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How To Get
Free Advertising By
Participating
In E-mail Discussion Lists
Posting messages to e-mail
discussion lists is a
great way to get free advertising. An e-mail
discussion list is a group of people connected
together via e-mail that can communicate with
one another. When you post a message to a list
include your signature file at the end. Your sig
file should be no more than 5 to 6 lines. Include
an attention getting sentence why they should
visit your web site or e-mail your auto responder.
Try to select list's that are archived because your
signature file will be viewed for years to come.
E-mail discussion lists are highly targeted. There
are thousands of discussion lists with thousands
of different subjects. You can usually subscribe
to these lists by sending an e-mail or by filling
out
a web form. You want to subscribe to one that
would be related to your target audience. If you
are selling books about marketing, you would
want to post to lists were business people and
marketers would congregate.
Before posting to any e-mail discussion list, read
the FAQ or rules first. They will tell you what
kinds of posts are allowed. Read the messages
for a few days before posting your message to
see what type of messages are being posted. If
the list is archived you could read the older
messages. If you want to make sure, you could
e-mail the list moderator. Never post messages
that are unrelated to the list's subject.
There are many different types of messages you
could post to the e-mail discussion list. You
could post an informative comment or article that
would interest the other list members. Post a
question on the discussion list that you would like
answered. You could answer another person's
question on the list. When you post and answer
questions you will become know as an expert
and meet other experts on the list.
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Quote of the Day:
"To paraphrase something the anthropologist
Ashley Montagu
once said, the way I change my life is to
act as if I'm the
person I want to be. This is, to me, the
simplest, wisest
advice you can give anyone. When you wake up
and act like a
loving person, you realize not only that you
are altered,
but that the people around you are also
transformed,
because everybody is changed by the
reception of this love."
-- Bernie Siegel
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5 Ways Your Business Can Benefit From Online
Auctions
It seems as if e.veryone is talking about online
auctions. And
why not. There are thousands of online auctions on
the
internet with more popping up everyday. People love
them
because they can usually find great bargains.
Businesses are
now also seeing the benefits of online auctions.
Below are
five ways your business can benefit from online
auctions.
1. Get Rid Of Excess Inventory
You could sell your excess or discontinued products
at an
online auction. Your unsold inventory is doing you
no good
sitting around, collecting dust. It's an effective
way to make
extra income and it won't be a total loss for your
business.
You could even get lucky and make a profit depending
on how much people will bid for your excess
inventory.
2. Test Pricing For New Products
An easy way to test new product prices is to see
what
people will bid for them at an online auction.
First, sell your
product at three different online auctions. Next,
calculate
the average selling bid from all three auctions and
that will
be your selling price for your new product.
3. Sell Your Products
You can get your product in front of a large
audience by
selling it at an online auction. Some of the bigger
auction
sites draw over millions of hits a year. The key to
being
successful is to sell your product at multiple
online auctions
at the same time. Let's say you sold one product a
day
from just one auction site. If you sell your product
at one
hundred online auction sites that would be one
hundred sales
a day!
4. Start Your Own Online Auction
Drive traffic to your web site by starting your own
online
auction. People will visit your web site to find
bargains
and to sell their own products. You will get plenty
of
repeat visitors from people rebidding on products
and
adding new products to sell. You could also charge
other
businesses to advertise on your web site.
5. Lower Your Business Costs
You can find lower prices on business supplies and
equipment at online auctions. I'm not saying all the
time, but
before you go pay retail for a new printer try
bidding on
one first. A company may be selling them at a lower
price
at an online auction because they have excess
inventory.
Quote of the Day:
"There is a fountain of youth: it is your
mind, your
talents, the creativity you bring to your
life and the
lives of the people you love. When you learn
to tap this
source, you will have truly defeated age."
-- Sophia Loren |
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Endorsement marketing is having
famous or reputable people
recommend your product or service to others. They
could be
celebrities, star athletes, musicians, etc. Choose
people that
are related to your business and might actually use
your
product or service.
Before asking anyone for an endorsement be sure your
product
or service gives the results you say it does. They
may ask you
to prove it before they will agree to give an
endorsement.
Once you find the ideal person to endorse your
product or
service simply contact them and ask. When proposing
any
endorsement deal make it a win/win situation. Tell
them you
would get the endorsement and they would get free
publicity.
If they're selling a product or service, you could
exchange
endorsements. If they ask for a fee, try to give
them a
percentage of the profits instead.
Once you get an endorsement from someone, use it on
all your
advertising and marketing material. Put their
endorsement and
picture on your Web site. Use their testimonial in
your ads.
Include it on your product packages.
An endorsement can increase your sales fast. It
gives credibility
to your product or service. People will usually
believe a person
that's not related to your business before they will
believe you.
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Quote of the Day:
"You find yourself refreshed by the
presence of cheerful
people. Why not make an honest effort to
confer that
pleasure on others? Half the battle is
gained if you never
allow yourself to say anything gloomy."
--
Lydia M. Child |
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Online Discussion Board Advertising
Posting messages on online
discussion boards is a great way to
get free advertising. When you post a message
include your
signature file at the end. Your signature file
should be no more
than 5 to 6 lines. Include an attention-getting
sentence why
they should visit your web site or e-mail your auto
responder.
Some online discussion boards allow you to leave
text and
graphic links at the end of your messages. You will
get a better click-through rate with links than just a normal
signature file.
Below are three types of messages you could post to
online
discussion boards:
1. Informative Comments
Post information that would be informative to the
people who
participate on the discussion board. It could be an
article or a
study you've completed.
2. Ask Questions
Post a question on the discussion board you would
like answered.
This will give you a chance to meet other experts
and it could
lead to a profitable joint venture.
3. Answer Questions
Post the answer to another person's question on the
discussion
board. When you answer questions you will get known
as an
expert on the subject.
Before posting to any online discussion board read
the FAQ or
rules first. They will tell you what kinds of posts
are allowed.
Read the board for a few days before posting your
message to
see what type of messages are being posted. Never
post
messages on a board that are unrelated to the
subject.
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Quote of the Day:
"You cannot shake hands with a clenched
fist."
-- Indira
Gandhi
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5 Lesser-Known Online Business Ideas
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Ask people to find a hidden link
in your ad copy. If they
find the hidden link tell them they will get a prize
or freebie
by clicking on it. This will increase the chance
that they will buy your product or service because they will read
your
whole ad copy.
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Start a members only web site. Tell visitors
what's in your
members only site and what it costs to get access.
Offer them
a free membership, if, in exchange they link to
your web site,
post your banner on their home page or agree to
advertise
your web site in their e-zine for a set period of
time. Usually
they will agree to the free advertising to save
money. This is
a powerful way to get free advertising.
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Want a popular discussion board? This technique
is based on
the number of postings made by any one person. You
could
give away a free product or service to any person
that posts ten
or more messages on your discussion in a month. It
could be a free e-book, report, e-mail consulting etc. Just
keep track of everyone's postings each month. This could also
work for e-mail
discussion lists.
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Give your visitors an instant article directory.
Tell your
visitors they can instantly add a free article
directory to
their web site by linking to yours. Just place your
ad or banner
ad on top of the article directory for your main
product or
service. All those links can add up to a large
amount of traffic
for your web site.
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There a millions of web sites on the internet.
Instead of
marketing your web site as a web site. Market it as
a free web
book. Design your web site with a title page, table
of contents,
chapters, etc. Just place your ad or banner for your
product or
service on the top of each web page.
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Quote of the Day:
"Faithful are the wounds of a friend."
--
King Solomon
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3 Clever Ways To Promote Your Online
Business
1. Electronic Catalog Marketing
Create a catalog of products or services in e-book
or autoresponder form. Give the catalog away for
free to
your
web site visitors. Ask other web sites, that aren't
in direct
competition with your business, if they would like
to add
their products or services to the catalog. If they
do, just ask
that in return they either link to your web site,
run your
promotional ad in their e-zine or place your banner
ad on
their web site for a set period of time. You could
ask them
to also give away the free catalog because you
would
already have your ad(s) in the catalog. Since you
created
and compiled the catalog place your ad or sponsor ad
at the
top or title page of the catalog. This technique
will quickly
multiply your advertising.
2. Donate Your Publishing
Donate to libraries. There are thousands of school,
college
and local libraries all over the United States and
world.
Millions of people visit libraries everyday. Why not
donate
your e-mail newsletter to them. You can find a huge
list of
libraries on online yellow page web sites. Contact
the library
by mail, phone or e-mail. Tell them you would like
to donate
a free subscription of your e-mail newsletter. If
they accept
find out if they want it sent by mail in print form
or by e-mail
so they can print out the newsletter. You could also
donate
your books, audio tapes, video's, booklets, etc. If
you have
an e-book you could put it on disk or CD-ROM and
donate
it. Just have your business ad included in the
material you
donate.
3. Online Community Marketing
Create a popular online discussion board. Reward
people
points for every message posted on your discussion
board.
Let's say you reward each person 25 points for each
posting. You could give them a free product or
service for
500 points which would add up to 20 postings on your
board
from that one person. Just keep track of points for
each
person that posts on your message board. This could
also
work for e-mail discussion lists. Just post your
promotional
ad at the top of your discussion board page.
Everyone that
visits your discussion board will see your ad.
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Quote of the Day:
"Take a look at those two open hands of
yours. They are
tools with which to serve, make friends, and
reach out for
the best in life. Open hands open the way to
achievement.
Put them to work today."
-- Wilfred A.
Peterson
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10 Awesome Ways To Attract More
Orders
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Create a free ebook directory on
a specific topic
at your web site. People will visit your web site to
read the free ebooks and may see your product ad.
-
Turn part of your web site into a members only
web site. Instead of charging for access, use it as
a free bonus for one of your products.
-
Add a free classified ad section to your web
site.
You could then trade banner ads with other web
sites that have free classified ad sections.
-
Create two versions of your e-zine so people
can choose if they want ads included with it or not.
This'll attract the people who hate ads to
subscribe.
-
Publish your e-zine only on your web site. Have
people subscribe to a "new issue" e-mail reminder.
This could really increase your traffic and sales.
-
Sell advertising space in your product package.
You could sell inserts, flyers, brochures, booklets,
and digital ads for electronic products.
-
Offer daily or weekly visitor bonuses. This will
increase your repeat traffic and sales because your
visitors will visit regularly to get the visitor
bonuses.
-
Allow people to download software or e-books
from your web site at no cost. Just ask your
visitors
in return if they'll refer their friends to your web
site.
-
Build up the number of people that join your free
affiliate program quickly by temporally offering
your
product for free to the people that sign up.
-
Negotiate with e-zine publishers to get free or
discounted ads by letting them join your affiliate
program and earn commissions on the ad you run.
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Quote of the Day:
"Adversity reveals genius, prosperity
conceals it."
--
Horace |
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Network Your
Business Online
Networking is when two or more
different businesses stay
in contact on a regular basis to build and improve
each
others business. There are many ways to network your
business online. Participate in online business
related discussion boards , e-mail discussion groups,
newsgroups
and chat rooms. You can communicate with other
business
people via e-mail, video conferencing and by using
instant
messaging programs. Join online business
associations and
clubs.
You'll gain many benefits from networking online.
You'll
learn business information that you didn't know
before.
You can get advice on how to solve a current
business
problem. It can lead to new business projects.
Negotiate
joint ventures and cross promotion deals. Learn
important
skills that you didn't have before. Get constructive
criticism
that can improve your business. Brainstorm with
others
to come up with new business and marketing ideas.
Before you go out and communicate with other
business
professionals there are a few things you should know
ahead
of time. Know what kind of business information you
are
seeking. Figure out which professionals could give
you this
information. Know what questions you want to ask
them.
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Quote of the Day:
"Joys divided are increased."
-- Josiah
Gilbert Holland
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5 Quick Ways To
Increase Your E-zine's
Subscriber Base
1. Give Incentives
Give people an incentive to subscribe to your e-zine.
Offer
them a freebie if they subscribe. It could be a
free e-book, free report, free advertising, etc. Make sure the
freebie will
attract your target audience.
2. Joint Venture
Joint venture with a similar e-zine. Combine your
subscriber
bases together and publish one e-zine. Edit and
publish
each issue together. You both will be promoting the
e-zine
which means more subscribers.
3. Allow Archiving
Allow your subscribers to archive back issues of
your
e-zine on their web site. They may need content for
their
web site. If people visit their web site and like
your e-zine,
they will subscribe.
4. Form An E-zine Ring
Form an e-zine ring. Team up with 4 to 10 similar e-zines.
All the publishers would agree to list each others
e-zine
name and subscribing information in every issue. You
could
call this section "Other Free E-zines You Might
Enjoy"
5. Ask Subscribers
Ask subscribers to forward your e-zine to close
friends,
family, or associates. If they enjoy your e-zine,
they will
subscribe. It's almost like your subscribers are
endorsing
your e-zine.
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Quote of the Day:
"The good neighbor looks beyond the
external accidents and
discerns those inner qualities that make all
men human and,
therefore, brothers."
-- Martin Luther
King, Jr.
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Increase Your Orders By Answering
Questions
People will contact your customer
service to ask
questions about your business or products. Did
you know you can increase your orders by training
your customer service to actually sell products?
You should include your signature file with all the
questions you answer by e-mail. Your signature
file should be no longer than 5 lines, 65 characters
per line. Include your contact information, business
name and an attention getting headline.
Tell people about the new products and services
that you offer after you're done answering their
question(s) by phone. If they have already bought
products from you in the past, offer them add-on
or backend products.
If you're using FAQ "Frequently Asked Questions",
include your banner ad on top of your FAQ site.
You could also include a subscription form for your
free e-zine on the site as well.
When you answer peoples questions by snail mail,
include an insert advertisement for the products or
services your business offers. Include your web
site address, e-mail address, logo, slogan and other
information on all marketing material you send.
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Quote of the Day:
"You are in charge of your feelings,
beliefs, and actions.
And you teach others how to behave toward
you. While you
cannot change other people, you can
influence them through your own behaviors and actions. By being a
living role
model of what you want to receive from
others, you create more of what you want in your life."
--
Eric Allenbaugh |
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