Concerned by the recent Google Penguin update? No need for SEO crisis management if you're informed...

Is the "A" in SONAR (article marketing) still a viable tactic with search engines and the Farmer/PANDA and the recent, Penguin, updates?

Lately I've been hearing a lot of people saying things such as: 'Google doesn't like content or article marketing since they changed their algorithms' and 'article directories are not useful for search engine marketing and link-building efforts anymore.' I like to remind people of a few fundamental rules of online marketing, specifically involving content, that virtually never changes and is extremely helpful to know (and do!) ...

-- 'Mix' it up. It's always a smart thing to have a diversified online marketing mix. I suggest to clients to look at their online marketing plan like a pie, and each slice is a tactical allocation -- organic and paid for strategies. As with your financial planning ventures (such as with your retirement account), it's always safer to diversify than put all your eggs in one basket. The same holds true for your online marketing plan. Mix it up and keep it diversified. Some allocations may be smaller than others, based on budget, objective, and other variables. But it's good to spread it out across many tactics and online marketing channels such as organic search, paid search, social media, online PR, content marketing, etc. Then if one tactic is a laggard and others are leaders, it all balances out in the end. This also helps compensate for algorithmic `bumps in the road' that may temporarily affect your search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) efforts.

--Doing It 'Right' Can't Be Wrong. Google and other search engines often change their algorithms to as keep search results relevant and fresh to related queries as well as impact unscrupulous 'black hat' practicing marketers who use no-no tactics such as gateway pages, keyword stuffing, link baiting, link farming, content farming and more. These are the folks that link to irrelevant sites with irrelevant content to the equivalent of content spamming. For compliant content marketers or those using the SONAR Content Distribution Model -- the core strategy is to leverage high quality, useful, content through synchronized, synergistic and relevant online distribution. SONAR and content marketing, when implemented correctly, include 'white hat' SEO principles. And if you're using quality, original content with either of those marketing tactics and distributing your content to targeted, relevant sites, you really can't go wrong.

--Quality And Relevance Are Key! According to Webpronews.com, when Google released their official statement about the algorithm change in 2011, the Farmer/Panda update was aimed to help more quality websites be higher in the search results versus content farms with irrelevant, unbeneficial content based on the keywords being searched. Article directories may have initially been stuck in the cross-hairs losing some initial value, but again, if you are putting out `UVA' (useful, valuable, actionable) content into numerous organic online channels, the diversity and balance will offset any temporary side affects which may occur versus doing article directory marketing by itself. Based on my experience, if you push out quality, original content in several places including article directories, your articles should appear in pages 1-5 of Google search results. And with Google's latest `freshness' update, the most timely and relevant content should appear in descending order by date from the top of the search results. Quality and relevance are key.

--Targeted Link-Building. Links, whether it's one way back link or a reciprocal back link, are still links. Quality links help SEO, and that is undisputable. But again, there's some ground rules to do it right within best practices ... and do it wrong. Links should be quality links, and by that I mean on sites that have relevant content and a synergistic audience as to your own. It should also be a site with a good traffic rank. I prefer to do link building manually and do it strategically. I research sites that are synergistic in all ways to the site I'm working with (albeit one-way or reciprocal links). Doing it manually allows more targeted selection and control over where you want your links to go. Manual selection and distribution can also lead to other opportunities down the road with those sites you're building relationships with including cross-marketing or editorial efforts such as editorial contributions, revenue shares and more. In my view, this approach is both link building and relationship building.

--Location, Location, Location. Where you link to is important. When doing SONAR or content marketing, I always tell clients to deep link, that is, not just link to their home page -- which to me, doesn't make any sense anyway, as there's too many distractions on a home page. Readers need a simple, direct call to action. Keep them focused. It's always smarter to link to your source article, which should be on one of your subpages, such as the newsletter archive page or press release page. Now you have a connection -- the article/content excerpt you pushed out and is appearing in the SERPs (search engine result pages) and its redirect links to the full version on your archive or press page. You've satisfied the searches expectations by not doing a `bait and switch'. There's relevance and continuity. And to help monetize that traffic, that newsletter archive or press webpage (which you're driving the traffic to), the background should contain fixed elements to 'harness' the traffic it will be getting for list growth and cross-selling such as fixed lead gen boxes, text ads, banner ads, editorial notes, and more. These elements should blend with your overall format, not being to obnoxious, but being easily seen.

--Catalyst Content. It's always important to make sure you publish the content on your website first ... I call this your 'catalyst content'. This is the driving source which all other inbound marketing will occur and be focused around. Your website articles should be dated and be formatted similar to a news feed or blog. Also, posting timely press releases will work favorable as they will be viewed by Google and human readers as the latest news (again favorable to Google's latest `freshness' update). At the same time, send your content out via email (i.e. ezine) to your in-house list before external marketing channels see it. This helps from an SEO standpoint, but also helps with credibility and bonding with your subscribers and regular website visitors as they should get your information before the masses. There you go. My best practices for marketing with content. I don't practice nor condone 'black hat' marketing tactics. I've always been lucky enough to work for top publishers and clients that put out great, original content. It really does all boil down to the quality of the content when you talk about any form of article and search engine marketing. Content is king, and when you have strong editorial, along with being a `creatively strategic' thinker, you don't need to engage in 'black hat' or questionable SEO/SEM. Algorithms are always changing. It's good to be aware of the latest news, trends and techniques, but also not to put you're your eggs in one basket and build your entire online marketing strategy based on the `current' algorithms. Using solid content, analyzing your websites visitor and usage patterns and keeping general best practices in mind are staple components that will always play an important role in content marketing.


Google, SEO and Content Syndication: Debunking The Duplicate Content Myth

Oftentimes, real-life experiences with my clients influence my blog posts.For instance, recently a consulting client of mine asked me if I agreed with a colleague of his about Google disliking duplicate content and to reduce or refrain the amount of content he syndicates (distributes) on the Web.I think there’s a huge misunderstanding out there about how to distribute your content without hurting your website in the eyes of search engines.If you publish content, you should have the first, original content on your website. No doubt.

However, you can "repurpose" it and strategically distribute it on the Web, and this will not hurt your search engine/Google SEO efforts.This is something I refer to in my SONAR Content Distribution Model TM and has helped my clients’ quantifiably increase traffic rank, traffic visits, leads and sales.SONAR is a cost effective, yet powerful, method of repurposing and synchronizing content (albeit text, audio, video) distribution into various, targeted channels. And it allows companies, publishers, entrepreneurs … basically anyone with content on their website … the ability to ultimately turn traffic into sales.

SONAR represents the following online distribution platforms:

S Syndicate partners, content syndication networks, and user generate content sites

O Online press releases

N Network (social) communities

A Article directories

R Relevant posts to blogs, forums, and bulletin boards

SONAR Case study: My synchronized content distribution technique helped increase traffic ranking and visits to a alternative health website by 3,160% and 81.5% respectively in only three months. And in four months, traffic visits increased to an investment website by nearly 80% as well as an increase its traffic ranking by nearly 150 percent. Plus, the traffic to this investment site was monetized for an ROI of 221%.So not only was the website’s SEO/SEM efforts NOT hut by content syndication, it actually improved exponentially with rank, visits and sales.

The key is to repurpose the content. To tweek an original article on your website with minor changes (for example to headline, intro paragraph, closing, etc.) and then syndicate on other different websites.Google tries to look for the best version…where the content originated...the first, primary source (usually your website) and typically that site that gets the "search engine credit" so to speak via the higher ranking in the organic results listing.

In Google's view, duplicate content is more hurtful for a site if it's posted in more then one place on that SAME DOMAIN (not via syndication on other websites such as through online press releases, article directories, etc.) .

For example, if you may have two pages on your site with virtually the same content, in most cases, Google notices this and ignores one of those webpages. You will not get both of those listings in the search engine organic results…just one of them.Keep in mind, Google will decide your pages are duplicate if ONLY your (page titles and meta descriptions) are the same. So make sure each webpage on your site has unique, relevant tags with targeted keywords.Now if you’re concerned about webpages on your website and it’s text "printer friendly version" hurting your website’s SEO… simply block the search engines from spidering the print friendly version.When you think about it...syndicating content is the SEO model of social sites (like Digg, Drop Jack, StumpleUpon, etc.) and article directories.

So make sure you understand the power of your content and how to syndicate it the right way before you hit the breaks on any SEO/SEM efforts.

Because that’s what will actually hurt your site … doing nothing and not leveraging your content.

Myths And Misconceptions: The Real Truth About Content Marketing And The Search Engines

[Editorial Note: The below is a copy of the article I wrote for my blog on TargetMarketingMag.com. Enjoy!]

Lately I've been hearing a lot of people saying things such as: 'Google doesn't like content or article marketing since they changed their algorithms' and 'article directories are not useful for search engine marketing and link-building efforts anymore.'

I like to remind people of a few fundamental rules of online marketing, specifically involving content, that virtually never changes and is extremely helpful to know (and do!) ...

· 'Mix' it up. It's always a smart thing to have a diversified online marketing mix. I suggest to clients to look at their online marketing plan like a pie, and each slice is a tactical allocation -- organic and paid for strategies. As with your financial planning ventures (such as with your retirement account), it's always safer to diversify than put all your eggs in one basket. The same holds true for your online marketing plan. Mix it up and keep it diversified. Some allocations may be smaller than others, based on budget, objective, and other variables. But it's good to spread it out across many tactics and online marketing channels such as organic search, paid search, social media, online PR, content marketing, etc. Then if one tactic is a laggard and others are leaders, it all balances out in the end. This also helps compensate for algorithmic ‘bumps in the road’ that may temporarily affect your search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) efforts.

· Doing It 'Right' Can't Be Wrong. Google and other search engines often change their algorithms to as keep search results relevant and fresh to related queries as well as impact unscrupulous 'black hat' practicing marketers who use no-no tactics such as gateway pages, keyword stuffing, link baiting, link farming, content farming and more. These are the folks that link to irrelevant sites with irrelevant content to the equivalent of content spamming. For compliant content marketers or those using the SONAR Content Distribution Model -- the core strategy is to leverage high quality, useful, content through synchronized, synergistic and relevant online distribution. SONAR and content marketing, when implemented correctly, include 'white hat' SEO principles. And if you're using quality, original content with either of those marketing tactics and distributing your content to targeted, relevant sites, you really can't go wrong.

· Quality And Relevance Are Key! According to Webpronews.com, when Google released their official statement about the algorithm change in 2011, the Farmer/Panda update was aimed to help more quality websites be higher in the search results versus content farms with irrelevant, unbeneficial content based on the keywords being searched. Article directories may have initially been stuck in the cross-hairs losing some initial value, but again, if you are putting out ‘UVA’ (useful, valuable, actionable) content into numerous organic online channels, the diversity and balance will offset any temporary side affects which may occur versus doing article directory marketing by itself. Based on my experience, if you push out quality, original content in several places including article directories, your articles should appear in pages 1-5 of Google search results. And with Google’s latest ‘freshness’ update, the most timely and relevant content should appear in descending order by date from the top of the search results. Quality and relevance are key.

· Targeted Link-Building. Links, whether it's one way back link or a reciprocal back link, are still links. Quality links help SEO, and that is undisputable. But again, there's some ground rules to do it right within best practices ... and do it wrong. Links should be quality links, and by that I mean on sites that have relevant content and a synergistic audience as to your own. It should also be a site with a good traffic rank. I prefer to do link building manually and do it strategically. I research sites that are synergistic in all ways to the site I'm working with (albeit one-way or reciprocal links). Doing it manually allows more targeted selection and control over where you want your links to go. Manual selection and distribution can also lead to other opportunities down the road with those sites you're building relationships with including cross-marketing or editorial efforts such as editorial contributions, revenue shares and more. In my view, this approach is both link building and relationship building.

· Location, Location, Location. Where you link to is important. When doing SONAR or content marketing, I always tell clients to deep link, that is, not just link to their home page -- which to me, doesn't make any sense anyway, as there's too many distractions on a home page. Readers need a simple, direct call to action. Keep them focused. It's always smarter to link to your source article, which should be on one of your subpages, such as the newsletter archive page or press release page. Now you have a connection -- the article/content excerpt you pushed out and is appearing in the SERPs (search engine result pages) and its redirect links to the full version on your archive or press page. You’ve satisfied the searches expectations by not doing a ‘bait and switch’. There’s relevance and continuity. And to help monetize that traffic, that newsletter archive or press webpage (which you're driving the traffic to), the background should contain fixed elements to 'harness' the traffic it will be getting for list growth and cross-selling such as fixed lead gen boxes, text ads, banner ads, editorial notes, and more. These elements should blend with your overall format, not being to obnoxious, but being easily seen.

· Catalyst Content. It's always important to make sure you publish the content on your website first ... I call this your 'catalyst content'. This is the driving source which all other inbound marketing will occur and be focused around. Your website articles should be dated and be formatted similar to a news feed or blog. Also, posting timely press releases will work favorable as they will be viewed by Google and human readers as the latest news (again favorable to Google’s latest ‘freshness’ update). At the same time, send your content out via email (i.e. ezine) to your in-house list before external marketing channels see it. This helps from an SEO standpoint, but also helps with credibility and bonding with your subscribers and regular website visitors as they should get your information before the masses.

There you go. My best practices for marketing with content. I don't practice nor condone 'black hat' marketing tactics. I've always been lucky enough to work for top publishers and clients that put out great, original content.

It really does all boil down to the quality of the content when you talk about any form of article and search engine marketing. Content is king, and when you have strong editorial, along with being a ‘creatively strategic’ thinker, you don't need to engage in 'black hat' or questionable SEO/SEM.

Algorithms are always changing. It’s good to be aware of the latest news, trends and techniques, but also not to put you’re your eggs in one basket and build your entire online marketing strategy based on the ‘current’ algorithms. Using solid content, analyzing your websites visitor and usage patterns and keeping general best practices in mind are staple components that will always play an important role in content marketing.

In a nutshell: I believe articles can have the same theme and have some content overlap, but should be tailored to each platform it's being posted to and to each target audience/niche group that will be reading it. That will keep the content relevant and specific. With content marketing (and especially with the SONAR Content Distribution Model) I like to think of leveraging UVA content and it's targeted dissemination on the Web as 'relevant repurposing and redistribution with a purpose'. It should also not be 'fluff''. Content, in my opinion (in article marketing), should be 'UVA': useful, valuable and actionable.

Boost your online sales: eComm tips and tricks

I've published this next article before, but still get many emails about it. If you've read it, please re-read, as you may learn something new. If this is your first time reading it, don't take the following recommendations for granted. They may seem simplistic, but they DO most definitely impact your online conversion rate. The current economic environment has been hard on both brick and mortar & online sales. But there are a few simple, yet powerful, things you could do to boost online sales and gain loyal customers.

1. Make Sure Your SSL Seal is Prominent. SSL or secure socket layer is a sign that the site is encrypted...that the information consumers enter, such as personal and credit card information, is protected. Most eCommerce sites must file for an SSL certificate from vendors such as VeriSign, GoDaddy, eTrust, TRUSTe, and others. It's a good practice to display the vendors logo on your order page, as well as make sure in the browser window the "https" or image of a lock is present. This is a clear and comforting sign to consumers that they can order on line with confidence.

2. Encourage Online Sales vs. Other Order Mechanisms. Offer special "Internet Only Pricing" to customers. It could be a discount of 5-10%. This reduces any potential overhead costs for staffing fees such as telesales or order entry personnel.

3. Offer Free Shipping. Many eTailers already factor shipping into their published price, so when there's a big, flashing banner next to the item saying "free shipping" it gives consumers that extra little push to move forward with the transaction. It boils down to basic psychology. Everyone likes to feel like they're getting something for free.

4. Use Buyer Feedback To Your Advantage. Have an area on your website or next to select items that says "Customer Favorite" or "Hot Item". Also, have some glowing customer testimonials next to the product for potential prospect to see. Consumers like to feel good about the item they are about to purchase. To see a great testimonial and knowing that others purchased the product is a validation and comforting feeling. In addition to helping the conversion, this tactic also helps reduce buyer's remorse and product returns.

5. Advertise Products in Google Product Search (formerly Froogle). http://www.google.com/shopping is a free product information platform from Google where you can post a single item or submit a data feed. Your products will appear in Google Product search and may also appear in Google.com search results, depending on keywords used.

6. Make Sure Your Product Pages are Optimized for Search Engines. After doing some keyword research on actual search behavior for your product, refine your meta description, meta keywords and title tag of your product pages. This will help consumers find your product in the organic listing of search engine results.

7. Have a Special Coupon Code Banner on Your Home Page. This is a best practice with online fashion retailers. There's typically a banner ad on their home page stating something like, "Summer Blow Out Sale, Use Coupon Code 1234". This is another great way to offer a special discount for your online customers that makes them feel good about the purchase. You can also encourage viral activity by having a "forward to friend" text link that opens a MSOutlook email window with the coupon or coupon code. Make sure to have some great intro copy mentioning how customers should "pass on the great savings to friends, family, and colleagues."

8. Consider Payment Plans. For your higher ticket items, consider setting up extended payment plans that allows customers to pay for an item over a few payments. If an item is let's say, $200, you might want to offer a flex pay of "6 easy payments of $33.33" that is conveniently auto-billed to their credit card. Just be diligent when calculating your payment prices as well as creating your return/refund policy for these items. The general rule is that your actual production costs/hard costs should be covered in the first 1-3 payments.

Remember to keep testing methods that help improve sales and drive prospects to your storefront. Make note of when you implement new tactics, such as the above, and then after a month of being live, compare sales results year-over-year to see if you found the sweet spot in your eCommerce efforts. I'm confident that you will see an improvement in online sales.

12 Things You Must Do To Grow Your Biz For Free or Cheap

Ok, so 2011 was a tough year for a lot of business owners. Perhaps you got caught in the maelstrom of economic uncertainty and your business paid the price either by being neglected with marketing or duped by so-called online gurus who promise the world with their wonder products, which ultimately only benefit one person - them. Certain marketing tactics are tried and true because they work year after year, decade after decade. They're proven. And they get results.

But for some strange reason, I can't figure out for the life of me why someone would pay hundreds, or even, thousands of dollars to learn something that is already out there for free and given a new, jazzy name. Today, I going to go over some proven winners to help create visibility, drive website traffic, increase sales, generate leads and produce buzz for the low, low price of F-R-E-E (or cheap). These are low to no cost tactics that fit most any budget and most any business niche. All you really need is the time or resources (manpower) to implement them. And the few that do involve a budget, are extremely cost effective. Without further ado...

1. Affiliate Partnerships/Affiliate Marketing Plan. This includes JVs (joint ventures), affiliate marketing, guest editorials, and editorial contributions. This tactic is extremely effective and cost efficient. The key here is having some kind of leverage then approaching publishers that may want your content or a cross-marketing opportunity to your current list (note: this only works if you have a list of decent size another publisher will find attractive). In exchange for content or revenue share efforts, you and the other publisher agree to reciprocate either eNews ads or solo emails to each other's lists, thereby sending a message to a target, relevant list for free. Well, if you agree on a rev share, it's free as far as ad costs, but you are giving that publisher a split of your net revenues. In addition, you can create a robust affiliate program offering a competitive commission and incentive program as well as using cost-effective, off-the-shelf or WordPress-based affiliate tracking software. The key here is PR, getting the news out about your program to as many targeted locations as possible.




2. Content Syndication. I've written about this many times, but can't stress it enough. Content is king and you can leverage it via my SONAR Content Distribution Model TM, which is the focus of my best-selling book (formerly the #1 web marketing book on Amazon!), "Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web For Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz". SONAR is an organic (free) online strategy that is powerful and proven. It's a method of repurposing and synchronizing content (albeit text, audio, video) distribution into various, targeted channels. And it allows companies, publishers, entrepreneurs ... basically anyone with content on their website ... the ability to ultimately turn traffic into sales. SONAR represents the following online distribution platforms:S Syndicate partners, content syndication networks, and user generate content sitesO Online press releasesN Network (social) communitiesA Article directoriesR Relevant posts to blogs, forums, and bulletin boards. SONAR works hand-in-hand with your existing search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing (SMM), and search engine optimization (SEO) tactics.
   If you have original content ... you can do SONAR marketing!




3. Search Engine Optimization. In order to drive as much organic traffic as possible to your website you need to make sure your site is optimized for the correct keywords and your target audience. Once you optimize your site with title tags, meta descriptions, and meta keywords, you need to make sure you have revised your site to harness the traffic that will be coming. That means adding eye-catching email collection boxes to home page, relevant banners, and obvious links to get to product pages. You don't want to miss any opportunity to turn traffic in to sales or free newsletter subscribers. Done your SEO already? Great, but you need to review your analytics and visitor usage patterns, keyword history and more and refine keywords quarterly.




4. Online Lead Generation Polls. Incorporating a poll on your website, or having a poll on another site or eNewsletter (via a media buy or ad swap) is a great way to build your list. It's important to spend time thinking about your poll question - something that a hot topic, controversial, and relevant to the locations you're placing your poll. You want to pull people in with your headline and make the poll entertaining. Your answers should be multiple choice and have an "other" field which encourages participant to engage with your question. I've found this "other" field as a fantastic way to make the poll interactive. Many people are passionate about certain subject matters and won't mind giving you their two cents. Then to show appreciation for talking the poll, tell participants they are getting a bonus report and free eNewsletter subscription (which they can opt out of at any time). And of course, make sure to mention - and link to - your privacy/anti spam policy. After you kick off your list building efforts, make sure you start tracking them so you can quantify the time and resources spent. This involves working with your webmaster on setting up tracking URLs specific to each website you're advertising on. It also means looking at Google Analytics for your website and corresponding landing pages to see traffic and referring page sources.




5. Viral Marketing. Make sure you have a "forward to friend" feature in your eNewsletter to encourage viral marketing. It's also important to have a content syndication blurb in your newsletter, this also encourages other websites, publishers, editors and so forth to republish your content as long as they give you author attribution and a back-link to your site. In addition, the SONAR model above incorporates viral buzz in its strategy, so deploying SONAR will help you increase your website visibility and reach.




6. Cost Effective Media Buying. To compliment your "free" online efforts, you may want to consider targeted, low cost media buys (paid online advertising) in the form of text ads, banner ads, blog networks/ads, or list rentals (i.e. eNews sponsorships or solo emails). You're paying for the placement in these locations, so you must make sure you have strong promotional copy and offer for the best results possible. Blog ad networks and online ad networks are a great, cheap alternative and they have a wider reach. Networks to consider: Advertising.com, ValueClick.com, BurstMedia.com, and FastClick.com. You can find a full list of sites here: http://www.imediaconnection.com/resourceconnection/adnetwork.asp.




7. Pay Per Click (PPC). Many people try pay per click only to spend thousands of dollars with little results. Creating a successful PPC campaign is an art - one that I've had success with. If PPC is new for you, then don't start out with the big guys like Google or Yahoo, run your 'test' campaign on smaller, second tier networks. In addition, you must make sure you have a strong text ad and landing page and that the ad is keyword dense. You must also have a compelling offer and make sure you do your keyword research. Picking the correct keywords that coincide with your actual ad and landing page is crucial. You don't want to pick keywords that are too vague, too competitive, or unpopular. You also need to be active with your campaign management which includes bid amounts and daily budget. All these things - bid, budget, keywords, popularity, and placement - will determine the success of the campaign. And most campaigns are trial and error and take anywhere from 3-6 weeks to optimize.




8. Free Teleseminars or Webinars. These are a great way to collect names for list building, then cross-sell to those names once they're in your sales funnel. You can use services like FreeConferenceCall.com, where it's a toll (not toll free) call. But in my experience, if the value proposition of the subject matter is strong, people will pay that nominal fee. Promote a free teleseminar or webinar to prospects (that is not your internal list). Remember, this is for lead generation. So your goal is to give away valuable information in exchange for an email address. You can have a 'soft sell' at the end of the call and follow up with an email blast within 24 hours. But the most important thing is getting that name THEN bonding with them through your editorial.




9. Free Online classified ads. Using http://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 persuasive 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.




10. 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.




11. 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.




12. 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! Most important rule: Know your audience...that will determine placement (and price).

2012: The Year of Content (Article) Marketing

It’s been said that 2012 is going to be the year of content and social marketing. According to recent articles by Target Marketing and Forbes, “…content marketing and social media marketing should be part of your 2012 marketing strategy”.

January, 4, 2012 Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Free-Press-Release.com) It’s been said by marketers and publishers alike that 2012 is going to be the year of social marketing and content (article) marketing. According to recent articles by Target Marketing and Forbes, “…content marketing and social media marketing should be part of your 2012 marketing strategy”.

Content marketing has been a staple to seasoned Fortune 500 marketer and bestselling author, Wendy Montes de Oca, who’s book, ‘Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz’ [Que Publishing, Paperback, ISBN# 0789741083 http://www.quepublishing.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0789741083], hit #1 on Amazon bestseller list for web marketing books back in September.

In addition, Montes de Oca has created a proven, organic strategy called The SONAR Content Distribution Model TM, which is the focus of her book, and a powerful, method of repurposing and synchronizing release of original content it into targeted, free online channels.

According to Montes de Oca, “SONAR marketing is more comprehensive then article marketing and has extended reach … it’s like article marketing on steroids. SONAR is a systematic, methodical strategy which includes several no-cost, high performing online channels including syndicate partners, online press release distribution, network (social) communities, article directories, and relevant posts to forums, blogs and message boards.”

Montes de Oca adds, “I’ve been using SONAR for years and leveraging original content through this manner is extremely beneficial for a business owner or publisher and utilizes ‘white hat’ search engine marketing techniques. It’s helped create noticeable and measurable website traffic, relevant back-links, improved search engine visibility and rank, increased market presence, and even helped generate leads, sales and buzz.”

The SONAR Content Distribution Model TM and ‘Content Is Cash’ centers around the synchronized strategy of using great, original content that is ‘UVA’ (useful, valuable, and actionable), which business owners and publishers have already created, then repurpose and distribute it into targeted, relevant locations on the Web, based on target audience and business objectives.

Montes de Oca continues, “So many marketers are recognizing the power of content marketing (and social marketing) because it’s cost effective and easy to use. And in the current economic environment, business owners are looking for free and creative ways to create more visibility and traffic for their website.”

She concludes, “I’m utterly thrilled content marketing is finally getting the attention and respect it deserves. Content really is king. Creating solid, original content will first and foremost provide valued information to readers and encourage bonding; but it can also help the publisher with website exposure and visits. That increased traffic can then be harnessed for online product sales, advertising sales, and more. And best of all, this strategy can be used for virtually any business, in any niche, with any budget … all that’s needed is the content!”

For more information visit http://precisionmarketingmedia.com/book/wendy-book.html.

About Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA
Ms. Montes de Oca’s diversified background includes nearly 20 years of experience in direct response and online marketing, media, publishing, financial services and law. She’s worked for renowned publishers and Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Montes de Oca is an Internet marketing expert with a proven track record for both acquisition and retention efforts. During her career, she has generated over $150 million in total revenues for various corporations, consulting clients, and her own consulting firm, Precision Marketing and Media, LLC.

Want To See What's Inside Bestseller, Content Is Cash?

If you haven't had a chance to read the Internet marketing bestseller, Content is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing], then check out the full Table of Contents.

Then you can decide if there's information in the book that appeals to you.

Take a sneak peek here: http://books.google.com/books?id=ANR1dLr3aeAC&pg=PR10&lpg=PR10&dq=content+is+cash+table+of+contents&source=bl&ots=g6ZtFcGen8&sig=g_MXb-cgMhXKAMymRqNUFgbLi1g&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

Internet Marketing Bestseller, Content Is Cash, By Wendy Montes de Oca, On Amazon Top 100 List For Ten Weeks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT: Precision Marketing and Media

media@precisionmarketingmedia.com

http://www.precisionmarketingmedia.com/

Internet Marketing Bestseller, Content Is Cash, By Wendy Montes de Oca, On Amazon Top 100 List For Ten Weeks And Focuses On Leveraging Great Content And the Web

December, 6, 2011 Palm Beach Gardens, FL Looking for proven, powerful and cost-effective ideas to get the most out of great content? ‘Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz’ [Que Publishing, Paperback, ISBN# 0789741083 http://www.quepublishing.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0789741083], by Fortune 500 and top publishing marketer, Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA, contains the formula for online success for virtually any business in any niche.

Content Is Cash has been on the Amazon ‘top 100’ best seller list for more than 10 weeks since it’s August publication date. The book hit #1 and #5 simultaneously in Internet Marketing (Kindle and paperback, respectively), #13 in Business and Culture, and #1,806 in Amazon’s entire universe of over 8,000,000 books on September 26, 2011. Content Is Cash was featured by Newsmax.com and Target Marketing Magazine as well as being on Website Magazine’s ‘Hot Reads for Web Marketer’s’ list and PracticalEcommerce.com’s ‘25 Top-Selling eCommerce Books in August 2011’.

Content Is Cash describes several high-performing, organic (free) strategies which are part of a comprehensive, systematic method known as the SONAR Content Distribution Model, to help increase website traffic, visibility, and more. SONAR marketing is similar to article (content) marketing, but more comprehensive and has an extended reach.

According to Montes de Oca, “The book centers around a synchronized strategy of using great, original content that is ‘UVA’ (useful, valuable, and actionable) which business owners and publishers have already created, then repurposing and distributing it to targeted, relevant locations on the Web, based on target audience and business objectives”.

She continues, “SONAR represents five organic online 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) and R (Relevant posts to blogs, forums, and message boards).”

Content Is Cash has received praise from some of the most respected marketers, publishers, and entrepreneurs in the industry including Michael Masterson, Bob Bly, Martin Weiss, Ph.D., Marc Charles, MaryEllen Tribby, Brian Edmondson, Conrad Hall, Dr. Jonny Bowden, and more.

Says Montes de Oca, “The book has been embraced by consumers and colleagues alike. I think what resonates with people is this powerful, yet easy-to-implement strategy which leverages great content for virtually no cost. And in the current economic environment, business owners are looking for free and creative ways to create visibility and website traffic for their business.”

She concludes, “It really is all about the power of great content and that content is king.
Creating solid, original content will first and foremost provide valued information to its readers and encourage bonding; but it can also help the publisher (business owner) with increased website exposure and visits. That increased traffic can then be harnessed for online product sales, advertising sales, and more.”

Content Is Cash is available at Amazon.com, QuePublishing.com, BarnesandNoble.com other book retailers and e-tailers world-wide.

For more information visit http://precisionmarketingmedia.com/book/wendy-book.html.

About Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA
Ms. Montes de Oca’s diversified background includes nearly 20 years of experience in direct response and online marketing, media, publishing, financial services and law. She’s worked for renowned publishers and Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Montes de Oca is an Internet marketing expert with a proven track record for both acquisition and retention efforts. During her career, she has generated over $150 million in total revenues for various corporations, consulting clients, and her own consulting firm, Precision Marketing and Media, LLC.

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Turn Your Website into a Powerful eCommerce Machine

The current economic environment has been hard on both brick and mortar & online sales. But there are a few simple, yet powerful, things you could do to boost online sales and gain loyal customers.

1. Make Sure Your SSL Seal is Prominent. SSL or secure socket layer is a sign that the site is encrypted…that the information consumers enter, such as personal and credit card information, is protected. Most eCommerce sites must file for an SSL certificate from vendors such as VeriSign, GoDaddy, eTrust, TRUSTe, and others. It’s a good practice to display the vendors logo on your order page, as well as make sure in the browser window the “https” or image of a lock is present. This is a clear and comforting sign to consumers that they can order on line with confidence.

2. Encourage Online Sales vs. Other Order Mechanisms. Offer special “Internet Only Pricing” to customers. It could be a discount of 5-10%. This reduces any potential overhead costs for staffing fees such as telesales or order entry personnel.

3. Offer Free Shipping. Many eTailers already factor shipping into their published price, so when there’s a big, flashing banner next to the item saying “free shipping” it gives consumers that extra little push to move forward with the transaction. It boils down to basic psychology. Everyone likes to feel like they’re getting something for free.

4. Use Buyer Feedback To Your Advantage. Have an area on your website or next to select items that says “Customer Favorite” or “Hot Item”. Also, have some glowing customer testimonials next to the product for potential prospect to see. Consumers like to feel good about the item they are about to purchase. To see a great testimonial and knowing that others purchased the product is a validation and comforting feeling. In addition to helping the conversion, this tactic also helps reduce buyer’s remorse and product returns.

5. Make Sure Your Product Pages are Optimized for Search Engines. After doing some keyword research on actual search behavior for your product, refine your meta description, meta keywords and title tag of your product pages. This will help consumers find your product in the organic listing of search engine results.

6. Have a Special Coupon Code Banner on Your Home Page. This is a best practice with online fashion retailers. There’s typically a banner ad on their home page stating something like, “Summer Blow Out Sale, Use Coupon Code 1234”. This is another great way to offer a special discount for your online customers that makes them feel good about the purchase. You can also encourage viral activity by having a “forward to friend” text link that opens a MSOutlook email window with the coupon or coupon code. Make sure to have some great intro copy mentioning how customers should “pass on the great savings to friends, family, and colleagues.”

7. Consider Payment Plans. For your higher ticket items, consider setting up extended payment plans that allows customers to pay for an item over a few payments. If an item is let’s say, $200, you might want to offer a flex pay of “6 easy payments of $33.33” that is conveniently auto-billed to their credit card. Just be diligent when calculating your payment prices as well as creating your return/refund policy for these items. The general rule is that your actual production costs/hard costs should be covered in the first 1-3 payments.

Remember to keep testing methods that help improve sales and drive prospects to your storefront. Make note of when you implement new tactics, such as the above, and then after a month of being live, compare sales results year-over-year to see if you found the sweet spot in your eCommerce efforts. I’m confident that you will see an improvement in online sales.

This will get your visitor's attention every time...

Whether your goal is cross-selling or lead generation, interstitials are a great way to get someone's attention. An interstitial is not a pop up ad. And typically doesn't get blocked, like pop up ads, by many website or search engines. (For example, Google Adwords won't approve an PPC campaign if the redirect URL goes to a website that has pop up ads).

An interstitial ad is a full-page ad that appears before the actual webpage. Your webmaster or web programmer can put in place via an html script. In a nutshell, it's an ad in the front/center of the screen (some sites even keep the ad in place if you scroll up or down, which I find annoying).

The ad is in color and typically has a strong headline, call to action and graphic. Then the background of the ad is greyed-out where you can still see the website behind the ad, but it's faded - so your focus is on the main ad - the interstitial. There's also a clear and obvious way to close the interstitial. No tricks or hard-to-find 'x' buttons.

Interstitials are ideal if you don't have room for banner or text ads on your website or you don't want to affect the current layout of you home page.Not all interstitials, however, are created equal. I've seen some implemented that are not only unattractive, but are also ineffective with its copy and execution.A text book example of an interstitial ad can be found at EarlytoRise.com. if you go to the home page, wait 10-25 seconds, the ad will appear in the center of the page with the backdrop shaded.

The beauty of this is that you can make your actual ad space as big or small as you need. Your offer can be to sell something or to obtain an email address. You can include eye-catching images or have a countdown box to an event.

Whatever your offer or need ... an interstitial can deliver. And best of all, you don't have to wonder if your website visitor saw the ad or not. It's no doubt they did. You are just giving them the option to act on it OR close it.

List Building 2.0: Polls For Prospecting

By now most people know that Web 2.0 is simply the evolution of the Internet into an environment of interactivity, reader participation, and usability. Web 2.0 opens up the dialog between user and website or blog. This connection can help generate traffic and a viral buzz.

But from a search engine marketing (SEM) standpoint, the benefits are clear and measurable: More traffic and frequent interactivity (or posts) equal better organic (free) rankings in search engine results. Getting good organic rankings is a powerful way to find qualified prospective customers.

So what online tactic encourages Web 2.0 principles as well as helps with search engine results page rank, visibility and listing building efforts? Targeted online acquisition polls.

Online acquisition polls can help you collect names and e-mail addresses, gauge general market (or subscriber) sentiment, and generate sales via a redirect to a promotional page. They also allow for interactivity, where a user can sound off about a hot topic. I've been including polls in my online marketing strategy for nearly a decade now, and have rarely been disappointed with the results. Some websites, like surveymonkey.com, allow members to set up free or low-cost surveys and polls.

However, they may not allow you to include a name-collection component or a redirect to a promotional offer. If that's the case, either ask your Webmaster to build you a proprietary poll platform or use a poll script. (You'll find examples at hotscripts.com, bgpoll.com/, ballot-box.net/faq.php, micropoll.com, and 2enetworx.com.) Here are eight ways to help make your online poll a success:

1. Make it engaging.Your poll question should engage the reader, encourage participation, pique interest, and tie into a current event. And be sure to have a "comments" field where people can make additional remarks. Sample topics: politics, the economy, health, consumer breakthroughs, the stock market, foreign affairs. Sites that highlight the most talked-about (and searched) topics on the Web include buzz.yahoo.com/, 50.lycos.com/, and google.com/press/zeitgeist.html.

2. Be relevant.Your poll question should also be related to your product, free e-zine topic, or free bonus report topic. This will greatly improve your conversion rate (the number of people who actually participate in your poll) and your up-sell rate. Let's say your free offer is a sign-up for an investment e-zine and your up-sell is a redirect landing page promotion for a paid investment newsletter. In that case, your poll question should be market related, something like "Where is gold headed in 2012?"

3. Offer an incentive.After people take your poll, tell them that to thank them for their participation you're automatically signing them up for your free e-zine or e-alerts... which they can opt out of at any time. To reduce the number of bogus e-mail addresses you get, offer a free "must-read" e-report too. And assuming it's your policy not to sell or rent e-mail names to third parties (and it should be), indicate that next to the sign-up button. This will reassure people that it's safe to give you their e-mail address.

4. Tag the responses.Having your poll question somehow tie into your product line makes the names you collect extremely qualified for future offers. Each name should be "tagged" by your database folks according to the answer they gave. Segmenting the names into such categories will make it easier for you to send targeted offers to them later. Let's say your product line includes an investment e-zine on equities. In that case, your poll question might ask people which investment product they think has the best returns: money market, gold, equities, or options. Those who answer "equities" will be prime candidates for a promotion for the e-zine.

5. Use the results for new initiatives.In addition to collecting names, online polls will help you gauge general market opinion - and could help you come up with new products. Keeping with our above example, you would flag all of the responses that come in. Then, if an overwhelming number of responders indicate an interest in an investment product you don't have - maybe one on gold - you should consider developing one. Because you now have an instant market of people to sell that product to.

6. Strengthen your new relationships.You need to reinforce the connection between the poll people just participated in and your e-zine or e-alerts. So make sure each name that comes in gets an immediate "thank you" (for taking the poll). Then send an automatically generated e-mail with the link for the downloadable free e-report you promised. Consider sending a series of "bonding" e-mails to them too - to help them get to know who you are, what you do, and how it will benefit them. This will help improve their lifetime customer value.

7. Gratify participants with the results.Don't just leave poll participants hanging. Make sure you tell them that the results will be published in your free e-zine or on your website (to encourage them to check it regularly). This will help increase readership and website traffic.

8. Publish the best reader comments.On your poll landing page, mention that some user feedback may be published (anonymously) in your e-zine or on your website. Pick the very best, most powerful responses to use. Republishing user feedback is fundamental to the Web 2.0 concept. And it has been extremely successful for social networking communities and blogs.

Marketers have used polls internally (on their own company website) for years. But now more than ever, with its cost effectiveness and efficiency, polls should be used to collect leads and interact with prospects. Polls aren't just for finding leads, either. They are also great for measuring market sentiment - which, in turn, can be insight that impacts your customer retention and service efforts.

Create Market Demand And Visibility

If you're about to launch a new product, book, website, or whatever and don't know where to begin - then you MUST read this...

After launching multiple products, websites and creating the marketing launch plans for several books that hit Amazon #1 best seller status in record time -- such as books by Michael Masterson, Bob Bly, and my own book, Content Is Cash -- there's a proven formula that works every time no matter what the actual "thing" is you're launching. Even better, many of these tactics are low to no cost. It's coordination and synchronization of online marketing efforts all culminating around a specific time period (i.e. certain a day of the week).

These efforts include:

--Staggered messages. These will go to your list and other external, synergistic lists such as affiliates, JV partners, friends, and industry contacts and include solo emails, ezine ads, editorial contributions (with ed. note) and social marketing efforts. The goal is to build anticipation and create a pent up demand about the "thing" that is going to be launched. Efforts should start 2-3 weeks out and pick up intensity and frequency on the designated launch date. Qualified people that demonstrated an interest during your pre-launch "teaser" efforts can be added to you hot list can also be the first to know about future new releases, beta testing and similar "insider" privileges. In addition to your regular bonding efforts and auto responder series, these names will then have potential to also be your top buyers new products.

--Social media. Start seeding relevant blogs, message boards, chat rooms and forums with information about your soon-to-be-released "thing". Record a video of yourself and your product on YouTube. Push out relevant, useful and actionable editorial that ties to your "thing" on top social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Ultimately, create messages that have the potential to go viral and create buzz around your launch.

--Content Marketing. Write a few keyword rich articles that tie into the theme of your launch and upload to top tiered article directory sites. Link all to your launch promo page (or wherever you want to drive traffic to for consumer to take action). Make sure you start your efforts a few weeks prior to launch so can gain momentum and exposure in search engine results pages.

--Pay per click. If you have the budget, bid on your relevant keywords to your launch theme and have a pre launch page that collects names to build your hot list. Offer a free report that also ties into your theme to help start the buy in and create demand. This is a great way to gauge general market interest in your product, but note, that this is a lead gen effort and not an immediate sale. So be prepared to pay for the lead. The sale should happen within 30 days of your launch, after proper bonding efforts are established and your normal sales funnel commences.

--Online PR. Get your message out quickly and cost effectively through free online press release distribution services. Make sure your release is truly newsworthy and not just fluff, if you want it to be credible. These efforts should occur the day of your release. If you have a budget, you can compliment free online PR efforts with a paid service, such as PRWeb.com, for a nominal one-time fee, and it will greatly increase your reach and exposure. Either distribution channel, the release will get picked up by bloggers, media websites, industry websites, and online news aggregators (such as Yahoo and Google) and not only increase awareness, but also give you back-links (SEO!) as well as have the potential to go viral.

--Online Classifieds. Increase your launch exposure by placing free text ads on sites such as CraigsList. The ad can be about your "thing" and link preferably to your promo webpage. Just make sure you select the right (relevant) category to put your add under in order to ensure you capture the right audience.

--Webinar/Teleseminar. Have a post-launch date free event to help increase visibility, leads and sales. Promote it through social media, internal lists and external partners. Again, the theme must tie into the "thing" you've launched as well as include an added value such as free Q&A session or workshop where participants can text in questions either real time or before the event (depending on how you set up your event). This also helps with bonding and credibility.

All of these efforts together tend to create an "avalanche" effect by picking up speed and getting bigger the more the efforts roll out. This helps create momentum and online traction. In a nutshell, you're creating market demand and interest poising yourself for optimum results.

Maximizing Your Fulfillment and Collateral Pieces

Here are some simple ideas, when applicable, for print and electronic fulfillment that helps encourage sales and customer lifetime value:

1. Personal Welcome or Thank You letter Catalog (whether it's for newsletters, products, or services. It could highlight all products OR current top sellers).


2. Cross-marketing flyer (a flyer highlighting a current hot product OR a natural, synergistic up-sell from the product ordered).


3. Coupon or special discount offer (or if electronic, coupon/promo code for online ordering).


4. Free sample (Women may remember Avon used to include tiny little lipsticks or perfume with their order. This approach is similar, could be a small, economy/sample size product OR bonus report or download access. Customers love, love, love freebies!).


5. Renewal (in publishing, this is called "renewal at birth". If you're selling a subscription service, include a renewal order form with your first issue).


6. Friends and family savings (another coupon for customer to pass on to friends or family. This encourages viral/word of mouth marketing).


7. Packing slip with product return label/instructions

As most marketers know, the first 0-30 days is when a client is red hot. Don't leave them cold. Leverage this time frame with your correspondence and turn your fulfillment pieces into another way to monetize sales and relationship build with your customers.

How to Maximize and Monetize Your Friends, Followers, Fans & Customers

Precision Marketing ezine issue 10/04/11

Today's issue features some useful and practical excerpts from my new, best-selling book, Content Is Cash: Find out how to convert your 'Triple F's' to help grow your business as well as discover what to do to 'know your list' better. Also, learn the trick to getting high-performing, lost cost print ads and how to understand the customer life cycle for maximum results to your bottom line.

Yours for success and profits,
Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA
~President, Precision Marketing and Media, LLC.
~Publisher, Precision Marketing eNewsletter
~Author, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, 2011, Paperback]
~Blogger, MuscleMarketing.Blogspot.com

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Quick Power Tip: How To Get A Cost Effective Print Ad

This channel often gets a raw deal. One reason is because it's typically a costly platform.

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 highly targeted newspapers and periodicals in specific geographic locations.

For example, let's say you're selling an investment product or service. Before taking out a print ad in a large scale magazine or publication, such as Forbes, Money, Wall Street Journal, or similar, begin your search on the Web.

This is something I've done many times before and it not only worked wonderfully, but it brought in highly qualified leads. The following is an example for a specific niche. Your search queires may be different, but this gives you a solid idea how to approach this task.

First: Search the Internet by a targeted query albeit niche, geographic location or similar. In my case, I searched for the wealthiest cities in America.

Second: Several lists came up. I picked the top 20 and then did a second search for local newspapers within those communities (cities). These smaller newspapers hit my target audience (wealthiest cities) and had a decent circulation size. Even better, because these were local papers, the ad rates were much than some of the larger, broad-circulation publications. Bottom line - you end up getting quality rather than quantity.

Third: Email each paper asking for print ad rates, paid and free circulation, ad size and location. Put all your information into a spreadsheet then send your ad to the top 5 papers based on price and coverage.

I once paid for an ad in a local newspaper in Aspen, CO and Rancho Cucamonga, CA - two highly affluent areas - each with flat rates of less than $500. Both ads brought in tens of thousands of dollars in client revenues. My ROI turned out to be much more than 1,000%. This is a great, cost-effective way to drill down to your target audience, test out new creatives, and save money all while you're getting your feet wet with print ads.


Converting Your Triple F's: Friends, Followers and Fans

I recommend that you make a special conversion effort to encourage social media followers to give you their email addresses with you (as mentioned in my last issue, having an email address opens up the line of direct communication and list building) -or, as we say, opt in to receive your marketing messages. This typically involves creating strong promotional copy, which is sliced and diced and then used for social media posts and updates.

This promotional copy drives followers to a lead-generation landing page (or squeeze page), where the goal is to capture the email address of the friend, follower, or fan.
The offer should be something that will resonate with your follower, such as a useful freebie-perhaps a bonus report, e-zine subscription, audio download, bonus video, webinar, or teleseminar.

Ideally, this is something that has a perceived value and is immediate and relevant.
You run the campaign for a two-week period at a time, mixing your conversion messages with your regular, organic daily tweets or Facebook status updates. Then you monitor email sign-ups and website traffic (via Google Analytics), to ensure list growth and traffic source referrals. Aside from captivating copy, many variables come into play to make sure the effort is successful.

These include making sure email collection boxes are at the top, middle, and bottom of the lead-generation landing page being used. There should also be links to your privacy policy and an assurance statement alleviating any concern about email addresses being rented or sold to third parties.

It's also critical to clearly disclose before users submit their email address that opting in to receive your freebie also gives them a complimentary subscription to your e-newsletter (if applicable), along with special messages and offers from time-to-time.

Finally, you should follow up with a series of autoresponder (targeted messages) emails welcoming the new subscriber, offering strong editorial content and special offers. These emails facilitate bonding; validates that the correct email was given; ensures that the user is aware of the sign-up; and helps reduce false "do not mail" reports, email bounces, and general attrition.

Maximize Your Customer Life Cycle For Better Life Time Value (LTV) and Conversions

One of the most profound business books I ever read was Permission Marketing by Seth Godin.
The ideas in the book were very innovative at the time. The Internet and e-mail marketing were still young, and, like the Wild Wild West, most marketers and business owners were still trying to "wrangle it in" and figure out how to leverage the Web's possibilities... and, more important, turn those possibilities into profits.

In a nutshell, the book explained "how to turn strangers into friends and friends into customers." The principle behind this is to first understand the difference between cold (or interruption) marketing - like those annoying phone calls you always seem to get during dinner asking you to subscribe to the local newspaper... and permission marketing - where the prospect is actually giving you permission to contact them by "opting in" to receive your messages.

To help you get the most out of your Internet marketing, I have expanded on Mr. Godin's "stranger/friend/customer" concept and added two key components: multi-buyer and advocate. And I'll show you how you can leverage each of these segments to help grow your business.

Leveraging Your Customers Throughout Their Entire Life Cycle
You may think that a customer is someone who buys from you - period. But that's a very limited view. From the instant you "meet" your customer... until he's become a VIP buyer who's spent hundreds or thousands of dollars with your company... you should be interacting with him in different ways. Treating him properly every step of the way will create a true win/win situation. Your customer will continue to enjoy satisfying experiences with your company, and your company will enjoy the positive effect this relationship will have on its bottom line.

Here are the five stages a customer can go through during his life cycle, and how you can make the most of each one...

Stage 1: Stranger
The stranger or "prospect" doesn't know you. Your job is to get her attention. You have only a few seconds to get her to react - whether it's by asking her to click on your ad or open your e-mail message. Which means that your copy for the ad headline or e-mail subject line is critical.

Once you've captured her attention, your #1 goal is to have this stranger "opt in" to receive your messages, giving you a chance to continue to bond with her. This is also the time to start to build trust. Show your creditability. And explain what you can do for her (fill a desire, answer a need).

Stage 2: Friend
The friend has demonstrated an interest in your initial promotion and has opted in to receive more information from you. This gives you an outstanding opportunity to introduce him to your philosophy, your company, and your mission, and to re-enforce how you can help him.

During this stage, it's best to send a series of introduction e-mails (anywhere from 5 to 7) and withhold your new friends from your general mailing list. You don't want them (the newest names on your list) to start receiving promotional messages BEFORE they receive some of your editorial messages.

For most of my clients, I recommend sending introductory e-mails to new subscribers. Each e-mail is a special issue that's composed of articles that present the publication/gurus core philosophies. This gives new subscribers a chance to "warm up" to expert contributors, the format of the enewsletter, and the topics typically addressed. Only after they are warmed up do they go into 'general population' - that is, I start sending them editorial and promotional emails as usual.

Stage 3: Customer/Client
The customer (or client) is someone who has bought into your philosophy and purchased a product (or service) from you.

Many companies make the mistake of ending the customer relationship at this point. But after reading this article, you'll know better... you'll know that getting the customer is only the beginning. Keeping him is another story.

You don't want to put all your eggs into one acquisition basket while having few or no retention efforts. Good retention strategies entail ongoing communication (both promotional and editorial), outstanding customer service, quality products, and fulfilling your promises. Of course there will always be things outside of your control (like losing customers to market conditions). But the idea is to be proactive and not reactive. Keep the "80/20 rule" in mind - which states that 80 percent of your sales come from 20 percent of your customers.

Stage 4: Multi-Buyer
The multi-buyer is a customer who is tied into your brand and demonstrates product loyalty with your company. Multi-buyers have purchased several products from you, and are not afraid to spend money. These folks are your best list to roll out new products to or test higher price points. If you are thinking about creating a "VIP" or "Lifetime" product, you're going to want to advertise to this list. Multi-buyers will have a high lifetime value (LTV) for you, and will likely purchase cross-channel. In other words, they will buy from you no matter how you contact them - whether via banner ads, e-mail marketing, direct mail, or telemarketing.

Stage 5: Advocate
This segment of your customer database is your holy grail. Your list of advocates is made up of the most satisfied and loyal of your customers - and contains your best "unpaid" employees. Advocates will do your advertising for you by telling friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances about your products and services. And in today's Net-based environment, advocates are a major force in getting your name in the blogosphere and social communities... and spreading your marketing message virally.

So how do you create advocates? Well, advocates are not created, they're cultivated over time. The advocate must, of course, believe in your products and services. But for this special group, the customer experience goes deeper... to an emotional level. The advocate feels personally touched by your service, product, or guru. Because of you, her life is changed - and she's busting at the seams to help others as she has been helped.

Your advocates are people you want testimonials from. People you can invite to be in BETA test or focus groups. And people to get feedback from to help develop future products. Even better, this group can help you make more money in the future. For my clients, some of the best JV (joint venture) partnerships have been with advocates - people who understand the core values, respect the business, and have a company or product that is synergistic to my clients.

You want to treat these folks like the VIPs they are and invite them to special events or let them be the first to receive discounted offers. You may even consider creating affiliate marketing or referral programs to "formalize" this group's verbal recommendations.

Always keep in mind that the effort does not stop at the sale. Since it costs more to obtain new leads than to retain existing customers - now, more than ever - you have to know how to optimize the five stages of the customer life cycle.

Know Your List!

The most important rule in publishing is to know your list, your audience, or your subscribers. Knowing your current readers (customers) also helps you find new, targeted prospects.

If you haven't done so, I strongly recommend that you conduct at least one subscriber
survey per year (most of my clients conduct two per year-one at the midpoint and one at the end of the year).

This survey should include demographic, geographic, and physiographic questions. Find out who your subscribers are, what other newsletters they're reading, what their interests are, and things they like and dislike.

The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be for you to write useful and relevant information. Knowing who makes up your list and gearing specific content for your audience will get your articles read and passed around to likeminded readers.

You can use the data in your survey to create a subscriber profile both editorial and marketing staff with critical information about who an ideal subscriber is. If you understand your ideal subscriber, you'll understand your target prospect.

This information is invaluable for acquisition and retention efforts, so make it readily available to key staff members for easy reference. It's a constant reminder of who you're writing for and who you'd like to add to your database. In addition to its editorial and marketing uses, this information can help with media buying, joint venture opportunities, and creative and product development.

'Content Is Cash': #1 Web Marketing Best-Seller on Amazon

September 26 was a memorable day for me as an author. Content Is Cash hit #1 best-seller on Amazon for Internet marketing with it's Kindle version and simultaneously hit #4 in the same category for the paperback version.

In addition, the book was ranked 1,806 out of over 8,000,000 books on Amazon as well as #13 best-seller in the broad 'Business and Culture' category.

I was nearly doing back flips when I saw the stats in Amazon's Author Central area and even took a screen shot for posterity and posted it to my Facebook page.

It means so much to me that the public has embraced the book and it's resonated with so many marketers, entrepreneurs and business owners. Consumer reviews have been simply amazing.

No doubt the pre-launch buzz from industry legends such as Michael Masterson, Bob Bly, Martin Weiss, MaryEllen Tribby, and many others who have all praised the book helped set the tone.

And on top of that, the book was also featured by Newsmax.com, Amazon.com, and Target Marketing magazine as recommended reading for business and marketing enthusiasts.

If you're looking to grow your business using FREE, proven and high-performing organic marketing methods, then you gotta check this book out. Amazon has several chapters online to peruse.

The SONAR Content Distribution Model featured in Content Is Cash will work for virtually any size company, in any niche and with any budget.

The book is available on Kindle and Paperback at Amazon.com, read more at http://www.amazon.com/Content-Cash-Leveraging-Increased-Biz-Tech/dp/0789741083

The book is also available in ebook and special bundle packages by the Publisher, read more at http://www.quepublishing.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0789741083.

Happy reading!

Frienemy Marketing: Maximizing Joint Ventures and Other Business Opportunities For Increased Visibility, Sales and Leads

Frienemy Marketing: Maximizing Joint Ventures and Other Business Opportunities For Increased Visibility, Sales and Leads
By Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA

With the economic climate as crazy as it’s been, now’s a great time to look to your ‘friendly’ competition for opportunities to help grow your list and add extra revenues to your bottom line.
Even better, this can be done for virtually no out-of-pocket cost. Let me explain…
For many of my clients who have start-up companies or home-based businesses, I tell them how important is to think outside the box and implement high performing, organic (no cost) online marketing strategies that leverage what they already have: Content.

One such system is the SONAR Content Distribution Model TM, which I discuss in great detail in my new, best-selling book, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, paperback].

SONAR is a powerful method of repurposing and distributing free content (albeit text, audio, video) and synchronizing its release into various, targeted, organic channels. It can work for virtually any business, in any niche, with any budget. SONAR represents the following online distribution platforms: 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

Now to cover all the tactical nuances of each of the five SONAR platforms wouldn’t be feasible in this article, and in fact, is already covered in great depth in my book.

However, what I’d like to shed some light upon is the most popular, yet illusive SONAR dove-tail strategy that is often overlooked by many business owners – one that actually encourages relationship cultivation with your competitors – and that I call, ‘Frienemy Marketing’.

When it comes to business growth and visibility, don’t rule out collaborative efforts with your friendly competitors, and by friendly, I mean synergistic and respected formidable adversaries with a like-minded community of followers to your own.

This is a great way to leverage your content and increase market share, enhance brand awareness, grow sales and leads, and establish credibility with a new, yet synergistic list.
As a consultant, and even back in the days when I was leading the marketing efforts at top publishers like Agora, Weiss and Newsmax, it was important for me to be ‘strategically creative’ and deploy as many no-cost online marketing tactics as possible for greater return on investment (ROI).

I would concentrate on the marketing and editorial relationships I had forged with fellow publishers and aggressively pursued ad swaps, guest editorials, and joint ventures (JV).
The idea is to develop synergistic relationships that are mutually beneficial – to look for areas of deficiency in your competitors and think of ways your company can fill the void.

One potential partner may have a great front-end product (e.g., a low cost e-book) but no up-sell (e.g., a higher-priced related kit containing DVDs, CDs, and workbooks). Another potential partner may have an innovative back-end product but no cost-effective front-end product to bring new customers in the door. Still others may have large, qualified lists but need editorial to bond with their lists.

Some tips to keep in mind when looking for partnerships with friendly competitors:

• Do your homework. Find out, in advance, who will be at industry events that you’ll be attending. (Check the program for speakers, vendors, and participants.) Sign up for their e-newsletters. Read their promotional e-mails. Maybe even purchase some of their products.

• Look at EVERY opportunity as a way to maximize your company’s brand during presentation breaks, lunch time, and cocktail parties. When you go to industry events, don’t eat dinner alone in your hotel room. Go to functions. Mingle. Network. Have a genuine conversation with a potential partner… then, if there’s a synergy between your two companies, exchange business cards.

• Before you contact a potential partner, get familiar with his products and target audience and figure out how your company may be able to dovetail with his product line or marketing efforts.

So, once you’ve made the connection, now what?

Reciprocal Ad Swaps
Assuming you both have content-based ezines, you can test the waters and see how your lists will react by doing an advertising swap. In other words, you run an ad in his e-newsletter and he runs an ad in yours for either name collection (lead generation) or product sales. Both list sizes should be close in circulation size, hence the reciprocity. You both keep any sales or email addresses collected, and call it a day.

To make sense out of the results of that test, you have to know your “opportunity cost” – the “cost” you will incur for running an outside ad to your list instead of your own ad. If you normally sell ad space in your e-newsletter, this cost could simply be the flat rate fee you typically charge. Or, if you know the average revenues an issue brings in, you could calculate the potential “missed opportunity” of letting another ad run to your list on a given day.

You should also agree to share important information with your partner. Before his ad runs in your e-newsletter, point out any creative issues. Provide your partner with your e-newsletter’s sent and deliverability sizes, open rate, and ad click rate. Exchanging performance data is critical to a long and mutually beneficial relationship. It has to be a win/win situation for the partnership to work.

Guest Editorials/Editorial Contributions
You can also look into doing guest editorials in other publishers’ e-newsletters – with an editorial note or byline that links to your offer. This is a great way to get introduced to a new list with the “implied” endorsement of the publisher. His endorsement gives you credibility. And if you provide his readers with good, solid, useful information, they will bond with you quickly.

This is a soft-sell approach that may or may not yield results on its own. But when coordinated with either a dedicated e-mail (if your partner is on board with a revenue split) or an e-newsletter ad the same week, your conversion rate (the number of people who go on to buy your product) will dramatically improve.

Joint Ventures (JVs)
I’ve got one more idea for you: joint venturing. This is a quick and cost-effective way to make money with your list even if you have not yet developed any products.

With a JV, you have an instant product line with no overhead costs. Your partner will supply the products, fulfill orders, and provide customer support. All you have to do is promote the products to your list and split the net revenues with them. For an even a more turnkey approach, you can sell e-reports through sites like Clickbank.com, where everything is automated.

To determine the viability of a potential JV product, there are several strategic marketing variables to consider. I like to think of them as “PPPGS”:
P = Product quality
P = Price point
P = Performance (when promoted to your potential partner’s house list, as well as to outside lists)
G = General market demand
S = Subscriber interest (when promoted to your list, as determined by feedback, surveys, etc.)

Remember – you’re looking for long-term partners, not one-hit-wonders. So carefully select the people you approach, making sure their products, brand and message makes sense to your business…and, together, you can reap the unlimited profit potential of Frienemy Marketing.

Ed note:
Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA has nearly 20 years of marketing experience with Fortune 500 companies and top publishers and an expert at organic marketing tactics. She is the President of Precision Marketing and Media, LLC, and author of the Amazon best-seller, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, Paperback]. To learn more about SONAR marketing or get your copy of Content Is Cash, click here now!

http://www.amazon.com/Content-Cash-Leveraging-Increased-Biz-Tech/dp/0789741083/

Killing Two Search Engine Birds with One Stone: PPC and SEO

There's a great tactic that will help your list building efforts -- both with paid AND organic search.

And it's not much additional work ... if you already have a lead generation landing page you're using for PPC, you can cover your basis on the organic side with a few additions.

Here's how:
--Start by creating a new URL for SEO purposes using the existing PPC landing page.

--Make sure the new SEO URL is packed with your targeted and relevant keywords (one caveat: before this, make sure you've done your research to see which keywords to use and the search volume on each one).

--Add relevant and targeted keywords into the new SEO lead gen page's tags including: title tag, meta description, and meta keywords. Also, if you have images on the page, make sure to add relevant keywords to those.

--If not already done, drop in the Google Analytics code to this page so you can track page visits/traffic.

After your page is indexed by the search engine spiders (which may take a few weeks), your lead gen page should start appearing in organic search rankings based on the keywords you've indicated in your tags.

What will also help your page's ranking be more favorable is if you can get some back-links from high traffic websites linking to this new, SEO landing page.

So start link-building efforts with sites that have the 2 R's - rank and relevance. Remember, search engines like back-linking between synergistic websites.

5 'Must Knows' For Better CoRegistration Conversion Rates

1. CoReg names (leads) come in from another website after a transaction and people tend to forget what they opted in to receive.


2. For optimum results, flag names that come in (segment) and withhold them from eLetter circulation for approx. 5-7 days.


3. Use this time to reconnect with them and let them bond with you, your gurus, your pub, or your philosophy.


4. Let them build that "warm fuzzy feeling" for you. Do this by following up with targeted introduction emails.


5. After the email series, where you'll also be giving them fantastic editorial, send them a special offer (such as discount, special new subscriber pricing, etc.) to help monetize the names.


6. Avg. cost per lead (CPL) for coreg tends to be between $1- $5. Implementing the email intro series also helps the LTV (life time value) of the subscriber. They'll buy more frequently, monetarily, and be more loyal.

Tweeting for Leads: Building your Twitter Presence

Unless you've been in a cave, you've likely heard of Twitter.

Twitter, or "Tweeting", is a way to connect with like-minded people by broadcasting short, headline oriented messages into the Twittospher. Then, those interested in what you have to say and want to hear more will "follow" you.

Twitter is a great outlet for information as well as a way to promote your business, newsletter or blog and build your prospect database. Many companies, publishers, entrepreneurs and others have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon to leverage this hot social networking outlet. But unless you're a celebrity or someone that already has universal name recognition ... and groupies ... getting individuals to opt in and "follow" your messages could be challenging.

So here are some tips to start building your presence on Twitter:

1. Promote the heck out of your Twitter URL (http://twitter.com/youraccountname). Remember, at this point, if you don't have a notable name and a built-in audience the goal is to drive targeted traffic to your Twitter home page so people can follow you. Remember to include your Twitter link in your emails (as an autosignature). Cross-market it in your newsletters and other correspondence. Mention it in your bio, bylines or editorial notes (whether you're a public speaker, on your PowerPoint slides, in press releases, article directory postings - virtually any place your name is). Link to it on other social networking sites from your Linked In, Facebook, and MySpace accounts. Add it at the closing in all your business proposals. Have it printed on your business cards. And of course, have it somewhere prominent on your website or blog. The mention is simple, "Follow me on http://twitter.com/youraccountname."



2. 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. I suggest updating your bio quarterly with relevant keywords to your target market (follower). Think strong, short and pithy ... similar to a good headline that grabs your attention.



3. As far as content, keep your Tweets frequent, useful, relevant and entertaining. Don't just spam messages. It's transparent and will have a negative effect. Make people want to hear from you. Your headlines should be engaging and provoking, linking to the full article on your website or blog.



4. Follow the right people yourself. Many Tweeters have the mentality, you follow me, I'll follow you ... it's reciprocated. So as you're following other like minded individuals to expand your interest and knowledge base, they'll typically return the favor and follow you, thereby helping you build your presence.



5. Tweet daily. Try and have a regular presence on Twitter. The more frequent you Tweet the more you appear increase your odds to appear under 'Who to follow'. There are a few tools to help you determine when the best time to tweet is, check out: http://www.whentotweet.com/, http://www.tweriod.com/,http://www.tweetwhen.com/ and http://14blocks.com/. Most are free.



6. Engage with your followers. Retweet or reply to their tweets to help foster relationship cultivation. After all, that's what social media is all about ... building a community of like-minded 'friends'.

You'll see, with a combination of the above and a little time, you'll build your Twitter following. My clients have been implementing these tips and are enjoying steady growth on Twitter.

How Targeted Marketing Can Save Your Business

A few nights ago I was watching 'Minority Report' with Tom Cruise on Cinemax. There was a scene in the movie when Tom's character was walking through this futuristic mall and as he walked by various retail stores, these state-of-the-art eye scanners would move over his corneas and a personalized, digital marketing message was produced for only him to see/hear. These promotional messages not only addressed him by his first name, but apparently included his interests (as the scanner had access to archive information stored in his mind of past purchase patterns, consumer behavior, and more).

Sound hokey? It's not all that far off from what actually can be done today with personalized marketing (also known as one-to-one or targeted marketing).

Personalized marketing is more than just including someone's name in a subject line or salutation of a message. It's actually having some consumer knowledge albeit demographic, geographic and psychographic ('DGP') data about the person then crafting targeted promotional messages to suit certain data points. If you have the ability to collect even deeper data, such as purchase behavior, even more power to you.Some also call this type of marketing 'database marketing' or 'data mining', as you're mining and refining your in-house list.

In a nutshell it's leveraging the data you have and simply the art of crafting a specific, targeted message to a person or group of like-minded people. And studies have shown that this type of marketing skyrockets open and conversion rates.

Now, there is one important caveat to successful personalized marketing or database marketing efforts ... that's having a robust email interface that collects and stores consumer/client/prospect activity down to the user level and also can group them into 'buckets'. Those buckets could be categorized by DGP data points, website activity or purchase behavior.

For most small businesses, who tend to use the likes of MailChimp, Constant Contact, and similar cost-effective email marketing companies, that level of tracking is simply not offered.The email marketing companies that do offer such robust systems often have tiered pricing based on email volume (usually large scale), and even then, those rates are usually too steep for the start-up entrepreneur or home-based business.

So what's a small business owner to do?

The answer is quite simple (and affordable): Conduct periodic surveys, approximately one to two times a year, of your own list then store and group the data. Once that data is stored you can create universal 'buckets' of important group interests then send targeted messages to those groups of people.

This can be done even using cost-effective email marketing services, such as Constant Contact, and the help of Survey Monkey, to collect the data.Survey Monkey is a free survey service, but if you want the detailed level of data that needs to be tied down the user level (by email address), then you have to pay a nominal monthly or annual fee. But trust me, it's worth it.

You can easily set up your questions (I suggest 20 max) and have multiple choice or fill ins. I suggest multiple choice as it saves the user time. Most users want to complete a survey in a few minutes. So carefully think out your questions and answer options. Make sure to throw in your standard DGP questions as well as some competitor and interest related questions.

For example, let's say you have a list that has a combination of copywriters, marketers, and business opportunity folks. The copywriters may only care about things related to promotions and creative development. The marketers might only respond to messages that pertain to direct response and Web marketing. And your biz-op subscribers may only care about things related to entrepreneurship or home based businesses. Not segmenting your lists means you're alienating 66% of your list each time you send a promotion. That's huge! Talk about leaving money on the table.

However, if you're speaking to each group about their own specific interests, you're now engaged with 100% of that list group each time you send a promo, thereby boosting open and conversion rates. You're also likely to see a reduction in attrition as well, since people will be getting targeted messages.

Test this out for yourself. See the tremendous difference targeting your promotional efforts makes. Then, if you see hard results of improved open and conversion rates, try the same for your editorial (ezine) messages. This will increase bonding and reduce opt outs. It may also improved your viral marketing (forward-2-friend), as readers are going to be so pleased you're 'speaking' directly to them about they're interests.

Both of these tactics may be a little extra work, but it will also ensure no money is left on the table.Your survey results will not only prove useful in your personalized marketing messages, but can also be used as market research, product development, and even potential joint ventures and media buys.

To help entice your list to taking the survey, consider offering an exciting, immediate, easy to fulfill offer as well as compelling subject line in your email message for the survey itself.If you have buyers and non-buyers (i.e. clients and prospects), make sure you survey each list separately.

Not finding the time to survey your list is really doing a dis-service to your clients and subscribers as well as your business. 1) You're not really knowing and engaging with your audience as best as you could - and this will affect product development, promotional and editorial efforts; and 2) You're not reaching a level of maximized sales capacity.

So before you start wondering why your subscribers aren't buying, or why open rates are low, or why you're getting increased unsubscribes ... ask yourself when was the last time you surveyed your list?If it's NEVER, then you're long overdue.