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Web Marketing And Promotion Strategies For Small Business
Sat 24th Feb '01
Founding Member of iCop http://www.i-Cop.org
International Council of Online Professionals
In this issue:
1. INTRODUCTION
==>A quickie.
2. PLACES TO VISIT
==>Web sites for you to visit.
3. TOOLS AT NOW SELL!
==>Useful tools to make your life easier.
4. FEATURE ARTICLE
==>"The Birth of a Niche Site"
By Rob Spiegel
Scroll to the end for subscription details.
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X INTRODUCTION X
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Hi,
Only a few words from me today. I have a relative from the UK
visiting at the moment - which is great - but means I'm quite
tied up. I'm also flying off for a short holiday in a few hours
time, despite the fact that I somehow missed going to bed last
night!
I'm sorry, but if you've written to me, it will be next week
before I can get back to you.
Have a great week! :-)
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TTFN
Azam
PS - Quick, Easy and Disgustingly Cheap Business Incorporation is
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X PLACES TO VISIT X
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http://www.Magic-City.net/
Bob Massa's Magic City has provided search engine placement
services for over 5 years. Not the cheapest, but one of the best.
http://www.affiliate-announce.com/
Service quickly submits your affiliate program to the leading 40
affiliate directories, saving you the time and trouble of
searching them out and doing it yourself.
http://www.weon.net/
Women Entrepreneurs' Online Network (WEON), founded by Rozey
Gean. Provides resources, education and mutual mentoring
opportunities for women on the Net.
http://List-Lingo.com/
Guide to email list terminology, with weekly ezine offering email
list terms, definitions and usage. Pretty basic for the most
part, but great for the newbie.
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"WANT MORE FREE SEARCH ENGINE TRAFFIC?"
Use the award-winning software that's favorite amongst SEO Pros.
* Optimizes pages to rank in the top 10 * Submits to Engines *
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X TOOLS AT NOW SELL! X
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Promotion Tools: Click Here
* 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
HTML Tools: Click Here
* Link Checker
* 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
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X FEATURE ARTICLE X
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"The Birth of a Niche Site"
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By Rob Spiegel
Often a Web business starts with an unfilled need. Dreamsoap.com
began when its owner went to replenish the Rêve-de-Provence
French soap and bath products that she purchased regularly at a
store in Connecticut. She discovered the store had discontinued
the product line. She found the company's address on her last
bar of soap and contacted them, asking where else she might find
the soap in her area. Company representatives told her they no
longer had a distributor in the U.S.
Sensing that she may not be the only one interested in the French
bath products, she decided to take on the U.S. distribution,
using a Web site. Dreamsoap.com was born. Whether the company
succeeds depends on how she markets the site and whether the
products produce the same loyalty with her customers as they
produced in her. Whatever form of advertising she utilizes, the
success of her Web venture will depend on her ability to create
repeat customers.
A quick search of sites selling French soap produced a wide range
of companies selling specialty bath products. Most offered a
wide range of products, suggesting that Dreamsoap.com might be
wise to diversify from one manufacturer's handful of products.
Some sites offered other French items such as soap holders and
glassware. Others expanded on the soap theme, presenting a range
of herbal and foreign-made bath products.
The choice on how to expand a line of products depends on your
customers interests. Do they buy French soap because they love
everything French? Or do they buy French soap because they love
everything soap? The best way to determine this is to simply ask
your customers to fill out a short survey after purchasing their
products. Offer an inexpensive benefit for their time such as an
extra soap item to be included in the order.
The answer to the expanded-line question can also come from your
marketing efforts. If you are use affiliation programs that put
you on sites that sell French products, your customers will
likely respond to additional French items. Likewise, if you
affiliate with sites offering bath products, an expanded bath
line is appropriate. The best approach is to work affiliation
programs in both directions and see which programs deliver the
best response and follow that direction.
Dreamsoap.com is a new site, so I wasn't surprised there is no
email newsletter available. Oddly, I also didn't find email
newsletters at any competitor sites. This means Dreamsoap.com
has the opportunity to sticky-up its site by creating a flow of
information to customers. Chances are the French manufacturer
has information on the benefits of its bath products and other
information useful to customers.
A couple of questions on the customer survey could quickly
produce the germane editorial mix for a weekly newsletter. Do
customers want to know about new products as they come into
distribution? Are they concerned with the health benefits of
specialty soaps? Are they primarily interested in bath products
or French goods? Would they respond to occasional discount
offers? How often do customers want to be contacted by
Dreamsoap.com? Would they purchase holiday gift packs? An email
newsletter can be designed to meet customer needs. Pursuing
customers for feedback on product mix and the editorial content
of an email newsletter will result a site that is entirely
responsive to customer needs.
Another opportunity that was undeveloped at Dreamsoap.com and its
competitors is a sense of customer community. None of the sites
carried references or links to information resources. None
carried testimonials from customers who treasured the products.
Nor did any site carry suggestions on product use. Few carried
detailed information on the products ingredients or manufacturing
process, both of which would probably sell value and exclusivity.
Dreamsoap.com is an excellent Internet launch concept. Once it
is fortified with an expanded product line, strong product
information, an email newsletter touching on customer needs, and
links out to sites of relevance to customers, this niche site
stands a chance at becoming a regularly-visited favorite for its
customers.
Rob Spiegel is the author of Net Strategy (Dearborn) and The
Shoestring Entrepreneur's Guide to the Best Home-Based Businesses
(St. Martin's Press). You can reach Rob at spiegelrob@aol.com.
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