Webster's dictionary defines "loyalty" as: A feeling or attitude of devoted attachment and affection. Often used in the plural: My loyalties lie with LinksBulletin.com.  Before you can effectively develop and implement an "e-loyalty" strategy to illicit such devotion to your product or service, you must recognize some basic relationship marketing principles: 

It is costlier to acquire customers than to retain them. 
Simple as it sounds, numerous companies spend far more in acquiring new customers than retaining their best customers. These companies run the risk of depleting what can sometimes be the best customers in the marketplace. By developing a relationship with clients, they are more likely to keep working with and for you.

Loyal customers are more profitable. 
Savings and increased profitability are by-products of an entire company focused on loyalty as a driving business metric. Not only are revenues higher, because loyal customers spend more than average customers, but operations also become more efficient. 

It takes two-way communication to build a relationship. 
It is possible to create lasting relationships with a website without constant human intervention. The key is to demonstrate that you value customers' input, by using their data to create an intelligent dialogue. Consider bulletin boards or even a simple survey to generate feedback from those valuable users of yours.

Loyalty exists when there is an opportunity cost for defecting. 
An opportunity cost is about what the competition doesn't have, so having such an opportunity cost (something that customers feel they will have to surrender as a result of defecting) is imperative. 

Short-term loyalty can be bought but long-term loyalty must be earned. 
Long-term loyalty takes time because companies have to earn trust by proving value, dependability and respect. Always keep in mind that customers may be quick to give you their trust but they can be even quicker in taking it away.

Peter Prestipino - 7Search.com Marketing Specialist
http://www.7Search.com is the second most trafficked bid for placement search engine on the Internet and provides consumers and webmasters an array of Web resources.

Sign up for the Uniterra Newsletter:
Receive articles like the one above every week via email. Great information from the best online business authors on the Web writing about hundreds of Internet topics.
Click here and receive an issue every Friday!

Thou Shalt Send Emails Thou Wouldst Like to Receive

If you are in the Internet business, chances are good that you receive way too many emails. You may sift through hundreds of emails daily, often deleting messages before ever opening them up. According to marketing specialists, the most effective emails are the ones that grab your attention and somehow "convince" you to read them. What better way to grab your recipients’ attention than to create emails that you yourself would open and read? To ensure the success of your email marketing campaign, read about the five deadly email marketing sins and avoid committing them. 

Thinking as the recipient of the message while creating your email will help you gear your message more effectively to the audience at hand. Key questions to keep in mind when creating the "golden" message are: “What are the messages I delete right away?” and “what are the messages that keep my attention and motivate me to do something?” These questions are important because you want to send emails that you yourself would like to receive; just as is stated in the golden rule. Here are a few other things to keep in mind to maximize your email marketing campaign without breaking the golden rule. 

The Five Deadly Sins of Email Marketing: 

* Thou shalt not address generically– When you receive a generic email, aren’t the chances of you deleting such a message higher than if the message addressed you by name? Apply the golden rule to this situation and personalize the email message you’re about to send whenever possible. What better way of establishing a friendship than to call your potential client by name? There have been actual studies which prove that people respond more positively to being addressed by name—-so directly address your recipient whenever possible.

* Thou shalt not be obscure– Are you more likely to read an email sent by the “Bill Gates” or one sent by “wldfkjasds”? Personalization goes both ways; when the recipient of your email thinks of you as an individual wanting to communicate to another individual, the chance of them reading and “buying” your message is much higher than if the message were sent by an anonymous sender from Yahoo or Hotmail accounts or by a spam relay service. Remember: business relationships ought to be built on trust-—and it is easier to trust “Bill” than “wldfkjasds.” 

* Thou shalt not be “unnecessary”– In order to build a strong rapport with your customer, appeal to their needs then provide a way of meeting that need. Why send an email about mutual funds to college students that are looking for loans to borrow? The message appears irrelevant and may be deleted quickly. However, “needs” is a very subjective notion, and you can use your creativity to create such a “need” in the recipient of your email and turn them into a potential client. How about a subject line such as “Turn Your Pizza Money into Solid Investments!” Appeal to the college student by telling them how little they have to pay in order to begin a mutual fund account, and how it will pay off in the long run. Just think, skipping out on pizza once a week will turn into a million dollars in the future—wouldn’t you think twice about a message like that? In applying the golden rule creatively, you have just turned a seemingly irrelevant email message into a possible sale.

* Thou shalt not be technically inept­- Is anything less useful then sending an email message that cannot be read? Is there anything more annoying then receiving such a message? No one ever "intends" to send a message like that, but it often happens to email marketers who may be a bit technically inept. Make sure that you’re up to par technically so that the messages you are sending are visually appealing as well as browser appropriate. If you are sending out an email message in HTML format, make sure to test the messages in all of the possible browsers to make sure that the readers can view it properly. If all else fails, use simple text messages. Despite its lack of visual appeal, it's better that the email message gets across than for it to be a bunch of incomprehensible codes, right? 

* Thou shalt not harvest email addresses– Don’t you hate getting emails you didn’t sign up for? Well, so do the recipients of the emails that you may be sending. Not only is it difficult to target your audience when you are randomly “harvesting” emails, but your recipient may be put off by the fact that they’re receiving an email without their consent. In order to be personal and relevant in the messages you’re sending, it is necessary for you to know to whom you’re sending the message. Opt-in lists are often interest specific and may provide the demographics of the email recipients; they are a more professional option than email addresses obtained by random harvesting.

And Make Money Too?
After applying these concepts, your possibilities for what else to include in the email are endless. How about the possibility of generating extra income with your email marketing campaign by using Pay-Per-Text to provide “useful” information for your email’s recipients? If you were sending out an email marketing campaign targeting college students, you could, as an affiliate of 7Search.com, provide links to return lists that sells cheap textbooks or CDs which may also be of interest to your recipient. Building a “friendship” with your email recipient will be enhanced by the various options you’re providing them. By filling the “need” you have created, you increase the possibilities of partnering with these prospects in the future. 

Peter Prestipino - 7Search.com Marketing Specialist
http://www.7Search.com is the second most trafficked bid for placement search engine on the Internet and provides consumers and webmasters an array of Web resources.

Sign up for the Uniterra Newsletter:
Receive articles like the one above every week via email. Great information from the best online business authors on the Web writing about hundreds of Internet topics.
Click here and receive an issue every Friday!

If you are burned out with writing how-to articles to promote your business then consider writing a book review. I recommend you write a review about a book you enjoyed that is related to your products or services. Your review, of course, will be capped off with your 5-6 line byline that includes your contact information and web site URL. Many of the article directories, e-zines and web sites that normally accept articles will accept book reviews too. In addition, you can find and submit to the many sites featuring book reviews.

To begin a review, I start with the format required by Midwest Book Review. I then adapt the format and word count to what is required by each submission site. Midwest Book Review recommends the following format (examples of paragraphs are enclosed in parenthesis):

Book Title:
Author:
Publisher:
Publisher Address:
ISBN:
Price: Publication Date: Page Count:

Reviewer Contact Information:

Name: Address: E-mail:

First Paragraph: Include information about the format of the book. A nice touch is to comment on the cover design, table of contents structure and/or glossary at the back of the book.

(Sample: This beautifully laid out trade paperback has a gorgeous and practical design both inside and out. I recommend you read this book with a highlighter and a pen, ready to take copious notes in the blank pages thoughtfully provided between chapters.)

Second Paragraph: Detail the recommended audience and note why they should read the book.

(Sample: Manners That Sell: Adding The Polish That Builds Profits should be required reading for high school and college students and for anyone already in the business environment. Once upon a time, good manners were taught in school and at home, but that time has long since passed. This book provides the perfect refresher course for those of us who learned manners but no longer remember the finer points of etiquette.)

Third Paragraph: Write about the book structure and layout, number of chapters and topics covered.

(Sample: While reading this book, I discovered that the author, Lydia Ramsey, covered every conceivable point of etiquette including many that I'd never been taught. Each of the twelve chapters covers one main topic broken down into digestible bite sized chunks of rules and guidelines to enhance credibility and professionalism. Topics include first impressions, greetings and introductions, the art of conversation, dressing for business, telephone courtesy, electronic etiquette, correspondence in business, etiquette in the office, gift-giving in business, etiquette out of the office, dining for profit and doing business internationally.)

Fourth Paragraph: Give a brief biography of the author including their name, name of their business (if applicable), business or personal expertise and if available, include titles of their other books.

(Sample: The author of this delightful book, Lydia Ramsey, is a business etiquette expert with over thirty years of experience working with non-profits, corporations, colleges and universities. She is a frequently published author who presents workshops, seminars and keynotes on all aspects of business etiquette.)

Fifth Paragraph: Recommend the book and offer some ideas of its practical use by individuals or groups. If applicable, mention that it would make a good gift book and wrap up the review with a positive summary of the book.

(Sample: I recommend businesses buy this book in bulk and present one to every employee from the frontline up to the top management. In this ever-changing world of so many consumer choices, the bottom line is often affected by the simple courtesies that can and should be afforded to customers. You need this book if you want your employees to succeed and your business to thrive.)

Add your copyright statement and byline to the bottom of the review and, as usual, have the review proofread by an editor before you begin submission. Your book reviews can be very effective marketing tools that will generate considerable exposure for you.

About the Author
Bonnie Jo Davis is an experienced writer and publications coordinator with over ten years of experience submitting articles online and in print. Visit http://www.ArticleSubmissionSites.com today to gain access to her submission list, e-book, newsletter and more!

(c) 2005. Davis Virtual Assistance. All rights reserved. Permission to publish online or in print granted provided the article and byline are printed intact with live links.
 

Marketing entails a lot of brainwork and creativity. It follows a domino process and every step needs an equally meticulous guidance and attention.

Before you bring your products to the open, you must first conduct research. Research delves into market information. This may include surveys and handing out questionnaires to your prospective customers. This hopefully discovers the needs and desires of your market as well as their dissatisfactions. Another thing that you can discover here is the competition's marketing strategies. Later, you can use these strategies to compete and make your business boom and profit.

Speaking of strategies, even those entrepreneurs who have meager resources can have successful marketing. All it needs is a great percentage of creativity and resourcefulness.

There are four key components in marketing. First component is the products and services. A specialized product line is easier to handle than those offering a wide-range of options. The latter needs a huge staff to plan and materialize its goals on the other hand, the former, only needs a few. The second factor is the promotion. Promotion includes advertising and customer interaction through personal, mail and telephone conversations. One of the strategies in promotions is using promotional items or products. These may include t-shirts, caps, clocks, key tags, calendars, balloons, candies, CDs and other promotional specialties. On them, you can find the company’s name, products and services. Some even include additional information about the company or business. This is the company’s way of reaching out their target market. This kind of strategy can even be done by middle-class entrepreneurs. Third factor to be considered is the price. Lower prices connote high volume orders. Nonetheless, personalized items and services can demand higher prices. The last factor is distribution. The manner of distributing the products is crucial. This may be easier on small manufacturers. However, the cost and traffic flow must also be taken into consideration.

After your products and services are made open to your market, the work does not stop there, you still have to evaluate its performance. It must pass the performance standards during actual tests made by the company. It should be evaluated on the following grounds: a) customer-orientation, b) customer satisfaction and, c) marketability and sales. These three grounds are related. A customer must be familiar with the product before he can purchase it. If he has already bought it, he must be satisfied in order to be back for more. If he comes back, he therefore finds the product affordable and fulfilling. That fulfillment, the company must treasure and protect.

For additional information and comments about the article you may log on to www.4promotionalproducts.com.

Written by Maricon Williams.

Marketing strategies are very important to every business, large and small. I've seen a lot of businesses in my time take almost a cavalier attitude toward marketing. As if they say to themselves "Ok, I have to advertise. Here is some money let me know how it goes." I assure you there is or should be more to it than that. People today are always looking for the quick fix, the instant gratification. I see it all to often as I am sure you have. The post in the blah blah forums asking "What is the best way to advertise". I do have the answer. Are you ready. The answer is...It depends. It depends on who your market is. What age group are you targeting? What demographic are you stalking? If you can answer these questions you are on the right track for success. The answer is not a simple one. Most often the answer is a medley of different answers and quite often one that nobody hasn’t thought of yet.

When advertising, never do it out of emotion. When starting an advertising campaign make sure it can be tracked. Whether you pay for it or not, if you can’t track it, you are wasting your time and or money. Let's say you want to start an opt-in e-mail campaign. You send out 300,000 e-mails. You get 3000 responses (by the way, that is extremely good). Where did they come from? Why didn’t they or did they buy? If you can learn something from it that makes the next campaign better it is not a failure. By constantly analyzing and readjusting your campaigns, you can zero in on the most effective form of advertising possible for your specific business. In the words of Colin Powell, "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."

Most hosting companies today offer web site analysis software. Use it. I can not stress this enough. It is amazing to me how many webmasters don’t know what their highest traffic days are. How many unique visitors are you getting? What is the most popular page on your web site? What is the least? What time of day does the bulk of your visitors show? There is so much useful information that can be harvested from these programs. I had a friend of mine come to me and asked for my help. He was getting a lot of visitors to his site but they were leaving and not buying. He did know that but he should have dug deeper. After reviewing his site statistic reports I noticed that a lot of shopping carts were being abandoned. This isn't really all that uncommon except for the fact that 90% were being abandoned at a specific point in the check out process. I ran through the check out process myself and discovered that selecting payment page was very confusing. I let him know about it. After fixing the issue his sales went up 150%. That’s huge. How much would you pay to increase your business 150%? This is one of many examples of the potential benefits of knowing the visitor flow and behavior of your site.

Don’t let your ego get in the way. Don’t get dragged into an advertising war with a competitor. It is human nature to be competitive and that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can turn into a disaster if it gets the best of you. Just take a look at Google Adwords. I've seen certain search terms as high as $3000.00. I've seen businesses fold partly due to their advertising budget that had gotten out of control.

Always have a plan. Always know where you are going, where you are now, and where you have been. If you follow these simple guidelines, success is just a matter of time.

Casey Tyler is a web marketer and owner of totalnettechnologies.com. He has spent the last five years helping new webmasters succeed on the internet.

In my e-book "Articles That Sell", I've shared the secret of marketing your business on the Internet.  If you've been active in your efforts, you've been writing and publishing free reprint articles.

Guess what?  I've got another incredible marketing secret for you.

While online marketing has unlimited potential it often misses a valuable mark.  This missed mark is your own local area.  You could be missing out on immediate opportunities to market your expertise through your writing.

Take a discerning look in your own backyard.  How many potential business allies do you meet yet overlook each day?  Let's make this simple... begin your day tomorrow with a pen and pad handy.  Make a note of each person you encounter throughout your day, whether in-person or by telephone and/or e-mail.

Home:  spouse/partner and kids.
Coffee Shop:  owner, staff, and business professionals.
Work:  parking lot attendant, colleagues and clients.
Gym:  staff and other members.
Miscellaneous:  banker, attorney, charities and even your competitors.

You get the idea, I'll stop there.  Each of these contacts, even your spouse and kids, presents a potential marketing opportunity. It all depends on your perception.

Let's examine the marketing value of these relationships.

Spouse/Partner:  He/she has a career.  Careers come with contacts and we all agree that face-to-face contacts are valuable.  This is particularly true in the area of business, but also in the area of professional and social organizations of your own.  Writing an article for an organization to which your spouse belongs increases your exposure.

Kids:  Most parents are jumping through the hoops of soccer practice, dance lessons and parent-teacher conferences.  What coach or teacher wouldn't love a parent who participates by contributing an article to the team, class or school newsletter?  Kids don't always read these but their parents do.  Writing for school-related publications can deliver your name to countless local readers.

Business Associates:  Gaining exposure via peers in your own field can be tough, especially if yours is very competitive. Contributing an article to a competitor's business publication or newsletter creates goodwill.  Business publications can be far-reaching and can create immediate recognition of your name within your industry.  If you have an associate who is a small business owner with no publication offer your help in creating one.  You're almost certain to be asked to submit an article or given appropriate credit for your expertise.

Waitperson and/or Coffee Shop Owner:  These folks are in the trenches and know more business professionals than you may know. Coffee shops play as much a role in business as board rooms.  Regular customers often view the owners and employees as familiar friends.  Select a busy coffee shop and frequent it regularly. Establish a friendly rapport with the boss and the staff so that they know you well.  As a regular, you'll benefit if they know about your business as well as the fact that you write.  Be personable, carry business cards and tip generously... and don't be surprised.  You can't buy exposure for the price of a cup of coffee but you can gain recognition by genuinely interacting with others publicly.  Never dismiss the potential of a contact who works in any service industry.

Charities/Community Service Organizations:  While it's quicker and easier to write a check, taking your donation to the next level can create a definite presence for you.  Since most of these groups are nonprofit offer to contribute a free article.  Try one of these article ideas: a piece about the group's local efforts, a press release about a new fundraising effort or offer to write a regular column that covers the positive impact of the group's work from the viewpoint of a business professional.

Professional Organizations:  You pay your annual membership fee but attend few meetings and/or functions.  Sure there's prestige with membership but anyone bearing proper credentials can join.  Treat your membership as an investment, a potentially profitable one by being active within the organization.  Out of sight is typically out of mind, so make sure to let people see you regularly.  Be the first one to volunteer your business expertise and/or writing services for any projects.   

Adjust your focus to the potential rather than the immediate and don't forget to look in your own backyard for business contacts and opportunities.  As your own local awareness increases you will receive reciprocating professional recognition.  It's just a matter of fine-tuning your perspective.

(c) 2004, Davis Virtual Assistance.  All rights in all media reserved.  Right to publish this article  is granted provided the article and by-line are reprinted intact.

Bonnie Jo Davis is an experienced shoestring marketer and her favorite technique is providing content for publishers.  She is the author of the e-book Articles That Sell.  Sign-up for the monthly Articles That Sell Update newsletter and receive a free gift.