Marketing immediately conjures up huge expense lines for many business owners, but there are methods to maximise your marketing budget without sacrificing on exposure.  New businesses often don’t have a lot in the way of extra funds to offer marketing services and established businesses may not be doing all they could to effectively market.  Below are a few tips that cost little to nothing beyond time.

Create Partnerships

Working with businesses that are in industries that compliment your own can be a good way to generate new business.  Consider all the other products or services that customers who buy your products would be interested in.  For example, a hair salon might want to start a referral service with local nail salons or spas.  All three are in the beauty industry without being in direct competition.  By referring customers back and forth all of the businesses benefit.  Combining marketing funds to produce joint materials can also help get the most out of a tiny budget.  When two companies share the cost of a bulk mailing it reduces the overall expense for each.  Every industry has the potential for creating a referral network, so start building yours today!

Create Coupons

For service industries, the only cost associated with what you sell is time.  If you offer a deep discount for first time customers, you have the opportunity to build a clientele base.  Going back to the hair salon example, you might offer a free cut with any colour or 20% off on a service of their choice.  Offering free consultations or a package deal can also be helpful.  When you give these types of discounts you get the opportunity to show clients your skills first hand.

Getting the coupons out to the general public can be the difficult part, but approach other local companies and see if they will display them for you.  Providing you are willing to return the favour many other businesses are usually happy to let you set up a small display.  Give family and friends a stack with the request that they pass them out.  Leave some at your church or community centre, and always carry a few with you so that you never miss an opportunity to advertise.

Reconnect with Current Clients

Generating new customers is always nice, but it is far easier to convince old clients to return.  It also makes good business sense to preserve existing relationships as you seek to build new ones.  Picking up the phone or typing a quick email, just to say “hi, how’s it going,” can do more to re-establish a relationship than any other method.  By getting in touch simply to catch up you remind the client that your company is about more than sales, it’s about people.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Network marketing is a growing industry in the United Kingdom with more and more opportunities for those interested in running a home based business.  If you are a network marketer, or are considering joining a network marketing company like Avon or Mary Kay to name a couple here are the steps you need to take:

1- Most networking companies have regular meetings, make sure you attend them.

2- Create a blog, the potential for backlinks to your selling website are endless.

3- Facebook and other social media let you grow your network online.  No spam, but genuine shared interest will help grow your business through these sites.

4- Article marketing is a relatively new field, but it is generating lots of results, consider writing and submitting a few well written article about your niche market and posting on some of the big sites like ezinearticles.com or squidoo.com.

5- Let people know what is happening with your business by sending out a report.  Keep it simple and interesting so consumers will actually read it.

6- A monthly newsletter is a great way to engage customers and get them interested not only in buying your products, but in entering the industry.

7- Creating an e-course doesn’t take long, but it does generate subscriptions if the content is well written and researched.

8- Leave your business cards everywhere.  Business cards offer information about you even when you’re not there.

9- Creating short videos can open up a market for you.  The anonymity of the internet makes many consumers more interested in sites that have a face along with the name.

10- Leaving a bowl at local businesses offering those who drop in a business card the opportunity to win something related to your product is a great way to generate leads.  After you determine the big winner of the give-a-way, contact everyone who left their information.

11- Customer testimonials are often one of the best selling points since prospective customers are more likely to trust another customer rather than a sales person.

12- Many network marketing companies focus on the home party.  Show off your product and demonstrate how easy and fun it is to sell your products.

13- Always ask people that you meet if they are interested and if they know anyone else who might be as well.  Referrals can be your best friend for growing a down-line.

14- Donating a portion of your proceeds to charity is a great way to raise money and grow your client base.

15- Find tradeshows or conferences that are near your industry focus and talk to as many people as you can.

If you follow all of these steps, you will see tremendous growth in both your up-line and down-line, raising your bottom line by thousands of dollars.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Creating an affiliate program isn’t difficult. You need to follow 5 main steps in order to get it up and running. They are as follows:

1. First you need to decide what niche your product falls into. You can’t sell a zillion products to a zillion people. Design your product to fit into one, popular niche.
2. Find websites and people who are into your niche to partner with. The right partners will already have a high level of traffic and a great mailing list – perfect for promoting your offer to a trusting group.
3. Create a series of great promotional products for your product. Create banner advertisements and promotional materials to give your marketers free of charge so that they can more easily promote your product.
4. Never stop looking for new partners, even if the ones you have are doing a great job. Always look to recruit new partners so that if you lose one you don’t experience a huge drop in business.
5. Treat your partners well. The more you work with them the more they’ll appreciate you and your product. Give them marketing tips, pay them on time (and accurately) and consider a bonus plan for your top sellers.

It’s not difficult to build an affililiate program but it does take quiet a bit of time. With a little bit of patience and persistence you’ll soon see your hard work pay off!

Good luck,

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker – Sales Expert

Write these down. Save this page. Refer to it often. Here they are:

Focus on Targeted Traffic

Traffic to your website is good. Targeted traffic is even better. Actually, I take that back. Traffic to your website really isn’t good unless it’s targeted (ie. the people visiting area interested in the type of product or service you have to offer). Don’t waste your money buying traffic or implementing advertising campaigns that are going to focus on the general population. Instead focus on article marketing, pay per click, and similar campaigns that will attract attention from targeted buyers.

Build a List

How do you track the individuals who visit your website? How do you encourage them to return? The best thing you can do is to place a subscription box on your website so that you can build a list of names and email addresses. Now, people aren’t going to subscribe just because you ask them to – you’ll have to offer them something in return, such as a newsletter, a discount, or something else they perceive to have value. You’ll then use this list to send a weekly or monthly email newsletter with valuable information your readers can use – and a few links or references that might drive them back to your site to see what’s new, too!

Content is King

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again. Content really is king when it comes to attracting and keeping visitors on your website. Make sure your website is full of articles that are packed with details and educational information. Your content will prove to your visitors that you know what you’re talking about, which will give them a sense of trust that will encourage them to purchase from you instead of the next guy who tries to sell them the same product.

Make sure you include not only informational articles, but how-to articles, product reviews, and anything that relates to your niche. Avoid focusing solely on your product – your prospects want to know you have a strong grasp on your industry as a whole. If you aren’t an expert, use your writing to make yourself into one.

Keep these three tips in mind at all times as you work on your affiliate marketing campaign. You’ll certainly find yourself running a more successful campaign when you have a list, targeted traffic, and excellent content.

Are there any other “must have” tips you want to share? Sound off in the comments!

Good luck marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat – Marketing Consultant

Now that you’ve decided upon an affiliate program and launched your campaign, you should be well on your way to success.

Unfortunately, as is the case with most new entrepreneurs, you will likely hit a few bumps in the road along the way. Your parents taught you how to walk and talk, and your grade school teachers taught you to read and write, but who is going to teach you how to make your new Internet business as profitable as possible?

It’s time to find an affiliate marketing mentor. You need to find an expert in the field of affiliate marketing and learn as much as possible from him. It’s going to take time before you see your business grow, and it may take a few reaches for the wallet, but in due time you will see the results you are looking for.

Start by searching online for popular affiliate marketers. There are quite a few popular gurus out on web, including Ken Evoy, Zac Johnson, and Rosalind Gardner. You’ll first find a number of e-books and websites packed with information.

Read these cover to cover and, if you found one, monitor the progress of the websites and tactics used by these super affiliates. Watching super affiliates work their magic is a simple and effective way of learning as much about the industry as humanly possible. Studying their already published materials is also free, minus the cost of an e-book or two.

You may not feel as though you’re getting anywhere with the written materials you’ve gathered; or you may feel as though you’ve simply hit a plateau. If that is the case it might be time to find yourself a real live one-on-one mentor to guide you further into the depths of affiliate marketing. This is not as easy as it sounds. Why? A truly successful affiliate marketer is going to charge you an arm and a leg for personal mentoring, and if you had enough money to pay for personal guidance you probably wouldn’t need a mentor to begin with.

So here are a few things you can try:

1. Attempt to form a mentoring group. Start an online forum where affiliate marketers can gather to brainstorm and share ideas. Sometimes peer support is just as valuable as that of a pro.

2. Look for membership websites where a group of professional affiliate marketers have come together to provide informational materials and coaching. You may not get the one-on-one attention you were looking for, but you’ll get more in-depth information than you’ll find in free e-books and you’ll be exposed to a plethora of different ideas and opinions.

3. Buy a software program that packages technical expertise with excellent customer service. An example of such a program is Site Build It, where you’ll pay for not only a professional website but more website and forum information than you ever thought you’d see in one place!

Be creative and think out of the box. You are a lucky person if you can find a successful affiliate that has the time or energy to devote to training you alone. If not, there are plenty of other options for anyone willing to take the time to find them!

They can then push your products and with their network become a super affiliate of yours that will make you thousands!

Happy Super Affiliate Marketing

Sean

Sean McPheat – Marketing Consultant

Congratulations on making the decision to become involved in affiliate marketing!

The most difficult part of the home based business process if finding out what type of work you want to do, and affiliate marketing has proven itself to be a viable option for thousands of people across the globe.

You may feel overwhelmed with information in the beginning, but there are a few main things you should focus on as you’re preparing to launch your first campaign. Here are the 5 tips that helped me the most as I launched my first affiliate marketing project.

Choose a product or subject you are familiar with. While a product may be popular and successful, the less familiar you are with the subject matter the less likely you are to make money within that niche. You’ll end up spending more time on research than you’ll spend marketing. Stick with what you know and the rest will come easily.

Build a strong content site. One of the most popular phrases online is “content is king,” and it’s the truth. Building a website full of articles about the product you are trying to promote will make you appear as though you are a knowledgeable authority. People will trust you more and, as a result, will be more likely to make a purchase from you.

Avoid overusing banners. Banners may seem like a great advertising tool, but they’re not. Banners scream “advertisement” and most people try to avoid advertisements at all costs. If you must advertise, you’re better off with a small text ad or blurb on another website or blog. Besides, most banners look ugly and unprofessional – you don’t want to attach that sort of stigma to your business.

Explore different affiliate networks. Just because someone you know is experiencing success with a certain affiliate network or merchant program does not mean you will. As a matter of fact, in most cases your success has nothing to do with the reputation of the affiliate network, but has everything to do with the amount of effort you put forth. Explore a handful of different networks and incorporate products from each into your campaigns. Ignore those who complain that they’re not getting paid enough – they’re probably not working very hard.

Conduct thorough research and educate yourself. Don’t just choose a niche or product because it sounds interesting. Take some time to do a little bit of keyword research and determine what is popular and what is not. Look at other affiliate sites and determine what is making them successful. Try to determine if there is a niche that is yet untapped that you can take advantage of.

Remember, affiliate marketing is not easy, but it can be incredibly lucrative if you’re willing to put some time and effort into your campaign right from the start. Feel free to leave comments with questions or to share your most recent affiliate marketing experiences. I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Affiliate Marketing

Sean Mc

The most important thing you can remember as you venture down the affiliate marketing path is patience. I’ve met hundreds of would-be affiliate marketers who thought that signing up for an affiliate program would result in a quick and easy income and they were disappointed when this was not the case.

As with any business venture, affiliate marketing programs take work. It is definitely possible to make a living from this sort of work, but only if you have the guts to persevere even if you don’t see immediate results.

Here are a few things you can do to help jump-start your new campaign:

Choose banners carefully. We briefly touched on banners the other day, and know that overuse will not result in high sales levels. The average click-through rate for most banners is an ugly 3% or less. If you opt to place a banner on a website, make sure the banner is as simple as possible so that it will not delay page loading or cause any other type of difficulty. Avoid animation, stick with neutral colors, and make sure your ad opens into a new window so that your visitors will be able to easily return to your main site. The longer someone stays on your site, the more likely he will make a purchase.

Avoid pop-up advertisements. I will say this once. Internet users hate pop-up advertisements. If I wanted to see an ad, I would have clicked the link. I usually close pop-up windows before the ad has finished loading. Pop-ups are annoying, are ignored by many, and will end up being a waste of your valuable time. They’ll also drive your visitors away from your site, resulting in lost sales.

Write a review of your product. Have you tried the product you’re attempting to sell? I hope so. Play around with the product for a few days and write an informative review. This review can be posted on your website as a resource for visitors looking for additional information. It can also be placed in article directories with a link back to your website for more information! More links equal more traffic!

Choose affiliate networks with low payment thresholds. Some affiliate networks will require you to make a certain number of sales before they’ll send your payment. In some cases, the number of sales is ridiculously high and very few people actually earn payment before moving on to something more lucrative. This essential means you’re working for free, and that’s just not fair. Look for affiliate networks that are willing to send regular payments after you’ve reached a lower threshold. You’re more likely to make money with these programs than you would with any other.

Carefully choosing your affiliate network and formulating a detailed plan are essential to your success as an affiliate program marketer. With a little bit of hard work and dedication, you’ll quickly find yourself on the path to financial success!

Happy Affiliate Marketing!

Sean

“The Leading Authority On How To Market And Sell To The Sophisticated And Sales Savvy Buyer Of Today”

Marketing Consultant – Internet Marketing Expert