Sales & Marketing Consultant, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

Pay per click advertising is one of the most popular ways to reach your market on the web, but if done improperly you could end up wasting your time and (more importantly) your money with little result. Before you launch your first pay per click campaign take the following tips into consideration:

Choose Targeted Keywords

Choose keywords that are as specific to your product or service as possible. The more specific you are, the more likely the person clicking through to your website (and causing you to pay for that click) will be interested in what you have to offer. Put yourself in your client’s shoes. If you were looking for a product similar to yours what keywords would you be using to conduct your search?

Utilize Keyword Tools

Most pay per click companies have a free keyword search tool that will help you to find out keywords similar to those you are considering. They may be just as popular or a little less but will offer you some viable alternatives. Not everyone uses the same words to search for products, so variety is important.

Make a Budget and Stick to It

This is perhaps the most important aspect to a successful pay per click campaign and it has two main parts. First, don’t bid more per click than your keyword is actually worth. If your keyword is too competitive you’ll end up spending more money than you had budgeted and severely limit the impact of your campaign. Second, those who are competitive should avoid getting into nasty bidding wars with the competition. It’s just not worth the price you’ll end up paying just to show someone else up. Choose a maximum bid price and stick to it.

Write Product Specific Advertisements

Individuals searching the web are searching for products. They are not searching for specific stores or people. Make sure your advertisement focuses on a product or service and then directs a client to your website. If you sell widgets, write an add that advertises your “discount widgets.” Don’t write an ad that talks about “Bob’s Discount Shop.”

Take Advantage of Typographical Errors

People conducting web searches often misspell the words they mean to enter, but they still get search engine results. Find out what words are commonly used when searching for your product and then find out if that word is commonly misspelled. If so, include the misspelled word on your list of targeted keywords. I guarantee you’ll attract some new traffic by doing so.

Pay per clidk advertising can be both fun and challenging. Make sure you take the time to research your market before launching your campaign. Doing so will help you to avoid wasting your hard earned cash!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant - Internet Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert

I love attending business networking functions, but when I was a relatively new entrepreneur I had a huge problem. I would meet a ton of people, put their business cards in my pocket, and then forget about them. Incredibly useless, right?

Believe it or not, this is a problem many new entrepreneurs have when they get started. You have another problem, though. You want to make sure you aren’t the person that’s being forgotten.

So how do you make yourself memorable? It’s really simpler than most people make it out to be. Try a few of these tips and you’re guaranteed to make a few new friends and contacts – the kind that will definitely remember you the next day!

• Participate. This is one of the biggest mistakes people make at networking events. Some people even spend all of their time speaking to people they already know. What a waste of time! Make it a point to introduce yourself to at least two or three new people, actively listen to what they have to say, and have a great conversation. Too many people merely network to hand out business cards, so if you act as if you care about what others are saying you’ll stand out from the crowd.

• Make yourself stand out. A female friend of mine once told me that the difference between a woman who merely walks into a room and a woman who makes a grand entrance is usually in her accessories. She’s got a well-matched outfit or great jewelry that really stands out. It “completes” her look and gives her an air of confidence. Men can use accessories to stand out as well – bright colored ties, unusual jewelry, or a cool (yet appropriate) hat. You can easily do something creative without crossing the lines and becoming unprofessional.

• Repeat Yourself. If nothing else, you want your audience to remember your name, where you work, what type of business you’re in, what you sell, and where you’re located. Repeat these things as much as possible – but only if they can be naturally worked into the conversation. Remember that in advertising a person needs to hear/see your name or product at least 20 times before the memory sticks. Why would marketing yourself be any different? Don’t overdo it, though. Be natural.

Be cool, calm, and collect at each and every networking event you attend. Your unique and professional appearance and attitude will help you to stand out from the crowd and no one will know if you’re attending your 1st networking event or your 100th!

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

SEO copywriting involves including specialized keyword phrases in your writing. These are phrases that web users are searching for on a regular basis and, when combined with your regular sales copy, should really grab the interest of your targeted niche readers.

But how do you increase the reach of your article? How do you get your readers to refer more readers back to your page? This is where linkbuilding and SEO copywriting go hand in hand. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Write for Social Media Networking

If you have an awesome headline you will attract more readers to your articles. They’ll love your content and click on the links to recommend your article in Stumble, Digg, or some other social media site. When others see your compelling headline they’ll want to read your article, too. Get it? It’s in the headline. Make sure you include easy one-click links at the end of your SEO articles so that your readers can easily reach their favourite social media sites.

Giving to Get

I know you want to get links back to your copywriting, especially if you’re writing sales pages, but one of the best ways to do so is to link out to other sites. You’ve got to give in order to receive. Link to websites and blogs relevant to your own website and sales page and you’re more likely to be noticed and receive a link in return.

Guest Blogging

One of the best ways to gain attention is to act as a guest contributor on other websites and blogs. This is, of course, easier if you have already built relationships with those other blogs. Simply propose a guest article that fits with the blog you’d like to contribute to. At the end of your article you can include some information about yourself and your proejects with a link back to your sales page.

Copywriting is about more than writing a simple sales page and letting it work for itself. Once the hard work is done you can have fun putting those copywriting and SEO skills to the test in order to promote yourself. Everything you write should be geared towards driving more traffic back to your main sales page.  Are you prepared to deal with all of the new visitors you’ll receive?

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant - Internet Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert

The average person spends more time every day reading his email than he spends doing anything else on the web. As a matter of fact, his email often distracts him from the other tasks he needs to accomplish. With this in mind, it’s safe to say that email marketing is a very powerful tool.

Today I want to share a few best practices you should keep in mind as you develop your email marketing campaign. They’ll help you to get through to your potential clients more effectively.

Make sure your email isn’t spam.

Everyone has some sort of spam protection software included in their email accounts these days. Your job is to learn about spam filters and the things they identify as spam so that you can avoid having your email sent straight to the junk box. For example, using the words “Free” or “Discount” in your subject line might get you flagged.

Personalise your emails.

Address your subscribers as individuals – not as generic groups. A person who feels like he’s being addressed as a single person is more likely to respond to you than someone who feels like he’s a nameless face in a crowd. It’s easy to slip some simple code into your email template so that the names in your address book pull through.

Make it easy to unsubscribe.

As silly as this sounds, making it easy to unsubscribe from an email list is paramount. The easier it is for a person to unsubscribe the less likely they will be to mark your email as spam or file a complaint with a better business bureau. The unsubscribe link should immediately take your subscriber to a page where they can opt out – no questions asked – no additional email confirmations necessary.

Send emails on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Tuesday and Wednesday are notorious for being the best days to send emails if you expect a high response rate. On these days people are already over the last weekend and they’re not yet planning for the next one. They’re open to communication and, in some cases, are looking for something to do.

Be consistent.

Be consistent in both your communication frequency and the look of your newsletter. If you promise to email your clients once per week – do it. No more, no less. People appreciate things that they can grow to expect and are sometimes resistant to change. Don’t change the format of your newsletter or email unless you’re absolutely sure it’s going to be viewed as an upgrade.

In the time it took me to write this post I received 5 emails, 3 of which are email newsletters that I’ve subscribed to. They arrive regularly each week and always offer tons of valuable information. Would I consider your email to be just as valuable?

Good luck setting up your email marketing campaign.

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker