Ten Awesome Ways To Incease Your Sales In Holidays

Ten Awesome Ways To Incease Your Sales In Holidays

by: Radhika Venkata

Everybody thinks that the businesses will slow down a bit in holiday seasons. Ofcourse everybody thinks that people don’t want to start new ventures in holidays too.

But that is not true. People do spend money… a lot in holidays. On gift items, special discount goods, coupons etc.

The only thing is to know how to do business in the holiday season using this attitude.

Here are 10 tips to maintain or maximize your sales in Holidays:

1. Put a paragraph on your webpage that related to the particular holiday. Like chrismas greetings for Chrismas, Happy mothers day greetings for Motherกs day etc.

Then put a picture of your product under it with a discount price for that particular day.

Advertise about this discount product on your home page from a month before the actual selling day.

2. Send discount coupons to your old customers and subscribers and tell them the offer lasts for one or two days.

3. If you use pay per click engines, change your ads a little bit to give the essence of holiday season.

If your ad is like

กGarden tools for gardenersก

Change this to

กGarden tools for Gardeners.Price reduced to half for the first fifty people. Limited for Thanks giving.ก

OK…OK…You get the idea. Right?

4. Install some greeting card cgi scripts on your site. Use them at holiday seasons. So with every greeting card your website link goes to other people. This is very cheap and affordable advertising.

5. Tell your affiliates that they will receive more commission on their sales through their affiliate links in this holiday season.

6. Always submit two or three pages of your website to search engines with holiday discount prices. So if anybody search in the search engines about discount products, your pages will show up.

7. Offer free shipping and handling to your customers.

8. Put a special pop up window that closes with in a particular time. So you can encourage your visitors to buy the product at discount price or with special bonuses through the link in that pop up.

9. Use your Autoresponder to offer special courses or tutorials for holiday seasons. Send the links to your discount products, samples of your product as a special holiday delivery. Encourage them to buy with a holiday discount.

10. Holidays means parties, get togethers and massive sales. You can do offline advertising about your product and website by keeping banners or free brochures at the reception tables, sales centers etc.

About The Author

Radhika Venkata Subscribe to กEbookBiz Magazineก which is completely focused on ebook business and Internet Marketing. Receive FREE Ebooks with Resale rights every month!

http://www.ebooksworld.com/freetosell.shtml

Webmaster Resources: List Your product, ezine or web site free! http://www.webmasterscentral.com/

This article was posted on November 14, 2003

by Radhika Venkata

Convert Your Newsletters into Immediate Cash

Convert Your Newsletters into Immediate Cash

by: Roger C. Parker

Use your newsletters to keep in touch, educate your market, and trigger instant sales.
OnePage Newsletters can do more than help you keep in constant touch with clients and prospects and educate them to desire your products and services. Each issue can also generate immediate sales!
Simply combine the educational content of your newsletter with a monthly promotion described in the covering email or on the page of your website where readers can download each issue.
Once you have engaged your reader’s interest, offer them an engaging next step that accelerates their interest and encourages them to buy right now.
Here are some triedandproven ways:

Teleconferences. One of the easiest, least expensive, and most powerful ways for you to monetize—or convert your newsletter into profits—is to invite readers to a free teleconference where you provide additional information and invite them to discuss the topic and ask questions. Costs are negligible. Use email autoresponders to deliver the phone number and a special PIN (personal identification number) plus lastminute reminders.
Special report. Offer an indepth treatment of the topic covered in your newsletter. You can either sell it or offer it for free, upon email request. You can also deliver additional information on unlinked web site pages or via email.
Promotions. When appropriate, offer special pricing or terms on products or services associated with the topic of your newsletter.
Event marketing. Offer free demonstrations or seminars in your store, an office, or a hotel meeting room. Or, offer a free 30minute introductory meeting or telephone consultation.

Here’s how to maximize response:

Encourage email registration. This creates a list of prospects interested in particular topics for later followup.
Focus. Separate the educational content of your newsletter from the promotional message in the email announcing each new issue or on the page of your website where your newsletter can be read or downloaded. Never put timesensitive information in your newsletter!
Separate the why’sข from ขhow’s.ข Emphasize problems, solutions, and benefits in your newsletter. Limit the details of your solution to your followup information and events. Keep your newsletters short.
Add urgency. Schedule your call to action event immediately after you distribute your newsletter. Encourage early registration by emphasizing limited teleconference capacity, limited quantities, or place a time limit on promotions.
Vary your call to action. Don’t follow the same call to action each month. Vary teleconferences, special reports, promotions and free consultations.
Followup. Thank those who attend events or requested more information.
Track your results. Note which topics and calls to action result in the most sales. Repeat your winners.

Success requires planning. Start by creating a 12month Editorial Calendar describing the topics you are going to discuss in each of the upcoming issues of your newsletter.
Then, choose the type of call to action, or promotion, most appropriate for each month’s topic. As you review each issue in your editorial calendar, ask yourself: ขWhat’s the best way to leverage my market’s interest in this topic?ข
It takes time to put together a successful promotion or prepare special reports and teleconferences. But, if your call to action projects a lastminute or amateurish image, you’ll be wasting the momentum your newsletter has generated.

Ongoing process, not isolated event. Success requires an ongoing series of newsletters and related promotions. Use your 12month editorial calendar to schedule your efforts on several newsletter issues and promotions each month.
Encourage passalongs. Invite recipients to share your emails and newsletters.
Be specific. Describe the specific action you want the recipient of your message to take. Summarize important details.

About The Author

Roger C. Parker is the $32,000,000 author with over 1.6 million copies in print. Do you make these marketing and design mistakes? Find out at www.gmarketingdesign.com

This article was posted on June 25, 2004

by Roger C. Parker

Product Review: Affiliate Mistakes Special Report

Product Review: Affiliate Mistakes Special Report

by: David Cooper

In his ebook กAffiliate Mistakes Special Report,ก Chuck McCullough teaches you how to spot and avoid or correct ten simple, yet costly errors that can seriously damage your efforts to promote affiliate programs successfully. Instead of writing about the broad based generalities of affiliate marketing, Chuck takes you by the hand and teaches you why most affiliates never make a dime in commission. Then using a detailed and systematic approach, he provides you with an effective, easy to implement solution to correct these mistakes.

The ebook prints out to about 151 pages and although some of the information may seem pretty basic to some advanced affiliate marketers, it does cover in detail how to avoid the mistakes that 95% of all affiliate marketers are making. Most of this ebook delivers rock solid information that both beginning and intermediate affiliate marketers can put to use.

Chuck McCullough is the owner of AffiliateMatch.com one of the most visited affiliate program directories on the internet today. Chuck also owns FindSticky.com and publishes the Affiliate Informer Newsletter. Chucksก experience in affiliate marketing along with his unique perspective and boundless enthusiasm, make him very qualified to write a report on affiliate program marketing.

In กAffiliate Mistakes Special Report,ก Chuck doesn’t just tell you what the most common affiliate mistakes are, he provides you with a very clear and concise solution to each of the mistakes. Chuck has divided up each of the mistakes into a chapter of its own.

Chapter 1 on why you should actually own the products you promote, and Chapter 2 about trying to promote too many programs at once were two dynamite chapters. They were 100% right on the mark. McCullough must not believe in appetizers, because he gives you the meat and potatoes right off the bat in this report!

Chapter 5 which provides a glimpse into Chuckกs กunconventional wisdomก which proved to me that Chuck was holding nothing back in this report. There is also an additonal chapter on Advanced Topics and two other bonus chapters. One of the bonus chapters provides you with a nifty กsecretก. I will be adding this กsecretก to my site.

Though Chuckกs expertise in affiliate marketing is clearly evident throughout the book, I thought a section in chapter 7 about calculating the worth of a visitor when you are purchasing traffic from payperclick search engines was a bit confusing. However, after my 13 year old son explained it to me, it became crystal clear. So, maybe this initial confusion on my part should be attributed more to my mathematical dysfunction and less to Chuckกs formula.

In his sales copy, McCullough asserts that anyone can learn the exact methods necessary to have a profitable online business. Now, I am the worldกs leading skeptic when a person says กanyoneก. However, after reading this report, I can see how he can actually back up this claim.

Chuck takes the high road in his report and tells you right up front that making money on the internet is hard work. He deserves high marks for his honesty. Making Money on the internet is certainly not as easy as some of the กgurusก would have you believe. What makes this report different in my opinion is that McCulloughกs approach is not only about affiliate marketing itกs also about business building.

If you are interested in promoting affiliate programs and building your online business the correct way, then I give กAffiliate Mistakes Special Reportก my highest recommendation and a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.

For more information on Chuck McCulloughกs ebook, กAffiliate Mistakes Special Report,ก please visit http://www.affiliatemistakes.com/c.pl/coopsd

Hopefully Chuck will produce another ebook that will teach us another important aspect of internet marketing in the same wellwritten manner.

About The Author

David Cooper is the owner of http://www.1sourcewebmarketing.com and the publisher of the 1SourceWebMarketing Newsletter. Subscribe to his FREE Newsletter at http://www.1sourcewebmarketing.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 17, 2004

by David Cooper

17 Tips for Bringing Your Event to Life

17 Tips for Bringing Your Event to Life

by: Susan Friedmann

Your job as an event planner doesn’t stop with the meeting in the company boardroom. You may be called upon to organize an employee appreciate event, an awards dinner, a product launch, the celebration of a company milestone, a gala recognizing a longtime employeeกs retirement, an incentive event for companyกs sales force, a fundraising event, a holiday celebration…the list goes on and on.
One key to a successful special event is to seek out entertainment or decorations that are unique and fun to spark conversation among guests. As you begin envisioning your event, picture the mood you want the environment to create. For example, determine whether you want to create a jubilant, celebratory atmosphere or one that is more serious. The ambiance you aim for depends a great deal upon the type of event you’re having. If itกs a product launch where you want to create an aura of enthusiasm and excitement, youกll likely lean toward an exhilarating atmosphere. If you’re organizing an event for your employees and their spouses, perhaps you want the mood to be somewhat romantic.
Whatever you decide, the following seventeen tips will help you shape and enhance the atmosphere with the entertainment, decorations, and food you choose.
1. Think outside the box when planning the atmosphere at your event. Novelty is the key to your success. Give your guests something to tell their friends about!
2. Create a fun, interesting, and exciting ambiance using special stage settings, lighting, special scenery, music, ice carvings, flowers, centerpieces, candles, balloons, colored linens, printed menus, a photographer and gift items. Budget determines much of your wish list turns into reality.
3. Consider all sorts of amusements – strolling musicians, chefsก demonstrations, palm readers…anything out of the ordinary.
4. Keep in mind that your entertainment doesn’t have to come in the form of people. An elaborate coffee bar or startlingly beautiful champagne fountain will have your guests raving.
5. Vary your decorations depending on the type of event you’re throwing and the venue you choose. Find out whether the facility has house decorations that itกs willing to provide at no additional charge.
6. Check all decorating plans with the venue in advance since many have restrictions on what they allow you to do in their establishment.
7. Create a theme especially for a large event to help make it more memorable. In addition, it helps make it easier to organize programming, food, décor, and other accessories. Carry out your theme before, during and after the event for true ambiance and memorability.
8. Cut down on decorating costs by choosing a themed venue and then building your event around the décor rather than molding a venue to the theme youกve chosen. For example, find an elaborately decorated ethnic restaurant, and then provide the musicians and entertainers from the appropriate area of the world.
9. Select a theme that fits your group and complements the tone and content of your event. But don’t have a theme unless you’re prepared to follow through with it.
10. Ask for theme ideas. If you’re at a loss, consider having a competition soliciting ideas from your target audience. Your best ideas often come from others. But, remember to offer a fun incentive.
11. Consider choosing a theme from the most popular categories, namely: Fashion (e.g. The Roaring Twenties), History (e.g. A Renaissance Fair), Politics (e.g. 4 th of July Celebrations), Popular culture (e.g. An Evening with Dr. Seuss) or The arts (e.g. A Night at the Oscars). Avoid the brainwork and check out http://www.party411.com/themes.html for the easy way out.
12. Choose appropriate entertainment for your group. Participants look forward to the entertainment segment of a program. They want to have fun, enjoy themselves, and let their hair down, particularly after stressful and demanding sessions. Options include: Music (e.g. live, disc jockey or even karaoke), Spectacle (e.g. magician, juggler, comedian or mine), Theater (e.g. dinner theatre, murdermystery experience or corporate theater), Games (e.g. treasure hunt, or a game show), Video or slide show.
13. Make certain to view a demo video before hiring talent. Watch for the entertainersก performance quality and the audience reaction. Check out their references and ask specific questions such as: Would they hire them again? How flexible, reliable and easy to work with are they? Make sure that their act is a good fit for your audience.
14. Find out whether the entertainers need extra staging, lighting, or décor to create the right ambiance. Special requirements add to your bottom line – watch out, this could get expensive. Be sure that the venue approves any special requests. For musical entertainment discuss various options, such as lowvolume background music, light entertainment during the meal, and lively dance music. Discuss how the entertainers involve the audience in their act. People enjoy both passive and active involvement.
15. Sitdown affairs work best when you include some form of entertainment. However, if you want something a bit different, look at alternative areas in the hotel, such as an indoor patio or pool area. Naturally, a plan revolving around an outdoor pool is contingent on the weather. Itกs best to have a backup plan just in case the heavens decide to open. Buffets and barbecues also work well, but watch the price tag. These kinds of food functions often require extra labor, which automatically means additional dollars.
16. Don’t serve anything messy for any event where food is served while guests are standing and mingling. Limit your cuisine to bitesize morsels that guests can easily eat with their fingers or a fork. Save money by opting for a few choice hors dกoeuvres in larger quantities rather than a large selection in smaller quantities. But remember to include some interesting vegetarian selections in your menu for guests who don’t eat meat.
17. Make sure you have enough bartenders and liquor when serving alcohol at your event. You don’t want to run out of beverages in the middle of the party or have long lines of grumbling, thirsty guests. Consider whether you want to limit your guests to certain selections, eliminating expensive liquors and specialty drinks.

About The Author

Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: ขMeeting & Event Planning for Dummies,ข working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. Go to http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com to sign up for a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week.

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 26, 2004

by Susan Friedmann

Converting Browsers into Buyers

Converting Browsers into Buyers

by: Julie Martin

One of the hardest things in ebusiness is building a customer base and keeping it. The very nature of the internet can lead many consumers to inherent mistrust of all online merchants, especially if they are smaller companies. How can you ensure that the people coming to your site will actually press the ขBuyข button?

First, you will need to make sure that you have a user friendly website with a professional appearance. Place your contact information in a highly visible location on your website and don’t be afraid to post a phone number for voice communication. Many people still prefer talking to a real live human being rather than receiving information by email.

Next comes the dreaded price point. In some cases, all that stands in the way of making a sale is a few cents. It may seem silly to you, but your customers want to save every penny and most will continue on to a different store if they can get the same product at a lower price. Even if it means less revenue at first, you can ensure future sales and more business by setting a lower price point.

Now that the simple things are out of the way, here are some techniques to ensure your success:

Putting a time limit on a special price, or a special offer can be the nudge that your customers need to get them to push that button. Be firm on your timeframe and don’t forget to make the change to your site once the sale has ended. Don’t fall into the trap of offering so many sales that customers just wait for the next one to roll around. You can either run a sale periodically or set a special price that stays the same and offer a special gift for a limited time to cut down on this common problem.

Bundle your product with several free offers or gifts. By offering your customer a package deal with your product you can sweeten the pot so to speak to make the sale. Many sites offer free magazine subscriptions, free trials for services and other products. You can normally sign up as an affiliate with many of these companies and they will actually pay you to bundle your product with their offer. You can actually make more money using this method than selling your product by itself.

Affiliate yourself with a wellknown company. If you are having trouble making the sales yourself, you may need to look into an affiliation with another company. For example, if you offer discount books for vacations, contact travel agency websites, and local hotels. Many companies will accept a mutual link program where they will place your company name on their site in exchange for a mention on your site. You can gain credibility this way and reach a whole new market.

Build customer relationships. Get out there and chat with your customers, reach out to them and they will begin to feel more comfortable with you. It is a lot easier for someone to trust a company with a real person that they know and feel they can trust. If your website projects a faceless exterior and your customer service is lacking, you just can’t get ahead in ebusiness.

Use graphic product descriptions. When you describe your product, don’t just let the text speak for itself. You have got to have pictures and graphic descriptions when you are selling a product a customer can’t touch or feel. It can be very hard for a consumer to picture something in their home if they don’t have enough information to go on. This is the one downfall of ebusiness versus the traditional mall or corner store. You can overcome this if you practice describing your products to friends and family until you get it down to an art.

By using a combination of these techniques you should be able to begin to make more sales and increase consumer confidence in your business.

About The Author

Julie Martin is the publisher of ขThe Iscaweb eZineข a weekly eZine dedicated to increasing your online profits, no matter what you are selling. Julie also uses the ขPlugInProfitข system to GREAT effect!

To subscribe to the eZine, or to learn more about the PlugInProfit system visit: http://www.iscaweb.com

This article was posted on August 16

by Julie Martin

7 Tips To Increase Sales With Your Ecommerce Web S

7 Tips To Increase Sales With Your Ecommerce Web Site

by: Jordan Williams

Ecommerce is just exploding right now on the Net. More and more people are doing their shopping online. Some Internet retailers are even beating out their offline counterparts. So what does this mean to you? It’s important that you are taking full advantage of your web site to get your share of the billions of dollars spent online every year. In this article we are going to cover 7 tips that you can put into practice immediately to increase your sales and revenue with your ecommerce web site.

1: Introduction

Make sure to have a brief introduction on the homepage of your web site. Your introduction should be concise and clearly identify the benefits of your visitors shopping at your site.

2: Navigation

Make sure that your site has clear and easy navigation, such as a visible search box on the top part of your web site, clear categories to browse through, a FAQ page that clearly explains your shipping and return policy, and etc.

3: Gift Certificates

People love getting gifts at certain times of the year, so make sure that you have gift certificates that your visitors can purchase right on your web site.

4: Customer Loyalty

Instead of just focusing on getting new customers why not take advantage of repeat business? Why not give your customers an incentive to come back and do business with you again? You can easily do this by offering coupons and special discounts to ones who have already purchased something from you. This is a lot easier than acquiring new customers since they already know you and feel comfortable shopping at your site. You can also add more value to your customers by adding live customer support to your site.

5: Special Offers

Make sure to have a section on the top part of your home page devoted to featuring your current special offers and sales items. In fact if you happen to have a lot of special offers you can just feature the most popular ones and then make a separate web page that shows all of your sales items.

6: Shopping Carts

People want the checkout process to go as quickly and smoothly as possible, so make sure that your visitors are always just one click away to checkout. Try to reduce the checkout process to as few steps as possible. Make sure to offer multiple payment options such as credit cards, Paypal, online checks, mail orders, and such. When you no longer have a product in stock make sure to either remove it from your site or clearly mark it as ขout of stockข. There is nothing more irritating for a customer to go through the whole checkout process only to find out that you no longer carry the item they ordered.

7: Affiliate Program

Do you have your own affiliate program? The most successful web sites have one and you should too. By starting your own affiliate program you will develop an increasing online sales force where you only pay them when a sale is made. There is really no risk and it is one of the best low cost effective advertising methods that you can use.

If you put these tips into practice you will notice a drastic increase in your sales and web site revenue.

About The Author

Jordan Williams is the Owner of WebCashLink.com which gives you the resources, tools, and software to succeed with an online business.

http://www.webcashlink.com

This article was posted on March 10

by Jordan Williams

Don’t Forget B.O.B.!

Don’t Forget B.O.B.!

by: Kathryn Thomas

So you’ve got everything in place, busily working away for you. You’ve got your banners out, you’ve exchanged links, you’ve optimized your site for the search engines, you’ve got ad and P.P.C. campaigns bringing site visitors, your sales copy is converting them to customers or getting them on your list. But did you forget B.O.B.?

B.O.B. the Best Of Both worlds. Man does not live on the Internet alone, you know. Those same people who become your customers online actually live and breathe in the outside world. Let B.O.B. help you integrate the outside world to the Web world, and increase your bottom line.

There are many ways to bring in additional streams of income using B.O.B.

One of the best ways, of course, is by referrals. Just as you use testimonials on your site, also get your customers to refer you to others on the outside. REMIND them (frequently) to tell their family, friends, and business buddies about your site. Getting a short and memorable Domain Name definitely helps in this regard.

Providing a special incentive, such as a discount or gift to both your customer and her referral makes both of them feel that you are giving them a special deal. People like to feel special, and they like special deals that others can’t get. This adds to customer satisfaction, which will, in turn, get you more referrals.

Thus, one more stream of happy buyers!

Another technique is using business cards as ads to increase your online sales. A properly designed business card for this purpose would be geared toward getting the cardholder to visit your site. Don’t just put your name and website on the card! Give them a reason to go there. Give them an incentive, or make them curious enough to want to check it out. Also, don’t try to sell your product on your card just create enough interest to get them to your site, where your sales copy will either get the sale, or get them on your golden list!

Whatever you do, don’t mislead the prospect just to get them to your site! That will only serve to use up your bandwidth, and irritate what could have been your newest customer.

Be sure to give your card out everywhere you go the gas station, the grocery store, the restaurant, the mall, the symphony, the museum everywhere.

Leave a trail of cards behind you one more easy technique to add to your bottom line!

There are many more ways to increase your online sales by coordinating the outside world with your Internet marketing techniques. Be creative in your integration, and you will find your site getting more and more visitors.

So don’t forget to use B.O.B. (Best Of Both worlds) in every marketing campaign to build your business to the max!

About The Author

Kathryn Thomas, born, raised, and living in Texas, believes in doing things in a BIG way. Be sure to visit her at http://www.HeresTheMoney.com to see the $100,000/mo. income plan. Yes, thatกs per MONTH!

[email protected]

This article was posted on October 05, 2003

by Kathryn Thomas

10 Super Offers That Build Up Sales

10 Super Offers That Build Up Sales

by: Ken Hill

The following special offers, deals and bonuses will help you to successfully increase your sales:

1. Offer a coupon.

You could have people follow a special link or enter a special code to redeem your coupon.

2. Offer free shipping.

You could offer a limited time free shipping deal, or you could offer free shipping on orders over a specified amount.

3. Offer a buy one get one free deal or a buy two and get one free deal.

You could use this kind of offer to get more people to purchase products from you or buy advertising from you.

4. Offer a special lower price if your visitor buys two of your products together.

5. Offer a free consultation as a bonus.

Depending on your product, you could offer to consult your customer on her ad copy, marketing plan, ezine, or web site.

6. Offer a transcript of one of your web casts as a bonus.

Increase the value your visitors place on your transcript by telling them how much it would be worth if you were to charge for it.

7. Offer an ebook as a bonus.

Offer an ebook that is either available exclusively through you or that is hard to find as a bonus.

8. Offer a free trial.

You could offer a free 30 day trial of your web hosting, blog hosting, or affiliate program software.

9. Offer a free sample.

You could mail your visitors a sample of your nutritional or cosmetic product.

You could also send them a free dvd in your series of dvd tutorials, or a sample of your candies, spices, teas or coffees.

10. Offer free software.

Create a powerful incentive by offering software that complements your product as a bonus.

For example, if you sell a manual on ebook publishing, you could offer a free ebook compiler as a bonus.

About The Author

Article by Ken Hill. Want more valuable tips? Visit Kenกs article directory at: http://www.netpromarketer.com or visit Ken at http://www.netpromarketer.com/blog.html for effective marketing and ezine publishing tips.

This article was posted on January 08

by Ken Hill

Top Five Questions to Ask Your Web Hosting Company

Top Five Questions to Ask Your Web Hosting Company

by: Derek Vaughan

Each day many new and existing webmasters either launch a new web site for the first time, or transfer their web site to a new web hosting provider. In preparation for this important process, there are five important questions that should be asked prior to signing on with a new web hosting company.

1. Do you have a trial period or moneyback guarantee?

Okay, so thatกs technically two questions. The point is, no matter how much homework you do, or how much research stands behind your decision itกs still possible to make a mistake. Also the company could change policies or services, or management prices can go up, call wait times for support can spike, and things can just generally go bad. With the assurance of a trial period or moneyback guarantee, you won’t end up paying over and over again for that bad decision.

2. How does your customer service and technical support system work?

I don’t care how smart you are, how much programming you know, or how many web sites youกve set up in the past you are gonna have to call support eventually. There are just too many weird little things that can derail a web site or email. Many reside on the web hosting companyกs side. To figure out whatกs up you need to get in contact with them. So…will it be by email only, during the hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm eastern standard time or via a toll free phone line that is available 24×7? Make certain you understand when support is available and how you actually reach someone with real knowledge, not just a กknowledge baseก or กcannedก response.

3. Can I view a sample site that is hosted on the same server that my web site will be on?

Sure, the main company web site has nearly 100% uptime. Thatกs because they have their web site on a separate server than their customers. Viewing an actual customer site potentially tells you many things about the web hosting company and their web hosting services. You can check the load times of their pages easily by using a tool like Alertra (www.alertra.com). You can also send the webmaster of the site a nice email asking about their experiences with the hosting company.

4. Are they a web hosting reseller or a core web hosting provider?

Not that thereกs anything wrong with buying services from a reseller, but you should know for sure whether your company contact can really do anything to solve problems, or if they have to pass your concerns along to a กparentก company. Also, why buy services from a middle man when you can go straight to the source?Here are some examples of reseller hosting companies.

5. Will you waive set up fees or give me some other special incentives to sign up with you today?

In the highly competitive business of web hosting services, each customer sign up is precious. You will often see special offers listed on the companyกs web site or in advertisements. Unknown to each buyer is the fact that sales people are often given กextra special offersก to close sales of customers that are right on the edge of buying, but are resisting. The special offers are designed to close the sale. Make sure that you ask for each and every special offer they can give you. You have nothing to lose, and you may find that the offer thatกs being given today is fairly generous.

About The Author

Derek Vaughan

CheapHostingDirectory.Com is a resource for webmasters and consumers looking to find a web hosting company or a quality expiring domain names with traffic.

CHD is part of the TechPad Agency network of web hosting related sites, visit www.TechPadAgency.com for more information.

This article may be reprinted or published without the authors consent as long as the กAboutก and กweblinksก are kept intact. If you publish this article, we would love to know the location. Feel free to email us.

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 22

by Derek Vaughan

Review: 1,000 Graphic Elements Special Details for

Review: 1,000 Graphic Elements Special Details for Distinctive Designs

by: [email protected]

All graphic and print designers, professional or amateur, need a spot of inspiration now and then to let out the more innovative and creative ideas. Just imagine a world where graphic and print designers come up with monotonous and boring creations that’s terribly lacking in entertainment and flares of excitement.

There are certain details in graphic and print designing that contribute greatly for a designer to come up with sensational masterpieces. In fact, too often, the small and delightful details are what make a design piece shine. Even in practical everyday life, let’s say a unique button on a white shirt gives the shirt an entirely new look or a piece of artwork in a sparse wall makes the wall less dull. These examples only show that minuscule details add in making the whole effect of something, perfect. This concept is very much applicable in the field of graphic and print design.

This was the concept Wilson Harvey wants to emphasize in his book, 1,000 Graphic Elements Special Details for Distinctive Designs. In this book, Harvey explores 1,000 of these added extras, details that are diminutive but important, made available for graphic and print designers. We are saying ขmade availableข because the book has exacting photography that focuses on these details, accompanied by credits and outlining the vendors and materials used. The content of the book is organized by type. Looking for unusual bindings? Well, dig into the bindings section of 1,000 Graphic Elements Special Details for Distinctive Designs and open your mind for a wide collection of fresh ideas.

Designers handling all kinds of projects – books to brochures, invitations to menus, CDs to annual reports will have interesting reference from this book. Actually, it even invites them to literally shop for ideas. If you’re a print designer, you would be familiar with many techniques, but this book makes you see interesting variations of what you know and see them used on a myriad of different projects.

Wilson Harvey, a Londonbased integrated designer in a marketing agency that focuses on producing highend communication for a wide range of clients, showed refreshing and contemporary work in this book. It goes without saying since Harvey has already designed more than 500 books for a variety of publisher, his experience outshone some other design books which drag out old projects.

Other topics covered include fasteners, graphics, unique materials, embossing, debossing, specialty inks, type treatments, interesting color usage, addons, die cuts and more. The index lists stock and materials used for each project are also very good. To sum it up, if you are a designer who loves print/finishes – unusual finishes, at that, then this book is for you.

About The Author

Lala B. is a 26 yearold Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a nongovernment organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.

Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom – to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns imagined and observed, to bear witness.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

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This article was posted on March 07

by [email protected]

Uncover Your Hidden Markets

Uncover Your Hidden Markets

by: Bob Leduc

Want a simple, lowcost way to boost your sales? Just uncover the narrowly defined submarkets hidden in your main market. Then create special versions of your advertising to focus on the specific needs of prospects in these hidden market segments.

1. How to Find Your Hidden Markets

Start by evaluating your existing customers. Look for groups of customers with similar characteristics you do not currently cater to in your advertising. Then create new versions of your sales message appealing to their specific needs. You will attract a lot more customers just like them.

For example, the owner of an accounting service marketing to small businesses noticed that many of his new clients were landscapers or insurance brokers. Therefore he created separate web sites highlighting the unique benefits his service provided to clients in each of these businesses.

The two sites looked similar, but their sales content was customized to appeal to the specific needs of potential clients in each market. Visitors to either site probably assumed he specialized in working with companies in their industry. Within 2 months he was able to increase the number of new clients from each group by over 25 percent.

Tip: You can also narrow the appeal of an existing web site without losing its effectiveness with your main market. Just create customized web pages for each market segment you want to target. Then add a link to each of these specialized pages on your home page.

2. Adapt to Your Customers and Become a Specialist

As you work with a lot of customers and prospects in a narrowly defined market, you gain special insight into how they think and what they need. You will be able to communicate with them as in กinsiderก using their own special vocabulary and style.

Prospects and customers will think of you as being กone of usก …a specialist who caters to their unique needs. They will want to do business with you because you understand their special situation and know exactly what they need.

As a specialist you also eliminate much of your competition ..even if their prices are lower. Most customers will pay a little more to buy from a specialist so they can avoid the risk of doing business with a competitor who has little or no understanding of their special needs.

Bonus: When you deliver results as a specialist you also establish yourself as an expert in your field. Customers will proudly refer other prospects to you. They appreciate what you did for them and are confident you will deliver the same results for others.

You can boost your sales significantly by using the two simple, lowcost steps revealed in this article. Just (1) identify the narrowly defined submarkets hidden in your main market. Then (2) become a specialist catering to the unique needs of the customers in each of these submarkets.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards …and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. Youกll find his lowcost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 7026581707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

About The Author

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards …and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. Youกll find his lowcost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 7026581707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

This article was posted on May 04, 2004

by Bob Leduc

Direct Mail Advertising: A Key Ingredient For Succ

Direct Mail Advertising: A Key Ingredient For Successful Business Growth

by: Keturah Whitaker

Direct Mail Advertising: A Key Ingredient For Successful Business Growth By Keturah Whitaker

In today’s highly competitive economy, it is essential that you promote your business with marketing materials that strategically position your business for increased customer traffic, expansion and growth.

A highly effective marketing tool that will dynamically promote your business is direct mail advertising. The success of your direct mail advertising will be highly dependent upon the perceived quality of your business, the design, the message you’re conveying, and the special offer. The combination of these factors determines if your direct mail piece will influence your reader to contact you or get tossed aside. You have exactly 3 seconds to make a lasting impression.

Customer Mailing Lists

To get started, you will need to compile and develop a database for your customer mailing list. If you are targeting different customer segments, then you should have a separate database for each targeted market. Also, your direct mail offer should be designed specifically for each market. For example, if you are targeting age groups 1520 and 5065, your direct mail piece for your 1520 target market must be designed differently than your 5065 target market. The term for this aspect of marketing is called differentiated marketing.

There are multiple sources for locating potential customers for your direct mail campaign. Excellent sources to search for your potential customers are the yellow pages, white pages, newspapers, trade publications, the local Chamber of Commerce directory and you may want to consider contacting mailing list companies for list building. Before you develop your lists and leads, it is vital that you conduct research to ขknowข who your customers are; their needs and preferences.

Types of direct mail collateral to send to your targeted lists:

Postcards

Postcards are quick and easy because the message is short and simple and they are inexpensive to have printed. Postcards can immediately advertise new products and services and announce a new store location. Postcards achieve an almost 100% readership versus an envelope, as it doesn’t have to be opened to read your special offer. Postcards can be converted into coupons for special customers or cross sell your other products and services.

Letter Mailing

This mailing consists of an introductory letter introducing your business or your offer and a flyer or sales brochure that will highlight your business services and products. This method is very effective. However, the costs involved with this type of mailing are more expensive than a post card.

Newsletters

Newsletters are the perfect way to notify your customers and potential customers of your current business news, introduce new services, promote new products, communicate special offerings, and demonstrate you are an established leader in your industry and community. Newsletters also make excellent handouts for business meetings, off site workshops, trade shows, networking seminars and community events.

Final thought: direct mail has always been a popular medium to advertise for any business, whether your business is homebased, a small business, a midsize business or a large business. Extraordinarily designed direct mail that communicates your business and introduces special offers, can open doors for excellent sales leads and contribute to your business bottom line: increased sales, capture market share, growth and expansion.

About The Author

Keturah Whitaker is the CEO/President of CoreNet Imaging Solutions®, an Atlanta based design firm that provides small business owners and nonprofit organizations, with graphic design services for brochures, newsletters, newsletters, direct mail, flyers, pamphlets, business cards, business forms, and print media ads. She can be reached by calling 7709530252 or via email at [email protected].

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 18

by Keturah Whitaker