New Year Plans and Directions, 2010 an exciting Marketplace

Many aspiring Entrepreneurs have felt frustration of the "Market Conditions" of 2009 and may be suffering some shell shock when looking forward to 2010.
I came across this article by Heidi Cohen of Riverside Marketing Strategies


Seven Point Checklist to Get Your Marketing Back on Track

It's critical to adapt today's marketing to meet current market dynamics, but as Fleetwood Mac sang, "don't stop thinking about tomorrow." To get your marketing on track for the future, here are seven points:

* Listen to the conversation. Through the use of online social media tools, consumers are more willing and able to share their views about your products, brands, and organization. Use multiple forums to hear what's being said about you and your competitors and why. Remember the conversation is multidirectional. Use Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and other relevant social media forums to listen to your target audience. Also, don't forget to collect feedback from your own sales and customer service staff.

* Provide content related to your offering that consumers and prospects find useful. Use your Web site, blog, Twitter, and other vehicles to distribute information. Have a plan for distributing new, relevant content on a regular basis. Think like a media entity editor whose goal is attracting prospects when and where they're focused on needs related to your offering.

* Deliver continuous communications via a variety of distribution channels. This includes e-mail, social media, and mobile. Since your goal should be relationship building and engagement, move away from constant promotional blasts. Increase your informative content to promotion ratio. Think in terms of information rich newsletters and behaviorally triggered messages. Don't forget to include social sharing tools in your communications to encourage sharing and to extend your reach.

* Use events to connect with prospects and consumers to extend your relationships. These events can be live or digitally delivered. Consider the use of social media tools like Meetup, Video, and Webinars. Tap these events to provide more education about your offering, engage new prospects, and test new products. Remember that these tools provide the means to share content and comments after the event.

* Continually test different aspects of your marketing. This includes new tools. Since the market is continually evolving, you must constantly look for new ways to engage prospects and close sales. Remember to track performance to determine which promotions and tools deliver the better results.

* Use offline marketing to support your online efforts. This includes offline advertising, retail outlets, live events, and your product packaging. Consider how you can use each to extend and enhance your online efforts.

* Measure the results of your marketing efforts. This will help determine which programs are most effective in expanding your audience and closing sales. At a minimum, track traffic or participants, the number of prospects and customers, response and conversion rates, and revenues, costs, and profitability.

In the dynamic interactive marketplace, keep yourself in the know and continually adapt your marketing to ever-changing trends. Continually assess your marketing to determine whether it's cost effective, attracting the right audience, and effective at driving sales. Use metrics to stay on track and tweak your marketing to meet evolving needs.

Thank you, Heidi
Heidi Cohen is the president of Riverside Marketing Strategies, an interactive marketing consultancy. She has over 20 years' experience helping clients increase profitability by developing innovative marketing programs to acquire and retain customers based on solid analytics. Clients include New York Times Digital, AccuWeather.com, CheapTickets, and the UJA. Additionally, Riverside Marketing Strategies has worked with numerous other online content/media companies and e-tailers.
Prior to starting Riverside Marketing Strategies, Heidi held a number of senior-level marketing positions at The Economist, the Bookspan/Doubleday Direct division of Bertelsmann, and Citibank.
Since 2002, Heidi has been a member of the faculty of NYU's master of science in integrated marketing program, where she received NYU's Outstanding Service award.
Heidi is also a popular speaker on current industry topics.

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What is Advertising? How to make Advertising Effective

Is it something to be regarded as a work of beauty or art? Is it clever slogans or amusing prose? Is it workmanship to be judged for an award or recognition?

It’s none of the above.

Advertising is salesmanship multiplied.

Nothing more.

And advertising copy, or copywriting, is salesmanship in print.

The purpose of a copywriter’s job is to sell. Period.

The selling is accomplished by persuasion with the written word, much like a television commercial sells (if done properly) by persuading with visuals and audio.

As Claude Hopkins wrote in his timeless classic, Scientific Advertising:

“To properly understand advertising or to learn even its rudiments one must start with the right conception. Advertising is salesmanship. Its principles are the principles of salesmanship. Successes and failures in both lines are due to like causes. Thus every advertising question should be answered by the salesman's standards.

“Let us emphasize that point. The only purpose of advertising is to make sales. It is profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales.

“It is not for general effect. It is not to keep your name before the people. It is not primarily to aid your other salesmen. Treat it as a salesman. Force it to justify itself. Compare it with other salesmen. Figure its cost and result. Accept no excuses which good salesmen do not make. Then you will not go far wrong.

“The difference is only in degree. Advertising is multiplied salesmanship. It may appeal to thousands while the salesman talks to one. It involves a corresponding cost. Some people spend $10 per word on an average advertisement. Therefore every ad should be a super-salesman.

“A salesman's mistake may cost little. An advertiser’s mistake may cost a thousand times that much. Be more cautious, more exacting, therefore. A mediocre salesman may affect a small part of your trade. Mediocre advertising affects all of your trade.”

These points are as true today as they were when they were written nearly one hundred years ago!

So the goal then becomes: how can we make our advertising as effective as possible.

Grab this FREE Report to read more (instant download).................

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Product Review FREE Advertising....Does it Work?

Are you New to Growing an Internet Business?
Are You new to Business at all?Regardless of experience, there is one Absolute involved in the
Growth of a Successful Business, regardless it's Model or Venue
Effective Advertising!

In fact one of the First Budget Items well designed Business Plans include is the Advertising Budget. Working with many members of Beginners Marketing Class, I have found that very few who have attempted Business, especially on Line, have ever addressed this Fact. So many are wiling to part with their money for the Slick promises of Wealth for no Effort, but are hesitant to allocate a strong Budget to advertising the Product or Opportunity.

I emerged on-line over 4 years ago and was intrigued by the
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advertising Mediums. I enjoy Value and was willing to Investigate FREE.

Most was absolutely Worthless, in direct proportion of Cost..ZERO

Note: The words FREE Advertising yields
153,000,000 spots..popular place!

However, I was able to meet and talk to an Innovator and self taught Internet
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The first program I joined was Garland's FREE TRAFFIC BAR



This program allow my ads to be displayed on
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In the past 4 years my sites have been seen 6,360,505 times
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A Cash Conversion of
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So What, you may ask?
My normal net profit for the year from a new customer is $187.00

Do the Math..I believe an effective ROI.
ROI you now ask?
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And Many, after testing the Waters, find the
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I am VERY pleased with my One time Investment.

Also in the past Year my ads are generating much higher
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Writing the Copy and presentation is what it is all about.
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Join Free Traffic Bar Today and allow me to Provide
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Follow these Instruction:

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Call with any Questions,
530-798-01245
and Follow me on Twitter
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Next Review will be on the
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I have a Huge
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and real Metrics