Online video success has been overwhelmingly increasing day by day, and small businesses are surely jumping on the bandwagon. As a small business owner you are aware of all the marketing tools, including social media that boosts the awareness of your company. What you may not know yet is the enormous amount of success associated with online video marketing – if you know how to it properly. Get ready to jump into the lucrative world of video marketing success with great video production.

Although social media is an incredible way to promote your business and will surely bring in positive revenue and statistics, it is not the only opportunity out there.… Continue reading »

Email turned 40 last year but this doesn’t mean it is old fashioned. Marketers and business owners still use email as a key digital marketing sphere. Not only is it cost effective but it also offers fantastic ROI.

There are a number of things to keep in mind when embarking on a new campaign. The golden rule is to make sure you’re not sending out SPAM. You should ensure that every single person on your mailing list has granted permission to be on there, you should also provide them with the option to opt out again if they desire by including an unsubscribe mechanism.… Continue reading »

What tool or service do you use to easily implement affiliate marketing on your business website or blog?

The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

1. ClickBank

If you have a digital product, then tapping into ClickBank’s marketplace of awesome affiliates is the way to go. I love that ClickBank handles all the payments to affiliates and takes care of a ton of the technology stuff, too.… Continue reading »

Business owners and executives have a lot to concern themselves with, but at the end of the day their most effective assessment tool is often the bottom line: profit. Unfortunately, not everyone within a firm considers the big picture this same way – in fact, it’s fair to suggest that few employees think this way. This is especially true of marketing departments and agencies who, despite their best efforts, have been struggling for decades to appropriately commoditize their strategies’ impact.

Though silo-ed information and micro perspectives are equally apparent in sales and production departments, the numerical basis of their functionality often warrants them less waywardness.… Continue reading »

The dawn of the digital age has ushered in forms of marketing that consumers won’t (necessarily) hate and things seem to be going well. Businesses and brands of all shapes and sizes have been getting to grips with online platforms that have also opened up the world of digital marketing for companies at the smallest end of the scale.

In 2012, there was a great deal of consolidation among marketers as they devoted more resources to conquering the brave new worlds of social media and online engagement, but what does 2013 hold for these areas?

Media-Rich Content is King

Regular content seems to be in danger of being usurped in 2013, as the trend towards media-rich posts grows.… Continue reading »

Everyone has a pen with someone’s name and logo on it. Maybe you got the phone cover you’re using from your gym. And if you don’t have a t-shirt or hoodie with a logo from some team, it’s almost unheard of. These are all pieces of promotional merchandise that help spread the word about a particular business. You can use this type of merchandise to promote your own business, too.

Benefits

You know that saying that all publicity is good publicity? To a certain extent, it’s true. The more people see your brand’s logo, the better. Each person you give a branded piece of promotional merchandise is one more you’re making aware of your business.… Continue reading »

Most businesses have traditionally kept their marketing activities in-house. That is slowly changing as they acclimate to an international workforce.

I have worked with businesses that have used social media consultants on the other side of the world. More businesses are starting to outsource their marketing practices to independent contractors or other marketing agencies.

Advances in digital communications are making marketing more important than ever. You may be competing in a global workforce and traditional marketing tactics may no longer be effective. You need to make sure the people managing your marketing know what they are doing. You may be lucky enough to have great marketing talent in your agency, but you may need to consider outsourcing if things aren’t working out with them.… Continue reading »

Affiliate programs are some of the most effective ways to drive traffic, boost sales and enhance branding for your online marketing campaign. However, doing things wrongly can cost your business dearly. This article will show you why your affiliate program might damage your company’ reputation – and how to avoid that to happen by doing proper Corporate Reputation Management.

Whether you are an online business or a brick-and-mortar business looking for ways to grow your business, affiliate marketing is one of the best strategies. Why?

Setting up an affiliate program is simple: All you need to do is acquiring a system or script to run it, set everything from the amount of commission to training/tutoring material for members, and hire an affiliate manager to oversee activities.… Continue reading »

One of the highly regarded effective ways of advertising products and services of a certain company or establishment is through video marketing. It is a promotional strategy used by lots of businesses to advertise and promote using short but persuasive videos highlighting what they offer. Today, it is one of the most successful ways to spread awareness to everyone.

A great example is Atlanta Video Inc. as it’s highly reputed to help businesses get the attention of targeted audience and prospective clients they plan to have.

In blogging for example, which offers only texts and photographs, being involved in video marketing levels up the method of a business’ advertising.… Continue reading »

When it comes to B2B sales, many sales people spend more time worrying about what needs to be done rather than doing what they need to do. Although B2B sales may not be easy, by putting these three simple B2B sales tips to use each day, you will be on your way to generating leads, cultivating new business relationships and meeting your sales goals each day.

Put Social Networking Websites to Use to Achieve Your Goals

If you are not already actively using one or more of the social networking sites, then you need to start using them immediately. This is considered one of the easiest ways to generate B2B leads and promote B2B relationships.… Continue reading »

We all know how accessible (or inaccessible) the internet can be. So you set up your product, create the site, set up the store and begin advertising online. The only problem is that you had this great idea for a product you’d never seen before. You made it but not only does no one know what it’s called but that it even exists! The internet is great when you’re looking for something but if you don’t have the name to search for it then it’s still invisible.

Now there are a host of best practices for events and trade shows. While you should be cautious and pick carefully on which ones you go to and where they are; once you’re there it’s time to draw the foot traffic!… Continue reading »

Mobile marketing can be a simple, effective and timely way to get your message out to potential customers.  Here are a few tips to help you run a successful marketing campaign.

Don’t Tell: Engage

The days of one-way communication are long gone. Consumers expect to be able to engage with their favourite brands, and that’s true even with mobile marketing.  Don’t think of your messages as short and snappy mail shots – try to figure out creative ways to let your audience join in the conversation.

Make Your Messages Useful

A successful marketing campaign must be frequent and consistent.  Try to send messages on the same day each week so that you’re always in the minds of your customers.  You don’t want your customers to forget about you, or forget they signed up for messages and then view the ones you send in a few months’ time as spam! 

Make sure that the messages you send are always useful.  Discounts and special offer notifications are a good start, but other types of messages can be useful too.… Continue reading »

The holiday season is upon us. For small businesses, it’s one of the busiest–and most profitable–times of the year. But after the holiday surge is over, many businesses enter the new year with a big decline in sales.

But don’t fret: you can ride that holiday wave well into 2013. What’s the key? A well-managed customer loyalty program that allows your business to thrive in any season by tapping into a reservoir of dependable shoppers.

The Enormous Value of Existing Customers

Successful businesses know how to make their money make money. What’s the best way to reinvest your profits back into your company?… Continue reading »

Companies often choose a spokesperson or advertising character to literally embody their brand. These characters may not reflect the demographics of their target audience, and they sometimes have absolutely nothing to do with a product or service offered by the company. For instance, what does a duck have to do with supplemental insurance? Yet this ad character has become a persuasive symbol for AFLAC.

What advertising characters and mascots do best is to promote the identity of the company they represent in a fun and convincing way—one that captures the hearts… or better yet, the wallets of potential consumers. We identify some of the most iconic advertising characters who are no longer in use.… Continue reading »

Marketing is the essence of business and once you excel at marketing running your small business is a cake walk. However, when coming up with a small business marketing strategy there is no one formula for success. You have to come up with your own strategy but here are some tips to help you devise your strategy for 2013.

1. Connect With Your Customers

This is a very important thing as customers are the reason why you exist in the first place. Connecting with them can start even before you launch your business formally. One great way of getting customers involved in your venture at the outset is by getting them to suggest a brand name, logo and slogan.… Continue reading »

While the tools you use, and the design of your website, are important factors that will influence your success in online sales, not doing as well as you would like may not mean those factors are the cause. It may just be that there is another key factor that you need to implement as a part of your strategy. Your marketing strategy should include the use of the right psychological triggers that will help you experience more lead conversions.

The term ‘psychology’ tends to freak out online marketers who somehow think it is an advanced and complicated technique that is out of their league.… Continue reading »

The year’s fourth quarter is often the busiest and has the most potential to generate business in any establishment, from national outlets to local operations. With the holidays approaching, it’s time for owners and marketers to develop an in-depth advertising campaign so that consumers are informed about the available products and services.

Many marketing tactics that are applicable in other quarters still work in the fourth quarter, and it’s important for businesses to create cross-platform campaigns to increase visibility when customers are ready to spend money. This means that each advertisement should inform consumers while also leveraging the season for increased campaign relevance.… Continue reading »

Selling products or services is the lifeblood of any business. So many people spend hours getting the logo, the URL and the legal paperwork spot on, but forget to sell. Without sales, you’ll be out of business before you get round to the launch party.

Your website is an important sales tool, because anyone who logs on is a potential customer. But it’s important to think carefully how you go about it. Customers are getting very good at blocking out traditional internet-marketing sales strategies. You know the ones I mean: the long pages of sales copy where the price of a course is progressively slashed from $599 to $9; the dubious testimonials gushing about how lives have been changed; the e-books with “ten killer tips”.… Continue reading »

You already know that the internet world is affording us more and more ways to market our businesses; but look before you leap. Here are some things you can try, and a few to avoid, when it comes to using market strategies to boost business.

1. Go Virtual!

The internet allows us to share everything with the world; why limit yourself geographically? Are you located in Georgia but want to heavily market your company in New York? Michigan? Japan? You can! You can hire freelancers who work as virtual assistants. They can bring your business to a location that isn’t yet familiar with it.… Continue reading »

…And I’m talking about right from the start

BEFORE you’ve even got a product.

You see, marketing should be the first thing you do, not the last – there are a whole ton of advantages, but most entrepreneurs allow conventional thinking to get in the way of a successful campaign.

One of the major stumbling blocks businesses have with the idea of early marketing, is that they believe they can’t market an unfinished product. Surely people will make their decision to commit based on their first impression of the product? You’ve only got one chance, so you’d better make it perfect – right?… Continue reading »