Tag Archives: Marketing and Advertising

Quarterly Advertising Strategy Review

4 Jan

Let’s start the year off with a quarterly pep talk.

Widespread corporate layoffs are driving closet entrepreneurs to the Internet in droves. The ventures just emerging from the ashes now will help lay the foundation for the new economy.

So roll up your sleeves and revisit the marketing plan you wrote at the start of your business.

You should

  1. Review your test results.
  2. Discontinue the losers and reinvest in the winners – whether they’re ads, emails or offers.
  3. Not enough time to get all the testing done? Air out your schedule – try sending emails every six or eight weeks rather than monthly.
  4. Not enough data to make strategy decisions? Another reason to extend the duration of your test – just continue for another month, then check your data again.

This type of review was generally done semi-annually; but since the economic crash of 08; it’s best if you do it quarterly – at least until you’re showing a significant profit.

If you didn’t get a chance to read about how to review your advertising, don’t worry. Read “Building Your Business Review Your Advertising blog,” and start now. There’s plenty more to come as we continue on into 2012.

Good Luck & Happy New Year

Dr. Ande
Author of, 65 Tips for Affiliate Marketing Success
Host of, Dr. Ande’s Marketing Radio & Biz Talk with Dr. Ande

Building Your Business or Career: Grow your eMail Customer List

30 Nov

In today’s business world, email is one of the most inexpensive marketing tools you have at your disposal. For example Express Email Marketing® (EEM), allows you to create and send great-looking emails with very little effort.

Email is also one of the most convenient forms of marketing. Customers can read your email at their leisure and from a variety of places – desktops, cell phones, handheld devices. Plus, EEM’s automated batch send feature means you won’t waste time sending 100 emails one at a time.

To make the most of email marketing, you need to build your email list:

  1. First, import your current customer list. Most Email marketing campaigns have this feature. Don’t forget the CAN-SPAM Act. (The federal CAN-SPAM Act, which makes it illegal to send unsolicited emails to anyone who has not given express permission to be contacted via email. EEM will only import the email addresses of customers who’ve agreed to be contacted.)
  2. Next, place an email sign-up form on all the sites you own including your blogs, or any other place it might fit in! For the sign-up link you could try something like “Sign up for my newsletter.” or “Get great tips & deals.”
  3. Place your email link in unexpected places. Add it to your email signature line, your Twitter® or Facebook® account – even the closing line on your eBay® or Craig’s List® entries.
  4. Make it a trade. Offer a white paper, case study or marketing tip you’ve written. Pass them to a secure page or email the item directly to them once they’ve provided their email address.
  5. Do you speak publicly? Let listeners know they can learn even more from you if they visit your site and sign up for your newsletter. Create a podcast that features you speaking and include your link at the end.
  6. Encourage readers to share this communication with friends. Just be sure to include a “Get your own subscription FREE” link in each email or newsletter.
  7. Add a link to the bottom of your order receipts to grab the attention of any stragglers who haven’t signed up.

As your list grows, make sure you’re communicating with these customers regularly. It’s no fun to get an invitation, and then never hear back again. You’ve already made a good first impression by getting their permission; now follow through with ongoing communications.

A few tips on creating successful emails:

  • Be creative! Most eMail marketing services offer pre-built email templates with your own greeting and pricing.
  • Test various offers. Divide your mailing list and test two different offers against each other. Or make a different offer every time you send an email to see which one gets the best response. Resend the winning email at least two more times this year.
  • Track your results. If you use marketing source codes with your offers, you can track which customers open which emails and identify the offers that bring in the most revenue. You can use this information to plan future campaigns.

Until next time,

Good Luck & Good Marketing

Dr. Ande
Step Up 2 Success