Posted by:
Julie McManus
May 9, 2008
Issue #414
Dear Business Builder,
Happy Friday and welcome back to In the ‘Net Trenches. In last week’s issue, we discussed an often overlooked opportunity for driving website traffic beyond Google and SEO. It’s paid Web media. We also took a closer look at several different types of paid media available for advertising your wares on the Internet.
Well, from that information, one big question arose. It’s simply the question of “where.” Where are you buying media? What websites are working for you?
Oh, wouldn’t you just like to know …
The inherent problem with the question of “where” is that my “where” may be very different from your “where.” And that’s simply because the products I market and my customers are likely different from your products and customers.
So rather than me taking the easy way out and making this week’s issue one big list of websites, let’s take a little closer look at my research process and see how you might make it work for you.
Web media research can be a painstaking process. It can take a considerable amount of time and testing to find the sites that will work for you. But don’t let that stop you, because once you find a few that work for your offer … finding others like them is as easy as breeding bunny rabbits.
Five steps to finding the sites that can work for you!
Step 1: Let your customer be your guide …
Knowing your customer is hands down the most important piece of information you can have when marketing your products and services online … and offline for that matter.
If you don’t have a clear picture of who your customers are, I suggest you start doing some research immediately. One excellent way to do that is by surveying your existing customers. A great tool for doing e-mail and online surveys can be found at www.surveymonkey.com.
Core survey questions should have to do with customer demographics. Demographics are simply the statistics of a population – age, gender, income level, geographic location, marital status, etc.
Armed with this information, you can then start thinking like your customers and looking for websites they might be likely to visit. A tool I like for researching a website’s demographics is www.quantcast.com. It will also tell you if a site accepts advertising and recommend other sites that have a similar demo to the one you’re researching.
Here’s an example of my demographic – rich, old, white guys that live in the United States, Canada and Europe. So when researching Web media, I think of where my rich, old, white guys might like to hang out – news sites, financial sites, political sites … I’m sure you get the picture.
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Posted by:
Julie McManus
May 2, 2008
Issue #409
Dear Business Builder,
Welcome back to In the ‘Net Trenches. I’m really happy you’ve decided to join me again today.
Last week, I revealed a really “big” secret about how to get tons of traffic to your website. And no, it’s not some newfangled do-this-then-do-that, step-by-step system. It doesn’t involve social media sites and befriending thousands of people. And it’s not Google Pay-Per-Click or Search Engine Optimization.
The funny thing is … I never realized how big a secret it really was until recently. To me, it was just business as usual.
So, what the heck is the secret you say? What? You didn’t read last week’s issue!?
Okay then, I won’t beat around the bush …
The easiest way to get tons of traffic to your website is to (drum roll please) … PAY FOR IT!
And how exactly do you do that? Well, that’s what we’re going to explore today.
The Wacky World of Web Media
It amazes me how many online marketers completely ignore this opportunity. Web media seems to be the ugly stepsister of the web marketing world … definitely the marketing sloppy-second to Search Engine Optimization and paid search … and certainly not as flashy and Hollywood as Social Marketing.
Yet, unlike paid search, web media affords an opportunity to reach a nearly endless amount of prospects … at a cost that can be completely controlled … with results that can be measured without question.
So why is it that more online marketers don’t add it to their marketing mix?
Perhaps they lack knowledge … are afraid it won’t work for them or think it’s too expensive … or maybe because no “superstar web marketing guru” is talking or writing about it (keeping this one their inside secret) … well, let’s rectify that, shall we?
Web media is too expensive and won’t work for me …
If you ask me, this is a huge fallacy … pure rumors spread by people that have never given media a fair shot or have never taken the time to figure out how to make it work for them.
But not all web media is created equal. As a responsible web marketer, you can’t listen to what they say. You have to find out for yourself! And this means testing.
As a smart direct response marketer, you need to allocate time and money to testing not only ad copy, ad layout, offers and prices – you also have to traffic drivers. Consider the media placement for your prospect list … it’s your traffic driver. The thing that get’s people to your website. And any list can work at the right price; it’s simply a numbers game.
If your list brings in enough prospects that convert and generate enough revenue to cover the cost of the media placement — you win. If not, you lose and go back to the drawing board. It’s as simple as that.
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Posted by:
Julie McManus
April 25, 2008
Issue #404
Dear Business Builder,
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend Yanik Silver’s Underground Internet Marketing conference in Los Angeles. There once was a time when I attended several conferences a year … hitting the big names in my industry like the Direct Marketing Association and the Newsletter Publisher Association (now called Special Information Publishers Association) every year. But times have changed, and for me the conferences come fewer and farther between … especially with two little girls at home.
But there are so many things I love about conferences and this one was no different.
The networking opportunities are by far the biggest reason to go to conferences. In a strange twist of fate, I met two important people that I needed for upcoming initiatives, and a short three weeks later, I’m already discussing implementation … plus scores more that I will contact when the right moment (or need) arrives.
The inside marketing secrets can’t be beat. The unique aspect of Yanik’s conference is he brings in real business owners … this year Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com (nearly $1 billion in sales), and Mike Faith, the CEO of Headsets.com ($30 million in sales), were the keynote speakers, and that’s just two of among half a dozen other online business owners that spoke. I walked away with dozens of great ideas – that are working in the real world – I’ll implement this year that will make an immediate impact on my client’s bottom line.
You get to see the latest trends. Of course, video continues to be huge … especially as technology makes it easier to not only get your video on the web but for users to watch it. Podcasting is also hot, especially video podcasting, which is considered to be one of the best ground floor marketing opportunities available. And buzz marketing is growing in popularity like a house on fire.
And lastly you get to see the frustrations. Although frustration was few and far between at this conference (it was a really optimistic crowd), there was one question that kept cropping up. It came up several times during open panel discussions … and it’s a question I’m seeing on a regular basis …
How do I get traffic to my website?
Now at first glance, this seems like a crazy question (especially from people already making a living online) and a really huge question all at the same time. And since I know there are so many new entrepreneurs entering this space all the time, I’ve always just assumed it was newbies asking the question.
But when it kept cropping up at this conference, it had me wondering about the education level of people entering the Internet marketing space. And it got me really mad!
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Posted by:
Julie McManus
April 18, 2008
Issue #399
(Frequent Flyer)
Hi Ya, Fellow ‘Net Trenchers!
Did you miss me? I was on vacation in Colorado. My family and I rented a condo in Keystone for a little spring skiing, plus we spent some time with family in Denver. We had a nice, relaxing time … at least as relaxing as possible with a four-year-old and eight-year-old (that have never seen snow or skied before) in tow. Although the weather wasn’t exactly springlike, if you ask me … we had snow every day and a couple of days included 60 mile per hour winds and whiteout conditions. But on the sunny days, you could see the green tips of all the flowers trying to break free of a winter’s worth of freezing temperatures.
A good time was had by all except for a few minor mishaps, including getting stuck on the top of the mountain in a major snowstorm with two frightened little girls and only an open chairlift to get down. As well as another big snowstorm that rolled in the night before we were scheduled to check out of our condo and left the roads an absolute mess (with snow chains required for all commercial vehicles) … not exactly comfortable driving for Florida folks.
But perhaps the worst experience was that we were flying American Airlines and - like hundreds of thousands of other folks - our flights were cancelled …
Thursday started like many of the other mornings … dark grey skies and lots of snow falling. We’d seen the news reports about the American flight cancellations, so I checked American’s website Wednesday night to see if we were affected. As of Wednesday night, our flights were still a go. But as the snowstorm rolled in Wednesday night, another type of storm was taking place over at American Airlines. 500 flights cancelled on Wednesday … 900 more flights cancelled on Thursday …
So as we rushed to beat the snowstorm and get out of our condo on Thursday morning, I decided to check the flight status one last time. Sure as sugar … our flights were cancelled. A quick call to American’s customer service line elicited a busy signal and then another. What should I do!? I quickly hopped onto Expedia.com (as my brother-in-law is yelling in the background “We gotta go if we’re going to beat this storm!”) to check and see if we could rebook on another airline. I ended up booking our return flight on Frontier Airlines. The good thing was it was a non-stop flight. The bad thing was it left at 11:55 p.m. – a red-eye – and it cost more than our total round trip on American.
As we quickly vacated our condo, I started to wonder whether re-booking on my own was the right thing to do. But after seeing thousands of people standing at ticket counters and sleeping in airports all across the country on television … I realized it was.
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Posted by:
Julie McManus
March 28, 2008
Issue #384
Dear Business Builder,
As I write this, I’m on an airplane headed to LA to Yanik Silver’s Underground Internet Marketing Conference. I’ve actually wanted to attend Yanik’s conference for many years, but it was never convenient … two little girls whining “Mommy don’t go” seems to have a way of making a lot of things inconvenient. And this time was no exception, but here I am … on my way, regardless.
This time I couldn’t pass it up. The big draw being Dr. Mercola and his organically grown list of over 1.4 million subscribers. Heck, if I pick up a few new techniques to organically generate a list one quarter that size … I’ll add several million dollars to my health client’s bottom line.
Clayton’s been talking a lot about his partnership model. And sadly, I missed his and Tony’s teleconference on the subject. But from what I hear, Tony put Clayton through the wringer … but I’m more than sure Clayton held his own. If there ever were a king of the partnership model, it would definitely be Clayton … having made millions through his partnering ventures (believe me, I’ve seen the checks).
I can’t think of a more fitting person to explain exactly how it’s done than Clayton. So if you haven’t seen his recent offer to join his EasyWriters Club so you can get all his partnering secrets … I suggest you check it out now.
Working in a consulting capacity and especially as an exclusive partner can be great. But, it can also be a big giant pain in the keister. Firing a client is probably one of the most difficult business decisions you’ll ever make, so when you set out to establish a relationship with a client, it pays to know exactly who you’re dealing with. And this isn’t always easy.
Some of the client relationships I’ve been in, I knew exactly what I was getting into ahead of time. I knew the client and their business well, therefore I knew how they operated and what to expect before I started. It’s the "eyes wide open" scenario.
In other cases, I’ve entered into contracts with businesses where I didn’t know the client or how they operate their business. So I relied on word of mouth and referrals as a starting point for entering into a relationship. Although colleagues can tell you someone is a nice person, easy to work for and/or well respected, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll make a good client. Or for that matter a good partner. And I suspect this will be your situation more times than not.
So what exactly makes a good client? And how can you know? Good questions and I’m going to answer them right now.
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