Viral Marketing

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Creativity.

This is one virtue a site must possess to lead the race in the ruthless competition in the Internet based business. With so many competition and rivalry going on, every method of Viral Marketing must be employed and utilized.

It doesn’t matter if you have a killer product or a fantastically designed website, if people don’t know that you exist, it doesn’t matter, and you are not going to make it big. Worse of all, you business could just get killed.

While there are so many methods and schemes used by so many e-commerce sites today, there are still some of those that can help you with an extra boost in the popularity ratings. One of these is the so called Viral Marketing.

While the term Viral easily depicts a virus, a word very much dreaded by all computer owners, it is not what it seems. You do not actually use a computer virus to spread your business; on the contrary it just might kill you. Everyone has had enough of all those pop up ads and spywares.

Viral Marketing Overview

Viral Marketing also known otherwise as Viral Advertising is a marketing technique used to build the public awareness of one’s product or company. They use many forms of media to reach out to the public without actually promoting the product by riding on in other forms of addictive means that could get a person hooked and be obliged or amused to actually pass it on, with the product or company advertisement along with it.

In a nutshell, companies ride on the idea that if people like the content of a media they will pass it on to their friends and family. They sponsor the certain media, such as a cool flash game, funny video, amusing story and such, which one may pass on to another with the company brand or logo or the products description or any other content to help promote the company or its product.

Viral marketing has become a popular means of advertising and marketing because they are relatively low cost. To avoid being tagged as spam mail, viral marketing counts on the eagerness of one person to pass on the product. If a person sees the name of the person they know as the sender, they won’t block it and open it as well.

Many companies offer incentives such as discounts and rebates when they help in spreading their viral marketing. They rely on the number of recipients a viral marketing gets from one person in determining the amount or number of incentive they can be attributed with.

Using Viral Marketing to your advantage

The main and foremost advantage of viral marketing is that you get a lot of publicity and public awareness about your site and your company. You get to generate a flow of traffic that are potential customers. With a little ingenuity and imagination, plus some incentives or prizes, you can reach out to a great number of people and announce your existence.

Most every site and companies are catching on to the effectivity of Viral Marketing and Advertising. Not using it could kill your business. Along with other schemes and methods in promoting your site, like Search Engine Optimization and such, viral marketing could easily push you ahead in the rating games.

Viral Marketing could be a sneaky way to get people to know about you and your company. You get them to pass your advertisement along. They are also very low cost that not investing in it could be downright a business suicide. All it takes is a great idea, a good addicting game, a funny story many ideas are still out there. Create a gossip or a buzz, many movies are promoted by using scandals and gossips to make them more popular. Remember the movie “The Blair Witch Project”?

Many big companies have tried viral marketing and have had many success stories with it. A classic example is Microsoft’s Hotmail. They were the first known big company to utilize the scheme and it has worked wonders for them.

Now it’s your turn to use viral marketing to work wonders for you. Act now and reap the benefits Viral Marketing will provide for you and your sales figures.

Maryjane Angelo

How to Market Your New Craft or Hobby |Maryjane's Blog

If you have created a new craft or developed a new hobby and are comfortable enough in your skills or expertise, perhaps it is time to market your skills. While for most of us marketing ourselves is uncomfortable, there are many ways to make it enjoyable instead of nerve-wracking.

Marketing yourself does not mean that you have to hire a great big billboard with a picture of yourself smiling. Marketing can be something as simple as letting someone know that you can perform that skill or create that project.

Perhaps you are a party planner that specializes in centerpieces, or maybe you can play a musical instrument like nobody’s business. The whole reason you dived into your new craft or hobby is because of your love of it. So do not be ashamed of your talent; share it with others. There are many ways that you can market yourself so that you can share that talent with everyone around you.

Offer Classes

If you are a crafty soul and specialize as in the example above in making exquisite centerpieces, why not teach a class or two? You never know - one or more of your students may decide that making it themselves is not coming out quite the way that they had hoped. They may wish to hire you for your expertise instead.

Local Newspapers

Many newspapers are looking for freelance writers to donate an article or two, especially when it comes to the how-to market. If you have a craft that you love, then it will be easy to write about it, and you do not need any formal writing training. Let the love of your craft shine through.

Ask the newspaper in return if you can post your business card and website at the bottom of the article. In this way, you get some free advertising and the newspaper gets a really great article on how to create a craft.

Start a Blog

If you do not have a blog about your craft, then starting one should be easy and fun. If you have to, take a blogging workshop and get started. The sooner you start to blog about what it is that you love, the more exposure you will get. In this way, you will have fun making new friends, meeting new people and networking all at the same time. It will not feel like marketing at all.

There is another way of marketing yourself and that is to join an internet program that offers tools for your success,the one I
personally use and highly recommend is 12Second Commute that includes a program product builder, a blog and much more and it's free to join you should certainly check it out by clicking on the banner below.

Fundraisers

Fundraisers are an excellent way to network while having fun and doing good at the same time. If you have a craft or a basket you would like to donate, leave your business card with your website on it and you will be surprised how doing something good will return to you twofold.

These are just a few simple ways to market your hobby or craft without you feeling like a used car salesman.

Maryjane Angelo

Using Articles to Build Your List

Getting customers to your site should always be ranked as high as the importance of the quality and the excellence of the product and the services you provide. They should go hand in hand in providing your customers the satisfaction they get in exchange for the money they have paid for them. Customer service should as well be as fantastic so that the customers are provided with the same satisfaction.

One of the ways you can combine marketing and customer service is through opt-in marketing. With an opt-in list you get the opportunity to introduce your site and products on a good time basis. Opt-in marketing strategy is a marketing strategy that is virtually low cost and not time consuming. Here, you get the consent of your website visitors to subscribe to your newsletters and other promotional materials such as catalogs and free promotions.

Opt-in marketing uses your list of subscribers to send e-mail to. These e-mails will contain the materials you will send to your subscribers. It is essential that you present your promotional items in a manner that will catch the interest and the eye of your subscribers to keep them wanting for more. The best way to do this is to provide fun, entertaining and informational articles.

Well written articles full of content and useful information will help in building your list as more subscribers will be enticed to your list. When they have read the samples of your contents in your sites, they will be intrigued as to what will come next. Subscribing to your newsletter will offer them a glimpse of what you have to offer next.

Many sites and companies have captured the importance of articles and this also aids in search engine optimization. As more people are heading towards the internet for their information needs, serving the right information to them via articles in your site will increase the flow of your website traffic.  With more traffic, the percentage of your sales will grow. More sales turn into more profit.

There have been the rise for the importance of well written, information enriched and keyword packed articles for the content of their site as well as for newsletters. These articles provide the information many are seeking in the internet. If your site has them, more people will be going to your site for information and research.

Well written articles would also boost your sites reputation. If they are filled with select information you will be regarded as well informed and an expert on the subjects that you tackle.  Your articles must be well researched so that the people will trust you. When you have gained their trust, they will always come to you for their needs on that subject.

In connection, you must write articles or commission them to tackle subjects that are closely connected with your type of business. If you have a site for a medicine tackling a certain disease, your articles must be about the diseases. Or if you sell materials for home improvements provide articles with those themes. Most articles searched for are tips, guidelines, methods, manuals and such. If you provide these articles to your customers and you have their trust, they will always go to your site for help and advice as well as for your products.

With the loyalty of these customers, they may subscribe to your opt-in list to receive all the information you have. If you provide them with the answers for that need, they will be happy to be receiving your newsletters as well as other promotional materials to keep them well informed. Others may even forward your newsletters to other people when they find a certain article interesting.

You should provide links in your newsletter so that when other people are reading it and wants to read more, they may click on the link and go to your site. With the articles you have in your site that are good, they may decide to sign up as well for your opt-in list. This will build your list and make it bigger.

Make sure to keep your subscribers happy and interested in your newsletters and promotional materials. Keep on posting and writing good articles for your site and newsletter. If you are not interested in writing them or if you just don’t have the time, there are many available well experienced and knowledgeable writers available to help you out. This is an investment that will pay for itself in time.

Maryjane Angelo

Facebook Marketig Tips To Succeed Maryjane's Blogs

Facebook marketing is a great tool for small business owners to appeal to a larger audience while gaining feedback on goods or services. Because it's easier to respond directly to patrons, a relationship can be easily built. Read the tips in this article so you can use Facebook marketing to the best of your ability.

Create customized tabs to highlight information on your Facebook page. This way you can clearly separate promotions, coupons, freebies and other things that you would like to highlight about your business without having them get lost in your wall posts. When the contest or promotion is over, you simply remove that tab from your Facebook page.

Allow your subscribers to get to know you better. Your subscribers might feel more comfortable about sharing content with you and interacting with your campaign if they know who is behind your posts. Share some pictures of yourself at work or launch a video blog so you can address your audience directly.

Provide exclusive content that is available only to visitors who "Like" your Page. Internet viewers often feel that exclusive content is better than other content simply because it is exclusive. Since a "Like" costs the viewer nothing, they are likely to provide it out of curiosity, and your business benefits from the advertising.

Show your customers that you care by highlighting causes on your wall. This can really build your relationship as they see your business as a caring, kind entity. You can run contests or events which offer a donation to the cause in exchange for a like or entering contact information.

Add pictures to your profile page. People love pictures and it really is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. When your fans can see what you have to offer, your customers with your products or services, or what you stand for, they will feel more of a connection to your company.

Do not pick a Facebook page name that is confusing and not consistent with your business. Once you choose a name, it is very difficult to convince Facebook to allow a change. You have to send a request, which could take a while. In the meantime you may end up losing customers.

Try posting to Facebook at different times during the day. If you have a habit of posting at the same time every day, you may not know if there are better times to get engagement. Every target audience is different, and what works for one time-wise might not work for another. Try posting at multiple times during the day to see when your audience is the most active.

Prior to making any major changes to your company's products or services, run a poll on your Facebook page first. As a marketer, you need assurances that your changes will be will be well-received and there's no better group to ask than your existing customers! They will also appreciate that you value their input.

Because of the ability to use mixed-media posts, "share" and comment on pages, and create a dialogue between the patrons and the business, Facebook marketing is a powerful tool. Tapping into the power of Facebook can make it easier to appeal to a wider, more varied audience. Remember these tips for your benefit!

Maryjane Angelo

Techniques To Help You Market Through Facebook |Maryjane's Blog

There's more to Facebook marketing than just creating a Facebook page. If you're new to Facebook or your campaign hasn't seen results yet, you probably just need more information so you can be successful. Read on to learn what to do in order to market your business on Facebook.

If you are going to share images with your fan base, make sure that you know exactly who or what is being portrayed. Posting a picture of one person and saying it is someone else is a very terrible faux pax. It may give people the idea that they are not individuals in your eyes.

When thinking of information to share with your followers on Facebook, try to keep them relevant to what is going on with your business or industry. If your company sells auto parts, you should make posts about auto parts. Posting photos of cats or other irrellavant topics will ensure that people unfollow your page.

Get faces to your brand active on Facebook. You know the social media has "face" in the name don't you? Facebook is really about building relationships, and it's tough to build relationships around corporations or faceless brands. If you add some faces and names into the mix, it can do a lot for building brand engagement among your fans.

Use Facebook as a customer service tool. Invite customers to send you questions, comments or complaints by commenting on your Facebook page. This is a great way to display your excellent customer service policies. Answer questions in details and offer refunds or new products right away to the customers who complain.

A clear purpose is necessary when figuring out your Facebook marketing campaign. You can't just think that getting lots of Likes on Facebook will bring in huge profits as a result. You must have clear goals, such as building sales by x percent, so you can work towards them.

Be careful of any images you post as ads, as only 20% of the image can be actual text. If you end up submitting an image which has more than 20% text, it will be rejected and you've wasted your time. Be creative and create an image which captures your audience's attention.

Make sure that any content you post is made shareable. There are many businesses that leave messages then they fail to allow users to share it with others. Word of mouth is your biggest Facebook fan, so do not forget to allow sharing. Failing to place share links on your page will set your business back a lot.

Never buy Facebook fans to make you look bigger than you are. It may be tempting to throw down some cash to buy your way in to big fan numbers, but it never turns out the way you want. Those hallow fans bring nothing to the table, and people who are in the business can see through this tactic in a heartbeat. It's never worth it.

As you can see, Facebook marketing does take a bit of effort. Now that you know what to do, though, it should be pretty easy to get started. So get on your computer and create your first post today. If you use our tips, you will see success almost instantly.

Maryjane Angelo

Adwords Marketing - Equals Traffic - Equals Dollars | Maryjane's Blog

Using Google Adwords marketing is one of many ways you can promote your website and get a lot of very targeted traffic.  This form of advertising is very effective, if you know how to do it. If you don't know how to do it, it will get very costly very quickly. Unless you have money to burn, you really should consider taking the time to fully learn all the ins and outs of using this method for getting traffic.

The two biggest advantage of using Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing is that it's fast and the traffic you get will be very targeted (it's not just about getting thousands of visitors to your site. If those people aren't really interested in what you are selling they won't buy... period. You want customers not just visitors). Getting the traffic quickly is a wonderful thing for anyone who wants to make money online. It's a numbers game and the more visitors you can get to your offer or website, the more sales you'll make. It's as simple as that.

The biggest down side to using PPC in general and Adwords in particular is it will cost, sometimes a lot.  There is a steep learning curve and just when you've got a successful campaign going it's not uncommon for Google to make changes that will affect your campaign. 

It is expensive to run a successful Adwords campaign, especially in the beginning. Why? Because when you're first getting a campaign set up you are learning what works and what doesn't. To really dial it in and make sure you are getting the most out of your ads you will need to test, and while you are testing you will be spending money.

That doesn't mean you won't be making any, but it does mean that until you find the right combination of headline, keywords, and body of an ad you will likely pay more for clicks than you'll make in sales.

When you are testing your ads make sure that you only change one thing at a time. For example, run the ad, than change the headline than run it again. Did your clicks go up or down? If they went up keep the second headline but change the body copy. Did your clicks go up or down? Keep doing that until you have a winning ad.

I know this article is about PPC and Adwords and I don't want to get too far off topic, but there is something else you need to keep in mind because if you don't, it will cost you. And that is, that the clicks are only half of the story. Even if you've tweaked your ad so you've got a great ad that gets a lot of clicks, if those people don't make a purchase, or sign up to your list when they visit your website you've essentially wasted the money on the click. While tweaking your ads don't forget about your website copy too.

Adwords marketing can work well if you know how to do it properly. Take some time to learn how, set a realistic ad budget and keep testing. That's the best way to leverage the power of Google.

Maryjane Angelo