One thing is certain in this cruel Internet marketing world. Competition is huge. Especially when trying to write that classified ad to promote a sale or that adwords ad etc. Here are some things to keep in mind when writing ads. Follow these rules and make your ad stand from the rest.

Before I begin let me state this. I’m sure you’ve heard that you only got a few seconds to capture a prospects attention and make the sale. Is that enough time to convince someone that your product or ad has something special about it? Well it’s not. That is why you should be extra careful when writing those small ads. Not only you have to capture your reader’s attention but you have to concise them that your ad will lead them to what they are looking for.

And here are the tips:

Writing killer ads tip1: The headline. Maybe you’ve heard that when it comes to small ads the headline is the most important part of your ad. Try to keep your headline to 68 words. Try to present what your product will help the customer do in a clear and concise way. Do not capitalize your sentence or you’ll scare your customer. Many people will think you even yell at them. Instead capitalize the first letter of every word. Also use descriptive words to make a clever call to action through the rest of your ad.

Writing killer ads tip2: Do you have something free to offer? Maybe a report or an ebook to help you grow your prospect list. Well this is important. Try to use this free offer to grab your reader’s attention. Mention the free offer when writing your ad. We all like free stuff. I don’t know about you but when I see a small ad with a free offer I could easily click on it. And that’s the case for most Internet users out there.

Writing killer ads tip3: Unless you are a successful copywriter or Internet marketer or someone who is so talented at writing ads you need to imitate the successful players. There are thousands of ads all over the web. Almost any website utilizes Google adsense. Those ads are Google adwords ads and they have been approved by the Google stuff. So take some time to look at what others are writing and how they choose to promote their products. Pay attention to those ads that are pointing to popular websites or big companies. How do they write their ads?

Writing killer ads tip4: Always test the results of your ads. Over and over again. Don’t just write an ad and wait for customers to click on them and purchase the product. Sometimes ads needs revising. Try to make small changes and retest. If you get better results then use that change you’ve made to revise your other ads too. It’s a good idea to test and make changes to one ad at a time. That way you will easily spot the magic change that made the difference.

Writing killer ads tip5: Always proofread what you write. Also make sure the links are working correctly. We all hate careless spelling mistakes and nonworking links. Even if your ad is really eyecatching and convincing there’s no way to disappoint a reader more than to send him to a “Page Not Found” link and even more to the wrong address. Always pay attention to those small details. Detail matters.

That is all for now. Happy ad writing. I wish you write the killer ad that will make you stand from the rest of the millions of ads out there.

About the writer:  Here is an unusual way to create and test your ads without going through the pain of proofreading revising and testing over and over again. This unique ad writing software will help you write killer ads and instantly test their effectiveness. It will help you proofread your ads and allow you to compare them in milliseconds with thousands of other similar ads written by others. It will then tell how much your ad scored. That way you will know how your ads will perform before you even publish them!

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Web Site Promotion Marketing

By now you probably understand the importance of getting your own website. It’s the command center of building and growing your online business. From capturing visitor contact information to promoting a multitude of products and services it all starts with establishing your presence online.

Now all you have to do is get the word out and this is where it gets tricky. People are bombarded with so much information today that it becomes easier to tune out a large portion of it. This goes double for advertising especially on the internet where you are constantly being prodded to buy this or that. The key is to have a plan of action. In this case focus on providing good quality content on your website. People want information and a break from the sales pitch. Providing useful content in your own voice can raise your internet profile considerably.

You are building something long term that will take time so be patient with yourself and your business. In the meantime there are free and cost effective internet web site promotion techniques you can implement right now.

1. Submit to Search Engines and Directories

Normally you only have to submit your website to the Big Three search engines: Google Yahoo and MSN. But there are tons of search engines you can use depending on how much time you want to spend doing this. To automate the process you can always find some free software or online service that will do the work for you.

This is not always the case as far as directories are concerned. There are literally thousands of directories online and most require you to submit your website manually. While this can be a painstaking process the payoff is you get backlinks to your site something the search engines love and your web traffic grows in a more natural way something the search engines also love. It takes awhile to do this but again you are building a business for the long term.

2. Deal or No Deal

You should always be on the lookout for webmasters who are willing to reciprocal link or do a joint venture agreement. Make sure that what they are doing is related to your niche without being in direct competition with your web site. Do not trade links just for the sake of getting them. For instance there are websites that are focused on one topic but their link directory contains many websites not related to the site theme. Search engines do not look too kindly on this so do a little research and target the webmasters that complement your business.

3. The Classifieds

There are many classified ad sites online but the two that have become virtual powerhouses are Craig’s List and US Free Ads.

Craig’s List has taken local classifieds across the country and forums of various topics and placed them all under one roof. Some marketers have used this very effectively to promote their business. As of late however Craig’s List has been overshadowed by US Free Ads a classified directory that offers Google friendly pages a free online html editor so you can place images and links in your ads and the potential to get a lot of traffic to your website. They also offer a premium membership which allows you to place unlimited ads generate your own product catalog link to your own shopping cart and much more. As of this writing the premium membership is only nine dollars a year. Definitely worth a look.

Getting your website noticed takes a lot of work. Start with one of the tips above; get it up and running then move to the next. Above all be persistent. Find what works stick to it and very soon your audience will find you.

About the writer:  Daryl Campbell guides you thru the internet marketing jungle with more free tips tools video in depth coaching and up to the minute information to grow your business the right way starting today at the Internet Marketing Guide.