| LED Digest 1502: Effective Marketing Tactics? |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising Since 1997" ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest ................................................. January 23, 2003 Issue #1502 ................................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ===== NEW ======================= -=Effective Marketing Tactics?=- ~ Valerie Harris "...what marketing tactics will attract more customers to our website...?" -=Subscription Management Software=- ~ Jeff Meister "I have been thinking about turning a website to a subscription basis for certain pages." ==== CONTINUING ================= -=Froogle=- ~ Ivan J. Jimenez "...Froogle is in Beta mode which means they're still working out the kinks..." ~ Will Bontrager "Froogle can use your help to get their product database in shape." -=Search Engine Optimization (SEO)=- ~ M. J. Young "...strategies which are geared...exclusively toward boosting SE visibility are considered Spam." ~ Mike Jacobs "...SEO beats other channels of advertising...for the majority of Web-based companies." ===== GEEK TIPS ================== -=Email Web Page Code=- ~ Steven Rothberg ~ John Barendrecht ~ Christian Nielsen ==== BILLBOARD =================== -=Seminar & Workshop Listings=- ~ Willie Crawford ====== NEW ======================================= From: Valerie Harris Subject: Effective Marketing Question Hello Everyone, I'm a Web Developer whose company (URL below) is looking to increase sales in our web department. The majority of our clients are obtained by word-of-mouth from clients we have worked with in the past. Because no business (these days) can survive on word-of-mouth alone, what marketing tactics will attract more customers to our website and the websites of our clients? I've been thinking about joining an opt-in mass email program or possibly purchasing a list of mailing addresses of our potential clients in order to get the word out. However, many of these programs are very expensive; at prices my Boss would not go for. Outside of word-of-mouth, what are the best online and "physical" ways my company can reach its target audience without spending 1,000s of dollars? If 1,000s is required, why are they the most effective methods. Thanks, Valerie Harris, Web Developer Custom Information Services http://www.customis.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Jeff Meister Subject: Subscription Management Services I have been thinking about turning a website to a subscription only basis for certain selected pages. Does anyone have any good recommendations for a beginning subscription management package. Thanks. Jeff Meister fund-track.com ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Ivan J. Jimenez Subject: Froogle Hi Wanda, There's a chance Froogle just hasn't gotten to your site yet. I'm actually starting to doubt it's capabilities after a few random product searches took me to affiliate resellers rather than actual manufacturers or dedicated suppliers. In any case, I'm still suggesting you (and anyone else) do a feed because it will ensure that the correct information will be listed - as long as your feed is accepted. Froogle works just like Google in the sense that it'll eventually visit your site (either on it's own or via links from other indexed sites) although when they get around to it depends on the workload... it could be today, it could be in six months. Are you willing to wait if there's an alternative? Why am I suggesting you submit even though I'm doubting Froogle? Simple, Froogle is in Beta mode which means they're still working out the kinks (and they're way too busy to answer the majority of our inquiries) and more likely than not, the finished product will be a very productive addition to your marketing plan if listed correctly and ranked high enough. All the best and let us know how it goes, Ivan J. Jimenez, Business Development cosmicbreath.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Will Bontrager Subject: Froogle > If I search on Froogle for "agentwebranking", the > results I get make no sense in term of price... Is > this because Froogle is still in beta? - Fabien Faceries, LED 1499 I assume the strange prices, and also some strange product images and descriptions, are the page crawling robot's "best guess." Automatic information gathering and categorizing needs more development before the system can successfully retrieve specific information from such a wildly inconsistent database as the Internet's web pages. Froogle can use your help to get their product database in shape. See http://froogle.google.com/froogle/merchants.html for information about how you can upload your own product information. Will Bontrager Sooner or later you need CGI. http://willmaster.com/ ------- new post - new topic ------- From: M. J. Young Subject: SEO > A diverse company... has good reason to have > separate sites that have absolutely nothing to do > with search engine visibility and those doing SEO... > should know this, but apparently haven't got a clue. - Sara Griffith, LED 1500 Sara Griffith in LED 1500 has, I think, either misunderstood or mischaracterized Shari Thurow's comments in the previous issue. No one is saying that a company with many divisions or many locations should not have separate web sites or even separate domains for these. Obviously, Hilton Hotels will do better by having individual web sites for each location they serve, so that those looking to stay at the Hilton in Miami won't be looking at information relevant only to the facility in Paris. Ms. Thurow didn't suggest otherwise. What she did suggest was that strategies which are geared specifically, primarily, or exclusively toward boosting search engine visibility are considered Spam. I see that Mr. Dorfman's comment (issue 1498), which led to Ms. Thurow's, was open to some misunderstanding. It could be inferred from his words either that the SEO company suggested web sites for each location as a way of marketing the company generally, or that the SEO company suggested that such web sites should be set up to influence search engine placement without regard for whether they had any value to the average surfer. Let us imagine for example that there was initially a central site for this chain which simply indicated that all of their hotels had this list of facilities, providing the cities in which they are located, and a central WATS line through which reservations could be made. The SEO company sees this, and recommends individual sites for each location. If that means taking the time to customize (even if from a template) a site for each location, providing individualized information about it, contact information to speak to someone at that place, and photos showing the facilities, we've created a good marketing strategy that helps people find what they want to know and incidentally improves search engine visibility -- both because it will now show up higher in a search for "hotels in Atlanta" and because it increases links. On the other hand, if it means taking the home site, changing the title to "Atlanta Chain Hotel", adding a line at the top that says "The Atlanta Chain Hotel is part of the international Chain hotels, all of which provide these facilities and services:" and then repeating the same web page that originally existed, that's clearly Spam. These web pages provide nothing for the searcher that was not found on the original page, and exist solely to increase search engine visibility. That is what Ms. Thurow was after. That is what search engines will consider Spam. M. J. Young http://www.mjyoung.net/ BestRPGis[AT]multiverser[DOT]com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Mike Jacobs Subject: SEO > People, [basic SEO foundations] for your site should > be taken care of by the web site designer. This is not > something you should be wasting too much additional > money on... It's like signing up for a lottery. - Joe Lachiana, LED 1499 No, it is not. It is like being in the phone book. There are millions of listings in mine. But it is no mess. Those who got listed correctly will certainly get some calls. Same goes for any marketing channel. You can use it wisely, or use it poorly. You can have your graphic designer take a guess with SEO, or you can hire a professional. In the end, SEO beats other channels of advertising, online AND offline, for the majority of Web-based companies. We've been running the benchmarks for years, and SEO comes out on top in a majority of cases. So the facts also oppose your statement. Mike Jacobs www.webmogul.com ===== GEEK TIPS =================================== From: Steven Rothberg Subject: Email page > As a means of site promotion, I would like to include > an "E-mail this page to a friend" link on my pages... - Tom Anson, LED 1500 Tom Anson posted a note asking for a script that would allow him to add an "email this page to a friend" option to his pages. When I need scripts like that, I go to some of the sites that offer free scripts and other tools for webmasters. Internet.com has a good selection, including what Tom is looking for. He should go to: http://javascript.internet.com/page-details/email-this-page.html Steven Rothberg http://www.collegerecruiter.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: John Barendrecht Re: "E-mail this page to a friend" code In LED 1500, Tom Anson asked about making one page send the email and use it for all pages on the site. Yes this can be done. I seen many scripts for this in CGI but since I am on a NT box, I wanted an ASP solution. I modified the code as follows: 1. Put your "email friend button" on any page and call an ASP page. 2. Use the http-referer to get page name and ask for sender and receiver's email. 3. Once you have the email info and they click "send", process using a standard "intro, message, signature. (Optional - check for valid email address). 4. Use CDONTS (standard install on most NT boxes) to send the message. You can try "email a friend" on my site if you want to see an example. People also send this to themselves as a bookmark. One note of caution - if you use formmail on a Unix box, this can have security implications. John Barendrecht Dance, exercise and sports videos. http://www.centralhome.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Christian Nielsen Subject: Email page I had a request for some code that would email a page link to someone from a web site and was able to put it together in about a half an hour. It is only a few lines long. I'm willing to share it with anyone that would like it, but it is Cold Fusion-specific code. Thanks, Christian Nielsen Nielsen Technical Services christian[AT]nielsentech[DOT]com ==== BILLBOARD ==================================== From: Willie Crawford Subject: Publicity for LEDers Hosting Seminars / Workshops Hi LEDers, I just wanted to see if I could tell you about a site I recently created - largely as a public service. I have grown to believe that seminars, conferences, workshops and bootcamps are great for learning certain aspects of our trades "hands-on." However, I think their even greater value may be in the networking opportunities they afford. I know I have set up a number of joint venture partnerships with people I met at seminars. The face to face interaction was necessary to let me know that this was a person I wanted to do business with, and great ideas just seem to flow while sitting around a tropical hotel pool. That's true even without the margaritas :-) After noticing that there really wasn't a site that lists all of the internet marketing-related workshops, seminars, bookcamps, and tele-events, I created one. I would now like to invite anyone who is sponsoring such an event to submit it to me for a free listing. Just email details to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it with the topic "Event Listing" and I will get it listed... complete with a link to your description or registration page. To see what the listings look like, please check out the site at the URL below. For those who are wondering about my "profit motives"... the listings are free. If an event has an affiliate program, I may join and use my affiliate URL. I think that's simply smart business. However, most 1 hour tele-seminars and a lot of the events I list don't compensate me in any way. The site just offers a great place to find an upcoming event either on-line or near your home. Willie Crawford, President Willie Crawford Incorporated internetmarketingseminarschedule.com ------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1995-2003 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "There's a force in the Universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen... and be the ball." - Ty Webb, Caddyshack |
