Presidential Optimization Tactics that Work for You

Optimize your site for success Direct marketing industry participants recently rated the presidential candidates’ Web sites in terms of optimization. Here are three results from their list to consider for your own site.

Optimize the terms and phrases your customers use and say in a language they understand (grade level, technical, etc.). This optimization is part of your keyword and/or meta tags.

Add competing company’s names to your search. I learned, through my own research, that one of my distant competitors added my name and business name to their keywords.

Join social networking sites to expand your reach. The popularity of Facebook, MySpace, and other social sites makes this tip mandatory if you truly want to reach the masses.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, optimization tips, solo business marketing, solo entrepreneur

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January 23, 2008 | Filed Under Recent Entries | Leave a Comment

Why Print Marketing is Still Important

Use print marketing tactics to win sales

“The days of spray and pray are gone. Your customers are telling you what they want. Make sure you have the tools in place to effectively listen.”

John Foley, president/CEO of InterlinkOne, made this point about print marketing technology in DMNews’s January 14th edition.

He and three more print marketing experts provided views on how to “make your direct marketing more effective.”

I’ve mentioned in past posts that Email alone will not produce solid marketing results, and this will continue to be true in 2008.

Creating and tracking a campaign that incorporates your Web site, online newsletters, mailed brochures or postcards, blog posts, and collaborations with complementary Web sites will deliver the results you desire.

Also highly favored is customer feedback so you know which type of marketing is most effective.

Adding a print marketing plan to your campaign is not difficult. Separate the tasks into monthly assignments, such as:

January - launch new service through blog and postcard announcements.
February - offer complimentary plan review by letter and on Web site.
March - create white paper and promote as a download and by mail.

Print marketing is a vital piece of your overall plan. Wasn’t that part the main focus when there was no Internet?

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, print marketing, solo business marketing, John Foley, InterlinkOne, print advertising, solo entrepreneur

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January 22, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Offline Ideas | Leave a Comment

How One Contest Created a Trunk Full of Success

Market your business by inviting the public to participate in your celebrations Can a special event for a baby elephant add ingenuity to your next marketing campaign? Here’s the scoop from DMNews’s January 14 edition.

As the Houston Zoo prepared to celebrate the Mac the Elephant’s first birthday, they decided to get the public involved through a birthday card contest. The marketing campaign was launched on the zoo’s Web site, on their blog, and through an opt-in Email list.

1. The Email campaign, created as a series, began months in advance.

“The emails were really cute and colorful, promoting a contest to see who could draw the best birthday card for the elephant.”

2. Each part of the campaign was branded with consistent imagery. This helped to increase awareness and submissions.

3. Balloons, a cake, and a picture of the elephant wearing a birthday hat was added on each promotional piece to make the contest fun and festive.

A little boy who followed the elephant’s first year of growth won the contest.

“His love for Mac…shined through in his entry.”

This contest’s components explain how to create a winning campaign, and each step is achievable when you plan ahead and deliver a great experience for your audience.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, Mac the elephant, Houston Zoo, solo business marketing, solo entrepreneur, marketing campaigns

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January 21, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Marketing News | Leave a Comment

A Marketing Twist for Laughs

Take a break to laugh and relax In relation to yesterday’s post on ending a non-productive project, The Onion went one step further with their lead story, Failure Now An Option.

It was good to set aside a book project for a few minutes to laugh. I was so loud that office mascots, Daisy (Rottweiler) and Pepper (Chow Chow), visited me to see what was so funny, something they rarely do.

This parody is loaded with great statistics, including this one:

A recent CBS News/New York Times poll revealed that 64 percent of Americans are “perfectly comfortable” with coming up just short, 43 percent are content to try only once rather than try, try again, and an overwhelming 95 percent admitted that after falling down, they now prefer to stay down.

Like me, I’m sure you’ve wondered why you dove head first into solo marketing. It’s a calling that few can master, so count yourself in as one who refuses to fail, no matter what the circumstances.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, The Onion, solo business marketing, solo entrepreneur, business success

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January 17, 2008 | Filed Under Fun and Levity | Leave a Comment

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