How Email Marketing Helps Sell Pencils

Every office and business needs organizational tools to help keep the business well run, so why not offer customers discounts to the things they require, in order to stay ahead of the competition, with email marketing?
Email marketing is a cost effective way to stay ahead of the competition, which also makes your clients feel valued. This increases your overall brand awareness and leads to higher sales numbers. As an owner and operator of a business supply store, pulling customers away from the big boxes and establishing loyalty with you is crucial to your businesses success.
By designing an email marketing template, you will be able to target your audiences, and provide a more streamlined marketing technique for future campaigns.

The most effective email marketing programs give you the option to design a campaign from over 200 templates. Having this amount of options helps you to determine the best marketing strategy for your needs, and allows you to match your communications to your company's color schemes.

To start off with, you should be offering your customers discounts using a variety of different products to choose from. Include computer hardware products, software products, paper discounts, office furniture discounts and writing utensil discounts. Provide pictures of each product including a link to a page on your website where they can get more information on the product.

Email marketing tracking capabilities will be able to show you, in real time, which of your subscribers have clicked on the products they are interested in. This is valuable information for future campaigns, especially because the best email marketing programs allow you the ability to export this data, and use it for analysis, sales optimization, etc. Next time you send out your campaigns, you can segment your list of subscribers to provide them information on the products they showed the most interest in.

Using an email marketing template is easy. It is merely a matter of uploading images and cutting and pasting your content to go along with the images. Some things to think about when creating are to avoid over stylized text material, meaning don't input entire paragraphs in bold or italics (or both). Also, in the subject line of your email avoid statements like "50% off!" or the use of dollar symbols ( $) and excessive use of exclamation points(!!!).

These are considered "visually enhancing", so the spam filters are designed to react with an understating that, if your content needs to be visually enhanced, it probably lacks substance. Therefore, the spam filters can send your email to people's junk mailboxes and not their Inbox.

Email marketing is a cost effective way to stay ahead of your big box competition, so that you maintain a loyal client base. Email marketing costs as much one cent per email address. So, setting up a professionally designed email marketing campaign keeps you on par with the big boxes. This is accomplished in a more effective manner by targeting your customers directly, and making them feel valued. The discounts you offer them through an email marketing campaign that is designed to better target these audiences will keep your store and its products top of mind. Start competing with the conglomerates by taking advantage of email marketing.

Robert Burk is CEO of Elite Email, the complete email marketing package used by office supply stores around the world. You can deploy a comprehensive email marketing program for your business supply store with a no-risk free trial. Start harnessing the power of email marketing today!

Lead Me On - Learn About Internet Marketing Leads

Every business is engaged in selling something, whether a product, service, information, or something else. And sales usually begin with sales leads. As an offline example, new insurance and car sales people are frequently asked to compile lists of their friends, families, acquaintances, and so on. This list is used then as a lead builder - something to get the ball rolling towards that first big sale. The online world is no different. Every for-profit web site needs a steady flow of internet marketing leads. A big part of any online marketer*s job is to generate the leads that will ultimately be responsible for another sale. In particular, in the highly competitive online marketing arena, someone selling products and services to other marketers will need a steady flow of fresh internet marketing leads to fuel their sales.

Selling to internet marketers is a tough market segment to compete in. New products and services are released at an amazing rate. These new products and services are sometimes driven by new technology, other times by changes in market conditions or search engines, and still others are variations of existing products. Some of these products are themselves designed to help capture internet marketing leads!

There are several basic ways to capture new leads online. The most commonly recommended method is to build an email list. There*s an old direct marketing axiom *The money is in the list*, and this has held true on the internet as well. Email marketing may not work as well as it used to, due to spam filtering, but that*s not to say it*s not effective. After all, other than your time, it*s free to send, and response rates for email that does reach the intended recipients have remained steady. The theory of this type of internet marketing leads generation is that an email list works as the first part of a funnel system, whereby subscribers get some incentive to sign up for the list. It may be a free product, program, or report, or some other incentive that will then *funnel* responsive customers to your main products and services.

Other common lead generation techniques include using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, adding information about a site, product, or service to an email signature file, and posting and answering questions on marketing related forums. Just think, for someone selling to other marketers, what better free way is there to generate internet marketing leads than posting in forums where other marketers *hang out*?

Whatever the lead generation techniques a marketer uses, the most important thing to remember about finding internet marketing leads is this: to be effective, they must be targeted. This means that the leads you generate must be generally interested in the product or service you offer. For an extreme example, it probably would*t make sense to try to generate leads for a knitting product on a site that is football-related. The target audience of a football site ism*t generally going to be interested in knitting products.

As you begin to build your marketing-related web business, be sure to plan a good internet marketing lead strategy from the outset. It should*t be an afterthought that you*LL take care of someday - Give it a lot of consideration early on.

Mal Keenan is editor and publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter: Work at Home Business Opportunity [http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/].

For all your work at home business needs, visit here: Home based business opportunity work at home [http://www.workathomebiz.info]

Network Marketing - Lifetime Residual Income

What is network marketing?
Many of you might be asking yourself a question: what is network marketing? To describe what it is, it is necessary to describe what in includes. First of all, you are building a marketing network to promote some product or service. You will be creating a network marketing strategy, which will define how marketing network is created and what are the activities you will do to build the marketing network.
It is the most profitable to do the network marketing online. Internet allows you to build a larger marketing network that you will be able to use more effectively. The network marketing strategy still needs to be created for the online marketing network. You should study the available network marketing tip or tips before you write your network marketing strategy.
Network marketing tip: where to find.
You should look online to find network marketing tip or tips. It is a good ides to study someone else's network marketing strategy and see if there are any network marketing tip or tips that can be derived from there. Also look at the companies that already built their marketing network, whether it is an online marketing network or regular marketing network. Each network marketing tip will be useful for you when you are creating your own network marketing strategy.
Marketing network: what's next?
After you have created your network marketing strategy, you can start building your marketing network by collecting prospective clients' contact information and informing your marketing network clients about your products or services. Remember each network marketing tip that you found as it will definitely help you.

Marketing truths, tips and strategies from a seven figure network marketing income earner [http://www.network-marketing-review.com]

Finding Network Marketing Leads

Getting a network marketing lead.

Getting a network marketing lead is not an easy process and involves a lot of work. However you can achieve network marketing success by following a few simple but detailed instructions and using network marketing tools. Network marketing success involves not only getting a lead but also keeping the lead and developing a good business relationship that's the key to network marketing success.

Network marketing success: what steps to take

If you want to achieve the network marketing success, especially while doing your network marketing online, you will need to use various network marketing tools. One of the network marketing tools that are available to you is the network marketing prospecting website. The network marketing prospecting website will allow you to find leads and clients and build your marketing campaign.A Network marketing prospecting website can also post the valuable information to your prospective clients. As you can see, the network marketing prospecting website is one of the key network marketing tools that will bring you network marketing success.

You should also study the network marketing tools that are being used by other networker. This can also contribute to your network marketing success since you will be able to find valuable information. Go through the network marketing prospecting website of your competitor(s),research various network marketing tools that are available online, hold on to this valuable information and you are on your way to network marketing success.

There are things besides network marketing prospecting website and network marketing tools that can contribute you your network marketing success, but you should start with the network marketing prospecting website and network marketing tools and then move on to other marketing ideas.

Learn about network marketing tips and strategies at [http://www.network-marketing-review.com]

11 MONSTROUS Small Business Marketing Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 1: Sinking a Fortune Into an Unproven Product

Is your business idea built on market research or a hunch?

Entrepreneurs often fall in love with their products or services before they determine if there's a real market, and they throw fistfuls of money into the venture. If you, your spouse, your uncle, and your neighbor think you've got a winning idea, that's simply not enough qualified input to run to the bank and drain your savings account!

Avoid this mistake by:

• Conducting your detective work (research).

• Testing your business idea with the real marketplace.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 2: Believing That "If You Build It, They Will Come"

Do you think you have a product or service that will practically sell itself?

Trust me — you don't.

There is a misconception among small business owners that, with the right product or service, your customers will simply "find" you when you open your doors for business. Whether you have a physical storefront on a corner lot in the busiest part of downtown, or a graphically pleasing online storefront offering easy access to your hot products and services, your customers will not find you if you do not market to them.

The day you open for business is the day you put on your "marketer's hat" and never take it off. You must consistently move product, or schedule service time.

To stay in business you must profit.

To profit you must sell.

To sell you must market.

The good news is that, with a marketing strategy, you take the control out of your potential customers' hands and put it into your own. If you have a product that will "practically sell itself," then your marketing job will be easy. Just remember that the job must still be done.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Defining your niche market and USPS (Unique Selling Proposition) that differentiates you from your competition.

• Developing a marketing action plan and strategy to reach your niche market with your USPS message.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 3: Trying to Reinvent the Wheel

Marketing is an age-old practice with some very basic principles. Yet, I'm sure you've read many marketing information products that stress the importance of being innovative and creative with your marketing efforts. It's easy to get caught up in the innovation process and forget that the REAL focus should be on results.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Emulating success instead of trying to create something completely new. Please note that I am not saying, "copy" what others are doing. Look at the basic structure of a tactic, campaign, advertisement, or event and use the same formula as a basis for developing your own tactics.

• Realizing great marketing ideas are used over and over again with just the right twist to make them fit a specific business. Focus on results, and choose imitation over innovation to create your own twist on a proven, winning technique.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 4: Over-Preparing and Doing Nothing

The fear of failure can be powerful. So powerful that we do everything we can think of to prevent it. Yet, there is a point at which we are so busy preparing, organizing, and researching to prevent failure that we never get around to the actual marketing of the business. Here are two things to remember:

1. Activity is not productivity.
2. In order to sell a million of something, you have to sell the first ONE.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Doing something! If you believe in your business and have done your detective work, it's time to dive into the marketing pool. Start small, track results and build from there.

• Not being afraid to make a mistake. Mistakes are the entry to success. At the very least, a failed promotion means you have SUCCESSFULLY determined what promotion does not work. And, to learn what does NOT work is a valuable tool in getting you closer to discovering what WILL work.

So, go ahead. Fail a little. It will make your eventual successes even sweeter.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 5: Boredom

When I was working for an ad agency many years ago, I had one client that was running an extremely successful ad campaign. After about six months, I received a phone call from the client. He wanted to develop an entirely new campaign. When I asked, "why?" he simply said, "I'm bored with the one we have."

What?

That client may have had the money to spend on a new campaign due to "boredom" but you and I usually don't. Yet, I've often seen my small business clients switch promotions for the same reason. This is detrimental to your business!

"Losing money" is a reason.
"Boredom" is not.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Remembering that, what is old to you, is new to an untapped target market. If you have a promotion that is consistently getting you results, stick with it until results show you its time for change.

• Testing new promotions without abandoning the current one. Then track results. Never swap a current promotion with a new one that hasn't been tested.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 6: Relying on Networking to Generate Sales Leads

Joining the Chamber of Commerce and schooling at association meetings can put you in contact with vendors and possible joint venture partners, and will be invaluable exposure for you as a community supporter - but it will rarely generate substantial sales leads.

Everyone else who attends these "meet and greet" assemblies is there to do the same thing you are. You may be able to make some valuable contacts for future ventures and promotions, but one-on-one networking is time-consuming and results are unpredictable.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Treating networking opportunities the same as any other marketing tactic. Track results by determining your costs and measuring your payback.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 7: Doing What Your Competitors Do

It's important to be aware of what your competitors are offering, but do not let it dictate the strategy you use for your own business.

If your competitor wants to be the low price leader, let him. Don't try to become the "lower price" leader. Chances are this will lead you to financial problems because it will thrust you into an ugly price war.
If your competitor wants to tout low prices, then you focus on value. Bargain hunters don't necessarily want the lowest price. They want the best VALUE. Make what you have to offer something of value.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Finding an unmet need or want of your target market, and fill it to differentiate your products and services from your competitors.

• Giving customers a reason to choose you over your competitors. Define your USPS, and identify your niche market.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 8: Not Targeting a Specific Market

If you believe your market is "everybody," you will struggle to attract people who will buy from you. The value of target (niche) marketing is one of the toughest sells I make to my clients. They understand the logic of it, but the "fear of losing a potential customer" gets the best of them.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Viewing the practice of niche marketing as inclusive, not exclusive.
Think of your business as part of a person's support group. It's logical to say, "Everybody needs a support group so my business should attract everyone." But, will it? People - your customers - want to go to a support business that understands their specific concerns, needs, and wants. Make sure you ARE that business by targeting a niche market.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 9: Targeting a Market You Can't Reach or One That Can't Afford You

Targeting a niche market is the smartest way to market. Yet, targeting a market that is too specific will limit your ability to succeed long term. For example, a market that might be too specific would be: female pilots under the age of 35 who fly ONLY New York to London flights. That's a pretty narrow market to sustain your business in the long term unless you can capture the ENTIRE market with a product or service that has a high profit point and customers need to use or replace it often.

In that same vein, a market that is begging for the service or product you have but cannot afford it will also be a business impossible to sustain. Never compete for someone's rent money. Your target market must have the means to buy your products and services.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Creating your customer profile to identify characteristics of your potential buyers,

• Identifying a niche market,

• Examining the long term potential for new and repeat sales.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 10: Focusing On Acquiring New Customers Instead of Promoting to Current or Previous Customers

When you first start a business you have little choice but to focus on gaining new customers. The cost of finding those new customers can be expensive, which is one reason it is so important to really target a specific niche. However, once you've made just one sale, you're ready to start looking at other marketing options.

Wouldn't you like to:
... slash your marketing costs by half or more?
... reach proven buyers for your service or products?

That little gold mine of proven buyers available to you "on the cheap" is already yours in the form of current and previous customers.

Any respected marketing guru, past or present, online or offline, will tell you that the biggest asset your company has is your customer base.

Avoid this mistake by:

• Realizing that, when a sale is finalized, it is the beginning of your relationship with that customer, not the end.

• Offering additional products or services to current customers. If you don't have your own to offer them, then develop a referral, joint venture or product bundling program so you can reap profits from your already-interested (and buying) customers.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 11: Not Systematically Following Up on Leads

The least expensive part of business is making the sale. The most expensive is generating leads - finding the people who are interested in what you have.
Once you find people who express an interest in what you have to offer - whether they buy from you or not - you MUST develop a follow up system that will keep marketing to those interested prospects. A person who has expressed interest in your products and services is far more likely to eventually buy from you than someone who did not respond at all!

Avoid this mistake by:

• Curbing the tendency to become obsessed with generating more leads until you have exhausted the ones you already have.

• Developing an easy, systematic follow up for leads, designed to convert a "maybe" into a "yes."

Celebrity Endorsement and Niche Blogs As Internet Marketing Tools

Internet marketing is the lifeblood of companies and businesses today. Blue-chip companies at Dow Jones Industrial Average and home-based startups are competing for the attention of internet visitors to drive up their sales, and perhaps, gain credibility in the market.

While the blue-chip companies with multi billion market capitalization have the financial muscles to bankroll powerful online marketing campaigns, startups have to make do with what their shallow pockets can achieve. Now, there are inexpensive yet effective internet marketing tools that every small business out there can use and gain the exposure and sales surge that they need. Basically, you do not need to hire a top notch SEO expert to help you do these; all you require is time to get them done.

For a very long time, major companies at the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ or any global listing market, have used the power of celebrities to drum up publicity for their products. This is an old practice that continues to deliver juice to-date. In fact, celebrity endorsement is even popular in political circles these days.

Get a star to say something about your products
In the corporate world where At&T and JPMorgan play, celebrities are paid top dollars to promote products or services. You may not have that money to get hold of Beyonce or such high flying personalities. But you can easily get some local celebrities whose influence can effectively get a few thousand people interest in your products.

The good thing about local celebrities is that you do not have to pay money to capitalize on their fame, instead, you can just barter. Just send them a few free gifts to tryout so that they can leave a feedback. If they drop you a positive feedback on the products you sent them, tell that to the world. It is easy, simply write press release to your local paper and several other web-based publishing platforms in your community about the endorsement.

The local celebrities that you can target in you area can be a retired senior fireman whose services gained national or even global attention. You can also tap into the fame or local dog-trainer that has recently been featured on national media. A teacher doing great things down there can also be a good celebrity to have in your internet marketing network.

Guest posting in niche blogs
Guest posting a popular blog has all the potential that any marketer needs to get the word out there. Some blog owners allow free guest posting, yet others may ask for a dime, but you can be sure that with backlinks, you will be able to get several thousand eyeballs rolling on your marketing page. So get out and look for a blog covering your niche and then ask to make a guest post.

You can also give free gifts to the blog owners to tryout and review the product for their readers. This is another bartering way to keep your internet marketing campaigns as inexpensive as possible while drawing the most from the campaigns.

Disclaimer Policy

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by us. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content. The owner(s) of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content may not always be identified.

The Process of Change in Marketing Approaches

In a world economy that is in constant flux and undergoing turbulence, more companies are realizing that their most precious asset is their customer base. An even more important realization is the need to satisfy the whims and fancies of these customers in order to survive in these increasingly competitive markets. Organizations that do not act on this dictum have suffered the loss of market share or worse, total annihilation. Such dire consequences have awakened many organizations to rethink the way they see marketing. Thus, there is urgency for an organization (be it products or service providers) as a whole to develop appropriate holistic customer-focused strategies to ensure that the customer remains at the core of their organizational thinking.
With the rapid advancement of information technology (especially the rise of the Web) and the increasing difficulties of meeting customer's needs and wants (for example, their expectations of 24 / 7 customer service especially for online transactions), there is a shift from a traditional marketing approach to customer targeted marketing. Many organizations and marketing consultants are emphasizing the need to allocate more funds to apply new-found knowledge of consumer behavior in new products development, build better customer relationships through customer loyalty and retention programs.
This purpose of this paper is to raise the awareness of the need to concentrate marketing efforts towards the customer rather than the inward-looking traditional product-focused arrangement. And more importantly, the paper will shed light on how an organization could go about in making this important transition in this current competitive market.
Marketing Approaches Explained:
Before I proceed to discuss the shift in the marketing approach, it will be appropriate to explain briefly the two marketing approaches separately for greater clarity.
Traditional Marketing-The 4 Ps of Marketing:
The marketing mix or what is commonly known as the 4 Ps is a framework for marketers to implement a marketing concept. It consists of a set of major decision areas that a company needs to manage in order to at least satisfy consumer needs. According to Kotler et al. (1999), the mix is a set of "controllable tactical marketing tools [...] that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market" (p.8). Hence, in an effective marketing program, all of those elements are "mixed" to successfully achieve the company's marketing objectives.
The traditional marketing mix contains four major elements, the "4 Ps of marketing". As defined by Kotler et al. (1999):
1.Product: Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. In includes physical objects, services, persons, places, organizations and ideas.
2.Price: The amount of money charged for a product or service, or the sum of the values that consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service.
3.Promotion: Activities that communicate the product or service and its merits to target customers with a view to persuading them to buy.
4.Place: All the company's activities that make the product or service available to target customers.
With the rapid changes surrounding organizations, the traditional marketing mix of the 4 Ps has been criticized for being too myopic in this current market situation. The traditional marketing mix has also been disparaged for being too product-focused and for taking an overly inward-looking strategy with regards to the organization's resources and capabilities in production matters. This is antithetical to attending to the more important organizational goal of satisfying the desired needs and wants of customers.
In addition, the Web and E-commerce revolution has played a major role in alleviating customers' ability to shape their relationships with the company. This has led customers to expect companies to market their products and services in ways that reflect more directly their individual needs.
These changes have prompted enterprises that wish to stay ahead of their competitors to shift their traditional marketing approach to customer-targeted marketing.
Customer Targeted Marketing:
In customer targeted marketing, the customer becomes the central focus of the organization's strategy and activities, rather than the product itself (which is the prime concern in traditional marketing). The organization's paradigm shift in marketing requires a company to build a commitment to quality and to listen critically to the customer to determine the market needs and how the company can meet those needs more effectively.
One of the major characteristics of the approach is to focus on each customer's interests and interactions with the organization to deliver targeted, personal messages. This would require the company to be constantly gathering information about their customers in an effort to better serve them and, most importantly, to retain them as loyal customers. As suggested by Peppers and Rogers (1998), the organization would need to use various techniques and strategies (possibly with the help of information technology and the Web), such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, customer surveys, attitude testing and so on to obtain information about consumers for more effective marketing of a product or service. With these customers' data and feedback, the organization will apply the knowledge to develop more customer-centric products and services and/ or to improve existing ones. In addition, the information will be shared within the organization to encourage employees at all levels to focus on creating maximized customer value and loyalty.
Why Customer-Targeted Marketing?:
In order to have a competitive edge and to satisfy increasing levels of customers' desires, companies realized that they have to see their customers as individuals rather a homogeneous mass of similar tastes, values and buying behaviors. Due to such transformation, companies need to be more customer-focused in its overall marketing strategy. This has resulted in organizations adopting a customization strategy to increase customer's loyalty to their products and services. For example, in banking and insurance industry, there has been a move towards greater customization. Standard products/services have been given way to a varied menu of features from which customers may select their own preferred combination.
In view of these changes, companies that understand the asset value of each customer, and that tailor their marketing efforts (and their costs) to acquire and sustain the highest-value assets, will win over less-adaptable traditional marketing approach of the 4 Ps.
The Process of Transition:
In order to strategically change from a traditional marketing approach to customer targeted marketing, an organization must be aware of these following areas:
Paradigm Shift. A company must fully understand that customer targeted marketing requires a shift in the organizational mindset, and not just structural organizational changes. They must realize that their sole purpose is to continuously satisfy customers' needs and wants. Thus, to ensure a smooth transition from a traditional marketing approach to customer targeted approach, an organization must reflect and ask itself questions as to what areas need to be analyzed and to understand the ramifications of such a transition in the organization. On the other hand, an organization needs to realize the negative consequences for not willing to be a more customer-focused marketing organization.
Customer Targeted Planning. As in any organizational change initiative, proper planning is needed. The objective of planning customer-centric marketing strategies is to find win-win opportunities with customer and to identify the best mutual opportunities for your customers and your company. This requires the organization to see the issue(s) from the customers' perspectives and to strategically plan the organization's resources around them.
In short, the organization's shift to customer-targeted marketing should embrace these three important points:
1.Planning should focus on customer wants and not looking inwardly at company goals
2.Focus on the honest feedback and suggestions through creating different channels of communications. Listen to the customers, rather than forcing them to listen to you.
3.Integrate your customers in every aspects of your business, from new product design to after-sales services and more.
Organization-wide Responsibility. For the approach to be successful, members need to understand the new philosophy of marketing and embrace it organization-wide. Many organizations tend to underestimate the degree to which every facet of the enterprise needs to be involved in the process and to be integrated into the actual customer relationship.
Organization Redesign. An organization has to assess the roles of all functional departments interacting with customers to ensure that they add value to customers instead of increasing the costs. By reorganizing the company with the customer as the focus, many departmental roles and responsibilities will have to be redesigned. And when that happens, the employees will have to adopt new work processes that would be more customer-centric in nature.
Human Resource Training. There is a need to develop customer-focused human resource through customer behavior training, across the functional departments. By investing in such training at all levels, the members will be more knowledgeable, more autonomous, and more efficient in anticipating and meeting the needs of the customers.
Use of Information Technology. With the advancement and increased affordability in information technology, more companies are able to collect available data on customer purchase behavior more efficiently. For example, technologies ranging from checkout scanning to Internet cookies are commonly used to track customers' buying behaviors. Companies that employ such technology will be more adept at acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers, and cross selling than those who do not.
Enhanced Customers Communications. With the use of the Internet as a medium for targeted communication, this allows companies to be in touch with customers at less than one-hundredth of the cost of more traditional snail mail, brochures or flyers. Communication through emails with the customers is almost free, and the customers can retrieve communications almost immediately. However, this has also resulted in customers having 24 / 7 service expectations of these companies.
Customer Targeted Measurement. An organization must be able to measure and evaluate the success of their customer targeted marketing strategy. In most cases, traditional measurement techniques such as profitability, market share and profit margins are used to measure the success. There should be an added emphasis given to developing measures that are customer-centric and which are able to assess the marketing strategy. Customer acquisition costs, conversion rates, retention rates, customer sales rates, loyalty measures and customer share within a brand are some examples of customer-centric measures than a customer-focused organization can adopt
Conclusion:
The need for survival has provoked many organizations to shift from traditional to customer targeted marketing. The market conditions surrounding us will continue to change at an accelerating rate and customer's expectation will continue to rise. Hence, without any doubts, more and more companies will adopt a customer-targeted marketing strategy with increased intensity.

Dr. Alvin Chan is an Innovation Research Specialist in Asia. He has consulted for and aid in the development of managerial innovations and effective learning methodologies in several organizations. Currently, Dr. Chan is the Senior Research Consultant at FIrst Quatermain Centre of Collaborative Innovation (www.firstquatermain.com [http://www.firstquatermain.com]).
Please email to Dr. Chan at bizguru88@hotmail.com as a courtesy if you are reprinting the article online or in print.

First Steps to Picking the Perfect Marketing Method For Your Home-Based Business

Part of running a successful business is making it grow. Home-based businesses are no exception. In fact, it can be even more important if you are just starting out or lack a potential client base. The key to growing a business is marketing.
Marketing is how you connect with individuals who may become customers or clients and includes methods such as affiliate programs, newsletters, trade shows, web sites, brochures, advertising, and more. The potential marketing methods available are almost limitless in scope and deciding on an approach may seem daunting, but a little preliminary effort can help you narrow down the field of options and help you make the best choices for your business.
Determine Targeted Audience
No matter what marketing method you choose, you first need to decide to whom you plan to market. Mass marketing to a general audience simply is not cost-effective for most businesses so you must decide early on which segments of society are most likely to purchase your products or services. Begin by asking yourself some simply questions:
* What needs does my product/service fulfill?
* Will businesses or consumers be more likely to need what I offer?
* Who are the clients I already have?
* Who does my competition market to?
With the answers to these questions, you can begin to decide on your targeted audience. However, you can refine it further by contacting sample populations of that audience and getting feedback from them on whether or not they would be interested in your product/service. You can use surveys, chat rooms, email questionnaires, or telephone polls to generate that feedback.
Set a Budget
Many inexperienced business owners make a major mistake when they begin their marketing efforts: they do not set a budget. Without a budget, these business owners can easily find all of their profits being funneled into marketing efforts.
Before you make a decision about what types of marketing methods to choose, you need to first establish how much you can spend in order to receive the desired results. Most businesses use the 10% rule. According to this rule, if you decided to implement a marketing program that would generate $5000 in monthly sales, then you should spend only $500 a month on marketing.
Applying the 10% rule prevents businesses from spending more on the marketing efforts than is generated by those efforts. You must also remember to be realistic. If you currently generate $200 a week in sales, do not anticipate marketing results of $10,000 a month and use that number as the basis for your marketing budget. Instead, start small at first and build on successful marketing attempts.
Evaluate Marketing Methods
There are a wide array of marketing methods available, but not all of them are appropriate for every business, audience, or product/service. Before deciding on a method, you need to carefully evaluate what will work best for your situation.
For example, if you run an online business, you may want to focus most of your marketing efforts on the Internet medium instead of mailing brochures to people who may not even own computers.
Also take into account your audience. If you are marketing to businesses, your methods will be different than if you are marketing to consumers. If you sell to parents, your methods are different than if you sell to college students. You may even need to develop more than one method in order
to meet the needs of all of your potential audiences.
Finally, remember your budget. A television commercial may be more effective than an ad in the yellow pages but it may also use your entire marketing budget. To make the most of your budget, you want to start small and test your efforts before plunging into a major investment. After all, if the
commercial flops, you won't have anything left in your budget for alternative marketing.
Once you complete these preliminary efforts, you can begin to explore marketing methods more effectively which will allow you to pick the methods which should provide the best results for your particular business.

-----------
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of Work at Home Forum, an online community of people who work from home.
-----------

Democrat or Republican: Whose Brand is Taking the Bigger Hit?

It may seem obvious that Americans are unhappy with the ongoing government shutdown, but how much has it affected their perception of the major U.S. political parties? Like consumer companies, the Democratic and Republican parties can be viewed as brands that can gain and lose strength among constituents. A new Brand Keys survey found that both parties have taken a serious brand hit since Tuesday, the first day of the government shutdown.

Brand Keys, a consumer research consultancy, combines psychology and statistical analysis to assess the emotional and rational values ("engagement drivers") of brands and measures them against consumers' perceptions and expectations.

"[Our] brand-engagement assessments, whether for pizza or political parties, measure what consumers think, and from a brand perspective, provides an accurate read as to how consumers — or, in the case of political parties and their candidates, the electorate — will behave," said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys.

10 Businesses You Can Start During Your Government Furlough

The company's most recent study looked at four engagement drivers of political parties in order to define the ideal brand values for each. These values, which voters expect their party to uphold, are as follows:

• Action: A comprehensive, realistic plan for solving problems
• Compassion: Caring about all people in the country
• Perception: A deep understanding of the country's problems
• Resolve: The strength and leadership to guide the country

In descending order of importance, Brand Keys ranked the Democrats' values as perception, resolve, compassion and action, and the Republicans' values as resolve, perception, action and compassion. The survey asked more than 250 nongovernment registered members of each party to rate how well their party upheld these values post-shutdown, with "ideal" being 100 percent. Democrats received a rating of 77 percent, while Republicans received a rating of 65 percent. This represents a 9 percent drop for the Democratic brand (previously 83 percent) and a 16 percent drop for the Republican brand (previously 76 percent) since the 2012 election, when Brand Keys last conducted this survey.

Based on assessments of other brands, Brand Keys has observed that when a brand is stronger than its competitors, consumers are six times more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt in uncertain circumstances. The company believes this pattern will play out between Democrats and Republicans during the shutdown.

"Whether you're a political party or a consumer brand, if you are so disorganized that you are unable to meet customer expectations, you always lose in the marketplace — or, as is likely in this case, the voting booth," Passikoff said.

4 Tips for Effective Content Marketing

If your small business has a website, it's likely that you have some kind of outlet for digital content creation, such as a blog or a video channel. In order to drive traffic to your content, you probably post images and links to it on your business' social networking sites. But what do you do after those links are published?

All too often, small business owners stop their content marketing strategy after the link-sharing phase. However, a lot happens between the time a potential customer views a brand's online content and makes a purchase. David Greschler, CEO of publishing and content engagement platform PaperShare, urged business owners to have a solid marketing strategy if they're producing any kind of digital content.

"Data suggests that people are about 70 percent through their buying decision process before they reach out to a vendor," Greschler told BusinessNewsDaily. "They're consuming content before that. From a sales perspective, you need to find out how your content is performing and who's looking at it during that 70 percent so you can reach out to them first."

CMS: Content Management Systems & Software

Whether it's an infographic, a blog post or a video, you can follow these four tips from Greschler for effective content marketing:

Know your "why." When a customer views your content, he or she is showing intent to look at your company's product or service and possibly purchase it. Therefore, it's important to measure not only how your social channels are doing in terms of likes and retweets, but also how many people are viewing the content you share. Once you have that data, figure out what you're going to do with it and why. What are your key objectives? How will you turn these viewers into customers?

Be helpful instead of just informative. The content you create and share might provide a wealth of information about your company or product, but that's not necessarily going to engage or excite a viewer. People are looking for answers to bigger problems when they look up your company, so make sure your content is both informative and helpful to consumers. Instead of just giving them that hard sell and saying, "Here's how much it costs," include tips and things to look for when trying to solve these problems.

Be accountable. Especially in small companies, content marketing can really help sales. As a business owner, you need to measure your return on investment (ROI) to show your team and/or investors that you're accountable for meeting your business goals. Your content marketing strategy should tie all your efforts together, showing what you're going to do, how it's going to get to people, how many people it actually reached and how many of those people turned into sales.

Promote a variety of content. The content you've created isn't the only thing you can use to attract people. If there's a great article written about you on another site, share it. If there's a helpful piece related to the problem your company is solving, promote that, too. Your customers look to you as a trusted adviser; show that you're engaged in the community by providing a variety of content from other sources.

Holiday Shoppers Plan Small Biz Shopping Spree

With the holidays quickly approaching, small business should be preparing for a busier season than last year, new research shows.

That's because 35 percent of consumers plan to shop at local small businesses this year, up from 27 percent in 2012, a study by business products and marketing services provider Deluxe Corp. revealed.

The chance to support local businesses, find unique merchandise, get personalized service and pay cheaper prices are the driving factors in why consumers plan to increase their shopping at small businesses this year, the research found.

Small businesses should be encouraged by the study's results, said Tim Carroll, vice president of small business engagement at Deluxe.

"Since shoppers increasingly use technology to plan and fulfill their holiday shopping needs, small businesses must leverage that same technology to remain top-of-mind and drive sales," Carroll said.

The study shows getting noticed online will be critical for small businesses this year. Nearly 80 percent of the consumers surveyed will shop for holiday gifts online in 2013, with more than one-quarter preferring a small business or boutique website.

The research discovered businesses need to be prepared for the onslaught of shoppers well before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. More than 40 percent of consumers plan to buy their holiday gifts earlier in November, with only 15 percent expecting to do the majority of their holiday shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Small businesses looking for a way to entice shoppers this year should consider giving them a sort of holiday gift. Nearly half the shoppers surveyed would prefer a discount on a future product or service, with 18 percent saying they'd appreciate a simple holiday card.

The study was based on surveys of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers over age 18.

Don't Give Up: Why Sales Persistence Pays Off (Op-Ed)

Nusair Bawla is the founder at GroupTravel.org, a website that helps people planning events get hotel group rates. He contributed this article to BusinessNewsDaily's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Outside any ballgame or rock concert, you're sure to find a scalper or two hawking their wares. These folks make a living selling tickets to sold-out shows, and their method of operation is always the same: Hit up everyone that walks by, and if they're not interested, then move on to the next person.

For scalpers, this strategy is perfect. Unfortunately, there are many salespeople who use the same approach when they prospect for new business. When a call does not result in a sale, they banish the prospect, never to call again. Much like the scalper, they move on.

A study from Dartnell Corp. investigated the number of times a prospect was called before a salesperson waved the proverbial white flag. Here is their data:

• 48 percent quit after the first contact
• 72 percent stop after the second contact
• 84 percent give up on a prospect after the third contact
• 90 percent wave the white flag after the fourth contact

As you can see, almost half of all salespeople quit after the first call. And the vast majority (90 percent) quit relatively soon after.

Why Sales Is the Thing Most Entrepreneurs Get Wrong

So why do 90 percent of salespeople quit so quickly? There are many reasons, and the simplest is that they let business and life get in the way. Some get caught up in busy work because it is easier than having to follow up. Others just lack the discipline to make those follow-up calls.

The fact is that 10 percent of salespeople make the fifth call, and studies show that 80 percent of sales are made after that fifth sales call. Which leads to the conclusion that 10 percent of salespeople win 80 percent of the business. Successful salespeople use their persistence and their stick-to-it mentality to win, and win big. In the same way that air gets thinner at higher altitudes, competition wanes after the first few calls. And the key ingredient that differentiates the average salesperson from the truly great ones is persistence: The persistence to make that first call and the discipline to make a half a dozen after that (without annoying the potential client, of course).

It's persistence that increases a client's confidence in a salesperson's ability. It's what makes a salesperson stand out from everyone else. And it's how salespeople stay top of mind when the client is ready to buy.

Successful salespeople don't expect to sell anything on that first call. They know that only a small percentage (1 to 2 percent) of people are looking to buy in a first call. They tend to be the people who are already familiar with what they need, and have already done extensive research. And if you happen to call at the right time, the business is yours.

But this is not the norm. Most buyers are not going to be ready to sign that purchase order when a salesperson calls. Most will not have time to talk, or will lack the resources or the authority to make a decision.

Rather than trying to make that sale, the goal for the first call should be to implement a follow-up strategy, a strategy that allows you to build a relationship and trust by engaging in an ongoing dialogue. Much like a relationship, you can't propose the first time you meet someone. Your goal on the first date is to make it to the second one. And your goal on the second date is to interest your prospect in a third date.

In building a relationship, you'll develop a much better understanding of the client's needs and wants. You'll get to understand their underlying problems, not just the superficial ones that appear obvious. And once the client knows that you understand them, they are yours. They won't go anywhere else anytime soon because the chances that another salesperson will come along that will be as committed is slim.

As a general rule, the more difficult a client is to get, the harder they are to lose, because stealing these kinds of clients requires persistence and discipline. And, remember: 90 percent of all salespeople don't have that.

The key to converting your pipeline into actual sales is the ability to hang in there when others have given up. It means being persistent with phone calls, emails or even a personal visit over several months. Because the longer you hang in there, the greater the chance that your competition has given up. Just remember to make that fifth, sixth and seventh call.

Anything less, and you're better off scalping tickets.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.

Shutdown Won't Shut Down 2013 Holiday Spending

'Tis the season…to predict holiday spending. Despite the economic loss following the 16-day U.S. government shutdown, Americans expect to spend an average of nearly $800 on Christmas gifts in 2013, which is similar to predictions for the past two years of holiday spending.

A recent Gallup poll found that, on average, Americans think that they will personally spend $786 this holiday season, up slightly from $770 last year and $764 in 2011. This modest increase, though not particularly promising for retailers, could be good news for an economy that just took a $24 billion hit, if the prediction holds true.

This annual poll was conducted in early October, just a few days after the shutdown began. According to the accompanying report, other Gallup polls conducted at this time indicated a lack of consumer confidence in the economy and a decrease in self-reported daily spending. However, holiday spending plans may change now that the government has been reinstated.

5 Ways Social Media Will Impact Holiday Buying

"Now that the shutdown is over, consumers' Christmas spending intentions could change, and perhaps swell further, resulting in an even more robust holiday retail season than the October data indicate," said the Gallup article about the poll. "Gallup's November measure will provide an important post-shutdown update on these spending projections."

Anticipated holiday spending has been on the rise since 2009, when the economic recession caused a dramatic drop from $866 in expected spending in 2008 to $616. About one-third of survey respondents reported that they planned to spend $1,000 or more this year, the same percentage as in 2012. Overall, 80 percent of Americans estimate that they will spend at least $100 on gifts in 2013.

Based on these results, Gallup says retailers should be cautiously optimistic about this holiday season and plan for modest sales growth.

Sales Reps Constantly Working on the Run

Waiting until the last minute to prepare and doing so on the go are both challenges facing sales representatives, a new study finds.

Research from cloud-based business presentation company Brainshark, Inc., revealed that prepping for meetings comes down to the wire for most sales reps, with 40 percent not starting their prep work until the day before a meeting and 12 percent waiting until the day of the meeting.

With such little time for preparation, most sales reps find places other than an office to do it. More than 60 percent of those surveyed prepare for their sales meetings in the car, while 58 percent do so on a plane. Other popular places include the bathroom, the parking lot, a coffee shop and the gym.

The study shows that even when they do have time and a place to prepare, sales reps have trouble finding the materials they need most. More than one-third are frustrated by their inability to quickly locate sales materials, while 41 percent say the materials they do have are often out of date.

"Our survey shows there are very real challenges that sales reps face when preparing for and presenting at meetings,” said Brainshark Chief Marketing Officer, Andy Zimmerman.

In addition preparing for meetings outside the office, many sales reps hold those presentations in non-office locations, too. In addition to formal business settings, those surveyed report giving sales presentations in a wide range of places, such as social events, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, the airport, the gym, at a sporting event and while on vacation.

Because they regularly make presentations on the run, sales reps rely more and more on technology to help them close deals. The study discovered that laptops, tablets, whiteboards, smartphones and Web conferencing are the tools and technologies reps now use most often when making presentations.

"In addition to working toward greater sales and marketing alignment, particularly in terms of content creation and delivery, companies should also gear strategies around today's fast-paced and mobile-oriented landscape," Zimmerman said. "Reps need access to up-to-date, relevant materials no matter where they are and which device they're on."

Overall, sales reps and their managers don't see eye to eye on how well-prepared these sales professionals are, how effective their presentations are or how thorough their follow-ups are. While more than three-quarters of sales reps graded themselves a "B" or better for their prep work, just 58 percent of managers thought the reps deserved such high grades.

Additionally, only 14 percent of reps thought their presentation skills deserved a "C" or lower, compared to 43 percent of managers who felt reps deserved those low grades. When it came to following up after a presentation, reps were twice as likely as managers to think they earned an "A."

The study was based on surveys of 416 sales professionals at companies of various sizes and across different industries.

The Best Email Marketing Services

While direct mail or television and radio advertising used to be the best way to reach consumers, it is quickly being replaced by email marketing. With more than 1 billion email users worldwide, businesses are realizing that targeting inboxes is a great way to share news and promotional information with their customers.

From newsletters and promotional coupons to catalogs and surveys, businesses are using email marketing in a variety of ways to connect with their customers. Email marketing works in essentially the same way as direct marketing does. However, instead of sending fliers and coupons to a customer's home, businesses send emails to them instead. The benefit to email marketing over direct mail advertising is that businesses are better able to track who is opening their mail and who is actually using and reading what's sent out.

To help with this form of marketing, many businesses employ email marketing services, which provide all the tools and software needed to create a campaign. Specifically, these services provide businesses with templates to design and create a variety of email marketing campaigns, as well as the ability to send out a large number of emails at one time.

When choosing an email marketing service, there are a number of factors business owners should take into consideration, including how easy it is to create a campaign and track its results, the features that are available and the support that is offered. BusinessNewsDaily's sister site, TopTenREVIEWS, does extensive in-depth reviews to help businesses find the email marketing service that best suits their needs.  Here are TopTenREVIEWS' top three recommendations for the best email marketing services:

iContact

This year's TopTenREVIEWS' Gold Award winner is iContact for its arsenal of tools that business owners can use when creating and managing email marketing campaigns that are designed to boost sales and customer engagement. The iContact software offers a variety of templates for emails, and walks business owners through the step-by-step process of tailoring a campaign for their own needs.

Features: iContact offers several options for organizing contact information, which is generally the first step in creating an email marketing campaign. Users can upload an existing list from any XLS, VCF or CSV files, or use iContact's online form to add them one by one. The software also gives users the ability to segment contacts in a variety of ways in order to target emails to specific audiences, such as by geographical location. In addition, iContact has a variety of social media tools to help further reach consumers. For example, the service can help businesses tweet about their current campaigns or publish messages on the company's Facebook wall.

Email Campaign Creation and Reporting: When creating email marketing campaigns, iContact offers options for both beginners and those with advanced skills in programming or design. For beginners, the service walks them through a step-by-step process that starts with a selection of more than 600 pre-established templates. For those with more advanced skills, the service allows them to work with their own HTML code or template. Once the emails have been sent out, the iContact Reports tab helps users see the results that their efforts are generating with pie charts and statistics about each mailing. iContact also tracks tweets, likes, shares and other helpful social media statistics.

Help and Support: iContact provides support for its customers through video tutorials, FAQs and webinars. In addition, users can contact customer support representatives via live chat, email and phone.

Benchmark Email

Benchmark Email marketing software, this year's TopTenREVIEWS' Silver Award winner, gets high marks for making it extremely simple to start from scratch and craft an entire campaign. The service also does an excellent job of integrating social networking, personalized colors and logos, surveys, newsletters and coupons with its straightforward interface.

Features: To start a campaign, businesses can add contacts by inputting them one at a time with copy and paste, importing address books or downloading a file with XLS, CSV or TXT extensions. Benchmark also offers a number of social media tools, including drop-down menus that make it easy to add Twitter, LinkedIn,Facebook, Flickr, Yelp, Pinterest and other social media buttons that are connected with the business's brand.

Email Campaign Creation and Reporting: Benchmark offers a wide range of eye-catching templates that are easy to adapt to each business's needs. There are drop-down menus that let users change background colors, insert images and add surveys, among other things. The service offers a number of reports about each email marketing campaign, including statistics regarding the number of people who opened the messages, their click rate, forwards and how many unsubscribed from the list.

Help and Support: For those that run into problems, the company's customer service representatives are quick to respond by live chat, email and telephone. In addition, the Benchmark website is packed with FAQs and other helpful information.

Constant Contact

Constant Contact took home this year's TopTenREVIEWS' Bronze Award for its software that assists businesses in growing by helping them create spam-free, engaging content that generates interest in the company's products or services.

Features: To get going, Constant Contact lets businesses cut and paste contact lists, or import them from a compatible program or a compatible file type, such as those with XLS, XLSX, CSV and TXT extensions. The service also offers tools to help businesses not only create emails, but polls and surveys as well. In addition, Constant Contact makes it easy to incorporate social networking elements into any campaign.

Email Campaign Creation and Reporting: The choices and quality of Constant Contact's campaign templates is impressive. The service makes it easy to adjust and personalize templates with users' own text, video, images and links. Businesses also have the option to use their own HTML coding if they are experienced in that area. Constant Contact offers comprehensive reporting tools that let businesses know how many customers are opening the emails and how many are forwarding them on to others.

Help and Support: Should businesses have any trouble with their campaigns, Constant Contact has helpful representatives available by live chat, phone and email. They also provide informative articles, tutorials, FAQs, tips and other materials on their website.

Is Advertising Dead? (Op-Ed)

Janet Kyle Altman is the marketing partner at Kaufman Rossin, the fastest-growing accounting firm in the country, according to INSIDE Public Accounting. She contributed this article to BusinessNewsDaily's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Did you see the guy with the mattress-store sandwich board along U.S. Route 1 last weekend? Did you get your town's art-fair insert in your Sunday New York Times? Have promotions for Alaska cruises been showing up on your computer screen ever since you did your vacation research last weekend?

Since the 1700s, when Ben Franklin started including advertisements in his Pennsylvania Gazette, America's companies have been trying to get people's attention. They've been trying to connect with potential customers in big cities and small towns by advertising — paying to put stories of their products and services in places where the businesses hope their target buyers will see them. 

But that hope may be a thing of the past, because now, advertisers are more knowledgeable than ever before about where to reach their targets, what stories to tell them and when they are ready to listen.

Advertising is far from dead

Advertising is living, breathing and evolving like never before. I would dare to suggest that today is a new golden age of advertising,for two reasons.

Targeting is better than ever. Ideally, the best, most cost-effective advertising would only go to the people who would be happy — even delighted — to see just what they were looking for at exactly the right moment. Advertisers are closer to achieving that now than they've ever been, because advertisers know more about audiences than ever before. Now, you can segment viewers, readers or listeners so you reach more of the right people.

If you're an Amazon customer, you've seen a perfect example of this. The books Amazon recommends for me, based on what its system knows about my past purchases, are pretty well on target. Sometimes, I delete them — but often, I see new books I didn't know about, and appreciate the insight.

Storytelling options are more varied than ever. My father, who incorporated William Altman Advertising in 1968 and sold it when he retired 20 years ago, produced the iconic Edward Gorey poster for the New York City Ballet. When we talk about marketing today, he often reminds me of the importance of storytelling. One example is the ad campaign he produced by taping the ballet's dancers telling their own engaging stories.

Just think of the new ways we can tell stories today. Print, radio and television are still excellent media, but the story can begin there and send you to a landing page that shows the advertiser how you got there, a Facebook contest that lets you write the next chapter or a website where you can watch video that extends the tale.

Should your company advertise?

Like so many marketing mix decisions, the answer is — that depends.

By definition, advertising means you are paying to put the stories of your products or services in places where the right buyers will see them. So a free Facebook post about your company's exhibit at the boat show isn't advertising, but a Facebook ad targeting boaters in your town is. Which method is right for your business? How about a remarketing campaign that tracks people who have been to your website and shows them the boat they were looking at — with a special boat-show discount?

Ask yourself about these three key elements of successful advertising: audience, media and message.

1. Define your audience.
   Who uses your product or service? What do they look like — race, gender, age, interests? If you are not sure, you are not ready to advertise.
2. Identify the right media.
   Where are the eyes and ears of your customers? That's where your next customer may be as well. And maybe the better question is: where are the target audience's eyes or ears that no one has thought of capturing? They may be at a roadside stand. They may drive to work and listen to the radio. The best media can sometimes be the ones that seem quiet and old-fashioned, where other companies haven't saturated your specific market. Is your target audience watching, reading, playing or socializing somewhere where you can reach them — cost-effectively — and tell your story?
3. Determine your message.
   What is the story you can tell? Is it compelling? Is it intriguing? Is it sad or funny or dramatic? Is it engaging? Your story needs to grab viewers and leave them wanting more.

If you don't have really good answers to those questions, then the answer is no, you shouldn't waste money on advertising.

Let's look at a law firm, with one goal and three strategies. Does advertising apply?

Use this chart to assess whether advertising can help you meet your goals. 

Advertising is healthy and strong. It might be a nice addition to your marketing mix. But if it's not right for you today, don't worry — by the time you're ready, it will probably be even more effective.

Altman's most recent Op-Ed was "Getting Social About Your Business." She can be reached at jaltman@kaufmanrossin.com. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This article was originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.

Cyber Monday Is Coming! Get Your E-Commerce Biz Ready

Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, which means the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season is almost here. For retail stores, Black Friday brings in hordes of shoppers who battle the crowds (and one another) to get the best deals. In the e-commerce world, business owners need to be ready for Cyber Monday.

Entrepreneur Philip Masiello has been through Cyber Monday with multiple e-commerce businesses. His latest startup, 800Razors, was launched in early 2013 to provide high-quality men and women's razor blades at a fraction of the cost of big name brands. Though this is the first holiday season for 800Razors, Masiello knows the key to Cyber Monday success is to make the shopping process as easy as possible for your customers.

"The No. 1 reason people shop online is convenience," he told BusinessNewsDaily. "Anyone who wants to be successful in this has to figure out how to be responsive, especially in mobile shopping. This is where e-commerce is going to grow more rapidly: ease of use for mobile."

[How to Start an Online Business]  

Regardless of how many Cyber Mondays your business has been through, all e-commerce startups could use a little refresher course to make sure 2013 is their best holiday season yet. Masiello shared these four tips to get your business ready for the virtual rush:

Expand your bandwidth. Cyber Monday will bring a lot of traffic to your site, and there's nothing that annoys customers more than a website that doesn't have enough bandwidth to handle all the requests. If you're expecting a lot more traffic than you usually receive, make sure your server host is able to temporarily expand your bandwidth.

Monitor your email and social media accounts. Be ready to man the customer-service fort leading up to and during Cyber Monday. If customers have problems or questions while shopping on your site, they tend to send an email or social media post and expect a response quickly. Someone should be monitoring those accounts at all times and responding as soon as possible, since that's when the customer is actively on your site.

Stay stocked. You need to make sure you can fill all the Cyber Monday orders you receive. Masiello said that 800Razors always carries more inventory than it needs to ensure it doesn't short-change any customers.

Constantly check your website. If you make any changes to your site for the holidays, especially for special Cyber Monday promotions, you should always check and double check to make sure all of those changes are functional. Sometimes, links get broken or something goes wrong, and customers have a low tolerance when their shopping plans don't work during the busy holiday season.