There are many methods to promote businesses online and with the advance of web 2.0 or the social Internet, further opportunities have developed for the business looking to get ahead in their marketing efforts. Social networking enables business owners to leverage the powerful social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, Twitter, and more in order to build a reputation, generate more leads, and keep in regular contact with those leads. …read more

Word of mouth marketing has long been the desired choice for businesses. A customer that arrived through word of mouth has directly cost your business nothing but will arrive with a sense of trust and respect for your business. They will already be pre-sold on the concept of what it is you offer and all thanks to the efforts you’ve put in with previous customers in order to generate such a good reputation.

In terms of word of mouth marketing, reputation really is everything. Whether you’re operating online or offline, your brand should always be the first one that people think of and by offering a top quality product or service, friendly customer service, and exceptional after sales support you can expect great referrals from your existing customers.

However, word of mouth marketing can be much more than this, especially on the Internet. Viral marketing is the term that has been adopted to basically incorporate virtual word of mouth marketing. By developing a high quality website or offering content or giving away something of value it is possible to create a buzz even among those that are not your customers.

Word of mouth marketing can come in the shape of forwarded emails between friends, colleagues, and others with similar interests. It can also mean free advertising on social media and social news websites as well as industry websites but above all it is without doubt one of the most desirable forms of marketing your business.

The perception of value is critical. Even giving a product or service away for free is no guarantee that the word will be spread. The item has to be perceived as being valuable, useful, informational, or helpful in some way. If you can achieve this then word of mouth marketing could become one of your biggest assets.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is widely heralded as being one of the least inexpensive, most effective, and highly targeted methods of generating traffic for a website but what exactly is it and can anybody do it? …read more

No matter which industry and which niche your website or your business operates in you will have to face competition. The more competition you face the greater the challenge you have to become the go-to company that potential customers choose. Regardless of the number and quality of competitors you have, though, part of the challenge that you face is standing out from the crowd. …read more

The marketing arena is an ever expanding and ever evolving one. Seemingly new and innovative ways to market a business are introduced on a regular basis. It doesn’t feel that long since a website was considered a luxury for most small businesses and yet, nowadays, small businesses are turning their attention to Social Media Optimisation as well as Search Engine Optimisation, online press release submission, link building, and many other forms of online marketing.

The big question is do you have the resources and the expertise to effectively establish and maintain all of these marketing methods?

• Can you write press releases?
• Can you craft compelling content?
• Do you know how to conduct keyword research?
• Do you know the most effective ways to build links for your website?
• Are you able to formulate an effective viral marketing campaign?

Don’t worry if you can’t answer yes to all of these questions because, in reality, very few companies can. In fact, there are marketing companies out there that can’t manage all of these aspects of marketing and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Who’s to say what the next big thing in marketing will be, right?

The Pool Of Knowledge

One of the biggest benefits when outsourcing your marketing is that you gain access to a pool of knowledge that you don’t already have. A marketing company specialises in marketing in the same way that your business specialises in manufacturing your products or providing your service.

If you were to attempt to undertake all of your own marketing then you would need to employ an extensive team of marketers. You would need to pay for the office space, utilities, and the cost of computer equipment, software, and hardware. Plus, of course, you would need to pay your new marketing team a competitive salary to ensure they stay with your company.

The Cost Of Knowledge

That leads us to another advantage of outsourcing, in general, and outsourcing your marketing requirements specifically - the cost. Employing a team capable of fulfilling all of those functions would cost a prohibitive amount of money for most small businesses and many of the team members would find themselves with little to do for a lot of the time.

A marketing consultancy is only paid for the work they do. When the work is done, or when there’s nothing to be done except wait, you won’t need to pay wages or rent office space or meet any of the other overheads.

Intricate Insight

The biggest downfall of using a marketing firm is that they won’t have the same intricate knowledge of your business, your products, or your services as you and your employees do. This makes it vital when choosing a marketing consultancy, that you choose one that gets involved and makes decisions based on your specific requirements rather than offering a one size fits all solution.

Affiliate marketing is a internet based practice where business rewards its affiliates who bring in new custom, through sales or unique visits, through website, e-mail or social network referrals.

So who are the affiliates?

They can be anyone you want them to be! There are different ways of getting affiliates for your site. You can offer a signup service on your website. If you do this, your website will need the ability to track referrals. This is normally done using cookies.

Another way of gaining affiliates is via a third-party service, called an ‘affiliate network’. These networks have the added bonus that they already have a large customer base that they can market your affiliate service too and they do all the sales and referral tracking for you. The only negative is cost. If you have a small budget, the DIY approach may be your best starting point.

The affiliate process

Its a pretty straight forward process…

1. An ‘affiliate’ will sign up on your site, or through an affiliate network.
2. The affiliate will then link through to your website. This could be a direct link to a product, or a link through to your main shop.
3. When a customer visits your site via your affiliate, the visit is logged.
4. If the customer goes on to make a purchase, this is also logged. This may not be an immediate purchase, it could be a purchase of up to 30 days after the visit was referred. The period something you can define yourself.
5. Commission is then paid to the affiliate. Commission levels are also something that you can set yourself.

The future of affiliate marketing

With the boom in social networking, affiliate marketing is going to play an even bigger part in online business activities. Social networking is quick. A customer could review your product and within minutes you could be gaining new traffic.

All but the very lucky few are suffering at the hands of the current economic downturn. While it’s certainly not the first recession we’ve faced it is proving to be a big one and in times like these it is the smart marketer and the smart business owner that comes out on top.

The main key to marketing in a recession isn’t necessarily to plump for the cheapest option but to make use of the most effective and the most cost effective marketing solutions. Every aspect of your marketing should be about finding value and this may lead to increased spending in some areas as well as decreased spending in others. …read more

QR Codes have been described as the doorway to the Internet for mobile phone users. For businesses like yours they are also a doorway to many more potential customers. …read more

We have added a great new package and service to our arsenal… complete self-manage e-mail marketing.

Our fantastic new system empowers you with the tools you need to create and manage your own successful e-mail marketing campaigns. You can create individual e-mail lists, import e-mail data from a variety of sources, schedule sending, manage subscribe and unsubscribe requests and a lot more!

Now, to the important bit, the price!

You can use a selection of ’standard’ templates that can be customised or you can have a fully custom design created for you by Lukerative. Custom e-mail templates cost £200.

As the service is pay as you go, you only pay for what you use. To send a mailout, you pay just £10 per batch plus 1p per message. If you are therefore sending a message to 1,000 customers, you pay just £20!

There will be more information on this service coming along very soon.

If you are chomping at the bit to use this great service already, why not get in touch with us. Remember that if you use the standard included templates there is NO SETUP FEE! You can start using it straight away for FREE!

Email marketing is sometimes viewed as being a form of online marketing that is best avoided, however, with good list rationalisation and management, effective design, and compelling content it can prove to be a highly effective addition to your online marketing mix. …read more