Internet marketing: free advertising methods

Internet Marketing: Free Advertising Methods!

Given a solid product, a well-developed Web site, and a carefully designed marketing strategy it’s possible to make good — even excellent — sales without investing any money in promotion. More detail to www.internet-marketing-world.com that said, it does take a serious investment of time as well as marketing know-how. Although you may still want to invest in paid advertising, free advertising methods can help keep your costs down.
Give them a reason to come
Give potential customers not only a reason to visit the first time, but a reason to keep coming back. Site design marketing strategy and must work together. Whether it’s simply advertising a weekly sale item or something more involved, like inviting people to a contest in which visitors find pictures hidden within your Web site to win a prize, the site and marketing should complement each other .The site should be alive — a product sitting quietly on a page won’t get much attention. Provide content that’s original and valuable to your target market – not just rehashed newswire copy. Add a ”Send this page” script to your articles and try to have them published (with or without pay) on other sites whenever you can. Unique, relevant, and regularly-updated content will both bring you more visitors — which will in turn improve your search-engine ranking — and keep your old visitors returning. Organize your site to lead visitors toward making a purchase, enticing them to your products page with tempting suggestions in your one or two of your articles or in your sidebars. Use small banners as ”in-store ads” to attract to your products page from, for example, your feature article page. After all, even if visitors spend time at your discussion group or reading your weekly column, it’s little use to you unless they buy. Keep your advertisements to a reasonable level, though. While ad copy should be lively and seductive, trying to pass an advertorial off as unbiased information will look superficial.

Encourage word of mouth

Viral marketing is a way to encourage word of mouth. Offer free e-cards or a useful free e-book that people in your market will pass on to friends. Alternatively, selectively send out a story, tips sheet, or anything else uniquely useful that will get passed around. Something with your URL on it that comes from a familiar address has far more weight with the recipient than any email-list ad campaign from an unknown address. Have a ”Refer a Friend” scripts and offer an incentive for your visitors to actually refer their friends.

Do what you can to get into the major search engines and keep up on search-engine optimization, but don’t waste all your time on monitoring your rank. If you’ve found your market niche, your rank will almost take care of itself. Don’t neglect the specialty search engines, either — they exist for health, music, pet care, and almost everything else and offer a more targeted audience and less competition.

Drop in on them

A useful, regularly-delivered opt-in newsletter is the ideal way to remind you customers about your site. But don’t bombard them with ads or fluff —make the newsletter so useful your readers want to pass it on to their friends. Within the newsletters, give them a reason to return to your site, such as a new article, a sale, or a quiz with the answers at the site. At some point send out a survey asking customers what exactly they want, either from Web sites likes yours or products like yours. For even more mileage, offer to swap ads or articles with other newsletters.

Getting nothing for nothing

Not every marketing scheme works as well as its promoters would sometimes have you think. Generally free classifieds work only in the narrowest markets. Free sites (porthole sites) at tripod and the like can work if they contain real content and with perhaps a different slant than your main site or are used to highlight a specific product. Bulk e-mail ad-campaigns are often disappointing in results and may make you more enemies than friends. Go to www.internet-marketing-online-goldmine.com this technique, while it still brings in buyers in some markets, is working less than it used to.

Study, study, study!

Keep researching — it may take some trial and error to find the techniques that fit your product and market. Given the rapid pace of Internet development, networking is usually the most efficient way to stay on top of advancements. There are a number of sites, discussion groups, and newsletters devoted to Internet promotions that will help you keep up with marketing trends and techniques and gather new ideas. If your business strategies are sound and your product is in demand, you may well be able to make a solid profit even without a bottomless advertising budget.

I lost my job on april fools day

I Lost My Job On April Fools Day

Yes, on April Fool’s day this past year, my boss came up to me and stated that my job was no longer needed. I was greatly shocked, especially after nearly 20 years of loyal service to a company where I thought retirement would be the only reason to leave.

I came down to reality quickly realizing that in a few short sentences, I was no longer able to support my family, provide shelter, pay bills and look forward to my retirement. I was very depressed as one can imagine. The drive home at 10 AM was not at all common; it felt out of place just as the whole morning had come to pass.

The realization that I had enough savings to secure about 60 days of support for all our financial needs was falling short. For years there were always people coming up, and stating «Mike you need to get ready for any emergencies». The thought was passing, but I had worked devoted to a company that seemed to have no end, so what would ever happen. I had more than enough life insurance to take hold incases of death, yet now, how was I going to even pay the premium? WOW, what an eye opener for a reality check. My wife was home, she was off on Monday’s. Her normal routine was to what she has done for our 25 years of marriage, house chores, groceries, and take care of her matters at hand.

I opened the door, walked in and she stood in the kitchen. She obviously was curious why I was home? The words came out «I was just fired». She quietly went into the living room and I could tell she was upset. Tears came to my eyes as well as hers, and we talked together. We had no solutions; the same questions came up from my wife, as that had just passed thru my mind on the 30 minute drive home from my employ.

In depression, many things came up in my mind. I could end my life, that would provide for my wife and kids, yet that would be cheating myself, and those who did care and love me. No, I would not take a cheap route out of my situation. It took about a week to get my thoughts cleared enough to really focus on how I would pull out of this temporary set back in my life.

I found and updated my resume, forwarded it electronically to literally hundreds of job sites. In fact, I considered sending out résumé’s out of state that would take me away from my family just so I could provide. There were no hits; emails were full of spam type offers that were not related to what I needed to provide for my family.

There were other options, which one was where could I go to work from home and make an income that would supplement or even surpass my earning from past employ? Yet, could I do this type of work, I had no experience, no knowledge with Internet Business. I started typing on word search thru the internet. I had literally hundreds of hits, sure was going to take some time to wade thru them, yet was determined to find a niche for making money.

It took about 2 weeks and had narrowed my search to one company. EDC came up several times as the choice. The program was easy to afford (3-levels of entry), even though my income savings were very limited I had to make the commitment. I went with EDC Gold. I had enough savings for approximately 2.5 months on a conservative note. When my mentor called, I committed to him what my plan was to be. I asked him several times, if this was a business that would bring in success, and more importantly income for my family. I was assured that yes, there was no reason that failure would come into the game plan unless I strayed from the step by step guidelines on how to market the business. I believed him, and I still do. The only reason I could fail is if I stop what I am doing.

It is a matter of what type of sacrifice will it take to do this, I in essence was going to be the Pig, who provided the bacon for breakfast. The chicken will also give, yet the egg. I dove head on into EDC. There is no way that I was going to fail. I wanted to in time, to be able to go into work and just leave after 20 plus years, and give no excuse/reason.

The business EDC Gold could be worked from home at my own hours, and the potential was great! Since my youth, I watched my Dad and how he provided, and sure it may have been tough on him at times, we always had food, and shelter. I was going to survive, I was going to continue to provide everything that my family deserved and that was that.

I made the choice. I went to an EDC Registration site, signed in and all started so very fast. I did not know anything about Internet Marketing period. The concept was completely foreign, as if trying to understand and write a language that I had no idea what it meant. EDC had promises in writing in more than one area about support, and step by step guidance, and more of the same. I went with my gut instinct that I was going to make everyone at EDC come through on that promise. Guess what, they did everything as promised. I received 3 websites, tools, software, capture pages, email response, online training, and so much more, even online live support Monday thru Fridays.

It was after 2 weeks of no employment I was offered a lower job position at the same company that just removed me from my prior position. This position was better than nothing, even though it was a humbling experience to say the least. I was a supervisor, delegated over 40 employees at one point, now I was greeting customers as they walked into the place of business. The loss of pay was nearly $30k a year less, Wow. I still worked with the same people whom I used to be a Supervisor.

The 20-30 minute drive home now is not so bad now. I get home about 7 PM, after leaving for work at 7 AM, and eat. Then, it is off to start up my computer; I then go through a routine that I apply for generating traffic to my web site. I place ads, market research, and send emails till about 11:30 PM every night. The weekends are full days, doing the same routine as my week day stuff, but more research, more ad submitting and more emails. All in all I put in about 20 hours plus per week, yet do not get tired of this type of work for some reason?

It has been nearly 4 months since I have registered with EDC. I have learned more about marketing, and making websites, and directing traffic to my website than I ever thought I would know. I was hoping when I paid to sign up, that I would have thousands of internet dollars in my bank account within a few weeks as I have been told that some people have, yet not in my case as of date. It takes time to understand Internet Marketing, for me, I am still learning. Yet, the training, support that is given to me is incredible.

Yet, in fact, in past 4 months thru Aweber, I have 180 signed opted in registered people who are looking for supplement income. Also, in same time also, I have 53 people who registered as my down line with EDC «WOW». The money will come, if all sign in paid, will be lots of $$$’s in commission to me and my family. I put a counter on my website, and in past 120 days have had over 4800 visits to my site. I am amazed, and even if there are no immediate sales, I have learned that there is a way to survive even if one has no experience in a certain field like the internet. However, I feel being consistent on a daily routine bases will bring business in which in turn will help my family.

The owners of EDC, and my mentor all promised success if you follow their way to make this program work. I do thank Craig and Michael, and Shay for having this opportunity to learn, and earn with their proven business plan.

Thanks for allowing me to share with you my story.

Michael B. Amos

How to ride out a recession

How to Ride Out a Recession

The natural instincts of most businesses, is to pull in their horns when a recession looms. Just as we consumers are now abandoning the high street and reveling in frugality, so many businesses lean towards cutting costs and hunkering down.

This is a big mistake.

Great companies always outperform their competitors during hard times. They seize the opportunity to grab market share by continuing to invest in their customers, their products and services and keep a long -term focus.

Whilst many companies go to the wall during recessions, history is rich with examples of those that built unassailable gains and rode to greatness in these periods. Some of the world’s most significant inventions and most successful corporations were born during depressions or recessions. New needs emerge in such times: Health insurance was born out of the US Depression as were stereo recordings, digital computers, Monopoly, sunglasses, ballpoint pens and bubble gum, to name but a few. Messrs Hewlett and Packard got their products rolling from the famous garage in 1939. Despite industry in crisis and companies going under, Fortune magazine, the world’s first and most successful business publication was born at the height of the Great Depression : this was a counter-intuitive and risky venture at the time, but proved an unqualified success.

Continue to invest – your money goes further
During recessions, when everyone else is cutting back on marketing expenditure and research and development efforts, the wisest companies continue to invest in these. They are often able to do so because they managed their businesses prudently during easier times, keeping costs under control and building a valuable war chest. This makes sense, as during a recession money goes further, as suppliers cut costs, and are ready to make deals. For those with available resources, this can be a great time to get acquisitive. Sadly most firms work the other way round, spending freely in good times and then savagely cutting costs when times get tough.

Lavish time and effort on customers
For those companies or small businesses that haven’t built up a war chest, there are still great opportunities. What they lack in funds they can make up in time and effort, by lavishing attention on customers. This means spending time to listen to them and find out how to serve them better; to get them to collaborate in dreaming up new products or solutions; to look for ways to offer them more value, rather than lower prices and to find ways to lock in their loyalty.

Keep on advertising
Advertising and marketing is often the first spending victim of recessionary cost-cutting. It is such an easy budget to slash, but you do so at your peril. Look for ways to use the money more efficiently, to seek out better deals and to try new approaches, but NEVER stop communicating with your target market. If your competitors cut back their spending, rub your hands with glee and see it as a golden opportunity to gain share at their expense. In a normal market, marketing is often a game of ‘tit for tat’ that makes it hard to gain ground and often results in standoff. In recessionary times, you can find yourself on an empty dance floor with the audience’s eyes trained on you alone. Go for it!

Ideas and insights are free!
Whilst money may be tight, creativity comes free, as does spending time understanding your customers’ needs. Time spent now hanging out with customers and consumers, observing them, talking with them and listening to them will yield rich insights about their needs and behaviour that will give a huge edge to your new product and service development efforts and help you hone your advertising messages.

History shows that it is twice as easy to grow share in a recession than in buoyant economic periods. Those firms that succeed in growing market share in this recession are likely to hang on to it, while those that lose it will have a tough and very costly battle to regain ground when things pick up.

How to choose cufflinks

How To Choose Cufflinks

Cufflinks were developed in the French court more than 300 years ago. Today they remain an elegant way to fasten your shirt sleeves, and are the best way to wear French cuffs. Choosing the right cufflinks for you can be an involved process. Following these tips, you will be able to choose cufflinks that suit your personality and your style.

1. Take a look in your closet. What color schemes predominate? If you have warmer, earthier colors, like browns or burgundy, 14k gold cufflinks are a sleek choice. On the other hand, if you have darker tones like greens and blues, a silver cufflink will better balance your suit. Black can be paired with either a silver cufflink or 14k gold cufflinks.

2. Cufflink design corresponds with the occasion. If you are wearing a French cuffed shirt to the office or to a business dinner, you can aspire towards a more contemporary design like the paua shell cufflink. A more classic design, with inscribed initials perhaps, would be suitable also, but it would not be vogue to wear a more contemporary design to a formal dinner or with a tuxedo. For formal occasions, a silver cufflink or 14k gold cufflinks are ideal, especially when paired with a semi-precious stone like hematite, which comes in non-overpowering colors like gray and brown.

3. Novelty cufflinks are fun and can often be centerpieces of conversation. Bone cufflinks or brightly colored cufflinks work well for parties and pastel colored shirts. In general, however, it’s better to be dressed up than dressed down.

4. Cufflinks come in different sizes and shapes. There are round, oval and square cufflinks, and each design projects a different image. Of course, for the sake of variety it is nice to have more than one style, especially since shape does not correspond to occasion.

5. Look around. Don’t settle on the first thing you see because you may be disappointed (and not have enough money) when you see something else. Also, make sure that the cufflinks are scratch free. Many cufflinks can have scratches even though they have not left the jewelry store.

6. Put on the cufflink by closing the swivel bar and inserting it through the hole of the front and the back of your cuff. Then open the swivel bar.

7. You can match your cufflinks with your tie, ring or even with your mens pocket watch. Cufflinks are a great way to add some flair and class to your suit. As with any other fashion item, it’s important to choose something that you like and that you feel comfortable wearing. Secondary are stylistic and matching factors. Don’t be afraid to spend a lot of money on cufflinks; you should have them forever if you take care of them, like with any luxury item. You can always build a collection, as you would with ties or shirts, in order to have a pair for every occasion, or just for the sake of variety. So now that you know what to look for, go on out there and start shopping.

Is jewellery business is a dangerous affair

Is Jewellery Business Is A Dangerous Affair?

Jewellery business suffers not only from high gold prices and recession, but from a real physical danger. The story we are going to tell may be an extreme but many of the UK wholesales have been a subject to violent attacks and robberies.

Last week UK travelling diamond jeweller who is a regular visitor to EIRE and travels around the country for business deals with local jewellers has been brutally attacked in Dublin and robbed of 1m of precious stones and diamond jewellery

The jeweller was staying in his Travelodge Hotel room, Ballymun at around 12.15am on 30.01.10 when the three masked raiders, armed with a gun and a hammer forced their way in, battering him on the head with a hammer as he tackled one of them, and chased them into the street before they turned into Coultry Road.

Despite the effort, diamond jeweller failed to prevent the men from escaping and taking his suitcase containing diamonds and rubies and lost his life savings because the jewels were not insured.

Gardai believes he was the victim of opportunistic local criminals who became aware that he was carrying a valuable haul in his suitcase and kept watch on his movements until they established where he was staying. It is assumed that the raiders had no idea of the value of their haul and could now become the focus of more serious players in the crime world who are looking for a slice of the fortune, especially since the jewels are unmarked in any way, and therefore easier to «fence», because they are not traceable.

Investigators are also tracing all known contacts of the jeweller since he arrived in Dublin to try and establish how the gang knew that the contents of the case were so valuable.

After Gardai arrived at the scene he was taken to the Mater Hospital for treatment for lacerations, receiving around 50 stitches on his head. The doctor stated that if the injuries were a quarter of an inch left or right, the result would be an immediate death.

Last year a very similar story has happened in Manchester where opportunistic criminals attacked the jeweller in his car, breaking his door window, slicing his hand with a machete and disappearing with his stock.

When we are talking about ethical jewellery it is important to remember that bloody gold and diamonds are not only coming from conflict zones- they are also coming from UK and Ireland.

Not only the second hand but also the new jewellery as well can be of concern, as the stolen stock is flogged back into the UK wholesale market ending up in the UK and Ireland jewellery shops with or without conscious knowledge of the retailers. The situation is even more appalling during this recession when an exceptionally high gold price and the greed drive some people to commit the crime.

If we are to tackle the issue of bloody diamonds and gold we should start at home.

Visit www.GoldandSilverJewelleryShop.com for ethically sourced jewellery.