EZ4NewbiesBlog.png)
Viral Marketing Technique Contagion
Hi, this is Don. Welcome back to the EZ4Newbies Blog. Thanks for coming by again!
Everyone who’s involved in marketing or advertising must master the art of reaching their target consumers in a fast, effective, easy and even cheapest way. There are lots of ways and means on how to touch prospective clients and the television is proven to be the most effective yet expensive way. Nevertheless, with the fast boom of technology, the Internet is now also considered as one of the easiest and comfortable avenue to disseminate product awareness.
The word “free”, perhaps, is the most compelling word in a marketer’s vocabulary and this is basically what Viral Marketing is all about. From the term itself, which is coined from the word “Virus”, viral marketing is a marketing technique which is similar to the spread of an epidemic that can reach others through word of mouth to increase brand consciousness.
Viral Marketing has been popular because it’s been proven to be more efficient than the others. It makes advertising easier, and it can obtain a high and rapid response rate at a relative low-cost. Remember, if one likes a particular service, a person will tell it to his friend then his friend will pass it to her friend, therefore, a word or mouth marketing starts. However, one main weakness of this technique is that messages, which are usually send through e-mails may look like spam mails, thus creating a bad impression on the brand and without knowing it, the said promotional messages will just be sent to the e-mail’s trash bin.
One typical example of viral marketing is the Hotmail.com wherein the tactic goes like this. They give away free e-mail service, then every message they sent has a simple tag at the bottom which says “Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com”. On the other hand, those who receives the e-mail will be able to see the note below the message and it will encourage them to get their own e-mail address with hotmail since it is just for free then the list goes on, the propelling of message to reach a number of recipients hence increasing social networks.
There are several types of viral messages and methods of transmission. One type is the pass-along message which encourages users to pass the message to others. One example of this is chain letters which prompts readers at the end of the message to forward the e-mail to a number of users believing that they’ll get good luck if forwarded and bad luck if done otherwise. Another form would be the infamous anonymous matching on ecrush.com which requires a user to create a list of friends or acquaintances they secretly crush on. A match only happens if the object of their affection responds by logging in and does the same. Most of these services allow users to email anonymous messages notifying them that a concealed person fancies them. Hopeful romantics become hooked up on this marketing as they aim to find out if their crush also feels the same for them.
Also, the process of dissemination can occur in various ways. It may be through word of web where it converts web-based information into an e-mail. One classic example is the article from CNN.com wherein there’s a link that encourages someone to send a particular article to a friend. Another sample would be the word of email, which is considered to be the most common type. It’s just the simple forwarding and exchanging of e-mails such as jokes and the like. But perhaps, the fastest mode of transmission would be through instant messaging such as Yahoo messenger, ICQ, Google and MSN since this is the most popular among young people and a link referred by a friend is more likely safe than by some unknown sender through e-mails.
Sometimes marketing companies even offer rewards or special offers for referring customers, encouraging the use of the aforementioned methods. Freebies and discounts can be music to the ear of everyone especially if acquiring them is just as easy as counting from one to three. This is probably one of the main reasons why marketers prefer this technique among others.
For a viral marketing technique to be successful, an effortless transfer of marketing message to others is important and this works famously on the internet because on the spot transmission is a lot undemanding and less costly. Also, from a marketing point of view, it is essential that the message to be transferred is simple to avoid degradation. In short, the principle of KISS must be followed. Keep it short and simple so that marketing message would not trigger the recipient to aim their mouse pointer to the “report as spam” button.
Keyword Selector Tools and SEO
Keyword selection is one of the primary procedures to have a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy implemented. It is extremely important that the right keywords are selected by businesses for their advertisements in order to maximize an online advertising service and gain profits. An advertising campaign can be deemed worthless is the wrong keywords are selected to represent it.
In a nutshell, SEO are methods that aim to improve the position or rank of a web site in listings produced by search engines. The benefits of getting a higher placement in the listings increases the chances that online visitors will view their pages and avail of the services offered by advertisers. It also gives visitors a feeling of security, because to them, a well-positioned ad equals high credibility.
Sites have different goals when it comes to optimization. Some sites employ broad search optimization strategy, they are in search for all traffic that comes along the way. It can be useful for sites that are generates broad interest, such as a directory or a periodical. Other sites go for utilizing keywords that are highly specific, and radiate the probability of a sale. In most cases, going for specific and carefully chosen traffic can prove advantageous, because it gives sales leads with more quality.
The process of choosing the appropriate keywords for a particular advertiser is not a simple task. An advertiser has to accomplish several things to pull it off successfully. First, the advertiser has to be well acquainted with the machinations of its target market. A thorough research into the keywords used by the competitor should be carried out, and whatever result that it will produce should be analyzed in detail. Keyword selection tools will assist advertisers in determining the keywords that is most suitable for their businesses.
Keywords selection can have many varieties, largely depending on the kind of web site that a client needs. These are the major types, static sites and dynamic states, where the former is more limited in terms of keyword numbers compared to the latter. If an advertiser is creating a brand new site, it is recommended to choose the initial number of keywords that will be needed, and afterwards, the architecture of the site can be prepared using the keyword selection criteria as a basis.
After coming up with the keyword list, the terms should be trimmed down up to the specific and necessary ones. In narrowing down the list, keep these factors in mind: Majority of the search engines do not bother doing word stemming, and that most visitors type keywords in lower case, and it is less difficult to gain a good rank for keyword phrases that are longer.
Here are some of the popular keyword selection tools available for advertisers:
1. Google AdWords Keyword Selection Tool
Google is the most successful search engine in the world, and it takes in more searches in the web than its competitors. This tool usually comes with the awards program of Google, and it shows the keywords that are actually utilized by users. Google AdWords provide users with the most sought-after queries, vast matches, and other keywords that the user may consider for usage.
2. Wordtracker
It is a database that people utilize as queries for searching terms. Aside from giving information on how often a term is utilized for web search, it will also inform users the number of competing sites that utilize the same term. The tool aids in finding combinations of keywords that is in any way related to the content of a web site.
3. Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool
A keyword selection tool that provides the number of searches in a month that proliferated within the Overture network. It provides the variations and phrase stems when a certain keyword is used. It also provides pay-per-click bids and a ROI Time CPM Calculator.
4. Keyword Destiny and Prominence Analysis
A keyword analysis tool which analyzes the words utilized on a web page by applying default settings or custom report options. It also reports on the number of times the word was used, and an analysis of a competitive URL. Other information provided includes word count, prominence values, the location of the significant keywords in the elements of the page, and density percentages.
Advertisers should choose the best tool that works for them. With various options available, it will not be too difficult to do so. Picking the right tool can make wonders for their business ventures.
5 Tips To Make Blogging Easy
Many bloggers find it difficult to blog regularly. On the other hand, other bloggers find it easy to blog everyday.
As you are aware, for your blogging to be effective, you will need to add fresh content to your blog on a regular basis. This article presents five tips that you can use to make blogging easy.
1.Write your blog content in advance and save it so that it?s ready to be posted everyday. When you have time to write, try to write enough blog content that will be enough for several days or for the whole week. You can write and save your blog posts on your blog, and all you have to do is to publish the posts everyday. This means that on those days when you do not have the time to write, you can still post fresh content on your blog using the blog posts you would have saved.
2.Blog about a wide range of things that relate to your niche. Think about any information relating to your niche which your website visitors will be interested in seeing on your blog. Identify the sub-niches in your niche and write about those as well. You should never run out of ideas on what to blog about.
3.Invite your blog visitors to leave some comments relating to your posts and your niche. This is an easy way of getting unique content on your website. The more interaction you allow on your blog, the more content you will have on your blog.
4.Research and look for the key questions and issues that people in your niche are interested in, and provide information that addresses those questions on your blog. Look in the relevant forums for the hot topics that people are asking, and provide answers to these questions on your blog. This will make your blog useful to your visitors because it will have information which your visitors are looking for. This gives you a wide range of topics that you can blog about.
5.Use PLR content, customize it and make it unique and break it into blog posts. It is essential that you make the PLR content very unique otherwise you will be penalized for duplicate content. Using PLR content as a starting point for your blog posts means that you will be able to create blog content easily and quickly.
Use these five tips outlined above to make blogging easy. The more you blog, the more traffic you drive to your website.
[Word Count: 420]
Your Viral e-Book ? Should It Be EXE or PDF?
The main purpose of creating a viral e-book is to pass it on to as much people as possible with only minimal effort on the author?s part. To be able to pass it on to others, it should be in the form that can easily be accessed and opened by other people.
After you have accomplished authoring your viral e-book, the next thing you have to do before it actually gets to the hands of other people is to compile it. There are two ways that you can do it, either to compile it as an exe file or as a pdf file.
EXE, which means executable, is the file extension for files created by e-book compilers. PDF, or portable document format, is the extension of files created with Adobe Acrobat. In the World Wide Web, PDF e-books are considered to be the industry standard.
Advantages of PDF over EXE files
1. If you choose to compile your viral e-book using Adobe Acrobat, you do not have to create an HTML web page for every page of your e-book. A simple MS Word document will do.
2. When you compile using Acrobat, the PDF file automatically numbers each of the pages. EXE compilers do not have that function.
3. PDF files are relatively easy to edit. New pages can be added; you can also delete or replace pages. Page numbers will automatically adjust itself once you modify the pages. EXE files are actually fixed once compiled and cannot be edited. You have to compile a new one to be able to change your e-book.
4. You can print PDF files a lot easier than EXE files.
5. PDF files have a bookmark tab on the left side of the page. Using this feature makes navigating around the file much easier than in an EXE file.
6. When PDF files are compressed, the file sizes are significantly smaller than EXE files because PDF converters compress better.
7. PDF files are not at all susceptible to viruses since they are just simple files, unlike EXE files which are like programs or applications. EXE files are more prone to carrying and transmitting virus and end up being corrupted.
8. Last but not the least, PDF files are universal. As long as the computer has an installed Acrobat Reader, PDF files can be opened and viewed, whether the computer is a PC or a Mac. EXE files are not read on a Mac computer.
Since your main goal is to expand your target market, considering this fact would not harm. According to the Nielsen Netratings, over 8% of the US online population use Mac. It may not be a huge number but can still be significant in the increase of your potential customers.
Advantages of EXE files over PDF files
On the other hand, EXE files also have their own set of advantages over PDF files.
1. e-Book compilers, the software that create the EXE files, are just a fraction of the cost of Adobe Acrobat. Though there are a number of PDF creators recently released that are also cheap, e-book compilers still have the advantage in terms of price.
2. The most important advantage of EXE files over PDF files is its ability to allow rebranding of the e-book. Some of the e-book compilers such as e-Book Generator, e-Book Edit, and e-Book Paper have built-in rebranding function.
If viral e-book is your tool for doing viral marketing, granting rebranding rights is the key to your success. Allowing rebranding of your e-book will guarantee increased promotion and distribution because people can modify the book with their affiliate codes to earn incentives.
If you want increased exposure by having more people able to view and read your e-book, then go with PDF files. Not only that it is readable with a PC or a Mac, it also has relatively small file size compared to EXE files.
But if your main concern is giving out free customization and rebranding rights to your e-book for wider distribution, then you must better go with e-book compilers to produce an EXE file.
Given the different advantages of one type over the other, it is really up to you, the author, to choose which one you think will work best for you. Both types have their own good sets of advantages. It is just a matter of determining your priorities for your e-book and basing your decision from those priorities.
Google AdWords Is Not Google AdSense
It is interesting to note just how common and daily vocabulary has changed with the times. Five years ago, if you asked someone to google up something, he might not understand what you mean even if he was familiar with the search engine of that name.
Today, however, everyone knows what you mean. That can only point to Google?s popularity and how it has come to be identified with looking up information on the Web. One can only imagine what new words Google, and companies like it, will introduce to the vocabulary five years from now and what they could possibly mean.
Even now, there are new terms that are making the rounds in everyday conversation ? words that Google has invented. If you?re at all familiar with advertising on Google, then you?ve probably heard the terms AdWords and AdSense.
Perhaps, though like most people, while you may be familiar with terms you may not know what they are actually referring to. One mistake that?s commonly being made nowadays is to interchange AdWords and AdSense, thinking that these two mean the same thing.
Fundamentally, interchanging them is a mistake because the two words are referring to two different things albeit they are very closely related to each other. This article will help you understand the differences between them, how they work together ? and perhaps more importantly, how it can help you earn a little more money on the side.
AdWords and AdSense are part of Google?s advertising arm that is part of the company?s growing range of services. If you?ve used Google to look up information, then you?ve encountered AdWords. They are the text ads that appear on the results page of your search.
AdWords works by matching a Google user with Google?s paying advertisers. But instead of just showing random ads that the user you may not be interested in (or worse, be irritated at) Google will present ads that have something to do with what the user is currently looking up.
Take Sam, for example, who is looking up information on rock climbing. Sam types in the words ?rock climbing sport? and hits the search button. Google will then present Sam with a list of webpages that contain information about that topic. Along with this listing, there appear text ads from companies offering products and services regarding rock climbing as a sport.
One of these companies is owned by Jim, who runs a rock climbing facility in the town Sam lives in. Jim is able to advertise on Google by signing up his company?s website with AdWords. He tells Google that he?d like his text ads to appear on result pages for the keywords ?sport rock climbing? which is what Sam used to look up information. This is how Sam is able to see Jim?s ad on Google.
However, Jim doesn?t pay Google for just showing his ad. He doesn?t pay anything until someone like Sam clicks on the ad to visit Jim?s website. This is the pay-per-click (PPC) system, which is fundamentally how AdWords works.
Part of this setup is the ability of Google advertisers, like Jim, to set the price of how much the cost per click (CPC) will be on the ads posted on Google results pages. Popular keywords like ?sport rock climbing? may command a higher CPC compared to other less popular keywords, but may be just as effective when it comes to advertising on Google.
AdSense works along side AdWords. While AdWords are text advertisements that appear inside Google?s results pages. AdSense are AdWords that appear outside Google?s website and onto other people?s websites.
Take Jen, for example, who maintains a website for the local rock climbing enthusiasts group. As part of their fundraising program, she enrolled the website on Google AdSense. By signing up for AdSense, Jen?s website will display AdWord advertisements that are related to the content on Jen?s website ? in this case, about rock climbing.
Now, take Sam (still remember him?) who is still looking for information on rock climbing. Jen?s website is part of the listing that appears on Sam?s search inquiry on Google. Sam clicks on the link that leads to Jen?s website.
Sam browses through the website and reads up on climbing trips Jen?s group have organized. Along with that article, an AdWords advertisement is posted. It just so happens, that the ad is for Jim?s climbing facility. Sam, who is now more interested in taking up the sport, decides right then and there to visit Jim?s website.
By clicking on the ad, Sam has caused two things: 1. He caused Jim to pay Google the agreed CPC for placing his ad and 2. Jen?s website earns a part of that CPC by allowing Google to show Jim?s ad via AdSense.
This setup has made it possible for users like Sam to find information efficiently and be presented with AdWords from companies that are relevant to his search. Businesses like Jim?s can advertise effectively without needing to spend so much with AdWords, while website publishers like Jen can earn money by signing up with AdSense.
With AdWords and AdSense, Google has managed to give people the information they need while connecting them to others of similar needs and interests. The fact that it can make fair money out of it can only add to how cool it already is.
