Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

5 Powerful Ways To Reduce Your Learning Curve

It's no secret that to succeed on the internet you have to learn as much as you can about internet marketing and marketing in general. It's an ongoing process. Even the top marketers continually try to learn and or improve on their existing marketing methods. The day that you think you have nothing else to learn or "know it all" is the day that you are finished in this business. With that said,. . .

Chill Out With A Summer Time Marketing Plan

Is your business experiencing a summer time slump? Traditionally only industries related to travel enjoy a boost in business during the warmer months. The rest of us tend to take vacations, clean up our desk and while away the time playing computer games while we wait for business to pick up. Summer time can and should be a time when business owners prepare for the marketing they will do fo. . .

Push vs Pull Advertising

Push vs. Pull Advertising - Understand the Consequences for your Product or ServiceYou will save yourself a considerable amount of time and money if you first determine your product’s (or service’s) suitability for "pull" and "push" advertising.Pull advertising is geared to draw visitors to your website when they are actively seeking your product or service. Prime examples of pull advertising . . .

Getting Looked Over, Without Getting Overlooked: Writing ...

* Scanning and Skimming Practices *Whether you're writing e-mail messages or Web site sales letters, you need to know how to hold the attention of different types of readers. Even the readers that don't actually "read."Most readers will either scan, skim, or both, especially when reading online or when reading long pieces. Optimizing the writing on your site for those who scan and those who ski. . .

Honesty is the Best Policy -- Especially When It Comes to...

As a child growing up in Chicago, my friends and I would often yell at each other, "Cheaters never prosper!" if we thought someone was playing unfairly on our Catholic school playground. In the business world over the years, I've learned that there's a lot of truth in that statement. Cheaters don't always succeed in business, and while we're on the subject, liars are always discovered. We've se. . .

How One Simple Concept Can Increase Your Sales

We all want to belong. As humans we feel the need to fit in somewhere, anywhere. I call it the "herd mentality"... we tend to follow what everyone else is doing.Well, Bob and Bill across the street each have satellite dishes... that means I have to get one too.Everyone is driving around in a SUV... that means I have to drive one too.Everyone is wearing baggy pants... that means I have to wear t. . .

Get More Clients using Pull then Push Marketing

Marketing is like rowing. You pull hard on the oars to go forward, then lift them out of the water and push them back to finish the stroke and get ready for the next pull. Once you’ve got the sequence of the stroke right, you and your boat slip forward through the water and build speed and momentum. If you push when you should be pulling, the boat goes backwards, or, even worse, you lose . . .

Effective & In-effective Ways To Add Banners:

Do you have your own site? Do you have any banners on your site?Banners are everywhere, the internet is full of them all over the place. So the question is, how do you ad a banner that receives a lot of clicks? - By not placing it with 20 other banners - By adding your banner everywhere you can - By adding more content!The last one is the key. Anyone can just simply add a banner and hope that i. . .

Sound Like Your Situation?

What a shame! Potentially productive public relations people resting on their oars in a large organization. Just kind of tinkering with tactics and leaving target audience perceptions (and behaviors) to pretty much do their own thing. Big pain on the way! Unattended, key public perceptions can morph into painful behaviors that hurt the organization. Just plain shouldn’t happen. In military-spea. . .

A Revolutionary Fundraising Opportunity -- Life Settlements

Amid fundraisers’ growing concerns about the current charitable giving climate, dampened by the erratic stock market and shaky economy, a new fundraising opportunity has emerged – Life Settlements.What is a Life Settlement? A Life Settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy for a lump sum of cash that is more than the cash surrender value. A life insurance policy is property, . . .

Marketing The Real You

I often wonder how the practice began of pretending to be someone else in order to market your business. You know what I'm talking about -- it's the marketing face, the selling voice, that you often put on in order to attend a networking event or make a sales call. Who taught you to do that? I have a suspicion where we learn this behavior. Most of us spend a lifetime observing showroom salespeo. . .

What is MLM ?

Multilevel Marketing is one of the fastest growing yet most misunderstood methods of moving products in use today. It has been termed by many as the Wave-of-the Eighties. But, it will go far beyond that. By the 90's more than 100 billion dollars woth of products and services has been moved through Multilevel Marketing companies. As we are in the 21st century watch out ! What is MLM ? This quest. . .

Web Site Marketing Techniques Rated

There are many ways to market your web site, both online and offline. Which ones are worth it? This article will rate several popular methods on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the absolute most effective, and 1 being worthless.High search engine rankings - rate: 7-10, depending on which search engines you list your site in and how your site's listing is presented. When choosing search engines t. . .

Perseverance Lead To Walt Disney's Greatest Success!

When you are in business every person you hire gets paid before you do and it may take years, even decades before you see a payoff. That was certainly the case with Walt Disney who spent his whole working career dealing with tough-minded bankers, demanding stockholders and difficult employees, not that Walt himself was always a ball of sunshine. But through his travails when Disney had a dream . . .

Making Direct Mail Work for Small Businesses

If you own a small business, then you know the value of affordable and effective marketing. Unfortunately, many traditional and online advertising methods are becoming quite expensive. This article will explain direct mail guidelines and methods.Direct mail is an often over-looked method that can be very effective if executed properly. There are three guidelines to follow when conducting an eff. . .

Online Promotion Beats Traditional Seven-One (Part 1)

While traditional marketing can work for the book author or publisher, the return is dim for the huge effort it takes. You must promote 90% of the time to even get a milligram of attention. While you may have a success or two, most of your efforts will bring poor book sales. Ask yourself right now, what is working for me? What is not? Traditional Book Marketing Method One: The Press Release Sur. . .

Online Promotion Beats Traditional Seven-One (Part 2)

Online Marketing Can Produce 7 times your Profit in Just Five Months Now that you see the limitations of traditional book marketing, such as speaking to groups and press releases, you may be ready to increase your book sales seven fold by submitting how-to articles to online ezines where thousands a day will see your message and visit your book-selling site. Rather than a shot gun approach, I s. . .

How To Write A Newsletter Without Being A Writer

One of the best ways to stay in touch with current and past clients, colleagues and fans, is to publish a regular newsletter. Whether you use a HTML template tool like Constant Contact, simply create a good looking text email to send out to your contacts, or publish something fancy with PDF, it can draw new business simply by making sure that no one forgets what your business does and can do fo. . .

How To Create A Brand That Sticks

Most people, when they hear the word branding, think logos - but in fact, branding is really much more than that. A brand involves blending the image, purpose, and focus of your business, with your core marketing message, and coming up with something which will stick in the minds of people who encounter it. As a business or an independent professional, it is who you are and what you do, package. . .

Use Product Research to Position Yourself as the Expert

You have an idea for a new product or service, want to get feedback from prospects and position your firm as the experts. How do you do this when you haven’t ever provided the particular service or sold the product? Let’s say you are in the planning stages of starting a collection agency. (Your clients could be lawyers, building contractors, clothing manufacturers, etc.) How do you find . . .

Shift to Full Power Marketing

Marketing should run like a car’s engine. Give it the right fuel and you'll enjoy steady acceleration when you step on the gas, but let the tank run dry or put in diesel when your engine runs on gas and it will sputter and stall. If you’re marketing isn’t helping you attract a steady stream of new clients and accelerate the growth of your business, chances are you aren’t using the right f. . .

The Marketing Recipe: Money, Marketing and Me – 3 Keys Fo...

You have a great product or service… Now, how should you market it? You have to make others know about what you have to offer. There is no good in having a great idea if you don’t know how to sell it, right? Your motivation is financial independence (MONEY); you establish a quality product (your service), and you go out into the harsh competitive world and sell it (MARKETING) while you also sel. . .

Understand Brand

Branding has been defined, explained and examined extensively. There are books, articles, publications, seminars, and groups all dedicated to exploring the meaning and use of brand today.Interestingly, with all this wealth of information, some of it developed by the greatest minds in the industry, I still hear "but what is branding?" Considering the multitude of sentences that begin "branding i. . .

Revealing the Roots: The Process of Building Brand

How is branding different than marketing?Branding is not so much different from marketing as it is an element of marketing. We think of marketing as a tree; the brand is the roots, holding the tree in place and providing constant energy. The leaves are the tactics, reaching in various directions and changing with the seasons, the trunk is the marketing strategy, connecting the brand and the tac. . .

Play it Again Sam

The marketing director for one of my longtime clients used to complain "does it have to be purple again?" What she and many others don’t realize is that the color you are seeing in your sleep, your prospects might just be beginning to recognize, and if done well, associate with you.Consistency cannot be stressed enough in brand development: whether it is a color or a font, where you place your . . .

Brand Lo-o-o-o-o-ve...

So... how have you been building your brand lately?Now, I'm writing this in my best Barry White voice... "How's your Brand Lo-o-o-o-o-ve, baby?"It may sound obvious, but increase Brand Love by branding better.Branding your business better will help you increase awareness, attractiveness, and affection of your prospects (so they become customers), current customers (some people call them client. . .

"My Child Has Opie Eye!"

7:00 a.m., the silence in the house is broken by my child's call to me, from another room, "Mom, please take care of my Opie eye!" Huh?...  My mind is spinning trying to process this information, what sort of illness is Opie eye? Is it a variation of Pink eye? What is the cure? What is the cause? Why didn't I notice it? Why hadn't I heard of it? I must be a terrible parent. My mind goes back. . .

Using A Simple Idea to Target Your Audience

A wonderfully easy and free concept that many people seem to overlook during their online marketing career is the survey. If you are looking for programs to promote or ideas for articles, you really need not look much further than your own opt in list.Your list subscribers are a wealth of information right at your fingertips. Surveys can be as simple as asking one single open-ended question o. . .

The Increasing Power Of Publicity - and how it can benefi...

The call came into my office and the voice on the other end was very energetic, almost giddy: "I have finalized my marketing budget and need your help launching an advertising campaign for my new product," he breathed. "Congratulations," I replied, "but before we implement an ad campaign, I want to make sure you have explored potential PUBLICITY opportunities that could generate some cost-effic. . .

Catch More Clients Using Strategic Networking

Is networking helping you bring in the new clients you want? If you are like most independent professionals and small business owners, you put hard work into getting your name out there and distribute your business card wherever you go. You may even attend a weekly or monthly networking group or occasional business conference where people share leads. And like most people, your time and effort. . .

You Won't Make Dollars If You Don't use 'Ad'Sense

As the dust settles and the excitement caused by Google's AdSense gives way to the normal, everyday routines of old, it's time to put some serious thought into how you can "milk this cash cow" on your own web site. For the past couple months AdSense has dominated forums, discussions, and newsletters all over the Internet. I've heard tales of fabulous riches to be made with AdSense, but up until. . .

Solutions for the Struggling Article Writer

Are you struggling to come up with new ideas for articles? Whether you are a new or veteran writer, this problem can effectively halt your ability to use this method of promotion. So, to help you overcome this, I have compiled a list of things you can do to find new article ideas.1. Message BoardsRead the posts at message boards to see what people are interested in. You can then write your arti. . .

Hate To Burst Your Bubble: Identifying 6 Common Internet ...

If you`ve been online for more than a week, you`ve probably already seen them. Ads that promise great wealth, in little or no time, for little or no work on your behalf. They then go on to tell you how simple and easy it is to work from home, being your own boss and setting your own hours.Sounds great, doesn`t it? But is it actually true? Ok, so you get to decide your work hours, but let me tel. . .

Reach vs. Frequency: Is it better to reach 25 People Fou...

Reach and frequency are terms generally used when planning advertising campaigns. However, the concept of reach and frequency applies to any promotional activity you undertake: direct mail, direct selling, and even networking.Reach is the number of people you touch with your marketing message or the number of people that are exposed to your message. Frequency is the number of times you touch. . .

The Complete Beginner's Guide to Writing Articles.

So how do you get started? What do you write about? What do you actually DO with your articles once you`ve written them? It seems daunting, I know. I was petrified myself when I first started writing articles, I still get nervous every time I start submitting a new article all over the net.Getting Started:Do you have a passion? Are you particularly well-versed in a certain topic? Are you willin. . .

Frugal Marketing

You want to market your business but you don’t want to spend a lot of money. You may be just starting out and have precious little capital or you may have a successful business but want to spend as little as possible for the greatest results. Or, you may just be cheap. How can you create a marketing strategy that results in a steady stream of new clients on a shoestring budget? The key is havin. . .

Direct Mail Marketing Now As Easy As Email

Is the United States Postal Service (USPS) a marketing innovator? As it turns out, the kind folks in the blue shorts are in fact making it easy for even the smallest business to duke it out with their biggest competitors by using the USPS new “mailing online (MOL)” direct mail service - check it out at http://www.usps.com/mailingonline With MOL, you can escape the dreary part of dir. . .

Are You Ignoring These Marketing Principles?

In marketing as in science there are basic principles that govern the movement of bodies in space, or prospects and clients. Just as people instinctively know the law of gravity, they are aware of the fundamental principles of marketing. Unlike the law of gravity which is hard to deny, many small business owners often neglect to apply core marketing principles to attract clients. Even if you've. . .

Top 3 Free Marketing Techniques

If you have zero budget then this is the article for you. In this article I will discuss the best ways to market your website for free.#1. Articles:An example of using articles to promote your website is this article. At the bottom of it should be my author bylines. If you are a good writer and know were to submit your articles then this can be possible they best traffic generator ever. By subm. . .

Using Your Web Site to Grow Your Business

A snowplow operator in a New Jersey suburb was hailed by a woman asking him to plow her driveway so she could get out. Wading through less than a foot of fluffy snow to her SUV, he asked her why she didn't put it into four wheel drive and simply back out. Her puzzled answer was, “Four wheel drive, what's that?”A web site is just a means to and end, like a car it will get you where you want to g. . .

Single or Double Opt--In?

Single or Double Opt--In?You heard the message before. Your e-mail list is the most important key to your future online success. The best list is a highly targeted and responsive opt--in list. At present, the single opt--in method is the preferred approach to building a list. However, Internet promoting considerations suggest the list owner should use the double opt--in or confirmation meth. . .

Affiliates, 3 Things You Should Own Though You Don't Own ...

1. Your Own web site:Most affiliates put a redirect link directly to their affiliate product. It is not such a good practice. Register a domain that closely resembles your affiliate product website. For example, if you are an affiliate for affiliateproduct.com web site, try to register affiliate-product.com or affiliateproduct.net. Follow the lay-out of your affiliate product web site. Put cont. . .

Negotiating Tactics: Don’t Let ‘Good Guy – Bad Guy’ Contr...

Counter one of the classic negotiating gambits by addressing it directly.You’ve assembled a brilliant sales proposal for a new client and when you arrive to the meeting to hammer out the final details, you suddenly find yourself sitting across the table negotiating with two people. One is a person with whom you’ve had contact during the sales process; the other is new – a purchasing agent.The . . .

Using Technology to Manage Customer Loyalty

Don’t let your customer satisfaction research initiative collect dust on a shelf. Integrate technology with research to optimize the use of customer information.The typical company spends 80% of customer research time and effort gathering information, and only 20% of that time using it. Companies conduct research to gather information, but it is only useful if it can be turned into positive a. . .

The Truth in Advertising

Most of us have seen at least a dozen different toothpaste commercials that claim, "Three out of four dentists recommend...." You may have wondered, as I did, how each of these claims could be possibly be true. They are based on statistical evidence, so why are there such varied results? If you listen to advertising, there seems to be no clear consensus on which health-related products--aspirin. . .

A Newsletter Is Worth A Thousand Words – Part 2

In Part 1 of our article on newsletters, we discussed the benefits of a newsletter and there various formats they can be designed in. In Part 2, we will discuss what kind of content to include, where to find that content and how to promote your newsletter.What should be included & where do I find it?:One question that many people ask when they are considering starting a newsletter is what shoul. . .

Image is Everything!

Marketing is an integral part to any business, especially for a Virtual Assistance who has to rely on a professional and creative image. How you get the word out about your VA service can have a tremendous impact on the success of your business. Just throwing together a business card or brochure to hand out, or a quick website is not enough. You need to create a marketing strategy, one that wil. . .

A Newsletter Is Worth A Thousand Words – Part 1

There are many, many ways of marketing your business that don’t have to cost an arm and a leg. They are all great ways of ensuring that your contacts are aware of what you do and whom you can help. One of the best forms of keeping your name in front of the eyes of your clients, your associates, and others that may be in your target market is a newsletter. It allows you to show them that you are. . .

Writing Powerful Effective Solo Ads

Everybody wants to make more money... In fact, most people would like to hit upon something that makes them fabulously rich! And seemingly, one of the easiest roads to the fulfillment of these dreams of wealth is writing effective solo ads and using them correctly The only thing is, hardly anyone gives much real thought to the basic ingredient of selling by email - the writing of profitable s. . .

Written vs. Audio Marketing?

Are you ready for some interesting figures?* People remember only 10% of what they read* People remember only 20% of what they hear* But people remember 50% of what they both read and hear!** And it is found that audio increases the web site viewers attention span by 45%** Almost 80% of web users have audio!!!!!!These figures reflect the neccesity of having audio on your website. There are 3 b. . .