Business columns and business coaches often dedicate much of their time to telling entrepreneurs and business owners that they must be revolutionary in their advertising strategy and be unique if they want to win.

However, the reality is that as an entrepreneur or marketing executive, achieving a successful advertising strategy can often be a difficult tightrope walk between doing what is working for others and offering a unique proposition.

There are two problems with developing your own advertising strategy from scratch. First, it can mean ignoring the facts and figures and the tried and true methods that are working in the current market. Choosing just to learn from your own mistakes rather than others is costly and can result in losing any lead time you had on your competitors. Secondly, creating an advertising strategy that is too far away from the norm can be confusing to prospects and consumers, not only reducing your advertising effectiveness and the ROI of your marketing budget but alienating many viable customers.

In order to develop a truly successful advertising strategy, you really should take the best of both worlds. If a certain marketing strategy, channel, or platform is proving to be incredibly profitable in your industry, you shouldn’t ignore it. Consumers will be looking for some of the similar attributes in order to find your product or service and judge it’s value and credibility. However, at the same time you need to be different enough from your competition to differentiate enterprise and stand out from the crowd. The perfect example is books. While self-publishing is becoming more popular than ever and has turned out many of the best sellers in the last couple of years, it remains an independent way to produce books; nevertheless, authors can definitely benefit from promoting their books on reputable sites like Amazon or by using Facebook likes and a familiar blog or website format for promoting it. What will you take from the proven and comfortable way of doing business in your industry and what will you do differently to develop the ultimate advertising strategy?

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One of the major differences that quickly distinguishes companies that offer quality affiliate programs and are dedicated to the success of their partners is the affiliate marketing tools they provide.

A company that has taken the time to develop affiliate marketing tools demonstrates its belief in its product or service and also says a lot about how much care and dedication it has committed to its own offering. At a minimum, this offering should include affiliate marketing copy that can be used on websites or in newsletters or other promotional materials. Email copy is also essential for quickly and easily enabling affiliate marketing partners to spread the word about the new addition to their product lines to prospect and customer databases.

Affiliate marketing tools offered by businesses that are linked in to the latest and most effective online marketing channels should also include items like blog posts and Tweets that not only spread the word among your current and past customer base but can help you attract more traffic to your blog and website and generate more new prospects that may not only acquire your affiliate marketing items but your core services or good as well. If a company isn’t providing up-to-date marketing tools, it may be a red flag that what it wants you to promote isn’t up to date either, or it isn't expending the time and resources it should for staying on top of the market. If you are going to expand your revenue streams, you want to be working with the best in the business since the company's products are a direct reflection on your own brand.

Look for a partner that has gone the distance and created banners and image ads as part of its affiliate marketing for you; you should be able instantly to plug into advertising campaigns and begin reeling in revenues right away. Some cutting edge businesses like leading toll free service providers have gone as far as developing sticky widgets and other tools that can add incredible value to your website presence to help you retain web traffic and keep them coming back.

As the name suggests a "super affiliate" is a high performing affiliate who has a reputation for generating a superior amount of business.

While affiliate marketing programs have boomed in the last few years, many companies have also had a rude wake up call. Building an affiliate network can be extremely profitable and add the leverage and volume you need to take your business to new highs; however, as with any other form of marketing, if it is not done right, it can be very disappointing and time consuming.

Despite affiliate and partner programs being all about volume, the one major differentiating factor between those that are succeeding and those that have failed is the attention to quality. Anyone can set up an affiliate program overnight and even amass hundreds of affiliates and publishers in an incredibly short period of time. However, if the right system is not in place and the affiliate publishers who are supposed to be out actually promoting the product or service are inexperienced, then you may find you are spending all of your time fielding questions and messing with fraudulent commissions, and in the end, you could make less money than if you just did it all yourself.

However, armed with an effective and reputable affiliate marketing network and platform, you will find it is much easier to attract super affiliates who have proven they can produce and need little or no hand holding. Simply give them the tools and let the revenues start rolling in. Commission Junction has emerged as the leader in affiliate marketing platforms, maintaining a reputation for quality and high rolling advertisers and publishers. To be considered at a "super affiliate" level with CJ, which it calls a "CJ Performer," you must have earned at least $10,000 per month for the last three months through its system. That may not sound like a lot, but with an army of super affiliates promoting for you, you can be sure that your affiliate program will be a success.

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“Advertising” is usually confused with marketing, promotions, sales, and public relations. But what exactly is it? Basically, advertising is about bringing a product or service to target market's attention. It is focused on getting customers' attention in order to increase awareness of the brand (or product, service, or idea) in question. Advertising comes in different forms: brochures, television commercials, online ads, signs, direct mails, and even personal contact. 

To get a better understanding of what is advertising, it may be best to look into the definition of other terms with which it is usually interchanged:

Promotion: After gaining brand awareness through advertising, promotion acts as a stimulus for further demand. It involves ongoing advertising, sales, and public relations activities.

Marketing: When you think about marketing, keep the 4P’s in mind: product, place, promotions, and price. These are essentially all the aspects involved in marketing. Loosely, marketing involves analyzing customer data and competition. It positions the product in the market through “price” and “place” distribution.

Public Relations: Public Relations is all about creating a public image for the company. It usually involves building a relationship with the media to get newspaper mention, magazine recommendations, and television slots.

Sales: Cultivating prospective buyers (referred to as leads) is the focus of sales. It conveys the features and benefits of a product and service. The sales plan for one product may be different from another even within the same company.

The benefits of branding are well-known, but the disadvantages are often overlooked. Business owners invest a lot of time and effort into the design and marketing of their brands. A strong brand name can easily be remembered. However, cost remains a barrier to branding.

A lot of costs are involved in developing and promoting a brand (hiring a designer, printing new business cards/letterheads, etc). Aside from these, intangible downsides exist that you should be aware of, including the following:

Impersonal: Many branded businesses struggle to get the “hearts and minds” of their customers. They lose their personal touches because they are now catering to a larger market. In addition, a poorly implemented strategy can lead to a feeling that your business is losing its touch.

Fixed Image: Once you think of a branding image, it is important to stick to it. Although advantageous over the short- and even medium-term, this inflexibility may become a hindrance once you want to expand. That’s the reason why global companies develop different brands for different niches. If the brand becomes too big, it may hinder your ability to sell products. For example, a renowned soap brand will find it hard to sell condiments to its present customers.

Timescale: It is generally accepted that people need to see a brand at least three times before your message penetrates their consciousnesses. This need is costly and may involve a significant amount of time before it takes effect.

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1. Enabled Industry Domination

Companies like 1-800-Flowers have used winning vanity numbers and continue to dominate entire industries and block out almost all competition. With a buoyant annual revenue of around $714 million, it is clear to see just how powerful a premium toll free number can be. So if you thought vanity numbers were simply for vanity, maybe it is time to see what you have been missing out on. Remember you may not have to acquire the number of your choice for the whole nation initially; look into shared usage.

2. Massive Growth

1-800-Contacts is proof of just how explosive your growth can be when you tap into the power of vanity numbers. In just a few short years, this company managed to hit over $247 million in annual revenues, thanks to its toll free number. Combined with its matching domain name, 1-800-Contacts has built a formidable brand, so that, even if not backed by a profitable business model, it would still harness control of a huge portion of the market, which alone is almost priceless.

3. Revolutionizing Business Process Management

Together with new cloud computing solutions and Internet phone service, vanity numbers have helped revolutionize the way businesses are organized and have fueled globalization. These advances have not only allowed businesses to operate far more efficiently, but they have enabled entrepreneurs truly to live life on their own terms, spurring the publication of books like 1-800-Awesome.

4. Maximizing Marketing ROI

Toll free numbers have given business owners and managers the ability to hone in their marketing campaigns to target their ideal customers through blocks of 800 numbers, increasing direct marketing response rates to incredible highs. At the same time, vanity numbers have provided credibility and better branding, which have dramatically improved closing ratios.

5. Fueling New Ventures

Vanity numbers have certainly made it viable and more profitable for thousands of new businesses to be launched in the last years as well as making it possible for existing enterprises to spin off new products, services, and divisions. These changes alone have created millions of jobs that may have single-handedly saved the global economy. Have you been underestimating the value of a great vanity number?

Whether you are a college student, a work-at-home mom, a wannabe entrepreneur, or simply someone who wants some extra cash, you’ll definitely find something to do online. Many ways exist to make money on the Internet. Once we give you the lowdown on what it entails, you’ll be surprised by how easy it can be.

Offer Professional Expertise – Are you an accountant, web programmer, or writer? These jobs are highly in-demand in the online marketplace. All jobs that can be outsourced are already being outsourced. Aside from the expertise stated above, you can also offer graphic design, business consulting, project management, and recruitment services. Some people make money just by taking surveys!

Sell Photos to Stock Photography Websites – There’s no need to be a photographic genius to make money on the Internet. A lot of stock photography websites pay you for submitted photos. Showcase your talent to the public while earning a passive income stream.

Earn Blog Money – Blogs are today’s big thing. Several ways exist to derive revenue from blogging: pro-blogging (blogging for others), direct advertising, or by starting your own blog network (earn through AdSense). Real money is waiting to be made. But this method entails a lot of work during the startup stage.

Affiliate Marketing – Being an affiliate marketer is one of the favorite ways to make money on the Internet. It entails promoting a company’s product or service to get a commission. The compensation you receive is dependent on your agreement with the company (one-time commission or passive revenue). 
Affiliate marketing is definitely a good way to earn a lot of money with limited investment.

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