Archive for May, 2009

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All Things Online – ATO

Posted by Myles Vives on May 14th, 2009

Our very first ATO – All Things Online. Expect one new episode every week.


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Email Marketing Tips

Posted by Myles Vives on May 14th, 2009

In the online world with the growth of Social Media,  continued need for Natural Search and Paid Search, email marketing is becoming the red headed step child of online marketing.  Email Marketing should be considered as much a part of the online marketing family project as any other piece.

In general, Email is one of the easiest and simplest ways to reach out and engage your customer with your brand. According to a recent study by E-marketer “Spending on email marketing by businesses will increase by $16 million  ($472 million in 2008 to $488 million in 2009) this year.” Also, E-markerter reported by 2011 online spending for email campaigns will increase to $677 million. Those are huge increases over the next few years. So the next time you think Email marketing is second to your SEO and SMO efforts, think again. Otherwise, you might be missing out on an easy and cost effective way to reach your customer, that your competitor is doing and taking away business from you.

Email Marketing Tips

  • Always keep your email message simple with 1-2 direct calls to actions to engage the consumer
  • Cut down on the images in the emails (looking pretty doesn’t matter, if no one can see your email)
  • Keep your subject line short and to the point  (According to MailerMailer (2008) “Emails with shorter subject lines out performed emails with long subject lines by a significant margin)

5 Qualities for Effective Sales

Posted by Brent on May 14th, 2009

Do you have an online business, but think your  sales team is falling short on deliverying your pitch?  There are many factors involved in growing and online business and selling any type of product or service, but the purpose of today’s message is to analyze your inside sales team.  If you have an Internet marketing business, or any type of company where inside sales are crucial, review these five qualities and make sure your sales team members have these competancies.

Ambition and Drive:  This is one of the most important factors but is very hard to teach.  Driven sales people are always seeking new opportunities and earning potential  It is safe to say they are driven by success and more importantly, MONEY.  The more money they make, the more money your business is making.  A business owner will quickly be able to pinpoint the members of their team that are truly driven to succeed because they are self starters, proactive about prospecting, and have great energy.  When hiring new sales people, this is a difficult quality to determine during the interview process.  The best way to bring these potential qualities to the forefront are by asking the right questions.

Process Orientation:  This refers to the quality of being process driven.  A good sales peron will be able to give you two or three top examples of big deals they closed and exactly the process they followed to get it done.  Each person might have a slightly different process but usually the basic principles apply.  The process doesn’t have to be formal either…but it does have to be consistent.  When interviewing for this position, ask for these types of examples.  A process can be provided and trained but usually a successful sales person will develop their own strategy that works best for them.

Sales Prospecting:  Have you ever employed a sales person that simply refused to prospect for new business?  Mind blowing isn’t it?  I always figured that sales people  understood that to close deals and earn commissions they knew they had to hit the phones and/or get out there and network.  This is not always the case and should not be assumed.  It is always beneficial to have a process for supplying your sales team with leads or at  least a defined direction or resource.  The good ones will use what you give them as well as network and make cold calls.  When interviewing new inside sales people, make sure they are comfortable on the phone.  However, just because someone has “telemarketing” experience doesn’t mean they can sell your product or are the right people to be talking to your target audience.  All of this depends where your product or service falls into your given industry (i.e. innovative and new, gaining traction, mature, etc.).

Control and Close:  This is the most important core competency.  A good sales person needs to be able to have control over the process and close the deal.  Keep in mind of course there are different levels of sales responsibility.  A sales role that is defined as being an “appointment setter” doesn’t have to have this skill, but it helps because they know the process and how important that initial relationship building effort is.  This leads us to the final quality.

Relationship Effectiveness:  This of course is important for closing the initial deal but also for building a lasting relationship that will lead to repeat business.  Sales people are not out there to make “friends” but rather “relationships”.  If friendships develop, that is great but it is not the main purpose of course.  There needs to be a balance.  A good sales person will build a trusting relationship based on integrity and transparency.  Sometimes this means being completely honest, even if it might cost you some business.  In the long run, your recommendations to a client (that are honest) will earn you their respect and more business.

Whether you have an Internet marketing business sell golf cart parts online, these key qualities will be imperative for your sales staff.  Naturally, discovering all of these qualities in an interview is very difficult and takes a lot of experience (and following your gut feeling).  The ongoing success of the sales team will be up to the business owners and management and how well they provide ongoing training and coaching.  You have to give the team the resources to succeed.


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How To Get To The Moon With Twitter

Posted by Myles Vives on May 13th, 2009

Comscore released the April 2009 numbers this week as Twitter raises the bar again attracting 17 million unique visitors in April alone.

This nearly doubles the unique visitors from the week before as in March 2009 Twitter had 9.3 million.

Imagine if you saw your unique traffic takeoff to the moon like Twitter has as shown below:


Comscore showing Twitter with 17 million uniques in April 2009

Comscore showing Twitter with 17 million uniques in April 2009


This is JUST for people visiting Twitter nevermind the those using the desktop client that utilize the Twitter API such as TweetDeck – a MUST have.

My sense is there will be a dropoff in the summer as more people drop off from the Twitter “fad” and those that remain will more and more access the site via the API.

Of course Twitter could jump the shark with the Fonz doing so over the FAIL WHALE :)




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Don’t Underestimate the Power of the Press Release

Posted by Brent on May 12th, 2009

Many companies forget how powerful having a press release strategy can be.  Yes, I said press release “strategy”.  Most companies understand why press releases are important and how to send them out, but many still don’t understand what a powerful compliment this can be to your Internet marketing strategy.  Press releases are important for many reasons but essentially it is a free or inexpensive way to get valuable content about your company out on the web.  These is no sales pitch and the information must be newsworthy and well-written so you are usually ensured that you will be providing some kind of value for the reader.  As a component of an Internet marketing effort, press releases can provide great value.

Three Key Benefits to Press Releases:

  1. A press release is a great way to blast valuable information about a company and its products, services, promotions, new hires, charitible donations, etc.  It is essentially free publicity.  Many PR firms do this for clients but most fall short in a few areas on the strategy (by no optimizing the content for search engine purposes, explained below).  As a PR element, a press release is free information for the consumer without the annoying sales pitch.  Sounds kind of like social media doesn’t it.
  2. This is also a great way to gain further credibility and provide your audience with subtle messages about how great your company/product/service is.  A well-written press release will have all of the basic components including a good captivating introduction that echoes the message in the title, support paragraphs, quotes from executives or happy clients, and an “About” paragraph explaining the company mission/history.
  3. The third and most important benefit is the impact it can have on search results (search engine optimization).  The impact is two fold:  First, a well optimized press release can appear in the SERPs for related search terms and in Google News results for similar keywords related to the content.  I will explain how to optimize a press release later, but once you have this done, you can use resources like PRWeb.com to blast your release out to many different news channels.  When the relase is picked up and distributed to other news sites it can be a great way to receive powerful inbound links to your website.  The more quality inbound links your site has, the more likely you are to achieve better rankings (assuming your website is well-optimized).

Three Tips for Creating a Good Press Release Strategy:

  1. Make a committment to writing regular press releases, optimizing them, and sending them out through PR distribution channels on the web.  This is also great content to post on your website as well. Create a news section and upload the releases there as well.  The difficult part in doing regular press releases is that you have to find something newsworthy to write about each time…so get creative.  You will quickly find out what will be accepted and what won’t by the distribution channels such as PRWeb.com
  2. Optimize the press release buy including important keywords in the content.  Take a couple keywords and use them as anchor text to hyper link back to key pages on your site.  Write a proper title and description for the release as well.  Sites like PRWeb.com have the tools to accomplish this.  Once the press release has been uploaded and optimized, then you submit it for review.  The editors will either approve the release and schedule it for distruibution, or they will deny it and tell you what needs to be fixed.  Usually, to send an optimized release there is now a small fee but it can be well worth the benefit.
  3. The third tip as mentioned above is to add the press release content to your website as well in a News or Resources section.  Make sure to proof read all content of course.  You would be surprized how many press release still have typos and poor grammatical structure.

2009 Internet Marketing Trend: Mobile Marketing

Posted by Melanie on May 12th, 2009

Advancements in mobile technology opens the door to mobile marketing.   Mobile marketing today is described as a marketing channel on mobile devices.  Despite the decline in overall marketing, a recent report suggests that mobile marketing will increase by at least 36% in 2009.  In 2009 and 2010 the Internet will play a major role in mobile application development.   In Europe and Asia mobile marketing continues to rise exponentially.  Last month, Europe alone had sent out 100 million advertisements via mobile marketing.

Why move with the mobile marketing trend?

  1. More people all over the world use the mobile interface to access the Internet versus the PC.
  2. Mobile platform has location sensing to enable you to segment your target market locally, nationally, and/or globally.
  3. The convenience of coverage practically anywhere and everywhere.
  4. Availability of smart phone web analytic enabling you to market smarter.
  5. Enhanced display technology making it the perfect platform for web and landing pages.
  6. Create an application to promote your business with another avenue for earnings potential.

Mobile marketing may just impact the world as mobile technology.  Stay tuned for Mobile SEO.

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From Retail to E-commerce: Focus on Customer Loyalty

Posted by Brent on May 11th, 2009

With so much information out there about Internet marketing and how to improve a company’s online brand exposure, there seems to have been a gradual removal of “customer loyalty” from that discussion.  One of the most important aspects to improving conversions for an e-commerce platform (or any website for that matter) is through enhanced customer experiences and loyalty focused programs.  The happier your curstomers are, the more they will buy from you (or refer people to you).  The goal here is to increase the percent of your overall sales in the “repeat customer” category.  It is much easier to grow revenue from current customers that to spend more time and money attracting new ones (although this is very important as well).

Let’s back up for a minute and consider the dramatic shifts we are seeing in retail VS. online.  The current economic conditions have placed strains on traditional retailers and caused substantial increases in online spending.  The online consumer is now becoming more savvy and expects a lot from the service/product provider.  As more and more traditional retailers either move their business online or at least create an online store to sell their products, the focus needs to not only shift to Internet marketing strategies but also customer loyalty strategies.  So much emphasis has been on how to drive traffic to e-commerce sites that we have seen visits go up, but not  conversions. 

Conversion optimization involves getting the right kind of traffic as well as ensuring that a large portion of that traffic leads to a sale.  Some online companies out there are doing this quite well but not simply becauase their Internet marketing strategies are so good…it is because their database of happy customers keeps growing.  Let’s look for example at www.freshdirect.com.  This company has been providing online grocery shopping to the New York City area for over five years.  One of the main reasons their numbers keep growing is not because they are spending so much time and money driving traffic to their website.  It is beacuse each day, senior management meets to review analytics and customer transactions to see where things are working and where things need improvement…and then of course to discuss what is being done to improve the areas where they fall short.  They also conduct about 150 customer surveys each year.  This might seems excessive or even scary to some companies but over time it makes for happy customers.  Your critics can be your best source of constructive feedback!

More about conversion optimization:

The best way to ensure that your traffic is going to convert into business involves several key factors:

  • Understanding your customer base in great detail
  • Ensuring your traffic is targeted and you methods for driving traffic support that goal
  • Continually analyze your online platform through focus groups, A/B split testing, etc.
  • Konw where your conversions points occur and where people leave your site and why – then work to improve these areas
  • Always be improving your sales cycle and customer experience
  • Ask for feedback and make improvements based on realistic suggestions
  • If you are asking for feedback, get involved in these conversations with your customers
  • Test, Improve, then test again – use your analytics…the numbers won’t lie.


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Social Media for Luxury Brands

Posted by Brent on May 7th, 2009

Social media marketing experts would all agree that no two social media campaigns are alike.  Many are similiar and use the standard Facebook/Twitter foundations of course, but the strategies and target audiences are usually different.  The most effective viral marketing campaigns start with extensive research and planning.  Any good social media marketing company will help you plan for success by researching the online space to see how and where you need to position your products and services. 

But what if you need to tackle very high-end luxury brands or want super elite networking opportunities?  Are Facebook and Twitter going to provide a solution to these needs…probably not.  Below are three of the top social networks that happen to be “invite only” and are home to top business leaders, CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and influences in entertainment, media, fashion, sports, finance and international business.

A Small World (asmallworld.net):

This site is growing enormously and has members such entrepreneurs, business leaders, etc.  Over 65% of the members live in Europe and over 10,000 are business owners and CEOs.  Members use the site for everything from networking and business transactions, to event planning and random acts of kindness.

Decayenne (decayenne.com):

This is another great elite social network with members having an average age of 33 and many have masters level educations.  The key areas of profession are finance and banking.  Members cover Europe, USA, Asia, South America, Africa, and the Middle East.  Members exchange business ideas, engage in lucrative transactions, get married, and buy and sell real estate.

Qube (qubers.com):

This site was originally developed by a luxury lifestyles group and members come from across the glode.  Many reside in European countries.  The sites hosts a wide array of user-generated conversations on topics including business, travel, charity, real estate and more.  Business is the most popular forum where members seek to do deals and post various needs such as website designers and real estate joint ventures.

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Are You Sticking Out?

Posted by Ceci on May 4th, 2009

It seems so easy to “stick out” in the media today. Online it is 100% different going online to use or buy a service or product. You cannot just walk into a store and feel what you are purchasing. There is no sales person online – your website is your sales person. So you need to convey your business to the website visitors. You need them to feel comfortable and trusting while surfing your website. The first part is getting people to your website through internet marketing. Next keep them on your website – make them use your service.

I visited 3 different Salon websites. Beside the 3 very different design types there are a couple of things I noticed right away. They all said the same thing:  they all tell you they are the best in town with the logo of an award they won, they tell you the services they offer, and what products they use.
Well this is all wonderful information but I got the same information from all three of their websites. So none of them really enticed me to choose their salon and give them a call. You need to make your business “Stand Out” and capture the users attention! What makes your company different than all of the other ones on the market? On all these 3 websites I looked at they said the same thing, what are the differentiators? Why would I pick A over B? Especially in today’s market you need to make sure you are setting your business apart for others. Consumers are doing more and more research before making any decisions. This means you need to tell them about your business and what sets you apart from the rest.

There are a few simple ways to do so:

Statistics:  all companies keep some type of statistics. This is very useful to spread throughout your website. Make sure to do this a little throughout your websites be careful of cramming to much information in.

Stories: If your company has a great story behind the foundation or name tell the consumer. If you do hair for the stars tell them.  If you are Jessica Biel’s hairdresser tell them.

Samples: This is a great piece to have on any website. Add testimonials – before and after pictures – client pictures etc. this is great to let the consumer k now what your style is. It amazes me that there are so many salons that don’t even have before and after pictures on their website. Or pictures of clients they have worked with that came in what a sob story and ended up looking better than ever when they walked out!

With the economy today you need to make your business stand out in a crowd. So use these simple tips and make sure you are adding new information to the website to attract people and have them coming back.

How to Bootstrap Your Internet Business

Posted by Brent on May 4th, 2009

So you have a new online business and want to get it up and running. As we all know, money is scarce and both VC’s and Angels have tightened their belts. Angel investors are trying to stay a bit more liquid and really looking hard for the right investment. Often times they are looking for proprietary technology rather than service based businesses. The problem with that as an entrepreneur with a new company is that its take time and money to develop proprietary technology. So how does someone with a new start-up tackle the challenges and stresses of bootstrapping?

These economic times are going to forge smart, savvy, and tough minded business people because we will all be forced to make hard decisions and in the long wrong might be better off for it. Not getting those much needed investments can often turn out to be a blessing in disguise. You will be forced to work hard, keep your company lean and mean, and focus on your core initiatives.

Step 1: At first, focus on cash flow rather than profitability (this will quickly change of course and profitability will be your life line). The reason for this is that you will have expenses and your own bills to pay (need cash to pay them). Keep your overhead as low as possible and pay your bills on time.

Step 2: Forecast from the bottom up not the top down. In so many business plans you see people making projections based on the percentage of the market they plan to capture…usually it is the standard 1% to 5% depending on the industry. Rather than make these estimates, keep it more simple. By focusing from the bottom up you can project the productivity of your team, the ability to sell a certain amount of your product or service each month, and the growth plan for each component.

Step 3: Hire people you can actually afford. It may not be the time to go out and build your dream team. This can lead to a massive payroll expense and overstaffing issues. You will end up having a bunch of high paid people sitting around doing nothing. Make your team building strategy gradual and understaff if you can. This will lead to each team member having to work a little harder but so what…thats part of the start-up experience right? Once you hit a threshold where you think quality might start to suffer, go hire another person.

Step 4: Make good hiring decisions. You can’t afford to waste money on people that will not produce for you. Have a formal hiring process even for your lowest level positions and call references given. At the end of the day though you have to go with your gut feeling. I have hired people who I knew would be great even though one of the references was not that great. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we have made.

Step 5: As mentioned above, even if you plan to develop proprietary technology, you may not have the resources to start with this at the beginning. This will take time and significant resources. Have a service you can sell that will build a client base and get your name out there. This can include providing consulting services related your industry and future proprietary offerings.

Step 6: Don’t spread yourself thin. Focus on your core competencies and internal processes. The more formal your internal process is, the more scalability your model will have.

Step 7: Keep your eye on the competition and have a value proposition that differentiates you from the existing competition. Be ready to answer the question, “Well ABC Company has been around ten years and has a similar pricing model…why should we use you”. The answer can of course include more customer attention, better quality, a unique approach, a niche focus, etc.

Step 8: Accurately project your cash flow. Now how much cash you have; and if you are running negative, by how much? What is your burn rate and how can you decrease/slow the bleed?

Step 9: Have a cost effective Internet marketing strategy in place that will help bring you new business. If you can invest in SEO then my suggestion is to never wait. Creative social media marketing can also be a great way to drive some awareness to your new online business.

Follow some of these basic steps and you will be able to focus on growing your business rather than constantly worrying about investors that aren’t calling you back. In the long run, you will make better decisions and still have controlling ownership of your company!

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