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Chasing The Long Tail In A Recession
Hi, this is Don. Welcome back to the EZ4Newbies Blog. Thanks for coming by again!
Chris Anderson, author of ?The Long Tail,? hypothesizes that even though classic marketing assumes that 80% of sales come from 20% of your customers, chasing ?the long tail? of customers not in that 20% can be a viable online strategy. That’s because online businesses are great at providing choice, something that physical brick-and-mortar stores can’t stock or inventory the same way since they are not virtual enterprises. But, is chasing the long tail still a good strategy in a recession where consumer demand is dropping drastically?
Why The Long Tail Creates Demand
Yes, it is a good idea to think about chasing the long tail. The reasons for that are two-fold: Physical retailers are already reducing inventory and dropping choices and online retailers don’t have to stock or inventory a selection or choice in order to offer it. So, the same reason that makes it unthinkable for physical retailers makes it a great choice for online merchants. After all, demand may be slowing for the best sellers, but the long tail is not about best sellers; it’s about personal preference. When a consumer has a personal preference for a particular product or service, they will look to get that choice fulfilled regardless of the cost, even in a down economy. And, even if a retailer offers this choice in their physical stores, an online business is better suited to drop the price on it because they are not keeping their stock in physical inventory. They are doing ?just-in-time? demand fulfillment.
Look Up Affiliates, Partners, and Order Fulfillment Services
In order to capitalize on this strategy, there is a bit more upfront market research. You want to locate affiliates, partners, and order fulfillment services that can help you market the long tail without necessarily having to create products yourself or ship them. That way, they can remain in other people’s physical inventory until you get an order and are ready to fulfill that order. If you line up a great team of suppliers who you can use to create a vast choice, then you will create demand where there was none because you are offering something in one place that few others are able to do offline. If you make it easy to search online, then you create the ability for the customer to service his/her own needs and to exactly specify their preferences.
Article Marketing: Effective Advertising
What is Article Marketing?
Article marketing is a form of advertisement to your website. This type of marketing is an effective tool to promote your products or companies and increase targeted web traffic of your. Article marketing can help your website become popular and produce more hits in search engines.
Many people choose to advertise by this method simply because it is free. There are numbers of website that offers free article publishing. All you have to do is write an article about the product you are selling or advertising and post it to these kinds of websites. Do not forget to include the URL link of your website after each article.
When you post an article, you are posting an advertisement for access twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It is free of charge.
Just one article can go a long way. The reason other website publishers might look at your article and may republish it to another website. From there, your article can be published and republished to numerous websites still promoting your own website and the product you are advertising or selling.
To write an effective article, one that will glue your readers until they end up in your website URL, is to make it informative, and fun and easy to read.
Here are some basic tips to have effective article marketing:
1. Your articles should be informative. The main reason people reads article is for the information. Try to add as much information about the product you are selling.
2. Although your article should be informative, it should also be short and simple. Be precise about what point you are driving at and as much as possible keep the terms simple and easy to understand.
Technical terms can be difficult to understand for some people and may lose interest in finishing reading your article.
3. Give the readers a reason why to read your article. You headline or title should be attractive enough to draw in readers to start reading your article in the first place. Moreover, your first three sentences should be attention grabbing.
4. Aside from posting your articles in article publishing websites, post one too in your own website. This creates targeted traffic when users type in your article keywords.
5. Article marketing is effective if you do not include sales pitch in them. Sales pitch can discourage readers. Many potential customers tend to think you are just selling a product you do not even know about.
It can make you look like you are just in it for the money and customers do not like that. Show your knowledge about the product you are promoting first. Remember that your sales pitch can be displayed in your website.
6. Digest your articles and post them to discussion boards related to your product. Put some lines like ?to read more about this visit www.mywebsite.com. Keep in mind that readers can get interested and will most likely click on the website link.
7. Put your best article in an e-book and distribute them by email or by download links. This is a great way to circulate your article to people.
8. Write more than one articles. Keep in mind that the more articles you write, the more people can choose between what they want to read. Put in different titles to attract different kinds of people.
9. Always update your articles to continue promoting your products effectively. Some article publishing websites displays articles by the date. The more updated your article is, the more it has a chance to get to the first page result of a search.
10. Test your articles by first letting your friends or family read it. Get their opinions about your article and make some improvements if you need to. Look at their expressions while reading your article. Do they look interested? Do they look bored? Ask yourself this kind of questions.
11. Make use of bullets and numbers; Lots of it. Bullets and numbers tend to make articles easier to read and make sure that for every bullet leave at least one space after the other. Readers like to see a lot of white space.
Article marketing is easy and a convenient way to advertise your products. It is free and very effective. To make it a success, always remember to keep it informative, easy to read, and keep it simple. In short, make it reader-friendly.
Is There Such a Thing as Optimal Web Design?
When talking about design across-the-board, it?s harder to define what is the best based on a singular standard, as compared to deciding which is more aesthetically pleasing than the other. After all, like most human creations, there may be no exact definition or standard to define or embody perfect design at any cost, especially given the subjective perspective by which each individual may look upon any object.
However, there is such a thing coined by many as optimal web design. Optimal, by virtue of its definition alone, already means the most favorable or desired form of any particular subject. This then translates to what is optimal web design?which is web design that best suits the tastes of the greater majority, while at the same time working within the feasibility constraints of any undertaking.
What then makes web design optimal? Web design is optimal when it seeks to provide maximum utility to users while providing business or operational viability. In this way, the designer is able to best provide for the demand of both the end consumers as well as the people who plan and conceptualize for the purpose of deriving profit.
Putting the end users in mind is another means in order to emphasize what?s in every web designer?s mind?friendlier usability for each and every user. This means taking into consideration the fact that people visit websites in order to find particular content; therefore, it is imperative that the content must always take the precedence over any other accents and extraneous designs or artwork.
The more effective web designers are not afraid to make use of white backgrounds, or generally very clean lines in their website. By limiting the use of unrelated pictures that may even cause loading the page to take longer, and adding in very integral elements like the title and an outline of the contents of the page, it brings attention back to the content over anything else.
Pictures, unless completely necessary, should be used sparingly. When it would take longer than usual to load due to the size or the volume of pictures, it is recommended to forewarn users so that they may opt out of viewing pictures and instead proceed to seeking content they need. Moreover, advertisements and their placements, when possible, must be planned so that while they will serve their purpose, they will also in no way cause distraction or distaste to the visitors of the website.
Moreover, navigation is made consistent and simple in order to make accessing content as simple and as easy as possible. After all, who?s to say if everyone who surfs the Internet have the same capacities to grasp and decipher navigational tactics and the like.
Integrate into the design a means through which each and every visitor may have access to basic information about the website and its proponents (usually in the ?About? page), as well as a means of access to the privacy statement of the company. After all, the latter has played a big role in building?or inversely destroying?many relationships on the Internet.
An additional means in order to have an optimal web design is by using rudimentary conventions in web design?like making clear buttons, describing links accurately, and displaying links in the conventional blue. In this manner, the website will accommodate even the older users without the same sort of grounding with the use of the computer, and will make sure that users have the least amount of trouble in just trying to access a design.
However, there are also particular selling points that will assure marketability and will reflect business viability to its necessary degree. First and foremost, aesthetic design and code design are very much limited by the resources made available by the company. It is also important that the website has the capacity to meld in with the strategies undertaken by the company.
The first consideration in the optimal business viability of a website are the limitations experienced and set in order to create it. This includes the limitations on space, the domain address, as well as the terms and conditions that a company would have to sign in order to enlist services.
Moreover, optimal web design when it comes to business applications when the website is able to integrate itself to all the collective efforts, like marketing strategies and the like, of any company hoping to gain an edge through the Internet. This means that in the end, while aesthetics play an important role, creating an optimal web design is still one that best accommodates without alienation its users, sponsors, and web design planners.
Different Elements of Your Viral e-Book
Once you have all the resources and information to put in your e-book, it is now time to think how your e-book should look like. As much as possible, you would want to keep your e-book at a professional level. This would earn your e-book more credibility which can mean increase in returns.
The first thing that you have to think about is how your e-book cover should look like. Although you are just making an online document, meaning no papers and printing necessary, electronic books still need a good cover to attract more readers.
Having an inclination to arts and graphic design will surely help in doing the layout of your e-book cover. If you are the type of person who is not really into designing, you can always hire someone to do it for you. You can just give him the details as to how you want the cover to look like and let him use his imagination to create a perfect e-book cover.
The color, main and secondary fonts should be considered in making an eye-catching cover. Here are some general tips to follow when creating the cover of your e-book:
- Use color combinations among these colors: red, blue, black and white.
- If you think of using yellow, you may use it sparingly with black because it has the strongest contrast.
- A strong font is best to use for the main title of the book ? it may be Arial Black for short titles and Impact for longer ones.
- Limit the number of fonts used in the cover to three. Having a lot of different fonts will make it look like a mess.
- The cover should contain the following:
a. main title
b. a good subtitle or teaser phrase
c. author?s name
d. URL where the e-book can be found
It is best to keep the cover as simple as possible. A small image and a short title will do just fine. Putting a lot of information in the cover may make it unreadable and unpleasant to the eyes.
Now that you have a good cover for your viral e-book, let us talk about what should be inside it. First of all, your e-book should show first basic information about the book itself such as its copyright information and author?s name with a short biography.
Then, to serve as a guide to the contents of your e-book, you should have a table of contents. This should, more or less, outline the different parts of the book so when a reader wants to go back to a certain portion of the book, he can just jump to the page indicated in the table of contents.
No matter what your purpose is in creating your viral e-book, try to keep it short but contains enough information as much as possible. You would not want to bore your readers reading hundreds of pages on your e-book. This is more applicable when you are creating a viral e-book that serves as a preview of the full-version. This e-book should only contain enough relevant information to gain the reader?s curiosity and make them purchase the full-version.
The layout of the pages on your e-book should be the same all throughout. The pages should be also made as simple as possible yet with a touch of professionalism.
Other than the actual contents and links that you will put on your e-book, you should also add a page that discusses in detail the instructions on how an affiliate can customize the links on your e-book. You would not want to be bothered by a phone call in the middle of the night just to be asked how to rebrand your e-book.
Clear and full instructions on rebranding and customization should be included in the contents of your e-book. This way, the readers can just sign up as your affiliate, then once they have their own affiliate identification or code, they can do their own customization with the instructions you have placed in your e-book.
When you are creating a viral e-book, simplicity is the key. Having a simple yet interesting and informative e-book will increase its chance of being spread to more and more people over the internet. Adding the good rewards and incentives that an affiliate can get in distributing your e-book will definitely give you huge returns in no time.
Modern Opt-in List Building Technique Through Email Marketing
An opt-in list can be defined as a list or database that contains email addresses of people who consented to receive the advertiser’s email messages. The messages come in various forms, such as product and web site updates, or ezines. Opt-in lists are regarded as the most powerful marketing tool available on the world wide web, because opt-in lists can provide marketers with direct means of communication with potential customers, and gives a chance to promote products and services, plus building a continuing relationship with them.
Marketing through email has become the primary means of many advertisers to reach out to its customers. They are immensely attracted by the fact that email marketing allows them to communicate with their customers directly, with very minimal cost, compared to direct mail marketing.
Of course, it goes without saying that the key to a successful opt-in marketing is to acquire a large subscriber base. In setting up the list, one must first acquire a functional form processing script, which will be used to allow subscribers to disclose their personal information through a form and which will be sent to a specified address. In choosing the form, one must be certain that it allows the use of email templates. The templates will be necessary since it can allow email messages to contain any information that marketers would like to share when sent to potential customers. Then a pop email account should be created in the server for the lists. Afterwards, a database where subscriber information will be stored should be established. After installing plug-ins and group mail, the mailing list can now be created.
There are a lot of techniques available for making opt-in lists, and marketers should carefully select what works best for them. The thing is, a marketer should provide a reason why people should subsribe to them. There are lots of subscriptions available in the Internet, and people should be convinced that this particular subscription is worth the bother.
1. Offer incentives
Not surprisingly, one of the most effective techniques for getting the attention of users. Incentives must be something that can be valuable to them, and should be suitable for the target market. It could be an ebook or software download, or a discount on a product that is showcased.
2.Use popup windows
Popup windows can produce desirable results if used correctly. They should, by no means, irritate prospective customers. The key to utilizing them effectively is to join them with incentives. The popup should contain information about the product or service, and the provided incentive.
3. Submit articles
Marketers can create their own articles and have them published. Topics features should be those that the marketer is well acquainted with, and should be related to the product or service. These articles can be then published in ezines that are also in line with the offerings of the marketer, and make certain that the publication contains information on how to join the opt-in list.
4. Use alert boxes
This a more effective method than popup boxes. Alert boxes are shown through script, and will gather the name and email address of visitors. If they opted to subscribe, they click the box, and they will be added to the database. To maximize the chances, subcription boxes can be placed at every page of a web site.
5. Offer easy options for getting out of the subscription
It is necessary that options are available for subscribers if they want to discontinue the subscription. The best process to go about it is to automate the procedure right from the very start of the subscription. Members of the list can unsubscribe themselves easily with no hassle for the marketer.
6. Determine the appropriate frequency of mailing the messages
This will be largely dependent on the kind of newsletter that is being distributed. There are certain kinds of messages that recipients would like to get on a daily basis, such as jokes. Messages should be short and concise to make it easier for the subscribers to read. They don’t like to receive content that is bland and tedious, and will likely delete them without fully reading them.
7. Use text email instead of html
There are a lot of people who cannot read email done in html. Worse, some people cannot reply to html messages. Marketers must make sure that their emails are in proper format, something that is readable to recipients.
8. Guestbooks
The process is simple: personal invitations to join the lists will be given to people who register in guestbooks provided by sites. Add incentives to the invitation to entice them further.
The worth of a well-developed opt-in list will be never be emphasised enough. Marketers must never refuse an oportunity to encourage business contacts to sign up for the mailing lists. Web site visitors can be increased dramatically by employing the steps described above, and will surely bring results that will satisfy any discriminating marketer.
