Monday, April 28, 2008

PPC ADVERTISING: HOW TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS "CLICK"

PPC stands for Pay Per Click - a popular advertising technique on the Internet. Found on websites, advertising networks, and especially on search engines, PPC advertising involves sponsored links that are typically in the form of text ads. These are usually placed close to search results, where an advertiser pays a particular amount to visitors who click on these links or banners and land on the advertiser's web page.

In essence, PPC advertising is all about bidding for the top or leading position on search engine results and listings. Advertisers do this by buying or bidding on keyword phrases that are relevant to their products or services - the higher the bid, the higher the spot on the search results, the more the people will find the ad (and click on it) to go to their websites (this is why some people call it "keyword auctioning"). Advertisers would then pay the bidding price every time a visitor clicks through the website.

PPC advertising is also known under the following names/variations:

• Pay per placement
• Pay per performance
• Pay per ranking
• Pay per position
• Cost per click (CPC)

PPC advertising is usually done with the following standard procedures:

1. Setting up an account and/or deposit funds.

2. Creating a keyword list.

3. Choosing (and setting up) an account with a PPC search engine.

4. Bidding on the ad placement, including the search result words or phrases.

5. Writing out an ad copy.

6. Setting up the 'landing pages' for your ads.

7. Placing the advertisement in the search engine.

There are many benefits to Pay Per Click advertising, making it an effective way of promoting a business 'online'. Some of them are listed below:

• Get launched immediately. PPC advertisements are implemented very quickly - they can go 'online' within an hour after winning the bid and paying for it.

• Obtain specific, pre-qualified, and quality traffic. PPC provides you with a quality or a well-targeted traffic. Visitors are narrowed down into 'qualified' people who are actually looking for specific products and/or services that you offer - those who are more likely to become a 'lead' (a convert) and complete a transaction (either by buying your product or subscribing to the service that you are offering.

• Widen your reach. PPC advertising provides additional traffic to your site, aside from the natural or "organic" search engines.

• Track your investment. PPC advertising makes use of a tracking system that will determine exactly who comes to the website and what they do once they arrive - the length of their stay on the site and the number of pages (including the actual pages) that they view. These are valuable tools in determining statistics such as return on investment (ROI), acquisition cost-per-visitor, and conversion rates (the percentage of visitors who are converted into customers or leads).

Below are some important things to consider when planning on a pay per click campaign:

1. Know your product. Take an inventory of the product and/or services that you have to offer (before anything else).

2. Stay within the budget. Determine your daily or monthly budget; and stay with it. This means keeping your budget in mind, avoiding bidding wars if possible.

3. Bid just right. Know how to bid right - a bid that is too high can exhaust all of your money, while a bid that is too low can make you lose that spot.

4. Watch the bottom line. Measure your profit margin against your spending or expenses. Know when to stop and terminate your PPC program - if you spend more on advertising but have little or no sales at all.

5. Find the right keywords. Decide which keyword phrases to opt and bid for. Do some keyword research, either by actually looking at existing search terms or with the use of online keyword suggestion tools, to know which terms are mostly used when searching for items that are related to your business. Focus on specific keywords, not on general ones.

6. Write effective ads. A good PPC ad is that which can persuade and move a searcher. There are several approaches to this:

• Discount offers
• Testimonials
• Celebrity/famous endorsers
• Money-back guarantees
• Free trials or sample offers
• Freebies
• Reverse psychology
• Major benefits ("Lose weight")
• Direct instructions ("Click here")

7. Maintain a professional-looking site. Your web content should be regularly updated and checked for spelling and grammatical errors. There should be no broken links or images. The website should be simple - designed in such a way that it will be easy for visitors to navigate and load. Include contact details to create a good impression among potential customers.

Done properly, PPC advertising can be an effective marketing tool that will maximize the return on your investment.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Email Marketing and Opt In List Building: On Keeping Online Businesses Profitable

Since the advent of the information technology, the Internet had been a valuable commodity to most people. Here, they find ways on how to earn more money even without having to spend more capital on building a business.

Nowadays, many business people are realizing the importance of email marketing. Through emails, an online business can market their product directly through their customers.

Generally, the main purpose of email marketing is to reach their target audience as quickly and as direct as possible. They need to reach their target market so as to promote their products and services that would benefit their customers.

However, some businesses use email marketing in order to maintain their contact and relationship with their customers.

The reason why email marketing has grown in such unprecedented rate is based on the fact that people in the virtual community are always hungry for information. They subscribe to information that they are interested in.

On the other hand, not all people are willing to subscribe to such information. They may be interested on your products once but may no longer be interested to buy again. Moreover, when you continue to send those emails that do not have their permissions, you can be accused of spamming.

Today, spamming is a serious offense especially in the world of information technology. Because the Internet is such a wild place, most authorities regard the privacy of each person as valuable and they continue to uphold this thinking even on the Internet.

With this, the creation of opt in list had gained tremendous acceptance. Because of its viability and feasibility to most online businesses, a lot of people have realized how important opt in lists are in email marketing.

Basically, opt in list refers to the list of email addresses of people who have agreed to subscribe to your mailing list. In this way, you can freely send emails that entail promotions, brochures, new product announcements, and every aspect of your marketing campaign.

When you build an opt in list, you do not only increase the probability of being successful in email marketing but also boost your sales and profits as well. This is because building an opt in list will give you the chance to stay in contact with your customers by getting their email address.

In this manner, you can continue to promote your products and services in which they are interested in because they have opted to subscribe in your mailing list. Hence, whatever it is that you feed them, chances are, they will most likely respond positively.

In reality, building an opt in list is actually letting the people realize the charisma and magic of email marketing. In this way, spams will be avoided, if not eliminated, and will not ruin the positive image of email marketing.

With spamming, email marketing becomes a disgraceful activity in the Internet. But with opt in list, online businesses can continue to boost their businesses through email marketing without having to worry about being accused of spamming.

In building opt in list, there are two types to be considered. The first one is the single opt-in and the other one is the double opt-in or the confirmed opt-in.

In building single opt-in list, online businesses would simply use a “sign-up tag” in their web sites so that every time a person visits their website, he or she can opt to subscribe in the business’ email list.

On the other hand, a confirmed opt-in list or double opt-in entails a confirmation message after the customer had subscribed to the particular web site’s email list.

Usually, the confirmation takes place by replying on a system-generated message that asks for a confirmation of the subscription or by clicking on a link that entails the confirmation of the customer.

Whatever type of opt in list you would prefer, each has its own pros and cons when it comes to email marketing. But nevertheless, both are designed to give your online business the best solution possible in order to generate emails and permissions without having to get into trouble.

Indeed, email marketing is such a profitable business in the Internet. But it would not be complete and will never succeed without the help of the opt-in lists. These two must always go hand-in-hand in order to be successful in the virtual world of Internet marketing.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Building and managing an opt in list for a website

Building and managing an opt in list for a website provides a seller direct access to a wide number of potential customers. Building and managing an opt in list makes use of a system that makes it possible for website visitors to fill up an online form in order to sign up for the latest products and services offered by an online site.

Building and managing an opt in list is commonly practiced by numerous sites on the Internet to maximize their visibility on the world wide web. Building and managing an opt in list is also a proven marketing technique that many business websites use again and again to keep loyal visitors updated on the latest products available from their favorite e-store.

Building and managing an opt in list is also useful for websites that provide news, technology and various forms of information on different subject matters. Visitors that sign up at their favorite website's opt in list can receive updates on products and services offered by the site. In addition the subscriber gains access to the site's regular ezine or newsletter.

The opt-in mailing list provided by a website is not spam, it is a legitimate sign up program for individuals sincerely interested in a website's products and services. No one is included in the opt-in mailing list without prior consent.

Gathering email addresses for building and managing an opt in list

A number of free listing services are available on the Internet to gather email addresses for a website's opt in list. However many of these free list services cannot be personalized to suit a specific site. In addition, the free service list has the option of shutting down a website's list at whatever time they choose to do so.

A better method for building and managing an opt in list begins with a good script for form processing. The script allows a subscriber to fill in a form and send it in to a specific address. The information is then processed and included in a database file.
After that, the website can send a personalized reply to the subscriber to thank them for their subscription to the site.

The online form to be filled up by a customer can also be customized to fit the format of a specific site. There are a number of websites that offer form-processing scripts wherein the generally cost price of a good script is about $30.

A pop email account should be created on the website's server in order to accommodate the influx of subscription requests. Email templates will also make the process of handling subscription request easier and faster. This will include an email template for subscription requests and possible requests from subscribers that want to unsubscribe from the Website opt in list. The option to unsubscribe helps build trust between the site visitor and the website.

Building and managing an opt in list database

Creating a database is essential in building and managing an opt in list for a website. There are a number of database programs offered on the Internet that can help process the information sent in for subscriptions. Once the database is set up, a mailing list needs to be generated. This process is essential to building and managing an opt list that will continually process subscription requests from site visitors.

A database program will automatically enable a website to attend to all the details involved in building and managing an opt in list. At the same time, easy access to a subscriber's personal information allows a website to send personalized messages to a specific subscriber at any time.

Building and managing an opt in list subscriber base

Websites can employ a number of methods for building and managing an opt in list subscriber base. Putting up incentives are a great come on for building and managing an opt in list. Offering a free gift as well as providing free services with each subscription is a great technique for building and managing an opt in list. Online contests are also a very popular way of getting people to join a website opt-in list. In addition, prizes that are related to the website's content also help generate interest in the other products and services offered by the site.

Remember, building and managing an opt in list is the ideal and simplest option to increase website traffic.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Building an Opt-In List, Building Relationships

Any entrepreneur’s goal should be SUCCESS!

If you aim for success, you must do everything within your means to achieve that. You just don’t go on sitting there in your house complaining about not getting as much profit as you expect. You have to keep moving. You have to pour in and invest enough time, money and effort to have profitable results.

In doing internet business, you must aim just the same. You should maximize all of your internet marketing strategies, given the wide market that your business will be exposed to. Imagine the whole online community as potential clients!

Now, one of the best marketing tools that you can use in your online business is building a list. An opt-in list is the best, most effective and smartest option that you can make to make it big. It is one thing to stay in business and it is another thing to have a profitable business. So if you will be allowed to choose, make use of the building list to ensure that profits will keep coming in.

What is an opt-in list?

The opt-in list basically is just a list or a database of names and email ads of people who have visited your website or made a purchase through your website. The listing will allow the owner to send updates, emails or promotions to those who are subscribed.

It is like an ordinary membership or mailing list in an ordinary shop or club, only in this instance, the opt-in list is done online.

Why should I choose to put an opt-in list?

Any visitor that will come to your web site is a potential client. That potential client means there is a potential sale and that potential sale is a potential profit. Now, let’s say that you’ve made a good internet marketing strategy as a result all these potential things have been translated to actual client, sale and profit.

The next prudent thing to do is to not let all these productive efforts be wasted. The next best thing to do is to get the email addresses and other contact details of your clients because your present buyers can still be your clients in the future.

Building a list will definitely work for your benefit. This will ensure that you can maintain close contact and a good relationship with your clients, especially the frequent visitors. This way you will have a regular

This will also save you money, time and effort because once you come up with a new product or new information, you know exactly who you will send updates to because you have a definite market. This is one aspect that you will have to maintain to have a steady source of income at the least. Then the rest of your efforts will be to make the number of your regular clients grow.

Some pointers in building your opt-in list:
1. You should put a ‘subscribe link’ or ‘subscribe box’ in your web site. It is advisable to put it on all the pages. Then make sure that it is strategically positioned, meaning it has to be easily located by the visitors. The upper right hand corner of the page would be a good position.

2. Promote your website and promote it even more to make give it more exposure and to get more subscribers.

3. Come up with contests or give away freebies and goodies that will require visitors to give out their email ads to be able to join.

4. Give out information, articles and updates to your clients with your links in it. Make sure that the information will be relevant to the client.

5. Offer free courses to your visitors. This will also help maintain a good relationship with your subscribers.

6. Use your signature also to make your opt-in list expand. Every time you send out messages the link information should be included.

7. Do some networking too. Join some forums or discussions and build relationships with the people there. This way will also be a good way for you to get more contacts and clients.

At the same time you should also know what you should avoid in building an opt-in list. There is one thing that you should keep in mind as the don't's of building a list.

Don't ever spam your subscribers. It is best that you get permission from your subscribers, or else you might end up with a bad reputation.

Avoid pop-ups too. They can sometimes annoy the visitors. There are also pop-up blockers now. Your effort here might end up futile.

You should also refrain from flooding your subscribers with information. You might end up as an annoyance that you might not get a favorable result. There may be times that you'll give relevant information, but your clients may just dismiss it.

The benefits of having many regular subscribers are undeniable. They will definitely keep your business going and you will definitely enjoy the profits that will come in. Just remember that things don’t end there.

Once you’ve build up on a substantial opt-in list, make sure that you maintain it well. Keep in contact with your subscribers. Send them updates. Give out special offers and helpful tips. Freebies will be helpful too.

Just follow this and you’ll see, things can only get better.