1stPromotion.com One afternoon after going through a small backlog of emails, I was daydreaming about how it shouldn’t be tough for absolutely anyone out there to make that first online sale and then to go on and make more and more sales. I feel bad for people that have paid money for some of the programs out there that promise to «stuff their wallets effortlessly» only to find that there is no free lunch.
No autopilot riches. As I was daydreaming, I was watching a fly banging it’s head into the window trying to get out. That fly wanted to get out of the confines of the house and get outside to enjoy the early Ontario spring day.
No matter how hard the fly tried, or how hard it banged into the window, that fly was trapped in the confines of our house. The fly’s desire to break free to a better world drove it to the glass. Little by little that fly was beating the life out of itself against my window. Futilely attempting to break out of the world it was confined to. No matter how hard it tried, there was no way that the fly was going to break through the glass and obtain its dream. After a while the fly stopped trying and just sat on the window. Was it content to just look at the freedom it could not achieve? Or was it stunned from the repeated beatings that it put itself through to try and break free? Without guidance, the fly was doomed to failure from the get-go as it had selected a closed window and was pouring all of it’s efforts into getting through that closed window even though we know it is impossible. Here is the one small detail that will drive this point home. Less than 3 feet away was another window, except that one was open.
That open window could lead that fly to its dream and its freedom.
With just a bit of assistance and guidance, the fly was easily led to the open window and on to pursue it’s goal. Well, this same situation holds true to most people’s dreams of finding success on the web, they are just like that fly.
Constantly banging their heads into dead-end opportunities rather than flying free to building the opportunity that allows them to achieve the freedom they dream of.
But with a little bit of guidance and a helping-hand they can be led to open windows.
I have this friend Sloan.
He’s a real lunatic.
I’ve never met anyone who could pole dance without a pole.
But when he’s not shaming himself and his entire family tree he is truly the smartest person I know. Perhaps to you that seems as if I might not be saying much. But, don’t take a cue from my spaciness as indicative of the company I keep. I’ve got a couple razor sharps in my crew for sure. But, about Sloan, I remember one time we were talking about the U.S. in Iraq. It’s a complex subject, to be certain, but Sloan thinks that if you’re going to consider it you need to put it into context, including historical. I couldn’t agree more. Before I knew it, his historical context began with fractured substrata of the Persian Empire and I had three thousand years of history to listen to before we could resume our talk on the U.S. in Iraq. That’s pretty impressive. Annoying, but impressive. Many times it’s difficult for me to disagree with Sloan. But that time happened, indeed, and I’ll never look at him the same again. I was walking across the Washington Ave. bridge and Sloan told me that he didn’t like talking in superlatives (this guy sounds like a real ball of laughs, doesn’t he). Don’t get me wrong, I like arguments; and I think that it’s important in a discussion for people to take and support varying perspectives and it’s the differences of opinion and belief that permeate our world that keeps us moving and living…but dismissing superlatives, I simply cannot accept.
I love to love things at an equally exalted level as I do to hate things.
It’s the best…ever. If someone can’t see the ultimate value in that, I think that person is the lowest of all which disgusts and rots in this world and they most certainly couldn’t be my best friend, for certain. This is why I think Sloan is kind of an idiot. I bet he couldn’t even appreciate the best internet advertising techniques if they were thrown in his face. It’s not Persian history, but internet advertising can have better or worse techniques. If that’s possible, it seems to me that with proper research on your targeted demographic and some strong attention given to one’s methodology, it’s quite possible to derive the best internet advertising for your particular site and also for your particular commodity. So, don’t be sloppy, thinking that any advertising is as good as anything else. There is a method that will work the best for you. It’s achievable and it’s also important to you, so take your time and don’t settle until you’ve got the best.
James Wilson One of the hardest things to do in marketing is to get people’s attention. Controversy gets people’s attention. Controversy not only gets other people’s attention, it also gets the media’s attention. The media knows that people love controversy and so they jump at the chance to cover controversial topics. A few months ago, my wife and I were at odds (friendly odds) about our children sleeping in our bedroom. I was pondering a way to turn this friendly disagreement, into a “Media Event”. As I was sitting at my desk around 8pm one evening, I did some brainstorming for a few minutes, and then it hit me! I decided to move to the roof of my house as a sign of protest against my wife for insisting that our children sleep in our bed. So, I immediately got on my computer and cranked out a press release announcing my strike, and my online petition drive.
The petition was used to collect email addresses, so I could “UPDATE” visitors on my progress. This led to over 14,000 Opt-In emails. I knew that this story had tremendous potential, because of the unusual nature of my strike. As you can imagine, my wheels were spinning a thousand miles per hour, as to the quickest way to drive people to my Husband On Strike web site. I knew the quickest way to do that was through FREE Publicity! It took me less than 20 MINUTES to write my press release. The next morning, I blasted my press release out to all the media outlets in my state. By 10am two days later, I received “THOUSANDS” of hits to my HUSBAND ON STRIKE web site, people were signing my “petition” by the thousands, because of several mentions on a local talk radio show. By the 2nd day, the site was getting 20-40,000 hits per hour, to check on the signature count and view updates on my blog. It was truly an incredible event! I had not paid ONE penny for all this FREE publicity! But it gets even better… On the 5th day after my press release was sent out, three local television news stations, CNN, MSNBC, GERALDO, DR.Phil, and hundreds of other media outlets did segments about my strike. As you can imagine, after these outlets featured my story, I had thousands and thousands more visitors coming to my site. Now, many of you are asking your-self what benefit I got out of this other than a bunch of people visiting the web site. Well, let me tell you the simple thing I did to generate thousands of dollars in product sales. I put text link ads to affiliate products and Google Adsense ads on my homepage… I knew that tens of thousands of people would continue visiting my web site homepage, to check for updates on my strike.
This meant that every person who visited the web site, got to see my text link affiliate product ads along with the Google adsense ads. I was getting “thousands” of click thru’s to my ads, without spending ONE CENT on advertising. I sold thousands of dollars in products and my Google adsense income was in the many thousands of dollars. Best of all, it cost me NOTHING! This is the power of FREE publicity, and seeing opportunities that NO ONE else sees! The Message I’m Trying To Convey: Think OUTSIDE THE BOX Even if you only get 50 visitors per day through FREE publicity, that’s 50 visitors that didn’t cost you one red cent!
Filed Under Internet and Money | Comments Off on How I Got Over 300,000 Visitors To My Web Site In 7 Days
Marketing On The Playground (TM) One day I discovered that I was doing everything right.
Why weren’t the clients coming? Metaphorically speaking I was operating at a 25-Watt bulb. What is your wattage? Your future clients can’t see you sitting at your desk. If you’re marketing with a 25-watt bulb your prospective clients may see you but unless you shine brightly and consistently, you will stay in the shadows. When building a plan for greater visibility you want to look at several things. 1) Making sure you are aiming your light at the right target market. If you are just beginning in your field there is a tendency to spread a wide net. Once you gain more experience you find there are particular clients you really want to focus on. Then you have your more specific target market. The most non-effective way of shining your light is pointing it in all directions as if you were searching. Be focused. 2) What type of visibility tactics do you enjoy? This is important. If you don’t enjoy what you are doing it will come across in your message. Examples: If you enjoy speaking, what groups fit your criteria for your target market? Then, you might think of what groups fit the environment you enjoy. Once you have determined that, make those introductory calls to the group leaders and get on their speaking docket. If you enjoy writing, what style of writing do you like? Mine happens to be writing from the heart through actual experiences. It is usually in story form. It reflects learning’s and provides positive viewpoints giving others room to grow. The bottom line is, if you like to write — then write! Do it in your style and get your stories out to your market. If you enjoy facilitating what could you bring as a sampling of your work. I have a friend with an Improv business. She and her staff host an open house at different times during the year to let the public “experience” what they do. They invite current and past clients as well as new possibilities. In Person and Sampling is most effective for them to build their database as well as client base. I could go on but I bet you get the idea. Whatever approach you use, pay attention to what you enjoy and the strengths you have. Don’t be afraid to be creative.
That’s when your uniqueness will shine. 3) Find other businesses that compliment what you do and visa versa. I have just approached several coaching and alternative healthcare website owners to offer article content. I provide the articles at no charge and they provide their database with the information. It is a win/win opportunity. I have a peer and friend with www.nurse-entrepreneur-network.com who consistently looks for complimentary content that will benefit her client base. She has already requested this article be on her database before it’s ready to go. There are many publishers on the Internet that will place your article on their website at no charge for other business owners to pick up. i.e. www.ezinearticles.com and www.authorconnection.com. There are also other websites that have a range of what they charge to publish your work i.e., www.thephantomwriters.com or www.getslightlyfamous.com. (provides the Slightly Famous Marketing Plan Guide for free when you sign up for their free newsletter) What will you do to be seen? Think about what you enjoy, what is most effective for your product or service and get out there and DO IT! Consistency is the key. Choose one or two marketing approaches, stick to the plan and work it. You will be happy with the results.
Filed Under Marketing Techniques | Comments Off on Does Your Target Market SEE You? Turn up the Wattage
