Archive for June 27th, 2009

Finding OFFline Customers ONline

Posted in General on June 27th, 2009 by imr – Be the first to comment

Does ONline marketing work for OFFline businesses?

The vast majority of marketing research proves that Internet banner ads are very ineffective. Internet classified ads also seem to be impotent. The most effective type of advertising on the web is — far and away — the simple, unobtrusive textual link. Banner ads are viewed as nothing more than blatant  promotion and web site visitors are put-off by such blatant commercialism. On the other hand, when web site visitors read an “in context” or “contextual” link, they perceive this much like a personal recommendation from a friend or business superstar. These tendencies are even more exaggerated in a small city like Charlottesville, VA.

A properly set-up and marketed web site offers area businesses a very inexpensive yet highly effective way to…

* promote 24/7 without the high prices of print ads
* update information as needed not when your ad contract is up!
* get ahead of area competition who refuse to leave the offline advertising world
* encourage and develop the relationship you already have with current clients
* encourage repeat purchases/contracts
* solidify client lifetime loyalty
* build new customers

That is… if you go about it properly… You simply need to know how to market your offline business online.

If you go out for dinner or enjoy seeing a very well-done movie, don’t you want tell all of your friends how outstanding it was? Sure you do! We all do this. It’s instinctive.

The lowly text link influences us in the same way.

For example, the next two sentences use several of the internet’s most competitive keyword phrases, yet neither seems to be a blatant advertisement: “In my opinion, the absolute best internet marketing services in Charlottesville, Virginia, can be found at Top Rated Web Pages, a small locally-owned business. I have found their SEO service (Search Engine Optimization service) to be outstanding and, as the company name suggests, “top rated” in all respects.”

Online Marketing For Local Businesses

Trying to figure out online marketing for local businesses is, for most business owners, a lot like black magic, where merchandising wizards cast spells upon web visitors to create uncontrollable desires on them for certain products or services. In a college town like Charlottesville, Virginia, finding experienced marketing help can be difficult at best. Even though Charlottesville — the home of the UVA — is a genuinely sophisticated and hi-tech university town, qualified online marketing services could be difficult to come by. Fortunately, the experts at Top Rated Web Pages are there to help!

Search engine spiders, also know as robots or bots, enjoy gobbling-up internet content, and so do your online visitors. Content is one of the most important facets of attracting the multitude to your internet site, and helping them to ascertain the value in what you are offering. The question you need to ask is: “How could I generate visitors who will come to my web site to check-out my content?” Search engines are the absolute finest place to begin because they thrive on the same thing: CONTENT.

Therefore, if you want to put up top rated web pages, simply provide the search engines what it is they’re hungry for — content! The search engines will, in turn, give their visitors what they’re hungry for — content!

Finally, you’ll get what you want: a LOT of visitors — IF you understand how to find Internet Marketing Services.

Top Tips to Writing Effective Surveys

Posted in General on June 27th, 2009 by imr – Be the first to comment

How to create a survey using Survey Galaxy

Designing surveys is easy; isn’t it? The reality is that writing surveys is easy but writing surveys that will be effective is a little bit more difficult. The following tips will help you with your survey questionnaire design so you can write more effective surveys.

1. What is the purpose of the survey?

Surveys and questionnaires are conducted for many reasons. By correctly phrasing the questions and structuring the answers surveys can be used in a multitude of ways and for a variety of reasons. When compiling a survey don’t lose sight of its purpose.

2. Title the survey

The survey title is a golden opportunity to instantly summarise a survey’s objective and encourage respondents to participate. Respondents are going to invest time in completing the survey so make them feel that their investment is worthwhile.

3. Don’t make the survey any longer than it needs to be

Every question asked should be asked for a reason. Concentrate on the ‘need to know’ questions and minimise ‘nice to know’ information.

4. Use plain English, maintain consistency and avoid terminology, acronyms and asking questions that could result in ambiguous answers

Be careful when wording the question. If a question can be interpreted in more ways than one then there is a risk that any analysis of the survey results will be worthless or at the very least suspect.

5. Avoid long questions

Use succinct sentences wherever possible. Long questions can lead to a higher level of incidents where respondents abandon a survey.

6. Ask one question at a time

Avoid confusing the respondent with a question like ‘Do you like tennis and football?’

7. Do not influence the answer

Do not load the question. ‘Should irresponsible shop keepers who sell alcohol to children be prosecuted?’ is unlikely to have any value.

8. Ensure that the answer format used allows the respondent to answer the question being asked

Ensure that the respondent is able to answer how they really feel or they may abandon the survey. As a last resort consider the benefit of including a “Don’t know”, “Can’t say” or similar response option.

9. When you are compiling your survey consider how you will analyse the results once the survey has been published

Appreciate that questions that allow for a free text open ended response is likely to be difficult to score and/or summarised. Consider how the answers could be grouped. For example “Indicate your length of service?” – ‘less than 3 year’, ‘between 3 and 8 years’ and ‘more than 8′.

10. Ensure that the questionnaire flows

When asking questions group the questions into clear categories as this makes the task of completing the survey easier for the participants.

11. Target your respondents

Sometimes you will want to target a specific group, in others a cross section. If you can’t easily control the respondents consider including questions/answers that will allow you to filter out respondents that don’t match your target profile.

12. Allow respondents to expand on their answers and/or make comments

Allowing the respondent to make additional comments will increase their satisfaction level and will also give valuable feedback on the specific questions and/or the survey as a whole. Remember that for large sample collections that free text open ended responses may be difficult to analyse.

13. If you are conducting a confidential survey ensure that your pledge for confidentiality is upheld

If you have made guarantees to the respondents that the survey is confidential you need to ensure that the individual data is not shared with anyone or used for any other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained and any contact information deleted after the survey is complete.

14. Weigh up the advantages of allowing respondents to be anonymous or identifiable

If your respondents are to be anonymous then you will be unable to follow up specific complaints or match “pre” or “post” surveys. Allowing respondents to remain anonymous will however allow respondents to respond without possible peer pressure.

15. Carefully consider the best response format

Maintaining a consistency in the format used for responses is good practice. When creating your survey keep in mind that when analysing the data radio buttons are easier to analyse than check boxes that offer the respondent multiple responses. If a radio response can be used do not use a check box.

16. Provide the respondent with an estimate as to how much time the survey will take to complete

If the survey appears to be a stream of never ending questions then respondent drop out can occur. It is a good idea to give an indication as to how long the survey is likely to take so the respondents can choose the best time to complete the survey.

17. Inform the respondents of the survey end date

Try and encourage your invited respondents to complete the survey as soon as possible but advise the respondents of the survey’s end date so that they have the opportunity to schedule the necessary time.

18. Pilot the survey

Before publishing a live survey publish the survey as a trial to check for questions that are ambiguous or confusing and to ensure that the survey is aesthetically pleasing.

19. Before publishing the survey check the survey carefully

Carefully check and then check again that the survey is grammatically correct and makes sense. If possible get someone else to proof read the survey before you publish, if no one else is available then take a break before checking again.

20. Thank the respondent

To complete surveys respondents have to devote their time and should be thanked either in a covering letter, at the end of completing the survey or in a follow up letter. You may even want to consider an incentive such as a reward of some sort.

To get started there are numerous survey software websites to choose from.

How To Make Cash In A Down Economy

Posted in General on June 27th, 2009 by imr – Be the first to comment

Seeing how the economy has taken a nose dive, you’d be hard pressed to locate someone that has not been affected. No matter if it is a family who’s been laid off or a person who’s company has shut the doors, nearly every person has some story to tell about the poor economy.

The economy has cuase a flood of people of people heading to Net to discover ways to earn money so they can make it from one paycheck to another. Before, these people have never thought about making extra money because they had more than enough to make ends meet. Times are tougher. Nowadays many people are finding ways of earning extra income from the Internet. If you’re in this situation, don’t fret. It’s easier than you might think.

I’ve outlined some ways anyone can get out and extra money on the the Online marketplace. You won’t get rich but perhaps you can afford groceries or make that mortgage note before lose the farm.

Online auctions. Ebay allowed many ex workplace workers and other people to obtain money by auctioning off on the World Wide Web. Some great sources of stuff to sell are Craigslist, garage sales and estate auctions. Make sure you know what the stuff is worth before buying it though!

Free Online Classifieds. Craigslist is a free Web bazaar that lets members to post items for sale or to just get rid of it. A lot of people are building full time incomes by going around and picking up stuff other people want to get rid off. You can then go home and put it back on the Internet for sale or list it on another classified Internet site.

Nearly every person knows how to create a craft or two. Etsy is an Internet auction site for consumers to hawk their crafts. Scores of desperate families are scoring some major income auctioning off crafts and craft supplies on Etsy.

Become an Expert at what you know. Do you have a special skill that others want? There are places on the Net that are always looking for freelancers. People with computer skills or technical knowledge of a program like Excel or MS Money can locate these profitable jobs. Freelance writers are also in great demand. To find these jobs, just search in the Services section of Craigslist or visit the Marketplace section of DigitalPoint forums or Sitepoint forums. Many people are earning a good income providing their services to others.

It doesn’t matter if you think you know nothing, there is a way for you to make extra money during this time of economic recovery. Just get out there and apply yourself and search for the opportunites. You never know, you just might find something that you love doing and find out just how much people will pay for your knowledge.