Get More Clients Using LinkedIn

Interest in LinkedIn from lawyers, accountants and other professionals has taken off recently. And it makes a lot of sense. Despite the hype over Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn offers the greatest opportunity for professionals to make connections that lead to winning new business.

Unfortunately, many professionals fail to use LinkedIn to it's full potential. Their profile is either non-existent, or not attractive to potential clients. And they don't use it's great ability to form new, valuable connections.

Here are the top 10 tips for using LinkedIn to get clients and win new business.

1. Make your profile client focused

The first thing people do when they join LinkedIn is to create a profile. And since LinkedIn has slots for your previous job roles, qualifications, etc. there's an almost overwhelming temptation to make your profile look like your CV.

Resist that temptation.

When you first meet potential clients you don't rattle off a huge list of companies you've worked for and the responsibilities you've had - that would bore the pants off them. Most effective introductions focus on who you help, and what problems you help them solve or results you help them achieve. Then if asked more, you say a bit more about what you do - and give a little "backstory" as to why you are uniquely qualified to help.

LinkedIn is for making connections - and for the majority of professionals that means clients and business partners, not recruiters.

You need to design your profile to have the impact you want on those connections. Treat it like your introduction at a networking meeting.

Despite the ease of just uploading your CV details, most potential clients and business partners won't get value from seeing the details of your previous roles. Job titles, main achievements and company names can help give you credibility (and make it easier for others to find you) - but don't include all the details you would on a job application.

2. Get connecting - but...

LinkedIn works on connections. The most powerful use of LinkedIn is to find new clients and business partners through the search function or directly via your contacts connections. The more direct connections you have, the more opportunities you have to connect. I still see people who've made all the effort to set up their LinkedIn profile - but who have so few connections that they don't get any benefit.

The LinkedIn toolbar for Outlook provides an easy way of inviting the your Outlook contacts and people you email regularly to connect with you.

However, there's a catch...

3...Choose your connection strategy carefully

There are two very different strategies to connecting on LinkedIn: "Open Networking" and "Trusted Partner Networking".

In business networking generally, the value you get from your network is a product of the size of your network, and your ability to "convert" connections into productive business (work, a referral, etc.). You can grow the value of your network by getting more connections, or deepening the strength of each connection (getting to know people better, helping them out, etc.)

On LinkedIn, one strategy for getting value is to be an "Open Networker" or LION (LinkedIn Open Networker). Open Networkers focus on growing the size of their network by initiating and accepting connection requests from as many people as possible. Open Networkers typically have many thousands of connections. This means that when they search for useful relationships (potential clients or business partners), for example looking for contacts in specific companies, or geographies or with specific interests or job titles - they are much more likely to find them (exponentially more likely because of the way LinkedIn connections work).

The downside of this strategy is that with thousands of connections you don't know each one very well, if at all. You're essentially using LinkedIn as a giant Rolodex or telephone directory rather than as a way of making deeper connections. That's neither good nor bad - it just means that if you find someone you want to connect with through one of these "shallow" connections, you're unlikely to get a strong referral to them.

The other strategy is to have fewer but deeper connections - a "Trusted Partner" strategy. Here you only connect to people you already know and trust. Most likely from face-to-face interaction, but possibly from online interaction too.

With this strategy you have less chance of finding someone via a search because you have less connections. But if you do find someone, it will be through someone who knows and trusts you - and they will be able to give a strong referral to you and put you in touch with the person you're interested in connecting with.

In my experience, this Trusted Partner strategy works best for most professionals. It mirrors the way we develop trusted relationships in the real world. And it reduces the risk that your trusted connections will be spammed from other connections you barely know.

Both strategies can work, but you must be consistent. If you're following a Trusted Partner strategy, you must only connect to people you really know & trust and turn down connections from people you don't (Open Networkers for example).

4. Use Search to find potential clients and business partners

Many people get going on LinkedIn but fail to use it to help their business. One of the most effective ways to gain business value from LinkedIn is to find potential clients and business partners.One of the things I do in my consulting practice is to help clients get more referrals for their business. And one of the key things I teach them is to be very specific in who they ask to be referred to.

LinkedIn allows the ultimate in specificity. You can search for exactly who you want to be referred to - by company, by geography, by name, by job title, etc. And you can search across your entire network at once. Or you can look at the contact list of an individual to see if there's anyone you'd like to be connected to.

Once you've identified people you'd like to be introduced or referred to, rather than try to connect them directly, give your mutual connection a call and ask them if they can connect you. That's much more polite than going directly, and it's much more likely to be successful.

5. Give testimonials to get them

Testimonials are very helpful to have on your profile. They're a clear indication of the quality of your work and the relationships you form.

But begging for a testimonial isn't a great strategy.

If you want to get testimonials, use LinkedIn to give them to people you've worked with and who have done a great job for you. LinkedIn will show them the testimonial to approve, then ask them if they want to reciprocate. They probably will.

6. Have a helpful headline

When people find you in searches on LinkedIn, or when you contribute to Group discussions or in the LinkedIn Answers Q&A section; the initial thing they see is a little box with your name, photo, and your "headline".What most people have in their headline is their job title. "Owner at XYZ Company" or "Principal consultant at ABC Ltd". By default, unless you change it manually, LinkedIn takes the headline from your last job title.

Unfortunately, this doesn't give people a clue as to whether you might be able to help them, or might be interesting to connect to.

You should treat your headline like your introduction when networking. Focus on what you can do to help people.

My headline, for example is "Helping Professional Services Firms Attract More Clients and Win More New Business". It's much more useful in telling people what I actually do than using an "official" job title like Managing Director. That will get more people to click through to my profile and maybe begin to interact with me.

You can edit your Headline via the Edit My Profile option.

7. Join LinkedIn Groups to connect and interact

LinkedIn groups are essentially discussion forums for specific interest groups. They allow you to find out the latest news, and to join in debates on topics of interest. You should be joining groups both of interest to you professionally, and the groups where your potential clients "hang out".

The same is also true of the LinkedIn Q&A section. Post sensible answers or pose sensible questions and over time you'll develop a reputation for knowing what you're talking about.

But please, don't spam the groups with constant offers for your services - or questions that are really thinly disguised promotional pieces. Many groups have become unusable because sellers fill up every discussion slot with adverts and real discussions are difficult to find.

Demonstrate your capabilities by being helpful and people will reach out to you.

8. Use Status Updates to subtly remind your contacts of what you do

LinkedIn status updates are a nice way of helping to stay top of mind with contacts. If you were to call or email all your contacts any time you did something small but interesting, it would quickly become seen as pushy or spammy. But updating your status is an non-intrusive way of getting a gentle reminder out.

Depending on their settings, your contacts will get a regular email with a summary of the status updates of their contacts. And they will see the updates on their LinkedIn homepage. Mostly it will just be "so and so updated their profile" type messages. So if your status update has something interesting in it ("Ian has just run a seminar on consultative selling skills") it will remind them of the sort of thing you do and may even trigger them into action.

Recently, for example, I put up a status update saying I'd run a training course on Marketing for Consultants for the Institute of Business Consulting. That prompted one of my old colleagues to get back in touch and we came to an arrangement about sharing training material.

Using the ping.fm service allows you to update the status of other social networks like Facebook and Twitter simultaneously.

9. Watch others' status updates to initiate contact

Keep an eye on status updates from others - it can be a good opportunity to get back in touch - especially if they've changed jobs or have set out on a new venture. Even small status changes can help give you something to start a conversation - the sort of smalltalk needed to keep dialogs and relationships going in between more meaty topics.

10. Proactively link others together who you think may benefit

Don't wait for others to initiate a request to be linked up to your other contacts. Review your contact list regularly looking for ways to add value to them. One good way is to offer to link them up with potential clients or partners for them.It's not super easy to do this using LinkedIn functionality - I find it's easier just to email both and suggest they make the connection themselves.

The tips I've outlined are for professionals who want to use LinkedIn to help them grow their businesses and their careers through what is essentially the online equivalent of normal business networking.

It's not the only way to use LinkedIn. For years I used it mainly to reconnect with old colleagues I'd lost touch with.

But it's certainly a good way to use LinkedIn that can deliver real business results.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Brodie

Your Guide to Making LinkedIn a Social Media Marketing Tool

LinkedIn is a social networking site for professional and business-oriented relationships. It is a social media marketing tool that helps you discover inside connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners. As online marketers, we can harness LinkedIn's power for SEO and give our site a boost it needs from the search engines.

The first thing we will need is searchable public profile on LinkedIn. This guide will show you how to get a LinkedIn account and how to use it to get traffic to your site both from LinkedIn and Google. LinkedIn strengthens and extends your existing network of trusted contacts.

It is highly recommended that you use the "Build Your Network" feature by LinkedIn. All it does is contact people on your email address book, letting them know you have an account with LinkedIn, letting them know how to add you or how they can connect with you through the site. Enter your email username and password for each email accounts.

LinkedIn will list all your contacts and allow you to select which ones get an invitation. Later, if you need to add more friends and colleagues to your LinkedIn, you can do so by clicking Contacts from the menu on the left side of the page. Here are other ways you can do to harness the power of LinkedIn.

Ask your staff, employees, friends or colleagues at work to join LinkedIn and put links to your site on their profile. Remember to ask them to use "Other" from the pulldown and give them the keyword to use for when linking to your sites. Then there are your LinkedIn connections.

Ask them to link to your sites also using the "Other" pulldown. What this is going to do is let Google find an array of links and associate your URL with keywords used and reward your site (and LinkedIn profile) with good ranking. Your LinkedIn profile may land business directly from the contacts you'll make on the site.

There is no doubt that LinkedIn is a powerful social media marketing tool. Bear in mind that effective networking requires reciprocity through developing and nurturing win-win relationships. By using LinkedIn, you will also have the opportunity to help out those in your own network, by answering questions, providing relevant leads, and improve the traffic to your website at the same time.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=TJ_Corruthers

Yellow Pages Ad Design Tips For Success

I was not only a Yellow Page consultant for 25 years, but I also have a degree in advertising design. Therefore, I used to create the ads for all my customers, many drawn right on the spot. That was before computers when I carried a sketchpad and a slew of fine point markers. Whether you use a computer graphics program or the old-school method I employed, the result should be the same. You must produce an eye-catching and communicating ad, that contains all the elements that will get results. There are only a few basic concepts to remember and enact.

1. The size: Make it large enough to be seen and compete within your budget. Choose size over color options to allow for all the room needed to get your message across. If you are making multiple ads, place the largest ad in the most competitive heading.

2. The layout: The simplest way to design a display ad would be to place a large, bold headline at the top, a sub-title under that and a photo or picture somewhere, if there is space. Don't add a picture if it sacrifices important sell copy.

3. The headline: Unless your name is a brand like Goodyear or Allstate, go with a feature or benefit instead. You can always place your name by the phone number at the bottom. Write a headline that's short and to the point that invites the reader to learn more.

4. The picture: If you must have one, it should make a point. Displaying a photo of a truck in a plumbing ad says nothing about your company. Decide if a picture will really sell your business or should you use the space more effectively with copy.

5. The copy: This is where you explain the details of what you have to offer. Simply listing them as bullets can do the trick. They must contain your features and benefits.

6. The communication area: Now is the time to have your contact info such as your name, address, phone number, website, email, fax, cell, or other method to reach you. Make the main number largest and include a map if you are a retail type store and have the room.

There are several other options, which I shall now address.

7. Fancy borders: They do very little to enhance an ad or sell the company. Often times they just take up additional space while adding very little. A basic thick black line can be enough.

8. Strange typefaces: They might be too cute or hard to read. Stick with the traditional fonts that will convey your words easily.

9. Photos of people: Many insurance agents, lawyers, medical professionals, and even store owners love to see their photos in their ads. Unless it's part of a local media campaign where everyone is looking for your particular face, find another use for the picture or artwork.

Advertising design is neither a science nor an art. It's uses common sense and should display the information in a clean, precise manner. One way to uncover good design is to peruse the directory and see what attracts your attention. Ask your friends and family what they like and which ad they would call. Take notes and form the basis of your ad employing the various elements that do the most good.

And for more details, consult my book that lists everything discussed here and much more in depth. "Inside the Yellow Pages" is a bible for creative design and many cost-saving ideas. It's available on my website and amazon.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeffrey_Hauser

Guerilla Marketing Help

Guerrilla Marketing- is a phrase coined by Jay Conrad Levinson as a take no prisoners way of marketing (not to be confused with prospecting tactics taught by most sales organizations) Guerrilla marketing can be an inexpensive way to market for the entrepreneurs who are on a "shoe string" budget. Guerrilla marketing can be used to generate new business right in your own back yard.

This strategy is highly recommend to first time entrepreneurs and independent professionals who are having a hard time prospecting for new clients.

Guerrilla Marketing can be defined as going after conventional goals using unconventional methods. Most business owners and sales professionals usually start out by throwing money at their marketing campaign before investing in their marketing education.

When using guerrilla marketing the focus is to find as many ways to market your service with little or no cost at all. It essentially about the creativity that you can bring to the marketplace.

"7 Steps of a Guerrilla Marketing Plan"

1. Call to Action-What do you want your customers to do (i.e buy your product or services)

2. Competitive Audience-who are your competitors and what are they doing

3. Target Audience-Who is your core audience and what is the best medium to reach them through)

4. List of Marketing Weapons (Tools)-What tools are you going to use (signs,special reports,newsletter)

5. Positioning -How to your want to be perceived in your niche market by your audience

6. Company Identity- Do you want to be known as the cheapest guy or the most expensive, the most classy, the quickest the easiest?

7. What's your marketing budget- How much do you have to put toward your guerrilla marketing campaign.

"Guerrilla Marketing Strategy"

An example of guerrilla marketing would be referral marketing. As you all know referred customers are the best customers. The great thing about referral marketing is that it can be absolutely free.

If you already have some existing customer base ask them for a referrals but offer them something in return. For example a free offer of your product or service next time they purchase. When the person or people they referred to you buy give them the same offer.

Another example will be advertising in high traffic areas. Lets say you have a restaurant you can make an offer and post it on a sign professionally from a FedEx Kinkos for less than $35.

Create a picture of a delicious plate your number and address. You can tie balloons around the sign or make it in the shape of a person on the side of the road. This will drive tons of traffic to your business since they are already in their car.

Public speaking is another guerrilla marketing tactic. There are many organizations both for profit and non that are always in need of a speaker to keep there events exciting and valuable. With the right educational approach this can prove to be a perfect way to generate leads and position yourself as an expert.

Be sure to present valuable educational content that is relevant to your product and service but leave the sales pitch out. Studies have proven that with a good follow up process more than 50% of the audience will turn in to paying customers.

Writing Articles in your local papers is a favorite for guerrillas. Public relations usually proves to be more profitable than advertising and the media is always looking for a good story or at least content for their columns. Try submitting press releases on interesting ways that your bringing value to the marketplace.

Database Marketing- If you have been in business for at least a while than you should at least have a list of you current customers. These are often the best prospects because its always easier and less expensive to sell to people that have already bought from you. Try offering special offers to previous customers and customer appreciation discounts.

"Guerrilla Marketing Tools"

Print materials- flyers, Signs, Special Reports, On or offline newsletters, postcards, banners, seminars are all good guerrilla marketing tools. Try anyone of these tactics with the right tools and your guerrilla marketing campaign is sure to get off to a good start.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rossi_Eason

Marketing Help During Recession

You realise that marketing is vital for your business to survive this economic downturn. Now more than ever you need to use marketing to help you sustain and grow your business, however, you need to cut costs and marketing expenses does seem like an easy way to achieve this!

You are not alone. Ever business is struggling with this challenge at one level or another. What do you do? How can you get the right balance? How can you recession proof your marketing?

Well the answer is simply and obvious. Stop wasting money on marketing programs that do not bring results! So many businesses spend on marketing activities without a clear business objective and the ability to track results. Every marketing dollar spent must be scrutinised. You need to get smart about how you are marketing. Smart marketing is about maximising your business results in the most cost effective manner. You do not need mega-bucks to apply smart and effective marketing for your business. In fact, if you follow my guidelines you will achieve Better Marketing Results on your own marketing activities.

Here are four rock-solid points to ensure your marketing will become recession proof:

Focus on your Ideal Customer: Develop a customer profile with detailed descriptions of their drivers and buying processes. You must completely understand your customer and their buying process to allow you to formulate marketing messages that are relevant and will resonate with them. Your message must paint an emotive picture of your customer enjoying the benefits of your product or service.
Apply Multi-Channel Marketing: At any one time you must have a least four marketing channels delivering results for your business. Yes, you read that right four not one. You might be thinking to yourself that implementing one is already a struggle let alone four. The secret has long been discovered by successful business entrepreneurs. You need a business marketing system that will function efficiently as your business development engine. Consider the following four marketing channels to start with:


a) Referral Marketing: We all know this, however, what we need to do is go full-throttle on referral marketing as a driver for new business. Look at implementing referral programs with incentives and rewards. Rewards can be informal such as flowers, chocolates or a dinner for two for referrals that generate business. At the very least a thank you card would be appropriate even if the referral did not turn to new business. Formal programs like affiliate referral strategies are Pay for Performance paying commissions only on successful referral sales.

b) Networking or Personal Selling: Everyone in your business must be able to network effectively whether in a social and or business function. Make sure all staff is familiar and comfortable with your Unique Benefit Statement. Formulate your Unique Benefit Statement from your target customer's point to view What's In It For Me? The value of networking is in your opportunity to establish relationships that expand your market reach beyond your immediate networking circle.

c) Email Marketing: I am not talking about blast or broadcast emails that have spawn the term SPAM. Don't be one of these. Properly implement email marketing is focused on your recipient. It must deliver relevant and interesting content for your target audience. Understand your customer and use their profiles in defining what they want and need. Inform and educate your customers in the benefits that will help them with their pain points to demonstrate the value you can deliver for them.

d) Web Presence: Get this under performing marketing channel into shape and revamp your website into a properly functioning online web business presence. Make it an automated marketing engine for your business development. Revisit your key business objective for your web presence and demand more for those electronic web pages in cyberspace. If you have a clear business objective you will develop an understanding of how it can be achieved on the Internet. Every single web page must work hard for your business. A good way to help you focus on this change is to view your online web presence as belonging to your target customers it is theirs not yours! Content must be oriented toward their relevant needs and interests not what you want to say. Ensure that every web page meets this content test and is designed according to persuasion conversion scenarios. If your web designer/developer is unfamiliar with these design concepts find one that does immediately!

Engage in Relationship Building with your Customers: Make you customer feel important and appreciated. At the simplest send them a thank you note or card. Deliver real value and keep engaged and in touch with your customer. Remember engagement or interaction with your customer is keeping the conversation open with them. More than anything a customer moves on if they feel neglected and undervalued.

Test, Test and Test Again: Everything you do in marketing must be tested. Measuring and tracking the results against the business objective for the effort will allow you to manage and achieve Better Marketing Results by ramping up what is working and dumping programs that are ineffective.
Apply these guidelines and you will get Better Marketing Results to make your marketing recession proof.

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patrick_Zuluaga

Importance of Referral Marketing

Any service providers or businesses need to utilise referral marketing in order to grow and succeed in today's competitive marketplace. Even if your goal is to merely to maintain your current levels of customer satisfaction and business, you should incorporate referral marketing as one of your marketing strategies.

Referral marketing provides a very effective method of maintaining a healthy customer base of individuals who are pre-sold on purchasing your particular products or services. The technique relies heavily on customer service which is essential to the success of absolutely any business. Referral marketing can help you replace any customers who will inevitably begin to lose interest, move away or switch to one of your competitors.

If you create a referral marketing campaign that is personalised and focused on establishing solid customer relationships, you will often see immediate positive results.

- More Repeat Business
Individuals who feel they have established a positive rapport with the people in your company will be much more likely to become long-term repeat customers. A greater number of customers tend to return when companies choose to build trust via referral marketing.

- Improved Customer Relations
Companies that focus on establishing solid business relationships also experience improvements in customer service. It can be a very wise decision to have your top professionals included in this plan. Customers want to be treated as respected individuals, rather than merely a number. If your company operates on this philosophy, your valuable customer base will continue to grow.

- Ability to Up-Sell
Referral marketing also incorporates the ability to effectively up-sell. For example, an insurance salesperson who establishes a solid relationship with a customer interested in purchasing car insurance will be more likely to see that individual return. In fact, that same individual may also decide to purchase additional insurance policies such as homeowner's insurance, health insurance and life insurance if they have been treated very well by the owner of their auto insurance policy.

- Genuinely Interested Referrals
You need to find a way to make your company stand out among your competitors. This is essential in a very competitive and often cut-throat marketplace where many businesses are trying to sell the same products or services. You can start to set yourself apart by increasing your levels of customer service and addressing them on a personal level. This will result in referrals that are genuinely interested, excited and motivated to buy!

- Increased Sales
Your revenue charts will reflect any successful marketing efforts. Your company can experience remarkable increases in revenue and customers when your customer base continues to expand. In fact, some businesses have experienced growth of 200 to 300% or higher by utilising referral marketing effectively. You can retain your current customers and continuously attract new ones. Better yet, referral marketing enables you to achieve these results with minimal money or time.

- Enhanced Sense of Ownership
It is a proven fact that solid referral marketing systems that are relationship-based create customers who feel they have a genuine connection or ownership in the business. Clients may begin to refer to their banker as "my banker" or their accountant as "my accountant". They adopt a different attitude towards the professionals they encounter in your company. An added benefit is the fact that the increased sense of enthusiasm and loyalty expressed by these customers is contagious; it can attract new customers and turn existing clients into long-term, satisfied ones.

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_L_Kirkbride

Referral Marketing: 7 Tips

As we spend our days chasing down new leads and driving traffic, managing advertisements and writing blog articles, we sometimes overlook the very valuable revenue source we have already cultivated- our current customer base, family, friends. co-workers and business associates!

Your biggest source of referrals will come from people who already know, like, and trust you, but who may or may not already be customers of yours. Follow these tips to maximize the exposure of your business through your network.


Start asking for referrals from the very first day you start your business. Immediately let everyone in your closest sphere of influence, also called your HOT market of your closest friends and immediate family members, know what your new business is all about. The trick to this is to let them know up front that you are just spreading the word and there is no obligation to buy from you. Ask for their help in naming a few people they know who may benefit from your product or service to get you started. If these people love and care about you, they will be glad to help.

Ask for a new referral every day from at least one person you meet or speak to. Come up with a quick question you can ask to virtually anyone to get a referral, such as, "Do you know anyone who would be interested in creating a new source of cashflow?" or "Do you know anyone who would be interested in a product that...?" (fill in the blank for the benefit of your product or service). They may surprise you with a name or even say they would be interested themselves. If they say no, then at least you asked. And most importantly remember that when you ask this way, you never get a personal rejection. They are rejecting the product, service or opportunity.

Join a mastermind or referral group designed to specifically generate referral leads from the other members of the group. Such groups as BNI have been around for years helping entrepreneurs promote their businesses. But you can also create your own mastermind group with any small collection of business owners who intend to refer business to each other. You can each carry the business cards of the other group members and pass them out as often as possible. You must have faith in your group members, though, that each person is doing the same for you and that each person is sharing the responsibility. If they are not, do not be shy about asking them to leave the group.

Spend time each week connecting with current or former customers to ask for referrals. Either by phone or e-mail, connect weekly with customers who would willingly share your product or service with their own network. Sometimes they will do this on their own and sometimes they need to be prompted by you to jog a name from their memory. Phone calls are obviously more personal and may put people on the spot to give you a direct answer, but e-mails allow them to ponder the question and respond at their leisure, even if it is many months later. You can also try a combination phone call followed up by an e-mail.

Call or visit with your warm market directly and make a personal connection. Your warm market are acquaintances that you do not see often or would not call on the phone regularly to speak to, or that you know by name only. These are your kids' friends' parents, your insurance agent, your dental hygienist, the clerk at the store you go to all the time, you get the picture. These people can smell a sale a mile away especially if it comes from someone who they would never otherwise speak to. So, you cannot come on too strong. Asking for a referral is a great, non-threatening way to introduce your business and ask for their help at the same time. The most important thing here is to make the connection and learn something about them even if you don't get a referral from them right away or ever.

Ask for referrals from prospects who end up not buying from you. At the end of every sales presentation, you get to the point where the prospect has to say yes or no. If the answer is no, do not let that person leave without asking for a referral. Just because your product or service isn't for them doesn't mean that someone they know wouldn't be interested. And if they were at all impressed by your presentation, they will gladly give you a name. This also lets this prospect know that there are no hard feelings, you respect their decision and you are ready to move on. You will not be waiting around for them to change their mind.

As Nike would say: Just Do It! Referral marketing can help even the shyest marketer to talk to people directly without feeling like they are selling or "prospecting." The worst that can happen is that the person won't know anyone else who would be interested. The best thing that can happen is that they give you a list from their own network that makes you a lot of money. Is it worth the risk? You Betcha!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gretchen_Parks

Twitter Marketing: The Basics

Twitter is basically a simplified social networking website where you are allowed to share with others what you are doing this instant.

Twitter has a public time line that is constantly updated. It is updated with a stream of news from every member of the Twitter site. Once you are a member, you will be able to start adding your own short messages to the time line. The length of each message you are allowed to post is limited to 140 characters. Your posted messages are called "tweets".

You will only be able to see tweets that are on the public time line. There are some Twitter users who make their tweets private, so that only followers can see them. You decide who you would like to follow and others decide if they would like to follow you. You can send direct messages to the people who are following you, keeping them informed of various events of mutual interest.

At this stage you might be dismissing Twitter as just another micro blogging gimmick that will fade into obscurity like the myriad of other similar services. However there is a huge marketing potential in this site, where you can meet other like-minded people, and share information and website links. These factors combined with the possibility of growing your followers make Twitter a wonderful place for conducting your business.

Here are a few things that Twitter allows you to do.

1. You can send direct messages to users, so that only they see them and not everyone else on the public time line.

2. You have access to mobile options that allow you to send and receive tweets via your phone.

3. There are great search options that allow you to find other Twitter users that are posting about topics of interest to you.

4. There is a wonderful API feature that allows for some great applications for use with Twitter (linking many other accounts to and from Twitter for increased advertising of your tweets).

Twitter is absolutely huge right now, and the potential for business owners is staggering. This is the reason that so much wonderful software for Twitter automation exists. If you are not a member, you had better sign up right now and get tweeting!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Friar

Social Marketing Advertising is Now on the Rise With Internet Businesses

Social marketing advertising is now on the rise. Everyday, social media websites become more and more popular, and millions of internet users all around the world can be logged on to their MySpace, Facebook, Twitter accounts, YouTube, etc. at any given moment. Because of this, social marketing advertising has become a must for any business wishing to market over the internet.

This is because success in business these days depends on strategic networking. If you've been looking for new ways to promote your business, then social marketing advertising is definitely something you need to check into. It's now very common for companies to create their own customized profiles on social media sites, and then add potential customers and business contacts as friends. Making friends and connecting with a targeted demographic play an important role in social marketing networking.

No matter what your target demographic is, you'll find that all types of people from all backgrounds and cultures log on to sites such as MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Squidoo, and Stumbled Upon regularly. Many online businesses, even some of your competitors, are already taking advantage of social marketing advertising. You need to jump on the bandwagon as well if you ever want your online business to be successful.

Creating a profile or channel isn't very hard at all. You do need to keep all your profiles updated though. You can't simply throw a bunch of graphics and content up and then leave it. You need to login every single day to add new friends, respond to requests, share comments, answer questions, and so forth. Social marketing advertising will work best when you're persistent.

One thing you don't want to do, though, is go around spamming other people's pages. Nobody wants to login to find an advertisement in their comment section. Don't go sending messages telling or asking people to buy either. You need to get to know your fellow users first before throwing sales pitches at them. Social marketing advertising works really great just as long as there's no blatant advertising. You can offer advice to other users without making it obvious that you want them to buy your products.

If all this seems like too much for you, there is still another method of social marketing advertising. It takes less time and effort, but it can be costly. You can pay to have your banner placed at social media sites.

If you've ever had a MySpace or Facebook account before, you've probably noticed banner ads. These ads, of course, come from online business who understand the importance of social networking advertising. Remember, millions of people visit these sites every single day, and your ad can be seen by many of them!

No matter how you choose to go about social networking advertising, whether by creating your own profile for free or buying advertising space, you can rest assured that your sales will receive a vast increase! Before you know it, you'll finally be the internet entrepreneur you've always dreamed of being.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Henderson

Twitter and Facebook Contests Are the Future of Interactive Advertising

Marketing professionals are seeking new ways to reach and interact with their audience. Traditional outbound efforts are slowly dissipating to make room for the future of advertising. Interactive campaigns have been all the rage, but many companies are failing to come up with creative campaigns that meet their objectives. It is time for banner ads and text ads to step aside and make room for full interactive marketing that stretches across multiple media connecting a target market. Though these efforts may take more creative initiative and timely human resources, they prove to be far more effective and cost efficient than traditional marketing.

As a popular commercial that many of us may remember from Wayne's World 2 says, "they'll tell two people, and they'll tell two people." This kind of viral marketing cannot be bought with traditional advertising means. One company that is looking to take advantage of their dynamic online platform is launching a series of connected viral marketing campaigns. TalentTrove.com is an online talent community, from musicians to comedians, singers to dancers, and models to photographers, TalentTrove.com gives everyday people the ability to showcase their talents with the world. TalentTrove serves as a multimedia platform for artists and talent seekers to connect through multiple features including distinctive categories, advanced social networking and live media distribution. "We do not believe in using traditional advertising, not for ourselves or our prospective sponsors and advertisers", said Stephen Racano, Interactive and Social Media Marketing Manager. Instead, creating contests like 'Tweet your Talent', launching Facebook applications, using Facebook Connect, and making creative interaction between social media and TalentTrove.com is the goal. 'Tweet your Talent' is a campaign in which any twitter user can reply with a #tweetyourtalent hashtag and earn a chance to receive a weekly $20 iTunes gift card.

Many other companies and organizations are looking to take advantage of the demographic advantages and virality of social media. The audience is looking for new ways to interact with their favorite companies, making new inbound marketing strategies far more effective than old traditional means.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_G_Racano

Twitter Marketing

Twitter marketing in thousands of businesses eyes is considered a Godsend. From a small bakery in London to huge corporations such as Dell - who just recently pocketed an extra $3 million US dollars in less than years, thanks to the use of Twitter advertising. No matter how big or small your business is, everybody can benefit by marketing on Twitter. Here are 4 recession busting reasons why...

1. It's Cheap As Chips

Well actually, advertising on Twitter is completely free, so it's a great platform to get onto straight away. Let me put it to you like this - To advertise in the Yellow Pages, in the lower region of the UK, it would cost you an average of £25,000 per annum. That's a hefty amount of money to pay, especially knowing that you won't even be listed till the next issue. Twitter won't burn a whole through your pockets, and it's instant. So go on over and get yourself an account...

2. Target, Aim, Fire

Now we've all seen those leaflet that are posted through your mailbox from time to time, and you've probably seen them in the local papers too - But who are they actually targeting? Well the simple answer is - nobody really... It's just potluck sending out thousands of pieces of paper, so why bother with a seriously cold sales tactic when there are so many other, effective, less time consuming ways to get your message out!

When you market on Twitter, you are open to an abundance of readily available, quality, targeted traffic, which you can easily search for using Twitter search feature. You can literally scope out and pinpoint the people who you feel to be a worthwhile asset or potential customer for your business...

3. Have A Drink

See, the good thing about marketing on Twitter is that you can let your hair down, with a cup of tea in hand and sell to your followers on a friendly level. Just keep this in mind however - people go on Twitter to be social. They are not on there for a hard-sale. They want up-to-the-minute mews and cool links, so it's your job to give it to them. Whether if it's a blog post of your own, a survey or a link outsourced, its all appreciated, and only then will they be open to your promotional work, as the trust has already been gained. Do you know of any other methods of promotion that allows you to be so relaxed? I can't think of one, and it sure beats being stuck in a stuffy office all day as this can be done in the comfort of your armchair, watching your favourite TV shows, and it literally takes a few minutes to do...

4. Pardon me But...

If you want to know something, or you'd like a specific action to be taken, then don't be afraid and just ask for it. That's the beauty of Twitter, you really get to know what your followers and customers want and all that is left for you to do is to tailor your strategies towards their needs and wants. Why not start a survey about your target niche and ask your followers to retweet that so that many more can answer it? Can you see how powerful that can be? No other method of marketing allows you to interact with people in this way, with such ease. So don't forget just ask and you'll more than likely get it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=E_Huseyin

Facebook CAN Reach YOUR Target Market

First of all, I would like to mention that comparing Facebook Ads with Google AdWords is not really appropriate. Google is a search engine and Facebook is a social networking site. The intent and engagement levels of the audience are completely different for both the sites. In Google people actively search for information and products and on Facebook they are looking to connect with their friends. Keeping these points in mind, I would like to give a brief summary of what advantages do Facebook Ads have over Google AdWords;

Usually Much Cheaper (specially for Small Businesses)
Google AdWords is quite expensive even if you bid on low or medium popularity keywords (and especially keywords related to buying online). Facebook is a new system wanting to jump into paid advertisement. If you hit the right niches, you can get traffic for a fraction of PPC pricing. Facebook ads are much more cost-effective and very good for small businesses trying to gain a presence online without a big budget.


Advantage of using Images/Photos in ads
Visual aid will be provided to your ad through this feature. An image is worth a thousand words and the ability to show images in ads is a huge advantage Facebook has over Google AdWords. You can use images in Google AdWords by creating your own image banners but they don't convert too well. In Facebook ads, it is easy to upload a small image along with your text, which helps drawing attention of your target user. It is also good if you want to show images of your brand or product. I believe this is the most powerful feature of Facebook ads.

More flexibility
Facebook ad descriptions can be up to 135 characters long (versus 75 at Google AdWords). More space for creativity. In Google AdWords you can't use exclamation marks (!) while Facebook allows you to use it, this creating more effect in the ad. Restrictions are also less when it comes using many different words (copyright issues) in Facebook. On the whole, setting up an ad campaign on Facebook is much less frustrating.

Highly Targeted Demographics/Keywords
Facebook advertising helps you target keywords and demographic much better. AdWords doesn't know as much about user searching (apart from their cookies and previous searches). Facebook has an advantage of getting more information about the user because we login to our profiles first and then see the ads, so you can be sure that your ads are shown to people with profiles that contain your targeted keywords and demographics. Facebook provides the following 11 targeting factors for advertisers;

Location
Age
Birthday - this one is more recent. Try wishing a user happy birthday and offer them something special
Sex
Keywords - these are based on a user's profile information including activities, TV shows, Movies, Favorite Books. Even job titles are included n this field.
Languages
Interested in
Education
Workplaces
Relationship
Connections - to avoid showing ads to people who have already joined a group or become a fan of a page etc.

Take advantage of these targeting factors, because if you're not then you're missing out on the huge advertising potential of Facebook. Increase targeting to make an advertisement more relevant.

Facebook advertising does have some troubles such as there is no conversion tracking option and undoubtedly AdWords is great for this. Also, there is no ability to show ads at a particular time of the day. Business-to-business advertising also becomes less likely on Facebook (keeping the friends' social networking concept in mind).

If you are using Google AdWords or any other paid search platform, it will be a great idea to try Facebook ads. You will be surprised by the outcome and scope.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adam_Ada

Facebook Advertising Advantages

Many small business owners are familiar with Google's pay per click (PPC) advertising platform, Google AdWords. AdWords is a very powerful way to drive highly targeted, motivated prospects to your business' website.

However, AdWords has grown has become a complex and competitive beast. While AdWords is still very much a excellent marketing tool for small businesses, it's not as easy or as relatively inexpensive as it used to be to run an AdWords campaign.

What you may not know is that Facebook has its own PPC advertising program. The program got a bad rap early on, but advertisers are starting to find it to be a very attractive option to drive prospects to their websites or Facebook Fan Pages. Here are 3 reasons that make Facebook PPC an attractive option, especially for small business owners:

1. Huge Numbers. Facebook has over 400 Million users worldwide. It gets 260 Billion (yes, with a "B") page views per month. It's estimated Facebook user spends about 7 hours per month on the site on average. Chances are your prospects are hanging out on Facebook, and spending a good amount of time there so it's a good place for you to be too.

2. (Relatively) Low Competition. Not many advertisers, especially small businesses, pay much attention to Facebook's PPC advertising program. What that means is competition isn't nearly as great as it is with AdWords and costs per click aren't as high. This presents a good opportunity for small businesses to take advantage of relatively cheap clicks before their competitors catch on.

3. Unparalleled Demographic targeting. This is the one that keeps me up at night thinking about the possibilities. Facebook has an incredible collection of demographic information about its users (think about the information you entered in your profile when you registered - college, martial status, employer, hobbies, etc.). Well all this information can be used by marketers to precisely target their ideal prospects.

Here are a few of the criteria you can use to target people: age, gender, marital status, relationship status (single, in a relationship, engaged, married), high school, in college, college grad, workplace, and more. Plus you can enter keywords which enable you to target people by hobby, favorite movie/book/music, etc.

Think about the possibilities. A Japanese restaurant owner can run ads for lunch specials targeting big employers nearby whose employees indicate they like sushi. A small business owner selling a green product who can target people whose favorite movie is the Inconvenient Truth. A jeweler who can run ads for engagement rings targeted to men "in a relationship."

The possibilities with demographic targeting on Facebook are very intriguing. Combine them with the (currently) low levels of competition and the huge numbers of users on Facebook and Facebook PPC advertising is definitely an option worth checking out for promoting your small business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adam_Kreitman

Facebook Advertising Basics

Social networking sites are gaining popularity with a very rapid pace because they provide us various features with the help of which we can find friends, compatible mates and dating partners. Some of the best networking websites that are operating on the internet these days are Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, Orkut and MySpace. They provide you options for chatting, gaming, creating forums, forming communities and advertising your products.

Various affiliates are now using Facebook to advertise their products and services because this social networking site is very popular amongst youth, children as well as adults. Facebook provides an option to the user with the help of which they can market their services. So, now let me tell you about some tricks with the help of which you can save a large amount of your hard earned money on advertising.

1. Creating a profile

If you want to carry out affiliate marketing on Facebook then you need to create your advertising profile. You must paste your picture is this profile as your picture will create a better impact on clients and other users. In this profile you have to fill out all your details regarding your location, age, work, fields of interest and important keywords that you use. In order to target the right people, you must make your profile interesting and informative.

2. Targeting the right people

With the help of this social networking website you can really target the people who are interested in your affiliate services. Using the right keywords and phrases is the key to your success. With the help of the right keywords you can track down the people who have mentioned affiliate marketing in their individual profiles. You can also target people on the basis of their work, relationship status and region.

3. Creating an advertisement

After you have created your profile and targeted the right people, the next step you need to follow is to create your advertisement. Your advertisement should only be meant for the people you have targeted as this would increase your chances of successfully promoting your services.

4. Price criteria

The price is very important for you if you really want to save money on advertising. Various options are provided to you for creating an advertisement. From these options you can easily choose the one that is most suitable for you. If you want you can either pay per click or you can also pay per thousand clicks.

With the help of a target network like Facebook you can easily save a huge amount of money on advertising.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jordan_Natalie_Freeman

How to Use Facebook For Marketing and Advertising

A lot of people online want to know how to use Facebook for marketing and advertising. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites with over 250 million users who actively use it. Stats show that an average user on Facebook has nearly 125 buddies. Even though there are other competitive social networking sites, Facebook strives to have its own loyal users all over the world. Since there is so much traffic on this website, a lot can be done to make use of it to earn income. Hence, Facebook stands to be one of the best platforms to not only market but also to sell the products and generate good income.

In order to use Facebook for marketing and advertising to earn income, one should make sure that he or she has a good and an active profile that will be only used to market products and nothing else. Hence, it is advisable to make use of a new profile rather than using your regular Facebook profile. One of the most preferred ways of advertising any product on Facebook is to run ads. These ads can be used to target relevant users by age, education and geographic location. However, these ads do not come for cheap.

This is a known tendency that people usually buy from those people whom they now. Hence it is very important to market your products properly. The key is providing the users with the products and services on Facebook by marketing and advertising. This way you can earn when ads show up on Facebook or when there is sale of any products or services. One of the best ways to promote any products online is through affiliate marketing. The online merchants may ask people who own websites or blog to advertise or promote his products. After this, the person who has a blog or a website places an ad about the products and services offered by the online merchant. If there is any sale, the blog or website owner gets commission.

Like affiliate marketing, two-tier affiliate marketing is also one of the best ways to earn income steadily. Two-tier affiliate marketing can significantly improve the business of the online merchant. He not only gets increased traffic but also finds increase in the sales. Here is how it works. All you need to do is to affiliate with an online merchant.

The next step is to introduce more affiliates to the online merchant who are not direct affiliate but are sub-affiliates under you. You can then earn through the commission that is produced when there is any sales done by any of your sub-affiliates. The more sub-affiliates you introduce, the higher profits online merchants will make and more you will earn through the commissions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Troy_Pryczek

Internet Marketing - SEM vs. SEO

SEO and Internet marketing are now necessary components of almost every website and as search engines grow larger and more complex, so do SEO marketing strategies.

So when it comes to search engine marketing, deciding between a pay-per-click and/or an organic search marketing campaign can be a crucial decision when attempting to boost your company's website visibility. Knowing the difference and the up/downsides of both PPC and organic SEO can really help increase website visibility and increase website traffic according to your needs.

Pay Per Click Marketing

Pay per click advertising is where advertisers pay a host search site for a spot on their paid rankings pages. Advertisers then pay the search website when their ad is clicked. For instance, PPC ads are labeled "Sponsored Links" on Google and appear on the top of the page and along the right side of the results page.

Most search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc) use keyword bidding, which is when competitors bid on certain keywords to determine the cost per click of the keyword/s. The more popular the keyword/s, the more expensive the cost per click will be.

Pay per click marketing can be useful for short term search engine marketing, as it can really target your niche audience. However, there are some big downsides to PPC.

1. Price- The price of keywords is constantly on the rise, as competition for prime keywords is high. The price is also always changing since PPC is based on keyword bidding. So having a set budget for PPC marketing is nearly impossible.
2. Fraud- 3 out of 4 advertisers are victims of what's known as "click fraud". Click fraud is when your competitors intentionally click on your paid ads, thereby costing you good amount of money on wasted advertising.
3. Relevance- 4 out of 5 search engine users report never clicking on paid advertisements.
4. Results- There are little to no long term results with PPC marketing.

Organic Search Engine Marketing

Organic SEO marketing is more effective and produces much better long term SEO results than PPC. Organic SEO strategies often include techniques like link building, keyword optimization, meta data optimization, blogging, etc. Increasing your website's organic search engine ranking is most often done by using the services of a reliable SEO company. When trying to improve your website's organic search engine results, expect:

1. Price- When using an SEO company, expect to pay a flat and/or a monthly fee instead of fluctuating with PPC marketing
2. Time- While it takes longer to see results with organic SEO, the results will most likely get you up there in the search engine results pages and keep you there, as opposed to pay per click, which will not affect your organic ranking at all.
3. Relevance- 80% of users trust organic search engine results over PPC advertisements. Also, another study found that 29% of users are "annoyed" by paid advertisements.
4. Results- Expect to see results after several months of organic SEO marketing. It is important to note that SEO requires a steady and dedicated effort to see results; it is not a one time thing. Be patient and consistent with your organic SEO campaign and you will see great long term results.

Pay Per Click Vs. Organic Search Marketing

Now that you know more about both pay-per-click and organic SEO marketing, I will say that organic search engine marketing is a significantly better technique to increase website traffic. Pay per click, in the long term, is just not worth it unless PPC is supplemented with organic SEO strategies.

If you want to seriously improve your search engine rankings and website traffic, pay-per-click is not going to cut it and it's going to cost you more than you plan on spending (trust me on that). I am not saying that ppc is bad per say, just that it is NOT a very effective SEO strategy and should be supplemented with an appropriate overall SEO marketing campaign.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristi_Skowronski

Search Engine Marketing - Pro's & Con's

Pros of search engine marketing

Everyone loves free marketing and this is often counted as free marketing. Indeed, as traffic arrives on your site it is free and quite often highly targeted. So the main advantage is that it is free. If you can do the work yourself, then it is highly rewarding. Suddenly finding the traffic rising on your website and hundreds of new hits each day makes you feel really good. It can inspire you to further efforts.

It is not as technically complicated as people make out. These days tweaking the code behind your website is not the art it used to be. As long as the code is half decent you should get there. So another pro is that you can do the work yourself just by writing articles and posting to blogs.

Cons of search engine marketing

Unless you are a small business and know enough about search engines, Search Engine Optimisation is not actually free. You need to pay someone to link build or article write for you constantly. The bigger your business the higher volume the target keywords need to be to generate sufficient traffic and therefore the more competition those terms will have. This means a lot more work to get well positioned.

There are not guarantees. No matter what self confessed search engine optimisation experts will tell you to get you to sign up to them, there is no golden bullet to get you into top position and they cannot guarantee that the work they put in will get you to the top page, let alone the top position. You could put all of the work in, or pay someone to put all of the work in, and never get to the position you need for the traffic.

You are not in control of the success of the terms! A slight change to the major search engines and you could plummet from your hard earned first page slot to somewhere that no-one will ever see you. It hurts to see you hard earned work come to nothing and when your site slides down the rankings your traffic will suddenly dry up.

You also cannot throttle the marketing so in quiet times there is no way of speeding up the traffic and in busy times it is not possible to pull advertising to reduce the leads coming in.

Overall, getting traffic is rewarding, but it can be unreliable, difficult to achieve and erratic at best. If you depend solely on the traffic sent to you from Google, MSN, Yahoo and the likes then you could find one day that a change to a search engine leaves you without any new visitors. So use them with caution, but do use traffic from the search engines.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Lunt

Internet Marketing Basics - What is Search Engine Marketing?

This is a really good question for those people who are just starting out on their journey into the world of internet marketing. It always helps to understand what it is you are doing, and why you are doing it.

Search Engine Marketing, aka SEM, is a form of internet marketing that seeks to promote any given website by increasing its visibility with the search engines in their results pages through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising and paid inclusion. The New York Times has defined SEM as 'the practice of buying paid search listings'.

Let us go back a minute and go over some of the types of paid placement. Forms of paid payment include "Pay Per Click" and "Cost Per Click". "Pay Per Click" or PPC is a paid placement is an internet advertising model that is used on websites. This is where advertisers pay the host of the site only when their ad has been clicked on. With a search engine, advertisers generally bid on keyword phrases relevant to the market they are trying to target. Content sites however, very commonly charge fixed prices per click rather than using a bidding system.

There are many PPC providers out there. The three largest ones that everyone knows are Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter. Websites that use PPC ads will display an advertisement when a keyword query matches and advertiser's keyword list, or when a content site displays any relevant content. These advertisements are called "sponsored links" or "sponsored ads". They appear adjacent to or above any organic results on search engine results pages. The PPC model is really open to all kinds of abuse through what is called click fraud. Google and others have implemented automated systems to guard against abuse such as this from competitors and corrupt web developers.

"Cost Per Click" or CPC is the amount of money that advertisers pay a search engine and any other internet publisher for a single click on the ad that brings any one visitor to the site it is linked to. All three of these providers operate under the bid-based model. CPC varies in costs, depending on the search engine and the level of competition for any given keywords.

Did you know that in 2008, North American advertisers spend 13.5 million in US dollars on search engine marketing? That is a whole lot of money spent on advertising on the internet. It makes you wonder how all of it is being seen by potential customers.

I hope that this clears up the subject of search engine marketing a wee bit for you. By all means do your research and find out as much information as you can before you begin your advertising campaigns.

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mandy_A._Kemp

Yellow Pages Tips - 3 Simple Steps To Big Profits

Want to get the very best return on your Yellow Pages investment? Keep these three simple steps in mind:

Be FOUND, be NOTICED, be CHOSEN

1. Be FOUND

Make it as easy as possible for your repeat, former and referral customers to find you - or for people to find you once they've seen your other advertising (or trucks on the road) and want to look you up.

Make sure you place an ad (or at least a listing!) in all the headings where people might search for the product or services you provide. You can't control where people will look for you - all you can do is make sure you're there when they do.

Don't expect a Return On Investment for just doing this first step. Your monthly Yellow Pages bill will be a just another necessary expense of your business, like your rent, electricity, etc.

2. Be NOTICED

To take your Yellow Pages advertising to the next level (break even or make a small profit), you'll want to start attracting attention from people who aren't already looking specifically for you -- prospects who are looking for a provider of your type of product or service, but don't have a particular name in mind.

Studies show the average Yellow Pages shopper looks at 4.6 ads. So, in any heading with more than 5 advertisers, you'll need to make use of size, color, layout, illustrations and a compelling headline (your company name is NOT a headline!) to make sure you get noticed. Ideally, you should use all of these elements properly and strategically.

3. Be CHOSEN

If you want to get exciting results and rake in consistent profits with your Yellow Pages advertising, don't stop now! Make sure to take this final and most important step of all.

Make sure to give people one or more compelling reasons to choose your business instead of one of your competitors. Simple, right? That's why it's amazing how few Yellow Pages ads actually do this! Instead, if you open up any phone book anywhere in the country, you're likely to be bored to death over and over by ads that insist on using the same standard photos, bulleted lists of features, and clichéd phrases as all of their competitors. And if you're bored to death, think about the poor shoppers who opened their phone book hoping to find a business they can feel good about calling.

By definition, if your ad is just like all the others in your heading, it's not standing out!

Give people some compelling reasons to choose YOU over your competition (guarantee, offer, etc.), and they will! That just plain makes sense, doesn't it? And when your ad is the one consistently chosen, you will be raking in the profits while your competitors make excuses like "No one uses the Yellow Pages anymore".

Most small business owners have virtually no clue how to put together a killer Yellow Pages ad. And very few sales reps care enough (or even know how) to create a killer ad for you. That's actually great news -- that's why there's so much opportunity for you to make huge profits with your local Yellow Pages if you just follow the simple, proven rules of success or use an expert consultant to help you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Sipress

Yellow Pages Tips - 1st Step To Making Money

No matter how you say it, the first thing you MUST do to have any chance at becoming hugely successful at Yellow Pages advertising is to get the right mindset. And that means first and foremost to banish any doubt from your mind that Yellow Pages advertising works. The fact is that it absolutely does work every single day for thousands of businesses, and most importantly, can work for YOU and YOUR business. Right NOW!

One of the most common - and pure nonsense - marketing myths I hear is that "No one uses the Yellow Pages anymore!" Sure, thanks to the internet it's no longer the only way people search for local products and services. But do you think the top Yellow Pages advertisers who invest $50,000 or $100,000 or even MILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR in Yellow Pages advertising would say such a thing? (For example: Roto Rooter backs up their extensive investment in television, radio and other marketing with over $30 million annually in Yellow Pages advertising across the nation. Do you think they don't know what they're doing and don't do tons of research before they budget their advertising?)

In the same way, the major television networks are no longer the only channels people watch. But does that mean there's no longer any money to be made with network television advertising???

Still, this common myth is all-too-often stated as if it has even a shred of truth to it - stated exclusively, that is, by those not currently raking in their share of the tremendous profits consistently generated by the Yellow Pages across hundreds of different headings in thousands of cities and towns across the country every single day (or maybe it's even been stated to you by a competitor of yours trying to throw you off track and keep you from trying to compete with him or her in the Yellow Pages).

The simple (and unfortunate) truth is that in each heading in each Yellow Pages, at best there are a VERY few advertisers making a super return on their investment, while the rest of the bunch are breaking even or making a small profit - or even wasting their money.

Which group would you like to be in? If you want to place a run-of-the-mill, break-even Yellow Pages ad, you'll have to do that all on your own (or with the help of your local sales rep, who most likely doesn't know how to create a wildly -- or even mildly -- successful ad campaign). But if you want to place a killer ad that will get you a return of 2, 3, 5 or even 10 times your investment (or more!), an expert in Yellow Pages advertising can help you do that.

But first you need to realize that it absolutely CAN be done -- if you do it right!


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Sipress

Yellow Pages Tips - Does Ad Size Matter?

It's an age-old question: Does size matter in Yellow Pages advertising?


The simple answer? A resounding "YES!"

(Sorry. I know you'd rather hear me say that a small Yellow Pages ad can bring you wildly successful results. But that's simply not the case.)

It's really just common sense. In fact, it's a rule of all advertising. Unfortunately, I consult with a lot of Yellow Pages advertisers who insist on placing small ads into competitive headings in their local directory, trying to compete against competitors who have bigger, more effective ads. Somehow they actually expect (or maybe they just hope?) to get good results. Unfortunately, that's like entering your own everyday car into the Indy 500, failing miserably, and then concluding that auto racing in general just doesn't work.

Let me ask you this: Which magazine ad do you think would bring better results?

A) A tiny 1/16th-page ad way in the back; or

B) A full-page, full-color well-designed ad right up front?

And which TV ad do you think would get better results?

A) A 30-second spot run one time on an obscure cable channel at 3 o'clock in the morning; or

B) A series of 10 60-second ads running on prime-time network television for a week?

Right - these are no-brainers! And why would the Yellow Pages be any different?

I'm amazed how often I hear smaller Yellow Pages advertisers rationalize with nonsense like "Well, I personally like to start at the back of the heading" (FACT: 84% of Yellow Pages users start at the beginning of the heading) or "People think companies with larger ads have to charge more to make them pay for those ads, so they don't call them" (FACT: Larger ads convey a more solid, dependable, quality image and thus consistently attract more calls and more profitable customers - resulting in a Return On Investment many times greater than that of smaller ads). Or even the trusty "My small (or otherwise poorly-designed) ad doesn't get a lot of calls, so it must be because no one uses the Yellow Pages anymore."

And the excuses dreamed up by unsuccessful Yellow Pages advertisers go on and on...

Bottom-line: All things being equal, larger Yellow Pages ads get better results than smaller ones (this has been consistently proven in "metered ad" studies where unique tracking phone numbers are placed into ads).

*But pay close attention to the words "all things being equal"! The biggest problem with most Yellow Pages ads is not that they're not big enough but that they are ignoring the proven rules of Yellow Pages advertising success.

Here's the two-part process:

1. First, learn the rules of Yellow Pages ad success and design yourself a killer ad (or save yourself the time and trouble and risk and let an expert design your ad for you).

2. Then, once you know you have a super ad, make it as big as necessary to get at or near the front of your heading(s) and put it into as many Yellow Pages directories as you can!

Follow these two simple steps and you'll never again question the fact that larger Yellow Pages ads are more easily and more often found, noticed and chosen than small ads.

Besides -- a $3,000/month ad that brings in $50,000/month is MUCH smarter to run than a $500/month ad that brings in only $1,000/month, right?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Sipress

Yellow Pages Tips - What Not To Do In Your Ad

If you want to join the ranks of unsuccessful Yellow Pages advertisers who make excuses like "No one uses the Yellow Pages anymore", make sure to follow these two key steps when you design your ad:

1. Make it small.

Your "penny-wise, pound-foolish" ad won't be large enough to get noticed by most people who turn to your heading. It won't portray a solid, dependable, trustworthy image for your company. And it won't give you enough room to include many of the proven elements of successful Yellow Pages ads.

Therefore, you won't get a lot of calls -- except maybe from price-shoppers looking for a 3rd or 4th estimate and figuring that your small ad means you're desperate for any work you can get. It won't bring you a large number of new customers. And it certainly won't get you the highest-priced, most-profitable and enjoyable jobs in your area.

2. Put your company name at or near the top of your ad.

Open any Yellow Pages anywhere in the country, and you'll be assaulted with page after page of these type of ads. For some reason (ego?), most local small business owners must somehow think that a Yellow Pages ad isn't really an ad. It's extremely rare that someone creates a flyer or places an ad in a newspaper and simply plasters their company name at the top instead of using an effective headline.

And speaking of newspapers, would anyone read any of the articles if they just had the authors' names big and bold at the top of them instead of effective headlines? Maybe they would -- but only if the authors are extremely well-known and well-respected. Which is why big national companies like Roto Rooter and Lawn Doctor can get away with putting their company names near the top of their ads. But if you're a local small businesses owner, not crafting an effective headline for your Yellow Pages ad is a HUGE mistake.

Sometimes a local small business owner will disagree with this proven rule of Yellow Pages success, explaining that they feature their company name because they want to make it easy for people to find their ad. HELLO!! Yellow Pages display ads are for the sole purpose of attracting NEW business from people who DON'T know the name of your company -- or any other in your heading. Quite frankly, they could care less that you call yourself "Joe's Plumbing" or "AAA-OK Heating" or "Harvey Smith, Attorney At Law". First, Yellow Pages users want to know what you can do for them. Then and only then will they care what the name of your company is.

And besides: If someone knows your company name and opens their Yellow Pages specifically to find you, they'll look you up alphabetically. They'll see your free "anchor listing" that says "See Our Ad On Page ___". THAT's how they'll find your ad, even if you use the prime real estate at the top of your ad (the one you're paying dearly for) to tell ready-to-buy, open-to-using-any-company shoppers why you are their best option over your competitors. That way, you can actually attempt to profit from your Yellow Pages instead of always being frustrated.

There are a lot of other rules of successful Yellow Pages advertising that you can violate. But just ignoring these two can cause you to see your bill as just another monthly expense that you'll want to keep as low as possible.

On the other hand, successful Yellow Pages advertisers are always looking for ways to increase their investment so they can increase their return. Yes, they're actually excited to place their well-designed ad into more headings and books year after year. Once they get all the work they can handle, they simply raise their rates and earn more profits while working less.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Sipress

Yellow Pages Tips - Rule of Thumb

You're a small business owner. You probably have a system for how to do whatever it is that you do. That system probably works well for you.

In the same way, the average Yellow Pages rep also has a system. And that system might work well for him or her. BUT -- that doesn't mean it necessarily works for you, the advertiser.

Take the typical case where you, the advertiser, are unhappy with the results of your Yellow Pages advertising program, so you let your rep know of the only solution you can think of: decrease your monthly investment.

Most likely, the rep will attempt to sell you a bigger ad, so you can move into better "position" in front of some or all of your competitors and thus improve the results of your program. This is an understandable solution offered by a rep, because

1. They are on commission;

2. They know that bigger ads work better than smaller ones; and

3. They don't know enough about effective Yellow Pages ad design to suggest any other way of improving your results other than just increasing your ad's size.

Common sense tells you the rep is right about the fact that larger ads work better than smaller ones. But in your gut you also somehow know that just making your ineffective ad larger may indeed get you a few more calls -- but that doesn't mean it will suddenly be a big winner for you.

So, after a big battle between you and your rep, you either:

A. Hold your ground and cut down on your advertising program, basically ensuring that you will get even a worse return from your Yellow Pages advertising in the future (but you'll save some money); or

B. Decide to keep your ad the same and hope that somehow you get better results next year; or

C. Give in to the sales rep and agree to enlarge your small ineffective ad to become a larger ineffective ad in the new directories about to be published. This will, unfortunately, likely cost you even more money over the next year because the cost of your ad will go up more than your revenue or profits. Short-term, this works out great for the commissioned sales rep, but long-term it certainly isn't good for the publisher (or you!), because you are still a dissatisfied advertiser.

May I suggest a better way? I thought you'd never ask.

Let's assume the same situation as above: You are not happy with your current advertising program, and you let your sales rep know it.

BUT -- instead of first deciding what size ad to place, FIRST you decide to learn all about the rules of successful Yellow Pages advertising so you can re-design your ad (or you save yourself all the time, trouble and risk and just get an expert to fix your ad for you).

Once you have a killer ad that you know will give you a great return on investment, THEN you work with the rep to choose the right size for your ad to make sure it gets found and noticed at or near the front of whatever heading(s) you want to get customers or clients from!

This new order of ad design first and THEN placement strategy works out better for everyone:

1. The rep earns his or her commission on the sale;

2. The publisher has a happy advertiser who will probably look to do more and more advertising with them in the future; and most important

3. YOU now have a killer ad and a strategic placement plan that will bring you a better Return On Investment out of your local Yellow Pages than you've ever gotten before.

So, remember: If your Yellow Pages program isn't working for you, FIRST re-design your ad, and THEN work out your placement strategy. Stand firm, and don't let an overly-aggressive sales rep do this in the reverse order!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Sipress

Yellow Pages Tips - Permission Based Works!

Thanks in part to the rising popularity of the internet, consumers (that's all of us) are spoiled these days, and have gotten into a "search" mindset: We know that we can search for what we want or need anytime we want or need to, so more than ever we HATE to be advertised at when WE didn't make our own choice to search for something.

People are sick of being bombarded and interrupted by untargeted marketing messages these days (aren't you?). They're telling businesses loud and clear NOT to interrupt ...

... their TV shows with commercials (TiVo, cable TV, DVD's, On Demand, etc.)

... their newspaper or magazine stories with ads (circulation drops every year)

... their drives down the highway with billboards (anti-billboard laws)

... their music with commercials (Satellite Radio, iPods, etc.)

... their internet surfing with advertisements (Pop-Up and Spam Blockers, Junk Emailboxes, etc.)

... their dinners and evenings at home with telemarketing calls (Do Not Call List)

... their mailboxes with direct mail (they call it "Junk Mail", don't they?)

Starting to see the difference between permission-based, search advertising (internet and Yellow Pages) and interruption-based marketing? Good. This is the single most important distinction you can make if you're frustrated and confused by the results of your overall marketing strategy:


It isn't ALL marketing that is risky and confusing and doesn't work as well as it used to. Only interruption-based marketing is dying, while permission-based marketing is booming.

You've heard the saying "People hate to be sold, but they love to buy", right? Well, we all know that's true - now more than ever. Your prospects hate to be interrupted with advertising - but when they know they have a need they'll look for you.

Respect people by giving them control over their own shopping, and they'll respond by putting their money into your pocket.

And realize this: When prospects are looking for you (Yellow Pages and internet), you have their full attention and they want you to provide as much information as possible. But when you try to interrupt them, you have their partial attention at best, and they usually can't wait until your advertising is done so they can get back to whatever you interrupted in the first place. OUCH!

The first place most people look is still the book that's delivered free to every single home and business: their local Yellow Pages. It isn't the newest idea, and it isn't sexy. But it works. Period. The internet Yellow Pages and search engines are smaller but growing options as well.

If you have a large advertising budget and can afford to take big risks, then go ahead and try various interruption-based marketing methods. But if you want the best bang for your local advertising buck, then do yourself a favor and focus on what works best with today's shoppers: permission-based, search marketing (Yellow Pages and internet). Then only after you're using winning strategies with your Yellow Pages and internet marketing should you even think about risky and complex things like "media mix", "branding" and interruption-based marketing in general.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Sipress

Yellow Pages Remain A Primary Source for Local Search

Print Remains a Primary Source for Local Business Info
October 8, 2009 — TMP Directional Marketing (TMPDM), the largest local search marketing agency in the US has released its annual local search study, commissioned by comScore, that examines the year-over-year growth of local search and the shifts in consumer behavior and media usage.

According to the study:

Internet search engines and print directories are the primary sources for finding local business information and account for 31% and 28%, respectively, of all local searches conducted in the US.

The study finds that online search is used earlier in the purchase process than offline search, primarily to research the brands to buy and to identify businesses that offer those brands. Offline search is performed in the later stages of the consumer purchase process to get specific business details (for example, hours of operation, addresses and phone numbers) about the places selected for follow-up activities and/or making purchases.

Search preferences vary by generation. Approximately 41% of young (ages 18-24), use search engines for business information, while 49% of searchers ages 65+ rely on print directories.

According to TMPDM, "These findings reveal that online search is a vital channel for marketers seeking to generate local leads and sales, yet offline media still holds practical applications, relevance and value in the consumer purchase process. Based on the ever-fragmenting media landscape, marketers are beginning to see value in adopting a diversified-media approach for their business information to be found by searching consumers."

"While a majority of consumer search behavior has shifted toward the use of interactive resources, print Yellow Pages and other offline directories are still referenced in the consumer purchase process, proving that offline media still has reach and possesses lead-generation benefits. And the high demand for online Yellow Pages information reveals that consumers still use the Yellow Pages, just in different ways. When coupled with IYP, the Yellow Pages are an effective cross-channel source of local business information. In fact, 30% of consumers who first use IYP still turn to print directories as additional resources in their searches."

TMPDM’s local search usage study includes data from 4,000 online survey responses, as well as observed online behavior of one million consumers who agreed to have their online searches monitored anonymously.

Sources: Marketing Charts, Local Search Continues Shift to Online, Mobile Platforms, October 27, 2009 and TMPDM news release, TMP Directional Marketing Study Reveals Local Search Changing With Interactive Media, Indicates Consumer Search Behavior and Media Usage Trends, October 8, 2009.