Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

Powerful Networking: Focus on Building Connections, Not C...

You can find numerous references in the business literature about the importance of a company's mission. These sources emphasize that the mission is not to make a profit; that a profit is the outcome of and reward for fulfilling the mission. In the same sense, the mission of networking is not to gain business and close sales. The mission of your networking activities is to make connections, dev. . .

3 Steps To Increasing Your Web traffic for Free

You own a website and you want more traffic. More traffic will lead to more sales and more ad revenue. The basic costs of a website, once it is finished, are small. All you need to do is get some more visitors. Pay per Click might not be economical for you in that 100 visitors at 10 cents a click is $10. If only 2 out of 100 buy your $1 product, you are losing $8 per hundred people. Next.So, t. . .

Seven Deadly Newsletter Sins (and How to Cure Them)

Newsletters can be great communication tools, but they take work. Here’s a quick list of common problems newsletters run into and how to fix them.1. The snooze-letter -- a newsletter so boring it puts readers to sleep.Cure: Find out what your readers want to know and write about it. Keep the tone lively. Don’t know what readers want? Ask!2. Audience too broad - a newsletter with a broad aud. . .

DoubleClick's Q3 2004 Report Shows Bulk Email Marketing E...

Internet marketing company DoubleClick published its final report over the bulk email marketing evolution this year. The figures show year-over-year increase in delivery rates (cleaner emailing lists), and a decrease in open rates and click-through rates. The variations are light, proving a steady and maturing environment.DoubleClick's metricsThe data analyzed were based on more than 2 billion . . .

10 Ways To Increase Your Free eBook Downloads

1. Anticipate the objections your visitors might have about your free ebook offer. You should research your target audience's needs and wants. 2. Allow your visitors to feel good about themselves by giving them compliments. If they feel good, they will also feel good about downloading your ebook. 3. Tell your visitors the emotional and logical reasons why they should download your free ebook. I. . .

A Fast Way to Fill a Coaching Practice

So you've gotten the coach training certification, made up your business cards, and started your web site. You've discovered your niche, and you have been marketing - aggressively even! But still, no one's exactly beating a path to your door. Kind of makes you wonder what you're doing wrong. Chances are you're doing everything right. The only thing that may be missing is a broader chance for th. . .

7 Tips for Successful Postcard Marketing

Simple low-cost postcards have become a valuable business tool for modern marketers. They can produce a surge of traffic to your web site or a flood of high-quality sales leads. The following 7 tips will help you get the maximum response from postcards at the lowest cost. Tip 1: Focus on the Mailing List Make sure your postcards go to prospects likely to be interested in your offer ...and who a. . .

How To Increase Your Website Traffic With Zero Cost

How to increase your website traffic with zero cost'. It's a bold statement don't you think. But, believe me it's true. You can increase your traffic by 1000% with no cost involved if you do it the right way. Continue reading if you want to know how.I've outlined 5 ways to reach your target. But, please keep in mind that these are not the only ways that you can do to increase your traffic. Ther. . .

Customer Retention with a Personal Touch

Personal contact with customers is a crucial element in the success of any new business – and it’s one of the most common casualties of growth. As a company grows, the president tends to fade away into his or her office. That can lead to loss of leverage right at the point when a company is starting to take off and needs it most.The danger is that the company can become just another faceless . . .

Is CRM Technology Living Up To the Hype?

Over the last few years the buzz about CRM (Customer Relationship Management) has grown extensively. It seems that every Sales & Marketing executive is talking about it. A study conducted by Jupiter Media Metrix found that U.S. businesses spent more than $5.2 billion in CRM technology software in 2001, a number that is expected to rise to $8.7 billion by 2006. CRM spending has been growing cons. . .

SEO Copywriting Makeover: Good Rankings but No Sales Part...

It's been a myth for as long as the Internet has been in existence. Get good rankings and your site will be successful. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that has never been the case. What you get when you achieve good search engine rankings is a lot of traffic. That *can* be a wonderful thing, but it by no means guarantees even one sale.You see, search engine rankings are not respon. . .

SEO Copywriting Makeover: Good Rankings but No Sales Part...

In Part 1 of this article series, we looked at a local home security site that had fairly good rankings but whose conversion rate was lacking. (You can see the original copy here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/topsecurity-original.pdf.) Here in the conclusion, you'll see how several changes helped maintain this company's good rankings while improving their site's lead generation abilities.. . .

10 Awesome Online Promotion Strategies To Attract More Or...

Hello, do you have a website and sell something on the internet? If yes, may I offer you 10 awesome ways to get more orders at your website! 1. Create a free ebook directory on a specific topic at your website. People will visit your website to read the free ebooks and may see your product ad. 2. Turn part of your website into a members only website. Instead of charging for access, use it as a . . .

Networking on the Net

Networking is one of the most effective ways to find clients for any consulting or professional services business. But if you limit your networking to only what you can do in person, you'll be missing out on a huge number of possibilities.Networking is more than entering a room full of people and exchanging business cards. It's creating a pool of contacts with whom you can exchange clients, ref. . .

10 Amazing Web Promotion Ways To Jump Start Your Sales

Hello, do you have a website and sell something on the internet? If yes, may I offer you 10 amazing ways to jump start your sales at your website! 1. Find a strategic business partner. Look for ones that have the same objective. You can trade leads, share marketing info, sell package deals, etc. 2. Brand your name and business. You can easily do this by just writing articles and submitting them. . .

The Elements of Expertise

Bill Connington is a New Jersey-based financial advisor who is actively working to position his firm, Connington Wealth Management, as a specialist in helping physicians deal with investment, retirement planning, and money management issues.Bill publishes articles about investing in magazines like Physician’s Money Digest and Dermatology Today. He is creating a special report about investing fo. . .

Three Reasons To Host Your Own Teleconference

Top companies have been doing it for years. It enables their employees to "be there" without actually being there. Teleconferencing has been in existence for a number of years to help people to work at home and still be a major part of meetings. But, now it's taking on a whole new dimension. One that is exploding on the Internet as a new stream of income. Major Source of Profits for Internet Ma. . .

How To Create Urgency So People Buy Now

You must create urgency so people will buy your products or services now. They may not revisit your web site or see your ad again. How do you do this? You must use a limited time offer. Limited time offers stop people from putting off buying your products or services. It stops them from procrastinating. There are many different types of limited time offers. Here are a few. Limited Time Price Of. . .

10 Blockbuster Ways To Ignite Your Sales

1. Sign-up to win web site awards. When you win, some award sites publish your web site link, name and description on their site. 2. Join online business associations or clubs. If you join, they will usually list all their members on their web site. It will give your business extra exposure. 3. Utilize a simple form of viral marketing. Write or have someone else write a small report with your a. . .

Cleaning Up Your Marketing

Has your once well-organized marketing plan come to resemble the jumble of stuff in your closet (not to mention the garage and the attic)? If you are like most people, each time you come across a new marketing idea you try to adopt it and add it to your existing approach. Strategies and tactics tend to accumulate and linger even when they may not be working as well as you'd like. Like the ill-f. . .

Be Image Smarter - Stop Using "Cookie Cutter" Marketing

We all know you only get one chance to make a good first impression.That is why all your marketing materials need to relay a sharp, professional image. Remember, Don't be tempted to use "Cookie Cutter Marketing". A sharper, more professional image is what you need to present in order to beat out your competitors and land new business. Put yourself in your potential customer’s shoes and really l. . .

Power Words And Phrases

I like to use power phrases when writing sales material. These power phrases add punch to a line or a paragraph and I usually use them to start off a sentence. You can generally find alot of "power phrases" when reading good sales copy. I usually keep a notebook nearby so that whenever I come across a line or a phrase that I Iike in sales material, I write it down for possible future use. They . . .

Media Relations: How We Landed the Wall Street Journal's ...

Media relations is a great profession. On good days, I earn my living speaking to and learning from knowledgeable experts who ask for help in raising the profile of their cause through the media. In the past few years, I’ve worked with billionaire philanthropists, a Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist and a world famous actor. Mostly, though, I work with unknown but equally impressive professional. . .

What is Link Popularity?

Link popularity is simply the total number of web pages that link to your web page. Link popularity is an extremely important factor that is used by most of the major search engines to rank web pages and web sites. In general, the major search engines consider link popularity a key factor in their algorithms to determine the relevancy of your web page to a particular keyword search query. Goo. . .

Attracting Good Affiliates

Good affiliates can be hard to get. There could be any number of reasons for this, but I am going to focus on what I believe is the one major problem that prevents someone from attracting good affiliates. But first lets look at what the make up of a good affiliate may be. A good affiliate is: Hard Working Persistent Motivated to work their business Does not need constant reassurance Makes and i. . .

How to Write B2B Ads That Catch Customers

Are your business-to-business ads working for you? If they are not making sales, are they at least generating interest in your company? Are they making an impression on your potential customers by making you stand out in a crowd? If not, then you should take a look at this article and get those ads working hard for you.Don’t just fish for customers, catch them! ALWAYS include your company name . . .

3 Tips to Help Launch An Acting Career

Hollywood will help you...but only once you are making a million dollars and Hollywood can take 10%.1. BE PREPARED. The time to learn the basics of acting is not on the way to your first audition or job. Assuming that you have taken an acting class that covers improvisation/scene study/cold-reading, have a great headshot, and a resume that lists your acting acheivements/special skills/classes t. . .

Graphic Design Tip- White Space as a Positive Element

Graphic designers of catalogues, booklets and annual reports should consider the paper pages as a positive element of the available graphic design area. The blank white paper spread is like the untouched canvas of a painter. The potential for design impact is encompassed by the physical confinements of the size of the paper pages.Have you ever painted on canvas before? Regardless of whether you. . .

The Top 10 Ways to Market Any Business to Thousands by Le...

As business owners, we all know that the key to fantastic sales is to let your customers have a personal experience of you. The difficulty, of course is that to give every customer that experience personally requires a tremendous time commitment of ourselves and our staff. So what do we do? One solution is to leverage our time by doing the "wooing" once and then let that effort live on forever . . .

12-month 2005 Marketing Calendar that Boost Sales

The following is my 12-month promotional marketing calendar. Keep it handy, as you'll need to refer to it throughout the coming year when forecasting your promotional messages. By no means is this list exhaustive. In fact, you should add to it based on your industry-related activities. There are many holidays throughout the year that may be a natural tie-in with your product or service, such as. . .

Slogan For Your '05 Business

Logos and slogans are big eye catchers for the big businesses we’re used to seeing every day. It’s the seldom thought of products that are fun to watch as they create new ways to market their ideas to the user and consumer. As the Olympic International Committee is in its early stages of preparations for 2010 in Vancouver, BC we’re seeing some interesting news stories. One story in particular w. . .

Consumer Styles: Research Review

According to research done by Elizabeth Sproles and George Sproles (1990) in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, there is a significant link between peoples learning styles and their “consumer styles”. The perfectionist consumer style, which describes a consumer that searches carefully and systematically for the best quality in products tend to learn through serious, analysis and through b. . .

Band Promotion - Book Your Garage Band Some Shows or Gigs

So you have you press kit and demo CD and want to know what to do next. Why not try an open mic night at a local club. Most clubs advertise these open mic nights in your local music papers or entertainment magazines. Open mic nights will give your band experience on stage, and the club will most likely have a built in audience to perform for. Most of the time all you have to do is show up w. . .

Performing a Simple Competitive Analysis

Marketing, in its purest form, is based on a thorough understanding of the arena in which your brand competes. That understanding enables you, as a marketer, to successfully promote and sell.Successful marketers understand their markets, competitors and customer wants and needs. That understanding gives those marketers an opportunity to be competitive. Identifying and analyzing your direct comp. . .

Elements of a Successful Advertising Campaign

A successful marketing campaign needs certain elements to be successful. The following information will help you to develop a successful marketing campaign. 1) Establish a feeling of urgency for the buyer. Basically tell your customers, "You need to sign up today because it will make you reach your goals." Don't tell your customer the offer will still be as good tomorrow; they must buy today! U. . .

Seminar Marketing: Boost Your Business by Running Seminars

All professional practices have the perennial problem of how to attract new clients. The comfortable days that some of us once knew have long since gone and competition is now the order of the day. Professionals who have not been trained in marketing must feel their way towards a solution which will bring them new clients.Many professionals opt for seminars as a way of obtaining new business. T. . .

Seven Ways To Put Show Biz Into Your Tradeshow

The best way to attract and mobilize more customers to attend your trade show is to bring a "show biz" mentality to all your marketing and at-show strategies. After all, you are in show business. In today's marketplace, consumers are drawn by glitter and excitement but turned off by humdrum events. If you put on a dull show you will generate little interest. Following are seven ways to put more. . .

Secrets Of Getting Free Advertising

The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or services are limited only by your own imagination and energies. There are so many proven ways of promoting your own objectives without cost that it literally boggles the mind just to think of listing them.Ezine article writing:One way is to write an article relative to your particular expertise and submit it to all the publicati. . .

Up-to-the-minute Data Squeezes Extra Dollars from Hospita...

There’s No Such Thing as a Day-Old Room Whether it’s a hotel, resort, campground, condo, or timeshare resort, anyone engaged in booking travelers needs to keep track of their available rooms. Precise, timely awareness of what’s not been rented spells the difference between unsold rooms and the best possible selection for last-minute arrivals. What the hospitality industry has to sell isn’t like. . .

Real Estate Marketing for the “You” Generation

Are you working in the real estate industry? Are you a real estate agent, mortgage consultant, builder, real estate broker, appraiser, construction worker, etc? The Internet is the wave of the future. You can no longer sell homes without at least some sort of internet presence.According to Harris Polls....over 70% of people in the world use the Internet. The Internet is the most trusted source . . .

Tips from Chicago Search Engine Strategies - Part 2

The next session that I enjoyed was Shopping Search Tatics at Search Engine Strategies. Chris Bowler, Media Director and Search Practice Lead at Itraffic.com, Laura Thieme, President and Founder of Bizresearch and Craig Snyder EVP of Marchex were the speakers. Detlev Johnson, President of Technology, SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solutions, moderated the Forum.I have chosen to go over Mr. Bowle. . .

11 Quick Tips To Drive More Return Traffic To Your Busine...

Sometimes you need a kick start to get of the ground when promoting your new business website. Use these 11 tips to get started. A combination of several tips will most likely guarantee return visitors on your website. Return visitors most likely mean more sales.1. Build a solid business foundation before starting. Create a business plan (this should be document revisited every quarter), market. . .

Tips from Chicago Search Engine Strategies - Part 1

The first meeting I went to for the day was Organic Listing Forum at Search Engine Strategies. Bruce Clay, President of Bruce Clay, LLC and Mike Grehan, CEO of Smart Interactive (and Author of Search Engine Marketing: The Essential Best Practice Guide) were the speakers. Detlev Johnson, President of Technology, SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solutions, moderated the Forum.Each speaker gave a pre. . .

WARNING to Home Based and Small Business Who Want to Buy ...

Most small businesses will not even try to advertise on television. It’s too expensive and the audience is too broad. The ads on television are not targeted enough. Think back to the last time your entire family was gathered around a television set. It was fun family time, but think of how different each member of your family is. The children at different ages want different things. The parents. . .

10 Proven Ways To Accelerate Your Profits

1. Make copies of your web site in many different languages. This'll allow foreign speaking people to read your web site and advertisements. 2. Give your customers a surprise bonus for buying. When you give customers more than they expect, there is a good chance they will buy from you again. 3. Send greeting cards offline or online to customers on holidays. You'll get the chance to increase you. . .

Brand Yourself with a Better Bio

A bio is a key part of your marketing toolbox. And a well written one is worth it’s weight in gold! This seeming simple marketing blurb has the amazing power to wow the media, impress a decision maker, or showcase your expertise to any potential buyer. And, once you have written a good bio, you’ll find a million uses for it. In addition to adding one to your website, you can use in your article. . .

Seven Simple Ways of Driving Traffic to Your Site Using O...

I am not a web designer or search engine optimizer, nor do I play one on TV. However, I do know that the driving force in bringing qualified traffic to your web site is dynamic high value content. That means compelling, interesting, approachable, and immediately useful information, especially when you also directly sell products or services at your site. Increasing and maintaining traffic also . . .

10 Super Offers That Build Up Sales

The following special offers, deals and bonuses will help you to successfully increase your sales: 1. Offer a coupon. You could have people follow a special link or enter a special code to redeem your coupon. 2. Offer free shipping. You could offer a limited time free shipping deal, or you could offer free shipping on orders over a specified amount. 3. Offer a buy one get one free deal or a buy. . .

Varnish Your Printing and create New Dimensions

Offset Printing- Varnishing techniquesThink for a moment. Is there a particular brochure or printed piece that stands out in your memory? Can you recall what feature or features have kept it with you!Could it be graphic design? Photo placement? Typography or layout? Unusual format or innovative printing affects?Learn the many techniques for incorporating varnish into your next printed piec. . .

How to Sell More Stuff to More People, More Often

So the goal is to sell more stuff to more people, more often? All you have to do is have all the tools the professionals use and put them at your fingertips.You will need to get the best advice from a wide field of business and marketing experts.Start building a library of sample business marketing plans that you can easily edit and/or export to your favorite word-processor.Sales planning, fore. . .