Internet Marketing Tips: 2008

Relationship Marketing: Using Demographics As a Lead Source Tool

A good lead-scoring model is an important part of a successful relationship marketing plan. The impetus for implementing a relationship-marketing scheme is to build, develop and maintain strong customer relationships. Implementing and reacting appropriately to a lead-scoring model developed for your company is one of the first steps towards turning a lead into a client. By knowing how to contact and develop potential leads, you will better know how to nurture these relationships once they move from the lead phase into the client stage.

Types of data for relationship marketing

The most successful and accurate lead-scoring models use both explicit and implicit client information. Explicit data are hard facts about your leads that are often provided by your prospects themselves, such as gender, geographic location, company, company size, and title. Implicit data is collected from monitoring the behavior of your leads: web site visits, emails they open, and sometimes previous purchases.

Used together, explicit and implicit factors create a comprehensive picture of your prospective clients that help you make an accurate determination of their likelihood to purchase your products and services. Demographics and psychographic information are two important types of explicit data that are integral to the execution of a successful lead-scoring model.

The value of demographics data

The demographics section of a lead-scoring model categorizes individuals based on characteristics of both the individual, as well as the company for which they work. Some lead scoring models will rely heavily on individual information, some will rely more heavily on a lead’s company information, and some lead-scoring models will use a combination of the two. This will largely depend on the type of business you have, and the types of products and services you provide.

Demographic information collected for your lead scoring can be extremely useful and help to shape the relationship marketing campaign for your company. If you sell beauty products online, you may discover that a certain brand sells better on the East coast than on the West coast. This will help you further tailor your lead scoring model, as well as your relationship-marketing plan.

Demographic information can be extremely useful, but it does have a few pitfalls, of which you’ll want to remain aware:

Self-reported information is not always accurate

People often give answers that they believe are more desirable, such as overstating the size of their company or their salary. Beware of potential aspiration data.

Company information tends to roll towards the mean

Leads at large companies may downplay the size of their company, or their role to avoid potentially hassling sales calls, while leads at small companies may pad their numbers to appear to be a bigger player on the scene than they are in order to be given more attention or to be taken more seriously.

Sometimes people lie

Unfortunately, not everyone will tell the truth on your data collection forms. For a variety of reasons ranging from embarrassment to annoyance or secrecy, some people are reluctant to reveal personal information. If this is a prerequisite for downloading something from your website, they may enter incorrect information.

Lead scoring is a very successful tool, and demographic information is one of the most essential aspects of a lead-scoring model. Keep in mind that the data may not always be 100% accurate and figure this into your scoring system. It is also useful to remember that scoring doesn’t have to take place all at once – you can do it over time, and this may be a more effective way to run your lead scoring model, as part of an effective relationship-marketing platform.

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Discover Professional Associations to Develop New and Profitable Relationships

Marketing your small business can be tricky—there are a myriad of approaches, theories and potential platforms in which to structure your marketing plan – so putting a plan into action can sometimes seem overwhelming. If your business is relatively new or a marketing strategy such as relationship marketing is unfamiliar, you may want to seek help from a professional association.

Professional associations offer a wealth of information, training classes and expert contacts to help guide you in the right direction. If you choose to join a professional association, you’ll have immediate access to creating relationships with other companies who are also members of that association.

The Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing (AARM)

The Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing (AARM) is the most well known professional association committed to helping businesses develop relationship-marketing platforms. AARM is an international association that offers training courses and information on how to integrate a relationship-marketing scheme into your company’s business structure.

AARM focuses on Customer Relationship Marketing and Customer Relationship Management, both commonly known in the business world as CRM. CRM is the central marketing practice under which relationship marketing fits.

AARM offers professional development workshops, seminars, and coaching with certificate programs to help you integrate a relationship-marketing platform into your business. If your business is new to thinking in terms of a relationship marketing strategy, guidance from a professional association like AARM can help you navigate these uncharted waters that may seem a little daunting.

If you are a business with an established marketing platform, news, information and workshops from a professional association like AARM can help you stay on the cutting edge of marketing ideas for your business, and help you develop new and creative ways to meet the needs of your customers.

It is not necessary to join a professional association like AARM to benefit from what the association offers—you may participate in the seminars, workshops and classes even if you are not a formal member of an association. But one of the main benefits of becoming part of a professional association is the networking possibility that it offers. Membership in a professional association gives you access to other members who have the experience and knowledge that could benefit your own business.

Networking for Marketing

Professional networking is an important part of relationship marketing. By networking with other businesses, you enhance your professional relationships, which can only help benefit the relationships you have with your current customers.

Forming alliances with other companies, or just making a new business acquaintance, can enhance your existing client relationships also. Learning from other experts in your field, or even people in related fields, can give you insight and ideas on how to approach problems and issues with your own business. Another benefit of professional networking is the potential to share clients; you may meet a contact whose clients are in need of the types of products and services that your company provides, and vice versa.

There are many benefits to exploring a professional association, even if you do not want to make the official commitment to join as a member. The networking opportunities and business contacts you’ll make will be beneficial and you’ll stay informed and on the cutting edge of what is happening in the relationship marketing industry, which will only improve your business’s relationship marketing platform.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing
firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by
creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.
Join his JV Wealth e-zine at http://www.christianfea.com/joint-venture-wealth-report/?a=2

Relationship Marketing: How to Increase Qualified Leads by Using the Purchase-Readiness Survey

The Internet marketplace is growing increasingly competitive and difficult to navigate. The response rates from customer inquiries are trending downward and the process of driving new leads is becoming more expensive. Therefore, it is critical to incorporate a relationship marketing strategy into your businesses marketing plan to help maximize the power of each and every client lead with which you are presented. Simply put, not taking advantage of customer prospects that you have so diligently laid the groundwork to pursue is tantamount to handing these clients to your competition.

The process of ensuring that your client leads remain engaged and interested in ultimately pursuing a relationship with you is one of the central principles of relationship marketing. There are a few fundamental tactics to use in this early stage of building client relationships, which is also sometimes referred to as the nurture phase. These tactics are a good guide to help you increase the number of actual customers you obtain from your prospecting activities.

Purchase-Readiness Survey

If you do not have or are not already using a purchase-readiness survey, it is time to incorporate this survey into your relationship marketing strategy. The purchase-readiness survey should be incorporated into all of your lead and prospect generating mechanisms. A purchase-readiness survey allows you to gather critical contact information, as well as a customer’s readiness to make a purchase. Some standard questions to consider incorporating into your survey are:

Timeframe for considering a purchase
The customer’s role in the decision making process
Key qualifying questions

Finding the Right Balance of Questions

You will need to balance and be aware of a prospect’s tolerance for and willingness to share information, with your need to gather information. Nobody likes to feel invaded or pushed, so it is important to be clued into the mood of your prospect. The more information you request from a client prospect, the more time it requires of your prospect, which they may be unwilling to give. It may be that the more eager you appear to gain a prospect and make a sale, the more you will alienate this prospect. You do not want to appear desperate to land a prospect (even if you are) –most humans can smell the essence of desperation– and nothing makes a person retreat faster.

Try to take cues from your potential clients: if they seem willing to talk and divulge information, it is okay to proceed with your questions and your purchase-readiness survey. But if you sense reluctance in your prospect, it is always better to scale back and give them space, and perhaps come back and approach this prospect at a different time when they may be more amenable to hearing what you have to say. You may have better luck at forging a lasting relationship at a different time. Nobody likes to feel intruded upon or pressured. Adopting a persistent but more laissez-faire attitude in your relationship marketing plan, you are likely to be more successful and have satisfied clients who are loyal to your company.

Giving the Unexpected to Your Customers

In a relationship marketing platform, creating long-term relationships with customers is an integral part of a successful marketing strategy. Building strong affiliations and contacts through superior customer service is the first step towards a successful marketing platform. Just as important as building strong customer relations, is developing new ways to give the customer more than other companies are providing and more than then the customer expects.

Giving Customers Something They Can't Get Elsewhere

If you are operating in a niche market, chances are you are already offering a product or service that's difficult for customers to find elsewhere. In a competitive marketplace, what can you do to distinguish your business from the competition? Give your customers something that they don't typically get from other companies.

One idea that isn't universally implemented is free samples and discount coupons with each order. Another good idea that's only utilized by a handful of businesses is birthday recognition. You can send your customer a birthday greeting by email or by card, offering special discounts or free samples during their birthday month. People love to get something for free even though a high percentage of people who receive the coupon never actually redeem it. The feeling of goodwill and loyalty is still planted in your customer's mind.

Giving Your Customer the Totally Unexpected

This is somewhat similar to the above suggestions, but with a slightly different twist. Doing something for your customers that is really unexpected and out of the ordinary will set you apart from your competition.

How about a follow up email after an order to be sure that the customer is happy with their products? Instead of a free birthday coupon that the customer can redeem, how about just sending a small sample with a birthday greeting? What about automatic re-order email reminders? Reminders are popular for products like contact lenses, but how about for coffee or skin care supplies?

Thanking Potential Customers Who Don't Make a Purchase

How about a "thank you" to customers who don't end up buying from your site? This may sound a bit odd, but if you've reached out to a new client, but they haven't made a purchase, it's still a good idea to thank this person for their time and consideration. This is not a widespread practice. Typically we only thank people who make a purchase. The idea here is that just because this person did not buy this time doesn't mean they never will. If they are thanked regardless, this will distinguish you from the rest and cause them to think of your company when make future purchases.

All of these strategies are suggestions and ways to help you strengthen the relationship marketing platform you are building for your business.

Social Networking as Part of Relationship Marketing

If you’re doing business in the eCommerce universe, it’s vital to build a strong network of relationships with your clients. From time to time, it’s necessary to gain new business, new clients and new customers to bring into the pool of focus for building this network of relationships. You may be doing all the “right” things, such as newsletters, email marketing campaigns and advertising on other websites, but you still feel that you’re not attracting as many new customers, or building as many new relationships as you’d like. Exploring social networks, as a way to form new or expand upon existing business relationships will be worth investigating, if your business has not yet done so.

Social Networking

Popular social networks like Facebook are thought of as a place to keep in touch with long distance friends, share photos and stories about your life. But these online social networks are also a great way to make new business contacts. Each network is structured differently so you may want to join several, or investigate the sites on your own before deciding which ones to utilize for business purposes. Implementing consistent social networking can be the next step in a relationship-marketing based strategy for your business. Below are a few of the most popular social networks and what they have to offer from a business perspective.

LinkedIn

When thinking of a social network, many adults assume they are juvenile or the domain of teenagers and twenty-somethings. If you have an aversion to the idea, LinkedIn is the best place for you to start, as it has a mature, professional audience with a combination of social and business networking. When you join LinkedIn, you can list your contacts, both social and professional, and invite them to join. Once your contacts have joined, you then have access to their social and professional contacts and they have access to yours. This is a great way to reach out to new people and make connections because of the mutual friend/associate you have in common.

Facebook

Facebook isn’t just for kids anymore, the demographic of this particular social network continues to broaden, and it’s a great resource for making contacts and potentially looking for people to hire if and when your business expands. Facebook has a number of useful features and advanced applications, along with a certain level of privacy that doesn’t exist in other networks. It also has the sheer volume of numbers on its side: with 600 million searches and more than 30 billion page views a month, there is a seemingly endless pool of resources to tap into.

MySpace

MySpace is perhaps the social network that is geared most towards a younger population. However, try not to let that deter you. The Internet is making it easier for younger, tech-savvy people to create their own online companies, which means there is large market of younger business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as potential customers that you can connect with on MySpace. Young people also have more disposable income than ever before, which means that subscribers to MySpace have money to spend, and they’re always looking for unique, niche market products.

Building strong customer relationships as part of a relationship-marketing platform is an important ingredient in the success of your business. Using these social networking sites has the potential to connect you with an extremely talented and professional cross-section of people previously untapped by your business. Part of any successful relationship-marketing platform involves reaching out and building relationships with people with whom you have something in common. These social networks are an excellent way to expand your network of business contacts.

Relationship Marketing: Tips for Getting Started

Simply put, relationship marketing is the strategy of building strong, loyal and committed relationships with your client base. Often in striving to gain media visibility and recognition, businesses temporarily forget or overlook their most important marketing resource, your business relationship with people!

Below are a few handy tips to help you reassess your relationships with your customers, and how to develop a plan for building and improving those relationships.

Get Organized

It’s difficult to target and streamline communication and build relationships if you don't start out knowing where you stand with your customers. You probably have files on your customers, but do these files include the tracking of correspondence? If not, this is an aspect that should be added to your customer files.

Another idea is to develop a file of success stories. Are there customers with whom you have a strong relationship, who are loyal and devoted clients? If so, assess the history of your relationship with these clients to determine if you did something different to gain their loyalty. You may even want to start a file of success stories to refer to for inspiration when creativity about how to expand customer relationships may be waning.

Develop a Communication Plan

Communication is the first step in building strong relationships with your customers. First, assess what your communication strategy is. If you do not currently have a strategy for ongoing contact with your clients, it’s time to develop one! Whether it’s a weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly correspondence with your clients, it’s important to decide on a plan of action and implement that plan.

If you already have a communication plan in place, and are tracking your customer communication, now is the time to review and assess the effectiveness of your plan.

Do your customers seem engaged and interested in your communication with them?
Is your customer base steady, or do you seem to be losing customers?
Have you had any repeated complaints from multiple customers?
How can you better serve your customers?
Is there an easy and reliable way for customers to reach you if they have a complaint, concern, or would like to make a suggestion?

This may all sound overwhelming at first, but these are just a few areas to get you started thinking about how to facilitate more communication with your customers. You are probably already doing some of these things. If there are several of these suggestions that you are not doing, yet you feel compelled to implement, don't panic! Just take one suggestion at a time and move forward that way.

Relationships with clients are built over time, and anything you do now to start the process is a step in the right direction. Once you start to understand and embrace the importance of customer relationships in a strategic marketing plan, you will be heading for success.

Relationship Marketing: A Brief Overview

The relationship marketing strategy developed from the direct response marketing campaigns popular in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. These campaigns emphasized the importance of customer retention and continued customer satisfaction, rather than an emphasis on individual transactions, and per-case customer resolution.

What is Relationship Marketing?

Relationship marketing is a type of strategic marketing that targets it’s audience with more direct information on the specific products and services a customer may have interest in. It differs from other forms of marketing in that it seeks to retain customers by building relationships with them, rather than a direct or intrusive strategy, which focuses on acquisition of new clients by targeting majority demographics, based upon prospective client lists purchased from third party sources.

As traditional marketing took off in the 60’s and 70’s, companies found it more difficult to sell consumer products. The original model had developed into a system, which focused on selling relatively low-value products in mass quantities to a higher volume of consumers. Since the beginning of modern day marketing platforms, many methods have been developed in an attempt to broaden its scope. Relationship marketing grew out of this era, and is one example of an attempt to expand the reach and applicability of marketing.

Simply put, relationship marketing focuses on targeting the relationship of company to customer. If you have an existing customer base, it makes sense to learn what these customers like about your products and services and how you as a company can improve on this. If you build on the good relationships you already have with your customers, and create customer loyalty, this is more valuable than putting energy towards always attempting to gain new business.

Defensive Marketing vs. Offensive Marketing

Relationship marketing can be understood in simple football-like terms of offensive and defensive approaches. “Defensive” marketing and “offensive” marketing are terms that were coined by C. Fornell and B. Wernerfelt in 1987.

Defensive marketing describes attempts to reduce customer turnover, increase customer loyalty and retain the customer base already in place, by keeping them happy with your service, and interested in your products. In contrast, offensive marketing seeks to obtain new customers and increase purchase frequency. Defensive marketing focuses on reducing, or better managing customer dissatisfaction, while offensive marketing focuses on “liberating” dissatisfied customers from competitors and moving them into the offensive marketer’s customer base essentially getting customers to switch teams.

Customer & Consumer Relationships

Relationship marketing is a key collaborative strategy to retain customers. It is essentially an offshoot of customer and consumer relationship management. The theory is this; attracting new customers is more costly, yet less profitable than developing existing client loyalty. By developing and promoting your existing client base through research and an understanding, you will create a loyal client base for years to come, with less expense and higher returns. Building lasting relationships with the clients you already have is a recipe for long-term marketing success.

Relationship Marketing: Why It’s So Effective

Relationship marketing focuses on the connection a company has with its existing client base while building and improving on those relationships. This is a long-term process seeking stable solutions to earnings and return on investment. It is not a glitzy quick fix solution, so it doesn't always get the attention it deserves, but it is a collaborative strategy that truly works.

Less Expense, Higher Returns

If you were told that you could increase your sales without increasing your marketing budget, your interest would be piqued, would it not? This is precisely what relationship marketing does.

A typical way businesses operate is to assume that when a customer has purchased a product or service once, the customer will remain loyal. This can be a costly mistake, as it is easier and less expensive to build relationships with existing customers than it is to entice new consumers or to win back customers that have defected to your competition.

The following are a few key statistics to consider when determining where to put your marketing dollars:

Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers
Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than referrals from non-customers
It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell to an existing customer

Based on these statistics, you can see that your marketing budget will go further if it is used to build and nurture your existing customer relationships. This means treating your customers as though they are your strategic collaborative partners, rather than just numbers.

One Thing at a Time

It may seem a bit daunting to think you need to completely change your marketing strategy overnight, but it need not send you into a panic. You can choose to start slowly. Focus on just one of the above mentioned bullet points to test the efficiency of the strategy and you should notice a difference in your business right away.

For example, bullet point number one: Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers. For example, you operate a website that sells specialty health and beauty supplies. There is a certain brand of sunscreen Sally found on holiday in France that isn't sold in the United States. She happens to find your website, which does sell this particular sunscreen, and she’s thrilled. She becomes a loyal customer and purchases the product. On a return trip to France, she finds a shampoo she loves that yet again, isn't available in the U.S. Happily, she finds the shampoo on your website, and in the meantime, purchases a few more products to try. She talks with her sister on the phone and recommends the shampoo from your website, which then results in more purchases for your company.

This is not an unlikely scenario. In Sally's story, she has taken the lead in investigating the website, but there are marketing strategies that would push a customer towards making that leap on their own. How about an email with a list of new products offering a discount? Or a few samples of new products when you ship orders? There are many ways to strategically build strong customer relationships, which will enhance the longevity of your business, as well as its bottom line.

First Steps to Forming a Strategic Alliance: Identifying Your Target Market

If you have an Internet business, particularly a small one, forging partnerships with companies in related markets is an important marketing strategy to raise awareness for your business and to expand your own client base.

This may sound like a fantastic idea, but how do you go about building these partnerships? It seems so daunting . . . if you’re just a small niche market business, how can you help anyone else and why would they want to partner with you?

These are valid questions and concerns, but forging a strategic alliance isn’t as difficult as it may initially appear to be. The Internet is full of small, niche market businesses, so it is not a far-fetched idea to think that a company of a similar size to yours would welcome an alliance with you, and that you’d be able to help one another.

Getting Started

The first step towards embarking upon a strategic marketing alliance is to select a company who is not a direct competitor of yours, that wouldn’t serve either one of you very well, but to choose a company whose interests run similar to your own, without being a direct competitor.

Initially, figuring out what these businesses might be is to assess your own target market. You must know whom your business appeals to before you can embark on deciding who might be interested in a similar client base.

You first must ask yourself a few simple questions:

What is the average age of your clients?
What are their occupations?
What is their income range?
What other interests do they have?
What are some other products or services that are compatible with mine?

If you don’t have immediate answers to these questions, it is time to create a market survey to get the answers you need, or to simply inventory your client roster and compile some basic data. The occupation and income range may not be relevant information to your business, if you deal in luxury goods, but it will of course matter if you deal in refrigerators or stoves, or something that everyone at some point needs to purchase where income is a less telling metric. Questions 1, 4 and 5 may be the most helpful in targeting potential partners for smaller Internet businesses.

The Next Step

Once you have identified your target market, and a product or service that may be a good accompaniment to yours, what do you do next?

Let’s say for instance, that your company rents designer wedding gowns. The occupation and income, as stated above, are less important considerations than questions 1 and 5. It naturally follows that someone in need of a wedding dress may also be in need of a caterer, photographer or wedding planner. In this instance, question number 5 is the most important consideration, but the age of your clients may also be important. Will a young couple prefer a young photographer? Will an older couple prefer an older more established photographer? Perhaps.

In this case, your next step will be to contact some photographers, caterers and wedding planers to propose a referral agreement, or even to exchange mailing lists and client lists. It is also important to seek alliances with a variety of companies in terms of age, and establishment: some clients will distinctly want an experienced photographer, while some will be willing to take a chance on a newer professional.

Forming a strategic alliance can be an integral part to the marketing and ultimate success of your business. The first step is to know your client base, so you can target and appropriate partner. Don’t be intimidated by approaching companies with which to forge an alliance, ideally this is a partnership - something from which both parties will benefit equally.

Re-Evaluate Your Marketing Strategy

Is relationship marketing a key element in your marketing strategy? If not, it’s time to re-evaluate on how you spend your marketing budget. Businesses typically spend 80% of their marketing dollars on the pursuit of new customers in an attempt to gain new business, yet this generally does not result in an 80% increase in sales.

Building existing customer relationships and expanding customer retention is an important strategic aspect to consider. A new and growing business needs to constantly capture new consumers to grow its customer base, but it’s also important not to lose sight of your existing customers, even if they purchased from you only one time.

Why Does a Customer Defect?

There are several reasons why customers may decide to leave you and go to a competitor, but the ones heard most often are:

They felt your pricing was too high or unfair
They had an unresolved complaint
They took a competitors offer
They left because they felt you didn't care

The last two reasons in this list make up the majority of lost customers, which can be a difficult realization, but one that can be turned around. Business by nature is competitive. You may not always be able to meet or beat the prices of larger companies who can purchase in larger quantities, but you can prevent a customer from defecting because they feel unimportant.

How to Retain your Customer Base

There are several ways to achieve the goal of retaining your customers and making them feel their business matters. The main focus here is building those relationships and finding ways to connect with your customers. Learn about their needs and what they’re looking for when they make an online purchase. Determine how to meet those needs and let your customers know that you value them.

In a seemingly endless world of online business, it is easy for a customer to feel like a number and that he does not matter. Nothing could be further from the truth, and you need to make sure your customer knows this. If one feels ignored and switches to a competitor, not only do you lose their business, but you also risk the potential of unhappy word-of-mouth discussions.

Customers often feel an affinity for the "little guy" in business, the "underdog" so to speak. People routinely pay more for the same item at a mom & pop store than at a big conglomerate. This happens for a variety of reasons, but primarily because of the relationship they build with the owners. For the customer this relationship creates a feeling that they matter, and that the owners are happy to see them when they walk through the door.

The same holds true in Internet marketing. It is a slightly more complicated avenue, but the sentiment remains the same. People like to feel noticed, and that their business is important. If you can create relationships with your customers that make them feel this way, you are well on the road to customer retention and a solid customer base.

Collaboration Marketing for Your Business

Developing a strategic marketing plan is crucial in raising awareness for your business. If consumers don't know about your company, it’s very difficult for them to buy from you. The art of successful marketing is largely about letting the public know how and where to find you.

For online business, there are a variety of creative ways to do this: direct email, banner ads and pop-up ads all of which are very successful tools. However, a rather new concept to online business is the collaboration marketing strategy, of which, an understanding will help you develop a complete marketing campaign.

What is Collaboration Marketing?

In essence, collaboration marketing focuses directly on attracting customers to your site, rather than intercepting them with traditional advertising methods. In traditional advertising, customers are somewhat randomly drawn to your business. For instance, if they happen to see an enticing advertisement and click on it, they may find their way to your website. This is a proven and effective marketing tool, but to truly find an edge in a sea of online businesses, it’s important to cultivate new and creative ways to raise awareness for your business.

How Does Collaboration Marketing Work?

Collaboration marketing attracts new business by becoming helpful to the customer, in a sense a sort of personalized service. This type of marketing targets customers in terms of evaluating potential new products and services that may be of interest to them and working with them to get more value from products and services they may have already purchased.

This might sound like a lot of work, but these goals can be obtained through a straightforward process that will target a large group of customers at one time. Personalized service need not be personal service. Collaboration marketing challenges the idea of the "one on one" personalized service with the refreshing view of multiple "one on one" consumer services occurring simultaneously.

Push vs. Pull

Collaboration marketing works by mobilizing a broad range of relevant third party marketers to add value to the customer relationship. These marketers make resources and relationships available to the customer that will enhance the products the customer has already purchased, thus creating a need and loyalty to the company of previous purchases. This is a pull approach where the marketer becomes useful to the customer so the buyer then seeks out the marketer, rather than traditional types of marketing that seek to push a customer towards their product by invading emails and blasting out ads.

Certainly, traditional modes of marketing are effective. Many types have been successfully implemented for decades. But the art of any successful marketing campaign is about finding an edge and developing a strategy that will get you noticed and attract customers to the products and services that you offer. Collaboration marketing should not be the only marketing strategy you implement, but rather, another piece of your repertoire to give you an edge to get your business noticed and help make your company a success.

Are You Using The Power of Unselfish Self Promotion?

selling yourself

Every week I read at least 20 blogs that have the word "Shameless Self Promotion" in them when the writers mention themselves or products.It is really strange to see how many people out there use those words. I get blog posts daily related to self promotion and the majority of them are start with the words "a bit of Shameless Self Promotion".

You might think that the title "Shameless Self Promotion" appears once in a while here and there on a blog or a website. The majority of blogs or internet posts use the word "Shameless", WOW. This inspired me to write a self help or self improvement book on how to market and self yourself.

Do you think people don't like selling themselves? Do you think people will recent you or block you in some mental or unconscious way? I don't get it! What is happening? For starters, most of these internet entries come from people that have great content on their websites and blogs, so promote it, otherwise people will never find out and benefit from that content.

Maybe I can change your mind on what Self Promotion is and why it is never shameless. You see, self promotion is an impulse that started with survival, with a primal instinct of self preservation. Soon after it turned into a social skill that also required helping others to survive and strive in society in order to have more people helping each other and, yes, helping you.Self preservation started it all and now we have self promotion.

Now, you also have to remember that if you have a good product or a good service and people will benefit from it there is no shame in promoting it. After all, you are providing a solution. This is the most important point of this article. –If you provide value you need to promote it- This value can be with a product or service and it can also be form your advice, expertise, stories or blog posts.This new strategy or way of living is now part of a book "The Unselfish Guide to Self Promotion".

Unselfish Self Promotion means that you provide value first. You always provide some kind of "worth" to sociaty or readers or strangers. You provide it in content, products, advice and friendship. When you do this you are promoting yourself whether you want it or not.

Jorge S.Olson is a Professional Motivational Keynore Speaker & Author. Jorge is an eternal teenager, author and keynote speaker. His latest self-help book "The Unselfish Guide to Self Promotion" will teach you how to sell yourself and your ideas all by helping others and making a difference in the world. You can find his latest book 'The Unselfish Guide to Self Promotion" on http://www.UnselfishPromotion.com

Commercial coffee machines- essential for every big enterprise

There are numerous beverages taken by abundant people all across the world of which coffee is the one of the chiefly consumed beverages. Most of us drink coffee every day in the morning when on our path to work, during work as a refresher and with our close friends in the assemblies. Well, to adore a cup of coffee you don’t actually need a reason . We just enjoy its strong essence and thus can relish a cup of coffee at any given time of the day.
Today, any place you go, you can get yourself a cup of coffee due to the presence of the several commercial coffee machines that are put in in the several places. The coffee making machines are accessible in diverse brands, quality and ability dependent on the want of the customers. There are abundant kinds of coffee machines of which the commercial coffee machines are amid the highly used types used classes. These commercial coffee making machines have a better ability in comparison to the habitual home based coffee making machines and thus can make various cups of coffee in just one round. Thus, based on the need of the commercial venture, a commercial coffee machine of a precise range or capacity and design should be chosen.
Today, there are numerous business areas such as the business structures, restaurants, shops or any type of marketable enterprise at the diverse places which installed these commercial coffee machines for the reason of refreshment of their regulars or employees. A cup of coffee is just the break that most of the staff look ahead for, after the extended functioning hours in the marketable enterprise. amid all the beverages, coffee is considered as one of the finest refreshing beverages that is consumed by nearly all of the employees and customers. Thus, the commercial coffee machines are used broadly in these commercial endeavor all through the year for the improved service and refreshment of their staff. The commercial coffee machines appear to be reasonable in comparison to the diverse other available beverages and the traditional coffee machines due to their large capability. Hence they save a lot of money for the endeavor and also at the same point facilitate in giving good service to its employees and clients.
Hence, the commercial coffee machines play a very critical role in maintaining not only the usual work of all its recruits, but also of the total venture. Hence, it indirectly plays a imperative role in the growth of an endeavor.

Why Using WordPress Is A Must For Any Online Marketing

Using Audio and Video With WordPress

Beginning in the year 2002, blogs moulded the online marketing world. While most people at that time started with various blogging tools, eventually most of them moved on to WordPress. WordPress has become so much more since a powerful website CMS that emerged from the need for a better blogging systems.

If you read any blogging advice, WordPress is often positioned as just a blogging tool. But more and more business owners are finding that you can also use it as the most important tool to upon which you can forge a successful business system.

The most important function of WordPress itself lies in its ability to manage large amounts of text, audio and multimedia content. After a dozen pages it becomes difficult to manage a static HTML site. Although you can use template-driven tools as well like SiteBuildIt or DreamWeaver, nothing beats the simplicity of WordPress.

Using ingenious blogging tools you can easily turn create a static website, an article site, a Wordpress based membership site system, a powerful e-commerce site, an auction sites, a portfolio site and much more. In fact you can just about use it for anything.

Besides that, Search Engine Optimization is another important element. It's amazing how good WordPress is at optimizing content for Google. However you can also get more serious and make use of simple WordPress plugins to further enhance your SEO score and get better search engine rankings.

The most interesting thing about WordPress is its flexibility. You can easily switch between WordPress themes, and improve its functions by using plugins and even some custom programming. It's free and have I mentioned before?

You should use WordPress if you haven't. The learning curve has reduced substantially in the past 3 years. At the moment it's so easy to use even a six-year old kid can figure it out. So go ahead, use WordPress to power your online business!

Can You Rely on Google?

Google, the search engine, has quickly become the world's most popular search tool. Hitwise UK tells us that, in October 2008, 75.11% of UK searches used Google.co.uk, 14.33% used Google.com, 2.86% used UK.Search.Yahoo.com and 2.16% used www.uk.ask.com. Clearly Google has the major share of the search market.

But can you really trust the search results that Google provides? And how can a user verify that the search results provided by Google are accurate?

For businesses trading or promoting their services online Google is an important element in the chain that connects them with their prospective customers. If Google isn't presenting a business in their search results then that business will not get any traffic from Google.

I've recently become aware of major differences between the Google.com search results and the localised Google.co.uk results. On investigation I've come across numerous reports from others who have seen similar, strange results.

In my case I came across a UK based business that is ranking very well in Google.com for a range of search terms, many including specific UK city and town names. However, entering the same search terms into Google.co.uk the results were far less useful with a page that appeared at #6 in results from Google.com appearing at around #400 in the results from Google.co.uk. I tried this comparison with a number of UK-city-specific terms and observed similar results for a variety of landing pages in this site.

At first I thought that there must be issues with the site or its hosting so I did a little probing and found that the server is UK based, the site has been labelled as being in the UK in Google webmaster tools and they have a UK business address.

I also conducted the same searches using the same queries entered into Yahoo. The results were the opposite of those received from Google with Yahoo UK ranking the various landing pages more highly than Yahoo global. So it would appear that Yahoo has correctly detected that the site is a UK based business with a market in the UK and would therefore be of interest to those searching from the UK. Google, however, appears to be under the impression that the site is focussed somewhere other than the UK (U.S.) even with the additional information provided via webmaster tools and Google maps.

So Google is getting it wrong, badly. If Google.co.uk were an employee or a consultant and they were found to have returned such inaccurate and misleading results they would potentially be sacked.

For businesses the implications of Google's apparent inability to accurately determine the geographic location of their market (even when stated explicitly) is worrying. While investigating this issue I've come across similar reports from other online businesses. In one case a business disappeared completely from the Google UK results, retained good positions in Google.com and somehow went to number 1 in the Google Russia results. Others have reported massive fluctuations in their Google.co.uk search results.

It would appear that there are currently some significant and worrying failings in the quality of the results delivered by Google.co.uk and my trust in the results provided by this regional search tool is now at an all time low.

I recommend Stansted Airport Parking for some massive savings on parking at the airport.

Practical Ways to Joint Venture

Business owners have to be creative when it comes to cost effective ways to promote a product or service. Advertising has its place, but it is critical that any advertising and marketing efforts have a return on investment. Joint ventures are an extremely effective and low-cost way to market your business and increase profit.

There are many simple ways to step into the joint venture arena. Think about sharing these ideas with a joint venture partner:

Exchange links on your websites
Include information in your newsletters about your joint venture partner
Display information on counter tops
Place information in shopping bags, billings or other mailings
Share a booth at a tradeshow or event
Write articles for each other’s newsletters
Provide prizes for fundraising events for various organizations
Become involved with a local non-profit or non-profit event that allows you to be seen as benefactors.

Find businesses and service providers in your industry or a cross-related industry and approach them about with your joint venture idea. Here are some examples of creative joint ventures to get your juices flowing:

Make up Artist/ Bridal Shop: The make-up artist kept bridal shop and prom information in her kit and passed it to potential clients when she was out on a job. The bridal store displayed the make-up artist’s information on their counter.

Travel Agent/ Wedding Planner: The wedding planner kept the travel agent information available for her clients to book honeymoons and received a free trip for every so many clients she sent to the agent.

Real Estate Agent/ Moving Company: The real estate agent negotiated a discounted moving rate within a local area for her clients. The moving company received additional advertising in the agent’s newsletter.

Small Pet Shop/ Dog Groomer/ Animal Shelter: The pet shop offered the groomer’s services and helped to promote the local animal shelter fundraising events. The groomer offered services to the shelter and the pet shop. The shelter promoted the pet shop and the groomer to people who adopted pets.

Travel Agent/ Luggage Store/ Non-wrinkle Clothing Line: The travel agent promoted both the luggage store and the non-wrinkle clothing line. The luggage store included the travel agent’s card and information about the non-wrinkle clothing in their luggage and on the counter. The clothing line consultant promoted the luggage store and the travel agent during her consultations.

By thinking of scenarios where both parties benefit, joint venture opportunities abound. Pick a target market that you don’t always reach, but your potential joint venture partner does. Then brainstorm as to the type of cross-promotion you would like to do. Bring that to your potential partner and explain what it is that you envision. Be sure to highlight the benefits to him. Also, make sure that you outline what the responsibilities are for each project you work on together. That way, you’ll avoid misunderstandings.

Use joint ventures to increase exposure and profit. Be creative and have fun!

Strategic Alliances: Getting Started

Before entering into a strategic alliance, it's a good idea to decide what you hope to see happen as a result of the relationship. Most strategic alliances have one central mission: to increase sales in such a way that both companies benefit. There are many ways to approach a strategic alliance, but there are a few things to consider before you rush headlong into the relationship.

First, outline a business plan specifically for the proposed alliance. It doesn't need to be extremely detailed, but it should clearly outline the functions of each participant, the expected contributions on both sides, and the anticipated benefits both partners should expect to receive. Do some preliminary research to determine if the alliance is actually feasible from a financial standpoint.

Next, learn all you can about the company you plan to approach. It doesn't hurt to have a list of candidate companies for your proposed alliance. Think of this process as interviewing to fill an executive position in your company. You may need to see several candidates before you find the right fit.

Once you've found the right company, initiate contact with the decision maker at the company to whom you wish to present your ideas. Finding the right person within the sales or marketing department will save time and energy. It can be as simple as picking up the phone and asking: "Who would the decision maker regarding _______." (name whatever your project is.)

After you've located your contact person, submit a concise proposal. Explain exactly how the alliance will benefit both parties and if possible include a financial projection spreadsheet. Companies are always interested in the bottom line, so show them the potential profit and you should be able to gain immediate interest in your proposal.

When you've secured interest, create a simple contract that outlines who does what, how the money flows, and what the disbursement terms will be. Make sure that everyone understands the role that they play so as to eliminate potential surprises. Follow your gut. You may think a company would make a great strategic partner, but if your worldview or business practices are not the same, you could find yourself wishing you'd never joined forces.

Create a clause in your contract that states you are going to start small or for a limited time to test the concept. This way, if personalities don't mesh, each of you is free to go their own way with no harm done. However, if things work well, you have a contract in place that will allow you to move ahead full speed when the time is right.

Creating Profitable Joint Ventures

Joint ventures are a powerful tool to increase your profit, visibility and market share. You can leverage the time and resources of all parties involved and when done properly, bring increased value to the customer base of each business partner within the joint venture.

Successful Joint Ventures Have Several Things in Common:

Understanding a Target Market

A successful joint venture will have an in depth understanding of the target market it is intended to reach. This is important because it will utilize the existing relationships the other company has formed with its customers. If their customers are not your target market, and vice versa, there's no sense in forming a joint venture. On the other hand, if you're both reaching the same market with different products or services, you can create an instant revenue stream if the customer views the product or service you introduce as something of value. Remember, value to a customer doesn't always mean money or savings. Sometimes value can simply be helpful information, times-savings, or value-added services that will enhance their lives.

Enhanced Credibility

Joint ventures that instantly provide you with enhanced credibility are worth their weight in gold. Make sure you choose to partner with a company that has a sterling reputation with its clients and you can immediately increase your opt-in list. People love having the legwork done for them ahead of time and are more likely to use a company that is recommended to them by someone they know and trust. Make sure you guard the reputation of the company who is recommending you by taking the need to service their customers seriously. They've put their reputation on the line for you, and you for them, so make sure you both understand you’re sharing are a valuable asset and treat them accordingly.

New Product or Service Offerings

Another feature of a successful joint venture is the new product or service offerings you can provide to your customer base. This works well because you can offer new products or services to your customers with little or no investment of time and money that they may otherwise not have received. When a customer feels you've taken additional time to find or pass along quality products or services to them, they will begin to develop a sense of loyalty to your company. Building loyalty in your customers is key to any successful business. Keep the customers you have happy, so that you can continue to expand your network via their recommendations. Just be careful that the products or services you are offering via your joint venture agreement are quality products. You don't want your customers to get the feeling that you're trying to make a fast buck. Nothing will give them that feeling faster than shoddy performance from your joint venture partner.

Creating a successful joint venture is worth your time and energy. Do your research, understand your target market, and go out and service them!

Joint Venture Marketing: Capitalizing on the Psychology of Trusting Relationships

Humans by nature are social creatures and they have the ability to greatly influence one another. This influence is not limited solely to a person-to-person basis, as people are just as readily influenced by advertising, reference and recommendations. Suggestions are most powerful when they come from a known and trusted source, but people are almost constantly looking for advice, approval and suggestions on a very psychological level. Expert marketing strategies capitalize on this basic truth of human nature, and the strength of a joint venture marketing partnership creates a space where you and your partners can benefit tremendously from the psychological edge naturally created by your partnership.

The Psychological Edge of a Joint Venture Marketing Partnership

You may not be aware of this psychological philosophy, but just having a joint venture partnership engenders trust among consumers. At its core, a joint venture marketing partnership is a relationship. The stronger your relationship with your partners, the stronger and more successful your venture is likely to be. Relationships are built on trust, and when consumers see that you have partnerships with one or more companies, it demonstrates that you trust one another. This instills a feeling of confidence in the consumer.

Consumers are presented with an endless array of products and companies from which to choose. Depending on the industry, there are usually many companies and websites selling similar, if not identical products or services. In a world of big business and globalization, consumers are increasingly conscientious of the dwindling small business and mom and pop-like stores on which the United States was built. Many consumers, if given a choice, will purchase from a small company rather than a large one, because they believe their purchases are appreciated and make a difference to these smaller companies.

How to Use Consumer Psychology to Your Benefit

If you have a joint venture marketing partnership of two or more small businesses, this immediately plays to this type of consumer psychology. They are more likely to buy from your company, even though you sell the same products or services as a larger corporation because the consumer has a feeling of being personally invested in your company’s survival. On the other hand most people believe a large corporation will survive with or without their purchase.

Being part of a joint venture marketing partnership is an automatic endorsement from your partners, creating a feeling of confidence and trust among your potential customers. If you agree to a partnership, it means you view the company you’re partnering with as a trustworthy source. The reverse also holds true. Your joint venture marketing partners have trust and faith in you and your company. This is demonstrated to consumers simply by the business link that you share.

Consumers recognize these relationships as endorsements and recommendations. Even if the consumer doesn’t know of your company, the fact that you have other professionals and businesses that connect with you is a vote of confidence. One the smartest and most strategic ways you can capitalize on consumer psychology and build customer confidence in your company is to develop a joint venture marketing partnership.

Announcing TheThe Right MLM Business

If you spend any time at all online searching for the right MLM business, you often hear the phrase "The timing couldn't be better".Some could inform you that you have a chance to secure your position right now, before the company's official launch date.(Referred to as pre-launch)

This could truly allow you a real advantage!If the company has a product that the public needs, proven leadership to get you going in the right direction, and a proven compensation plan.Coming in early into this kind of company could turn out to be a goldmine for you.This is the best of both worlds - but could take a while to find.

While you're searching for the right MLM business, that good company is also looking for people who are serious about working hard to become successful in their MLM business. The right MLM businessman or woman will always be willling to give you a helping hand, and help you get started...but don't be expecting a free handout.

Network Marketing can be a great business for people who are willing to learn while they begin earning the income they desire. An extra few hundred dollars a month to assist you with the bills , Or much more when you seriously get involved in the right MLM business.

A person doesn't necessarily need MLM experience. Nor do you even have to work the business full time. But you do need to make a commitment to seriously working your business at least part time if you want it to work for you.Now the only way you can really fail the right MLM business is if you give up.

Now in review, you need to be researching that company, where timing is in its favor, and you have the right product to promote. Very important is a compensation plan that compares to nothing else out there today...it's got to be better than all the others!And you need to make that commitment to work hard, and maksure it works...promise yourself at least a 90 day commitment.This company could be close as your finger tips. A company you can succeed with. Seriously, I urge you take the time to continue your research.

Joint Venture Marketing: New Strategies to Increase Your Profits

Joint venture marketing has become an extremely popular way for small businesses to increase their visibility and maximize profits. When two or more companies combine their resources, it increases the growth potential and marketing opportunities for all parties involved.

A typical start to a joint venture marketing partnership is to place advertising for your products and services on your partner’s site, including links to your website. However, there are additional strategies to implement not as readily recognized that will raise awareness for your joint venture marketing partnership, as well as for your individual business.

Issue News Releases

Issuing news releases is a non-invasive way to get information to your clients about your business, and provides a gentle reminder that it may be time to order again. Now that you have a joint venture marketing partnership, there are a variety of ways to fit regular news releases into the regular fold of your business. You may choose to issue a news release once a month, but have each member of your partnership be responsible for alternating months. For instance, if you have a small partnership with only a couple members that would mean each company would be responsible for six news releases per year. In this way you can alternate months so the business of putting out a news release won’t be too time consuming or overwhelming.

The beauty of a news release is twofold: first it provides information to your customer base about your company and secondly it creates additional advertising. Structuring the news releases can be done in a variety of ways. You may choose to have the news release cover just the author’s company, or each month includes news of all the joint venture marketing partners. With the news release will come advertising and links to your partners’ sites. In this capacity, even if the news release doesn’t contain specific information about your company that particular month, the advertising will mention your business, products or services and draw attention to your company.

How to Integrate the News Release into JV Marketing

The most common way to integrate a news release into a joint venture marketing partnership is to have the subject of that month’s news release contain only information and news about the authoring company. This means that your business assumes the burden of writing a news release every other month, but you gain the benefit of extra advertising every time a news release is issued. If you have multiple marketing partners, your authorship responsibility will decrease according to the number of partners, but the additional marketing benefits will remain intact.

Another way to capitalize on your news releases is to send them to print and web periodicals in your industry. They may not get released or published each month, but that will be at the discretion of the publisher. The important thing is to try to increase the circulation of your news releases (including the links and advertising) once they have been written. Once the work of writing the promotional news releases has been completed, you’ve got nothing to lose by trying to increase the distribution of them!

Joint Venture Marketing: Partnering for More Links Back to Your Site

Embarking on a joint venture marketing partnership is an excellent way to raise awareness for your company while simultaneously forming a new network of business relations that have the potential for highly profitable returns. What makes joint venture marketing so successful is the exponential exposure you gain as a result of the partnership. This type of partnership puts to use many traditional forms of Internet marketing, but because of the increased potential for exposure some of these strategies deserve a more in-depth look.

Linking Strategies Realized

Links to your site from other sites can lead to significantly increased traffic. A joint venture marketing partnership is a key component when capitalizing on the importance of linking strategies.

One of the first steps to take in your new joint venture will be the mutual exchange of advertising rights on your partners' site. This often includes a link to your company's website from the advertisement on your partners' site. With this first primary component you'll immediately start the all-important Internet linking strategy, which can greatly increase traffic to your site.

Further Linking Strategies

Once you have formed a joint venture marketing partnership, you will most likely notice an immediate increase in traffic to your site. However, to continue to be successful, you should capitalize on the fresh energy generated by this new partnership. Submitting your site to key directories will help increase the visibility of your company through the advertising of your joint venture.

Google and other major search engines consider "link popularity" (the number of incoming hits or links to your website) as a very important factor in assigning ranking to your company's website. The more links you have, the higher your rank will be in their search engine. The higher your rank, the more traffic there is driven to your site.

Strategies to Gain Link Popularity

If you don't have enough link popularity to score high on the Google rankings, don't lose heart. There are other ways to get your marketing partnership and individual business noticed. You may want to construct a website specifically for your new venture in addition to the advertising that you mutually conduct on each other's sites. If you do create a third party site, submitting the new site to key directories will help your Internet ranking as well as increase traffic.

Remember, it's free to list in some directories such as the Open Directory Project but make sure to list your business site as well as your joint venture site, and you can garner a very important back link that will boost your search rankings. Yahoo! Directory is an important site to be listed in, but requires a $299 annual fee, as do some other commercial sites. However, since you are now part of a joint venture marketing partnership, you can share the costs of the annual fee for things like directory listings.

A joint venture marketing partnership not only increases your business community and an awareness for your business, but it also offers new financial resources such as paid advertising and directory listings which on your own, you may not be able handle from a financial standpoint.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing
firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture based
relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum
profitability. Join his JV Wealth e-zine at http://www.christianfea.com/joint-venture-wealth-report

The Future of Directory Enquiries

Directory enquiries has recently up to now been unarguably, ranked amongst the most accommodating and utilitarian customer services to ever be invented. Quite simply picking up the telephone to ask for an individuals address or the phone number when you didn't have the required phone directory on your person has very much been a great assistance for us in times of critical informational requirements.

Even so, as time passed and directory enquiries became even more fashionable, we realised that we spent even more time being on hold and enduring adverts instead of bagging the data that we wanted "quick & easy". It should obviously go without saying, this is the specific function directory enquiries are meant to do. As a result, a significant number of people commenced searching for other methods and means. But nevertheless, there was still no service that was anywhere near as good till the dawning of online directory enquiries. Online directory enquiries are not only more effective than outdated call in directories, online directories are clearly a lot more effective.

The most respected on line directory enquiries give out their services at no cost to you. There are certainly no subscription charges and absolutly no forced listening to adverts. So they are actually “free” and ‘easy to use”. Online directory enquiries are set up to operate for you all year round. You are able to quite simply click to open an on-line directory enquiry and check out your old best university boyfriends phone number at midnight.

Online directory enquiries lets you learn data relating to a very large number of important things. UK directory enquiry services can provide bus schedules & significantly assist you in finding transport all the way from finish to start. You might well also want to know about the new films being screened in your closest cinema hall, absolutely no matter where about you are currently in the UK. Of course, pinpointing companies and their phone numbers is a big piece of the pie and the greatest part is that you of course get to learn people’s phone numbers. Every piece of this essential information is directly acquirable at your pc with online business directories. There are certainly no occupied lines, absolutly no ignorant operators, dead computers or slow adverts to listen to. Freedom at last! Online directory enquiries are available at the 118 118 website.

Increase Consumer Confidence with Joint Venture Marketing

Forming a joint venture marketing partnership can be an effective way to expand your business and gain new clients as it has a psychological component that works particularly well to instill consumer confidence, which will ultimately lead to loyal customers and increased sales.

Tapping Into Consumer Psychology

Psychology plays an integral role in all business marketing. Studies have proven time and time again that people will buy just about anything, as long as it is well marketed and effectively advertised and that consumers are prone to purchasing items they don’t really need or often cannot afford. Inspiring people to make such purchases is marketing genius and can be enhanced through a joint venture marketing partnership.

Consumer confidence is one of the largest determining factors in purchases they make, and psychology is one of the largest determiners of consumer confidence. Thus, understanding the role psychology plays in marketing can help boost the confidence of consumers who purchase your products and services, leading to increased business.

Using Joint Venture Marketing to Increase Consumer Confidence

Forming a joint venture marketing partnership is one way your company can reach customers on a psychological level, increase their confidence, and form a tight community of loyal clients. Keep in mind, people like to feel significant, needed, and important, so if a customer feels his business is truly important to you, this will inspire his confidence to purchase from your company. If you reinforce this feeling of importance, you create a snowball effect, where the more important a customer feels he is, the more confidence he will have for your business. This increased customer confidence of course translates to increased sales for your company. Understanding this psychological mechanism of the business/client relationship will put you on track to forming strong and long lasting relationships with your customers.

Joint Venture Marketing Taps Into Buying Psychology

Forming a joint venture marketing partnership influences consumer buying psychology for in many ways. Here are a couple of examples:

Working with other companies and sharing ideas about how each of you handles customer service and consumer confidence will create new and exciting ways to reach a previously untapped consumer base, benefiting both companies involved in the joint venture.

When your joint venture partner gains some of your clients and vice versa, you create a community of clients that you both share. These customers are now part of an elite group of clients that you and your joint venture partner can target and market to in ways that you couldn’t when they only belonged to one of you.

Both of these points are important to understand when tapping into the psychological nature of human beings if you are to be successful at utilizing this knowledge to improve your company’s sales. You can use this understanding to your advantage. Don’t regard it as manipulation, but simply smart business psychology. These psychological influences are at work all around us in everyday life. Human beings are naturally wired this way, and understanding this is not the same as manipulation.

A joint venture marketing partnership that focuses on consumer psychology makes targeted suggestions based on buying habits and behavior, which is a win-win situation: it makes the consumer feel understood, and it has to potential to increase your business!

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing & Consulting firm empowering business owners to discover and implement Integration, Alliance, and Joint Venture marketing tactics to solve specific business challenges and increase profits. To read more articles related to Joint Venture Marketing, please go to his Joint Venture Blog Site. He can be reached at christian@synertegic.com

New MLM Business Announcement

Searching for a new mlm business that is right for you, can be a difficult task.But the first thing you need to decide is whether you have what it takes to be successful in a new MLM business.

You have to be self-motivated and able to lead others to success.If you are someone who needs someone else to push you into action when it comes to work or business, then a MLM is probably not going to really work for you.

And always try to remember that you are starting a home business to earn money, not to go in debt.Be certain you can afford the start-up cost ( which should be around $200).Always understand the value to any monthly fees required. Now you shouldn't be afraid of a monthly fee, because you do need to invest in your business to be successful. Just be sure you are able to justify the investment.

You also need to be an active recruiter, comfortable dealing with other people and be able to keep in touch with your downline to provide support, assistance, guidance and leadership.You will also need to be involved with your ever important upline for ongoing direction & support.

Keep in mind that if you're running your business exclusively on the Internet, you will probably never meet most of those you work with on a daily basis. But you still need to be able to effectively communicate with them.

When you decide on a new mlm business to become invoved with, you will discover it to be an ideal type of business to run online. When you consider the great advances in communication offered by email, SEO, blogging and other web 2.0 techniques, the sky is the limit for you.

Although you always need to be careful when joining a new mlm business, you will have the chance to participate in something that may ultimately lead you to legitimate home business success.

Discover how you too can become involved with the right new MLM business today.You have read all about the rest, now I challenge you to compare it with the best compensation plan in history! Learn more about a great New MLM Business.

Joint Venture Marketing – Creating a Loyal and Profitable Community

The current economic downfall has had a huge impact on Internet business, and many small companies are struggling to survive. Consumers are spending less and less money on non-essential items. If your business specializes in luxury goods or services not vital to everyday survival, you may find yourself in a difficult position.

To maintain, or in some cases even save your business during these difficult economic times it may be necessary to get creative with your marketing strategy. A joint venture marketing partnership may be just the thing you need to explore to keep your business humming along.

Creating a Loyal Community for Your Business

Marketing’s primary focus is creating client relationships. In a time when people are feeling stressed and disconnected as a result of current economic turmoil, holding onto your customer relationships, and building new ones is more important than ever. It is possible to maintain your customers and gain new ones during a challenging economic time, but this will involve creating a sense of community among your customers, as well other businesses with whom you work. A joint venture marketing partnership can help you achieve this, even if you don’t get the immediate results. At the very least, you will lay a foundation for future customers and preserve your current and loyal customer base.

Consistent customers are the bread and butter of any business. The customers you count on to make regular purchases, even if they’re small, add a measure of stability to your business. All companies dream of the “big sale”, but these are often few and far between. So, it’s the smaller steady purchases that will keep your business going in a world currently plagued by financial woes

The Power of Joint Venture Marketing

The benefits of a joint venture marketing partnership are twofold. First you create a new community of business partners which function to strengthen your existing customer base. And second, it enables you to reach new customers in varied and creative ways you otherwise wouldn’t have access to.

When your joint venture marketing partner makes contact with one of your regular customers, it is crucial for him to know that you referred your partner. This equals an endorsement from your company as to the status and importance your partner plays in the function of your business. It is a thoughtful and personal way to reach out to some of your most treasured clients. To do this successfully, you may not want your joint venture partner to approach every single one of your customers. That would feel inauthentic.

To truly build the feeling of a community with your customers, they need to know that they are getting personalized attention, thoughtful consideration regarding their purchases and that you are taking into consideration what other products they may be interested in. Likewise, through your joint venture you are endorsed to your partner’s customers, who will in turn perceive that your company offers a community of services and products that are geared towards their interests.

Taking the time to create a feeling of community with your customers, as well as your new joint venture marketing partners, will help your business successfully sail through these difficult economic waters.

Joint Venture Marketing: A Low Risk Endeavor

A joint venture marketing partnership is a low risk way to potentially boost your market visibility and to grow your company. The low risk associated with a joint venture marketing partnership makes it a win-win endeavor for all parties included.

Low-risk Trial

Most joint venture marketing partnerships require very little risk, and often no formal legally binding contract in order to sample and see for yourself just how effective such a partnership can be for your business. While there are no guarantees that a joint venture partnership will absolutely deliver the results you are looking for, but experimenting with a joint venture marketing partnership can be executed in a low risk way, minimizing any potential long term disasters.

A joint venture marketing partnership can be performed on a very small scale, without a formal contract, making it fast and easy to implement. The easiest way to try out a joint venture marketing partnership is to align your business with only one other company to start with. Ideally, you’ll also want to partner with another company who is also looking to start small with the joint venture marketing experiment, and a company who is comparable in size to yours.

Identify Goals and Trial Length

Once you identify a company with which you would like to partner, the next step is to discuss the particulars of your arrangement, identifying what each of you is looking for from such a partnership. You will also want to be sure that you have the same goals in mind for the length of time for which you will try out this partnership. You may want to agree to three months, six months, or even a year, depending on the size of your company. The size of your business will have an effect on how quickly you notice a change in your customer numbers and profits after implementing your joint venture marketing partnership.

Generally speaking, a larger company will notice a run in their sales and customers because they have a larger base to begin working with. Therefore, when two medium to large sized companies get together to engage in a joint venture marketing partnership, they will often see a difference very quickly, and they may need only a three month trial period to assess if a joint venture is something they want to continue. A smaller company may require up to six months or even a year to truly assess the effectiveness of their joint venture marketing partnership.

Whatever length of time you decide to use as your trial period, what makes a new joint venture marketing partnership so deliciously low-risk is the ease in initiating the process. Once you agree to a mutual vision, you do not necessarily need to involve an attorney for a legal agreement, but you will want to put something in writing to protect both of your interests, which will also ensure that both parties are clear on the terms to which they are agreeing. You can draft an informal agreement that will be legally binding should anything digress, without involving the services of a lawyer.

Network (MLM) Marketers Your Upline Is Lying To You And Keeping You Broke

Lead Training

If you are new to network marketing then these facts may scare you. Don't back away or hide your head in the sand...it is obvious that the techniques that you are being taught by your upline are out of date and moldy. Back in the 90s most of those ideas worked, but now with the Internet, everything has changed.

Don't kid yourself, you know what I am talking about. That "Warm List" the "3-foot Rule" those meetings at the Holiday Inn. This is the Internet era and those old style ways are limiting your abilities my friend. Smart Marketers that understand the "New School" ways of building a business online are going to destroy the folks that just don't get it.

So you will need to change the way you look at the Internet from now on. Please stop chasing strangers around the mall, stop paying for leads and top of my list, Please stop cold calling people that are not interested in what you are pitching to them.

I know what its like to struggle in this industry. For the last 3 years I followed the training of my upline, struggling to get anyone to sign up in my business. I live in Montana, so the pickings are very limited and once you have gone through your list of 100 (if you know that many people) you are done my friend you will be shunned. No more BBQ invites..and if you have changed opportunities more than once FAGEDDABOUTIT, you might as well have a social disease.

So I know firsthand the frustrations, struggles and questions that you have had while trying to duplicate your business through your downline. Even a popular person will struggle using these old world techniques in this new world of marketing. No one likes to chase people, put up fliers, hand out cards and the whole ball of wax...especially if after months of doing it you are not seeing results.

What is needed is a training system that is up 24/7/365 to help you turn your business building activities into a duplicatable program. You need to brand your own website and then automate the training of your downline. This allows for predictable results for our team building.

The system you introduce your team to, can not be complex. Can not have HTML or coding involved in it, at least not for the newbies. You want to create a level playing field for all members of your team to succeed that allows them to make immediate cash flow to fund their business growth. No cold calling, no badgering, no selling your latest opportunity. I have taken away your excuses for failure in your network marketing business, so what are you going to do now?

Rebecca Holman works with serious network marketers that want to implement current marketing technologies at MLM Lead Marketing Online Approach the future of the internet by learning to brand yourself through Attraction Marketing

Psychology of Joint Venture Marketing

Psychology plays an important role in most consumer purchases, and the psychological effect of a joint venture marketing platform is no exception to this rule. Psychology is at play subconsciously in so many areas of our lives. Have you ever noticed how most supermarkets are organized in the same way? There is a floor plan for how to run a successful supermarket, down to the optimal lighting and the temperature at which the supermarket should be kept to maximize consumer purchases.

When you are in a supermarket, and looking for a specific product, it may seem that products are organized somewhat haphazardly, but this is not the case. Products are organized to inspire you to purchase items that you did not intend on purchasing when entering the store. The last minute checkout line purchases are the best example of this: how many of us have picked up a magazine, gift card, candy bar or pack of gum we didn’t really need, simply because we were standing in line and those products were there. This is consumer psychology at work at its best.

Consumer Psychology at Work in Joint Venture Marketing

You may be thinking, that makes sense, it sounds easy enough to capitalize on consumer psychology when you have customers walking through the door, but I have an online business, not the same thing at all! True, with your online business, you don’t have the benefit of customers walking through your doors, but you have something that when used to your advantage can be even better: you can go to your customers, reach them at home or on the road via emails - increasing access to your clients to a point where you don’t have to wait for them to come to you!

America was built on creating opportunities, and most Americans appreciate businesses that take initiative and create opportunities: it is the American way. But there is a fine line between creating opportunities and being invasive to your clients. Americans are also busier than ever in their lives, so bombarding them with countless emails and solicitations that convey the same message will most likely serve to alienate potential clients, rather than gain them. These are aspects of psychology of which it is important to be aware when running your online business.

Creating “Friendly” Marketing

A joint venture marketing partnership can help bridge the gap between effective marketing and invasive marketing, helping you gain the right balance to assertively attract new customers without being overbearing.

With a joint venture marketing partnership, you can piggyback with your partners on marketing tactics, such as customer email alerts and newsletters. With the joint forces of your marketing partnerships behind you, you can capitalize on the principles of consumer psychology and reach multiple customers on various levels without making them feel overwhelmed. If for instance, a certain customer buys from both you and one of your joint venture partners, you can attach advertisements or reminders to a “thank you for your purchase email” and remind your clients of your appreciation for their business without being invasive by sending unnecessary correspondence.

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