Go For The Gold!

Their seems to be a lot of talk in some financial circles about the unique benefits of gold as an investment.  And, did you know there are Gold Coin Affiliate programs? I did a little bit of research into this niche, and here are some of the selling points:

Discovered about 5 millennia ago, throughout history, Gold has been used not only as jewelry but also as the most popular investment. Since it’s not a paper investment (such as stocks or bonds), gold helps to diversify an investment portfolio.  What’s more, gold is a tangible asset, such as a home – but this one has beauty and romance that you can literally hold in the palm of your hands. When purchased in the form of legal tender bullion coins, gold can be affordable, easy to buy and collect.

An important measure of any investment is its liquidity, right?  Yes. And just how easy is it to unload it, you ask? As a liquid asset, it trades worldwide – everyday. Meaning at any given moment, the market is open to trade somewhere in the world for you to sell or buy gold bullion.  Cool eh? So, including Gold in any investment portfolio  can provide a safety net for when the stock market dips, which reduces risk.

All this adds up to one thing: this niche becomes a golden opportunity (no pun intended) for the ever so savvy affiliate- you! So go for the gold…

Article Advertising

Article advertising is a technique that enables companies to market themselves by writing brief articles that relate to the niche they are in. Many of my Advertising Agency clients use these as part of their PR marketing strategy. These articles are then put out for widespread syndication. Each article has a byline and a biography field that enables companies to incorporate references to their firm, website or contact information. By crafting well written content and distributing it, businesses can increase their industry creds and hopefully,  their market share.

Years ago, a boutique accounting firm put out an article during tax season in the local newspaper entitled: “The top 5 ways to be audit free”. The benefits were two-fold: a) the firm provided timely and valuable information and b) it positioned itself as a leader in the community for saving you money, time and stress come tax time.  This kept the firm top of mind and helped them to expand their business the following year.

Article advertising moved online right after Al Gore invented the internet Websites that are article-centric are known as article directories. Most are free for the article publishers and readers. Articles in these directories are indexed in Search Engines, and thus become found when someone is doing a related search, providing companies cheap and targeted exposure and traffic – and it doesn’t get much cheaper than FREE. So make sure good article advertising is part of your marketing arsenal and or that your advertising agency leverages this technique. Your converting traffic will thank you for it!

Promotional Items

There is a fact of life that marketers need to learn: for the most part, people don’t like advertising. We fast-forward through commercials on our DVR’s, we don’t pay much attention to billboards on our way to work, and we employ spam filters in our emails to catch those pesky advertising messages. But we do like FREE stuff, especially if its useful. Can we leverage that to market our businesses?

A few years ago, at the Promotional Products Association tradeshow, more than 95 percent of business professionals surveyed reported using custom promotional items at their tradeshows and events. Roughly 72 percent of respondents stated that promo items are either “extremely effective” or “effective” in accomplishing their goals. And if you’ve been to a tradeshow, you know the drill: people love free swag!

Nearly a third of all promotional products purchased are for corporate apparel, meaning promotional t-shirts, hats, hoodies, vests, gloves, scarves, etc.  It’s been said that businesses that had a corporate gift program were twice as likely to be contacted by customers, as compared to those who did not give gifts. So, the real question is not whether you’ll use promo products, but rather which promotional merchandise you’ll choose!

Start here: http://www.branders.com. Traditionally, promotional products have been sold through catalogs or traveling sales representatives. Branders was the world’s first online promotional items company and is also the largest online, with hundreds of employees spread across four countries and more than 100,000 customers. Branders has put more logos on more products for more online customers than anyone else in the world. They’ve even handled orders for the White House!

There are many reasons to use imprinted merchandise and promotional product as advertising: helps with branding, increases booth traffic at a show, generates goodwill, attracts new customers and can generate interest in your products. So try to incorporate promotional items into your marketing strategy.  Feel free to use at tradeshows but also to send to clients and potential clients so that they keep you top-of-mind.

Consumers are inundated with advertising messages and the challenge for businesses is find a way to cut through the clutter and to not only reach their target audience, but to resonate with them. Promotional products do just that.  Promotional products are powerful, both as effective forms of communication and as useable, necessary tools. They integrate into people lifes, impacting the daily routines of the recipients and keep you at the forefront, ahead of your competition.

Tricks of the trade(show)

So you made it to the trade show circuit! Plan ahead and you’ll maximize your ROI. How so?

For starters, define measurable objectives.  If  met, then you made decide that trade shows could be part of your yearly marketing aresenal. But try looking at trade shows as a market to market.

For example, your marketing plans may include special promos – before & after the show(s).  This of course is budget-dependent.  But with a trade show floor full of great products & services, combined with limited time, people need an incentive to come to your booth. So have a giveaway item ready. What could be useful to your targeted demo? What can keep you top of mind?  You many need to have different gifts for different types of visitors.

On the show floor trade show displays can make a powerful statement about who your company is, what you do and how you do it. The purpose of your booth is to attract visitors so that you can sell them. WOW them first with your booth. Make sure it’s an open, welcoming and friendly space. Opt for large graphics, perhaps vinyl banners. This will help you be remembered.

After the show, the key is to follow up and do so quickly.  You don’t want your leads to go stale and have them buy from a competitor. Set up a System of how you will follow up (when, who, how, etc.) and reap the benefits of being a trade show exhibitor…

Give Them What They Want

You can’t make everyone happy, right? You’ve heard that before.  And it’s true.  The only people you should care to make happy are your paying customers. And it could be very difficult.  Here are some tips on how to get some.

Conversions happen because the product or service purchased fills a need. Therefore, give people what they want, and they will pay handsomely for it. Start by building a list and trust.  Perhaps give away information for free in the 1st strings of emails. Then on the 3rd one, try asking for the sale.  If you’d helped them before, chances are they’ll feel you’ll be able to assist them again that they’ll want to pay you. Remember, you just so happen to have the perfect solution for their problem.

In order to have the perfect solution, you need to make sure the information you are offering is  relevant to the targeted niche you are going after. For instance, say you are promoting a service such as ceramic tile cleaning tips through a website such as http://www.thesteamteam.com. If a visitor lands on your site and provided info on carpet cleaning instead of tile, it gives the wrong impression. Remember, give them what they want, and they will give you what you want.

So remember, it really boils down to this: making the customer happy and giving them what they want, no matter what. That’s not always pretty, but it does get results.

Scrubs Wanted

Get Your Business Started

During these uncertain economic times, many potential business owners are turning to the Web for income. The challenge however, is deciphering the poor opportunities from legitimate ones.

It seems everywhere you go someone is hyping their system to help you “make big bucks while only working less than 10 hours per week!” For those that do not have the experience to tell what a good offer is vs. a bad  one, the situation can become unnerving. So what can you do?

One of the first tests when evaluating a business opportunity is whether or not it sounds too good to be true. Like in other areas of life, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Unfortunately, the programs that sell the most are those that promise a quick buck, even though most folks will never be succesful. Listen to me:  The internet is not a mystical money tree!

Earning money online requires sound business practices and a lot of work. Any business, for that matter, on or offline, requires dedication/time. Though its true – the internet has changed some of the ways people do business – there are some principles that are as true today as they were in the pre-internet days. When you follow those principles and avoid the temptation to take shortcuts, your business will grow.

For instance: Is your online venture a business or a hobby? If you’re earning money online as a hobby then you may be quite happy jumping from program to program, following whatever is popular. But if you are serious about operating a business then you need to work consistently at your business. And to grow a business, you need to market said business. Pick a few areas in marketing that make sense and stick with them. For example, you could build a business selling general gift merchandise, home décor, kitchenware and/or collectible items.  SMC promotions could be leveraged for such a venture. You can peruse the SMC catalog and buy (very inexpensively) household supplies, toys and games, garden supplies, and electronics and sell these for a pretty profit. The nice thing about SMC is that a SMC membership can be used not only to start a new business, but also to supplement a pre-existing business.

There are quite a few folks out there making money online. Every day legitimate businesses are finding success by applying common sense and treating their online business like a business. So have it, and watch your online earnings grow….