How to Use the Web to Boost Your Radio Advertising’s ROI
Radio advertising isn't as powerful as it once was, but it's still an effective way to reach reasonably targeted demographics. Before you spend a dime on the medium, though, having a solid web presence is essential. If your site is clunky or your online visibility is weak, your radio ads could wind up benefiting your competitors more than you.
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Top 5 Best Press Release Submission Sites for 2011
Reaching out to the media is a cost-effective way to spread the word about your enterprise. There are lots of paid and free press release distribution sites where you can submit your news, but most of them are fly-by-night services that aren't worth your time.
Here's a list of the best press release submission sites. If you have any recommendations, let us know in the comment section!
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Yes, Business Cards Are Important
Even though business networking is increasingly going virtual, physical business cards are still very much important. As long as you're still meeting potential clients in person, they're worth taking seriously. You want your business card to stand out in the stack because of its design and paper quality so you're more likely to be remembered down the line. The more your business card stands out, the more likely you are to do the same.
When you're handing someone your business card, you're making an important first impression. The quality of your business card is a reflection of your professionalism. Homemade cards are never acceptable. They scream of amateurism. You might be the best at what you do, but to a new prospect there are only a few ways to judge: by your word and how you present yourself.
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Marketing When Business Is Good
Is your business turning a decent profit at the moment? Do you already have more inbound sales leads than you can handle? Are you uninterested in expanding your business because you're plenty comfortable with its current size? Do you have trouble justifying investing in marketing because the current economy is treating you so well?
You're one of the lucky ones, for sure, but that's no reason to ignore getting the word out about your business. Large, successful companies have in-house marketing departments and invest heavily in advertising for a reason: They want to remain in the black. They realize that the business world never stagnates. While the future may look bright for them now, they realize their situation could change very quick if their competition outsmarts them. They invest in marketing to ensure that doesn't happen.
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How Important Is Your Website’s Homepage?
It used to be that the most work was dedicated to perfecting a site's homepage because, presumably, that would be the place visitors would see first. As Internet users become more sophisticated, they're bypassing sites' main pages in favor of getting the information they're seeking from landing pages. And instead of searching for general terms on Google, Yahoo! and Bing, they're getting much more specific, finding what they're seeking sooner.
CMS Wire cites statistics showing that show that the percentage of a large research website's page views being on the home page has been declining steadily since 2003: 39 percent in 2003, 19 percent in 2009 and, during one month in 2010, just over 2 percent. A technology website, according to CMS Wire, �had roughly 10 percent of page views for the homepage in 2008, and by 2010 it was down to 5 percent.�
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Study: Nearly 100 Percent of Consumers Research Online Before Purchasing Locally
If you're not already devoting most of your marketing budget to the Internet, now is the time to change your game plan. A new study by BIA/Kelsey indicates that 97 percent of consumers go online to research products and services locally. If they're not finding you during their searches, there's no doubt about it: You're losing business, and probably lots of it.
Consumers are getting their information from a variety of sources, but most of them start with popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Of those who participated in the study, 90 percent reported using search engines to conduct research. Forty-eight percent use the online Yellow pages, 42 percent use shopping comparison sites and 24 percent use vertical sites.
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Writing effective press releases that help SEO
Press releases are much less powerful than they used to be for SEO purposes. While churning out news releases and submitting them to free sites may not do much, the medium can actually be more powerful than ever if used right. Convincing a single reporter or high-profile blogger to pick up your news is infinitely more beneficial than posting worthless releases all over the place and Digg'ing and StumbleUpon'ing them with your multiple accounts.
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