http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/business/customer-service/heres-the-information-your-customers-want-which-your-competitors-forgot-to-provide.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/customer-service/heres-the-information-your-customers-want-which-your-competitors-forgot-to-provide.html Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Be sure your organization’s website includes all the most basic information. And make sure that information is available within ONE CLICK; this is what customers want. People don’t like to click through many pages to find what they are looking for.

Some of this basic information includes:

-Your prices
-Business hours
-Your phone number
-Your address and map/directions

In addition, you can include some extras that customers will love, and your competitors won’t have, which also helps to differentiate you from the competition when customers thinks of that particular product or service. For example, some retail clothing stores have added a feature that most of their competitors do not have…an online fitting room. The feature gives us the benefit of being able to see what different combinations look like together before actually purchasing them. The customer service that this shows what customers want and gives you the edge over competitors. This is also beneficial for the clothing company because it reduces return costs associated with customers purchasing clothes that they hope will go well together, but turn out not as planned.

Imagine how sales could dramatically increase for your company if we used the same creative thought process to develop a new feature on your website!

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/advertising/how-to-be-sure-your-internet-advertising-campaign-is-getting-results.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/advertising/how-to-be-sure-your-internet-advertising-campaign-is-getting-results.html Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
If I wanted to do advertising using traditional methods, I’d need to spend thousands of dollars printing & mailing advertising that may or may not be effective. I won’t know until weeks later, after the sales start to roll in. (Or worse, after they DON’T roll in!) Not so with the internet. You can know in a matter of hours, not weeks, whether your internet advertising campaign is effective. Then you can use these results to make it even better.

If you buy online advertising to drive traffic to your site, you can measure EVERYTHING, and quickly learn what works and what doesn’t.

The best way to continually improve your website advertising is to provide A-B Split Tests on everything you do… your ads AND your landing pages. (Landing pages are the pages on your website that your ads point to.) Then carefully track the results. One of your advertising ideas will usually prove to be significantly better than the other. The better ad is now your “control” and you can create new advertising ideas to serve as “tests.” Pull the poorer performing ad, and replace it with your new advertising campaigns. Then test again. If the new internet advertising campaign beats your control, it stays, and the old control is replaced with a new test. This will help sharpen your advertising, and begin to discover trends that work. You can even use the data from your advertising testing to improve advertising ideas, and then confidently run these newly polished in print publications.

You should conduct the same type of A-B Split Tests on your landing pages. Test different headlines. Test different ways of collecting information. Test colors. Test ad copy. Then measure the results, to see which page produces more results. When you buy website advertising, you can usually request that they point your ads to multiple landing pages for testing purposes – don’t be afraid to ask.

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/sales/you-are-missing-out-on-thousands-in-revenue-and-profit.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/sales/you-are-missing-out-on-thousands-in-revenue-and-profit.html Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
When I started, almost all of the internet revenue was coming from subscription sales that people purchased on the magazine’s website. After spending a month tweaking the subscription pages and creating better ads, I managed to increase monthly internet revenue from about $2,000 per month to $3,000 per month. It was an improvement, but I was hardly earning my keep.

That was when I came across a completely different opportunity to increase revenue. I created a new online store, selling books, CDs and videos that were geared toward Christians in business. Then I started sending weekly email blasts promoting specials on these books and media. Suddenly revenue skyrocketed. Just three months later, I began averaging more than $15,000 per month in online sales, and the numbers continued to build from there.

I discovered that there were revenue streams that had gone completely untapped. Had we continued to focus only on the magazine subscriptions, I would have done okay, but by finding new revenue streams, I uncovered a gold mine! There was great opportunity to increase sales and more importantly profit.

You can use your company website to create sales that you never expected by finding multiple sources of revenue. Here are a few:

Online Store – You can create an online store, selling merchandise, scheduling a quote for your service (hot prospects), etc. This can keep the sales and profits flowing into your business, even if it is a seasonal business, but people are looking for great Christmas ideas.

Gift certificates – The internet is a great way to sell gift certificates for your company. Even non-customers can buy gift certificates that can be used, for example, in your retail store or for a free appetizer at your restaurant. Plus, you can deliver a gift certificate by email, which means no postage! This is just another gateway to increase sales for your organization.

Online Advertising & Sponsorships – Here’s a frequently overlooked revenue source. Every business in town that wants to reach a specific market that your company has a grasp of should advertise on your website. After all, these people love your product or service, and with the valuable content and specials you’ll have on your website, these folks will spend plenty of time on your website. Selling these advertising spots increase revenue above and beyond what you are selling which means more profit! I can carve out space on your website and in your email newsletters for banner ads and side bar ads that run throughout the site. You can then sell ad space to businesses and have another lucrative revenue source throughout the year.

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/sales/how-to-radically-increase-sales-by-improving-customer-loyalty.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/sales/how-to-radically-increase-sales-by-improving-customer-loyalty.html Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
-You could double your prices and hope that customers are willing to pay more…but it’s probably going to backfire, so don’t try it.

-You could find other sources of revenue that you aren’t currently using.

-You could find twice as many customers to purchase your product or service.

-On the other hand, you could get your loyal customers to come back twice as often.

The most realistic and inexpensive way to double your revenue is a combination of the last three I mentioned, but many business owners overlook the option of getting their loyal customers to come back more often. Customer retention is the key to being able to increase sales quickly and easily.

Using your website, you can gain customer loyalty and have repeat sales time and time again – and it’s a lot simpler than you think.

Take a moment to think about your current loyal customer base. What are they doing at 2:30 PM on a Thursday afternoon?

Most of them are probably at work, sitting in front of their computer. (If you have a lot of retirees or stay at home parents as customers, THEY too are probably sitting in front of a computer too, sending e-mails to their friends and family. Hard to believe, but everybody uses the computer these days.)

For those folks who are at work, the afternoon may be a little slow or they might be in need of a break. Either way, a brief e-mail from a company they are loyal customers of, will catch their attention the moment it arrives in their inbox. I’ve seen it happen many times.

Now, suppose you notice that business is a little slow and there is room to increase workflow. With a few clicks of the mouse, you send your customers an e-mail blast promoting a special or promotion that begins that same afternoon.

In a matter of minutes, your phone will start ringing with loyal customers scheduling new jobs or placing orders, and you haven’t spent a dime on advertising!

How many times each month would you have to do a promotion like this before you radically increased the number of customers, and more importantly, INCREASE PROFIT?

My friend, this approach works. It increases customer retention, sales, and best of all it requires no printing or advertising expense.

You can take this same approach and use e-mail to promote online specials & coupons. I even know of a small business owner who posts coupons on his website every week. He’s built such a reputation for his weekly specials that customers visit the site every week to see what the special is going to be. He doesn’t even need to e-mail people anymore to get results!

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/advertising/discover-how-to-reach-your-local-customers-effectively.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/advertising/discover-how-to-reach-your-local-customers-effectively.html Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
When using internet advertising for your business, you will undoubtedly reach more people with less effort than any other form of advertising. In marketing, however, quality is just as important as quantity. You need to reach your target market (or people who can potentially become your target market). You also need to reach people who actually use the product or service you offer!

Here are a few sure-fire places to advertise where you will reach the right target audience:

-Consider running an ad on one of the many websites that help customers find locations to purchase your specific product or service. A few examples are Golf.com and Golfable.com for golf courses or lawcore.com to find a lawyer for legal services. Some of these websites may even let you pay for your ad by giving away your product or service!

-Your local Chamber of Commerce can promote your company to business professionals and community leaders… people who can provide strategic alliances or sponsorships for local customers.

-Every region has one or more local news websites that draw thousands of visitors per day. Promote your company on one of these sites and you’ll tap into thousands of target customers in your area. And don’t forget…the customers who keep up on the local news are the ones who have the most money to spend on your products & services!

-There are also huge national websites that offer affordable options for local customers in your specific zip code. Google does it, and so do many other large websites. Imagine having an ad for your company that appears when someone looks up your particular region or checks the weather forecast for your city... You’ll be reaching only the target market who plan to be in your geographic area… what a perfect spot for your advertisement!

-If you operate a restaurant, hotel, tourist attraction, etc., your local Convention & Visitors Bureaus (CVB) can promote your company to anyone who passes through the area.

Some of these suggestions may sound expensive, but the nice thing about internet advertising is that you can reach the target audience, and you can pay by the click (the number of times someone clicks your ad on a website) or by the impression (the number of times your ad appears on a website.) That allows you to set a monthly budget, and know exactly what kind of results you’ll get for your money.

If somebody tries to sell you internet advertising, don’t be fooled by massive circulation numbers. When working with a limited budget, your goal should be to spend your advertising budget on quality leads to your target audience who are most likely to respond to your ad.

NOTE: Even if you already have a website that taps into your target market, I can help you make the most of your advertising efforts. For more information, feel free to Contact Us!

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/marketing/3-reasons-internet-marketing-is-proven-to-get-the-most-results-for-the-money.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/marketing/3-reasons-internet-marketing-is-proven-to-get-the-most-results-for-the-money.html Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Once you get past all the annoying things about internet marketing, you realize that the internet offers some great, practical advantages, especially for small business owners like you and I. Here are a few:

It’s Inexpensive. Part of what makes internet advertising so inexpensive is that you can publish information instantly without using costly paper and ink. Let me explain…

Suppose you plan to print a brochure for your business. The printing company is going to set their price based on the quantity of brochures you’d like to print, AND the number of colors you want to use in the brochure. You are also limited by the amount of text and photos you can squeeze onto that 8 ½” x 11” paper. When you run out of brochures (or when the information becomes outdated, which is usually what happens first), you must pay the printing company to do another run.

But your company website is a lot more nimble. You can make your website work like an online “brochure.” Hundreds of thousands of people can read it at the same time, without paying for hundreds of thousands of “copies.” When the information in your online brochure becomes outdated, the changes can be made in a minute or two, at no cost. Once it's changed, everybody has the most current information at their fingertips. And of course, with the internet you don’t pay for the use of color, and you aren’t limited by the size of a piece of paper. That means you can include as much text and as many photos as you like. The advantages with internet marketing are obvious. By having your own website, you can publish as much information as you want, and keep it constantly up-to-date.

Immediate Contact, Immediate Results. Another advantage of internet marketing strategies is how you can immediately contact your prospective customers, and – more importantly – see immediate results! Let’s consider that brochure again.

Once the brochures are printed, you will receive several big boxes full of brochures. It’s up to you to get them in the hands of your prospective customers. So perhaps you plan a direct mail campaign, where you mail the brochure to thousands of prospective customers. You must pay for postage (another expense). You also must wait on the mail carrier to deliver those brochures, and THEN wait to see how many new customers purchase your product or service. If you find that the brochure doesn’t pull in business the way you’d hoped, your only option is to start over… to re-print and re-mail. It’s an expensive choice and most people just choose to accept the poor results.

With the internet, you can use e-mail to send your online advertisement free of charge, and you’ll have feedback within an hour or two to judge whether it’s effective. If it isn’t working… no problem… it doesn’t cost a thing to change it and resend it again later.

It’s Viral!
When I hear the word “viral”, my first thought is to stay away. But when it comes to your internet marketing strategy, viral is a good thing! (Not to be confused with virus, which is completely different.)

If you’ve ever used the free e-mail service from Hotmail, then you’ve seen viral marketing at work. When Hotmail started, they put a small text ad at the bottom of each e-mail message their customers sent that said, “Get your private, free e-mail at www.hotmail.com.” Within no time, hundreds of people began clamoring to get their free e-mail. The hundreds became thousands, and the thousands became hundreds of thousands. Suddenly, Hotmail was the largest e-mail provider on the planet, all because of a text ad that cost nothing to include on their customers’ e-mail messages.

If your website has content that’s meaningful to people, it too will become viral. People who visit your website will begin sharing a link to your website with their friends and you’ll reach more people than you ever thought possible.

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/marketing/5-proven-tips-to-build-an-email-list-that-gets-results.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/marketing/5-proven-tips-to-build-an-email-list-that-gets-results.html Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Here are five tips to quickly build a large email list, which will be the core of your email advertising efforts:

1. DO… Tap into your existing customer base. This is the most important group for you to include. They already know about your company, and are likely to come back again if you give them a good reason. They are also likely to easily to give their email addresses as a loyal customer.

You can build this email list by collecting email addresses from your customers when they come and purchase your product or service. If they need a little encouragement, try a monthly drawing for a free gift if they drop their name and email addresses in a drawing. Or, simply tell them about the exclusive benefits of being on the email list, such as the monthly specials.

2. DO… Use coupons and other irresistible offers on your website. When people arrive at your website, they shouldn’t want to leave without joining your email list. You can make this happen by offering coupons or other valuable incentive to people who visit your website. We can help build irresistible signup pages that will maximize the number of people who sign up for your email list.

3. DO… Buy a mailing list and send a traditional postcard. There are list brokers out there who sell lists of prospects for you to do mailings. You should never buy a list of email addresses, because that is spamming, even if the list broker tells you otherwise. However, you CAN buy a mailing list and send a postcard or letter inviting them to visit your website. Then, by offering an incentive, you can get more people to signup for your email list.

4. DO NOT… abuse your email list. The key to growing your list for email advertising is to keep your subscribers happy. Otherwise, you will lose subscribers as quickly as you gain them. You must clearly tell people what they’ll get with their subscription, and then keep your word. If you tell them you’ll send a weekly update with coupons, be sure you don’t send updates daily. The best bet is to write a privacy policy that tells your customer exactly how you will use and how you won’t use their information and email addresses, and then include that privacy policy wherever you invite people to sign up for your email list.

5. DO NOT… buy or sell email lists. If you’re looking for a quick way to lose your credibility, start sending unsolicited e-mail. Even if a list broker has email lists for sale (as some do) never buy or rent them. There’s nothing wrong with buying a mailing list for postal mail. However, if you send unsolicited e-mail you will quickly get the reputation as a spammer. Do not sell your email list to others either.

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/sales/are-you-missing-out-on-potential-customers-and-an-opportunity-to-increase-sales.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/sales/are-you-missing-out-on-potential-customers-and-an-opportunity-to-increase-sales.html Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
What would happen?

Well one thing is certain… you’d have plenty of water to try and fill the pop bottle. Yet there would also be a lot of water that would splash out of the funnel and never make it into the bottle.

The internet works a little bit like this metaphor. If you follow the strategies in this report, your new website will bring thousands of potential customers to your site each month (like the water in the firehose). However, only a small percentage of these website visitors will decide to schedule an appointment or order your product or service on their first visit to your website. These new customers are like the water that actually made it into the pop bottle.

So what happens with all the rest of the people who come to your website but DON’T schedule an appointment or purchase anything? They are a like the water that splashed out of the funnel. In most cases, they may be part of your target market but they slip through the cracks, and there’s nothing you can do to get them back.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a way to bring these people back, and get them to enter the funnel at their own pace and eventually help increase sales and become loyal, repeat customers?

What you need is a bigger funnel.

Because you are reading this report, you may visit the website www.spiread.com and request my special article. This is an example of a large “funnel” in action.

The webpage could have told you about my qualifications as a web design & marketing expert, and given you a “take it or leave it” offer to hire me. But very few potential customers would respond to such an offer. Would you have hired me on the spot? Chances are you would have left the website, and I never would hear from you again and my opportunity to increase sales and increase profits would be gone.

Instead, you had the opportunity to download my special report, which is a relatively low-risk decision to make. Now you have time to learn more about company websites and how they can increase sales for you at your own pace, and I have the opportunity to follow up with you later, to see if I can help in any way and hopefully gain a few customers.

This is an example of treating your website like a funnel. The key is to find ways to get to your target market and make the opening in that funnel as wide as possible. This assures that fewer people slip through the cracks and increases your chances of gaining customers, but more importantly, repeat customers.

So how would this work with your organization’s website? Here’s an example.

You could create a free monthly newsletter. Your newsletter could include money saving specials for subscribers (your potential customers), as well as some handy product or service related tips to help subscribers. Perhaps you could even enter your prospective customers in a monthly drawing where they can win a free gift or dinner for two.

Now you’ve given these possible customers a reason to sign up. You will quickly build a valuable list of people who you can contact each month. And eventually, these folks are all going to schedule those appointments or purchase from your company…helping you increase sales and increase profits!

You’ve just made a bigger funnel!

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/seo/how-to-build-a-website-that-google-and-the-other-search-engines-cant-miss.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/seo/how-to-build-a-website-that-google-and-the-other-search-engines-cant-miss.html Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
I was sitting a few feet away from her while she was using the computer. She was finishing up graduate school at Ashland University at the time, and she was going to look up some information on AU’s website.

She started Internet Explorer and Google popped up. In Google, she typed “Ashland University” and clicked the search button. Ashland’s website was listed first, and she clicked it and was on her way.

“Why did you do that?” I asked.

“Do what?” she said.

“You know that AU’s website address is www.ashland.edu, so why did you go to Google first?”

She replied, “That’s the way I always do it. It’s easier that way.”

This blew my mind. I started talking to other people, and found out that my wife isn’t the only one. A LOT of people use search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN to get to their favorite websites, even if they already know the address. 99% of all internet users report using search engines, such as Google.

This illustrates how important search engine optimization (SEO) is and that your search engine ranking show up in Google and the other search engines -- even for the people who already know your website address.

If you look in your local yellow pages, I’m sure you will find several companies who design websites. Unfortunately, the vast majority of web developers don’t know the secrets to search engine optimization for their client’s website to show up at the top of the search results.

If you think about it, the people you’re trying to reach (new customers) are using a search engine and probably aren’t searching for your business by name. They are looking for the product or service that your company provides. If your search engine placement can start showing up near the top of the list, you have a serious leg up on the competition.

Did you know that every web page has hidden code that Google and other search engines use to index your web page? The vast majority of businesses who already have websites haven’t properly used this “hidden code” (called metatags) so their websites aren’t getting the search engine ranking they should. This is the key secret to improve search engine placement, and it’s free. I’ve studied exactly how Google and other search engines index pages, and have figured out the secrets to help your company get the best possible search engine ranking. You can also sign up for pay-per-click campaigns on Google and other search engines to increase the order that your website appears during a search as well as use different key words to increase traffic to your site.

Here are some other tips that will help with search engine optimization…

Create a page where you can trade links with other websites. It might another local business, OR it might be related businesses, for instance, a company who sells tires on a used car dealership’s website. The key is to get them to post a link on their website pointing to your website, and then you post a link on your site pointing to theirs. Google loves this… one way they measure the significance of a website is by how many links point to it. So get as many people as you can to link to your website and your search engine placement will shoot up!

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/marketing/short-articles-can-lead-to-big-web-site-traffic-numbers.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/marketing/short-articles-can-lead-to-big-web-site-traffic-numbers.html Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
“Where did you learn to do that?” someone asked.

I didn’t want to tell them that the night before I read an article online called “How to Carve a Turkey.”

This is something I really like about the internet. Just 12 years ago, if I wanted to learn how to carve a turkey, I would have had to go to the library and search for a book or a magazine that would show me how, or ask a family member.

Today I sit down at the computer and can find hundreds of articles on any given topic in a matter of seconds.

When you use the internet, where do you spend the most time? Do you enjoy reading corporate price sheets and sales pitches? Or do you prefer to read helpful articles? Now consider the increased web site traffic for the sites that have the helpful articles as opposed to the price sheets and sales pitches.

By posting occasional articles, you can add a lot of value and credibility to your company website. The more credibility you have, the more customer retention your will have and the more web site traffic you will have. If you employ or know a professional in the industry, perhaps you can get him or her to sit down on a rainy day and write a short weekly article that offers tips or insight for smart purchasing decisions related to your product or service.

These articles don’t need to be long or elaborate. Anything helpful to your customers is great and will increase your web site traffic. By adding editorial, you accomplish several things:

Increased credibility. People are more likely to purchase from your company because they see you genuinely care about helping them, even before they arrive.

Improved customer loyalty. Your customer retention will continue to increase and your existing customers will be more loyal to your business, because you consistently remind them you exist, and provide them with useful information that makes them more likely to return.

You will have another benefit that you can include in regular e-mail updates, which makes people more likely to come back to your website time and time again giving you even more web site traffic.

Another key to increase web site traffic is submitting articles to other web sites with a link back to your site. The more articles you send to more web sites, the more web site traffic you will get out of it; and its all free! If the article is of high enough quality, other readers may then download that article and add to their site or, even better, their newsletter advertising. This just continues a viral effect and continually sends visitors to increase web site traffic for you. Think about the increased web site traffic you could receive from sending a few articles out each month to 10 different sites…your numbers could grow exponentially!

This article contributed by Spire Advertising & Web Design--Leveraging powerful results for small business leaders.

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Jeremy Harrison is the founder of Spire Advertising & Web Design.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>