Web Marketing Strategy Update

Considering your first crowdsourcing venture? Already seasoned crowdsourcing veteran? Either way, there are now literally hundreds of opportunities at your disposal. Here’s our pick of five not-to-be-missed crowdsourcing sites that you should pay a visit.

crowdsourcing.org

This is a one-stop shop for all things crowdsourcing. crowdsourcing.org is one of the most comprehensive crowdsourcing resources with a home page that provides a running, up-to-date log of literally hundreds of crowdsourcing stories, articles and case studies. You’ll have access to live chats, research results, industry event announcements and more. Best of all, here you will find the web’s largest and most comprehensive directory of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding web sites—totaling 1,801 and counting. Within that list you can drill down to find exactly what you are searching for including Cloud Labor, Crowd Creativity, Crowdfunding, and more (with subcategories within each.)
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Joint Ventures (JVs) are one of the most powerfull techniques you can employ to get your Niche Business up and running.

If they are done right Joint Ventures can help you start making money almost immediately online.

If you’re not sure what a joint venture is, let me explain – here’s how it works in very simplistic form :

* A has a product which he wants to get to the market

* B has a list which targets just the right market for A’s product

* A finds B and sets up a Joint Venture with B

* B promotes A’s product to his list

* A and B both share the profits from sales of the product

It’s a total win/win arrangement for them both.

But where do you find the people to JV with?

Identifying potential Joint Venture (JV) partners for your Niche Business is relatively easy online as there are so many places to locate them. Here’s a few examples :

* keyword search on major search engines e.g. Google

* e-zine directories e.g. The Directory of Ezines

* business directories e.g. Business.com

* topic organized directories e.g. DMOZ.org

To do the job properly you need to take an organised and structured approach to finding your potential JV partners. Set aside a specific amount of time each day to seek them out. Collect as much information as you can on them and collate it in a spreadsheet. The sort of information you should collect is:

* Contact information – name, email, telephone etc.

* Web site URL

* A brief description of their web site

Once you’ve collected a decent sized list, it’s time to make contact.

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>> Contacting Potential JV Partners <<

As you go through your data, you'll see that some sites contain detailed contact information, including a phone number, while others only post their email address.

You should make contact first by phone whenever possible. Not only does this approach show your sincerity, it will cut back on the time you spend waiting for the business owner to wade through all of their emails and respond to yours.

Your first phone call should be direct and personal. Make sure you have your target's website open in your browser to view as you speak to him. Your introduction should be something like this:

"Hi, this is John Doe, owner of xyz.com. Do you have a few moments? I'm looking at your site, abc.com, and really like what I see. It looks like our businesses have a lot in common. I think my customers would love your product, and yours might be interested in mine as well. Would you be willing to consider the possibility of teaming up to create a special offer for your customers?"

At this point back off and let the other party speak.

If they aren't interested, thank them for their time and move on.

If they bite, then you can continue your pitch and provide a run down on what you'd like to offer them and what you're requesting in return:

"I'm ready to offer you 60% commission on all sales in exchange for endorsing my product to your list."

"I'm ready to offer you full access to my existing customer list in exchange for an up sell placement of my product on your order page"

Etc..

You should use this format in your e-mail introductions as well. However, you'll need to provide some very compelling reasons in your first contact message in order to generate a response. Remember, e-mail is less personal than a phone call and this will impact your prospect's psychological response to your offer.

The best way to grab their attention when you contact potetial Joint Venture partners via e-mail is to make it clear from the outset that you want to create a "win-win" situation – in fact, create a "win-win" situation "slanted in their favor". Offer to provide them with a free copy of your product for evaluation. Let them know exactly when, where and how to contact you and suggest a follow up phone call.

>> Persistence Will Win The Day <<

Like every other sales situation (Yes it "is" a sales situation - you're trying to sell an idea, right?) it's unlikely that you will strike lucky straight away, rejections are inevitable, but keep plugging away at your list. Be Persistent.

It may take a while before you hit on the right JV partner and get the deal you're looking for - don't let yourself get discouraged - keep yourself motivated - keep organised -prioritize your search and make at least two phone calls and send out two or three e-mails every day until you're successfull.

>> And Don't Stop There! <<

Once you've found a JV partner don't stop there. There's no reason why you shouldn't continue making those phone calls and sending out those e-mail offers.

Why?

Because then you can create multiple JV's for your Niche product(s) with dozens of other businesses, leveraging dozens of customer lists.

In fact, if you're feeling really motivated, you can take this process a step further and create "multi-party" joint ventures - bringing several businesses together to work towards one campaign - remember John Reese and his mill.ion dol.lar sales day not so long ago? - That's power of JVs.

Copyright © 2005, André Anthony Niche Market Know-How

About the Author
André Anthony owns and operates Niche Market Know-How a resource for beginning Niche Marketers. Visit http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com today to find strategies, tips, tools, products and resources for effective niche marketing. Get his Niche Market Know-how Mini Course here: http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com/course.htm

Postcards may be one of the best kept secrets of modern marketing. They produce even better results now than in the past. That’s probably because postcards deliver information the way people want to get it today …fast and with little or no effort.

Use Postcards to Generate Website Traffic and Sales Leads

A brief captivating message on a postcard with an enticing offer sent to the right prospects will generate a flood of traffic to your website – or a large number of sales leads.

Keep your postcard simple. Make it look at first glance like a message from a friend instead of like an advertisement. This creates a pleasant emotional response from readers even though they quickly realize that it is a commercial message.

State the biggest benefit you offer to customers. Then briefly add a few other advantages or features you provide. End with a compelling reason for prospects to contact you …or to go to your website for more details. It’s that simple.

Tip: Don’t try to close sales directly from a postcard. There’s not enough space on a postcard to provide all the information your prospects need to make a buying decision.

People Read Postcards

Almost everybody will read a postcard – even those who usually throw out other direct mail without opening it. That’s because it’s almost impossible to throw out a postcard without looking at the message.

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This high rate of readership is the main reason why postcards produce a bigger response than other types of direct marketing. With other types of marketing you often lose prospects who would have responded to your offer - but they never saw it.

Tip: Postcards are an excellent low-cost alternative to email. People get so much email today that even legitimate messages are getting deleted unread. But they get few if any postcards. Your message is guaranteed to get their attention when it's delivered on a postcard.

Postcards are Cheap to Produce

Postcards cost less than 2 cents each to produce if you print them using your own computer. You can print postcards individually on blank 4 x 6 inch index cards or print 4 postcards on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of index card stock and cut each sheet into quarters.

Your postcards will cost between 4 cents and 9 cents each to produce if you use a commercial printer ...depending on the number you have printed and the quality you want.

Postcards are Cheap to Mail

Even the postage for mailing postcards is cheap - 23 cents each to send them by First Class Mail in the US. The only requirement for this special rate is that the dimensions of your postcards must be at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 x 6 inches.

Tip: Always use a real 23 cent stamp on your postcards. It produces more replies than a printed indicia (imprinted postage) ...probably because people associate a printed indicia with junk mail.

Don't overlook postcards the next time you want to drive a huge amount of traffic to your website or generate a flood of new sales leads. They're simple to use, highly effective and very low-cost.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

The purpose of your marketing is to attract prospects and help them make a series of decisions that lead them to purchase your products or services. The sequence of information you provide on your web site and its visual presentation can drive clients to contact you about your services or buy your products – or it can send them away.

Many small business owners have web sites but few are making as much money from their sites as they’d like to be. If you aren’t getting the web traffic you’d like, or if you’re getting lots of traffic but no buyers, the problem is most likely the design and copy you are using on your site. The seven web page building guidelines below will help you convert prospects to clients with your web site.

1. List The Actions You Want Visitors To Take.
Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter, read your marketing message, read your copy or just contact you? Before you design or edit your page, make a list of which actions you want people to take and in what order when they visit your site.

2. Identify The Decisions Visitors Need To Make Prior To each Action.
Before you design or redesign your homepage or edit your copy, clarify the decision making sequence that you want visitors to move through. Most marketing materials, web sites included, rush to sell prospects on the solution without laying the groundwork.

Help prospects clarify the problems they want solved and the value in having them solved. Once you’ve done this, you’ve created the context for selling your solution.

3. Design The Visual Hierarchy To Move People To The Desired Action.
Use the size, color, and the location of elements (type, illustrations or photographs) to bring visitors’ attention to the most important message first, then to the second most important message or link. Make sure that visitors can scan your page and find the most important links first or can scan the copy and quickly pick up the most important points because they stand out visually.

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4. Stay Focused On Prospects' Problems.
Your prospects want to satisfy their needs and, more importantly, avoid incurring a loss or pain. Lead with copy about their concerns. Let them know that you understand their aspirations as well as their worries and the problems they want to solve.

5. Write Your Copy To Support Prospects' Decision Making.
To demonstrate that you know and understand your prospects' problems, be specific. Avoid general phrases like "save time and money", which apply to hundreds of services. Give detailed examples of the problems your prospects experience and how you solve them.

6. Tell People What To Do.
If you want people to read a key article first, then sign up for your newsletter, and then contact you, tell them so. List the steps you want them to take at the top of the page and then use your page design to support this sequence of actions.

7. Make It asy For Prospects To Contact You And To Buy.
Include a contact or order form on your homepage and make your email and phone number easy to find.

Change the design and copy on your site to help visitors take the steps to become clients. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the difference in your response rate and your business growth.

- 2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. - The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Guide, '7 Steps to Grow Your Business' and the 'More Business' newsletter, full of practical tips you can use at http://www.charliecook.net