Need Marketing Inspiration?
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You may not realize it, but turning on the television, radio, and Internet can teach you new marketing techniques and strategies. Each day, companies are bombarding us with their marketing messages. By the age of 65, the average American will have viewed over 2 million television commercials. And that doesn’t begin to take into consideration the ads we see in newspapers, magazines, online, on billboards, or hear on the radio.
Some companies choose to use catchy jingles and slogans so that we constantly find ourselves humming along. Others tug at our heartstrings in order to establish an emotional connection, and some (purposely) annoy us. Here are a few quick lessons we can learn from these companies:
Try to keep it simple. Nike says, “Just Do It”; McDonald’s “loves to see you smile,” and Calgon can “take you away”. Creating a simple, catchy, and easy to remember slogan can set your product apart from the competition.
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Marketing to Fit Your Personality
When some people hear the word “marketing,” they may automatically think of networking or public speaking. While those are certainly some forms of marketing, those are not the only avenues available. In fact, there are numerous ways to market your business, both online and locally.
Finding a marketing activity to fit your personality will make marketing a fun activity for you. The first step would be to decide if you have more of an outgoing personality or if you are more introverted. Once you have decided that, you can decide if you would like to focus your efforts locally or online.
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Business Plans Effect on Marketing
A business plan serves as the guidebook to your business. Your business plan should communicate what your business is, how you plan on growing it, and what steps you are going to take to achieve your success.
Your business plan also has a huge effect on your marketing efforts. Your business plan can help you decide what type of marketing will add value to your business and which types of marketing will simply be time wasters.
By writing out your business ideas and goals, you can determine your target market. Your target market is the group of people that you want to promote your products or services to. Determining your target market is the first step in planning your marketing efforts.
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Have Questions About SEO 2.0?
Things are finally getting back to normal here for us at Business and Learning and we are ready to get back into the swing of things.
I wanted to remind to come to tonight’s Topic Based Chat at 9 p.m. EST. We are super excited about who we have tonight. We have Randy Gniadecki from Marketing Curve is joining us in chat tonight and he is going to be answering your SEO 2.0 questions. If you were at the Expo you will remember Randy being one of our Exhibitors and he rocked the house so we knew we had to have him back soon. Please join us tonight at 9 p.m. EST in the conference room.
Click here for the conference room.
Also really quick while I have you here I wanted to remind you that if you missed anything at this years Expo, the Expo Audio Library pass is now available to buy.
Click here to learn more about that Expo Audio Library.
Have a great day and I will see you tonight in the conference room with Randy. This is something one topic based chat you are not going to want to miss.
Tammy Munson
Business and Learning
tammy@businessandlearning.com
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The much awaited Library Access!!
Thanks again for participating in the 2009 Business and Learning Expo!! We had an awesome time and we know that there were a ton of relationships made! You are a huge part of the positivity and energy that was flowing all week long and beyond! We have a HUGE appreciation for you!
The much awaited Library Access!!
The recordings are all edited and available for purchase! The Access Pass is $49.99 and you get access to all 18 recordings (downloadable mp3) of our featured speakers, exhibitors, and special forums. (we even threw in a bonus or two for you!!! )
You can purchase your Access Pass by going to : http://businessandlearning.com/wah-expo/
Affiliates may sell Library Passes!! Just log into your affiliate area for the link that you would use to direct people to the Library Pass Purchase page.
Thanks!
Don’t forget we have networking every Thursday at 9pm ET - http://www.businessandlearning.com/ - for more information.
See you on Thursday!
Tammy
Business & Learning
tammy@businessandlearning.com
Phone : 719-313-1924
http://www.businessandlearning.com
PS. As usual, if you have any comments, questions and/or complaints, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
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Five Reasons You Should Host Your Own Site
There are many advantages to having a website. Just a few of them include being able to market your business globally, being able to accept orders while you sleep, and allowing people to receive information about your business in real time.
When you put your site online, you have a couple of choices. You can use a free web host or you can pay for web hosting. Your web host is the company that transmits your site onto the World Wide Web.
Web hosting is very affordable, and even those on the tightest budgets should make this a priority. Here are a few reasons why hosting your own site is the better alternative.
First and foremost, using a paid web host will keep your business image professional. When you use a free web host, you may look cheap or inexperienced. That isn’t the image you want to project to potential customers.
Many providers of free web hosting will display banner ads across their users’ sites. Since they are not receiving revenue through payment for their web hosting services, they need to earn revenue somehow. And so, these companies either display their own ads or the ads of others’.
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Do Online Surveys Work?
If you would like to get your visitors’ opinions on your website, products, or services, you can set up an online survey. An online survey can be done via email or through the web. There are many advantages, as well as disadvantages of using online surveys. Here are some reasons why you may want to try one as well as some tips to help you get better results.
The response rate of online surveys will vary. The average seems to be about 30%, however, some people report results as low as 2% and some claim their results have been as high as 90%.
When compared to the alternatives, such as a telephone or direct mail campaign, online surveys are both easy to implement and cost effective. Plus, you can start receiving the results almost immediately after you set it up. You can start implementing any changes your visitors recommend right away. However, the results can be skewed if someone fills out the survey more than one time.
Putting your survey in a pop-up window as your visitor is leaving your website is a great way to include the survey on your website and increase your chances of getting a good response rate. Another tip is to keep your survey page in a similar format as your web page. This way your visitors will know the survey is from you and not a third party.
Try to keep your survey short, as many people will not take the time to answer a long survey. If your first page looks short, people will be more likely to take the survey. Another trick is to keep your navigation simple, using just a “next” button and possibly a “back” button.
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We Want to Say…….
We just wanted to take a quick minute of your time and say, “Thank You!” This year we had a wonderful group of volunteers, staff, exhibitors, featured speakers and attendees. With everyone’s help this years Expo went off without a hitch.
If you have a minute we would also like for you to fill out this short survey on what you thought of the Expo and let us know if there is anything we could improve.
Click here to fill out survey.
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Do I Really Need a Business Plan?
Many people who start a home business never take the time to write out a business plan. That is a big mistake, as a business plan can greatly increase your chances of success. The following are some reasons why every business needs to put a business plan into writing.
A business plan maps out your future. If you have decided you are ready to start a business, your first step should be to write out your plans for what you want to do with the business and where you see the business going in the future.
You have probably heard the old saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” That is very true when it comes to your business. The more planning you do in the beginning, the greater success you will see in the future.
If you decide to take your home business to the next level, a business plan can help you secure financing. A financial institution will want to see, in writing, the reasons that they should loan you money. Simply walking in and telling them why you know you’ll be a success isn’t good enough.
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Join the Business & Learning Blog Tour !
Yep! That’s right! We are doing an Expo Blog Tour again this year! We had such a great time last year with the Blog Tour; we decided to do it again! Tammy, Shannon and the Expo Team will be visiting the blogs of fellow work at home entrepreneurs leading up to the famous Business and Learning Expo coming March 10-12th.
We will be visiting blogs that belong to Work at Home Entrepreneurs to answer some of their questions about Business and Learning. You can ask us anything about the upcoming expo, the topic driven chats, the new forum, future plans as well as any of our products & services!
We want you!
If you are interested in signing up to become part of our 2nd Annual Business and Learning Expo Blog Tour, please leave us a comment on our blog , no later than Feb 20th, with your blog URL and a question that you would like us to answer.
Once you have done that all that we ask is that you create a post on your blog with information about the blog tour. Feel free to write your own post or tweak this one (we’ll even give you this super cool graphic to use on your site) and include your question. We will then visit your blog with the answers.
It’s a great way to spread the word about Business & Learning’s Spring Expo as well as get some free promotion for your site as well. Who doesn’t like that?
See you on your blog and at the Expo! If you have any questions, please contact us.
Tammy & Shannon
