Internet Marketing for Free

The Offer

As I write this, I still have 3 slots available to those who are interested in this offer. If you haven’t signed up, then I would encourage you to do so. Even if you don’t make the 6 in my direct team, this is still a good offer for you.

The reason is that I have been selected to be the affiliate program manager for GDI Full Matrix.  So, even if you don’t make my team, you’ll still get some great training as I will be developing all of the training, as well as a lot of the marketing for this organization.

If you’d like to know how the system actually works, then visit the GDI Full Matrix site where they explain how you make money.

If you would like to join under me and learn how to make money (I’ll have some extra bonuses for those in my direct downline, then I would love to have you.

Training will probably start next week, so if you want to get in, now is the time to join. Otherwise you could end up getting behind. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will start making money.

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It’s that time of year when I send out gifts to my customers. I also update my membership site. I heard from Gary Ryan Blair the other day that he’s planning to run the 100 Day Challenge again in January. As part of that challenge, I will be offering a 100 day course to help those who want to start a business start their businesses.

For those that don’t want to participate in Gary’s challenge, or can’t afford to, you can still get my 100 day challenge course. Here’s how it works:

First, join the Killer Marketing Arsenal. It’s just $10 a month. On December 1, 2011, you’ll receive the instructions so you can participate in the challenge starting January 1, 2012.

I’ll be updating the membership with some really cool stuff. As a member of Killer Marketing Arsenal, not only will you receive access to the 100 Day Challenge, but you’ll also receive a new report, a video, and access to my latest webinar.

(For those who are a member of my internet marketing newsletter, you’ll get the report and video each month.)

You’ll also receive, as a bonus, a complete video course on how to market using free classified ads. I’ll teach you how to make money without a list, a website, or expensive pay per click. You’ll also learn how to write and post your ads, and how to syndicate your ads to over 200 free classified ad sites.

You’ll also receive a brand new traffic course in video.

Most marketers would charge at least $97 a month for a membership like this, but I know we’re in a tough economy right now, and I have a lot of readers overseas that simply cannot afford a $97 a month membership. This way it’s affordable for you.

I think you’ll like my membership so much you’ll want to stay. I have many customers who have been with me from the beginning. I love my customers, I’m committed to giving them what they want and helping them make money.

Here’s a summary of what you get:

In addition to everything currently listed in the sales letter, you’ll also receive:

1. Complete video course on marketing with free classifieds (this will sell on Amazon for $97)

2. A complete video course to teach you internet marketing ($47)

3. The 100 Day course to teach you how to start a business from scratch ($997 value) (This course will be released December 1, 2011. You must sign up before then and stay a member for the entire course.)

4. You’ll also receive bonus interviews by big name marketers like Mark Joyner, Jeff Dedrick, Nick Unsworth, and Stuart Stirling. (I’ll be doing regular interviews with internet marketers all across the board. You’ll find out how these people really do business, and you’ll learn from the best.)

To get this package, you’ll need to sign up before December 1, 2012. Current members will receive all this, and a bonus Facebook marketing video course.

Sign up today: Killer Marketing Arsenal

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BTW, I’ve had several people ask me what the difference is between the newsletter and the membership because the newsletter is included in the membership.

With the membership, you have access to the classified ads syndication, as well as the webinar (those start in January). With the newsletter, you get the newsletter, a video, a report, and the List Building Cash system.

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Smart businesses know that clever and effective marketing is the key to success during both good and bad economic times. The problem is that many businesses are finding it hard to adapt their marketing strategies to today’s economic climate.

This is not surprising as successful marketing especially in a recession requires detailed marketing knowledge and experience that many businesses don’t have. Investing in good marketing consultants can help businesses reconnect with their customers or clients and promote their products/services more effectively.

This article provides a brief overview covering the following:
o What marketing consultants are
o What can businesses expect from a marketing consultant
o How they can help businesses during a recession
o What to look for when choosing a marketing consultant

What are Marketing Consultants?

A marketing consultant is a trained professional or company who can assist a business or organisation in creating and implementing effective marketing strategies to promote their products or services.

A trained marketing consultant should be able to view things from the target audience’s perspective including how they think and react to a business’s products or services.

Good marketing consultants are certainly worth the investment since they can handle all of a business’s marketing requirements leaving the client free to focus on other important business needs.

Whether a business is just starting up or has been trading for some time an experienced consultant can assist them in investing their marketing budgets wisely and creating strategies that working both in the short and long term to meet and in some cases exceed their expectations.

So what should you expect from your marketing consultant?

A good marketing consultant should:
o be experts in a number of marketing techniques and strategies
o provide creative, fresh and successful marketing strategies that are tailored to the businesses goals and target audiences
o assess current marketing strategies, identifying problems and suitable solutions
o handle any issues or problems that may arise during a recommended marketing campaign quickly and efficiently
o collate and analysis marketing data including providing campaign reports
o be in regular communication with the client being able to listen as well as make suggestions

How can Marketing Consultants can help businesses during a recession?

Recession is a difficult time for business suddenly customers aren’t as willing to part with their money as they used to be, plus existing marketing campaigns may have become much less effective.

What is often needed is a fresh approach, but where to start? No business wants to start risking their marketing budgets testing different strategies until they find the ones that work. What they need is someone who has the expertise to access the current situation and experience to suggest proven marketing solutions.

This is where a good marketing consultant or company can really help, finding ways to make marketing budgets stretch further and work more effectively to improve business ROI.
Yes hiring marketing consultants is an addition cost that needs to be carefully considered, but surviving a recession is not just about cutting costs it’s about using resources wisely. Investing in a consultant can help businesses review their current marketing identifying areas where resources could be saved and where existing or extra resources should be placed for maximum results.

What should I look for in a marketing consultant?

Hiring a marketing consultant can bring a business valuable expertise and a fresh successful approach to their marketing efforts; however, as with any industry it’s important to pick the right consultant for the job.

The following are a few points to consider when selecting a marketing consultant or firm:
o Recommendations – Make sure the consultant or firm can provide client recommendations. Ask for a list of current clients who can be contacted for references.
o Compare – It’s worth getting in contact with several different consultants and comparing them not only on price, but also experience and service. The right consultant is not always the cheapest or most expensive, but often the most experienced.
o Research – Do some independent research on marketing consultants. Businesses can use the internet to research individual consultants or companies and check if there are any complaints or issues they need to be aware of. Even the best companies may have disputes from time to time so if there are complaints businesses should try to find out more about them and how they were resolved.
o Rapport – It’s important to have a good working relationship with your marketing consultant. You want someone who will listen to you and communicate on a regular basis. If you have doubts about their ability to communicate with you then its best to look for another consultant.
o Creativity – Part of the job of a marketing consultant will be to come up with fresh new ideas and strategies and this requires creativity. If the consultant or firm don’t seem very creative or lacking in ideas you need to look elsewhere.
o Multiple Strategies – Never put rely on just one marketing strategy. Look for consultants who will offer a number of carefully planned strategies that can be put to the test and provide clear results in both the short and long term.

No one can be an expert on everything and in business it’s important to recognise an individual’s strengths and weaknesses and use them accordingly. Marketing is a specialist field and it is unlikely that most businesses will have individuals with all the expertise needed in this area so hiring a marketing consultant or firm provides an excellent solution.

However, it’s important for businesses to approach hiring a marketing consultant carefully, taking the time to find the right consultant for them to ensure their business is successful not only today, but long into the future.

Recession is a difficult time for everyone, but by spending marketing resources wisely and getting the right expert help many businesses can actually become stronger and more successful.

Hedley Basford skilled and experienced marketing consultants are committed to making your business more successful by offering you a personal service with honesty and integrity.

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Business of any kind depends a lot on advertising, since you need to get the word across to potential customers. Choosing the right advertising media is very important if you wish to see our clientele grow, and yet do not want to end up wasting many resources on worthless advertising.

How to Choose an Advertising Media:

Here are some things to keep in mind when selecting an advertising media.

1) What are the features of your products that you want to emphasize?

2) Are you building a brand for your company or just want to sell a product?

3) How much are you ready to spend on advertising?

4) What is the profile of the targeted customers?

5) How frequently will your products be bought?

6) At what time do you want to display the ads? People have different moods at different times, so advertisements have differing psychological impacts based on the time of display of ads.

Types of Advertisements:

There are different kinds of advertisements depending on customer profile, brand, product etc.

1) Category Specific Advertisements

These ads are “one size fits all” kinds, where all you have to do is fill your product name in a preset template. A typical category specific advertisement can be used for any number of products in similar categories.

2) Franchise Advertisements

These ads are useful when it comes to building a brand. The advertisement builds up hype around a brand, and thus costs more than a category specific ad.

3) Store Specific Advertisements

Store specific ads are highly region specific; what works for one retail store in one location may not work for another in the same or different location.

4) Product Specific Advertisement

The product specific ads are about the product on sale. It has nothing to do with brands, company, or any other subject related to the seller. These advertisements are the best option for small businesses and franchisees. However, franchisees should take care that these advertisements do not just highlight the manufacturer’s business, but also the products you retail on behalf of the manufacturers.

What Your Advertising Firm Never Told You:
When selecting an advertising media, you should not think that simply putting in a lot of money would do the trick. Here are some surprising findings by the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

1) The effectiveness of the advertisement has nothing to do with what you spend on them.

2) Content of the advertisement is more important than how much money you spend on it.

3) Repeating advertisements is a very effective way of getting your message across.

Best Advertising Media:
Some of the most widely used advertising media are:

1) Billboards

2) Television

3) Radio

4) Newspapers

5) Direct Mailing to potential customers

The above guidelines will help you generate more revenue through higher sales that result from effective advertising. Good advertising is more about proper content, and it should be delivered keeping the profile of the customers in mind. You can hire a small business advisor to help you with choosing the best advertising media for your small business if you want to know more about the kind of advertising vehicle that suits your business.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com – The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

Business Owners all across the country are joining “The Community of Small Business Owners” to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences.

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Quite a few clients have told me that marketing is difficult for them. It is difficult to get started with marketing; it is difficult to figure out how to market, and it is difficult to understand how to market effectively. Even if you are already using marketing techniques to promote your business, there is no guarantee that your marketing efforts will bring the results you are looking for.

I have put together a simple plan for you to take charge of your marketing and to simplify at least some of the process. Here are five marketing steps:

- Define What Needs To Be Done. What are you marketing? Is it a product or a service? What are the results you are looking for? Would you like to generate more sales, more leads, more partners? Which online marketing techniques are you planning to use? Search engine optimization, article marketing, newsletter publishing? The better you define these points, the easier it will be for you to put your marketing plan into motion.

- Break Your Plan Into Bite-Size Pieces. Divide-and-conquer is a proven, time-tested technique for managing complicated tasks. If your goal is to optimize your web site for search engines, your bite-size pieces will include learning about search engine optimization, performing keyword research, optimizing your pages, optimizing your copy, etc. It is much easier to follow along when you map out the steps.

- Understand The Marketing Process. It is really difficult to apply a marketing technique if you do not have a good understanding of the process. For example, if you do not know how to use article marketing to promote your business, you will not be able to use it to market. Learning about marketing is essential. It will help you market now, and you can use your newly acquired marketing knowledge to continue marketing your business for years to come.

- Don’t Try to Do Everything At Once. Don’t start using five marketing techniques at the same time. You will simply end up jumping from one method to another, without spending a proper amount of time on any one of them. If you do not devote sufficient time to applying a marketing technique, you will not get results. Take some time to learn and apply a new marketing technique. Then, once you are seeing results, move on to the next one.

- Track Your Results. Tracking your results (or lack thereof) helps you understand what has produced results and what hasn’t. It also helps you compare different marketing methods and to determine which one(s) produce better results for your business.

Use this five point plan to better market your business and get results from marketing your business online.

Learn how to make marketing simple! Biana Babinsky is the online business coach, expert and author who has taught many solopreneurs how to become better known online, get more clients and make more money. Now you can learn all of her online marketing secrets, described in simple steps, in the Complete Step by Step Online Marketing Course at http://www.avocadoconsulting.com/rlinks/zcourse

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The results I have seen achieved from newspaper, phone directory and web site advertising, have been nothing short of amazing. It has all been accomplished using simple, but powerful, strategies.

Whether you are running web site advertising or any other kind of advertising – it still needs to get results. Your advertising will cost you the same, regardless of whether it pulls in two sales or does 1000% better and pulls in 22 sales.

So, how do you make your advertising work like crazy?

Your first task is not to get your prospect to read your advertising. You first need them to notice your advertising. I might be old school but, from years of “hands on” experience, I know that EVERY written advertisement needs a powerful headline. That goes for mail order, phone directory advertising, web site advertising, newspaper advertising etc. Every advertisement needs to grab attention with a powerful headline.

When I sort through my mail I do it next to the wastepaper basket. Unless it is something important, or a bill I need to pay, most of it gets trashed.

If I spot an eye-catching headline, I might be tempted to read a couple of paragraphs to see what it is all about. The same goes for web site advertising; if the web page doesn’t immediately grab my attention, I will move on to the next web site.

So, the first job of any advertising is to get attention. The second job is to keep the reader interested in what you have to say. You just have to get the person to read the first sentence, then the next sentence, then the one after that, and so on. Keep them interested and you may start to create a desire for what you have to sell.

Take just one step at a time. Get their attention and then keep them interested. Create a desire. Then, introduce a call to action and ask them to buy.

It is really important to work through the process in the correct order. There is no point in asking for the sale if you haven’t first grabbed their attention and created the desired.

That is why so many advertisements fail to pull in satisfactory results. A lot of advertisers put their company name at the top of the advertisement (boring!), and expect that to grab the attention of a reader. The business owner might like to see his or her company name big and bold at the top of the ad, but the average reader won’t have the same interest. The reader is more interested in “what’s in it for me.”

We are all interested in ourselves and want to know how we can benefit in some way. This is an important point all advertisers need to understand if they want better results from their advertising.

Now, before I go, take another look at the headline of this article. You will see it includes a benefit, which is exactly what I have just been talking about. If you have read this far, then you must have been interested in what I had to say. Hopefully you now have the desire to improve your advertising. However, I will stop there and not ask for a sale, because that is not the purpose of this article.

The important thing is that you understand the important sequence of the AIDA process – Get Attention, Create Interest, Generate Desire, and then Call for Action.

Noel has a friend with a new jewelry website with helpful information selecting a Mens Cross Necklaces and Mens Gold Rings. This site has helpful information for jewelry buyers, male or female.

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MISTAKE #1: Relying on referrals. When you depend on referrals as your sole source of new business, you allow middlemen to control your flow of new clients. You may discover that whether you receive referrals has nothing to do with your knowledge, skill or experience. Instead, it may be based on your ability to return the referrals.

ADVICE: In addition to referrals, make sure your marketing program attracts inquiries directly from prospects. This allows you to manage your marketing program, rather than relying on third parties over which you have little or no control.

MISTAKE #2: Depending on media exposure. Without question, articles in the print media and inter-views on radio and television can help you attract new clients. But many lawyers rely on publicity as their entire marketing program. True, exposure can increase your credibility. But, often, exposure by itself isn’t enough. Lawyers routinely report, “We were very happy with the number of articles about our firm, but we didn’t get a single new client!” In addition to exposure, you need to interact with prospects.

ADVICE: Make sure your marketing program brings about interactions between you and your prospects, such as over the telephone or in person. Interaction is a critical step in the marketing process — and the step most law marketing programs overlook.

MISTAKE #3: Relying on networking groups as a primary source of new business. Networking is a time-consuming exercise in meeting prospects and cultivating referrals. And while networking may bear fruit, lawyers often underestimate the time required.

ADVICE: Pursue opportunities to meet and talk with genuine prospects, but don’t put networking above other marketing strategies.

MISTAKE #4: Competing on low price. When you lower your fee to attract new clients, (1) you undermine your credibility because clients conclude your services were not worth what they previously paid, (2) you attract clients who will leave you when competing lawyers offer fees lower than yours, (Clients who are loyal to the dollar are never loyal to you!) and (3) you’ll probably lose money because the cost of attracting a volume of new clients is often greater than the profit you can earn from those clients.

ADVICE: Instead of competing on price, compete on value. You’re better off being the most expensive lawyer in town and having prospects appreciate your knowledge than being the cheapest lawyer and having prospects question your skill.

MISTAKE #5: Delivering an incomplete marketing message. Many lawyers believe common marketing methods don’t work because those lawyers didn’t get the results they wanted. But usually the problem isn’t the marketing method, it’s the message. If your message lacks even one essential element, your efforts could fail.

An estate planning lawyer delivered a seminar to 84 prospective clients, yet no one came into his office for a free consultation. After I reviewed his presentation, we added less than five minutes of information to his program. At his next seminar, 10 of the 11 couples in attendance requested appointments.

ADVICE: Before you implement your marketing program, make sure you create a complete, competent marketing message. Without a powerful message, your marketing program is doomed.

MISTAKE #6: Not effectively reaching your target audience. A tax attorney who represents doctors before the IRS advertised his services in a weekly shopper newspaper distributed free to homes. Not surprisingly, he was disappointed with the response. Before running the ad, the lawyer could have saved his $2000 investment had he asked himself, “Will doctors look for a tax attorney in a free weekly newspaper?” I don’t know about doctors, but that’s certainly not where I would look.

ADVICE: Choose different methods that you believe will reach your prospects. Then test each method on a small scale before you invest serious dollars. This way you’ll know which method most effectively reaches your target audience and how well it attracts the clients you want.

MISTAKE #7: Making decisions by committee. The quality of a marketing decision is based on how long it takes to make the decision and how much the decision has been watered down by compromise. One person working alone has the potential to make good decisions. When two people work together things begin to bog down. And if you’re waiting for three people to agree — well, don’t hold your breath. Marketing is like football. Can you imagine how long it would take if the entire team offered their ideas and everyone had to agree before they could make the next play?

ADVICE: Choose one quarterback to direct your program. If you don’t get the results you want, change strategies or change quarterbacks. But don’t compound your quarterback’s problems by bringing in more people to help make decisions.

MISTAKE #8: Not taking the leadership position in your market. When prospects perceive you as the leader in your field, you have a substantial advantage over other lawyers. Yet, many marketing programs aren’t designed to seize this powerful, profitable position.

ADVICE: Look at your position in the marketplace. From your prospects’ point of view, is any lawyer clearly the leader in that category? If not, design your marketing program so you take control of your niche. If that niche is already dominated by other lawyers, create a new category for yourself. Then promote the category so prospects see you as first in that new area. One of my clients created a new category and successfully dominated his niche for five and one-half years, when he decided to pursue another area of law. You gain an extraordinary advantage when prospects perceive you as the leader.

MISTAKE #9: Not delivering your marketing message until prospects come into your office. Lawyers usually have no problem persuading prospects to hire their services once the prospect is in their office. But getting prospects through the door is another matter.

ADVICE: Develop materials you can send to prospective clients. Then create a marketing program that uses the print and broadcast media to attract inquiries from prospects who ask to receive your information. When prospects call your office, you respond by mailing your packet and adding their names to your mailing list. This allows you to put your marketing message into their hands regardless of their location, rather than waiting for them to come to your office. If your materials are powerful and persuasive, you’ll find that prospects call you and request appointments.

One of my lawyer clients received 426 calls from prospects after offering his materials on a radio talk show, over 500 calls after a mid-day television news interview, and another 400 calls after an article appeared in a local newspaper.

MISTAKE #10: Not marketing to your practice mailing list. Your mailing list is your own personal area of influence. It should contain the names of all your past clients, current clients, prospective clients and referral sources.

ADVICE: Make sure you mail your newsletter at least monthly. And don’t think that you must make your newsletter an 8- or 16-page treatise. A simple educational letter of even one or two pages works fine. Your newsletter’s size is not nearly as important as how often you mail it and the value of the information you present.

MISTAKE #11: Taking marketing shortcuts. Lawyers who achieve success often trim back their marketing programs hoping to save money by eliminating the bells and whistles. What they often don’t realize is that many of the so-called “bells and whistles” are not bells and whistles at all. They are the essential components that make their programs work.

An attorney hired me to refresh his marketing message, which had grown stale. When we kicked off his new program, he attracted 247 prospects to five seminars, an average of 49 people at each program. His calendar filled up almost overnight. After six months, he took his marketing in house and started cutting corners. Within 90 days, his results were as dismal as they had been before he called me.

ADVICE: When you shortcut your marketing on the front end, you slash the number of new clients on the back end. If you want to streamline your marketing and determine if any steps might not be needed, start slowly and track results. Be careful not to cut away steps responsible for your success.

MISTAKE #12: Not making marketing a priority. For most lawyers, practicing law is their highest priority. When they get busy, they often reduce their marketing efforts because they need that time to work on their clients’ behalf. They operate under the false hope that their momentum will attract new business long into the future. But when they cut their marketing efforts, they actually shift their marketing into neutral. As a result, inertia takes over and things slowly coast to a standstill.

ADVICE: Make marketing a priority for you or someone in your office. Or hire an outside consultant so you make sure the work gets done. Don’t turn your marketing on and off like a light switch. Keep your program in gear so you always attract an ongoing flow of new clients.

MISTAKE #13: Writing an intricate marketing plan that becomes impossible to carry out. Many marketing plans look like jigsaw puzzles with dozens — or even hundreds — of pieces. And while the plans might work, most lawyers and their staffs don’t have the hours needed to carry out the plans.

ADVICE: Make sure your marketing plan is built on simple steps that have proved to be effective and efficient. In my 33 years in marketing, the most profitable, efficient and effective method I’ve found is my method of Education-Based Marketing.

MISTAKE #14: Never completing — and therefore never implementing — your marketing plan. Many lawyers get so caught up in gathering facts that they never stop designing their plan. They collect data, add more steps, collect more data, revise their plan, collect more data….

ADVICE: Implement your plan at the earliest possible moment. A poor marketing plan that is up and running is far more profitable than the “perfect plan” that never gets off your hard drive.

MISTAKE #15: Delaying your marketing program until your cash flow improves. More often than not, lawyers who use this reason never start marketing because they aren’t aware that their logic is backwards: Their cash flow won’t improve until they start their marketing program.

ADVICE: Maintaining an effective marketing program is the most important investment you can make. Why pay for an office and staff if you don’t have enough business to justify the overhead? Start your marketing program now so you have an ongoing flow of new clients.

MISTAKE #16: Carrying out a marketing program that does not achieve the five essential steps for success. Your marketing program must (1) establish your credibility, (2) identify how you’re different from other lawyers, (3) generate interactions between you and your prospects, (4) gain your prospect’s commitment, and (5) maintain your client’s loyalty. Programs that don’t achieve all five steps will fail.

ADVICE: Any time you evaluate a marketing opportunity, consider how well that method will accomplish these steps.

MISTAKE #17: Promoting your services. When you promote your services, you take on the role of a salesperson hawking his wares. This method, called selling-based marketing, undermines your credibility and causes prospects to question whether they can trust you.

ADVICE: Instead of promoting your services, promote your knowledge by educating prospects. Education-Based Marketing gives prospects what they want, information and advice, and removes what they don’t want, a sales pitch. It attracts prospects who come to you because of your knowledge, skill, judgment and experience.

Trey Ryder specializes in Education-Based Marketing For Lawyers. The American Marketing Association featured his Ryder Method of Education-Based Marketing on the front page of its national publication, Marketing News. He offers lawyers three free articles by e-mail: 17 Fatal Marketing Mistakes Lawyers Make, 7 Secrets of Dignified Marketing for Lawyers, and 11 Brochure Mistakes Lawyers Make. To receive these articles, send your name and e-mail address to [email protected] and ask for his free e-mail packet of articles. Also, you’re invited to visit his Lawyer Marketing Advisor at http://www.treyryder.com.

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