There are many ways to promote your website for free online. Here are 10 highly effective strategies you can use right now.1. Write articles or free reports for other webmasters to publish and put your website address in the by-line. If you write good content, your articles will be published and many readers who like your article will go on to visit your website.2. Arrange a Joint Venture partnership with List owners and Webmasters.3. Add your ad or website address... Read More
A brand is the essence of who you are. The more powerful the brand the more memorable you will become. Think about brands that you can identify with. What impresses you about them and what attributes make you remember them? Brand icons didn't get that way over night and many of them have failed because they couldn't "connect" with their audience. Strong brands will stand the test of time.After you have thought about strong compelling brands that impressed you start... Read More
I am doing what you do, sitting at my computer, trying to get my thoughts out of my head and into a written form that will help you make a decision. In this particular case, I am trying to write a few intelligent remarks about sounding conversational on paper. You know, how to write a fundraising letter that sounds like it came from the mind of a person and not an institution.I suppose the first thing I can tell you... Read More
You have read part 1 & 2 of this article series (see below for link). And, you are probably asking yourself "what else is there to say about improving one's translation style?" The answer to that, my friends, is the most important part of the message. Let's for a moment consider our profession from the perspective of the client. You have a translation project that needs a translator. You pull out all the stops: you hit the... Read More
If you are considering entering a new target market, with an existing or new product or service, it makes sense to first systematically analyze the market in question via some fundamental market evaluation criteria. It is not only rational but most cost effective to determine if a new market pursuit makes sense for your company before any significant resources are further applied to the effort.A "pass or fail" test of your targeted market is recommended with your company's core management... Read More
"Brochure" is French, and it comes from brocher, meaning to stitch. According to The American Heritage Dictionary, a brochure is "a small booklet or pamphlet, often containing promotional material or product information."Accurate, yes. And also incomplete.For one thing, brochures aren't always small. Sometimes they're quite large. As for brochure contents, they vary greatly depending on the situation. A brochure definitely can be more than a pamphlet or small booklet, coming in all shapes, sizes and a range of folds.While brochures... Read More
You're probably thinking, here we go again somebody is trying to sell me something that I really don't need. I'm sure it will benefit them, but will it benefit me? Firstly let me say that my company, Solutions Ink does sell gift and loyalty cards. The market out there while huge is certainly not for anyone. Who then are these cards good for?These cards are great for chain stores with multiple locations and for stores with very loyal repeat customers.... Read More
Your Web site should be the cornerstone of your client seduction efforts. The site is your silent salesperson -- the one with whom prospective clients visit before granting you permission to meet with them.A top priority for any firm that competes in the professional services or technology space is to create an easy-to-update Web site that demonstrates your competence. As the Internet matures, content is slowly becoming more important, but it's amazing how many sites for such firms simply assert... Read More
When you want to win and woo new clients with national publicity -- and don't have an enormous budget to distribute your message -- turn to the news wires. But first, be sure you're telling a story that's worth printing.The best publicity draws on one of a handful of tried-and-true themes. Newsworthy stories have something that hits you as a reader and makes you more interested than "just the facts." Think about how your company's story might work as part... Read More
If you want to double your business, then you need to get inside your client's head through proprietary research and provocative results.By conducting proprietary research, you obtain special information that prospective clients can't find elsewhere. The foundation of client seduction is to give away useful information that demonstrates to clients you have the expertise to help them. Giving away general problem-solving information is good, but it is not good enough. You need to offer specifics, and the more provocatively you... Read More
"If God wanted to create a perfect punishment for a high achiever, then He would have that person manage a professional service firm," says Professor John Gabarro of the Harvard Business School.Gabarro is on the faculty of the Leading Professional Service Firms program, an intensive, one-week executive education program taught twice a year at the Harvard Business School. Designed for leaders of professional service firms, the program focuses on management and marketing issues unique to these firms. Namely, the delicate... Read More
Over the past 30 years, direct mail has been responsible for generating vast amounts of money for businesses and individuals alike, but is it still an effective means of marketing?The short answer, in the short term, is yes. But the Internet has without doubt diluted the power of pen on paper and will continue to do so, until only a few die-hard individuals and the glossy brochure brigade, are left to pick the bones of an industry once plump and... Read More
Every professional or consultant knows that clients typically hire people they know, like and trust. But how do you build trust with strangers?As Ralph Waldo Emerson's 150-year-old essay titled "Compensation" teaches, first you must give if you want to receive. The best positioning strategy for professional service firms is to build trust by giving away valuable information. That's why professional service firm marketing works best when it demonstrates expertise by educating prospects, not asserting superiority through flashy brochures and Web... Read More
Almost every small business marketer knows that they should gather testimonials to use in their marketing materials.The problem though is that getting your clients, the ones who know your greatness, to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and crank out a glowing testimonial can be a bit of a chore. It isn't that they don't want to do it; it's just that there are other priorities calling to them as well.I accidentally stumbled on a way to get... Read More
In his classic best-seller, "How To Win Friends And Influence People," Dale Carnegie's second chapter is entitled The Big Secret of Dealing With People. The secret is summed up in this principle: Give honest and sincere appreciation.Carnegie said there is only one way to get anybody to do anything -- by making the person want to do it. How can you encourage customers to say good things about you and give you referrals? By giving them what they and all... Read More
Learn a lesson from professional direct mail copywriters. They follow a time-tested format in their sales letters, a format that you can also follow when writing direct mail fundraising letters for your non-for-profit organization. All you need to remember is AIDA.AIDA is an acrostic for the four things you need to do, and the order you need to do them in, to write compelling donation request letters.ATTENTION The A stands for Attention. You need to grab it. Your envelope... Read More
I've discovered a really fantastic way to discover what works best in direct marketing, BEFORE doing traditional direct marketing. Use these internet tools to find what works best, then apply what you've learned to your traditional direct marketing, direct mail, etc. It's fast and less expensive.How to Find What Works in Your Marketplace?Overture provides an excellent tool to find what people are looking for on the internet. For all practical purposes, you can use that to apply to other types... Read More
Display graphics are graphic images used for illustration or "display" purposes. Display Graphics are usually printed on paper, vinyl or fabric using a "large format" printing device. Normally display graphics are over-sized graphics printed on paper or some other material, and then mounted or hung on a graphic display unit of some sort in a conspicuous place.One-off display graphics are used in vinyl banners, trade show displays, or as backdrops for a convention, press conference, or special event such as... Read More
Business marketing is one of the most important parts that your business needs to be addressed with careful attention and proactive thoughts. In last decade or so, the importance of business marketing has increased volcanically, as the advent of Internet and online business has ushered a whole new era in business. It should be noted that the competition and urgency among businessmen has increased due to the fact that Internet has rendered a whole world as a virtual world, and... Read More
I do think that it is entirely possible for an SEO and client to work out a pay for performance pricing structure that is fair to both. Logistically, though the tracking involved to this would add additional layers to the total process of ranking and reporting. If both the SEO and the client are willing to take that on and set parameters that are agreeable between them then by all means a fair agreement can be reached.Personally, I would not... Read More
