Note from the Editor

What a weekend I had! The host for some of my other sites crashed… badly. There was a RAID controller failure, and then the restore system had a problem and was working at 1/10 the usual speed. It was all a complete and utter nightmare for more than 65 hours.

Yes, that’s how long my sites were down. It was painful.

Even more painful is that the hosting company from the time I signed up with them HAD been more reliable than any other host I’ve dealt with. Makes deciding what to do painful. My inclination is to leave them, but there’s also the urge to stay and just trust that it’s that rare. Hardware problems happen to the best companies as well as the worst, after all.

They gave a 6 month service credit, so I might leave some minor sites there and see what happens.

But that’s why I use multiple hosting companies. I could have hosted all my sites there, and been completely down all weekend. But I pay multiple companies just so that I can know that I will have some sites up at all times. Just a little safety net.

Search Engine Marketing, SEO and Email Marketing – What’s the Synergy?

While surfing around LinkedIn the other day I ran into the following question from a member..

“What’s the synergy between search engine marketing and email marketing and can you provide examples of the synergy?”

Here are my thoughts on this…

Search marketing (as well as search engine optimization SEO) and email marketing are to an Internet marketer what the “one-two punch” combination is to a boxer. Left jab, then right cross. That’s a classic knockout combination. It’s your bread and butter if you’re a fighter. And it always produces greater results than the individual punches themselves.

Now, let’s put this in context with today’s web users, prospects and buyers… Nearly everyone turns to a search engine first to find what they are looking for Online. So, being found in search results, organically or by paid placement is arguably the most important element of Internet marketing. Search marketing is the left jab that sets up your right cross: email marketing.

Search marketing is also like a headline in a sales letter. If you don’t stop people dead in their tracks and get them to read more, the rest of the sales letter is meaningless, no matter how good it is. Without search, you would not be able to capture names and email addresses for marketing purposes (except if you advertise offline and drive traffic to your site). Search marketing is typically the starting point of a potential relationship between web marketer and prospect.

Enter Opt in Email Marketing…

The majority of times, your prospect has found your website and offer but is NOT ready to buy from you yet. She is not sure she can trust you, she just met you so to speak. Plus there are other offers and vendors to investigate. The web is big place with lots of choices. This is where email marketing comes in to create synergy with search.

People have more information and choices than ever. Unfortunately the more choices and information, the tougher it is to make a decision. More vendors, more information and more choices translate into more work for prospects. As a result many people get bogged down in “analysis paralysis”, procrastination or both. They are ruled by fear, uncertainty and distrust.

Because of all the information and choices available to Internet consumers, it is difficult to create lasting marketing relationships. There are so many vendors competing for mind and wallet share.

Search marketing does the heavy lifting of attracting qualified prospects to your sites and offers and creates potential relationships. Since a majority of people do not buy on the first exposure to an offer, it’s email marketing’s job to capture the name and email address and to break down barriers and inhibitions to buying over a time sequence.

Through email marketing you build solid relationships on trust, reciprocity (because you give something of value to them) and develop credibility as an expert in your field by providing good content on your website and in your email newsletter.

The success of the individual parts — search marketing and email marketing — can be attributed to the combination of these two forms of marketing. One without the other would produce poor results (an exception is offline advertising i.e. sending prospects to your home page or opt-in page directly from space or classified ads).

Also, synergy occurs when a web user is exposed to multiple instances of your brand, products, offers & websites.

For example, if a prospect keeps running into you online when they search on keywords related to your products/services and hears from you regularly through email marketing, credibility with that prospect is sure to increase because of the combined exposure.

Search marketing and email marketing are strongly dependent on one another for overall marketing success. Together they help you create relationships and online sales.

Of course your sales message has to be strong. But generally speaking any exposure in search results combined with email marketing is going to help your cause. It will help build trust and decrease buying resistance. This plus a good offer will produce solid online sales.

Bob Thomson is CEO of Marketing Science, Inc. a consulting company that specializes in helping small and medium businesses acquire new clients using proven marketing, copywriting and design concepts. He is also a webmaster, search engine specialist and sales professional with over 20 years of business experience. Learn more business marketing strategies and tactics by visiting
http://www.mktg-science.com and http://www.askthesmallbizcoach.com

Note from the Editor

Ok, I think I’ve had enough sick days for one year already. It’s been a pretty frustrating few weeks here. I really can’t believe I’m so far behind on releasing my ebook. But you try working with a pounding sinus infection.

Could be worse, though. I could have a regular, outside the home job, rather than my own business. I could have had to explain to a boss how I was feeling. Even when you get sick, there is that to be said for a home business.

And I’m steadily feeling much better now.

Understanding The Key Components A Successful Joint Venture

If you have been on-line for any amount of time you will have heard of successful product launches and the part that joint ventures had to play in these. Joint ventures have generally been seen as the reserve of the more experienced and successful on-line marketer. However to actually approach a potential joint venture partner it is not always necessary to be established, although it does help of course.

The traditional and popular view is that joint ventures are developed in the following way.

1. Marketers who operate in a similar field.

2. Product creators already with a product to promote

3. Marketers who have a substantial list of subscribers that they can market to.

These components are seen as necessary assets to have in place to be attractive to another potential joint venture partner, but if you find yourself in a position of not having these attributes, how do you begin?

Firstly, whether you are new and inexperienced or an experienced on-line marketer for that matter, whatever idea you may have needs to be proven to be mutually beneficial to all parties. So for example it would be typical for a joint venture partner to be paid lets say 80% commission against say 50% for normal affiliates.

This obviously is recognising the value of the joint venture partner, and for the product creator they receive not only a potential massive influx of visitors that should increase sales volume, but also find themselves building their list with the visitors who don’t purchase straight away but sign up for a free offer of sorts.

Before you can start contacting potential joint venture partners you need to become visible, this could be achieved by:-

1.Purchasing their products and providing testimonial feedback.

2.Writing comments on their blogs.

3.Getting on their newsletters to establish the personality of the marketer.

4.Trying to get introduced at a seminar event.

5.Conducting reviews of the marketers products.

If you get an opportunity to talk to a potential joint venture partner you cannot just expect to get straight into a conversation about your joint venture request, break the ice and let them get to know you a little. When your chance does come to discuss any joint venture request, highlight what’s in it for them! Remember it’s you that needs them and not the other way round.

It’s also courtesy and etiquette to conduct yourself in this manner, the person you are making contact with has already got their success and deserves a little respect for doing so. If you have not got the normal components to be a joint venture partner you need to have an idea that provides you with a product with their assistance but provides more positive exposure to them and their business ventures.

This could be provided:

1. In the product itself

2. Ads contained within the product

3. Products offered in a OTO

It is not impossible to contact already successful marketers if you have done your home work first, make contact and approach in the right way and have a sound and good business idea that can prove beneficial to all parties. It takes not unlike anything else time, dedication and a little bit of patience and hard work.

Find Out How A Mother Of 5 Went From Broke To $37,000 In Two Weeks With Her First Ever Joint Venture-Visit Here – Joint Venture Seeker.

Note from the Editor

I learned quite a lesson this past week… it’s very, very hard to launch an ebook during flu season when you have small children.

Rather than spending my time on creating my sales page and everything else I had planned for this past week, I spent most of my time dealing with sick kids. Fevers in the 102-103.5 range, plus an ear infection for my daughter. Not the best of working conditions even when you’re determined to run your business.

This ebook is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Not in the internet marketing niche or anything. I know pretty much what I want to do with it; it’s just that getting there can be a challenge. But we’re all getting better now and hopefully I won’t have to get antibiotics for anyone else.

Setbacks like this are of course just a part of running a home business. No matter how hard you try, sometimes home life does get directly in the way of your business. But this would have happened even if I worked outside the home. At least I don’t have a boss grumbling about the time I took off… unless you count the part of my mind that nags me constantly.

7 Recession Proof Online Marketing Tips

The dark clouds on the economic horizon seem to be successfully resisting the heroic efforts of the government to stave off the coming storm. The question on the mind of many is – “What Should I Cut and Where Should I Focus My Marketing Investment?”

As in past recessions, the companies that make the right marketing moves, emerge from the economic downturn in a stronger position. Below are 7 Online Marketing Strategies that should have a prominent place in your recession toolkit:

1) Focus on Current Customers: When the economy is good – everyone spends lavishly (not necessarily wisely) on winning new customers. In a recession – businesses should take comfort in the fact that selling to an existing customer is 10-20% less expensive than marketing to a new customer. Recommendation: Time to take a look at your email marketing database and develop a thorough plan for turning these existing customers into profitable repeat customers.

2) Reward Loyalty: This is the time to make sure your current customers keep your business top of mind when they are making some tough purchasing decisions. Dollar for dollar, it makes sense to offer coupons, special offers, and promotions to the loyal customers that are most likely to purchase and “tell others” about your offers.

3) “Fire” Your Banners: When it’s time to trim the fat off your marketing budget, low ROI banners should be first in line. Instead turn your attention on maximizing your investment in more ROI friendly and measurable Pay-Per-Click advertising. Search engine marketing is an excellent Recession-Proof marketing strategy because it allows you to monitor your investment and returns in real-time. Unlike Banners where you need to lock-in to potentially expensive monthly contracts – PPC is a pay-as-you go program with consistent and measurable results.

4) Conversions Take Center Stage: If you cannot tell which online marketing program makes you the most profit, then your program may need a recession-proof makeover. A website that is flooded with traffic but fails to convert is a money-loser – period. With tough times around the corner, make sure you put a plan in place to improve the conversions of your site’s landing pages, email opt-in forms, and shopping cart.

5) Get Ruthless about ROI: If you can’t quickly tell what your Cost Per Lead and Return on Investment is for each of your online marketing channels – then this recession may be tough on your bottom line. You should be able to tell in a glance what marketing channels should be cut and which should receive more investment. If your Digital Agency or in-house team can’t tell you where you are making or losing money – then it may be time to get tough and demand results.

6) Back to Basics: With the whirlwind of activity around new marketing options like Web 2.0, Social Media, Mobile, and others its easy to forget about “little ole” Search Engine Optimization. When marketing dollars are hard to find, you can’t ignore the ROI on FREE search listings.

7) Use Integration To Stretch Your Online Investment: A Recession means that Upper Management will want to see how far they can stretch last year’s budget. The easiest way to stretch your online marketing budget is to integrate separate programs into one cohesive marketing juggernaut. For example, have you considered using your PPC budget to drive email opt-ins for your prospecting database? Same investment, different focus, more profit – Recession Proof Marketing at its best.

See more of Stan Smith’s Quick Marketing Ideas on the Marketing Quickee Blog- http://www.quickmarketingideas.com