The Content Hoarder

In essence affliliate marketing is very much like an auction house. Your web site pushes assorted items and for all your effort, you’ll have a percentage from each sale or lead. There isn’t as much work required, few overheads, it sells 24 hours a day, and it’s easy to master. To begin with, you must determine what items or market you want to work in. A effective way to go about this is, find out what solutions to a problem a particular set of individuals are anticipating, and determine the best solution. A simple way of achieving this quickly is to look for unique sets of extremely drilled down longtail keywords or phrases; in general people search for these less often, even so they will convert far more into sales.

To find these profitable words and phrases, you should use Micro Niche Finder. Data compiled by Micro Niche Finder or analogous applications and services results in a listing of related words and phrases which you can focus on in order to have top listing on the internet search engines. Further info is also available by Micro Niche Finder, such as search frequency, exactly how many different internet sites are employing those keywords, and inforamtion on your rivals as well. Last but not least, Micro Niche Finder information should help in finding associated domains, help you in putting together your website, and even point out the best sales opportunities. Constructing a site is the next step; however there are still crucial tasks to complete. You’ll need to fine tune your web site to improve your ranking on the search engines. Programs such as SEO Elite will make this easy. Competing web sites are examined by the software which then offers advice on how to increase search results.

In SEO Elite the information generated by the computer software suggests where you might find relevant links, the most profitable keywords, and a list of article submission web sites for reference. In Brief, SEO Elite information is the same sort of information you might receive when you consult a skilled SEO professional. When you settle on your niche market sector, put together some product promotion, and your website has been put together, it’s time to get your website up in the search results. You will pick up steady payments and question why you ever doubted that affiliate marketing could work for you!

In essence affliliate marketing resembles a consignment shop. Assorted items are advertised on your website and in return, you’ll get a cut from each sale. It isn’t nearly as much work, very few overheads, it works whilst you rest, and it is simple to master.

At the start, you must make a choice as to which merchandise or niche area you want to specialize in. To accomplish this, find out what a unique customer profile is looking for, and then which solutions are available to help them. One of the better means to determine this task is searching for specific sets of highly specific longtail keywords or phrases; more often than not people look for these less frequently, but greater proportion of these convert to a sale. If you want to find these important words or phrases, you should use applications like Micro Niche Finder. The results generated from Micro Niche Finder or other applications or services makes associated words and phrases in a comprehensive list format which you can focus on in order to obtain a high listing in an internet search and bring in a lot of of traffic.

Micro Niche Finder data will in addition tell you how many searches each one gets, the exact number of other sites using the particular keyword or phrase, and how strong those websites are. Ultimately, the information generated can identify appropriate domains, content for your website, and even point out the best goods to market. Constructing a website is the next step; but there are still essential tasks to complete. It’s crucial to fine-tune your website for the search engines. Here Seo Elite information can help may help. Competing internet sites are analyzed by the program which then provides suggestions on how to improve search engine performance.

With SEO Elite the info provided by the application advises you on links, what words and phrases to focus on, and a list of sites for submitting articles for reference. In a nutshell, the results produced are the same sort of suggestions you may get if you consult a skilled SEO professional. When you have decided on your niche market, design your product ads, and your internet site has been designed, all you need to do is get your site up in the search results. You will collect a regular paycheck and wonder why you always worried about money!

Affiliate marketing is akin to a consignment store. Your web site promotes merchandise and for this, you will have a percentage from each lead. There is less time and effort required, few overheads, it works while you sleep, and it’s simple to learn.

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The very first step you must take is to decide which products or market you want to work in. A good way to do this is, identify solutions to issues a unique market segment is suffering from, and then determine the best solution. One of the better ways to find this rapidly is to search for groups of narrow keywords; by and large people search for these less, but greater proportion of these convert. These lucrative keywords can be found by using programs like Micro Niche Finder. Data gathered by this software or other applications and software packages compiles a list of associated terms providing valuable information to get top placing on the web based search engines. Further information is available by Micro Niche Finder, for to illustrate search frequency, precisely how many other web sites who exploit them, and inforamtion on the competition as well. Lastly, the information generated will help in finding associated domains, material for your web site, and even identify the best sales opportunities. Constructing a website is next on the list; however it will take a bit more than just that. It’s essential to optimize your internet site for the search engines. Applications such as SEO Elite should make this simpler. This computer program examines competitor’s web sites and advises you what you should do to achieve a good ranking in the search engine results. With software like SEO Elite, info generated from the software package suggests where you should find appropriate links, the most profitable keywords, and even information on where to upload articles. Briefly, the results obtained are much like to the information that a specialist in search engine optimization might offer. Once you know what target market you want to sell in, have some advertising, and your web site has been completed, then all you need to do is improve your search engine rankings. Your profits will roll in on regular basis and you will question why you didn’t think of this earlier!

In essence affliliate marketing is a lot like an auction site. You push the assorted products on your site for this, each sale brings in money. It isn’t as much effort, very low overheads, it works 24/7, and it’s easy to master.

The very first step you have to take is to make a decision as to precisely which area most suits your interests. A efficient way to do this is, you need to find out solutions to issues a certain customer profile is expecting, and discover a solution. An efficient method of accomplishing this easily is to find unique sets of extremely drilled down words and phrases; there are fewer searches for these generally, but they convert far more. To find these profitable words and phrases, you should use Micro Niche Finder or or a a similar application. The data collected from this program or analogous programs and software packages compiles a list of associated terms which you may target in order to obtain a head-start in the rankings on an web based search.

Micro Niche Finder will also calculate detailed information on the words or phrases, just how many different sites use them, and how strong that competitor is. Last but not least, Micro Niche Finder data can identify desirable domains, assist you in putting together your site, and also reveal the best items for you to sell. Constructing a website is next; however you still have a few important things to do. You will need to fine tune your internet site to better your ranking on the search engines. Products such as SEO Elite can make this easier. Your rivals’ websites are analyzed by the program which then provides advice to improve search results.

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When you have decided on your niche, have your product advertisements, and your web site is completed, then you are ready to forcefully explode your search results. The profits will roll in regularly and question why you doubted that affiliate marketing could be successful for you!

The Cash to Cash Cycle
Part Three of Series

We’re sprinting toward that million dollar mark…and we’re only a couple strides away…

Decreasing inventory carried us over the first hurdle, and last week reducing Accounts Receivable sped us through the half-way mark. We’re making great time, so let’s bring on the next mile marker - marketing and sales.

Increasing Overall Sales and Marketing Effectiveness

If you are an organization spending $500,000 or more on marketing expenses (e.g. advertising, trade shows, print materials, direct mail, etc.) then STOP! We found it again. Why you ask…? Because marketing has the greatest potential of being very unproductive. In fact, many marketing programs struggle to break even, and actually frequently lose money. So if we increase the overall effectiveness, then we can eliminate 50% or more of your wasted marketing efforts, which translates into $250,000 in cash.

So now, let’s see how this actually works in a real-life scenario.

Sales and Marketing Company Policy Case Study

An organization with $500,000 in marketing expenses needed assistance. We examined their sales and marketing process to understand and quantify the lead flow, follow-up, and demand forecasting issues. Then we designed and implemented a process to improve their sales cycle efficiency and tie it closer to their customer’s buying cycles. After the marketing reductions, we then reinvested $100,000 back into new processes for public relations and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), both of which were suffering badly.

The metrics we developed reduced their marketing expenses by 60% overall and increased their sales cycle efficiency from 40% to 60% within 6 months of implementing the new procedures. With these new processes and reports, the company now tracks sales cycle efficiency and life-time value rather than just sales quota achievement, as the measure of their sales & marketing effectiveness. The result: an extra $300,000 in cash plus a 50% increase in process capability (capacity).

As we have seen time and time again, time can be our best friend, if only we let it.

Methods to Design the New Sales & Marketing Process

• Improve Follow-up. Only about two percent (2%) of sales occur on the first contact. Eighty percent (80%) of sales will require five to eight contacts before the sale closes. This means that if you are contacting the prospect less than five times or more than eight times, then you could have a problem with follow-up.

• Sales Cycle Efficiency. Time kills deals. The speed at which a prospect is converted into a customer and the number of prospects required to make that conversion determines your sales cycle efficiency. So ask yourself, are you taking the right steps to measure and reduce lost sales?

• Life-Time Value. How profitable a given customer is over time defines your LTV or Life-Time Value. Companies spend ten times more to acquire a customer than to keep a customer. However, existing customers are more likely to purchase again, spend more money, and therefore become more profitable. If you don’t know your LTV, then how do you know how much money to spend and on which customer segment?

• Demand Forecasting. Every customer buys on a cycle. So this means that you should track cycle times and variance to increase the accuracy of your forecasting and the loyalty of the customer. Do you know when your customers need to reorder?

• Improve Lead Quality. Do you have methods in place to measure the conversion potential of each lead? Lead generation activities (i.e. forms) should pre-qualify every new lead so that you can take the right follow-up actions for the marketing offer. Strong leads produce strong sales.

• Increase Awareness. To keep the sales pipeline full of good quality leads you must continuously increase the awareness of your company and the solutions that it provides. Public relations is more efficient at building awareness than advertising, yet many companies spend wildly on advertising and trade shows while neglecting to fund public relations efforts much at all. Increase your name recognition, not your budget.

• Reduce Discounting. Discounts represent deficiencies in the sales & marketing processes, which means that you should use them sparingly. Instead, determine the root cause and then fix the process that’s causing the need to discount. Show customers the added value, and they won’t focus on price.

• Train Personnel. Provide your sales & marketing personnel with regular formal training. This will arm them with better product knowledge, as well as presentation, negotiating and selling skills that will improve effectiveness. This will boost both employee morale and the bottom line - a win-win.

Control of Sales and Marketing Policy and Procedures

Improve your sales cycle efficiency. Reduce your marketing expenses. Tie it closer to your customer’s buying cycles. And take control of your sales and marketing program to let it work for you.

Improvement with Well-defined Policies and Procedures

With well-defined processes and procedures in place, you will increase efficiency by reducing ineffective sales and marketing programs. And, again, we make such improvements to create more cash on hand - all toward that million dollar goal and to cross the finish line.

Next week, we will hurdle the final $250,000 mark with the Accounting Payables function - so close you can see it.

Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance.
To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: Bizmanualz, Inc.

The traditional “Quotation” was originally devised during the Industrial Revolution of the 1850’s and has changed little to the present day. It is a totally Dickensian format and absolutely out of date in a situation where supply so completely outstrips demand. We are now 155 years on, and selling through proposals has gone way past this old fashioned legal junk. Continue to include it if the legal eagles insist ( and they will, but then they still wear stupid looking wigs, and bow to “Hizzoner”) - but don’t expect it to do anything but harm in terms of helping you achieve the sale.

Selling proposals are ideally designed with seven sections. These sections must be used in the proper order. They are:

Introduction & the Customer’s Objectives.

Start by thanking your prospect for meeting you and requesting the proposal.

Then state your understanding of the objectives your customer wishes to achieve.
Show them that you understand their issues, concerns, problems, worries, doubts and fears. This achieves two things. It switches your customer’s concentration to the subject of the
proposal, and shows that you are also focussed on meeting his needs- not your own.

Your Recommendations

Having defined your customer’s objectives you should now present a condensed picture of the product (s) you are recommending that will achieve these objectives, with a brief outline of how each objective will be achieved (preferably using the priority order established with your customer at the Fact-Find meeting).

Specification sheets for complicated equipment/furniture should be added to the proposal (at the back of it) and referred to in this section.

Summary of Additional Benefits

Additional Benefits, Value, Merits, Extras, and Differences that your customer will derive over and above the specification should be summarised in this section.

* Ensure these extra Benefits are relevant to your customer.

* When you list them, make sure they are benefits, not features.

Financial Justification

This is the most important section. Very few of us will buy anything unless we can see clearly that the goods we are buying will give us a return- in money saved or made, in time saving, in durability or less frequent replacement cost, in lower maintenance, reduced waste, more flexibility, etc.

Professional buyers also have an extreme interest in that animal known as the “payback period” or amortisation of the financial investment.

The majority of sellers expect the customers to work this out for themselves. Some customers do. Many of them don’t. One thing of which I am sure. If you work it out for the customer (when your competitors fail to) you have another significant edge when it comes to closing the sale.

You can cost justify in several different ways. And if you can show more than one cost justification, do it- putting your best one first.

Your Guarantees, After-Sales Service and Testimonials.

Don’t leave your Guarantees and After- Sales Service to the small print in the document. They are much more important than that, so spell them out. Maybe it is the most important thing in your customer’s mind - if anything goes wrong down the line. He/ she will have to carry the can if they made the purchase decision!

So put their minds at rest. Tell them how good your Guarantees and After Sales service is and how fast your service technicians will respond.

Back these up with third party references. Customers whom you know will be happy to take their call and make the right noises on your behalf - because you have asked them to, well in
advance (don’t tell them what to say, please).

Another method of increase your credibility is to include a page headed “Our Capabilities” outlining the success of various applications of your equipment in different situations.
Every sales professional always has a dozen appropriate third party references ready to go.

Offer names and phone numbers in this section or include copies of testimonial letters at the back of your proposal.

Budget Summary

All factors that may be used for negotiation purposes should, if possible, be mentioned on this page….in other words layout the complete package, that will enable you to change the package if
the budget needs to be changed to suit a customer requirement.
Include such things as;
Quantity, Specification, Delivery, Installation, Training, Technical Service, Guarantees, Service Charges,….anything that is in the package that you can use for negotiation. Of course, this will also help reinforce the overall value you are offering your customer.

Re-name it “Budget Summary”, a term perfectly understood and acceptable in today’s business world. Stop perpetuating this out of date crud.

Conclusion

Proposals that follow this template can be constructed in the form of a letter or as a series of separate pages (my preferred option), enclosed in a professional-looking binder.

Where the proposal is important enough it must always be delivered personally to your buyer, giving you the opportunity to take him through it under your control, highlighting or marking the most relevant / important aspects of it, and ensuring that these items will draw his attention in subsequent readings.

Quotations Tell, Proposals Sell.

Keep Selling with Integrity

Maiti

Maitiu MacCabe is the CEO of Great Expectations Coaching, a Dublin, Ireland, based coaching practice.
Visit: Great Expectations Coaching Home page for a wide range of articles related to selling matters.

Read Maitiu’s Sales Blog here

Mothers day in the UK is on Sunday the 22nd of march, which is a little under 2 weeks away. Mothers day is the perfect time to thank your mum for everything she has done for you throughout the year, so this mothers day make your mum feel appreciated.

Mothers day is not just about gifts, it’s about spending time with your mum, sure a gift is always nice and it is a great way to thank her for her years of putting up with you (joke!)

- Flowers are one of the most popular gifts for mothers day, this is because they are inexpensive but beautiful and they will bring a smile to anyones face.

- Chocolate is nother popular mothers day gift, everyone loves chocolate so why not give your mum a big box of the ost delicious mothers day chocolates

- If you want to stray away from the norm then you could always take a look at some of our other fantastic gifts ideas for mothers day 2009.

Whatever you decide to get your mum for mothers day this year, just make sure it is thoughtful and nice. It doesnt have to be expensive, as the old saying goes it is the thought that counts. Have a nice mothers day 2009, see you next year.

Since the days of telephone party-lines, it has been a fact of life that some communicators have tended to cause others of us frustration. Teenagers tying up the family’s only telephone line for hours on end; then the computer tying up the line for hours on end. Our mail boxes have been so over-stuffed with junk that it is truly a joy to find an honest to goodness letter or card amongst the ads, flyers, and other uninvited materials. Countless family dinners have been interrupted by telephone selling campaigns. One by one, technology and/or legislation address the annoyances, or we flee to the next thing, and today we find ourselves with more personal communications choices than ever. Individual mobile phones for voice, text, and video; we have not only cut the phone cord, but in many cases the computer cord as well. More laptops are sold than desktops as of last year, and for businesses the increasingly popular Personal Digital Assistant/Mobile Phone combination devices are becoming a norm.

Unfortunately with all these conveniences and choices have come new opportunities for abuse, arguably the most widely annoying form of which today, is email abuse. Email abuse takes on many forms with common terms such as spam, phishing, and the spreading of viruses all of which decrease the overall efficiency of, confidence in, and perhaps even use of this valuable communications tool. Yet the attractiveness of e-mail as a marketing tool is unshakeable. Quick, reliable, targeted, multi-media-capable, and virtually free, it is hard to dismiss email as a valuable way to communicate, and market your business. So, is it a practical idea to consider email as an effective marketing tool in today’s environment? Consider the following simple guidelines and I think you will agree the answer is a resounding YES!

1. Comply with the Federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2004. This legislation simply requires sender to: a) provide recipients with an ability to opt-out of receiving more email, b) identify the email as commercial (no misleading subject lines, or e-mail addresses in the “from” field), and c) include sender’s actual physical address in the email. Although as in any Federal Legislation there is a lot of fine print, this is the crux of the requirements and not difficult to comply with. Visit www.ftc.gov/bcp/online/pubs/buspubs/canspam.htm for additional information.

2. Once you are comfortable with CAN-SPAM compliance, the next step is to make sure your intended recipients can receive your mail. Some users today apply filters which block incoming mail unless it has been pre-cleared as desirable. This is normally done via an “accepted email list” or using the recipients contact list, so make sure you are on their acceptable address lists. There are many ways to do this off-line, or you can use an opt-in registration through your website for example. Provide something useful to our recipient for adding you to their list and it is a win-win. The idea is that the recipient wants to receive your mail, not that you are forcing it on them.

3. Build a good list over time, monitor the results and provide relevant and useful content. Coupons, special offers, and probably most important good, information will keep your recipients loyal to your list. Don’t over-send correspondence. Frequency will depend on your objectives and the value to your targeted audience. Solicit and heed feedback.

Due to a rapidly developing market for providers of Email Marketing and Campaign Management, spending on email marketing is expected to reach $1.1 billion in the next 4 years according to Jupiter Research but the good news is you can do it yourself with a minimum of effort and expense. Oh, and one more piece of good news…spam emails are forecasted to decline about 13% per year from an estimated 3,253 per year in 2005 to 1,640 or around half.

When done well, e-mail marketing provides cost-efficient, targeted results and helps reduce the amount of communication annoyance. Don’t be afraid to use it to your advantage.

John Geiger owns and operates a local affiliate of WSI Internet Consulting and Education, a Toronto based global network of consultants, developers and production centers providing consultation as well as turn-key internet business solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises to include internet marketing, web-site development and hosting; site maintenance and upgrades, full e-commerce solutions, database integration, on-line training and education, and other cutting-edge internet technology and solutions. For questions, comments, consultation, or ideas for future articles contact John at (828) 328-5929 or jrgeiger@webmasters-wsi.com

Many companies do not know how to do cold calling correctly and many people do not like to do cold calling because they feel there are bothering the customer. As a franchisor we often opened new franchise businesses with a marketing program, which included listing all the potential companies our business franchise might do business with them the area.

Once this list was established we try to find contact names and contact each company directly. Generally we try to do cold calling on some types of clientele and others we preferred more direct marketing and actually stopping in the business itself.

It is important to establish goals in cold calling. Each company should determine what those goals are. For instance if you are selling a product or service which is rather complicated and it needs further explanation for the customer you are cold calling and therefore your objectives would be to try to turn 40 percent of the cold calls into sales appointment meetings.

In our case our goal was to get the franchisee 10,000 to 20,000 worth of monthly gross income in services. And we attached our cold calling efforts to our overall marketing program goals. We later found out it was easier to have goals prior to the main goal during cold calling so that our marketing team would make sure they got to a significant number of decision-makers.

If we did not reach our goal we would send our people out to contact them directly by stopping in their office. This was not easy and therefore the team wanted to make sure that they got through to the decision maker during the cold call. No matter how you decide to set up your goals for cold calling you are advised to at least have some goals to help foster efficiency and keep the sales team on track. Please consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

High schoola constant hub of activities, studies, and eventsand the last years of our school days shared with friends. High schools always hold a variety of events to raise funds for the many extra curricular activities that makes school fun.

High school students are old enough to realize that in order to have a successful fundraiser, a business plan should be in place. The plan should begin with the question, “what are we raising funds for?” What expenses will be incurred is also another consideration for your plan. Research the most successful fundraisers for high schools to produce. There are many Internet websites that have hundreds of ideas. Don’t use the same fundraiser year after year if profits have continuously declined. Recruit a lot of volunteers who are willing to work for the cause, and check your calendar to make sure there aren’t a lot of other charity events going on at the same time.

Once your plan is in place, think about the type of fundraiser you would like to hold. Successful fundraising ideas include scratch off cards, discount cards, car washes, bake sales, candy sales, seasonal gift catalogs and book fairs. You can find lots of information about any of these on the Internet.

Finally, make sure students alert the community about the fundraiser and promote it by placing flyers throughout the community. You might also try to get a radio or television station to sponsor your event, thus gaining greater exposure. Make sure thank you notes are sent to all those involved.

School Fundraisers provides detailed information about school fundraisers, elementary school fundraisers, high school athletics fundraisers, high school fundraisers and more. School Fundraisers is the sister site of Student Loan Debt Info.