Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing - Starting A Campaign

Pay per click advertising is an on-going and growing arsenal for all entrepreneurs world wide. Whether your have a small business or a large business, buying a search engine placement is definitely the way to go.

Pay per click advertising is an on-going and growing arsenal for all entrepreneurs world wide. Whether your have a small business or a large business, buying a search engine placement is definitely the way to go.
Why fight a never ending battle against some of the worlds best webmasters who have years of experience and are dedicated to search engine placement 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Don't fight the battle, win the battle by utilizing pay per click search engine marketing!

1st Thing 1st: Testing Your Market Place...

If you've never attempted a pay per click campaign, a good idea is to start with a small budget in order to test your market place.

The key is to find what your potential customers are searching for. There's no better place to test that out by going to Google. Google allows you to pay for a small ad off to the right within a small green box.

Huh? If you've never seen these small ads within Google, go to: www.google.com

If you type in "web design" in google's search engine, you will no doubt get the regular results on the left, as well as a list of small ads off to the right within small green boxes.

Underneath the small green boxes, you will see a link that says; "Place your ad here". Another route is by going here: http://adwords.google.com

Please do yourself a favor and dedicate yourself to a small ad within Google in order to learn the ropes and utilize an inexpensive way to some fabulous research information.

You'll want to determine how much you are willing to pay for 1 month. It could be as low as $20, but I recommend starting out with $50.00 to start your 1st campaign.

Try coming up with an ad that's catchy and to the point!

Ex. Legal Services

Get A FREE Consultation!
Legal Services in Ontario
http://www.legalservices.com

After that you need to predetermine the "Key Phrases" you think that your potential clients are typing in Google when it comes to your product or service.

EX. "Legal Services".

When Google asks you to enter your key words or phrases, you might want to try entering something like this....

1. Legal Services
2. Lawyers in Ontario
3. Law Services
4. Lawyer Services
5. Lawyer Services in Ontario

Try using as many as you can think of... Google will later show you the most popular key phrases compared to the key phrases that don't work at all.

Please Note: I am using Goggles Adwords as an example because of how easy it is to log into your account at any time and check to see how many people have seen your ad and how many people have actually clicked on your ad to visit your site. 

Once you've entered your "Key Words & Phrases" now you're going to be asked to enter the maximum amount of money you want to pay every time someone clicks on your ad.

Ex. If someone searches "Legal Services", you enter that you will pay a maximum of 0.07cts per click.

This will give you a pre-qualified potential client for 0.07cts.

Let's move on a little now..

Assuming that your ad is all set up and already on the way. Now you can return to Google, log into your account and see how your "Key Words & Key Phrases" are performing with your campaign.

It might read something like this....

1. Legal Services ---------- Ad was viewed 2000 times ------------- Clicked on 100 times.
2. Lawyers in Ontario ----- Ad was viewed 4560 times ------------- Clicked on 9 times.

Now you will get a much better understanding at what your potential clients are searching for and what they are actually clicking on.

KEY NOTE: Try to experiment with this as much as possible and as quickly as possible so you can really begin your Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing.

Are you ready???

Now that you have your predetermined key words of phrases you want to use, you can now start looking into pay per click campaigns. Per per click search engines are a little different compared to the Google Adwords because instead of getting a small ad off to the right you are now going to bid on actual search engine placements.

1st thing you want to do is to visit a pay per click search engine. For instance, you might want to visit: www.goto.com or www.lycos.com or any other pay per click search engine online and test your new key words to determine what the top placements are paying for those spots.

Ex. Let's use "Lawyer Services" again, type in that phrase in any ppc search engine and look at the top placements! It should read something like this...

5) Legal Services.com
Our firm is dedicated to helping you win your case each and every time.
Cost: $0.10

The key is to look at the cost. The cost is what "Legal Services.com" was willing to pay for the 5th search engine placement.

And there you go, you now have the basic knowledge to plan out a pay per click campaign. Always remember to lay out how much you are willing to commit to your search engine campaign and keep yourself to it.

I recommend to all my clients to at least master the Google Adword program. Goggles search engine is the #1 hotspot on the internet for potential clients, why not get a slice of the pie!
 

Selling Yourself on Forums

Because of the anonymous nature of the internet people are generally more skeptical when it comes to doing business online. Owing partly to famous internet scams sensationalized by the media and to bad personal experiences online, people are less likely to trust a party whom they've never met in person.

As an online marketer, you face the challenge of building trust and loyalty without the benefit of a physical handshake, a face-to-face meeting, or even a smile. To this end online forums can provide an excellent way to build meaningful relationships with people and attract new customers.

By joining a forum in your area of expertise, you gain access to a community that shares your interests as well as a pool of potential customers. There are countless forums dealing with just about any topic imaginable. The vast majority of forums do not charge you a fee to register or post messages. Many allow you to include with your posts self-promotional "signatures" that you can use to promote your business and link to your website.

A good way to locate a forum relevant to your line of business is to do a keyword search using one of the major search engines. Why a major search engine? A Google search for "website marketing forum," for example, will not only return dozens of relevant forums on website marketing, but will also give you an indication of how highly they are regarded by the search engine giant, as gauged by how high they rank for that key phrase. Forums that rank higher on the search engine result pages (SERPs) are the ones of which you'll want to become a member.

Forums allow you to share knowledge and gain reputation as an expert in your field. Offering concrete advices that are immediately useful to other people is an especially effective marketing technique. Once you've gained credibility in your field, you will be sought after for your professional expertise without your having to promote yourself.

Participating in forums is also an excellent way to humanize yourself and your business. When people deal with you, they'll know that they're dealing with a real person, not a nameless, faceless business entity. By staking your reputation online, you demonstrate that you are willing to accept some degree of accountability for your actions.

If you're a generally honest and agreeable person in the real life, there is no reason to hide behind a company name when conducting business online. The personal qualities that make you likable in the real world will also make you likable in cyberspace. Indeed, establishing meaningful relationships online is a lot like making friends in the real world. After all, on the other side of the terminal is a real person with real emotions just like you. 

Another key to meaningful online relationships is to create an atmosphere of openness and transparency. Although you normally use a nickname to start and respond to posts in public forums, you should use your real name in private correspondences. It is good practice to begin your messages with a salutation, addressing them by their real name whenever possible. A little courtesy can go a long way in building loyalty and trust.

Apart from selling your personal qualities, you must have something of value to offer to people-- and at prices

Building positive relationships is about making people feel important. Just as you want to feel good for having sold your product or service, people want to feel good for having bought it. This is why it is so important to promptly answer their questions and attend to their concerns. Listen to their inputs and incorporate their ideas into your business practices. This is how you make your customers a part of your team. It's not a stretch to speak of your customer as a member of your team. When you really think about it, no business can exist without its customers. Teamwork is not limited to interacting with other members of your company. It also takes teamwork to build a constructive, mutually beneficial relationship between you and your customers.  that are fair to everyone! On a venue where your personal reputation is not at stake, you can price a widget for any amount you want and hope someone will come along and buy it. When you do business on forums, however, you must be extra value-conscious when pricing your product or service. If you overprice your widget, you risk receiving flames from other members that could harm your reputation. This is why it's so important to research what other members are charging for a similar widget and to price yours competitively. Often you'll end up charging lower prices to members of your forum than to other customers with whom you have not developed as close a relationship for the same widget.

Debt Consolidation Service

Debt consolidation service is offered by many companies online. In most debt consolidation service programs a certified counselor helps you access your financial situation and help you create a spending plan that will allow you to live while taking care of your debts. A good debt consolidation service will also go so far as to negotiate with creditors, attempting to get you a better deal on your interest rates and payments.


Many people find themselves in a situation where they are overwhelmed by debt. Many circumstances can come into play here to create this situation. Medical issues, sudden debts, and unforeseen expenses all can contribute to the need for debt consolidation services. It isn't a service used only by people who can't control their spending habits as is often believed. At times debt consolidation is simply a smart move to control ones interest rates. Whatever the reasoning these services are easy to use.


Most debt consolidation services can negotiate terms for lower interest rates and get companies to waive late fees. The counselors at debt consolidation companies are there to work with the creditors so that you don't have to. They act as an advocate for the client and their financial security. 

The process of debt consolidation may also require the education of the consumer in areas of debt management. Most debt consolidation services will provide that education as a part of the over all program. This is something that debt consolidation service companies feel is an important part of the entire process.


For homeowners if they want to reduce interest rates and lower their monthly payments or if they have gotten into trouble and need help, debt consolidation service may be where they want to turn. Doing this will help a homeowner avoid possible bankruptcy and save their home at the same time. Debt consolidation requires that the home owner put up their home however with the right financial guidance this shouldn't be an issue. A debt consolidation loan allows the homeowner to borrow up to 125 percent of their property value in some cases.


Debt consolidation services can help you begin over again and get back on your feet no matter what the reason is that you need them for in the first place. The stigma that debt consolidation services carried with them for so long no longer apply. More and more people are beginning to see the benefits to using a debt consolidation service.
 

Permission Email Marketing Tips for Offline Small Business Owners

Unless your small business is situated under a rock, you've probably heard something about email marketing by now, and you may have even wondered if it's time for your small business to get into it.

In its simplest terms, email marketing means communicating with consumers through email. But there's a big difference between trying to talk to consumers who never asked to be talked to in the first place, and talking to your own customers, who at some point have said, "Yes, I'd love to hear from you."

That's where permission email marketing comes in. Permission email marketing means giving valuable information to consumers who have requested to receive it. It is the ONLY legitimate way to send an email marketing campaign, and it is the only way your small business can benefit from email marketing.

But how do you get your customers to say "I do"?

If you have an online business, or if your offline business has a website that receives many visitors, compiling subscribers can be as easy as adding a subscription box to your website. You would offer users something valuable, like a periodical newsletter or emails with discount coupons and, in return, your users would subscribe to your mailing list.

Sounds great. But what if your business is primarily offline, and what if you don't even have a website?

Many businesses think that's reason enough to step out of email marketing altogether. But what they're missing here is that compiling a permission email marketing list offline can be as easy, if not easier in some instances, as building a list online.

We have advised many clients on tips to collect email addresses at the point of purchase. Here are some of our favorite tactics:

- Collect business cards, Offer a prize.
This is one of the oldest, most proven methods of collecting customer information in-store. Your prize doesn't even have to be huge. If you own a restaurant, it can be as simple as a free dinner for two. If you own a hair dresser, it can be as easy a 50% off coupon towards their next cut. The beauty here is that customers who submit their business cards have expressed genuine interest in your products or services. So when you contact them by email with further offers, you know you're talking to people who want to buy what you're selling.

The one thing to keep in mind here is that you MUST inform users that by submitting their business cards, they are agreeing to receive email communication from you. This can be as simple as adding a sign to the business card drop-off box saying: "We will send you an email to notify you if you have won. We may also send you periodical emails with special offers and announcements. If you do not wish to receive emails from us, please write 'No Email' on your business card."

- Start a V.I.P. Club
Many consumers like the idea of belonging to something exclusive, and receiving offers that are extended only to a select group of people. The labor on your part is minimal. It's as easy as keeping a notebook by the cashier. As a customer comes up to complete a purchase, casually tell them about your businesses' V.I.P. Club and ask them if they would like to join. Customers will appreciate this if you position it as a rewards club, or a way to say "Thank you, we love to have you around" to your most loyal customers. Of course, you should offer V.I.P. Club membership to any of your consumers, as you may find, once you start emailing them offers, that's a great way to build your most loyal customers. Make sure the offers you send them are, in fact, exclusive, and that you email V.I.P. Club members often enough, but not too often to become annoying (once or twice a month is usually a good interval).

Again, when you're collecting customer emails for the V.I.P. Club, make sure your customers know they're signing up to receive email offers from you.

***
These are just some ideas to get your permission email marketing subscriber list started. The best news here is that compiling a list is actually the toughest part of managing an email marketing campaign. As long as you're using an email marketing manager program that's specifically designed for small businesses like yours, the rest of the process is a breeze.

Creating a campaign involves little more than selecting a professionally-designed template, typing text and choosing a few good images. Your campaigns will be scheduled and sent automatically, so you'll never have to worry about being involved in that part.

What you will get to do (and this is probably the most exciting and most rewarding part of email marketing), is analyze your campaign after it's been sent. You'll be able to see how many people opened your email message, how many people clicked on each link within the message and, best of all, exactly who did what. Now that's what we call accurate, detailed, and immediate consumer research (you actually get to track your consumers' actions from the exact moment they happen). And while you would previously pay a fortune just to get this research data, today your small business can send professional email marketing campaigns and track detailed consumer behavior for less than it would cost you to print store flyers.

It's the new age of marketing, and there's never been a better time for your offline small business to get into the game. 

Advertising in RSS Feeds

As publishers have moved towards monetizing RSS feeds, their have been vibrant discussions as to whether advertisements in feeds are viable or whether they will drive subscribers away. At the end of the day while it appears that many are discussing the philosophical approaches to ads in RSS feeds few are taking the time to examine the options available for inserting advertisements in feeds.

Ultimately the advertisements served are going to determine the success of RSS as an advertising medium. The ads served must be related to the content contained in the feed. If the RSS feed contains quality content, the ads are relevant, and the volume of ads is in balance with the volume of content served, advertising in RSS feeds will succeed.

Take a closer look at some of the ad serving options currently available for RSS feeds.

Review of Current Options

Google AdSense for Feeds
Google's AdSense for Feeds offers contextually targeted advertisements, with a wide selection of advertisers. Google chooses not to divulge the percentage of revenue that is shared with the publisher, so it is difficult if not impossible to predict monthly revenue. The current Google AdSense system for feeds is tied to blogs and does not appear to be overly flexible.
http://www.google.com/adsense

Pheedo
Pheedo displays categorized advertisements rather than contextual advertisements. The upside to this is that Pheedo's advertisements can be used in conjunction with Google AdSense or AdSense for feeds without violating Google's contract. Pheedo works with the publisher to serve advertisements from similar or related categories associated with the feeds contents.

Pheedo's system allows for advanced ad filtering, giving publishers control over keyword ad filtering, specific ad filtering or url filtering. Pheedo's system also allows publishers to sell ads to existing advertisers whom they already have a relationship. The revenue split is 50% and feeds can be a sponsored flat rate advertisement or a pay-per-click advertisement, where the publisher is only paid if the advertisement is clicked.
http://www.pheedo.com

Kanoodle for Feeds
Kanoodles systems for providing advertisements for feeds is similar to Google's but they do not have the breadth of advertisers that Google boasts. Advertisements are served based on topics, not to keywords. Kanoodle shares 50% of the revenue generated from the advertisements with the publisher serving the ad.

Evaluating Options
When evaluating feed ad serving solutions consider the following:

1. Ad Relevance
In order to generate revenue from RSS advertisements or for an advertising campaign to succeed using RSS as a channel. It is absolutely critical that the advertisements served in the feed contain related content, the more related the content the higher the likelihood that the advertisements will be of interest to the reader and clicked. Also the closer the content relates to the feeds theme the higher the likelihood the reader will have genuine interest in the product or service being advertised.


2. Ad Ratio
Publishers need to retain control over the frequency of advertisements. Readers will become frustrated with feeds that are heavily laden with advertisements and genuine content.

The advertiser is happy as they are reaching a targeted audience the publisher is happy because their advertisement is being clicked and generating revenue.

3. Clearly Denoted as Ads
The debate over editorial control and advertisements rage on. It is generally considered proper net etiquette for publishers to clearly mark advertisements to distinguish them from editorial web content. When selecting a RSS advertising partner consider the context in which the advertisements are displayed. Does it blend with the feed or site, while still being clearly marked sponsored material? Or does the content blend so well that it appear as a product or service endorsement from the publisher? Credibility and reputation online matter, and the segregation of advertisements and ensuring they are properly denoted as such will go a long way to enhance credibility with readers.

Clearly as RSS increases in popularity publishers are looking for ways to monetize their content. RSS in advertising is a logical step, and striking a balance between quality, consistent content and occasional related advertisements will lead to the success of advertising in RSS feeds. If the balance is not found, publishers may be forced to move to a subscription RSS feed model.

Permissions:
Permissions and notification of use not required.
 

How To Choose The Best Affiliate Programs To Promote

There are thousands of affiliate programs out there. Selecting the best affiliate program to promote is not an easy task. If you start promoting wrong affiliate programs, you can waste a lot of time, money and effort. Here are the factors that you need to consider in order to choose those affiliate programs that are right for you:

1. Demand

Is there a demand for this product? To put it simply, do a lot of people want this product? Do you know what type of people would be interested in it? Do you have a clear idea on how you will reach those people and get them to the website?

2. Conversion

Do you think the sales page of the product will convert many visitors into buyers? Does it make the product and the offer look enticing enough? Is the website user-friendly? Is it easy to place an order?

When you look at the sales page, trust your gut. If you don't feel like you'd be sold on this product if you were a prospect, you are probably right.

3. Commission

Is the commission rate high enough? Digital products (such as e-books) usually offer huge commissions (50% and up). Physical products (the ones that need to be shipped to the customer) usually pay 10% or less. Compare the affiliate program to similar ones in the same industry to see if the commission rate is fair 

In addition to the commission rate, pay attention to the dollar amount that you'll get per sale. For example, 10% commission on a $100 product is $10, while 50% commission on a $4 product is only $2.

If the product is too cheap, you'll need to sell a huge number of units in order to make any significant money. It's often easier to sell several expensive items than lots of cheap ones. Aim for something in the middle – not extremely expensive but not too cheap.

4. Quality

Do you believe in the product? Would you be proud to promote it?

No matter how "hot" and lucrative the product is, if you have any reservations about the product quality, its purpose or its industry, then don't promote it. Protect your online reputation. Doing something that does not sit well with you is destined to be doomed from the start.

5. Tracking

When promoting affiliate programs, keep track of all your efforts. Track the number of visitors you send to each affiliate program and the number of sales that you make. When you accumulate enough data to compare, dump those programs that are not profitable and focus all your efforts on the ones that make you money. 

Little Ideas That Bring Big Dollar Increases When Selling Your Home

When you're selling, home price is everything. Your goal is to maximize the amount you get for your home as much as possible. Many people believe that - in order to significantly raise their home's value - they must perform extensive and costly renovations. While adding a new bathroom or bedroom certainly does increase your asking price when selling, home improvements don't need to be that dramatic to be of help. Here are several little home selling tips that can bring big dollar increases.

Aesthetics are vitally important when selling a home. For little or no money, you can greatly improve your home's appearance and, in turn, its selling price. In return, buyers will have a more favorable impression of your residence.

Clean, Clean, Clean

No one will be impressed with a house that is dirty. One of the best (and cheapest) investments you can make is in a thorough spring-season cleaning for your home. In addition to the regular mopping and dusting you do, clean the windows (inside and out), clean carpets, wipe down walls and baseboards, clean fingerprint marks off interior and exterior doors, and sweep the fireplace (if you have one). People are always more inclined to pay higher amounts for homes that look as though they have been well cared for.

Pack Personal Items & Clutter

Once you have cleaned your home to prepare it for selling, home clutter is the next project to tackle. One of the best home selling tips I offer is to keep packing boxes on hand. As you go through your belongings, immediately put items you want to keep into boxes and label them. This accomplishes two things. First, it helps you stay ahead of all the packing you must do for your move. Second, it allows you to keep clutter at bay. Another great use for packing boxes is for spur of the moment hiding places for clutter. If a prospect wants to see your home at the last minute, temporarily toss piles of clutter into moving boxes and close the lids.

Curb Appeal

Another great home selling tip is to increase your curb appeal. When prospective buyers drive up to your home, are they immediately impressed with what they see? A fresh coat of exterior paint, an extensive pressure washing of vinyl siding and some new, inexpensive shutters can really make an impact on buyers. In addition, adding or upgrading landscaping details can be helpful as well. Replace old, faded mulch or pine straw with fresh. Edge your driveway and sidewalk as well as your flowerbeds, and make sure bushes and scrubs are neatly trimmed. These items are a small investment that will pay off with a quicker sale at a potentially higher price.

Single Fee Real Estate Broker

Even greater than the money you can gain with small improvements is the money you can save on real estate commissions. Fees and commissions certainly take away from the amount you earn on the sale, yet most sellers don't have a plan for saving money in this phase of the process. The best home selling tip I can offer is to use a single fee broker. Single fee brokers will sell your home for free if you agree to purchase your next home through their office. This can save a typical homeowner thousands of dollars in commission fees and is, without a doubt, the best way (and the easiest way) to make more money on your home sale.