Moving Beyond Marketing Rituals to Increase Profits

2004-09-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

By Charlie Cook Copyright © 2004

You're at a networking meeting and someone asks for your business card. You hand them a fairly typical card with your company's name, your name and title, and contact information on it. What happens next? Do they get in touch with you? Do they become a client?

Nine times out of ten, the conversation ends when you hand someone you've just met your business card, and you never hear from them again. Wouldn't you like to use these opportunities to generate interest, get a conversation going and have prospects contact you?

All of your marketing materials should be written and designed to prompt prospects to take action. When you meet potential clients or customers, whether in person or through your brochure or web site, you want to lead them to ask you how you can help them and to call or email you later for more information. A typical business card does neither of these things.

You don't have much real estate on a business card to work with, so use it well. Start by looking at the basic elements of your card.

Most business cards include titles. Your card may say, "Broker", "Consultant", or "Vice President". What does this tell prospects about what you can do for them? Titles only give people a vague idea of what you do and rarely explain how you help people. If you include a title on your card, make it descriptive of your role in the company or your work with clients.

Instead of or in addition to your title, put your marketing message on the card. This is a one-sentence description of how you actually help clients. When prospects read your card, they'll quickly learn the problems you solve, and they'll want to know how you can help them or someone they know. Your card then becomes a catalyst to conversation and gives you an opportunity to learn more about this prospects needs.

Another way to use your business card to pique prospects' interest is to include an offer on the back. You might offer a free report or guide of interest to your target market. For example, if you are a real estate agent you could offer an article on "10 Simple Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home", available on your company's web site through the link provided. When prospects visit the site, ask them to provide their name, email address and phone number, and then deliver a well-written and informative article.

The first step is to get a prospect's attention and their contact information. Then you can stay in touch with them on a regular basis, offering more helpful ideas and information about your services. Building relationships in this way is well worth the additional cost of printing on both sides of your cards.

Before you rush to redo your business card, you'll want it designed so it is easy to read and moves your prospects to contact you. If you want it to look professional, hire a graphic designer to help put your marketing objectives into print.

Stop exchanging business cards as a ritual and start using your card to attract new clients. Reconsider your title and include your brilliant marketing message. Add a free offer your prospects can't refuse. Your business card will help you start conversations, generate more leads and grow your business.

2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

About the Author:

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and grow their businesses. Sign up for the Free Marketing eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business', full of practical marketing ideas you can use to improve your business marketing plan

Make Money On The Net Webmaster Tools And Tips: Google's Adsense Program Expands with Web Search

2004-09-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Google's Adsense Program Expands with Web Search
By Merle Copyright © 2004
When Google launched Adsense, millions of website owners scurried to sign up. By adding "AdWords Text Ads" to your website, you can make a nice little income with no work on your part. Once the code is placed on a page, Google scans it for a theme and shows ads related to the content it finds.
Google is never one to rest on its laurels, and is constantly adding features and improving the program. The latest news is "Adsense for Search." Thousands of people love to search with Google and now they can do so without leaving your site, giving you another opportunity to make money with the Adsense Program.
With "WebSearch," users can search not only Google, but if you choose the option, they can search your site as well. Adsense Ads, targeted to the users' searches are shown next to the results, just as they are if they performed the search at Google itself.
So how does the search box look on your website? Google makes it easy for you to customize the look of WebSearch to make it match the feel of your site. You can add your own Logos, change colors, title, text colors and more. Google offers over 200 colors to choose from.
So what are the benefits of adding "WebSearch" to your site? Well, if you don't have search capabilities for your own website, this is an easy way to add it. Also, it may keep visitors on your website longer and gives them a useful tool that they may come back and use more often. It also gives you another way to generate income from Adsense itself.
If you're worried about the types of sites that may be returned in the search results, Google has a "safe search" option that allows you to exclude adult related content from appearing on your site.
Like "Adsense for Content," "Adsense for Search" requires you to already have an account with Google and be approved for their program.
If you'd like to turn on WebSearch for your site, you'll need to log into your account and grab the code to paste onto your pages.
On a side note, Google has also added some other really nice features to Adsense:
1) Preview Tool: A free download for Internet Explorer 6.0 so you can preview what Adsense Ads will look like on your web pages. It installs itself as an add-on to your right-click menu. It allows you to try out different ad formats and color combinations. Advertisers are not charged for ads that are clicked on from within the Preview Tool. For more information, go to: http://www.Google.com/adsense/previewtool
2) Languages Added: Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish for Websearch and Adsense for Content.
3) More Channels: You can now create up to 50 channels for Adsense and 50 for WebSearch for a total of 100 different channels across your sites.
4) Ad Format: Another new ad format size of 234x60 horizontal banner.
5) Image Ads: Option to display not only text ads on your website, but image ads as well, or a combination of both.
Google is constantly making changes and adding features to its Adsense Program, which is a good thing for website owners everywhere. By implementing AdSearch on your pages, you can add related content for your site's visitors and also earn a nice little income, to boot. For more on the program go to http://www.google.com/adsense
Isn't it time your website starting earning its keep?About the Author:
Merle http://ezineadauction.com/?wsnet "Where Some of the BEST Deals in Ezine Ads are Made" Need help with your website traffic? Then you need this home study course which shows you step by step how to market and promote your site the right way. http://www.mcpromotions.com/johnreese.htm
Content Provided By: Web Source Your Guide to Professional Web Site Design & Developement

Make Money On The Net Webmaster Tools and Tips

Moving Beyond Marketing Rituals to Increase Profits

Make Money On The Net Webmaster Tools And Tips: Google's Adsense Program Expands with Web Search