Direct Marketing Trends for 2011 by: blog-editor2, February 17, 2011 2011 may mark the year of the return of direct marketing. The importance of this promotional method is apparent. Direct marketing allows your company to interact with customers without any barriers. Some of the tactics that fall under this marketing strategy are: Catalogs: Because printing costs are continually coming down, more companies are enticed by the possibilities presented by catalogs. Glossy, sophisticated, and attractive: catalogs are a direct marketing method that can easily entice. Email Marketing: Traditional salesmanship still matters when you take your campaign on the Internet, but not by much. The key to having a successful email marketing campaign is to have accurate data. Once you know what the customers want, need, and desire, it becomes easier to target your email messages. Social Media: Get responsive leads through social media. If you are like most companies, you rely on a certain demographic to generate most of your sales. Social media allows you to be in touch with your target market during people's “downtime.” When they visit social sites, they tend to feel more sociable themselves. Basically, the main reason why direct marketing is so effective is because salesmen don’t make far-ranging assumptions. The campaign is based on detailed data that is gathered from the customers themselves. Read More
How Can I Make Money Online Fast by: blog-editor2, February 16, 2011 Every day as we hear new amazing success stories of overnight Internet millionaires, making money online continues to become more and more attractive. However, for those just looking to get started, you probably do not have much much time to lose before you must begin putting money back in your pocket. So how can you make money online fast? If you want to make money online fast, you must first recognize the common barriers and pitfalls that others have faced and fallen into. Many thousands of people have tried making money on the Internet only to give up after not seeing the quick results that they had expected. This situation normally comes down to two things. First, they simply have the wrong plan or choose the wrong people to work with. Second is not having realistic expectations. That doesn’t mean you can’t make money online fast and reasonably easily, but you do need to anticipate some level of investment and time put in to see a significant income back. You have no doubt already heard of the concept of affiliate marketing. This term basically means having the ability to market someone else's product or service and earning a commission for every client you refer that becomes an actual customer. Making money on the Internet or anywhere else really couldn’t be any easier. You don’t have to struggle to produce your own merchandise or reinvent the wheel. In many cases, you will find marketing materials already created for you. Plus, by making sure you are working with an established and well-respected industry leader, you are able to lean on its credentials and well developed tools, shaving years off of the curve it takes when launching a new venture from scratch. So the recipe to make money online fast is easy; simply get your own website and blog up and running, find a high quality affiliate program offered by a reputable company, and implement it. Image Credit: © Gyeah | Dreamstime.com Read More
Four Strategies for Increasing Your Advertising Effectiveness by: blog-editor2, February 15, 2011 1. Filling The Need You can debate the exact amount of white space you should have in ads and the perfect percentage of keyword density for SEO until you are blue in the face, but if your product or service is not perceived as filling an urgent and essential need, then you cannot complain about poor advertising effectiveness. Don’t just sell the features and tell prospects how your product or service works. Make sure you are promoting the real benefits for your prospective customers, the ones that are most important to them. For example, a toll free number is not just a way for your customers to reach you by phone or only a critical part of your branding. Toll free numbers have not only been proven to improve advertising effectiveness in terms of response rates but also through double digit increases in closing ratios and actual revenues. 2. Personalization Both individual and corporate consumers are becoming more demanding than ever about the products and services they choose to acquire. They want to be made to feel special and that you care about their needs, and they often will only jump on those offerings that appear to be made just for them. This case is true whether it is a new smartphone, a marketing program, or a mobile app. So consider how you can improve advertising effectiveness or add options to your products that will give that personalized "created just for me" feel. You can also achieve this customer connection by improving on tracking and the flow of your system that will present visitors to your mobile and web presence with exactly what they are looking for and need. Or perhaps you should be creating multiple mini-sites complete with their own branding and vanity numbers to target specific niches in your industry. 3. Integration In several ways, integration applies to increased advertising effectiveness. First, consumers and prospects are surrounded by so many channels these days that it is essential to keep in front of them wherever they are in order to keep your hold on your market share. No longer are consumers just bombarded by billboards, telemarketers, and TV ads. They are now permanently plugged into the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites whether it is on the computer at work, in their cars, or via their smartphones at every other moment of the day and night. Make sure you are in front of them wherever you can be as often as you can, keeping your service fresh in their minds and making it easy for them to acquire your products and services. However, integration is now also playing an extremely important role in the form of Facebook "likes." Getting your products and business "liked" means being able to tap into the sphere of influence and social network that each of your customers has with an extremely powerful word of mouth referral, so make sure to integrate social media with the rest of your business every step of the way. 4. Make It A "No Brainer" To Do Business With You Online One major factor that has many business owners stumped at just how poorly their online advertising is performing is that they fail to recognize just how different it is doing business via the Internet than face to face. In the past, your sales team may have done great moving high end products with almost no effort at all. However, in many cases you cannot expect to charge the same premiums to complete strangers who are finding you on the web for the first time without making a solid effort to demonstrate your credibility through strong branding. You will also find your advertising effectiveness dramatically improves by offering trials or other incentives to get prospects to realize just how great your company is. Make it impossible for them to say no! Read More
Vanity Numbers and Personal Branding by: blog-editor2, February 14, 2011 Who said that only businesses can take advantage of vanity numbers? Individuals who want to create a “personal brand” can benefit from this service as well. Vanity numbers can be used as a marketing tool for personal coaches, professionals, and freelancers. Even celebrity fan clubs are getting in on the action. Vanity numbers enable them to connect with their fans easily, conveniently, and with minimal costs. Definitely, everything is about interaction these days. At the end of the day, potential clients are more likely to call a number they remember than to look for more information in the yellow pages. Calling a vanity number is also enticing because callers do not need to pay for the calls they make. If you use vanity numbers for personal branding, they will set you apart from the rest. Right now, you might be missing a lot of opportunities out there even without knowing it. But by subscribing to a toll-free vanity number today, you will begin to see the difference in your personal brand and bank account! Given all the benefits stated above, it is not surprising that an increasing number of small businesses (mostly sole proprietorships) are getting their own vanity numbers. This tool also evens out the playing ground for the self-employed, small businesses, and more established corporations. There are very few barriers to getting a toll free vanity number. Anyone who wants to create a strong personal brand should check out this option to know its advantages. Image Credit: © Oleg Pidodnya | Dreamstime.com Read More
Reverse Number Look Up for Corporate Intelligence and Tracking Your Girlfriend by: blog-editor2, February 11, 2011 In the past, reverse phone look up was mostly used to identify callers. Today, however, it has emerged as a tool for competitive intelligence and even tracking. By using reverse phone lookup, it is possible to determine who your competitors are, how strong their products are, and how loyal their customer base is. This information will give you in-depth insight about their business operations: what they’re doing right and what their weaknesses are. Using this information, you can create a stronger marketing strategy. Beyond business, however, reverse phone look up can also be used for your personal life. For example, some individuals actually use this service to track their girlfriend or boyfriend! However, that doesn't mean it is used only by people who are suspicious of their partners. The service also gives users peace of mind in knowing that their loved ones are safe. In order for reverse phone look up to be effective, it is important to choose a service provider with an extensive database. Many providers allow you to conduct free searches in their databases on the Internet. But if you are looking for detailed information, it is better to look for paid services. The fee can range from minimal to fairly expensive, depending on the company you choose to deal with. In the end, you'll know who is calling you, and if necessary, you can ask that person or company to remove you from their calling lists, or in some cases, take legal action as needed. Read More
855 Numbers For Call Centers – Now Is The Time To Boost Your Revenues by: blog-editor2, February 9, 2011 In the last eighteen months, the call center business has become more competitive than ever before. With a surge in the demand for outsourcing and the new global way of doing business, third party call centers are now a crucial tool for almost every business. However, there is also more and more pressure to reduce prices and deliver a superior quality of service. To offset these effects on your bottom line and provide a higher level of service, it is necessary to add additional revenue streams. A great way to do so is by offering 855 numbers. When operating a call center, all of your clients need toll free numbers, and in most cases, blocks of many toll free numbers. So why shouldn’t you be offering toll free numbers and making money from toll free services too? At least one leading toll free service provider is now offering a high quality affiliate marketing program that will enable you to bring in additional revenues naturally from the client base you already have as well as helping you to attract new customers. The recent release of 855 numbers has attracted a lot of press, and as an affiliate, your call center can piggyback off of this publicity and demand by promoting 855 numbers too. This affiliate advantage can be done simply by adding links to your website as well as by using your product funnel and social media marketing to let people know about this new addition to your services. Or perhaps you just want to pack more value into your current programs by bundling 855 numbers with your regular services for new clients. This not only provides additional revenues, but your clients who are using 855 toll free numbers will also see much better results from their campaigns and be better able to test and hone their marketing campaigns, which will make your company look like a rock star compared to the competition. Read More
Why Don’t Phone Companies Care Anymore? by: blog-editor2, February 8, 2011 It seems like most phone companies just don’t care about your business anymore. Even if you can get them on the phone, which can sometimes be a miracle in itself, you still often have to make your way through a maze of transfers to someone who can supposedly help you. Even then you are extremely lucky if you get to speak to someone who even remotely acts like he cares. Why? For a start, until recently very little competition existed for phone companies. So no matter how poorly they have treated their customers, they really didn’t risk losing anyone. In other cases, phone companies have just found it cheaper to lure customers back after they leave than to fix their problems. It is basic math. If they can take advantage of you by $400 on your bill and then seduce you back with a $25 gift certificate later on, then why not? While many companies gauge their success on customer service ratings, phone companies know they only need to be slightly ahead of their major competitors in order to maintain customers even if this is still an abysmal level of service. However, one thing you as a business owner or manager can take away from these bad experiences is a powerful lesson in how not to treat your own customers. Another major reason phone companies fail to offer good service is that what is in your best interest is often the opposite of what is good for your phone carrier, especially when it comes to toll free number management. This is why many business owners are switching management of their business phone lines to Independent RespOrgs who have been earning a reputation for superior customer service and toll free number management. Image Credit: © Solarseven | Dreamstime.com Read More
Seven Marketing Trends to Watch in 2011 by: blog-editor2, February 7, 2011 1. Mobile Marketing Many have dubbed 2011 as the "Year of Mobile Marketing." As marketers, coaches, and ad agencies push more clients into mobile marketing as the "must have" tool for the year, we will see a massive rush to develop new apps. Just make sure yours is designed to keep up with the future and offers social media marketing integration. 2. Group Buying Group buying is back in a big way. In addition to Mercedes-Benz, social media marketing giant Facebook has even moved into the realm of group buying and will certainly be attempting to grow the applications further this year. 3. The eBook Rush We will see more and more books being released over the next year as a new wave of entrepreneurs turn their hands to authoring. However, we will also see a completely new breed of ebook developed offering interactive features. 4. Twitter We will see an even wider use of Twitter in 2011 and more TV personalities using their positions to gain more followers. However, we are also likely to see more countries seeking to block Twitter in an effort to avoid civil uprising and organized coup attempts. 5. Permission Marketing For many, permission marketing is the only way to do business already. However, this year we will see a widening gap between the success of those who are using permission marketing and those who simply continue to try and force their messages into the faces of those who really are not interested in seeing any more spam. 6. Affiliate Marketing Evolution We will no doubt see a further clearing out of junk affiliate marketing programs this year, although at the same time will be an increase in quality partner programs and cross-promotion between complementary and quality companies and services. 7. The Social Media Marketing Monetization Manager Thousands of new enterprises have spent the last year expanding their social media marketing and focusing on developing masses of followers and fans. This year we will see more companies hiring "Social Media Monetization Managers" to turn those outlets and prospect bases into real profits. Read More
Is Your Call Center Managing Your Toll Free Numbers the Right Way? by: blog-editor2, February 4, 2011 Call centers are a critical part of doing business in many industries and are core to the success of entire operations. How your toll free numbers are managed plays a big part in the success of your enterprise. So are yours being handled correctly? Whether you are using toll free numbers acquired through your call center or you are forwarding existing numbers, there is a lot more to good management than just how pretty is the voice that answers. Don’t worry, you do not have to be a tech genius who knows exactly how every cable and call is connected between your customers, your call center, and your main office. However, you should be aware of what makes for superior management for your toll free numbers and what can jeopardize it. The main difference is that since the FCC has enabled TFN portability and Independent Resporgs have been established, businesses now have an alternative to the old phone-carrier affiliated RespOrgs that have for so long notoriously been riddled with conflicts of interest and substandard service. In contrast, Independent RespOrgs provide truly independent management and are not only free to be able to act in your best interests, but also provide the power of multi-carrier arrangements for the smoothest and best quality toll free service. When analyzing the management of your toll free numbers for your call center, you must also look at the coverage they provide you and how they are set up to handle issues that may arise. Does your call center provide 24/7 service for your customers and prospects? What if there are technical issues or a natural disaster wherever your call center is located? Do they have a plan in place, such as your numbers being forwarded to a back up call center? Those companies harnessing the power of Independent RespOrgs will have the latest and best routing capabilities for their toll free numbers at their fingertips. These capabilities include time-of-day routing – for sending your toll free calls to an alternate location at different times of the day where they can be serviced – as well as disaster routing. Emergency and disaster routing options can be set in place so that as soon as an issue arises, your calls are routed to an alternate destination so you do not have to suffer loss of production and business. Image Credit: © Mikhail Lukyanov | Dreamstime.com Read More
