Free. Oh how we love to hear that word. Just the sound of it coming off anyone’s lips triggers the immediate exclamatory one-word questions — “What?” “When?” or “Where?”

Everyone loves a bargain. And there was once a time on the Internet when everything was at a bargain. For the Internet boom of the late 1990’s ushered in the “free business model” when almost everything you wanted online was priced at . . . well, for free.

That’s not the case anymore. Many of those companies with the free offers have taken free voluntary bankruptcy.

But still, there are many websites that use freebies to increase their website traffic and attract new business. Does it work? You darn right it does, or else it wouldn’t still exist. However, the online commerce world is a game of “Survivor” if there ever was one. Survival of the fitess, that is.

Free works great as a marketing strategy provided it is used to convert website visitors into real paying customers. To do that you have to have a product or service that people need, want and will buy. But above all, your products and services have to be competitively priced. The only way you can expect to garner top bucks for your goods or services online is to offer proprietary products and services that no one else offers. If you can’t do that, be prepared to lose a lot of sales to your Internet competition who most likely has some aspect of the free business model in their marketing plan.

You have to be competitive online, because now, more than ever before, people have the ability to use powerful search engines like PriceGrabber.com, PriceScan.com or Shopzilla.com to find the best deals online.

But what if you’re not searching for a name brand product. What if you really do want something for free? What if you want to know more about what’s free online for lesser known products and services. Then, you might want to consider turning to an information source that provides helpful articles and hints about free goods and services online.

In the event you can’t find the free item or service you desire, or chasing down a free offer ends up costing you big bucks, chances are you might just copy and paste “free” to your brain’s list of bad four-letter words. :o)

Craig Whitley is a freelance writer that frequently writes about the Internet, consumer trends and online business practices. He is a contributing editor to http://www.get-free.com and other websites that focus on providing useful information to consumers.

When you think about marketing, chances are pretty good that cartoons and talking animals aren’t the first thing to pop into your mind. You’re probably processing numbers, identifying markets, and looking for ways to cut costs.

Maybe it’s time to get your nose off the grindstone and have a little fun. Why? Creativity plays an important role in marketing, and sometimes we need to take the time to get our creative juices flowing.

Don’t believe it? Take a close look at Disney. Now that’s a perfect sample of creativity and marketing going hand-in-hand! Walt Disney… a dreamer who put magic into his marketing.

Creativity can take on several different “personas”…

1. The Explorer
The explorer seeks out bits of interesting and new information like a sponge. Curiosity keeps him hunting for the unknown and ready to plunge into brand new experiences.

2. The Dreamer
A wild imagination is the best friend of a true dreamer. Nothing is impossible in the world of imagination.

3. The Artist
An artist is able to take a variety of bits and pieces, mix them all together and come up with a collage that entrances the mind.

Before you set this article aside and get back into the daily grind, let’s think of what all of this could mean to your marketing campaign.

Creativity may…

1. Add pizzas to your flyers
2. Spark a brand new idea for a product/service to market
3. Bring to light a brand new way to market your current product/service
4. Give color to your ads
5. Expose a new way to beat out the competition

Hey, any one of those are great boosters for a marketing campaign. The trouble is that sometimes we feel that everyone is creative, but we’re just an unimaginative lump of clay destined to plod through life.

Not so! Everyone has an imagination. Sometimes it just needs to be oiled up a little bit to get it loosened up. How long has it been since you put your imagination to work?

You can give your creativity a leg up by…

1. Watching a sunrise or sunset
2. Organizing a party
3. Smelling a flower

Hah! You thought I’d have some extravagant exercises all laid out for you, didn’t you? Relax, there’s no secret key to being successfully creative. Creativity comes in all sizes, shapes and colors. There’s no right or wrong way to be creative.

The biggest hurdle most people face is the “I’m just not creative” cop out. Sure they’re creative. In fact, if I asked, they could create quite a long list of the reasons they aren’t creative.

Research has shown that this biggest difference between “creative” and “non-creative” people is that “creative” people believe they are creative and “noncreative” people don’t believe they are creative. It’s as simple as that.

Every marketer gets stale after a while, if they don’t find refreshing and new ideas to incorporate into their work. If your marketing has lost its pizzazz or seem to be in the dumps, simply take a little time to stimulate your creativity and just see what happens.

Who is Allyn Cutts, and why should you care?
Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic, providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge results for small-to mid-size business clients. Allyn works personally with clients to design and deliver off-line and on-line direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at www.AllynCutts.com and you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Do classified ads really work? Should you include an email address or fax number in them? How about a call to action?

Questions like these are often brought to the attention of OhioHelp.net, an Ohio-based company specializing in helping businesses worldwide with their marketing, public relations and freelance writing services. Here are some top tips they offer based on their own client projects.

TOP TIPS FROM OHIOHELP.NET

I. CLASSIFIED AD PLACEMENT

Study the ads in publications where you would like to place yours to see what works. And STUDY them like you’ll have an exam over them. If you didn’t see the ad before, skip it. Only focus on those who repeatedly placed the same ads - -these people are selling off of them: bottom line.

While you’re at it, call some of those companies who are not your direct competitors and ask how their ads pull (and log their replies for reference). Exchange contact information and follow up so that you can possibly team up with them later in a joint venture and send clients back and forth.

Results show that small ads placed in inexpensive publications generally bring in phone calls and clicks to websites, but no email replies. And on the average, these callers reported having limited or no Internet access along with limited or no computer / email capabilities in their homes. If they had access at work, it was limited and did not offer personal / private email. Toll-free numbers brought in more responses than local numbers with area codes. And fax numbers brought in nothing at all.

II. CLASSIFIED AD GIFTS

Sales increased with the inclusion of Gift and Reward items in a call-to-action ad. Popular items were:

A. A No-Cost Information Kit that included a variety of tip sheets,electronic books and software sent via downloadable links in printed sales letters and included on disks or CDs. All items were mailed Flat Rate via Priority Mail.

B. A Book / workbook set sent the same way or mailed Media Rate in a manila envelope. Sets were for a trial period before purchasing. And No-Cost Information Kits above were included in the package.

C. A special “Freebie” item of their choice from our bookstore was mailed or emailed with mention of the ad.

III. CLASSIFIED AD COPYWRITING

To increase customer contact, communication and overall sales, include specific pricing in the ad; for example, say, “rates from $39.” Also list an email address with a domain name and specific person to contact. In other words, instead of emailing info@aol.com, email diana@ohiohelp.net using a first name for familiarity. (Note that some classifieds charge a 3-word count for URLs but only a 1-word count for email addresses.) And use an action verb in your call-to-action, “Mention Ad for…”

So sharpen your pencil or grab your keyboard and tune up your classified campaigns. Testing and improving your ads can definitely increase sales.

To learn more top tips and receive them on a regular basis at no charge in your email, sign up at http://ohiohelp.net today or email diana@ohiohelp.net. Preview your own “MAP: Move Ahead Plan” book and spiral-bond workbook set today and receive your No-Cost Information Kit along with it by visiting http://help-plan.biz

–

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated - send to: diana@ohiohelp.net

About The Author

Diana Barnum, president of http://movingaheadcommunications.com and CEO of http://ohiohelp.net. For more help with marketing, public relations and writing, email diana@ohiohelp.net or call: (614) 529-9459.

March is Women’s History Month. That being said, the truth is that women AND men can make their own history and capitalize on this month’s observance. Guys don’t get dispirited; you really can capitalize on the popularity of Women’s history events. After all, women make up more than 50% of the population so there are hundreds of ways to spin publicity no matter your gender.

Whether you are in the corporate world or run your own business, you should take advantage of a well-publicized happening (such as Women’s History Month) to promote yourself or your company.

Here are a couple of scenarios.

• Make an announcement within your organization that you plan on participating in an event conjoined with Women’s History Month.

• Ask your employees to participate. You can take essays, ask them to nominate their favorite woman on the job, hold a drawing for a
special gift and so on.
• Write a press release about your observance of Women’s History Month. Look for a clever angle to capture the media’s attention.

Supporting women at work is an important initiative that deserves more recognition. Diversity and women in the workforce is really a hot media topic right now, so look for ways to incorporate these points into your material.

Gentlemen, if you work for a woman or know of a deserving woman within your company, take advantage of this opportunity to recognize her. Submit her name along with an essay about why she should be honored during the month. There are numerous places to submit releases both from a business and personal perspective.

Do a GOOGLE search for Women’s History Month. Here is a great place to start.
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenshistory1.html — The site is filled with lots of facts and insightful information you can use in your media campaign.

Does you company work in international business? International Women’s Day is March 8th. International Women’s Day was commemorated in the United States during the 1910s and 1920s, but then it dwindled. It was revived during the women’s movement in the 1960s, but without its socialist associations. In 1975, the U.N. began sponsoring International Women’s Day. Look for an angle to promote your support of international women. You can design media
materials and receive copies of proclamations and other activities that deserve participation at http://www.nwhp.org/whm/themes/themes.html.

Here is an example from the site. — Women Changing America, By Senator Susan M. Collins — “Women have always played a critical role in the social, cultural, economic, and political life of our country. Each year since 1987, Congress and the President have recognized March as Women’s History Month to highlight the many contributions that American women have made to our nation. Just spend a few minutes looking at some of the women mentioned in history. I’m sure you will be surprised at some of the things that women have accomplished.”

You are only limited by your imagination. Think of all the important Women in XXX industry. I’m sure you know someone deserving of an honor. Remember, you can do a lot of unique promotion with this concept. It’s a time sensitive issue with the media so the sooner you get started marketing the more opportunity to get your name out there.

Discover the easy way to make yourself stand out from others. How to become an expert in your field; How to write a better resume; How to write a personal press release; How to accomplish things no one else is doing and to get people to think about you in ways they have not thought before and much more including critical checklists for those important business meetings.

This indispensable workbook will show you specific ways to accomplish your personal branding goals and launch your career into the stratosphere. We have done all the work for you with guidelines, cheat sheets and easy-to-use templates to customize for your own use.

So don’t put off building your brand any longer. Don’t wait till your associates get your promotion or raise or even a better job.

Order Packaging Yourself now @ http://www.packaginguniversity.com/pkgustorefront.htm

If you find that the strategies and tactics in these materials don’t work for you or in your business, we don’t feel like we should keep your money. We want you to try them for 30 days with zero risk.

When I talk to new writers who are trying to interest an agent and/or publisher in their work, I can’t help thinking that their ambition is a little misguided.

True, agents remain the gatekeepers of the major publishing houses, most of whom no longer look at manuscripts submitted directly from authors. And yes, those big publishers have major distribution and clout. They will see that your book is stocked on the bookstore shelves, and they will pay you an advance (sometimes a very healthy one) against future royalties.

I won’t make the argument that, for writers pursuing that route, the odds are slim to none. First, because I think such statements are made too often and do nothing but add to the general angst of an aspiring artist. Secondly, because I don’t think any art form is a game of odds.

I will say, though, that writers who sign those fat contracts have, in most cases, already discovered their audience - or at least a sizable part of it. Look at the bigger-name authors and do a little research on their backgrounds.

Most fall into one of three categories: (1) They built name recognition for themselves by writing and publishing short fiction and/or articles, (2) They self-published their first novel(s) and sold enough copies through their own promotional efforts and word of mouth to attract an agent or editor, or (3) They were highly visible in another career - i.e., they were rock stars, sports figures, T.V. personalities, etc.

Basically what I’m arguing is that writers should devote their time and energy to attracting READERS, not agents or editors. The powers that be in the publishing world want a sure and safe sell anyway. Forget about them for the time being and think about who your potential audience might be. Then build up a strategy for reaching those readers.

The internet is your friend here. For every subject and interest you can name, there is a place on the web where people congregate to discuss it. Boil your book down to its most essential themes and then do some keyword searching. You’ll find discussion groups, ezines, weblogs, interview and review sites, special interest newsletters, etc.

What’s next? Once you’ve isolated those sites, consider the most time-effective strategy for interesting those people in your work. Get a feel for a particular ezine’s preferences and then write and submit some short stories or articles. You should consider offering the articles for free. The increased likelihood of publication - and resultant exposure - is worth the sacrifice.

Once you have increased web presence you can consider either approaching those agents again or else self-publishing. Remember this: even if you DO sign a contract with a publisher, you’ll still be responsible for doing most of your own promotion. The time you spent exposing you writing to other enthusiasts of your subject will put you in good stead and give you many more options than you would’ve had otherwise.

No longer will you be at the mercy of those gatekeepers of the publishing industry.

Seth Mullins is the author of “Song of an Untamed Land”. For more advice aimed at aspiring writers and newcomers to the publishing world, visit his blog at http://authorsden.com/sethtmullins

Promotions are everything you do to let your customers know you exist. Good marketing techniques can help eliminate the “I didn’t knows” from your clients and would-be clients. Even if you believe you have more than enough business you should always continue to do some sort of marketing. What if there is a sudden downturn in your industry? What if you have to suddently reach more customers? With a good marketing system in place you will be prepared for any surprises.

Additionally, you must be very vigilent in your marketing efforts when things are slow. This is NOT the time to pull back. If anything, go forward by taking advantage of all the free and low costs opportunities that will keep your name at the front of your market.

Develop a Winning Marketing and Promotions Campaign

Marketing a business can be a huge challenge. However, if you have systems in place, are consistent in implementing your systems, have great follow up and truly care about your customers, your business will not only survive, it will thrive. Before you begin a marketing campaign for your business, take time to develop a good plan.

With promotions, it may not be a one size fits all for your business. Depending on what you are promoting at any given time will determine what type of plan you need to put in place.

However, these are some things you should always consider in any campaign.

• Collecting names and contact information for inclusion in your database

• Inputting the information in a timely fashion

• Sending some type of a follow up within a short period of time after obtaining the information

• Keeping a well-groomed database

Before starting a promotional marketing campaign, ask the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the campaign?

• How much time do you need to properly roll it out?

• What is your budget?

• Who is your target market?

• How will you promote it?

• What type of incentives do you need to offer - coupons, giveaways, drawings?

• Will you do all the promotions yourself or will you need to hire someone to help?

• What is your system for collecting names and contact information?

• Will you need special insurance for the event?

• Are you complying with all state and federal laws? For example, in Utah we have very strict laws about anything that remotely resembles gambling such as a raffle.

• Will you be including other companies in your campaign?

Your Marketing Program Needs to Be Ongoing

As a marketing and promotions advisor to small and medium sized companies, I often see people who try something once, get little or no result and then cry, “Marketing doesn’t work!” Fact is, one letter, one phone call, one ad, one press release - none by themselves will achieve the desired result, but having a continuous, ongoing plan for marketing and following it will.

Something you must do in order to gain optimum results is to get excited about marketing you and your business. The more passionate you are about what you do the more people will want to do business with you.

Copyright: © 2004 by Kathleen Gage

Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your web site, or in your print publication provided you include the resource box at the end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required.

About The Author

Kathleen Gage is a business advisor, keynote speaker and trainer who helps others gain marketing dominance and visibility within their market. She is the recipient of the 2004 Giant Step Award for Business of the Year in the State of Utah. Call 801.619.1514 or email Kathleen@turningpointpresents.com. Get Gage’s online newsletter called Street Smarts Marketing and Promotions by visiting www.kathleengage.com.

kathleen@turningpoint presents.com

Without a good opportunity, you could end up working very hard for very little results. Not only is that extremely frustrating, but it could end up burning you out and have you thinking you aren’t capable of running your own business.

Obviously no one ever wants to fail, but it is very important you select the business, product, or program that will be the best fit for you.

There are many ways you can analyze companies/products, but the most efficient we’ve found is to use a checklist.

What we do when looking for new products or businesses, is write down a list of items that we feel are important.

Since we choose what is important to us, we know that if we run several businesses through the checklist, the ones with the highest scores at the end are the ones we will take the most serious look into.

Usually we only end up with a few that match all the criteria, so it really helps the process. Our time is valuable so the easier it is for us to qualify various opportunities, the better.

Here is the checklist we used to find the best company to start a home based business with:

* Industry - Is the business’ industry expanding or contracting?

* Trends - Will you be ahead or behind the trends?

* Timing - Are you early or late in the product & industry life cycle.

* Products - Do they provide value for money to the end user?

* Uniqueness - Does the company have any exclusivity, patents etc?

*Demand - How big is the market for the products & services?

* Longevity - How long could the products last in the market?

* Future - Are there more products “in the pipeline”?

* Competition - Whom else are you marketing against?

* Profitability - Are there good profit margins?

* Compensation - How much can you earn? Is the Rewards plan fair?

* ROI - How soon can you return your initial investment?

* Leverage - Do YOU have to do all the work or can you earn overrides? Or RESIDUAL Income (Our Favorite)

* Company - How long have they been in business?

* Management - Who’s running the company?

* Marketing - How, what, why when, where?

* Global or Local - Does the company market worldwide or only local?

* Tools - Are you supplied with business tools to make your life easier?

* Training - Will you be trained? How fast can you come “up to speed”?

* Commitment - What time and/or money is required from you?

* Lifestyle - Will you be able to live the lifestyle you planned?

Yes, a LOT to consider. The wrong move will cost you thousands (if not more ) and even more importantly, TIME.

Matthew 14: 22 - 33
Jesus sent His disciples across the sea to the other side while he went to pray. A huge storm came up, the wind was terrible and the disciples, being fisherman were convinced they would drown.
In the midst of this turmoil they see ‘a ghost’ walking on the water to them.

V27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter then calls to Jesus that if that is Him, then Jesus must call Him to come to Him.
Jesus says come. Peter gets out the boat, and walks on the water to Jesus.

V30 But when he saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying’ “Lord, save me!”

Jesus reaches out and takes His hand and they get into the boat and immediately the
wind ceased.

V33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “TrulyYou are the Son of God.”

1. STORMS
In life, we will face devastating storms. We will face pressure, we will face emotional heartbreak and rejection, we will face death and loneliness, we will face losing all we have, we will face sickness etc.

Often in life those things can overwhelm us, so much, that we lose sight of Jesus and we begin to drown in those ‘waves’ that hit us. We are overburdened by the situation and feel like we are going to ‘drown’.

2. HIS VOICE
In the midst of this turmoil, if we listen, we will hear Jesus tell us its OK, He is with us, not to fear. But we do fear. We are brave for a moment at church when we are all hyped up, but the second we face ‘reality’ boy, those waves are huge, and we loose sight of Jesus.

3. CRY OUT
When all is too much for you, cry out like Peter did; “Lord, save me!” Sometimes all our fancy prayers and formulas mean nothing. We have nothing left to fight with. We are sinking fast. We have no words left to pray, no faith left, no fight left. We become weary to the point of giving up. Sorrow or pressures overwhelm us. What is left? Simply this: “Jesus, save me.”

Recently I went thru the storm. I have never in my life felt such rejection and sorrow. I lost my way completely. I could not see or hear Jesus. All my Christianity suddenly was worthless. All I could do was say those words over and over, “Jesus, save me, Jesus save me.”
He reached out and took my hand and delivered me. In an instant, the turmoil I experienced was gone, the pain and sorrow was gone.

4. WORSHIP HIM
When you have called out to Jesus, and He comes and delivers you, you will know without a shadow of doubt that He is your strong deliverer. He is your Fortress. He is the only one who can heal.

Psalm 17: 5 - 8

V 8 “Hide me under the shadow of your wings,”

We were NOT created to carry the heavy burdens of life. These burdens WILL overwhelm us and cause us to sink. Christians are sometimes the most miserable people on the face of the earth.

All you ever hear is talk about how bad the waves are. But beloved, if we would only see Jesus, we would know that all will be well.

Matthew 11: 27 - 30

V30 ” For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

All will be well. Do not fear; do not take eyes of Jesus. Call to Him and He will save you. Even in the midst of the biggest storm or challenge in your life, you will find that it no longer has power over you. You know there is a storm, but you ONLY HAVE EYES FOR JESUS. You have a peace and a joy that no man or thing can take from you.

When you experience Jesus as your deliverer, as your safe refuge, your rock, you will love Him more, you will worship Him more, and you will cry out like those fishermen on the boat: “Truly, You are the Son of God!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pastor Hannes is the senior pastor for Eastcoast Christian Centre, a Church in Port Elizabeth. Feel free to redistribute this article, but please include this About section with an active link to our website.

The survival of any business or website can be gauged by the owners ability to generate a steady stream of targeted leads. No leads = No sales and without sales your business doesn’t exist.

If you own Your Own Business or If Your Promoting Affiliate Programs. Your #1 Priority is Building a List of Targeted, Opt-In Subscribers that Know and Trust You. They will be the determining factor whether your business succeeds or fails. You’ve heard it before, “The Money’s in The List” and generating leads is in fact, building your list.

Let’s take a look at email marketing as a lead generation source. Using a signature in all your email communications will bring you an occaisional subscriber and I wouldn’t discount it’s use. However, I’m afraid it won’t bring you an overwelming flood of subscribers. I’d still use it since every subscriber is a lead generated.

I’m assuming you already publish a newsletter/ezine. If not, I strongly suggest you start one now. Doing Ad Swaps with other publishers in your target market is another effective form of email marketing. It’s as easy as You run my ad and I’ll run yours. Fresh eyeballs on your ad in your target market will bring you a good response.

Ezine/Newsletter Co-Ops is yet another way to attract new subscribers/leads. There are quite a few available. My favorite is http://www.subscribeme.net You can get your ad in front of over a million subscribers for fre^e. But you do have to agree to be subscribed to all the ezines in the co-op. This doesn’t have to be a problem. Just use a seperate email account and retrieve the newsletters from there. The above is not the only co-op available. As I said, there are quite a few. You can search your favorite Search Engine for Fr^ee Ezine Co-Ops and chose the one’s that you like.

Buying Leads: This can be risky. I’m sure you’ve seen the ads offering 5, 10, 20,000 double opt-in leads for X amount of dollars. My take on them is this, They may have opted in to someone elses list, but Not mine. Yes there are some very reputable companies that offer very responsive leads but they come at a high premium. If you decide you want to use purchased leads, I can only suggest that you due diligence when researching them.

Solo Ezine Ads: Not just any eZine will do. The response to your ad will depend on the quality of the ezine/newsletter you chose. There are many to chose from. Don’t be fooled by the size of the subscriber base. Bigger is not always better. I’ve found the response to be better with subscribers in the 5000 to 10,000 range.

Pay Per Click Advertising can be an expensive proposition if your not experienced. Test your ad on the less popular sites. Don’t just jump right out there with Google and Yahoo. You can eat up your budget in no time flat. Do a search for PPC’s or Pay Per Click Search Engines and a ton of them will show up. Some even offer a cash incentive for first time users.

Interested leads can be acquired by posting in forums. A word to the wise. Don’t go to these forums thinking you can just post a short blurb about whatever the topic is, leave your sig. go to the next and do the same. They’ll bust you for spamming the board. You’ll probably get banned, worst yet, reported to your ISP. Hang around, get to know people and post when you’ve got something relevant to say.Then you can leave a link to your site in your signature and people interested will often click it, if your post was helpful or interesting. I’ve included a short list below to help you get started.

http://www.ablake.net/forum/
http://www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi
http://www.howtocorp.com/forum
http://sswt.webservicenetwork.com/forum/
http://www.ozemedia.com/cgi-bin/webbbs/webbbs_config.pl
http://internet-marketing-forum.com/forum/
http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/index.php
http://www.clickbanksuccessforum.com/forum/
http://www.network54.com/Forum/184615/
http://copywritersboard.com/
http://www.bryanhall.net/members/forum/index.php
http://profits.cc/forum/index.php
http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/bb/
http://www.network54.com/Forum/11488/
http://www.hunteridge.com/forum/
http://www.im4newbies.com/forum/
http://www.sowpub.com/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl

Submitting articles to ezine publishers and article directories is another lead generation tactic. This method produces very targeted leads. They liked what your article had to say and obviously wanted to read more. This method will also produce links back to your site and in time will improve your search engine position as well as your page rank. Giving you Fr^ee search engine traffic.

The one thing that really matters, regardless of your method of generation, is keeping them in your target market. It makes no sense to advertise to Golfers if your selling Surfboards.

A lead generation strategy should be in place before any other business is done. It’s the backbone of your business.

Use the strategies above and you’ll have an ample supply of leads to market your goods and services to. Of course your gonna love all those trips to the bank. Happy List Building.

Ever Wonder How To Build Really Massive Subscriber Lists?
Wanna Learn How?
lightninghotprofits.com/LstBldr.html

Uniqueness is what separates each business, its services and its products. The difference gives buyers and on-line visitors a way of measuring this against that. It also makes the difference on their decision to buy.

Showing these differences takes creativity and unique ideas. Ideas that aren’t too far out for the regular person to understand yet also say, “Hey, wake up, this is different.

Here are six Internet marketing ideas that might just help you demonstrate your difference.

1. To increase people reading your whole copy, place a hidden link in your ad copy and then ask people to find it. Give them a prize for finding it or a freebie, like an ebook by clicking on that link.

2. Start a members-only web site. Tell visitors what they will get for access. Offer them a free membership for something in exchange. Example: (1) having a advertising paragraph about your product on their web site, (2) posting your banner on their home page, or (3) an ad in their ezine for a certain period (balance the dollars). This is a powerful way to get more advertising on a limited budget.

3. Increase your popularity on other people’s discussion boards or blogs? Exchange their mentioning your product or service on certain discussion boards in exchange for a product or services of yours. This requires tracking, however, they are testimonials and extremely valuable. This is also called viral marketing.

4. Give your visitors an instant article directory. Tell your visitors they can instantly add a free article directory to their web site by linking to yours. Just place your ad or banner ad on top of the article directory for your main product or service. All those links can add up to a large amount of traffic for your web site.

5. You can exchange articles; yours can be posted on their site and theirs on yours.

6. Create a web book website to stand out. Market it was a free web book. Design the website with a title page, table of contents, chapters, etc. Then place your ad or banner for your product or service on the top and bottom of every page.

Now it’s time to ask some questions. “What ideas from this list fit your customer needs?”

You will also want to ask, “Are any of these ideas currently used on your competitor’s website?” If not, what are you waiting for. Being first is the name of success in sales. Go ahead, set the precedent.

If they are being used on your competitor’s website. How are they using the idea? And more importantly, how can you use it differently?

If you have a multiple items you want to implement, create a list. Add next to the list what you need to learn in order to complete this. What is the budget? If you want to delegate this to, who would that be? Do you have such a person or company now, or do you need a referral?

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com