Monday, April 28, 2008

The Missing Marketing Link

By James C. Tanner -- James C. Tanner is schedule to release an incredibly revealing new book this spring, which addresses many of the critical challenges individuals and businesses are currently facing as they attempt to maximize their presence and profits in the world of the social Web 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, and 4.0. This book helps people and businesses define a clearer online identity. Over 130 social networks are discussed, plus numerous other media sharing sites, social bookmarking sites, vlogging sites, and how to capitalize on them. Basic survival HTML code is introduced in an easy to understand format. Also covered is Buzz marketing, article marketing, copy writing, the fundamentals of hypnotic sales writing, plus many other critical helps required to creating a very critical online presence. This eBook is scheduled for release in late Spring 2008.


The Missing Marketing Link


Large and growing portions of some of the most valuable business demographics are spending more of their time and attention on internet marketing strategies and procedures, but in the process they’ve lost sight of a very important now often ignored missing marketing link.

In the 1980’s before the world of Web 2.0, the marketing world was caught up in a style of marketing known as “positional marketing”. The concept behind positional marketing was simplistic. Marketing plans would try to place brands securely into the mindset of the customer demographic base, so when a random sampling was asked to name the first three products to come to mind, your brand would be listed in the top three.

Positional marketing was not about directly pushing sales, as much as cementing the brand position in the mindset of the potential customer. When that customer went shopping, they already had a product brand name firmly planted in their mind. It was a simple process of going out a grabbing it off of the shelf.

Today, with the evolving world of the social web, marketing has changed. The style of marketing has become much more socially interactive. In the process of making this change, many business people are forgetting an important missing marketing link in their marketing plan. They are forgetting to maintain an element of positional marketing in their overall marketing plans.

How does one accomplish positional marketing in social web environment?

The determining factor in any online marketing plan for the social web remains in establishing a firm and dominant PRESENCE. By establishing a clearly definable and targeted presence, any person or business can establish an effective online marketing position. The stronger the presence, the more easily recognized a business entity will be.

All the traditional SEO tactics become a small part of the behind the scenes portion of developing a presence. More importantly, the success of an effective presence campaign becomes a plan of where you appear, and how you appear.

Many people, as well as small businesses will establish on MySpace, then transfer that same strategy over to Facebook, failing to realize, Facebook is a totally different style of market place, requiring a totally different strategy, and appearance.

Again, many small businesses focus their energies on MySpace when, for example, they might be in the travel industry, and totally avoid the six social web networks which are totally dedicated to people who love to travel. Presence is about where you appear, and how you appear.

Everything you do in your marketing plan must accomplish one end result… eventual increased profits. In order to accomplish this, a plan must be created which can be followed, monitored, adjusted, reviewed, revised, reviewed, revised, reviewed, revised, until profits are attained. If you are not realizing a profit, or see on paper a date whereby you can realize a ROI (Return On Investment) then you are stuck with a plan that’s going nowhere.

In fine tuning your plan, reach out to your customer base. Through questionnaires ask them what they noticed about your advertising and make note of what went unnoticed? Stick with what works, and scrap the rest. Pay attention to complaints about your site which are registered to your webmaster, and make prompt changes. Consider involving your customers in upcoming product releases. Encourage them to submit via online contests, or vote online on new product or label designs. Reward your customers when they participate.

The internet world changes rapidly. The technology of this year will be out dated next year. Your marketing plan should be re-visited annually, preferably every six months, to be sure it’s staying current with the marketplace and the technology fueling it. If you choose through inaction to not stay on top of the trends, rest assured, your competitors will.

Grab hold of the excellence life has to offer.

About the Author

Copyright © 2008 James C. Tanner. All Rights Reserved.

James C. Tanner of THE RECENTLY UPDATED Make Money Online With A Home Based Business Opportunity, and Internet Marketing Strategies is a retired entrepreneur, business trainer, investigator, and highly published writer.


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Sunday, April 20, 2008

Creating Internet Marketing Strategies In 2008

When planning your Internet marketing strategies for 2008, don't go it alone. Free Internet marketing strategies are easy to find. The structures of your Internet marketing strategies as well as your web pages are important.

If you are familiar with marketing a traditional business, although different, Internet marketing strategies are much the same.

Why is it that many of us are still looking for a secret magic formula to Internet marketing strategies from the experts? Many of us end up using incorrect or outdated Internet marketing strategies and techniques that have us working hard but getting nowhere. The most successful Internet marketing plans integrate both Internet marketing strategies as well as traditional (offline) marketing strategies.

A critical key is learning to maximize your Internet marketing strategies. There are several solid Internet marketing strategies available, the first and most important strategy being, “If you don’t go to work, you won’t get paid!”

While it is true, the internet is still awash with marketing strategies that are re-hashed or re-vamped versions of out-dated strategies, there ARE proven and measurable Internet marketing strategies available for your business. You will have to spend some time finding them.

In this fast paced world of e-Business, only those with superior Internet Marketing strategies will survive. To look at an example of a generally successful internet marketing strategy, one needs to look no further than affiliate marketing which is certainly one of the most cost effective Internet marketing strategies available. Internet marketing strategies for the average person can at first seem to be a difficult task to overcome. It is a learning curve that requires time, and study, but it can be easily done. The great reality is, anyone can generate serious income with the right Internet marketing strategies.

Explore strategies and techniques you can use on the Internet which will enhance and support your business's overall marketing objectives. When you use all the parts of an Internet marketing strategy you can increase your search engine visibility. Building an Internet based business as with every business requires dedication, tenacity and creative marketing strategies.

Bloggers around the world are finding its easy to make money working online. With many Blog Hosting sites now paying people for blog postings, making money through blogging has become simpler and more efficient than having to rely on the old system of pay per click advertisers, or affiliate marketing advertisements. Now bloggers can add $250 to $450 per month to their income from a single blog just by posting entries. Blog entries that can promote that the writer’s website, products, or services, making it a marketing strategy that literally pays for itself.

Many online businesses tend to make the mistake of not extending their Internet marketing strategies beyond search engines. Lots of people will push their strategies far beyond search engines and make serious money. Article writing or video submissions are two of the most common approaches for accomplishing this technique. Now with the era of Web 4.0 arriving at our doorstep, and the new age of media rich social media, new opportunities to capitalize on marketing through the use of mobile devices will take a greater central theme.

Learning to work from home and to make money on the Internet is something the average non-skilled person can do, and do well. No matter who you are, no matter your skill set, no matter your available resources, one truth must be taken to heart. If you cannot be found, then you cannot sell, and therefore, cannot make money.

The secret to staying alive on the internet is learning to write quality and original content. Do this, and the money will follow. If you’re worried about poor writing skills, then relax, in this day and age of software applications writing has become very automated. To demonstrate my point, this article has been written using a trial version of a new software. One keyword phrase was used, along with five sub-keywords. The entire article was written in less than 10 minutes.

When it comes to evaluating Internet marketing strategies, use common sense when you are buying eBooks, programs, business plans, products, etc. Sometimes what you really need is the “No Fluff Internet Business Marketing Strategies” and the tough advice most people would hesitate to give for fear of losing a sale. Understand your business concept and direction. The help products you buy, may not apply in totality, but from each one, you might pull 10 to 20 percent of information which can benefit your business. When talking to successful Internet based business people, one common thread of information tends to arise, they all have a library of varying material on Internet marketing strategies. They do not buy one strategy product and stop there. They study a collection of ideas, and from those ideas, create a customized plan targeted for their specific business.

Grab hold of the excellence life has to offer.

About the Author

Copyright © 2008 James C. Tanner. All Rights Reserved.

James C. Tanner of THE RECENTLY UPDATED Make Money Online With A Home Based Business Opportunity, as well as Internet Marketing Strategies, is a retired entrepreneur, business trainer, investigator, and well known published writer.

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Saturday, April 12, 2008

The Most Common Online Marketing Oversight

No matter who we are in life, no matter what we do, mistakes and oversights do happen. It’s a part of our imperfect human nature. Unfortunately, our imperfections often pop up where we least desire them to, such as in the middle of our marketing or promotional plan.

Yesterday, while on the phone to the President of a major international consulting firm, this Corporate President was proudly reading to me a blog comment he had posted onto an industrial leaders blog in response to an article which was written. The President’s comment was excellent and well written. As the President of this large consulting firm finished reading his blog comment, he stated to me, “I haven’t had any response yet to the comment?”

“Did you provide a link to your web page?” I responded.

The conversation was silent for a second. The response came back from the President, “No! Was I suppose to?”




One of the most commonly overlooked marketing and promotional tools people can use on the Internet is perhaps one of the simplest tools available to them. To some it’s the most obvious step to take, and yet many fail to capitalize on the strength of it.

Every piece of written communication that goes out with your name on it should also include your web address in the http://www.xxxxxxx.xxx format. This should become a habit for you, a habit as repetitive as signing your name.

Two lessons I learned early in life.

1. People don’t read signs, especially the warnings signs you post to caution them of a safety hazard.

2. People are at their core, lazy. On the Internet, they want a link they can simply click on once rather than have to go through all the work of doing a search for someone.



Constant Contact Try it Free


Every email, every blog comment, should include a link to your website. Not only should it include a link to your website, but you should also include a signature line below your signature. It’s free space that few people use well for advertising and yet it’s perfectly acceptable to post a one sentence or short two sentence description of who you are, BUT include a link to your web site.

Example “A”

Dr. John Doe of http://www.xxxxxx.xxx is a leading proctologist and author of “Hey, It’s Dark In Here!”

We can dress this up a little more by substituting the URL (web address) for the web page title, making the web page tile a hyper link that people could click on to go directly to the person’s web page. To do this, a small piece of HTML code is used that enables you to swap your URL for what ever you wish to put in it's place. Where ever you type your blog comment, HTML code must be acceptable for this to work. For the sake of this example xxx.xxxxxx.xxx represents your URL. I should also tell you that in order for this HTML code to display without activating, I have had to alter it slightly. Normally, when you would go to use this code, you will not use any of the "(" or ")" as I have done. Also, immediately after the term Updates in brackets it should appear as the front half of a diamond key character, forward slash, letter a, followed by the back half of the diamond key character.

Example “B”

Dr. John Doe of (<)a href="http:/xxx.xxxxxx.xxx">Medical Updates (>) is a leading proctologist and author of “Hey, It’s Dark In Here!”

The finished product for this signature line would have the term “Medical Updates” appearing as a hyper link (in the color blue and underlined if that’s how other URLS appear on that particular page. The signature line would read as follows:

Dr. John Doe of Medical Updates is a leading proctologist and author of “Hey, It’s Dark In Here!”

Once a person creates a signature line, it becomes a simple exercise in cutting a pasting it into blog comments as needed. Most email programs allow you to enter a signature into your emails automatically as a onetime procedure.

How does this help you?

1. It provides an easy way for people to get to your website.
2. When placed on a blog comment, it provides a very valuable back link to your web site which search engines love, and on the right blog, can improve your overall web page ranking in the eyes of the search engines.
3. When people do run searches on you, your comments will show up as well, and it gives them an opportunity to gain a feel for your capability and expertise.

It’s important to remember, when building traffic for your web page, there is no such thing, as one true traffic source. Traffic, as it does in real life, comes from all directions. The more times, you place your name out where people can see it, the more traffic it will generate. Commenting on blogs 3-4 times a week is an excellent way to accomplish this. The secret to blog commenting is to place comments on blogs that accomplish one of two things for you: place you in a circle of people who bring to you through mere association, greater prestige (focus 20 percent of your energy here); and place your comments in blogs where your potential customers are actively involved (focus 80 percent of your energy here).

Grab hold of the excellence life has to offer.

About The Author

Copyright © 2008 James C. Tanner. All Rights Reserved.

James C. Tanner of the UPDATED Make Money Online With A Home Based Business Opportunity, Internet Marketing Strategies, and Small Business Opportunities, is a retired entrepreneur, business trainer, investigator, and writer whose articles are enjoyed by 12.5 million readers monthly. He currently spends his time helping people make money online through internet marketing and home based business opportunities.

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Monday, April 7, 2008

Selecting a Search Engine Optimization Company

Things are very busy around here these days as keyboards are busily going through the paces of pulling together the final assembly of a new publication set for release in May of this year. I am incredibly excited as I watch this project come together.

Those who know my background, recognize that overtime I have written and taught business and skills training programs for clients which have included branches of the Federal Government of Canada. This new project not only represents my first foray into the world of eBook publishing, but I must admit, I’m shaking my head when I see how much information is being provided.

This new eBook, when released, will be A MUST HAVE, for any person considering a home based business opportunity; any person with a small business trying to launch out into the realm of the World Wide Web; or any person with a current or soon to be product, or business, wanting to understand how to gain a stronger position and presence on the social Internet; and how to create stronger long term traffic strategies that work! Already this project is packed with all kinds of marketing tips and strategies, and it’s only half assembled! The other half is getting some polishing touches.

Watch for further updates on a release date.

Selecting a Search Engine Optimization Company

A Search Engine Optimization Company can be an invaluable asset in your Internet marketing campaign. They specialize in knowing how to raise your search engine positions, monitoring those positions on the regular basis, and adjusting their strategies to account for undesirable results in any given month. Since this takes a lot of time, effort, and specialized knowledge, it can be in your best interest to go to an outside source rather than try to maintain high search engine positions on your own.

However, like every business, there are good companies and there are lemons. Knowing the right questions to ask and the criteria to look for will help you in choosing an affordable, effective search engine optimization company.

When looking at different companies, begin by considering the approach they employ to raise your search engine positions. Steer clear of companies that use cloaked, doorway, or bridge pages to raise your positions. These techniques violate most search engine policy, and in the worst case scenario, will only get your website severely penalized, if not removed entirely from a search engine's index.

A cloaked page is a page that is created which is invisible to the regular visitor to your website. The cloaked page is coded to detect a search engine spider and divert them to this special page, which is set-up to artificially boost your search engine position. Doorway or bridge pages utilize the same concept, but often reside on an entirely different server. Google, one of the largest and most important search engine on the Internet, will remove your website from their index if they detect you have cloaked pages. Never...never... never employ any company that uses this technique!

Another important element is to get a guarantee that the company you hire will not work with your competitors while they are working for you. Obviously, this would seriously compromise the effectiveness of the search engine optimization campaign. Be aware that some companies will use the success they achieve for your website to sell their services to your competitors. So get your guarantee in writing, and make sure it is legally binding.

Of course, one of the most important factors you want to check out is the company's track record of results. However, don't take the company's word for it. They will undoubtedly be slanting their results in order to sell their services to you. To go beyond their simple statement of success, ask them a few pertinent questions, and verify their answers.

Ask them which engines they have achieved the best results on. The ones that are important are the most popular engines, and these are the ones you want to see good results on. Since the popularity of search engines can change with the landscape of the overall Internet, check out the Nielsen Net ratings page at Search Engine Watch. You can access this at http://www.searchenginewatch.com/article.php/2156451 .

Next, find out what keywords and phrases they are claiming great results with. It's easy to get high rankings with unpopular words. For instance, the keyword "cat leashes" will get high popularity ranking because no one else would think of using it. What you are looking for is good results using popular keywords. Check out the software Wordtracker, available at www.wordtracker.com. You can order a free trial, or a subscription ranging from 1 day to 1 year. This software rates the popularity of keywords and phrases based on actual search engine use.

Next, look for good results over an entire site that the company claims to have successfully worked for. You want to see a wide range of positions over a number of different search engines using different keywords or phrases for the entire site. Request a report for any client the company claims to have done well for. This report should show good positions on a number of the most popular search engines for a variety of different, popular keywords and phrases.

When you are checking out search engine optimization companies, make sure they have actually done the work they are claiming to have done. Some companies will use other company's results in order to get you to sign on with them.

If you are in doubt, call the company they are showing you results for, and ask for the name of their search engine optimization company.

It's important to keep in mind that a successful search engine optimization campaign will result in maximum exposure across a wide range of popular search engines using a variety of keywords and phrases. This is the formula for a successful campaign, and you should keep it always in the forefront of your marketing strategy.

Ask the search engine optimization company you are considering for a report that shows you rankings across a number of popular search engines for a period of at least six months. Remember: search engine marketing is a process that is continual, and you need a company that not only understands this, but keeps constant tabs on your search engine positions. That company must also be able to adjust its strategy in the event that search engine rankings drop.

Since search engine marketing is an on-going process, your positions must be constantly monitored. If you want your search engine optimization company to do this for you, request a sample of a monthly report. It is essential that this report should show rankings for the most popular search engines. Don't be impressed by a report that only shows great results for a limited number of small search engines. These are fairly easy results to acquire. Also confirm that the popular search engine results they are showing you are indeed the popular search engines currently.

Be sure the sample report the company shows you is in a format that you can easily understand. For example, it could be in the form of a chart that covers a period of at least six months and presents data such as the top 50 positions broken down on a monthly basis or the top 5 pages each month. Then, ascertain that the company you are considering actually monitors these positions or pages every month, and that the sample report they show you includes findings and recommendations for the specific site. This insures that the company will actively monitor and make adjustments to their strategy on a continual basis rather than simply gather statistics on your positions. You need a company that is actively participant in your search engine marketing campaign, not just an information gatherer.

Obviously, your finances have to figure into your choice of company, but bear in mind that a search engine optimization company is crucial the success of your marketing campaign.

It is not just a casual accessory. If you cannot afford a company that will do a thorough and reliable job for your website, you might consider waiting until you do have the finances in place.

If you have to find a company and can't wait for your finances to catch up, you may be able to find an affordable company that will also be able to supply quality, reliable work, such as a fairly new company. Just remember that there are risks involved with using a company without a proven track record - and that risk is your money! Don't take that leap unless the company can supply you with a least a few references.

References are the most reliable indicator of a good company. Don't use a company that won't show your references because of any reason, confidentiality included.

Remember - even doctors will provide references! The firm you choose should provide you with a minimum of two references, one that is from the past, and one that is current.

When you contact these references, be prepared to ask precise, specific questions so that neither of your time is wasted. Ask them what their experience was like with the company, such as their availability to answer questions and deal with problems and their ability to meet deadlines. Ask the reference to rate the overall performance of the company.

Find out if the company requested that the reference make significant changes to their web pages that affected the visitors coming to their site. You are looking for a search engine optimization company that can balance the needs of both search engines and site visitors without compromising either.

The most essential question to ask is whether the work of the search engine optimization company resulted in higher profits for the reference. Without profits, it doesn't matter whether your positions are at the top of the list or not.

During the course of the entire process, never forget to grab hold of the excellence life has to offer.

About the Author

Copyright © 2008 James C. Tanner. All Rights Reserved.

James C. Tanner of THE RECENTLY UPDATED Make Money Online With A Home Based Business Opportunity, Internet Marketing Strategies, and Small Business Opportunities, is a retired entrepreneur, business trainer, investigator, and writer whose articles are enjoyed by 12.5 million readers monthly. He currently spends his time helping people make money online through Internet marketing and home based business opportunities.

View James C. Tanner's profile on LinkedIn
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Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada