A common question business owners have is, “how much money should I spend for marketing and advertising?”  Experts have offered general guidelines for budgeting such as the percentage of sales, objective and task, or competitive parity methods; but since every business situation is different, a hard and fast rule does not exist.  One often-cited consideration is the Return on Investment, or ROI.  However, if ROI was reliable and could be accurately measured, the answer would be obvious – spend every available dollar on marketing and advertising, then one would expect to recover the investment plus a healthy return.  The reality is that one simply cannot spend oneself into prosperity; instead, businesses allocate scarce resources to marketing and advertising programs with the hope and expectation of a reasonable ROI.

Once the investment is made, return can be calculated from the resulting increase in sales revenue; but there are two important intervening metrics to consider:

1) The increase in traffic in the form of visitors to the store, or inbound phone calls; and,

2) The percentage of new traffic that is converted into sales.

The first metric, the increase in traffic, is important because it is the most direct measure of the effectiveness of marketing and advertising efforts, and it can be used to calculate the cost of each new prospective customer (i.e. how much is spent on marketing and advertising to have one new person come to the store or call).  When a business is able to put a hard dollar value on each prospective customer that walks in the door and every inbound phone call, those rather routine events begin to take on increasing importance.  For example, a ringing phone is more likely to be treated as an opportunity rather than an annoyance when one realizes the company had to invest $20, $100, or even $500 or more to generate that call.

The second metric, conversions into new sales, is important because if interested prospects cannot be converted into sales, any investment in marketing and advertising is wasted (i.e. how effectively are interested prospects led to a buying decision).  When a prospective customer responds to an advertisement or promotion, they are generally ready to buy.  However, these prospective customers usually need some help to make their ultimate buying decision.  A little bit of effort can go a long way to closing a sale, increasing a sale, establishing a relationship, and earning a long-term customer; but indifference or neglect, or even the perception of indifference or neglect, can ruin the opportunity.  This is especially true for inbound phone calls.  For example, when a business receives a call from a prospective customer and places that call on hold to transfer the call, gather information for the caller, finish a conversation with another customer, or for any other reason, the tendency is for that caller to want to hang up.  However, steps can be taken to control that tendency, reduce the number of hang-ups, increase the percentage of sales, and increase the dollar value of each sale.

Taking advantage of the time callers spend on hold by providing a program that reinforces and supports the company’s overall marketing message will decrease hang-ups by up to 40%, effectively stretching every dollar spent on marketing and advertising.  Moreover, callers who are responding to advertising or promotions are already receptive to the message.  In fact, they are calling to hear more about the products and services the company has to offer, and 20% of callers surveyed admit they have made a buying decision based on information they heard while on hold.  On hold messaging works, and it can be one of the most potent tools a company has to get the most out of every dollar spent on marketing and advertising.

Larry Pfeil is the Vice President of A Cooler Audio Technology, Inc., developers of the patented NetSmart On Hold® Internet-based on hold messaging systems. ACAT Specializes in on hold messaging systems and services for large multi-location accounts. You can find out more on our websites at www.customercareonhold.com and www.acat1.com.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/stretching-marketing-budgets-getting-up-to-40-more-for-every-dollar-spent-1565902.html

Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

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Multi-Level Marketing and the Direct Sales industry are not generally considered to be a part of the Advertising Industry, but why not? Yes, the specific concentration is in sales and networking, but isn’t the success of both strictly dependent on the ability for a Direct Sales company to market itself?

In your business, one of the keys to being successful is to gain a following. With an enthusiastic, informed and confident distributor base, a company will literally sell itself. But getting that dedicated downline isn’t easy, and sometimes impossible if you don’t have the proper tools. Your greatest and most accessible tool is advertising, or more specifically, your marketing website.

We are now fully invested in the internet generation. Our laptops are smaller than the text books we carried around in College. Our cars tell us to turn left at the next light, and our cell phones are used first to manage our lives and last to actually make phone calls. We’re in an “in the moment” era where the motto seems to be “If it can’t be found on Google, it’s not worth the effort.”

With that said, one of the most efficient ways to market your business is on the internet. Not only does it give your business visibility to the entire world, information about your company can be accessed anywhere.

Knowing you need a good marketing site is essential, but what then? How do you get one? Once you find a vendor, how do you know if their product is a good one? Even more importantly, once you have one, what do you need to do to keep it new and fresh? This article should provide you with some valuable information about building and maintaining a successful marketing site.

1.) Who should I have build my site?

There is a common misconception that anyone can create a good website. Your nephew is likely a very intelligent, creative boy, and the site he made for your business works well enough. But the truth of the matter is, the image format he used isn’t compatible with some Internet browers, and it seems like every other day, there’s a broken link or page error. As a general rule of thumb, if you want a professional looking site, you will need to have a professional make it.

2.) What should I look for in deciding on a Designer/Developer?

There are a number of things you should do when selecting a Web Designer. Look at the Designer’s portfolio. Request URLs for sites the Designer has built and take the time to visit those sites. Look for broken links and consistency of design. Most importantly, see if you like the Designer’s style.

You want your marketing site to speak for your company. It is a visitor’s first impression of your business, so you want the site’s style to not only be professional, easy to navigate, and pleasing to the eye, but also to make an artistic statement about your company. Also, check your potential Developer’s site. If they don’t have one, or the site is poorly built or maintained, scratch them off the list and keep looking!

3.) Should I hire a Developer or a Designer? What is the difference?

It is vital to have a clear understanding of the difference between a Developer and a Designer. A Web Designer is a professional who focuses on a website’s aesthetics.  Most good Designers have experience in development, but their main focus is the layout, coloring, and visual components of the site.

If you think of your marketing site as a house, the Designer plays the role of interior decorator and landscaper. The Developer, on the other hand, is your contractor. Developers focus on the functionality of your site. Links, functions and processes that your site is required to perform are all part of a Developer’s area of expertise.

If something on the site breaks, or if visitors are receiving page errors, a Developer would be the one who would go in a fix the broken code. Your best bet is to find a Web Design vendor that has both Designers and Developers on staff. This way, you can be sure that your site design is produced by a specialist and if there are functional issues, a development programmer is on staff as well.

4.) What about Replicated websites?

You should always discuss replicated site creation before you decide on a potential Web Developer. Their ability to replicate your marketing site will be a key indicator of whether or not they are properly staffed to provide web development as well as web design. Also, if you discuss replication from the start, it can be integrated into your initial design contract. This will help you avoid being surprised later by excessive development fees tacked on for replication once you are invested in the company.

5.) What should I focus on during the development of my website?

Showcasing your product or service is the obvious answer, but there are other key factors to consider when planning your site. You should have a target market in mind. A target market is, specifically, the people your inventory or service is most likely to attract. If you’re selling environmentally friendly alternatives to baby-related merchandise, your target market is going to include parents and environmentally concerned consumers.

You want your site to be open enough to speak to your non-market specific visitors, but you also want it to really catch the attention of those customers who are most likely to seek out your type of product. You want your site to be educational. Most people don’t want to have to call or visit your office to learn about your business, so your site should give them as much information as possible, but it’s important to find a healthy balance of simple and detailed.  

If visitors are overwhelmed by huge excerpts of unorganized text, they may feel more intimidated than informed. Keeping things simple, organized and easy to find is often better. Avoid excessively long passages right on your main page. Focus on short, concise summaries and provide links to more detailed pages. Website viewers tend to scan, not read, as they want the information quickly and easily. The easier that information is to find and understand the better.

6.) Once my website is up and running is there anything I need to do to maintain it?
Your marketing site is like any advertisement. No matter how catchy and effective it is, eventually it will get a little old. Consider TV commercials. When a new one comes out that catches your interest, every time it comes on you watch it with full focus.

But after seeing the same commercial 15 times, it becomes predictable and stale, and sometimes even annoying. The same can be said of marketing sites. You want your site to be catchy, interesting and effective every time someone visits it. This requires that you switch things up every so often to keep your site fresh.

Change your homepage images. Modify your introduction text. Add links to new pages. Your marketing site should be a living, virtual document. Someone who visited your site last month and wasn’t captured immediately, but is interested enough to return for a second look, might see your business in a new light and decide to join or shop.

7.) Any Web Developer/Designer recommendations?

ByDesign! ByDesign has launched ByDesign Creative, a marketing services department, and now provides website design, development and site replication. Headed by Art Director Jason Rivers, our Marketing Team offers years of industry experience. With a talented group of programmers, ByDesign can help you manage the creation, creative layout and maintenance of your marketing site.

The marketing team focuses on aesthetics and usability in creating contemporary, user-friendly, well-designed websites, branding, packaging and marketing materials. With web design experience spanning from the early commercialization of the internet to today’s Web 2.0 environment, your website is in good hands with ByDesign’s Creative team.

Using the latest standards and tools, solid design skills and no small amount of common sense, they’ll make sure your new site or redesign is what you’re looking for.  Why should you choose ByDesign Creative over a 3rd-party designer? Here are a few reasons why we may be your perfect fit:

Search Engine Optimization

Though we can’t promise your site will appear first when someone Googles “Direct Sales”, we can promise your site will be built to be search engine friendly. We use standard compliant code and keyword tagging to flag your site for consideration when searches are made. Also, during your site development, our experts will provide you with advice and recommendations on how to optimize your site’s “search-ability”.

Traffic Tracking

It can sometimes be difficult to see how much visitor traffic your site gets. If you want to know if your site is pulling in visitors, we can implement site tracking add-ons like Google Analytics to assist you in determining your site’s success.

Extras and Add-ons

We have a number of marketing packages available at reasonable prices to help you get what you need within a budget. In addition to what is provided within those packages, ByDesign Creative also offers add-ons and extras priced per project. We’re also willing to negotiate our packages. If you don’t require replicated sites, but want to include a representative locator, we can discuss swapping out package features for other options that better suit your needs.

From blogs to video links, we have you covered. We also offer the unique ability to maintain your site content yourself through our Content Management System. You can login to your marketing site directly from the Freedom Corporate Back Office and actually edit the text and images yourself, without having to submit a change request!

Replicated Site URL Format Options

With ByDesign Creative programmers, you have the option of selecting from two standard formats for your replicate site URLs. ByDesign’s team provides a unique alternative to the typical by allowing your reps to place their site name first in the URL. www.imaginarycompanyname.com/JohnSmith is also available as JohnSmith.imaginarycompanyname.com.

A Provider You Trust

ByDesign has an intimate understanding of your company and how it works through the support we already provide you in using your Freedom Software. You put your trust in us to keep your business running smoothly. It simply seems logical to let us help market your organization as well.

Whether you choose to go with ByDesign Creative for your marketing site design or another vendor, know that marketing your business effectively is the first key to success. Once the public knows who you are, what you do, and gains confidence in your product or service, recruiting those top sellers will be easy… well… easiER!

Let Brian Garvin & Jeff West teach you more about Multi Level Marketing and Marketing Your Business on our website today.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/why-marketing-your-business-is-so-important-1456870.html

Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

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Whether you’ve completed your book or you’re still writing, it’s important to develop a book promotion strategy. All book proposals should include this crucial element—and it’s often one of the most important sections of the proposal to many agents and publishers.

If you attempt to take the advice of most internet gurus you’ll drive yourself crazy. Recently, a client of mine who’s still working on her book took some classes in preparation to grow her business and also develop a platform for her book.

She spent thousands of dollars on these classes, but found little result for all the time she put in. This is someone who sold a very successful business so she could work short weeks and take off a week every month to enjoy life—and that worked well until recently. She didn’t want to spend 60 hours a week tweeting or on facebook.

And it’s not just social marketing classes that can require Wall Street hours with [often, not always] little results. I have clients who have taken courses on being your own internet radio host—a great strategy for some people – but for her it didn’t pay off because she never created her radio show. Such programs are often sold as the way you will sell your book, but really they are just one tactic…and maybe not the best one for you.

So, how do you figure out what’s right for you? First you get clear on your goals. Do you want to reach the masses or did you write your book to help you get high quality speaking engagements or attract ideal clients? If these are your goals, concentrate your efforts on those people you most want to reach for your primary goal. Where do they hang out, both online and offline? Who knows them? How can you best get your books into their hands?

For one client, I am suggesting he give away free books to CEOs. If he sells his program to one company, the investment pays for itself. But he needs to follow up those book giveaways with phone calls (from a seasoned sales person, or with an excellent script). I also want him to speak in front of small to mid-size business owners and CEOs. Social marketing can support that strategy, but social marketing is not a strategy in itself: it’s a tactic.

Also, ask yourself what you enjoy doing…speaking? Reading blogs? Networking virtually? Interviewing people? You may need to do some activities not on your preferred list, but start with your strengths and play them up.  Most importantly, make it fun. If you enjoy it, you’ll stick with it and you’ll attract more success with your magnetic attitude.

National book writing coach and published author Lisa Tener helps authors write books and get published. Lisa has appeared on ABC World News with Peter Jennings, and PBS-TV. Her book writing clients have been featured on Oprah, Montel Williams, and CNN. Lisa speaks, coaches and teaches how to write a book throughout the US, and serves on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School continuing education course on book writing and publishing. Get Free book writing & publishing updates here.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/to-sell-books-use-strategy-not-tactics-1444112.html

Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

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