Tag Archives: Marketing

E-Commerce, Marketing

Answer: How Much Does Online Advertising Cost in Relation to other Media Forms?

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This is one answere to some queastions I Posted here

I tried Googeling this one but unfortunately Google did not seem to have any relevant information, so I am going to have to answer the question myself. 🙂

I might be quite possibly asking the wrong the question, as the Internet does provide some very reasonable places to advertise. In fact is it advertising that is keeping the Internet going? I estimate ninety percent of sites are being paid for by advertising.

Arranging online advertising feels like a personal experience and it is time intensive. Once upon a time you could just choose a sports magazine, pay a few grand and have an advertisement made up and you were done. Is that so on the Internet? yes and no.

While it is clear that online advertising is increasing twofold every year as we spend more time behind our PC’s than in front of the TVs, it is not clear what the best place to spend those dollars is. Google has ad words its enormously successful advertising program. Microsoft has its less successful one too. There are hundreds of affiliate network sites, not forgetting Facebook, that wants to make a profit too this year.

If money is less of an objective you can pretty much contact any site; I am sure with the right smile your banner could be up there at a reasonable cost. With so much choice who do you choose? This is really where expertise comes in.  A seasoned professional who knows your market will be able to track down the sites that will be suitable for your adverts negotiate the right deal.

Now is a good time to buy advertising on the Internet with most companies offering very good deals due to the immense competition. Who would you advertise with?

The last couple of days I have been looking at buying some online advertising for www.workconnexions.com I came across a wonderful niche that specialises in making miniature engines for enthusiasts.

Sponsorship was offered on the site at, so I contact the site owner and got this reply back.

“Pages for various craftsmen can be sponsored in exchange for a donation to the foundation. At this time we request a $100 (US) donation for 5 years of sponsorship on a craftsman’s page of your choice. Since many of the sponsors now shown there have been given free placement in order to get the page going in its early stages, you can request to sponsor any page even if it is already sponsored. If that person or business has not paid for the sponsorship, your request will take precedence. Please provide a 2nd choice in case your first choice is not available”

It appears to be a reasonable offer above and I am thinking about buy banner space. Than just this morning chatting with Owen.  He pointed out that Seth Godin has brought a mass of banner advertising and managed to make less than his cost in return. Which made me think too. If Seth can not sell it, who can.

Well appears that there is a growing marketing for advertising on Face book and that a number of companies are making a nice return.  I hope for Facebooks sake that is true or we may all have a problem.

ideas, Marketing

Smart Marketing – Arigh Nam Beist

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While leading a a truly balanced life now, I make sure that I have time for reading a broad selection of material. The IOD magazine has come up trumps again in the March issue of this year. Yes, I am aware that it is 5 months later, but like I say balance is the key word in life. That is what I try to do now, and probably should have done earlier.

There is an article about Scotland Glenmorangie distilleries that accidently mixed the wrong sort of whisky. Faced with a dilemma they come up with a clever campaign; they used a direct mail marketing  to ask for an official pardon and sold the whisky as a collectors item. The campaign generated a 23 percent response. 8 percent above what you would normally expect.

The best bit is still to come; their direct mail marketing grew. When they launched a special whisky called Arigh Nam Beist (shelter of the beast) for Halloween in 2007 their response rate was 69 percent. Virtually unheard of. A little clever marketing can go a long way. Do you know any such stories? I am sure that Richard Branson could tell a few, how about you?

business, E-Commerce, money

Expected (ROI) Return on every Marketing Dollar Spent

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Yesterday some one asked what would be the expected return on every dollar I spend on marketing. It made me think. I know that when one looks at sales you are looking at about a conversion ratio of about 15 percent. That is quite different when you are talking about sales leads. A lot of marketing is more indefinable and more about feel than any metrics one can apply to it. Still one has to make a decision. According to Derek Lowe at Courant he talks about 24 percent of medical cost is spent on Marketing. Which seems to be quite high considering that I can only tell you the name of about 4 or 5 pharmaceutical companies. Obviously this industry is doing highly expensive targeted marketing. There are some exceptions most notable Viagra.

So what should you be looking to spend on Marketing? 25 percent of your future income should it be enough?

The next question is how do you spend it?

Do you spend it on printed media, internet media, video media, corporate entertainment, or the new kid on the block social media.

What do you think?

Marketing

Nailing Marketing Categories

Seth Godin, has a very interesting post which just about categorises all marketing attempts nicely. Which category are you in with your blog?,  “There’s something you need to read, so I wrote about it.” But I could be wrong, it has got me thinking. it is not quite as simple as that if you are building a community like WorkConnexions.com. As it involves certain amount of alt truism.

Excerpt below

“Watch this because I’m in it
vs.
I’m in it because you’ll enjoy watching it.

Or,

I published a book so I need you to read it
vs.
There’s something you need to read, so I wrote about it.

Or

I’m fifty and I just made an album because it was time for me to make one.
vs.
These songs won’t let go of me and I want to share them with you because they matter.”

 

business, Relationship

Very Clever Programming, The best Marketing in the World

SOUND ON, just in by email!

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam . Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands . HEMA also has stores in Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany . In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital.

Take a look at HEMA’s product page . You can’t order anything and it’s in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens.

This company has a sense of humor and a great computer programmer. I want one….

http://producten.hema.nl/

Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Traffic, Websites

How Much Time Should You Spend On Marketing?

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As a solo-professional or small business owner, you have many responsibilities. Not only do you have to run your business and manage all the tasks associated with that, you also have to market that business. But just how should you divvy up your day? How much time should you spend on marketing? I believe you need to spend at least half of your time on marketing. In fact, as a business owner, I believe you really only have two main responsibilities:

1) Spending your time on revenue-producing activities

2) Marketing your business

Your time is valuable, so you shouldn’t waste it on mundane tasks that someone else could easily do.

You should be spending half your time generating income for your business. This might include things like servicing your clients and creating products.

The other half of your time should be spent on marketing to grow your business. That might include activities like writing articles and press releases, doing speaking engagements, writing and publishing an ezine or newsletter, advertising, relationship marketing, networking or Internet marketing. Any activity that is designed to bring you more clients or more sales.

But what about “all those other things” that have to get done?

All those administrative business tasks like paying bills, invoicing clients, going to the bank, picking up office supplies, fulfilling orders, monthly bookkeeping and clerical tasks like filing?

Or all of those household tasks like grocery shopping, cleaning your house, and doing laundry?

Find a way to delegate “all those other things”

…so you can focus your time on your top two priorities. If your time is worth $50 an hour or $150 an hour and you are spending it on $10 an hour tasks, it just doesn’t make sense.

What if you can’t afford to hire help?

I was in this boat for a long time myself. My mentors kept telling me to create a team and delegate. But I thought I couldn’t afford to. When I finally took the leap of faith and began assembling a team, my entire business and life changed.

I went from being a lone ranger doing everything in my businesses (yes, it was very tiring!) to a team that includes a bookkeeper, CPA, attorney, virtual assistant, writer, art director and production artist, media buyer, web developer, product manufacturer, fulfillment house, computer technician, real estate partners, property management company and others I’m sure I’m forgetting about right now.

No, I don’t have an office with all these people on staff.

I am still a “company of one.” These people are partners that I pay for specific services when I need them.

And I’ve enlisted the help of my family with the household tasks and hired housekeepers so I don’t have to spend my valuable work hours or my precious free time on these activities.

Yes, I still do some things I probably shouldn’t.

But the point is, over the past two years, I’ve learned to find experts and utilize their services to help me grow my business.

And even though I thought I couldn’t afford to hire a team…

Now I can’t imagine running my business (or my life) any other way. And paying for this help has never been an issue. Because the time they have freed up allows me to focus on my top two priorities, which has grown my businesses.

Your Marketing Step

Look around. Are you trying to do it all yourself? Are you running your business as a lone ranger? Are you spending time on activities that someone else could be doing?

If you are, I encourage you to step back and re-evaluate how your business is structured. And create a structure and a team that will allow you to spend your time on marketing and revenue-producing activities. And then watch your business grow!

Want to see how I spend my time? Visit my blog to find out!

Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_LaChusa