|
|
 |
|
 |
||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
 |
 Web Marketing Strategies For Home Business Promotion
Wed 24th May '00
WIN $10,000! http://www.nowsell.com/I-can-win.html
In this issue (Part 2):
1. VOTING BOOTH
==>This week's quick poll and last week's results.
2. TOOLS AT NOW SELL!
==>Useful tools to make your life easier from Now Sell!
3. FEATURE ARTICLE
==>"Amazon.com: How did they do it?"
By Bryan Marye.
Subscription details can be found at the end.
o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x SPONSOR'S MESSAGE x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o
FREE excerpts from Michael Campbell's ebook "Nothing But 'Net!"
Available NOW with an email to: mailto:nothingbutnet@autobots.net
These secrets to selling WITHOUT COSTS made Michael $750,000!
HOW MUCH WILL THEY MAKE YOU?
o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o
X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X
X VOTING BOOTH X
X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X
This is the place where we take a quick poll for a snapshot of
the Biz Bits family's position on a given topic.
áááááááááá
This week:
áááááááááá
Would you ever consider buying any kind of CPM banner
advertising? (CPM = cost per thousand impressions, i.e. you pay a
set price for every thousand displays of your banner)
YES! >>>> mailto:yes-nowsell.com
I would consider purchasing CPM banner advertising!
NO! >>>> mailto:no-nowsell.com
I would not consider purchasing CPM banner advertising!
ERR? >>>> mailto:err-nowsell.com
I'm not sure... depends...?
*** Add any additional comments in the body of your vote mail ***
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*****************************************************************
Do you find Biz Bits useful?
Share the wealth and forward a copy to your friends!
*****************************************************************
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
áááááááááá
Last week:
áááááááááá
Have you ever partnered with another web site (joint ventures,
cross promotion, etc.), or do you work alone online? (Affiliate
programs and link swaps don't count).
YES! >>>> 50%
I have partnered with another web site on one or more occasions!
NO! >>>> 50%
Up to now I have never partnered with another web site, and work
alone online!
ERR? >>>> 0%
I'm not sure... depends...?
[Azam: Yet another clean draw, but the votes where down quite a
bit this week. Perhaps many readers didn't find the question to
be of interest. That's a shame, because forging partnerships is
the shortcut to online success.]
*** Have you voted on this week's question? Don't forget! ****
ááááááááááááááá
Voter Feedback:
ááááááááááááááá
YES!
Yes, I have partnered with JL Scott. She's been great to work
with, and she has been responsible for several of my subscribers.
I think that's great, and I hope I've helped her as well.
Jan Tincher
"Tame Your Brain!" success e-zine with the famous NLP Technique
of the Week! FREE REPORT "10 Things You Probably Never Thought Of
To Alleviate Pain!" mailto:dontworry-subscribe@listbot.com
[Azam: Yes Jan, though I have never worked with JL myself, she
has a quality publication, and I'm sure the subscribers you
received reflect that. I have partnered with other publishers a
couple of times: it can be a very effective way to quickly build
your list.]
NO!
Have not in the past but will in the future.
Arnold
mailto:ajh0@flash.net
[Azam: Do it Arnold. Whatever you're doing online, there's sure
to be someone you can partner with that will help you reach your
goals faster, or with greater ease. Partnerships can come in all
shapes and sizes, so keep your eyes - and mind - open to all
possibilities.]
o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o
"OUTSTANDING WORK. BREATHTAKING INFORMATION. PRACTICAL.
STREET-SMART.
Anyone doing business online better read and do what you say, or
start digging their cyber-grave." - Joe Vitale, author of
"There's A Customer Born Every Minute!" and "Hypnotic Writing"
Take the Killer Copy Tactics multi-media interactive course:
Click
o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o
X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X
X TOOLS AT NOW SELL! X
X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X
*** Promotion Tools ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Keyword Research Tool
* Meta Tag Maker
* Free Automatic Search Engine Submit
* Rapid Manual Search Engine Submit Tool
* Position Analyzer to check site rank in the SEs
* Link Generators
* Multi Search Tool
Visit Promotion: http://www.nowsell.com/BB/promotion.html?25-5
*** HTML Tools ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Multiple Pop-up window code generator
* Multiple MouseOver image generator
* Frames code generator
* Simple CSS template
* 216 Web color palette and codes
* HTML Special character codes
* Useful cut & paste Javascript, and more
Visit HTML: http://www.nowsell.com/BB/html.html?25-5
*** Others ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Free Business Consulting:
http://www.nowsell.com/BB/consult.html?25-5
* Listings of the best paid to surf, read email, etc. programs:
http://www.nowsell.com/surfcash.html?BB25-5
X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X
X FEATURE ARTICLE X
X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X
---------------------------------
"Amazon.com: How did they do it?"
--------------------------------
By Bryan Marye
Whether you are a webmaster, an investor or just a frequent
on-line shopper, the success story of Amazon.com is worth
studying. This company's rapid rise to e-commerce domination
demonstrates what an efficient advertising strategy can
accomplish.
-History
For starters, I thought it might be helpful to take a quick look
at the history of this amazing, enigmatic company. If e-commerce
is to be the "way of the future," then Amazon must truly be
considered an e-commerce pioneer. By far, they are the biggest
brand name in e-commerce today. In a sector where companies spend
millions attempting to carve a niche, this was no easy feat.
Amazon got started back in July of 1995, only about five years
ago. That alone is impressive, considering their domination of
the internet retail space. The company was founded by Jeff Bezos,
an interesting character who's original plan was to create an
on-line book superstore. Bezos quit his job in 94 with an
investment firm to embark on his mission, much to the dismay (and
some laughs) of his colleagues. Needless to say, few are laughing
now.
Since that time, Amazon has expanded into much more than an
internet bookstore. Amazon is making a run at becoming the modern
day "Sears" of the internet.. so to speak. The company has since
embarked on a buying spree, unmatched by internet competitors.
Somewhere along the line, Amazon decided it was time to become
your "one-stop" internet shopping solution, and while not turning
a profit yet, their sales figures are staggering. (we'll get into
that shortly)
Over the last 5 years, Amazon has bought out the following
companies:
Internet Movie Database
LiveBid.com (auctions)
PlanetAll.com (address book, calendar services)
drugstore.com
Gear.com (sporting goods)
HomeGrocer.com (food delivery, much like Webvan)
Pets.com
Ashford.com (upscale items, watches, jewelry) living.com (home
furnishings)
So, as you can see... Amazon has developed their "family of
websites" that has for all practical purposes, covered all of the
bases, and no one expects that Amazon is finished just yet. It
was this success story that prompted Time Magazine to name Jeff
Bezos the 1999 Man of the Year.
------------
So, now that we've looked into the history of the company a bit,
let's move on and attempt to address the question... just how
does Amazon promote itself, and how did it get where it is today?
As you probably know, there is no way that Amazon.com is going
release an actual breakdown of their advertising expenses.
(against company policy) To be sure, though...I contacted Kim
Freeman, at investor relations and spoke with her about the
issue. Kim didn't tell me much that I couldn't find out on my
own, but was helpful with in pointing me to some other research
resources.
First off, a few facts about Amazon's sales:
In 1999:
-Sales grew from $610 million in 1998 to $1.64 billion--a 169
percent increase.
- Amazon added 10.7 million new customers, increasing cumulative
customer accounts from 6.2 million to 16.9 million.
-The percentage of orders placed by repeat customers grew from
over 64 percent in the fourth quarter of 1998 to greater than 73
percent in the same period in 1999.
How much did Amazon spend? To address this part of the question..
we look to Amazon's 1999 annual financial report.
--From the 1999 Annual report----
"Marketing and sales expenses consist of advertising, promotional
and public relations expenditures, credit card fees and payroll
and related expenses for personnel engaged in marketing, selling
and fulfillment activities." Total marketing expenses: Marketing
and sales........... $413,150,000. .. a large number, but a
number representing only 25.2% of net sales, indicating a company
that is frugal with advertising, yet effective. So, now we have
some figures... let's take a look at a few of the major tools
Amazon has used in promoting itself. In my opinion, there are two
main strategies that Amazon has used to effectively become a
world leader in e-commerce.
First off: Partnerships.
Amazon has been one of the most effective companies on-line at
using the idea of internet partnerships to be successful. They
have aligned themselves with countless companies, not to mention
the ones that they have purchased all of some of. But in my
opinion, Amazon really landed themselves on the map with one
particular partnership. In 1997, Amazon announced a multi-million
dollar advertising partnership with America Online. (AOL) (press
release)America Online has been the clear leader in internet
service providing. They have also been the leader in internet
traffic since that time, and are the leader today. AOL still
ranks ahead of Yahoo as the most visited site on-line, with the
site seeing 59 million unique visitors in the month of March
alone. (an interesting note, Amazon.com is the 8th most visited
site) For web news and information, AOL ranked number one, two
and three. (news/entertainment/sports.) So as you can see, Amazon
had the right idea when it forged this very important partnership
with the internet giant. In the terms of the deal, Amazon would
receive "'above-the- fold' front-screen button (visible without
scrolling down) on the AOL.com homepage, the most visited site on
the Web. This button will link users directly to the Amazon.com
Internet site (www.amazon.com),the leading online bookseller,
where they will be able to review and purchase books. " (from
press release)
It is apparent when looking at the specifics of this deal, that
this partnership may have been one of the biggest promotional
tools in Amazon's success. This high-profile deal helped Amazon
develop a trusted brand name, using the already established brand
name of AOL... which of course already had the trust of its
visitors. While this may not have been the single biggest factor
in the company's rise to the top, it was clearly a crucial piece
to the puzzle.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos from the press release: "Amazon's
partnership with AOL gives us access to its more than 8 million
members and makes us the exclusive booksellers to users of
AOL.com and NetFind. We are especially enthusiastic about this
agreement's creative approaches to putting information about
Amazon.com in front of users when and where they are most likely
to act on it," said Jeff Bezos, President and CEO of Amazon.com.
"This is a significant step in Amazon's strategy of expanding our
reach to online users"
Again, Bezos showed brilliant foresight.
So, overall we can gather that partnerships have played a major
role in Amazon's success... as they have with most flourishing
e-companies. How does this translate to the small or beginning
website? It suggests that aligning with similar companies is
always a smart idea. Of course, most small websites can't afford
to buy a chunk of prime real estate on AOL, but we can trade
links, co-promote and even join "web-rings".. which are
collective groups of sites that link to each other and
co-promote. Web rings usually have specific categories... but
trading links with sites with a variety of sites is usually a
more efficient way to produce traffic to your site. Branch out,
but keep your target audience in mind.
Moving along, another promotional tool Amazon.com has used has
been: Media and Targeted Advertising. One thing you may have
noticed, though.. is that Amazon.com runs very, very few
television commercials. In fact, I struggle to think of the last
time I've seen one. How can this be? A company that has gone from
nothing to the biggest e-tailer on-line not using T.V. to market
itself? That indeed appears to be the case. Interestingly enough,
some of Amazon's biggest competitors (though hardly a threat)
have used T.V. almost exclusively in attempts to promote
themselves. The first company that comes to mind is "Buy.Com."
You may remember Buy.com's ads, that featured a black screen,
with Buy.com printed in the center... sitting motionless for 30
seconds. Not the most creative commercial ever, though fairly
effective. Buy.com began running these ads during the
Superbowl... a prime advertising slot, and obviously quite
costly.
So how did Amazon.com use the media to promote themselves? Well,
they just used a different media... an oldie but a goodie..
radio. Radio advertising is still among the most effective forms
of advertising. Given, exposure is usually on a much smaller
level, but the "quality" of radio advertising is very high.
Personally, I've always though that radio advertising was one of,
if not the most effective forms of advertising around...
particularly with cost considered. Amazon.com makes a good case
for that argument as well. Not only did Amazon use radio
advertising, but they advertised with very popular syndicated
shows ranging from Larry King to Rush Limbaugh. These shows
weren't just popular, but they tend to have the kinds of
listeners that would be interested in the products Amazon has to
offer. This is known as targeted advertising. Amazon has been
extremely proficient with this concept. For another example,
consider Amazon's T.V. advertising. Given, it was not on a grand
scale.. but when Amazon did use T.V., they made their choices
wisely... choosing shows like "The Today Show," The Learning
Channel, A&E. Their radio advertising also spanned across not
only talk radio, but F.M. stations, mostly Jazz and Classical.
Since Amazon began as a bookseller originally, one can see the
strategy they were using with their targeted advertising. Amazon
sought to find the most intellectual audience possible. In other
words, if a person was listening to talk radio.. there was
probably a good chance of them being regular readers as well, or
better yet...book-purchasers.
Amazon used targeted advertising to their advantage and in a
sense, outsmarted the competition. How can a small webmaster do
the same? There are dozens of ways... and many are even
reasonable in price. Webmasters can buy targeted banner ads,
e-zine advertising (which is a specialty of IMR) and even search
engine space. Search engines like Goto.com offer "keyword
purchase" programs. This means that a webmaster can "buy" several
words. For instance, if a site sold football cards... a webmaster
may want to buy the keyword "trading cards." Now, when a visitor
to Goto.com types in "trading cards" in their search, they get
the keyword purchaser's site. This is among the best forms of
targeted advertising available, and bet of all.. it is very
affordable, with keywords going as low as .01 cent each. Targeted
advertising is a must for any site, and can be utilized by all..
regardless of budget.
We've now covered a few of the methods Amazon has used to promote
itself. But there is one other main form of advertising the
company has used, and in my opinion it has been probably their
biggest key in their massive growth, exposure and name branding.
What is this key element?
Affiliate Programs.
An affiliate program, often called a partner program, is an
agreement between a retailer and a sub-retailer whereby the
retailer pays the sub a percentage of any sales generated by the
traffic driven to the retailer's site. In simpler terms, smaller
websites can sign up for Amazon's affiliate program, place a link
or banner ad on their site.. and through a system of CGI scripts
and codes... the sales are tracked. Anything purchased (a book
for example) results in a "commission" for the smaller site.
ClickQuick.com describes Amazon's wildly successful
program:Description: One of the oldest affiliate referral income
partners on the internet and perhaps the largest with over
200,000 affiliates. They pay 15% on individually linked books and
5% on all other items. You build a custom bookstore, music store,
and video store on your site or simply put up a link to
Amazon.com and get paid on all sales. They do the customer
service, shipping and tracking of sales. With their program there
are no hidden sales quotas or performance tiers.
When it comes to affiliate programs on-line, Amazon.com literally
paved the way. In fact, Amazon has had so much success with their
affiliate technology, they have actually patented the technology.
No e-commerce site has even come close to matching Amzon in
successfully utilizing affiliate programs. Part of the beauty of
these programs.. is not only does Amazon generate sales through
these programs, but they also generate massive traffic and best
of all.. name branding. Name branding is crucial for a company
like Amazon, who's aim is to become "the" shopping site for the
internet buyer. It seems as though every site you visit, you see
an amazon logo, banner, search box or link somewhere on the
page... and keep in mind, Amazon is not paying a red cent for
this advertising unless the banner directly leads to a sale.
Furthermore, when Amazon does pay an affiliate, the rates are
very reasonable. (for Amazon!) As you probably know by now,
generating an e-commerce sale is nowhere as easy as we thought it
would be when the internet came about. E-companies have to work
hard for every sale, and paying 15% for someone else to do that
hard work for you is well worth it. Plus, as with all e-commerce
site, repeat buyers are key. As we saw in the stats earlier,
Amazon has an excellent repeat buyer percentage. But... the first
step is of course, getting those people to your site to make that
all important first purchase. Once the customer is there, your
product can speak for itself. In the case of Amazon.com, it
apparently speaks well.
As stated earlier, Amazon is not going to divulge exactly where
they are spending money advertising. After all, if they did..
other sites could copy their formula for success. Furthermore,
they are certainly not going to give any stats with regard to
just how much commerce is created through their vast collection
of partners. QuickClick.com had the number at 200,000 affiliates,
but that number has probably grown considerably since the review
was posted. (I believe the review is bit dated.) But, strictly
speculation here.... I would estimate that between 20-40% of
Amazon's first time buyers were generated through affiliate
programs or partner links. (AOl,etc.) Again, that is just a
calculated guess... but it would seem to make sense. Amazon arose
from nothing only 5 years ago, and has really only been a
household name over the past couple of years. Their affiliate and
links program undoubtedly created a huge percentage of their
initial purchases. (first time buyers)
Once again, Bezos and Co. managed to take advantage of one of the
internet's best weapons in the promotion and marketing war, the
affiliate program. But what does this mean to the small website
owner? Well, an affiliate program takes some effort and
technological savvy, but can be done, even on a budget. There are
a number of CGI scripts out there that can track sales for you,
and allow you to run your own affiliate program. For a list of
some sites offering free CGI scripts and CGI resources, you may
want to check our CGI resource page. Also, there are a number of
pay-services that will set up an affiliate program for you. Many
of these also double as merchant accounts. (companies that set
you up to accept credit cards.) IMR works with a company called
"Clickbank" and we've been extremely pleased. Clickbank has not
only handled our merchant transactions... but also enabled us to
establish an affiliate program... and it is all extremely simple
and affordable. ( http://hop.clickbank.net/?popps ) So, the moral
of the story here, is that even small web owners should do
everything in their power to enable affiliates to their site. The
price paid is well worth the business brought in... just ask
Amazon.
Amazon.com has been perhaps the most impressive internet commerce
story to date. They are rivaled only by AOL and Yahoo when it
comes to name branding. Learning from these types of companies
has always been something that we suggest at IMR. (see "The Art
of Imitation") http://www.imr-central.com/QTTAOI.html While the
company has yet to turn a profit, they have etched their place on
the internet landscape and will certainly be profitable when they
decide that expansion is no longer a priority. (which may be
soon) Intelligent, targeted advertising and the utilization of
efficient traffic and sales generation methods have clearly
enabled Amazon.com to claim their spot atop the world of internet
retailers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bryan Marye
I_M_R
Internet Marketing Resource
http://www.imr-central.com
To receive articles like this from I_M_R every week, visit our
site and sign up for our free e-zine. No hype, just useful
information for webmasters and e-marketers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o
*** HOW DO YOU SPELL ONLINE SUCCESS? E-X-P-E-R-I-E-N-C-E! ***
Why reinvent the wheel ... wasting time and money going it alone
when a bunch of highly-successful webmasters and marketers have
SPILLED THE BEANS at a new Private Web Site?... Learn from our
mistakes and have more time to actually grow your business!
Click Here NOW!
o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o
OK, that's it for part two! Below you'll find the info section.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*****************************************************************
Do you find Biz Bits useful?
Then it is your *duty* to forward a copy to your friends!
*****************************************************************
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
To subscribe to Biz Bits, send a blank email to:
mailto:BizBits@NowSell.com
Should you ever wish to unsubscribe (hopefully not!):
mailto:BizBits-unsubscribe@topica.com
To subscribe on the Web please go to:
http://www.nowsell.com
Biz Bits archives: http://www.NowSell.com/biz-marketing/
Posts to Biz Bits FFA [mailto:FFA@topica.com]:
This is where you can send all of your ads, sales letters,
promotion offers, etc. You may post once every day. If you've not
yet joined, you can do so with a blank email to
mailto:FFA-subscribe@topica.com
=================================================================
Information on sponsoring Biz Bits: mailto:bbads-nowsell.com
=================================================================
Biz Bits is Copyright © 1999-2000 Azam Corry. All Rights
Reserved. No part of Biz Bits may be reproduced in whole or in
part without written permission, though it may be freely
redistributed in its unedited form. All guest articles are
copyright their respective owners and reproduced with permission.
Biz Bits is an internationally registered weekly publication.
|
|
| Jan '01 | Feb '01 | Mar '01 | Apr '01 | May '01 | Jun '01 | Jul '01 | Aug '01 | Sep '01 | Oct '01 | Nov '01 | Dec '01 |
| Jan '00 | Feb '00 | Mar '00 | Apr '00 | May '00 | Jun '00 | Jul '00 | Aug '00 | Sep '00 | Oct '00 | Nov '00 | Dec '00 |
| Jan '99 | Feb '99 | Mar '99 | Apr '99 | May '99 | Jun '99 | Jul '99 | Aug '99 | Sep '99 | Oct '99 | Nov '99 | Dec '99 |
|
|
|||
|
Last Modified: 12:45, Monday November 29, 2004. Copyright © 1999-2008 NowSell.com. All rights reserved.
|
|||