| LED Digest 2549: Catching Up on Marketing Knowledge |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.WillMaster.com/Master : the LED's Key Sponsor Master Series Software - Get Connected with Your WebSite www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. December 6, 2007 Issue no. 2549 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ===================== <Moderator Comment> ~ Pubcon Interview --== Catching Up On Internet Marketing ==-- ~ Shaun Johnston "...I am, in effect, starting up again." --== Production or Scheduling Software ==-- ~ Mark Roberts "This business is 4 - 5 time greater than I ever dreamed it could be..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Should Your Company Be On YouTube? ==-- ~ Eric Rosenthal "...it's definitely helping sell more product on eBay." ~ Michael Linehan "...the lower the price of entry, the more competition you will have." --== Improving Conversions ==-- ~ Ivan Jimenez "I think that you're struggling to make ends meet with both ventures." <Moderator Comment> ~ Kathryn Martyn "...my first thought was too many words." --== Charging Shipping ==-- ~ Lee Roberts "Truth in advertising is an important issue in all mediums of transaction." ========== NEW =================================== <Moderator Comment> Lee Odden of TopRank ( http://www.toprankresults.com ) was kind enough to shoot a 2 minute interview with me at Pubcon. If you'd like to see what I look and sound like, then take a moment to view this video: http://www.toprankblog.com/2007/12/pubcon-video-adam-audette-interview/ Enjoy (and yes, I AM wearing a backpack. What can I say? I'm never far from the laptop.) Best wishes, Adam ------------------- From: Shaun Johnston Subject: Ignoring Online Marketing I'm still a regular reader, used to be a contributor, sponsor terms in search engines, have accounts at G/M/Y, but for nearly a year I've been ignoring online marketing. I suspected it wasn't paying. Now I have better data and I can see what pays, so I am, in effect, starting up again. Can you advise on how to catch up, on 12 months? I know a great deal has changed. I was facing serious study of all three search engine's web sites but can you instead of give me the key points, as if you were starting up again but knowing what you've learned recently about the big three. Here's how I imagine starting. Is this sound? Can you suggest a better set of bullets? 1. Set up all my accounts in Google, use Google editor for managing all my keywords and accessing all my data locally. 2. Export the Google account data periodically to the other engines to update them. (Is this easy?) I haven't used Google analytics, I use WebCeo metrics. Does Google Analytics link up to term-sponsoring data to make the combination better than alternatives for ROI analysis? Cheers, Shaun Johnston -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Mark Roberts Subject: Production Software Needed About 4 years ago I started a small part-time business building bird houses. The original goal was to turn something of a hobby into a little business so that it could pay for my new toys (saws, routers, etc...). Little did I realize what the response would be. This business is 4 - 5 time greater than I ever dreamed it could be...almost to the point of being able to quit my day job and do this full time (even though I am already having to spend well over 40 hrs per week in my shop and still not keeping caught up). I shudder to think of what could happen if I actually advertised this service. In this process, I do a lot of special orders and custom builds. I spend way too much time every week trying to give people updates, progress reports, estimated shipping schedules, etc. I am currently looking for a software package (preferably open source) that I can host where customers can log in and see the progress on their orders. I would be able to post pictures and updated shipping and production schedules, etc. Does anyone know of a software package that would allow me to do this? Appreciate your help. Mark Roberts Bird Houses by Mark http://www.birdhousesbymark.com ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Eric Rosenthal Subject: YouTube I've been selling some product on eBay for 3 weeks. The same day I listed my auctions, I posted a PR Video we have of one of our products being used on an automotive related show on ESPN. All my auctions have links to the YouTube video The video has been watched 570 times in 3 weeks and it's definitely helping sell more product on eBay Eric Rosenthal President & Technical Director Magnet Paints http://www.magnetpaints.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: YouTube > That is almost 2 million free views for just those > two commercials. Are you interested in people WANTING > to watch your commercial AND you don't pay for bandwidth? - Rod Aries, LED Digest 2548 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1963/190/ Oh yes I am. But, if we look at strategic planning and strategic marketing, all videos seem to lie between 2 and 100 views per month. Whoop-de-doo. No - seriously - one can always find people who got rich quick from websites, blogs, YouTube, direct mail, infomercials on TV, door-to- door sales, becoming a realtor, inventing a new product, and many more tactics. Yes, some people have brilliant, quirky ideas that capture the imagination. But there will never be another "million-dollar web page", "will it blend", or "Ginsu knife". Blogs were supposed to be the easy route to fame and riches. That hype wave came and went. There's nothing magic going on, just because it's a blog. Many are banal drivel and most do nothing. Same for YouTube. The reason we hear so much about something like "Will it Blend?" is that it's so exceptional. For most people, most of the time, one must simply build a solid business - not hope for the lottery ticket or the five million views on YouTube. A critical business idea here is that the lower the price of entry, the more competition you will have. Sure you might have a fluke. By all means, do a video. But never make a video (or any one tactic) a substitute for a solid, ongoing, sequentially implemented plan to build your business success. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= Meet The Bontrager Team A decade of web site software, and service to back it up. Here's a new web site, prepared just for you. Get to know us and what we offer for your web site. http://www.FlowTo.us/LED It's a "get acquainted catalog". ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Ivan Jimenez Subject: Conversions > I'm averaging 10 sales per week, or 2/100, > which is of course, search related traffic... > I read that it can be as low as 0.2%, so I > guess I should be pleased. - Phil Chave, LED Digest 2547 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1962/190/ Hello Phil, First off, let me begin by letting you know I don't have a problem with your pages being long. In fact, I think they should be long and filled with copy that... 1. Let's the reader know you understand what they are going through 2. Clearly communicates that you know how to help them 3. Persuades the reader to take advantage of your in-depth knowledge Unfortunately, I didn't get the above from your site so after a few seconds, I left your site... but not before scrolling to the bottom (I do this ALL THE TIME) to see if there was anything that catches my eye and I saw a link that did. It was the Phil Chave link (http://www.philchave.com/). I expected to see a site dedicated to Phil Chave, the genius behind spiritual healing. A Web 2.0-type resume outlining all the wonderful things you have done and some testimonials from people you've helped and maybe even a few recommendations from people in your field. At the very least, a blog dedicated to spiritual healing. Unfortunately, I quickly left that site as well because my initial thought was, "what does a logo designer know about spiritual healing?!" In my field, when I see this, I think that you're struggling to make ends meet with both ventures probably because you're not that great at either. The fear is whichever one "takes off" first, that's the one you'll pursue full-time. This may not be the case many times, but the thought of being left high-and-dry leads me to steer clear of potential situations like this. My recommendation, if you're looking to cross-promote, remove it from the footer and link from your bio / about me section with an short explanation of how you came to be knowledgeable in logo design (i.e., A graphic artist by profession, my true passion has always been ...). I'm no copy writer but you get the point. It wouldn't be a bad idea to draw some basic similarities between the two as well. I can't speak on much more as I really didn't spend much time on your site. I wanted to treat it as a prospective visitor would. I'm sure once you: - Replace third-party narration with more personalization (as a few other LEDers commented); and - Structure your content and update the design to a more Web 2.0 style (look at Adam's sites to see for your self what I mean: http://www.led-digest.com/ and http://www.audettemedia.com/) ...you'll notice people will start to [positively] respond to your calls to action. Best, Ivan Jimenez http://www.SWISSLOGIC.com Swiss precision. Miami spice. <Moderator Comment> Thanks Ivan, but I gotta say... the led-digest.com site is pretty bad. The design is not too offensive (although it's not great), but it's running on old Joomla that produces loads of duplicate pages and has some pretty serious spidering issues. I'm looking to redesign the site and transition to either Drupal or another open source CMS (or roll-your-own). If anyone has input there, I'd appreciate it. Thanks! Adam -------- new post - same topic --------- From: Kathryn Martyn Subject: Conversions I visited your site (I also use EFT in my work) and my first thought was "too many words." That's before I scrolled down. You've crammed everything on the home page and it's just overwhelming. Separate the content from your home page and try to have no more than seven primary links, such as Home, Alternative Therapies, Healing Articles, Distant Healer, Products, etc. You have page rank because of all the keywords on the page, but I'd still say you'll convert more once your site is designed in a way to encourage people to want to read more. Move all the info about you into an "about" page -- right off the bat people want to know what's in it for them, not how smart you are. Later, yes, they want to know about you too. Put what you can do for them first. :-) Do you have anything you offer in exchange for email addresses (a list building tool)? If not I'd suggest offering a free download and then they'll also receive a newsletter, tips for how to better use your CD's, how to use EFT, or something else of value. Once you start sending regular messages to your list, you're getting in front of your potential clients more often and they are getting to know you better too. Win, win. For example I give an Ebook, Changing Beliefs Your First Steps to Permanent Weight Loss, with the opportunity to receive my newsletter and/or my weekly email about using EFT for weight loss called The Daily Bites. I don't automatically add them to any mailing lists, although that may be the better approach. Those weekly messages are my best marketing tool by far. Here's a link to my offer page so you can see how simply it can be used: http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/tools.html Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP Ending Emotional Eating, One Bite at a Time http://www.OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Lee Roberts Subject: Shipping > The term Caveat Emptor truly applies > on the Internet. - Lee Roberts, LED Digest 2547 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1962/190/ Michael Linehan says in LED 2548, “But for a company, the more useful business-building principle is "Caveat Merchant". I.e. be proactive; anticipate problems and friction points; make sure they don't happen.” Caveat Merchant doesn’t exist unless it’s a new phrase that hasn’t before been created. “Caveat venditor is Latin for "let the seller beware". It is a counter to caveat emptor, and suggests that sellers too can be deceived in a market transaction. This forces the seller to take responsibility for the product, and discourages sellers from selling products of unreasonable quality.” ( quoted from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caveat_venditor ). Caveat venditor may be what you are referring to and what it defines is the merchant must ensure the products s/he sells is of proper quality. Truth in advertising is an important issue in all mediums of transaction. Regrettably, the _fine print_ is often left unread and as far back as I know courts have supported the fact that ignorance of the policies under which a business transaction occurred is not grounds for legal action against the business. As previously pointed out, this falls into caveat emptor and is supported by the courts. With this said, I do not disagree that business owners should be proactive in resolving potential problems before they become problems. “have learned a fairly inexpensive lesson fix it, fast!” Assumptions based upon what one person says does not determine the size of the problem or expense levied on the company. Only after learning the answers to the questions I posed in my original post in LED 2547 ( http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1962/190/ ) can we learn any useful information about the business and situation. Until those questions have been answered, and a few more, can we really make determinations on the about the business. Regards, Lee Roberts http://www.merchantmetrix.com (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The weak always have to decide between alternatives that are not their own." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer |
