Viral Marketing 101 - Not Using It Could Kill Your Business!

This is one virtue a site must possess to lead the race in the ruthless competition in the Internet based business. With so many competition and rivalry going on, every method of marketing must be employed and utilized.

It doesn’t matter if you have a killer product or a fantastically designed website, if people don’t know that you exist, it doesn’t matter, and you are not going to make it big. Worse of all, you business could just get killed.

While there are so many methods and schemes used by so many e-commerce sites today, there are still some of those that can help you with an extra boost in the popularity ratings. One of these is the so called Viral Marketing.

While the term Viral easily depicts a virus, a word very much dreaded by all computer owners, it is not what it seems. You do not actually use a computer virus to spread your business; on the contrary it just might kill you. Everyone has had enough of all those pop up ads and spywares.

Viral Marketing Overview

Viral Marketing also known otherwise as Viral Advertising is a marketing technique used to build the public awareness of one’s product or company. They use many forms of media to reach out to the public without actually promoting the product by riding on in other forms of addictive means that could get a person hooked and be obliged or amused to actually pass it on, with the product or company advertisement along with it.

In a nutshell, companies ride on the idea that if people like the content of a media they will pass it on to their friends and family. They sponsor the certain media, such as a cool flash game, funny video, amusing story and such, which one may pass on to another with the company brand or logo or the products description or any other content to help promote the company or its product.

Viral marketing has become a popular means of advertising and marketing because they are relatively low cost. To avoid being tagged as spam mail, viral marketing counts on the eagerness of one person to pas on the product. If a person sees the name of the person they know as the sender, they won’t block it and open it as well.

Many companies offer incentives such as discounts and rebates when they help in spreading their viral marketing. They rely on the number of recipients a viral marketing gets from one person in determining the amount or number of incentive they can be attributed with.

Using Viral Marketing to your advantage

The main and foremost advantage of viral marketing is that you get a lot of publicity and public awareness about your site and your company. You get to generate a flow of traffic that are potential customers. With a little ingenuity and imagination, plus some incentives or prizes, you can reach out to a great number of people and announce your existence.

Most every site and companies are catching on to the effectivity of Viral Marketing and Advertising. Not using it could kill your business. Along with other schemes and methods in promoting your site, like Search Engine Optimization and such, viral marketing could easily push you ahead in the rating games.

Viral Marketing could be a sneaky way to get people to know about you and your company. You get them to pass your advertisement along. They are also very low cost that not investing in it could be downright a business suicide. All it takes is a great idea, a good addicting game, a funny story many ideas are still out there. Create a gossip or a buzz, many movies are promoted by using scandals and gossips to make them moiré popular. Remember the movie “The Blair Witch Project”?

Many big companies have tried viral marketing and have had many success stories with it. A classic example is Microsoft’s Hotmail. They were the first known big company to utilize the scheme and it has worked wonders for them.

Now it’s your turn to use viral marketing to work wonders for you. Act now and reap the benefits Viral Marketing will provide for you and your sales figures.

Benefits From Opt-In Marketing

There are myriads of ways that you can do marketing on the web. It is your preference in choosing the method and strategies that you want to employ to get your marketing campaign into full drive. One point to note is that results do differ. The concept of marketing is admittedly general. Still it is to the marketer's advantage that he or she has the ultimate choice to opt for whatever method and strategies that best suit the campaign.

Opt-in marketing is essentially consensual marketing. You are giving the potential customer the option to choose whether to get into a seller-buyer relationship with you. This infers that he or she will reveal his or her name and email addresses if the answer is positive. In so doing, you are presented with the opportunity to build the name list, carry on this seller-buyer relationship , and expand your online business.

What kind of benefits you can expect to get from opt-in marketing? There are indeed so many that you will appreciate opt-in marketing for what it is all about.

(1) You can project a clean image

The process of marketing requires communication. You need to talk to people. If you want them to buy your product or service, you have to communicate, and do it effectively. Good communication requires you to project a clean image of yourself as a marketer. Opt-in marketing enhances this image of you. It brings forth the ethical side of you to potential buyers. It is permission-granted marketing that is involved here - to your advantage.

(2) You can capture names and email addresses

To build or to extend your customer list, opt-in marketing is definitely the best solution. With opt-in marketing, you will get to collect names and email addresses of potential buyers, of course with their implied prior consent. As the list grows, you can further categorize it into various segments in terms of personal taste, buying preference, frequency of purchase, and so on. This benefit will enable you to plan ahead other strategies relating to the segmentation.

(3) Elimination of being pushy

An important benefit that you can get from opt-in marketing is that you will not be viewed as being one of the pushy salesmen on the web. The opt-in box provided on your web page offers potential customers the choice of participating in your product or just simply move off. Permission is granted once they key in their first names and email addresses. This should leave no room for arguments in the future.

(4) Ability to act according to your own strategy

Opt-in marketing empowers you to create an opt-in box aligned to your planned strategy. You can capture only qualified prospects, usually requesting them for their First name, Primary Email, and the Subscribe or Sign Up button. Furthermore, you can protect yourself from legal accusation of intrusion by including the Privacy Policy. Opt-in marketing thus gives you the power to capture potential customer data in a reliable and safe way.

(5) Ability to make opt-in box easily found

The opt-in box can be made easily found and accessible. Prospects will find it easy and time-saving to reveal their names and email addresses once they have decided to subscribe or sign up. The opt-in offer would preferably be given in a title that is compelling. It has to be a strong call to action. This description has to solve the specific problem of the prospect.

(6) Opportunity to send follow-up emails

With opt-in marketing, you will benefit from sending follow-up emails to your subscribers by means of autoresponders. Through these emails, you can strongly encourage them to read through what you have freely given them. It is a win-win situation for you and subscriber. You can build the relationship besides highlighting the special benefits of your product. Your subscriber in return can receive good advice from you about the benefits of the current product bought, or even benefits of forthcoming new products.

In conclusion, opt-in marketing is the real door to building your customer list. In the process, you will gain the trust of customers and effectively build the relationship that is ever so vital to online marketing. Stay with opt-in marketing. You will reap all of its benefits it can offer you.

For latest updates on how to increase traffic, raise page ranking, write effective articles and powerful squeeze pages, create explosive blog marketing system, learn about viral marketing, and bring in massive income from your internet marketing business, please Click here

Webmaster: Jeremy Long Chia Teik.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeremy_Long_Chia_Teik

List Building Tools

If you want to build a powerful and responsive email list then you should check out the 6 list building tools detailed in the article below.

(1) Podcasting

It has only become possible in the last few years for you as a small business to create your "talk radio show" using freely available software. To create a podcast you must have the ability to record your audio and save it as a MP3 file. Don't stop at one "show" but create an entire series. Put up on your website or blog. Then you then can offer the first podcast as a freebie but require people to subscribe to your email list to receive access to the others.

(2) Article Marketing

Write articles that help people to solve problems or that answer tricky questions and people will want to hear more from you and get other information from you. Articles are one the best list building tools available. Use your resource box at the end of each article to lead interested back to your website and enrollment into your email list.

(3) Create eCourses

Use an autoresponder service to create a series of 7 to 10 articles that detail how to solve a problem. Have people signup for the free email course which sends out a "lesson" every week. At the course's end give people an opportunity to sign up for your regular newsletter/email list.

(4) Produces Videos

Lights, Camera, PowerPoint? Yes, will just a little bit of training and some free or affordable software, you too, can write, produce, even star in your own little training video. And it should be a training video. Take something that you already know how to fix, make or solve and then share this knowledge with your niche market via a video. But require that they use a signup form before they can view the complete video series.

(5) Create a Hubpage or Squidoo Lens

Both of these two Web 2.0 systems takes content in the form of videos, podcasts or articles and make them easily accessible and shareable to lots of its members. When you upload content to their sites, their members as well as visitors can "vote" on your content and can quickly bounce from your hub or lens back to your signup page on your website.

(6) Post in Forums

Join in forums where your target market hangs out in. Notice what problems people are talking about. Study the answers given and do your homework on learning more about most common ones. Once you know a bit more, when someone posts a topic, you can answer their question in a friendly and helpful way. Do this several times a week. Over time, people will come to think of you as an expert. Use your forum signature line to link back to your newsletter signup page.

You will be pleasantly surprised how quickly you can build your list using these list building tools above.

This article with useful information about the importance of list building to increase your bottom line and ultimately your profits was brought to you by Michael Murphy. Try visiting also his list building site at http://www.downlinebuilderdirect.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_S._Murphy

5 Easy Tips For Free Subscriber Content Creation

1. Colour - A black background is not recommended. It's hard on the eyes. I don't know how many people have problems reading white or coloured text on a black background and with that said, don't go neon pink or glaring orange either. Generally black text on white background is best. Ideally you can choose two colours, but make sure they match and use it consistently on all your pages to maintain fluidity and continuity. For example: Reds and oranges which stimulates appetite works well on a food site while warm pastel colours matches a baby site.


2. Layout- Don't cram everything into one page. Cluttered websites overwhelms the visitors. Keep it clean, crisp and concise. I had a CMS style website before and although it looked organized because there were three columns, there were also a lot of text. Navigation wasn't as plain as day and it overloaded the senses. Take these three words to heart, less is more.

3. Navigation- The more user-friendly the better and your visitors are bound to stay longer. You don't want your visitors to be jumping through hoops to find what they are looking for. Make shopping carts or payment buttons visible and easily accessible. Everything should be just a click away. Make sure all your links are working. Finding broken links becomes frustrating and annoying.

4. Proper spelling and grammar - There's nothing good about visiting a website to find loads of misspelled words and poor grammar. It's unprofessional and you can bet your visitors will leave.

5. Speed - When it comes to website loading, no one likes to be kept waiting. They will definitely leave a site if it won't load properly. People's time is precious; don't make them wait.

6. Graphics - Be careful of using big flashy graphics or banners. Too many animated and too many big banners take away a site's credibility. It also slows down the loading time of your site considerably. Not everyone uses high speed Internet. Remember people don't wait around for slow loading sites.

7. Audio - If you like it and want it, change the default setting to give the visitor control if they want to hear audio or not. Make sure it's visibly accessible to the visitor. The last time I landed on a site, I couldn't find the button to disable the audio so I immediately X'ed out.

8. Pop-up anything - Although many people now have pop-up blockers, it may not be so much of a nuisance, but a pop-up of anything is intrusive, unwanted and annoying. Adding a form to your page in a highly visible spot is much more effective and non-intrusive.

9. Content - Informative, resourceful content will keep a visitor coming back. No one wants to visit a site that hasn't been updated in a long time. You can add a small graphic or a simple text in red with the word "NEW" or a "What's New?" page to inform your visitors you have made updates.

10. AdSense ads - Too many AdSense ads on any page looks scammy and it degrades the quality of your site.

If you can handle honest opinions, have someone critique your website. It really all comes down to personal preference and you will never be able to please everyone and that's okay.

The main goal is building a functioning, well laid out website that is successful and prosperous to you for many years to come.

Opt-In Email Marketing - Plan For Making it Big

Whether it is life or business planning is very important. In life we plan about our education, our marriage then for children and after that, their education and marriage. In fact our life is the outcome of various plans only. Now, if you are planning for some new online techniques of brand promotion then I am sure that your plan would be tried and tested. As no one wants to take big risk as far as online advertisement is concerned. And nowadays, people are choosing opt-in Email marketing to a great extent.

According to the Internet marketers opt-in Email marketing is the best Online advertising technique due to its affordability, transparency and result-orientedness. It is direct and very effective. In fact a responsive email list can be a nice way to make good money online and so opt in list building is a great start. Also, creating targeted email list may take time but it is profitable in the long term.

Internet marketers suggest to follow the following 5 steps for an effective opt-in Email marketing.

Step 1. Content-rich newsletter creation: No one can get impressed by general information so try to shoot latest and exciting news, real hot trends and fresh content.

Step 2. Relationship development: Take a good care of your subscribers and maintain a good relationship with them. You can send welcome messages or you may write something about special events. A strong connection can be developed with your subscribers with a little effort.

Step 3. Customer knowledge development: Know your customers and their need. Know your targeted group. By knowing better you can provide better solutions to theirs problems.

Step 4. For targeted traffic use forums: It works opt-in Email marketing. You may search for forums related to your product.

Step 5. Blog creation and Email list building: You can place in your opt in form which is a nice way to attract targeted people.

Therefore, apply these 5 steps and I am sure that opt-in Email marketing will bring real benefits for you. After all its a step by step plan.

Author:
Author is expert in email marketing, presently render her services to Rupiz Xpress that helps you in building email marketing campaign, opt in email marketing, custom lead generation, bulk email marketing etc.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lalita_N

Whether it is life or business planning is very important. In life we plan about our education, our marriage then for children and after that, their education and marriage. In fact our life is the outcome of various plans only. Now, if you are planning for some new online techniques of brand promotion then I am sure that your plan would be tried and tested. As no one wants to take big risk as far as online advertisement is concerned. And nowadays, people are choosing opt-in Email marketing to a great extent.

According to the Internet marketers opt-in Email marketing is the best Online advertising technique due to its affordability, transparency and result-orientedness. It is direct and very effective. In fact a responsive email list can be a nice way to make good money online and so opt in list building is a great start. Also, creating targeted email list may take time but it is profitable in the long term.

Internet marketers suggest to follow the following 5 steps for an effective opt-in Email marketing.

Step 1. Content-rich newsletter creation: No one can get impressed by general information so try to shoot latest and exciting news, real hot trends and fresh content.

Step 2. Relationship development: Take a good care of your subscribers and maintain a good relationship with them. You can send welcome messages or you may write something about special events. A strong connection can be developed with your subscribers with a little effort.

Step 3. Customer knowledge development: Know your customers and their need. Know your targeted group. By knowing better you can provide better solutions to theirs problems.

Step 4. For targeted traffic use forums: It works opt-in Email marketing. You may search for forums related to your product.

Step 5. Blog creation and Email list building: You can place in your opt in form which is a nice way to attract targeted people.

Therefore, apply these 5 steps and I am sure that opt-in Email marketing will bring real benefits for you. After all its a step by step plan.

Author:
Author is expert in email marketing, presently render her services to Rupiz Xpress that helps you in building email marketing campaign, opt in email marketing, custom lead generation, bulk email marketing etc.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lalita_N

Double Opt in List Builder

What Is a Double Opt in List Builder and Why It's Important?

A double opt in list builder allows you build a nice downline without creating the Tsunami of email you get when using safelists.

Upline & Downline

Before I explain what a list builder is, let me explain the terms "Upline" and "Downline". In network marketing or MLM (multi-level marketing) your upline is the person who recruited, referred or sponsored you into the program. They are kind of a like a "boss" in that they can earn commissions from the work you do. Now your downline are the people who you sponsor, referrer or recruit into the program.

If your upline sponsor has brought in 10 other people (including you) and all of you guys bring in 10 more people and in turn those 10 bring in 10 more, you can see how quickly your downline can grow. Of course the really cool thing is that you can earn commissions from all those hardworking people in your downline!

What is a list builder?

Moving on, a list builder is usually a website or application service that lets you send out hundreds of emails to your downline or to other like-minded people (usually people interested in making money online or in Internet marketing of some kind).

But you can see just how difficult it would be to communicate with all those people. And how sending and receiving all those emails could quickly get out of hand. So a good list builder lets you send downline but you only receive messages from your upline! In a 10 layer system that means while your downline can be in the thousands, you will only get 10 or so messages per day from the folks in the level above you.

What is double opt in?

When someone signs up to join your downline, they have to supply their name and email address at the initial registration form. A double opt in list builder automatically sends out an email to that address. Now that person has to click on a confirmation link and must agree to join for the second time before they can be placed on the list. This is what is meant by "double opt in".

Why is a double opt in list builder so important?

First a double opt in list makes certain that the subscriber really wants to join the list and start receiving email messages. This protects people who are "freebie hunting" and don't really want to be on your list and when some prankster uses someone else's email as a joke.

It also protects you, the list builder since you don't have to be bothered with sending emails out to people who are not truly interested in your products or services. Or to prevent some crank who tries to signup his entire high school graduation class as an act of revenge flood your list with worthless prospects.

So a good double opt in list builder not only helps you grow a strong and responsive email list but it also protects both your and your subscribers from spammers and pranksters.

This article with useful information about the importance of list building to increase your bottom line and ultimately your profits was brought to you by Michael Murphy. Try visiting also his list building site at http://www.downlinebuilderdirect.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_S._Murphy

Importance of an Autoresponder and Opt-In Page

E-mails are a best way to communicate with your visitors and customers. If you have a prospering Internet business, you may receive many e-mails from your customers regarding queries, feedbacks, and upcoming offers.

Replying to all those e-mails becomes a tiring job and consumes many hours. Even if you reply to all those e-mails, later you may suffer from sore fingers due to constant typing. The answer to all these problems is an autoresponder. Using an autoresponder, you can automate your business and save time.

For your Internet business to prosper, you need to have an efficient opt-in page too. It requires a lot of discipline and patience to drive the target customers to your web page. You need to have an impressive opt-in page, so that your visitors on your opt-in page turn into your prospective customers. Your opt-in page needs to be as simple and easy to understand the details of your business.

Benefits of Autoresponder:

You may need it for several reasons. You can use an autoresponder to send e-mails to your customers about your products, services, price lists and to reply the customers, who send in the same questions repeatedly. With the help of an autoresponder, you may present your visitors with special offers. It helps to advertise your Internet business and to build a steady relation with your customers.

Autoresponder also sends many follow up messages to customers. You can adjust the time interval to send these messages to your customers regularly. For instance, you can set a particular time interval for sending new messages on a daily basis. It also allows you to add your signature to all e-mails. Signature on e-mails helps the customer to remember your business identity.

Benefits of Opt-in Page:

An efficient Opt-in page provides the following benefits to your Internet business:

1.An opt-in page firstly needs to have a persuasive or noticeable headline. This headline is the first sentence that a customer sees on an opt-in page. This helps in attracting the visitor to read the further information on the opt-in page.

2.Opt-in page provides all the information and benefits that the visitor receives from your Internet business. Mention your key specialization areas in bulleted or bolded form in your opt-in page for a clear view to visitors.

3.It provides the visitor stepwise guidance for what they have to do next. For instance, an opt-in page guides a visitor where they need to put in their name and e-mail address for further information.

4.Opt-in pages provide the subscription forms for visitors, who are interested in your business.

5.Opt-in page helps in maintaining privacy. It ensures that all the personal information of the visitor are kept confidential and it will not be leaked to any other person.

6.Opt-in pages provide with special bonus features, if visitors are interested in your business. People love to receive gifts and it helps in attracting more visitors.

Thus, autoresponder and the opt-in page are powerful and effective tools for your Internet business. It allows you to contact and to present all the information about your business to potential customers.

Do you want to discover the secrets of making over US$1000++ as an Affiliate Marketer? Download this: Effective Affiliate Income Techniques

Eric Yeo is an affiliate marketer and he has a proven system for affiliate marketers. He cares about his readers who want to learn how to make money online. Click here to find out how you can create your own ebook Money Machine

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Yeo