Goin' Green: Repurpose, Refresh, Repackage, and Republish Your Content!

Sometimes, content is right under our nose... we just don’t know where to look for it. Reusing content is a great way to bond with subscribers and add revenues to your bottom line. You just have to think out of the box and be "strategically creative." The content must be relevant to your overall website, objective and target audience and provide some value to the reader.

In this article, I'll help you discover where to find your "hidden treasures" and use them to drive traffic to your website for traffic, sales, leads and buzz.

If you're a publisher, then I don't have to tell you there is no shortage of content in your world. But do you truly know how to leverage all the content you have? Even more so, do you know where to find all the hidden content you may have?

Remember, content comes from a variety of sources, such as text, audio, and video.
Sometimes, content is right under our nose…we just don’t know where to look for it. Today, I’m going to point you in the right direction and give you some great ideas where to find your ‘hidden treasures’ and use it to help drive traffic to your website which in turn can be monetized for sales and leads.

You can leverage content and repurpose it from the following sources:

-Old newsletter (ezine) issues or articles
-Old bonus materials such as free reports, bulletins, and white papers
-Old products or kit components
-Past teleseminars
-Past webinars or webcasts
-Past presentations such as PowerPoint slides
-Preview recorded speeches at tradeshows or other events
-Interview transcripts
-Fulfillment materials
-Conference call notes or transcripts
-Your own website’s content, such as in a news, Q&A or FAQ section of your website
Press releases

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Click here to read the full article: http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1722558

Why Marketing Should Take the Lead in Lead Generation

In my last post, I argued that companies should not rely primarily on salespeople to generate sales leads, but instead should use marketing programs to produce most new leads.  Here's why.

The new customer acquisition process for a B2B company includes three distinct components - lead acquisition, lead management, and sales opportunity management.

Lead acquisition includes all of the activities that a company uses to persuade a potential buyer to engage with the company.  The initial engagement can take several forms including meeting with a salesperson, responding to a lead generation campaign, and downloading a content resource (an article or a white paper, for example) from your website.

Lead management refers to the activities that a company performs to qualify leads and nurture those leads until they become legitimate sales opportunities.

Sales opportunity management includes the activities that we typically associate with selling - performing needs analysis, giving demos and/or presentations, preparing proposals and ROI estimates, and closing sales.

When most people use the term lead generation, they are referring to both lead acquisition and lead management.

Two economic factors explain why marketing programs (as opposed to traditional sales prospecting) should be the primary tool for generating leads.  First, lead generation (particularly lead acquisition) is an inherently inefficient process.  It has a high input (work required) to output (success) ratio.  Lead generation is like hitting in baseball.  If a major league player finishes a season with a .400 average, he is likely to win the batting title.  But, a .400 average means the player "failed" 60% of the time.

Because lead generation is inherently inefficient, it's important to perform the process using low cost resources.  Salespeople are expensive resources, and their prospecting activities don't "scale" because they are labor intensive and mostly manual.  Marketing programs, on the other hand, scale very easily, and many marketing activities can be automated on a cost-effective basis.  The bottom line is that leads generated by effective marketing programs are usually less expensive on a cost-per-lead basis than leads generated by salesperson prospecting.

The second economic factor relates to sale productivity.  Reducing the amount of time that a salesperson must spend generating leads means that he or she will have the ability to manage a larger number of legitimate sales opportunities.  This allows the salesperson to close more deals and generate higher revenues for the company.

I am not suggesting that salespeople should not be involved at all in lead generation.  I am suggesting that salespeople should focus on what I call opportunistic lead generation.  For example, they should be asking for referrals, and they should be actively networking with potential buyers.  Salespeople also need to be involved in lead qualification because thorough lead qualification requires human interaction and human judgement.

Marketing programs are not free, but when effective marketing programs are used for lead generation, the payoff can be higher revenues and/or lower marketing and sales expenses (as a percentage of revenues).

Marketing Myths and Misconceptions: The REAL Truth to Building an Online InfoPublishing Business and Community

Anyone that tells you that you can build (not launch, but build) an online info-publishing business fast and furious is flat out crazy. When building an online info-publishing business and related subscriber base, there are a few core drivers for success: Increased website visibility, Increased website traffic, Increased market exposure, Increased community (list size and followers).

Typically, there are two things that help you achieve those goals: time and/or resources. And one directly affects the other. There is a powerful, easy, and virtually no cost formula for success, you just need to know about it.

I've being leading marketing efforts for top publishers such as Agora, Weiss, Newsmax as well as and Fortune 500 companies such as GE, ADP, Chase, Salmon Smith Barney/CitiGroup for nearly 20 years now.

And over the last decade or so I've seen and heard a lot of, quite frankly, baloney about how easy and quick it is to build an online business and it's community (aka followers, list or ezine subscribers).

First, let me say, that anyone that tells you that you can build (not launch, but build) an online infopublishing business fast and furious is flat out crazy.

When building an online infopublishing business and related subscriber base there are a few core drivers for success:
1. Increased website visibility
2. Increased website traffic
3. Increased market exposure
4. Increased community (list size and followers)

Typically, there are two things that help you achieve those goals: time and/or resources. And one directly affects the other.

For example, if you have no resources (money) then your online marketing strategies to build your website and related newsletter will tend to focus around free marketing strategies such as social media marketing, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, link-building, guerrilla marketing, and more. In this scenario, you are sacrificing expediency for cost (which in this case is none). You see, most free strategies can take anywhere from 3-12 months to gain momentum and gain a foothold. In this scenario, you are sacrificing the time.

If you have resources, then you have more options at your disposal to grow your list such as online media buying, list rentals, and co-registration that would likely produce results quicker, but in this case you are sacrificing the money. And even then, there are many variables that will affect performance such as list or website selection, creative development, copywriting strength, and persuasive landing page creation.

Having launched and built many online business and websites over the last 10+ years, I not only know, but have mastered the formula for success and trained several CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, marketers, and publishers.

For instance, when I led the marketing efforts at popular online publisher, Early to Rise as (2007-2009) one of my primary tasks was to launch a health website for the business as well as a health ezine. I championed this from concept to execution involving:
--Name and mission of website and ezine
--Look/theme/layout of site and ezine template
--Researching the contributing panel of experts and gurus
--List building efforts
--Visibility efforts
--Cross-selling efforts
--Product development efforts

That site is the popular alternative health source, TotalHealthBreakthroughs.com.

My tactics for building the business and the list, for the most part, comprised of a mix of free online strategies: search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing (SMM), online press releases, guerrilla marketing, and most importantly, leveraging either guest editorials, dedicated emails or newsletter ads in sister publications as well as industry colleagues' publications.

But not everyone has leverage like that or has access to an editorial network of contacts. Most folks have to go it alone and have no idea where to start first. For the average Joe, building a community (list) and online business takes patience and being strategically creative.

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but that is the real deal. Nothing bothers me more than so called 'Internet gurus' that sell bogus products for a fortune or spew nonsense with greatly exaggerated claims or promises, only for the average Joe to find out it doesn't work for him.

You’ve seen those emails that promise an obscene amount of money in rapid time. The ones that tell you how you can make a gazillion dollars in 24 hours. These are promotional ploys that rely on smoke and mirrors: fancy digital tactics, outlandish persuasive copy, and twisted claims. In all honesty, these promotions are preying on the average consumers’ greed for sales. But in reality, the only person that typically makes the money is the product’s creator. And sadly enough, many small business owners, entrepreneurs, and home-based businesses fall victim to these scams.

Many companies I work with have actually been burned by these scams and are in the hole for thousands of dollars. Some are also start-up companies with little budget or resources, but are looking for solid results.

That's why when you don’t really have the time or money to grow your business it’s critical to market smarter, not harder. You need to use proven strategies that perform time and time again. That means employing tactics that are effective, cost virtually nothing, and are easy-to-learn and implement.

That is the core of my SONAR Content Distribution Model TM and the principal of my upcoming book, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, Aug. 2011].

SONAR Marketing is not a theory, but a real Internet strategy that works. It can be applied to virtually any size company[md]large, small, entrepreneur, at home business. SONAR works in any niche, with any budget, and at any stage in a company's business cycle (start-up, maintenance, or growth).

Simply stated, SONAR is a cost effective, yet powerful, method of repurposing and synchronizing content (text, audio, video) distribution into various, targeted channels. SONAR allows companies, publishers and entrepreneurs -- basically anyone with content on their website -- to monetize it by turning traffic into sales.

SONAR represents five free online distribution channels:
S Syndicate partners, content syndication networks, and user generate content sites
O Online press releases
N Network (social) communities, social bookmarking sites
A Article directories
R Relevant posts to blogs, forums, and message boards

Learning SONAR and incorporating it into your online marketing plan will help you build your business and community through increased traffic generation, bonding, awareness, email collection, and revenues.

Even better, SOANR results are all measurable. You can use simple direct response marketing and PR metrics to track your campaigns for a quantifiable return on investment (ROI).
In a nutshell, SONAR helps you turn content into cash. So if you want to REALLY find out how to monetize your content and propel your business, you've got to check it out!

For more information and full article visit http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1722557.

Untapped Talent

Over the course of the year, I have been fortunate enough to attend several gatherings of artists and marketers, from the National Arts Marketing Project Conference to the #Newplay Convening at Arena Stage to most recently the Theatre Communications Group's National Conference. From these gatherings, a clear theme has emerged. Many artists feel that institutions do not use them to the best of their abilities, and they question why they are not approached to help with planning, budgeting, marketing or other traditionally "administrative" functions. In fact, as it relates to marketing, many artists went a step further by saying that they feel unwelcome by marketing departments.

At the TCG conference during a session entitled "The State of the Artist," sound designer Cricket Myers questioned why she isn't utilized more to promote productions she is working on. This echoed cries from playwrights that I have heard throughout the year asking why marketers don't seek out a playwright's assistance in the promotion of their work.

I think in some cases there is a serious disconnect between the marketer and the artist, which leads to situations of untapped talent on both sides. Why are artists not sought out during the marketing process, and why are marketers not sought out during the creation process? From the stories I have heard from playwrights, it sounds to me like several of them have legitimate reasons to feel like they are unwelcome when it comes to designing and implementing marketing campaigns. Those of us that spend a significant amount of time marketing new work might not understand the exclusion of artists in the marketing process, as outlined recently by Alli Houseworth's comments in "A Theater Marketer's Rant." Marketers that reject any collaborative environment with artists make it difficult for those that invite collaboration. I fear that some marketers are considered guilty by association.

If involving artists in the marketing process is beneficial (as I believe most of us agree it is), I question if involving marketers in the creation process could be as well? Theater is a collaborative art form, and it seems to me that the highway of collaboration should feature two way traffic. In my career, I have seen marketers locked out of rehearsal halls, denied access to draft scripts, and be uninvited to workshops and readings, yet they were expected to understand and promote the work. To those playwrights who question why marketers never seek their opinion, I would like to ask them if they have ever sought the opinion of a marketer?

Marketers and playwrights are both specialists, highly trained and very experienced in their perspective trades, but they are both creative beings as well. Good ideas come from a variety of sources. To assume that a marketer has no value in an artistic decision, or that playwrights have nothing to contribute to a marketing plan is foolish. Both sides lose, and when paired, they lose together.

Where are today's Mad Men?

The Mad Men were crazy about consumer packaged goods (CPG). They had the magic to turn a generic flake of corn into a desirable, even aspirational breakfast experience. Packaged goods were easily branded, and brands were easily advertised on television. The CPG industry became the undisputed hotbed of marketing.





Tide, Coca-cola, Heinz, Kellogg and Anheuser-Busch, Wrigley, Mars, and several

Stop Depending on Your Salespeople to Generate Leads

For B2B companies that sell complex products or services, keeping the sales pipeline filled with qualified leads is vital.  Many companies have traditionally relied on salespeople to generate their own leads.  In fact, many companies expect their salespeople to perform most, if not all, of the jobs required to find and win new customers, from identifying prospects, to generating leads, to closing sales.

The problem is that this traditional approach to lead generation no longer works as well as it once did.  Business buyers don't need salespeople as much today as they did in the past.  They can go online and find most of the information they need to learn about and evaluate products and services.  So, buyers are now performing research independently, and they are avoiding conversations with sales reps until much later in the buying process.  As a result, it's become a lot harder for salespeople to create the initial engagement with potential buyers, which is what lead generation is all about.

Making salespeople responsible for lead generation is a bad idea for several related reasons.

• Salespeople must devote a significant amount of their time and energy to lead generation work in order to produce a sufficient number of leads.  According to the 2011 Sales Performance Optimization survey conducted by CSO Insights, salespeople are now spending 24% of their time generating leads and researching accounts.
• The more time a sales rep spends on lead generation, the less time he/she has for actual selling.  The CSO Insights survey shows that salespeople are spending only 41% of their time on actual selling activities.
• The less time a salesperson spends on actual selling, the less revenues he/she will produce.  CSO Insights says that only 59% of sales reps made their quotas in 2010.

When the "revenue per salesperson" number goes down, overall company revenues are likely to deteriorate.  Companies must either accept lower revenues of compensate in some way.  The traditional responses have been to browbeat the salespeople to work harder, provide sales reps with training to improve their skills, or hire more salespeople.

The first two responses usually don't work because the real problem is not unproductive salespeople (although some probably are), but an ineffective and inefficient lead generation process.  The third response (hiring more salespeople) may produce higher revenues, but it will also significantly increase your selling expenses.

The real solution is to use effective marketing programs to generate leads and use your sales reps to do the things that only they can do - have meaningful, personal, one-on-one conversations with prospects who are truly sales ready.

Companies are now recognizing that marketing should take the lead in lead generation, but it's also clear that this is still a work in progress.  In the CSO Insights survey, respondents indicated that 47% of sales leads are still generated by salespeople, while only 29% are produced by marketing.

Over the past few months, I've worked with several companies that get more than 80% of their new sales leads from salespeople and only 20% from marketing and other sources (referrals, press coverage, etc.).  These percentages need to be reversed.  Your objective should be to generate 80% of your sales leads from your marketing programs.

If you currently depend on your salespeople for most of your leads, this transition can't be made overnight.  The important thing is to set ambitious but attainable goals for marketing generated leads, and then put the marketing programs in place that will enable you to reach those goals.

In brands we trust

The haloed Apple logo


Why do consumers trust brands?




If you’re after a perfectly rational explanation, you’d say: because brands deliver on their promise. Tide washes whiter, Disney is fun, Apple is cool, and BMW is the ultimate driving experience.



In other words, we believe something like this happens: 

The consumer listens to or watches the ad, and is intrigued by the promise made

Is Blogging Dead?

I read something recently that said, ‘blogging is dead’. It made me think … with the rising popularity of free enewsletters and free e-magazines, as well as social media, is blogging really dead?

I don’t think so. And I don’t think you have to deploy one strategy (free newsletter or e-magazine) versus another (blogging or social marketing). Here’s why:

Blogging and free ezines are both conduits – ways to communicate with readers. The goal of blogging and the goal of either a free newsletter or e-magazine are virtually the same, except the business model behind the driving force of each conduit are slightly different. And both tactics that I believe complement each other.

Let me explain…
With blogging, you’re using ‘pull’ marketing. Through search engine marketing and optimization (SEM and SEO), article marketing, and SONAR marketing you are driving traffic and readers to your blog for ‘UVA’ information, that is, information that is useful, valuable, and actionable.

On the blogging conduit you can certainly try to monetize the visits through mechanisms like Google Ad Sense and banner or text ads (for cross-selling and other revenue opportunities) as well as lead generation mechanisms to capture the reader’s email address and further bond with them via targeted correspondence. And once you capture that email address, you’ve opened up the lines of communication – getting permission to contact that person and reach them through editorial, advertorial and promotional messages – delivered directly to their in-box.

Same goes for social media. You may have, what I like to call, ‘Triple F’s’ (friends, followers or fans), but how deep is that relationship? You don’t really have permission to correspond with the user personally. And you don’t have their email address. With social media, the relationship is shallow. A substantial level of bonding as well as conversion is usually more challenging then with a subscriber, as you are limited with either character counts (as with on Twitter) or background noise … unless you have a profile stalker that is frequently visiting your page.

…Which leads to ‘push’ marketing.

Enewsletters and e-magazines are correspondence being ‘pushed’ out to your audience. You already have their email address, so the main purpose of your effort is bonding (through UVA information) AND direct response marketing (cross-selling via newsletter ads and solo emails). You don’t have to rely as heavily on search engine optimization for this conduit, but rather use SEO and SEM for the website that the enewsletter or e-magainzine sign up box is housed on.

Newsletters and e-magazines can also benefit from outside revenues from external advertising opportunities and affiliate marketing products. The size and quality of the list (number of subscribers) along with some other variables such as open rate, click rate, bounce rate, average unit of sale will determine the value of the list, and therefore, the advertising rate you can get for that list.

For me, I wouldn’t say blogging is dead nor would I give up blogging and put all my eggs in one basket with enewsletters, e-magazine, or social media. I would do them all and treat them each different strategies. I believe blogging is more personalized, raw, and intimate. This is where I would speak to my reader as if they were next to me. To be unedited and uncut. Give them the inside scoop.

For an enewsletter or similar, I would still have juicy tid bits, but the form of delivery would be more polished. More editorial in nature.

And for social media, I would combine a mix of posts that were for bonding, lead gen and sales. I would let my followers see me as both guru and virtual friend.

I think nowadays, marketers need to try and test all online platforms to see which ‘conduit’ is right for their business, audience, and objectives. Don’t rule anything out. Learn how to be strategically creative!

Friday...the end or the beginning?

Happy Friday everyone...

But Friday's pose a question that helps us determine the MOST successful and those that are successful some of the time.

The question...

                     Is Friday the end of the week... or the beginning of the next week?

My answer... its the end of the week for those that are successful some of the time and the beginning of the week for the most successful!

Here is a "game changer" thought to ponder...

• Make Friday the 1st day of planning for the next week
• Make Friday the 1st day of retro review for this week

 Hope you have a GREAT Friday...

Cheers!

Bruce

Seven Tips for Writing Case Studies that Sell

Customer case studies are one of the most popular kinds of marketing collateral used by B2B companies.  When they're done right, case studies can help shorten sales cycles and close more deals.

According to recent research by Eccolo Media, case studies are the third most widely consumed type of marketing collateral (behind product brochures and white papers) and the second most influential type of marketing collateral (trailing only white papers).

The good news is that case studies can significantly boost the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.  The not-so-good news is that the use of case studies has exploded, and this means that your case studies are facing more competition for attention and mindshare than ever before.  If they look and sound like all the others your potential buyers see, or if they don't tell a compelling story, they simply won't produce the expected results.

There are seven essential steps for writing effective and compelling case studies.

• Collect and organize the facts you have to work with
• Define the target audience
• Identify the key takeaways
• Make the case study a true "story"
• Describe results/benefits in specific (preferably, quantitative) terms
• Use customer quotations liberally
• Make the case study easy to scan

We've created a "mini guide" for writing effective case studies that discusses these seven steps in greater detail.  These steps reflect current best practices, and we use all of these techniques when we prepare custom case studies for clients.

If you'd like to review Seven Tips for Writing Customer Case Studies that Sell, send an e-mail to ddodd(at)pointbalance(dot)com.

Leveraging Your Worth: 6 Great Ideas To Make More Money For Yourself

Are you sick of busting your butt for someone else? Tired of long commutes? Looking to make extra money with little risk or start up cost?

For many of the reasons above, tens of thousands of Americans are opting to work from home either part time or full time. With the economy struggling over the past several years, online and home-based business launches have seen a spike. That’s because this is an ideal opportunity for stay-at-home moms, retirees, recent college grads, unemployed workers, and anyone looking for another source of income.

Using your talents, skills, and computer to generate cash can also be a seamless way to obtain an optimal work-family life balance.

But be warned: working from home isn’t for everyone. If you crave an office-type environment, thrive on in-person social interaction, and like the hustle and bustle of the rat race (which believe it or not, some people do), then you might find working from home isolated and slow.

However, depending on what business you decide to launch, you may be quite busy as well as get professional satisfaction, enrichment, socialization, and fulfillment without the commute or stress of the traditional corporate environment.

The main advantage: you call the shots.

Here are some tips and ideas on starting your own business, whether it’s online or offline:

1. Infopublisher. This is a great and easy way to make money. Most infopublishers create a website and ezine (free enewsletter), and fill it with useful, valuable and actionable content. Then through bonding with subscribers, you cross-sell infoproducts (digitial products like ebooks) to your readers. However, although that is the typical formula for success, you can put your toe in the water by starting with an ebook. See if infopublishing is right for you. Pick a topic to write about that you are an expert at and passionate about. Also, do some market research to see if the topic you picked has general market interest. Then write your little heart out. Once you finish, proofread and save as a .pdf file for universal viewing. Finally, join digital marketplaces like ClickBank.com. ClickBank is a cost effective way to sell digital products that is turnkey with virtually no overhead costs. They have a onetime registration fee (around $50) and then take a small percent of commission (like a few bucks) for each sale you make. Price your ebook accordingly based on page count and value of information. ClickBank will then send you monthly checks once you reach your payment threshold, which is an amount you set up. It’s that easy. If you see you have a flair for writing you can continue to sell only ebooks or step it up and create your basic website and ezine.

2. Article Directory Website Owner. This one is more complicated, as it involves hiring a web programmer, but you can set it and forget it. Basically, you create a website that is an online directory, similar to popular directories like ezinearitcles.com, selfgrowth.com, goarticles.com, articlesbase.com and many others. You create sub categories for popular topics (you can get a format and inspiration from aforementioned article sites) and create buzz through social media and search engine optimization about your directory. The business model is that when people find your site and upload their articles, the relationship is reciprocal. You will get the traffic and email address (required for registration); and they will get the search engine marketing/link building benefit. Once your site obtains a strong and steady visitor pace and traffic rank, you can then open up your business model for advertising revenues – that is, charging advertisers for banner or text ads on your website. In addition, you can monetize the email addresses you collect through registration (which you’ll disclose of course) by sending them both editorial and promotional messages.

3. Consultant/Freelancer. This one is a no-brainer. If you’re an expert at something, leverage that expertise and passion by assisting other companies with your special skill. It can be anything from marketing, to graphics design, to proof reading, to editing … and the list goes on. I wouldn’t suggest quitting my day job for this route, but it’s a great second income until your freelance business picks up. You don’t necessarily need a website, but I think it lends credibility and is a great source for consumers to find you (just remember to optimize your site!). Then, you can market yourself to your target audience on targeted social media sites as well as free press release sites. You should also contribute free articles on related websites that highlight your experience and knowledge base about your skill. Finally, you can register on freelance portals like elance.com or ifreelance.com and look for as well as bid on projects that be right up your alley.

4. Sitter or Walker. Becoming a ‘sitter’ is a popular profession where I live. There’s pet sitters, baby sitters, and home sitters. Because I live in Florida, home sitting is actually quite popular with the ‘snow birds’, people that live up north but have homes in Florida. They often need a local to look after their home and check things out during the unoccupied months. Pet sitting and dog walking are also popular choices for home-based businesses and pet sitters can charge anywhere from $16-$25 per visit (and most pets require 3 visits per day). The key to success here is shelling out some basic start up costs for business cards, marketing (such as flyers and brochures) and promoting your business in targeted locations locally. You should also take advantage of free online Yellow pages and Superpages as well as sites like CraigsList.org to promote your services. Also consider leaving business cards or brochures with synergistic business in your area such as veterinarians, pet stores, and super markets. Once you get a few clients, you can offer referral incentives to existing customers and both of you benefit from new business opportunities.

5. Blogger. If you have a lot to say and are dying for a soapbox to preach from, then blogging may be for you. Setting up a blog is fast, easy and free. You can go to popular site like BlogSpot.com and select a template that’s right for you. Then, register you blog with top blog directories. Some great resources can be found at: http://www.technotweaks.com/top-20-blog-directories-to-submit-your/. Then start your rant. You can blog about anything. I suggest you have a theme and write your content for your audience. For example, if you’re a stay-at-home mom, gear your blog for other moms and write tips for child care, great coupon locations, at home remedies, and more. Again, with website or blog success, it’s all about visits and exposure. So take advantage of the Web and mention your blog in related forums or message boards; create a free online press release; get the word out to help drive traffic to your blog. Once you get steady traffic and decent page rank, you can sell ad space on your site either on your own or through a network, such as BlogAds.com. You can also incorporate Google Ad Sense on your site (which is a simple widget on BlogSpot.com, so it’s easy to deploy) to start blogging for dollars.

6. Affiliate Marketer. Many people are professional affiliate marketers or as the industry refers to them ‘super affiliates’. These folks are no joke. Marketing other people’s products are their livelihood. Basically, you search top affiliate marketing networks, directories and forums for the best paying product websites, that is, those offering the best commissions. Often times these are well-known products and sites, but not always. Sometimes, it’s good to start with a simple Google search using keywords such as: best affiliate marketing programs, highest commission affiliate marketing programs, and top affiliate marketing programs. If you have a specific company in mind, search that company name and add ‘affiliate marketing program’ to the search string. Then, sign up for the free affiliate marketing programs and start marketing for that company. The way it usually works is you have to agree to the company’s terms and conditions, then you can download creatives to market on the Web – banner ads, text ads, emails, and more. Based on the commission model, you may get paid (percent) on leads or sales. Popular payment terms: PPS (pay per sale), CPO (cost per order), CPA (cost per acquisition), CPL (cost per lead). Some programs are quite robust and offer real-time reporting, various creatives, automated payouts, and more. Some good resources are: http://www.top-affiliate.com/, http://www.affiliatetips.com/, http://www.abestweb.com/, and http://www.affiliateseeking.com/.

Do you play to win, or not to lose?

Do you play to win? Or do you play not to lose?

There is a difference!

It's the difference between the prevent defense and the shut-down defense;

The difference between being reactive and proactive;

The difference between blending in and demanding market share.

Look at your locations, image, products and delivery...

Are you playing to win, or not to lose?

How to Eliminate Obsolescence from the Marketing Supply Chain

The obsolescence of marketing materials constitutes a major problem for many companies.  The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council has said that obsolescence creates an "epidemic of waste" that undermines the development of an efficient marketing supply chain.  In a recent CMO Council survey:

• 60% of respondents said they spend at least 20% of their total marketing budget on marketing "consumables" (primarily printed materials such as marketing collateral documents, promotional items, and point-of-sale materials).
• 40% of respondents said they waste 20% or more of their marketing materials because of obsolescence.

Source:  Understanding the Critical Factors to Achieving Marketing Supply Chain Operational Effectiveness & Optimization (CMO Council, 2010).

Obsolete marketing materials represent a complete waste of marketing dollars.  The cost of obsolete materials is essentially an investment in marketing communications that never reach the intended audience.  A closet or storeroom or trash container filled with obsolete marketing materials is a tangible manifestation of budget funds that could have been used to support productive marketing programs.

Just as important, the use of obsolete marketing materials can adversely affect marketing effectiveness.  In the CMO Council survey cited above, 51% of respondents admitted that they had sent materials to customers or prospects that contained outdated information.  In today's business environment, every interaction with a potential buyer is important, and sales can easily be lost if prospects are provided outdated information.

A marketing asset management solution can dramatically reduce the waste created by marketing materials that become obsolete before they can be used.  These solutions consist of a suite of technologies, manufacturing capabilities, and services that automate many of the processes relating to the procurement, production, management, and distribution of marketing materials.  They reduce obsolescence by eliminating the need to purchase marketing materials in large quantities.

Marketing asset management solutions make extensive of on-demand production technologies, and these technologies enable you to acquire most marketing materials in small quantities on a cost effective basis.  And because production lead times are short, you can order materials as and when they are needed.  This eliminates the need for large inventories, which greatly reduces the possibility that marketing materials will become obsolete.

If you struggle with obsolescence, a marketing asset management solution may be just the "cure" you need for this epidemic.  To learn more about how marketing asset management solutions work, take a look at our white paper titled, Is a Marketing Asset Management Solution Right for My Company? To get a copy of this white paper, just send an e-mail request to ddodd(at)pointbalance(dot)com.

Are countries lousy market segments?

Global marketers conduct much of their market research for the same reason other marketers do: to cover their backsides. 
In case anyone ever asks, they can whip out the professionally executed study replete with significant significance tests. It shows incontestably (at p<.05) that the reason they altered the packaging, the scent, and the color of the shampoo for the Nicaraguan market was that

Opportunities Lost

It may be old school, but it’s true … David Ogilvy said that, "Nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising." 

What kind of service are customers and prospects receiving from your frontline staff?

Several times a year, we get the opportunity to conduct a secret shop analysis for clients. This is where we walk into the branches of our clients and their key competition and shop for checking accounts.

It never ceases to amaze me about the opportunities that many banks and credit unions are loosing at the point of sale.

The bottom line is that, unless you take specific steps to correct it, it is basic human instinct to take the easiest road. When a customer asks for information on a checking account, that’s exactly what most employees provide. We usually find one of the following responses:

Bad: The employee will hand-off the checking brochure with no explanation or effort.

Better: The employee will use the brochure as a crutch and literally read each and every checking option (in some cases even a second-chance option).

Best: The employee will ask questions to determine the best checking option, recommend a product based on the conversation and explain why that product is best using real benefits and, in the best cases, real-world personal examples (“I love our mobile banking, it’s so easy to use and you can deposit checks by just taking a picture with your smartphone.”)

If you want to move your team from Bad to Best follow these steps:

Teach: Your team wants to be helpful to the customer. Let your team know that simply giving the customer exactly what they are asking for is not helping them. Train that we must first understand their needs before we provide recommendations.

Tools: Most new accounts folks we talk to rely on crutches, even though they know the products. It’s human nature. Don’t fight it – give them useful crutches. Instead of talking to brochures, we provide our clients with tools that walk staff through the qualifying questions we want asked.

Personal Experience: Stress the importance of benefits over features. Rates are not benefits! Free is not a benefit! Saving money is a benefit … easy to use is a benefit … saving time is a benefit. If your team can speak from personal experience to these benefits it’s even better. Do all your employees use YOUR products?

Close: Providing information is one thing, but we need to ask for the close. Handing off your business card is not a close! 1) Ask to open the account today. 2) If the customer cannot, ask to get the process started for them, then make an appointment for them to come back. 3) Ask for the customer’s phone number so that you can follow-up (keep control of the situation – if you rely on the customer to call back, they won’t). 4) Provide your business card and tell the customer what days/hours you are usually at the office.

These tips sound basic, but after hundreds of shops from all over the country, I can assure you that very few banks or credit unions are following them. This process will differentiate you and help to drive account opening and cross sells at the branch level.

For more on lessons learned from our shop experiences, click here.

Take care,

Eric

Have You Heard?

My wildly successful and acclaimed SONAR Content Distribution Model is the principal of my upcoming book, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, Aug. 2011].

You can get some preliminary information about SONAR on my website, order the 'rough cuts' manusript of my book through the publisher, or pre-order the actual book via Amazon, Borders, or Barnes and Noble. My book is targeted for global release on Aug. 16, 2011.

If you want to REALLY find out how to monetize your content and propel your business, you gotta check this out.

See what all the buzz is about...

"Wendy's book is an impressively thorough account of the marketing options open to Internet businesses today. I have it within reach of my desk and I intend to make good use of it."
--Michael Masterson, Publisher, Agora, Inc., Early To Rise.com

“If you want to transform content into some very substantial money for your business, this must-read book will show you exactly how.”
--Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D., Bestselling Author

"Wendy's new book, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, is exactly what is needed in today's turbulent business world. By reading and putting the tactics and strategies into action you will position yourself for more profits and a stronger a business."
--MaryEllen Tribby, Founder/CEO, WorkingMomsOnly.com

"When it comes to marketing online, content is an afterthought for far too many marketers. It's a pity because, as Wendy Montes de Oca points out in her new book, content can be a huge source of income for any business. That's why I love that Wendy has comprehensively explained dozens of ways to leverage content for an online business. The best part is that - like the pro direct marketer she is - Wendy's strategies are all trackable and quantifiable. So you know exactly how valuable your efforts are to your business."
--Jason Holland, Associate Publisher Early to Rise.com

"Everybody talks about marketing with content, but Wendy Montes de Oca provides a systematic approach, SONAR, for actually doing it. By following her model you get higher search engine rankings and other results instead of just churning out an endless pile of articles that go nowhere and do nothing."
--Bob Bly, Author, Copywriter, Publisher, The Direct Response Letter

"Content is Cash is a classic! We implemented Wendy's SONAR system and saw results (traffic, qualified prospects and opt-in subscribers) within hours, not days or months. It's easy to become overwhelmed with Internet marketing "advice". There were more than 26,000 books on Amazon.com this morning dealing with the topic. The SONAR system is not run-of-the-mill advice. You won't find a more complete collection of content marketing anywhere on the planet. Highly recommended!"
--Marc Charles, Entrepreneur, Author, Freelance Guru

"Whenever I think about monetizing content, the first person that comes to mind is Wendy Montes de Oca. I've personally used just one of her strategies in this book to generate thousands of leads and establish instant authority in my niche. Content Is Cash is a must have in serious online marketer's library."
--Brian T. Edmondson, Internet Marketing Expert, TripleYourProfits.com

"Wendy told me about the SONAR system almost two years ago, and swore me to secrecy. Now she has done far more than just reveal the SONAR system. In Content is Cash, Wendy gives you a complete blueprint for the right way to use free content. I especially recommend Content is Cash to anyone who has tried using free content and been frustrated. Follow Wendy's proven method, and you'll have the cure for what frustrated you."
--Conrad Hall, Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Radio Host Conrad Hall Copywriting, LLC.

“This book brings the urgent and swirling noise of contemporary marketing strategy and tactics all together. Wendy has written a practical, no nonsense guide to improving sales and marketing results for any size company. It takes contemporary marketing to a whole new level. Her proven SONAR model is easy to grasp and her style is easy to follow.”
--Chris Binkert, Chief Marketer, Soundview Publications, Second Opinion

“Most Internet marketers know “content is king”. But no one has given us a systematic formula for “syndicating content”, until now. Wendy’s SONAR Content Distribution Model is a genuine masterpiece. I’m serious. There are tens of thousands of books available on Internet and content marketing. But Content is Cash will be the centerpiece of your Internet business and profits.”
-- Mark Smalley, Owner, Mark Smalley Direct

“Wendy's insights are priceless and have the ability to payoff in a big way. Content is Cash is a must read for anyone tasked with driving more traffic and revenue in an increasingly more competitive online environment. I'm looking forward to implementing many of her tips, tricks and tactics in my own business immediately.”
-- Julie McManus, President, Julie McManus Marketing Associates, Inc.

“Wendy’s book, “Content is Ca$h”, is a great book for anyone who wants to leverage their content – publishers, marketers, you name it. It’s well organized and explains Wendy’s system that can help you build your website and drive a boatload of traffic, and do it in a cost-effective manner. As a writer, I gleaned insight on what kind of articles I should be writing – or what I should emphasize in the articles I’m already writing – to grab eyeballs and hopefully turn them into more sales for my company.”
--Sean Brodrick, Editor, UncommonWisdomDaily.com

Content is the single most important factor in building a thriving web business and no one drives that point home better than Wendy Montes de Oca. In Content Is Cash she takes the mystery out of putting your content to work for you. Anyone trying to build traffic, sales, or leads would be a fool to not have a copy of this go-to reference on their desk.
--Alice Wessendorf, Managing Editor, HealthierTalk.com

6 Low Cost, High Performing Ways To Build Your Business This Summer!

1. Online classified ads. Using www.craigslist.org or similar high traffic classified sites is a great way to sell a product or get leads. The trick is geo-targeting, picking the right location to run your ad in. Picking the right category. As well as creating an ad that is perasuasive and powerful. Ads are free, so why not test it out. For a full list of states and cities, check out: http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites.

2. Organic Search Results (Search Engine Marketing). Search engine marketing (SEM) has a nominal cost. Annual fees with search engine networks or directories typically range from $25 to $95 per year, but many submissions to top sites like Google, Yahoo, Ask and Bing are free. Some consumers give organic search results more "credibility" than paid search ads. And because they "trust" the results of an organic search more, they are more likely to click on an organic link. A recent survey by Jupiter Research illustrated that 80 percent of Web users seek organic search results. Their rationale is that organic results are un-biased. The marketer didn't pay for that ad space. So the link's appearance in the search results is based purely on various search algorithms and Web crawlers. Your goal should be to balance your online presence with both paid ads and organic search results. You should make sure you have keywords in all the right places. That includes your title tags, URLs, and inside the published articles themselves.

3. Cost effective media buys. Running banner ads on other websites can be another cost-effective part of your online marketing mix. The pricing model for this is typically CPM - a specified price for every 1,000 impressions/views you receive (usually between $3 and $10). Since contextual space is limited in banner ads, your headline and visual elements are critical for success. And of course, your landing page should have strong, persuasive copy. Your media budget for banner ads will vary by:

-the website you're running (the higher the traffic, typically the higher the banner advertising rate) ad unit size/type (300 x 250 typically performs best, so those are priced higher than other ad units)
-location on website (home page, inside pages) whether the ad is targeted to a specific page or is on every page of the site (a/k/a run of site)
-the time of year the ad is running

Blogs and online ad networks are a cheaper alternative. Their CPMs (cost per thousand) usually ranges between $2 and $6, and they have a wider reach, although some networks may offer a universe of, lets say 20 websites, when only 5 websites are really considered "top tier". Networks to consider: Advertising.com, ValueClick.com, and FastClick.com. You can find a full list of sites here: http://www.imediaconnection.com/resourceconnection/adnetwork.asp.

4. Reciprocal Ad Swaps. One of the best kept secrets in the industry. Some of your best resources will be your fellow publishers. This channel often gets overlooked by marketers who don't give it the respect it deserves. In the work I do for my clients, I spend a good portion of my time researching publishers and websites in related, synergistic industries. I look for relevant connections between their publications (print and online) and my clients. Let's say I come across a natural health e-letter about that has a list of readers similar in size to one of my clients, who is a supplement manufacturer. Since many of their audience share similar interests, cross marketing each other products (or even lead gen efforts) can be mutually rewarding. Swapping ads will save you money on lead-generation initiatives. Since you won't be paying for access to the other publisher's list of subscribers, you can get new customers for free. The only "cost" is allowing the other publisher to access your own list. It's a win-win situation. This technique also opens the door to potential joint-venture opportunities.

5. Snail Mail. Direct mail is still a consumer favorite - and another good way to get your sales message out. It can be especially effective used in concert with another effort, such as an e-mail campaign. A recent survey published in DM News indicated that 70 percent of respondents preferred receiving unsolicited correspondence via mail vs. e-mail. As with any marketing medium, though, you can end up paying a lot between production costs, list rental costs, and mail shop/postage costs. The most costly direct-mail packages are magalogs and tabloids (four-color mailers that look like magazines). However, 6 x 9 postcards, tri-fold self-mailers, and simple sales letters are three low-cost ways of taking advantage of this channel. Note that copy, list selection and geo-targeting an be crucial for direct mail success no matter which cost-effective mail format you pick. Although 100 percent ROI (return on investment) is what you should aim for, many direct mailers are content with 80 percent. This lower figure takes into consideration the lifetime value of the names that come in from this channel, because they are typically reliable buyers in the future.

6. Print Ads. This is another channel that's gets a raw deal. One reason is because it can be costly. To place an ad in a high-circulation magazine or newspaper, you could shell out serious money. But you don't need a big budget to take advantage of print ads. If you don't have deep pockets, consider targeted newspapers and periodicals. Let's say you're selling an investment report. Try using the Internet to research the wealthiest cities in America. Once you get that list, look online for local newspapers in those communities. These smaller newspapers hit your target audience... and offer a much cheaper ad rate than some of the larger, broad-circulation publications. You end up getting quality rather than quantity. I once paid for an ad in a local newspaper in Aspen, CO that had a flat rate of less than $500. My ROI on this effort turned out to be more than 1,000 percent. How's that for a positive response rate!

The six marketing channels I've just described can help you reach more customers... and eventually add dollar signs to your bottom line. So start the summer off with a marketing bang. By leveraging the six channels of multi-channel marketing, I'm confident you will be amazed by the results.

Social Marketing Shockers and Secrets

Social marketing can be fun, can increase awareness, and can drive website traffic. But there's also some things you should be aware of before you dive in and spend time or money on this method.

The following are some comments I've heard over the years and my response, based on personal experience and observation:

Social media can't be measured. False. It surely can. Even better, the tools to help you measure them are all free. What you use is good old fashioned direct response and public relations metrics - outputs, outcomes and objectives. Outputs measure effectiveness and efficiency. Outcomes measure behavioral changes. And objectives is simply comparing direct product sales during the time of the campaign to other sales that occurred before the campaign. Online resources that can help with these measurements are Google Analytics, Google Alerts and Back-link checkers. You can also use your own in-house stats for subscriber sign ups (i.e. your email service provider) and sales (i.e. online shopping cart or ecommerce platform).

With social marketing, I don't need an ezine or free newsletter? False. You can certainly just have social media accounts and not have a daily, weekly or monthly ezine, but that is not ideal. You see, with social media accounts, you don't have the friend/follower/fan ('Triple F') email address. You post comments and thoughts, which can be entertaining, strategic or random, but you 'really' don't have a direct line of communication between you and your Triple F. This email address is like gold. Having an email address for your prospects gives you permission to bond with them through strong editorial as well as cross-sell them through targeted, persuasive promotional copy. Not having this is really doing your business an injustice. Not everyone is a 'profile stalker'. Not every Triple F is going to visit your social media page frequently to truly resonate with your message or buy your products. There is so much social media 'noise' that without having your Triple F's email, you're likely to get lost in the chatter.

Twitter is better for conversions than Facebook. False. Personally and for my clients, I have found that Facebook followers/fans convert better than Twitter. My thought for a few reasons: Facebook has more character limitations (420 or so characters per post) as well as a variety of features so you can say more, bond more, and sell more to your audience. Twitter has very strict character limitations (140 characters) making it difficult to have more than a shallow relationship with your audience posting short and pithy blurbs here and there. In addition, did you ever notice most people's 'Following' and 'Followers' numbers are very close or nearly identical in range? That is because with Twitter, you get more random followers that will 'Follow' most anyone looking for a reciprocal follow. Sure, you can set your account with a security feature to not just let people follow you but actually approve potential followers first. But that is not common practice for the most part (unless your ultimate Twitter purpose isn't for business or marketing). With Facebook, as a default you have to approve all friend requests first, thereby you can sort of qualify your audience. I believe with both of these platforms, it's truly quality over quantity. I don't recommend getting caught up in the numbers of how big your friend or follower list is, it's better to have a small list that is responsive, interacts and converts - than a large list that is uninterested in your messages.

It's ok to grab an email address from a 'friend' or 'network' profile page on Facebook or LinkedIn and send them promotional emails. Absolutely not.. Never. This is spam pure and simple. If you haven't noticed, at the bottom of your Facebook info. page or LinkedIn home page, your email address is posted for your network to see. In Facebook, this is a security setting that can be shown to friends only, friends or friends, or everyone. On LinkedIn it's similar. Believe it or not, shortly after I accepted some industry colleague requests, I started getting these solicitations for these people's products. There were pure, hardcore promotional emails. Now, I now I never signed up for there ezine. And it was within days after accepting their request. I could only conclude that these social media barracudas friend targeted people (that are ideal potential customers) and then once friended use that access to view personal email address and spam away. I find this not only tacky and obnoxious, but also violation of anti-spam practices. Needless to say I un-friended these people soon after. But use common sense and know that it's a best practice not to do this.

What are some tricks to increase your presence in Twitter? Keep your Tweets frequent, useful, relevant and entertaining. Use hash tags (#) with targeted keywords. Make sure you have a keyword rich and relevant Twitter bio so the right people can read about you and follow you. Text is limited, so pick your descriptive keywords carefully.

Social marketing is a waste of time. No, not if done correctly. Last year, my friend Bob Bly had a hot social media discussion brewing on his blog, www.Bly.com/blog. One commenter said, ""...by a direct response marketer's metrics, social media is a waste of time..." and "...social networking is simply real world interpersonal networking digitized...". I disagree. Social media, in my opinion, is a hybrid between relationship/network marketing and direct marketing. It's relationship marketing if you know how to be a strategic thinker as well as be creative with your marketing messages. In other words, what to say and where to say it. Targeting is key. You have to look at each social media website to see if it, and it's users, are the right fit for your marketing message and business. Then, you need to craft your message accordingly. And that requires good creative, copywriting skills. It's direct response as you can measure results. Granted, it's not as cut and dry as some other online marketing methods, like email. Where deliverability, clicks, opens, sales, and ROI is concrete. But, for me (and my business), I can specifically track any leads or sales I get back to specific social media platforms. And I can measure traffic to my website via Google Analytics from those same sites. As a core direct marketer, I don't waste my time on something I can't tie a metric to.

Making Localized Marketing Easy and Affordable

In my last post, I briefly described how marketing asset management solutions work.  These solutions automate many of the processes relating to the procurement, production, management, and distribution of marketing materials such as marketing collateral documents, promotional items, and point-of-sale materials.

Marketing asset management solutions can dramatically reduce the indirect costs associated with marketing materials, but they can provide many other benefits as well.  One of these benefits is to make localized marketing easy and affordable.

Marketers have long recognized that customizing marketing materials for specific audiences will increase relevancy and improve the effectiveness of those materials.  One proven application of this tactic is known as localized marketing.  Localized marketing is just what it sounds like - the practice of customizing marketing materials for local audiences.  In can be as simple as adding local contact information to otherwise standard marketing collateral materials or as complex as creating an entire promotional program (direct mailers, print ads, point-of-sale materials, etc.) that is customized for a specific geographic market or buyer segment.

Unfortunately, localized marketing has traditionally been cumbersome, time-consuming, and costly.  Marketers who wanted to reap the benefits of localized marketing were usually forced to make an unattractive trade-off between keeping control of the brand and excessive costs.

Marketing asset management solutions can eliminate the barriers to localized marketing.  By using customizable templates for marketing materials, MAM solutions enable corporate marketers to retain control of brand messaging and brand presentation, while simultaneously enabling front-line marketers (salespeople, local store/branch managers, dealers, franchisees, etc.) to customize marketing materials to fit their marketing needs.

Would a marketing asset management solution make sense for your company?  To find out, read our white paper titled, Is a Marketing Asset Management Solution Right for My Company?  Request your copy by sending an e-mail to ddodd(at)pointbalance(dot)com.

Should Facebook break itself up?

Should Facebook consider breaking itself up?

At some point in the future regulators may look at the industry and argue that dominant social networks are "natural monopolies" with too great a concentration of market power. But long before that hypothetical eventuality, is it smart strategy for Facebook to break itself up?

If history is a guide, Facebook's strategy should be driven by its