Marketing Consultants Drastically Increase Profits and Sales in less than 30 days

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Kimberly Deas

We held a naming contest to name our marketing product. The winner, Mike O’Brien, suggested Promozilla and we loved it. The Grand Prize was a $10,000 marketing makeover and we are excited to share with you and update on how Mike’s Business is progressing from engaging with the first sponsors: two marketing consultants.

Mike is an investor in the Tonic Party Bus Business that is owned by his daughter and son-in-law. The grand prize included doing a baseline of their business and marketing coaching as well as website redesign, graphics work, copywriting work and much more.

In the first 30 days since winning the prize, I did a baseline analysis of his business and exposed several gaps in the marketing. Once those gaps were exposed, we introduced Emerson Brantley, a marketing genius, who worked with him and to show him effective ways to fill those gaps and grow the business.

Here is an update on what has happened in the last 30 days:

“It has been a little over a month since Tonic Party Bus, LLC was provided the Grand Prize award for the Name the Software Contest for Promozilla. Since that time we have had the opportunity to engage with Kimberly Deas and the first of the prize award partners, Emerson Brantley of WEB3Direct. Tonic Party Bus was acquired at the beginning of 2011 and was a high potential start-up small business which was not moving toward its real potential by the previous owner. We realized the potential and acquired the company with plans to grow it beyond all previous expectations in the Kansas City Market.

After winning the Name the Contest prize for Promozilla and engaging with Kimberly and Emerson we have already begun  to see an increase in our lead generation, actual sales and profit margins in just one month. We have gone from page 3 on Google to the third listing on the first page.

Thanks to the recommendations and suggestions of Kimberly and Emerson as well as some of our own plans for the increasing the market for the services offered by Tonic, we have already accomplished a number of important marketing steps including:
 
1) Wrapping the buses to increase our advertising reach
2) Initiating partnership discussions with the local professional sports teams 
3) Initiating co-marketing and sponsorship discussions with National Beer companies 
4) Initiating co-marketing discussions with local Bars and Clubs
5) Initiating discussions with the Convention Bureau and Convention centers
6) Purchasing Wristbands for all party-goers to obtain discounts at bar and clubs
7) Creating a discount package for party-goers to take home from the party
8) Purchasing logo stadium cups for all party-goers to take home with them
9) Linking into digg.com with the Tonic web site to create the ability for party-goers to upload photos or video clips to have friends vote for in weekly contest
10) Creating theme-based packages for party purchases such as Ladies Night Out, Bachelor/Bachelorette package, Birthday Package, Join-the-Party Bus, Sports Package, etc.
11) Driver engagement in parties and driver attire
 
These are just a few of the great ideas that we have already initiated and which are starting to reap rewards. We anticipate much more value from the partners involved in the prize package, but have already realized significant value and a very promising upturn in sales and leads. There will be many more, but more brief updates to come as we progress with the remainder of the partners and Kimberly. Our thanks go out to all of the partners and Kimberly. The results show that small businesses can succeed with the right tools and assistance.”

When marketing is correctly implemented it will drastically increase the revenue and profitability of a business. We are excited for Mike to start to see the results of an effective marketing program.

We will continue to provide updates on their progress as they implement more strategies and continue to grow their business.

If you need help growing your business, please contact Kimberly Deas at 904-571-9580 or Emerson Brantley at 904.419.7342 to help you maximize your business potential.

Posted in Success Stories | 2 Comments

3 Tips to Get More Clients from Your Website

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Kimberly Deas

I remember when a business (especially retail) did not need a website – they had a store front – people walked into the store and bought. Boy, have things changed. It is now not enough to have just a website, your website needs to “sell” as well.

This is a HUGE change in the last 2-3 years. Now you are loosing business without a website, because, I recently read that 92% of all purchases begin with an online search. If you and your website are not online and actively working to be found, you are being left behind.

As a small business owner, review your website and consider the following 3 tips to get more business  from your website traffic:

1. Have a way for your visitors to connect with you.This can be a form to get a free white paper, sign up for your newsletter, or connect to you on Facebook or Twitter. Make sure this item is above the “fold.” The “fold” is the bottom of page on your visitor’s monitor. This is the area where content can not be seen below. In others words make sure when your visitor gets on your site – they can see (without having to scroll down) how to quickly connect to you.

2. Offer items of value on your home page. Remember – most visitors will only give your site a few seconds to determine if they stay or click the back button. Provide value and relative information to what you offer and what your ideal visitor wants. A good web developer is aware of this and can help you format your site so that this occurs.

3. Use appropriate language.Today’s web visitors are looking for information not sales pitches. Help educate them on your industry / product and this will lead to further enrollment of them buying from you. Look to offer them value and not jsut “how great I am” information. Remember to use benefit  based information not just features. Benefits is what it will do for them and how it will help them, Features is what it does.

These simple adjustments can drastically increase your website traffic, but you will likely need a web developer to make changes to your website. When interviewing a web developer make sure they understand these marketing principles. 

I recently worked with a small business owner that hired a web developer and did not know what to look for. He got a website, but he is not getting clients.  Most web developers are not marketers.

Recently, I had work done on our website and I came across one web developerthat really impressed me. He not only understood marketing and how to convert traffic – he spoke English (and not just techie) and could explain what needed to be done and then he did it. This I can tell you is a rare breed. We have worked with 7 different developers and this group really made things happen and not only met the deadlines, but exceeded our expectations. If you need a reliable and trust worthy web developer – who loves to work with entrepreneurs and unique projects, check out www.Oyova.comand ask for Dave. Mention Promozilla to get preferred rates.

Posted in Low Cost Marketing Ideas | 8 Comments

Small Business Marketing Idea: Evaluating your Marketing

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Kimberly Deas

As the new year begins and we close the books for 2010, it is time to evaluate your marketing strategy and your marketing budget.

When I do a marketing analysis for my clients, I create a baseline for their business. The baseline looks at 5 VERY important numbers. From these numbers I help my clients decide what marketing strategies to increase budgets on and which marketing strategies should be eliminated.

The numbers that we work with are:

  • Number of new leads (per strategy in a month/year). “New leads” can be defined differently. How each business defines a “lead” can be different based on when you count the contact. Some businesses will count the lead when they get certain details like email address, phone number or contact details. Other businesses will count the lead when they are qualified. For example: an insurance agent may count a lead when a quote is produced, a consultant may count a lead when they talk with someone, either by phone, email or social media. Being consistent as to how you define “lead” will allow you to compare different strategies.
  • Number of new clients (per strategy in a month / year). A “client” can be either defined when the agreement to buy has been made or when the product / service has been purchased. This will need to be an internal decision as to when you will count a client.
  • Cost of implementing the marketing strategy.The cost of implementing a strategy should include things like advertising costs, flyer production, cost of leads, etc. Since some costs, like graphics work can apply to multiple strategies, it is important to decide if you will apply that cost to a strategy and if so, how you will apply it across multiple strategies, to be consistent.
  • Revenue generate by the marketing strategy.Depending on when you define a client, this will affect the revenue generated calculation. If you define a client by the date they order you will  have one number compared to if you define a strategy by the day they pay. Either way that you choose to track your clients and revenue, using the same metric will allow for consistent results.
  • Margin per product sold for each strategy. Since different marketing campaigns may focus on different products, it is important to consider the margin per product sold for each marketing campaign.

    • Using these five numbers allows you to monitor your marketing and make adjustments. The more you know about the results from a marketing campaign the more you can adjust and target your marketing.

    If you track your marketing, please share how it has helped you.

    Posted in Marketing Ideas Small Business, Success Stories | 11 Comments

    Small Business Marketing Trends in 2011

    Posted on January 1, 2011 by Kimberly Deas

    As we review the year 2010, and start to think about 2011, it is interesting to see the trends that are emerging when it comes to small business marketing.

    As I review the year, here are the top 9 trends that I am seeing for 2011:

    1. Online is where it is. I recently read 92% of all purchases being online. Consumers are researching more and more. They want to shop around, get educated and see what options they have. If you are not online, you are missing the opportunity to be seen not just locally, but potentially globally. Having a website is no longer an option, but a requirement.

    One of the fastest growing platforms for websites is WordPress. These websites / blogs are easy to set up, you can maintain them yourself and you can add content quickly and easily. Often these sites can be set up fairly quickly and with less cost than a traditional site. Hiring a web developer to design a really cool website on this platform is also very affordable.

    2. SEO your site. If you already have a website, you are like millions of other businesses. In fact, as of today (Dec 27, 2010) there are 13.99 BILLION website pages per Google. The day of just having a website and getting found is long over.

    Today with so many websites out there, it is important to set up your website to be found on the internet. If you have not optimized your website for search engines – you are are missing out on the biggest opportunities to generate business.

    Search engine optimization is simply making your website more popular so that Google, Bing and other search engines can find you and route traffic to you. To get started with SEO, you will want to know your keywords. These are the words that your site wants to be known for. Then there are several techniques for increasing your popularity on the internet based on your keywords.

    3. Educate, don’t sell. The days of “This is a great product – buy  it” are gone. Today the consumer wants to be educated and consulted. Consultative selling is the key to sales and marketing. Taking time to understand the customers needs and advise on the proper options is what the consumer wants. Spend time educating and training. Marketing materials that are educational based yield higher results than those that are pure advertising.

    4. Value add. Offering discounts can attract customers, but today’s customer is more educated and smarter. They want a good deal, but above that they want value. I am seeing them spend more for quality and specialties items that provide real value compared to just a discounted price. Being the cheapest is not always the best route for today’s customer.

    5. Low cost services. During 2010, I became aware of more and more freelance sites to get marketing project completed outside the traditional routes and for low costs. Below I have listed three different types of sites that can drastically cut costs for getting services done.

    For example: crowdsourcing. Crowdsoursing is where the power of a group is leveraged.  Consider sites like 99Designs.com. You submit your graphical design request and a monetary prize that you are offering. Graphical design requests can be logos, websites, business cards, and more and each starts at a minimum amount. For logos, the minimum is $295. Then the community of graphical designers comspetes for your prize. Often a contest will get 10-100 designs. For small business owners what a great way to get quality work at a VERY reasonable price.

    Another example is sites like fiverr.com and Zeerk.com. These are site where people offer to do smaller tasks for $5 up to $25. For small tasks this is a unique way (and cheap way) to get some small items accomplished, like a video for your product or small graphics.

    Yet another option is oDesk.com and eLance.com. These are sites where you can hire freelancers to complete larger projects. Consider having an eBook writer, oDesk and eLance have several very inexpensive writers that can provide these services for you.

    I predict more services will be available via these kind of online stores. Since the world is truly flat (like Thomas Friedman wrote), we have the whole world available to help us get our marketing tasks done, no longer are you limited to just your region.

    6. Social media. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have become part of our everyday life, like it or not. Your customers are using these services and maybe wondering where you are. Being on social media is the start, but users want more than just to see you. They want to interact with you. They want to learn more about you and your business.

    Customers want to control the process today more than ever before. They want to get information when they want it and in the way they want it.

    7. Interaction is key. Even if you are on social media, having a static presence is not enough. They want interaction. Consider games, sweepstakes, contest, and resources;  use these opportunities to  interact with your client, not just talk at them.

    Having a conversation with your prospect and client is really what they are looking for. They want to know if they ask you a question, you will respond. Consider using your website to provide resources, ask questions, allow them to provide feedback. Today’s consumer wants to communicate with the company and be heard.

    8. Who has time for patience. I recently read you have 7 seconds to catch your website visitor’s attention before they click off your site. WOW – 7 seconds. That is not much time. Today’s buyer has so many choices, they quickly decide if what you are offering meets their needs. If your content is not clear and concise, they are on to someone else’s website. This means communicating your offering effectively will make all the difference. Great copy will make the difference in your brochures, flyers, websites, and emails.

    Today’s prospect is BUSY. Forget the general terms, they want specifics. Becoming a specialists is becoming more and more important. The specialist is getting more sales and more referrals.

    If you are using the web, no longer is one website cutting it. Using specific landing pages for each message and audience is the key to communicating directly to them and their needs.

    9. Follow-up is king. As marketing infiltrates more and more of our lives, it will seem like marketing is every where: on the tv, computer, even your cell phone. As a small business, it will be even more critical to stay in touch with your prospects else they will go else where. Staying in touch can include: emails, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, postcards, phone calls. Now more than ever, communicating with them on a regular basis is critical.

    We know in marketing, it is getting the right message at the right time. Using follow up systems will help you save time and keep your prospects coming to you.

    2010 was a wait and see year, 2011 will be ea make it happen year. The economy has been down for several years and the rebound is building. We are now entering an economic spring and this will be the year for your business. Take advatage of these trends and 2011 will be a game changing year.

    Kimberly Deas is president of Promozilla Marketing and the developer of MyPromozilla.com, the leading professional service for small business marketing.

    Posted in Trends | Tagged | 2 Comments

    Small Business Marketing Ideas: Setting SMART Marketing Goals

    Posted on December 31, 2010 by Kimberly Deas

    Well, it is the start of another year and that means it is time to make plans and set goals for your business.  To help set effective marketing goals, make them SMART goals. SMART is a simple acronym to remember the key components to setting effective goals for your business.

    Smart stands for:

    S = Specific

    M= Measureable

    A= Attainable

    R = Realistic

    T = Timely

    Specific: Your plans need to be specific. Planning for growth is good, but not specific. Consider: I want to increase sales by 50%. That is specific.

    Measureable: Being able to measure what you plan for is paramount to your accomplishing it. If you say I want more saticified clients, how will you measure that? If you can not measure it – how will know if you achieved it? Your goals must be measureable.

    Attainable: Evalaute the goals you have set and ask – are they attainable. In other words – is it possible? Consider the consultant that chargs $75 per hour and says I want to make $1M next year from consultant only. If you charge $75 per hour and work 40 hours per week and 50 weeks per year, you will make $150,000. It is not possible ot make $1M JUST from hourly work. Evaluate your goals to assure they are attainable.

    Realistic: After setting a goal and evalauting if it is attainable (meaning can actually be done) then you need to evaluate whether it is realistic based on your situation and constraints. For example: Wanting to grow a buisness by 50% is attainable, but may not be realistic for your business. Perhaps you do not have the infrastructure to handle 50% growth in one year.

    Timely: When setting a goal you need to have a time frame attached to the goal. Decide a date by which you want to achieve your goals. Breaking your goals into small goals with short time frames makes them even easier to stay on track.

    Taking time to set SMART goals can be the little thing that lets you achieve your goals.

    Good luck and let’s make 2011 your year to shine!

    Kimberly Deas is president of Promozilla Marketing and the developer of MyPromozilla.com, the leading professional service for small business marketing.

    Posted in Marketing Ideas Small Business | Tagged | 36 Comments

    Small Business Marketing Ideas: Your Marketing Personality

    Posted on December 27, 2010 by Kimberly Deas

    Funny, after almost 14 years of marketing, I have come to realize that there are several different marketing personalities. What this means is not every marketing technique is for every person or every business owner.

    Early on I found that I was recommending marketing strategies based on the business and found that certain business owners just would not use certain strategies. And then after several years of getting to understand personalities, I quickly understood that different personalities prefer certain strategies over others.

    Here are 6 marketing personalities – see which one fits you:

    DIY Marketers

    The Hunter: These folks like to go out and get their clients. Their personality is more introverted and they like to work alone. Their motto might be “If it’s gonna be it’s up to me.” when it comes to marketing. They go get the clients usually by themselves or with a small team.

    They tend to prefer direct contact techniques like cold calling, door to door sales, mailers, or networking.

    The Fisher: They like to drop their bait and wait and see what happens. This person tends to be more reserved and an introvert. They like more passive techniques that can be used while they are doing other things.

    The techniques they prefer are advertising in newspapers, magazines, email campaigns, seo’ed website and automated social media marketing.

    Free-Marketing-Is-Best Type: This person has a very limited budget and looks for ways to generate revenue through free marketing sources. Oddly enough there are so many ways to market for free this can actually bring some results, BUT it is VERY time consuming. This works for the person that has time, but quickly falls apart when he gets busy.

    The Team effort: These folks, enroll the help of others as their primary marketing technique. They like to work with others to accomplish their marketing goals. Others can be other companies such as strategies alliances, referral partners or even a sales force.

    Their personality tends to be more outgoing and they tend to look for win-win in marketing solutions.

    The non-marketer: This person believes that by doing a great job his clients will tell others about his service and he will get more clients via referrals. This person tends to be less of a marketer and more of an operations person.

    This person prefers referral programs, outsourced marketing.

    Delegator

    Results Based:  This person uses the eMyth philosophy – Work ON your business not IN your business and they hire professional marketing services to get the job done. They are not attached to methods, but results.  This person often gets the most results since they do not have to consider what they want to do, but instead what is best for the business.

    Review each type and see which type you are. No type is good or bad, but each has requirements. Ideally, getting to the delagator stage allows your business to grow faster and bigger.

    Kimberly Deas is president of Promozilla Marketing and the developer of MyPromozilla.com, the leading professional service for small business marketing.

    Posted in Marketing Ideas Small Business | Tagged | 11 Comments

    Small Business Marketing Ideas: 4 Marketing Types

    Posted on December 27, 2010 by Kimberly Deas

    When choosing a marketing campaign for your small business, first review your business needs. Depending on your business needs, you may want to choose different strategies at different times.

    I have categorized all marketing into 4 (5 with miscellaneous) types.

    Lead Generation: These are marketing strategies that will generate more contacts or prospects for your business. If you find that your business needs more people to interact with, this is the place to start. Everything starts with having a prospect. If you business is new or has recently added new products, this is the best marketing strategy to begin with.

    Marketing strategies that generate leads include: strategic alliances, networking, advertising newspapers, magazines, forms on a website, online advertising, and speaking engagements.

    Increased Conversion: If you find that you have enough leads, but not enough sales, then focusing on the conversion of leads to sales is where you will want to focus your marketing efforts.

    Marketing strategies that increase conversion include: email enrollment campaigns, follow-up campaigns, free trials, and referrals.

    If you have enough leads, you will now want to focus your marketing on converting the leads into buying clients. This will take some testing to see what works the best for your business. Consider tweaking your marketing process and documenting the process during each step to discover which tweaks increase conversion and which do not.

    Increased sales volume: Increasing your average volume per sale requires an understanding of what your customer really wants and delivering it to them in the way they want it. This also requires an understanding of your salese process. If your client is only buying from you one time, you want to work harder on this area than if you client will be buying from you monthly.

    Marketing strategies that focus on increased sales volume include: bundling products, grouping of like products in a retail setting, consultative selling where all of the needs of the client are exposed before recommending a solution, and recommending additional products that will help the client.

    Increased Repeat Sales: Once a client has purchased from you and had a great experience, this is the easiest sale to repeat. The client knows what to expect. Today’s sales are coming more and more from this areas. Whether it is a client buying again or a client recommending another client buys from you, this is a key area to focus on. It has the lowest cost and the highest ROI.

    Marketing strategies that focus on this results are: loyalty programs, active referral program with rewards, and post sales follow-up.

    I find the best way to grow your marketing is to start at the top with generating leads, then converting those leads to sales, then increasing sales (if appropriate) then once you have a mature client base, focus on repeat sales and referrals. I have seen 60% repeat and 40% new produce great results. This balances cost, keeps your pipelines full and grows your business nicely.

    Kimberly Deas is president of Promozilla Marketing and the developer of MyPromozilla.com, the leading professional service for small business marketing.

    Posted in Marketing Ideas Small Business | Tagged | 3 Comments

    Small Business Marketing Ideas: 3 website tips to get more contacts

    Posted on December 27, 2010 by Kimberly Deas

    It used to be just having a website and you could get business, but with billions of web pages out there, the stakes are much higher.

    Use these 3 tips to get more from your website:

    1. Forms – offer your visitor something they would find of value (in exchange for their contact information). Make sure it aligns with what you offer and what they want. Ask for the minimum information you need (usually name and email). And make the form above the “fold” and towards the right for best results.

    Consider the “fold.” The fold is the place on a monitor where your website ends. If there is information below the “fold” the visitor might not stay long enough to scroll down – so make sure the good stuff is above the fold.

    2. Talk to them – not at them. Your site is about them and their needs, not you. Focus on them and their pain and offer solutions – you are their to help them. They really do not care about you.

    Make sure your tabs are points of interest to your clients. “about me,” “what I do,” “who I work with” is not about them. Try “Solutions,” “Services,” and “Resources.” These will speak to your client.

    3. Use landing pages to “hook” your niche market. Today’s client wants a specialist not a generalist. Show they you know how to help them and customize a page just for them. It does not need to be on your website, but a site that features that specialty.

    Even consider having a custom domain like “RealestateMarketingService.com” Although marketing services can be applied to many different professions to attract more real estate agents we might use that domain.

    Kimberly Deas is president of Promozilla Marketing and the developer of MyPromozilla.com, the leading professional service for small business marketing.

    Posted in Marketing Ideas Small Business | Tagged | Leave a comment

    Small Business Marketing Ideas: Local Marketing

    Posted on December 27, 2010 by Kimberly Deas

    Many of our clients ask which marketing strategies they should use when marketing to a local audience. Over the years, I have learned that certain marketing strategies work best in a local market and other marketing strategies work better for a national market.

    After developing MyPromozilla.com, I have assembled this list of marketing strategies to use when marketing to a local audience – here are some of the most effective campaigns:

    1. Newspaper: This works really well in communities where there is a high penetration of readership in your target market. Use the newspaper for time sensitve offers that require readers to call or visit your locatiom and bring the coupon. This coupons allow you to track the response (even if they forget the coupon – this still allows them to say, “I saw your coupon, but forgot it”).  Remember to consider your acquisition cost (cost to acquire one customer) before going crazy with your ads. Also, consider that it may take 5-7 times before someone reacts to your advertisement, so budget your advertising appropriately.

    2. Radio / TV- I am not talking about buying airtime, but instead about becoming the news. Review what you are doing and look for a newsworthy angle that will interest your local radio and TV news stations. Events that get attention include charity events, human interest stories, and success stories. A well written press release can get get a ton of attention.

    3. Community event hosting / Seminars:  Consider your community and your target market and what they need and want information on. For example, if you were an insurance agent and you knew that the rules for flood insurance was changing, you could offer a free seminar on “Understand Flood insurance and what to do about it.” This would allow you to share information with your community about the issue and educate the attendees about what they can expect.

    4. Lunch and learns to target market: If your product is one that can be used by employees of companies, consider offering free lunch and learns to local businesses. Here’s how it works, you offer to educate their employees on a certain topic (for example: mortgages) and offer to bring lunch for all attendees. The companies promotes it and gets an attendance list that they provide you. You educate the employees on the topic and follow up with them offering a next step. The next step can be a free report, a free consultation, etc.

    5. Article writing for local publications: Often local newspapers and maagzines enjoy having experts that write for them. Contact your local newspaper or magazines and see if they are open to having your write on a specific topic.

    6. Website SEO. Currently most of the purchases offline start with a search online. Your customers are looking for you and  need to be able to find you. At least have a website and optimize the site for your main product and your area or city. Make sure your city and state are listed in your meta descriptions so that search engines can “tag” your site for local searches.

    7. Networking (this is HUGE). Some communities are more closely knit than others. If your community is smaller and more closely knit this just could be the area that will get you the most business. Check out your local BNI chapter and Chamber of Commerce. These are two powerful networking opportunities available in most communities.

    8. Claim local listings. Many of the search engines offer free local listings. These allow users who are looking for a local business to be easily found. The folks at eCommerceOptimization have done a great job of listing all the local online listings with details. Taking time to register your site can increase the traffic to your site and drive more business to you.

    These 8 marketing startegies are some the best that I have used and when applied correctly can increase sales and revenue for your business. If you have used one of these strategies, please it with us. If you have other recommendations, please them – we’d love to hear from you .

    Kimberly Deas is president of Promozilla Marketing and the developer of MyPromozilla.com, the leading professional service for small business marketing.

    Posted in Marketing Ideas Small Business | Tagged | Leave a comment

    Small Business Marketing Ideas: Online Marketing Ideas

    Posted on December 27, 2010 by Kimberly Deas

    Knowing which marketing strategies to use can be confusing. Sometimes too many choices is just as bad as not enough. So I wanted to take a moment and look at online marketing ideas and break a handful of options and how to choose them.

    SEO: This is the “buzz word” and it refers to the ability of search engines to find your site – search engine optimization (SEO). What this really breaks down to is how popular is your site. The more popular your site is – the higher the ranking, and the easier it is to find amongst the millions of site on the internet.

    This option is best for any business where client are looking online for you. This can range from bakers to insurance to financial planners to consultants. If your clients are looking online – you want them to find you, not your competition.

    This is very much a science (and lots of work). If you are looking to optimize your site for search engines, we have several partners we work with depending on your budget, just drop us an email and we can gladly get you the details.

    Banner Ads: These are the ads that you see on websites. Now I am saying banner ads, but they can be along the sides, tops or bottom of a website. These are paid advertisements. Usually they are per thousand impressions (CPM – cost per thousand impressions), but they can also be PPC (Pay per click). Pay per click means you only pay when someone clicks on your ads. CPM means you pay for your ad to be seen one thousand times regardless if anyone clicks on it.

    If you’re looking to build brand recognition or have a bit more of a budget, this is an option. Consider that the conversion ratio is often less than 1% – meaning if 1000 people see your ad you will likely get less than 10 clicks (possibly even as low as 1-5). Ads can be effectively used on highly targeted websites to drive niche traffic to your site.

    Articles: Article writing is an interesting online marketing technique that can be very effective, if used effectively. Here’s how it works. Write an article on a topic related to your website. Add anchor words (words within the article that have hyperlinks attached to them) so that when a reader reads the article and if they want more information, they click on the link and it takes them to your website.

    Here’s an example: The best small business marketing tool ever is MyPromozilla.com. Small Business Marketing tool is anchor text and when you click on it takes you to MyPromozilla.com.

    This is very effective when prospects want more information about your product before buying. Write an informative article (not selling) and share the information they are looking for with a link to your site. This establishes you as the expert and gets you a little more “Google love” in other words, higher ranking in Google’s eyes.

    These are three very powerful online marketing ideas. The challenge is knowing how to do them and doing them can be two very different things. If you need help with more marketing ideas for your small business, check out MyPromozilla.com – we have over 170 strategies complete with the best practices.

    Kimberly Deas is president of Promozilla Marketing and the developer of MyPromozilla.com, the leading professional service for small business marketing.

    Posted in Marketing Ideas Small Business | Tagged | 2 Comments