Anthony Shapley

Google have yesterday announced the retirement of the Referrals module of AdSense, this doesn’t come as a massive surprise as I do a hell of a lot of web browsing and haven’t really seen it used much, so it can’t be a very good money earner and the purchase of the affiliate network Double Click has also probably helped push this decision. Referrals officially finishes at the end of August. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a more tightly integrated Double Click  (Google accounts ‘n all) around the same time.

In the permission based world we now live in the best sales opportunity and cheapest lead is now the inbound telephone call.

If someone happens to be calling your business up then you already have their attention, focus on what they want and most importantly their permission.

Unfortunately as I previously wrote most big businesses see inbound calls as a problem and have the least experienced, least well paid people answering them. Frequently hearing phrases like “We’re experiencing high volumes of calls at the moment” and “Please hold” just to name a few.

Most of the phone calls I make I make usually about my Mobile Phones end up with me feeling unsatisfied. I’m fairly certain they should be trying to uphold their image, upgrade my contracts and take more of my money rather than just get me off the phone

I’ve been a reader of Seth Godin’s for a long time now. The last book (Meatball Sundae) I decided to download the Audible version of iTunes so I could listen to it in work. I’ve listened to it two times now, its a lot of information to digest.

In the book it frequently mentions that its importan that everyone within a remarkable organisation is easily contactable. Is the CEO/MD of your company actively talking to potential clients, other businesses, etc. Probably not. More likely his/her e-mail address kept private and a front line put in place to “deal” with inbound enquiries. Its interesting and true that Seth says “most organisations consider incoming questions/enquiries a problem”.

So in short I wondered if Seth practiced what he preached so well, so I e-mailed him. Ten minutes later, I had my reply. This made me feel both appreciated, acknowledged and generally happy. It gives people confidence in what he says. He truly is remarkable IMO. Get his book! No affiliate link, but you need it!

Here’s why; although when advertising on a Social Network its far easier to hit your target audience from a traditional marketing perspective of “We’re targeting women between the ages of 18 - 24 who currently study at University” as we’re selling/promoting perfume.

Advertising on Facebook is still Unsolicited Junk to the browser/visitor.

Search its a completely different ball game, the browser is actively out looking for your Product or Service. After all, a young girl doesn’t always buy perfume for herself. Search Engine adverts are anticipated and relevant. Facebook isn’t.

That isn’t to say Facebook isn’t helpful in building a brand and it will get converions, but it isn’t the be-all and end-all like every affiliate marketer is making out.

After much consideration I took the plunge tonight and bought the Blog paris-hilton-forums.com, this website will be appearing in the portfolio shortly.

Some basic (common sense) stuff you should know when creating landing pages for your Products or Affiliate schemes. 

It’s important to make it clear what actions you want your visitor to take right from the start.  You can get your visitors attention using graphics, grabbing titles and by portraying multiple benefits. Four seconds is all you have to prove the site is a value to them.

After you have got the visitors attention its important to create desire and build a sense of urgency. This can be done by offering an incentive for them to act now such as:

• Free Delivery
• Sale Price
• Limited Membership

Don’t forget that a website is not like a book and therefore you should not expect your visitors to read from top to bottom. They will most probably skip all around your site trying to find the section that is most appealing to them. To help your visitor do this you should make clear and readable headings.

Well, I just went on Shoe Money’s blog to find out that Rich Jerk (aka Kelly Felix) is facing financial difficulties and has put his Empire up for sale for $8,000,000. I can’t believe it personally what a hypocrite, selling a Book on getting Rich then getting into financial difficulties.

View the sale here: http://california.bizquest.com/836910.html

Not sure where this is coming from, but I was sat pondering about Internet Stuff today and then it hit me, it couldn’t have hit me harder.. Its in ebay’s interest and this is pure speculation but I think eBay will offer to buy Auction Ads at some point in the next 12 months.

I could be wrong but I think its a real possibility.

Above the Line is advertising a product or service to the potential buyer directly using a medium such as television, magazines, newspapers or radio. Its opposite is Below the Line which is advertising indirectly through channels such as Sponsorship, Trade Shows and Competitions.

Please find below some details on what I consider the “Marketing Mix” I hope you find this useful. Remember SEO is only a small part of Internet Marketing!

The Marketing Mix is a very simple idea to, get the Four “P’s” in the right proportions and you should be reeking the benifits of a succesful marketing stratergy in no time. Its about finding the right “Product”, that will meet the customers needs percisely. Setting the right “Price” which will keep your customers happy and make a healthy profit. Getting the goods and customers to the right “Place”, so they can buy it. Finally “Promoting” it to encourage a purchase by making them realise they need it.

Product: This is bought by the customers with the intent to meet there demands. This may can fall in to three categories. Required, like food, clothes, etc. Practical, like Washing Powder, Stain Removers, etc. Or Entertaining like DVD’s, Music, etc.

Its important to indentify which needs your product(s) meet. It is possible for a product to satisfy a need the consumer didn’t even realise they had!

Price: A important part of the mix, the price and quality must both be right to ensure enough customers purchase, to make a substaintial profit. The price doesn’t neccersarily mean making it cheap as possible, cheap can sometimes make people think its inferrior.

Place: Connecting the seller and purchaser. This can be a wholesale outlet, retailshop, the internet (for the mos readers). For niche markets people should be willing to travel or alternatively with the internet bringing consumer and customer together is only a few clicks away.

Promotion: Activity such as advertising, direct mail, in the real world. Online PPC, SEO are the most commonly used forms of promotion. The aim, inform the customer of what you have to offer. This is absolutely essential to get your name out. For well established businesses this isn’t as important, since the a good location and familiarity with current product range are already known.