Marketing in the Mobile Age

Did you know that mobile marketing not only covers the most commonly referenced area of mobile devices (smart phones, tablets and the like), but also mobile billboards, travelling expos as well as any/all motion advertising. If you ever wanted to further your knowledge of mobile marketing, then check out the next few paragraphs.

First, things first you want to be effective --take your time to make your mobile marketing fun for other people. As someone is out there waiting for their bus to come or waiting for that traffic jam to relent, they could be watching a funny advertisement created and released by you /your company.

Mobile marketing provides a great opportunity to offer up a wide assortment of discounts and other information about your business/service, so you should use this format to make sure you are always giving out good deals. Your customers need to feel special, so make sure you are sending them information on your discounts and/or sales/specials.

While setting reachable expectations it is important that you keep yourself, safe legally. After a person opts-in, or even during the process, inform them of how often they can get text messages from you. Also, give them an "opt-out" option if the messages are too frequent or if they want to avoid possible message charges. Always include the line, "standard rates
may apply."

To measure your place in the market place a good idea would be to set up a poll for your marketing campaign. There are several poll formats such as the question-response or perhaps a response message layout. Customer feedback is the optimal to the success of your product including a poll in your marketing roll-out is an excellent and fast source to plan growth.  Remember to first check with your mobile provider to make sure they can support real-time results for your poll(s).

Make your messages exciting and fun! Remember, that mobile can also be used as a source of entertainment. Make your messaging motivating and electrifying, while providing the subscriber with meaningful information as well as entertainment. When subscribers are doing something or just waiting for something, they often will look to their mobile as a thrilling or enjoyable distraction.

The number one rule in mobile marketing is to never spam. This is the quickest way to not only lose existing customers, but to ensure that your marketing campaigns fail to reach new ones. Spam is a major problem in marketing and people who are perceived to send it lose a lot of credibility.

Even though you are marketing in the mobile world, you still have to make sure that you keep improving your efforts outside of this realm. Allowing other areas of marketing to lapse and putting too much focus on mobile marketing will hurt your business, no matter how well your mobile marketing is doing. Use your calendar and task list to allot integration of digital and/or traditional marketing channels (radio, print, banner).Social media is one big and long conversation. Social media is a key to any marketing campaign, but you have to use it wisely to get beneficial results.  The key is to keep your messages brief and to the point.

Remember that mobile marketing works best in keeping current customers and not necessarily in attract new ones. This is because most mobile users are not browsing around the internet the same way PC users browse around. Mobile users are hard fish to hook if they haven't already nibbled on the bait.

In conclusion, not only does mobile marketing cover a wide amount of media types, it can also be used to appeal to a wide variety of customers. You should definitely give the tips and tricks provided in this article a try; and you should be ecstatic with the results that you see.

Just 3-key Ingredients to Drive traffic & Boost sales on your Website

I am sure you'll agree that the standard of your online business' web presence is of paramount importance and this includes, but is not limited to, the look, feel, usability and functionality of your website as well as its search engine ranking.

However, do not let your online business dreams and aspirations die just because you feel overwhelmed by the above.

Do not worry there are solutions, some that cost oodles of money, but there are cheap ones that not only take care of your website problems but also harnesses the power of 3 internet heavyweights into a ready-made website for you. 

Below are the 3-key internet partners that any startup web business can incorporated on-to your website to drive traffic and boost sells.

1. Google

Your site needs to be loaded with Google's AdSense Ads encoded with your affiliate ID so that every time someone clicks one your Google Ads on your site you get paid an amount.

This amount can be anywhere from $0.01 to more than $10.00 a click depending on how much the Google Ad-words advertisers have paid etc.

Also the amount you are paid is only a portion of the amount the advertiser will have paid Google for the click.

Google pays affiliate commissions monthly or as soon as there is a balance of $100.00 or more in the affiliate's account. For more info on this subject go here: http://www.worldwidewebinformationcentral.com 

2. Clickbank

 Clickbank is an affiliate program and its products are a great earner.

Not only are they popular and sell fairly easily but there are so many that whatever your interest or field you should be able to find a product that complements your site and interest or area of expertise.

All of the products on your site need to be encoded with your Clickbank affiliate ID so that every time a sale is generated from one of your site's links you will be credited with the commission.

Typical Clickbank commissions are in the range of $25.00 to $35.00 per sale.

Clickbank sends out checks every two weeks so you can always look forward to finding one in your postbox.

Additional online affiliate marketing program sources: Click Cabin, Get Profits Fast and
Pay Dot Com

 3. eBay

Your Website ideally will feature real, live eBay auctions in all categories and the links are embedded with your eBay affiliate ID.

So, when someone clicks on eBay link on your site and buys something you make money.

Additional C2C and B2C online seller service sites: Amazon and Esty

How easy is that?

While there are many other aspects that go into developing a successful online business, the internet heavyweights can be a significant to the success of your internet business and should be exploited to maximize your business' profitability and longevity.

So just to recap, start with a well-designed website complete with a domain name.  

Furthermore you need, embedded into the code of the website, your affiliate tracking ID’s which will ensure that all site visitors' activities, whether it's clicking on a Google Ad or making an eBay purchase, will be credited to your account.

All that’s left is to pull together your ready-made income generating website then harness the power of Google Adsense with an online affiliate marketing program such as ebay plus an online seller service site such as Clickbank and you can be operational within a few days.

Godspeed!

Boundlessness and the Indie Artist

Honestly there has never been a better time to step on to the musical landscape! The indie artist scene in particular is by and large being cultivated and nurtured with outstanding and super talented artist.

Branding is the seed to plant in order to build thriving crops within the music industry. As abundance is the ultimate harvest for any indie artist there are FOUR tools you can pull from the shed that if used correctly will surly yield infinite fruit.

The music industry is in full bloom for the singer songwriter/band of any genre. Inevitably a bountiful harvest can be had – as it is safe to say success and recognition is paramount for the verging indie artist with the boundlessness of a powerful BRAND. You are sure to blossom --by constructing an effective brand and ensuring that your audience comprehends your brand distinctively as you have planned it. The 4-tools a successful indie artist should use to always be branding are:

I.          ACCURACY  

As a musician your identity should always convey a sense of what you as well as your music is about.
  

II.        IMPACT         

Your brand has to illustrate its message easily and quickly. You want to aim for succinctness when regarding copy for your brand, think Nike “Just do it” or Hallmark “When you care enough to send the very best”; imagery should should be brilliant but more importantly it should be memorable. Your logo, tagline, etc. should all be a direct instrument that your fans can readily connect with.

III.       REPETITION              

Marketers will tell you the key to a successful brand is to have it echo in the market place. Repetition is a good thing! (e.g., the Chick-Fil-A cow campaign “Eat more Chicken” started in 1995 and is still playing). You will find that repeating your brand is vital in how you and your music become recognizable on a grander stage.

IV.       CONSISTENCY  

 With repetition as the vitality of your brand, employing uniformity of your brand is paramount to the success of your band and your music. Once a winning branding approach has been establish it critical that the brand narrative is the same every moment it hits the market through every channel it inhabits. 

Tooling the soil of the indie artist is to establish a fruitful brand meaning; engaging exactness, crafting an influencing a powerful presence, and being steadfast in making your brand echo loudly.

Moreover strategically placing your brand into the market place will surely yield a sustainable bounty that will grow into a long musical career. 

5 Practical Brand Standards You Can Live By

Constructing your brand is liken to making a cake. Like baking you carefully mix together ingredients  to form a cake, your brand is born out of combining several core elements (your story or message) that can be consumed by your audience. 

Products such as Nike and Coke are 2 brands that famously resonate with a wide target market. Of course their logo, merchandising and product placement are keen elements among these house whole  brands. It is important to note that, their long term success was born out of well-placed visual elements, displaying customer interactions as well as the type of information that is shared through their marketing channels one among them  is social media.  When these essential  parts are measured into the brand mix just so, the brand grows and trust and credibility is established. 

 

Brand building is simply claiming head-space in the minds of your targeted audience, artist brands from Alice Smith (Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, and producer) or Paul Andrew (a women’s shoe designer and the 2014 Fashion Fund winner) uniquely defined who they are as artist in the market place.  

 

                                                                          

Two very different mediums, however they both have an identical brand mix, by respectively established their brands -- differentiating and positioning themselves from their competition thus claiming their place in the fashion / musical landscapes.

Five Brand Standards:

1. Provide the very best Product/Service. Word of mouth is often a small businesses greatest lead generator, so having great story or message that people talk about is a critical part of developing your brand.  It’s important that you stay focused of your brand – keep refining it, with new offerings or advancements, and making sure to put the brand out in front.
2. Standing out means being different. If your brand is going to be strong, you need to be able to pinpoint what it is that makes what you do unique. What differentiates you from others in your industry?
3. Formulate a  Distinct Voice. The most effective way to deliver your brand story/message is to be consistent in how you both communicate and interact with your target audience influences, end users, fans – on Facebook and Twitter.  
4. Design a Value Proposition. A successful value prop, aids in two important ways; defines your brand plus distinguishes you from the competition thereby establishing your niche in the market.  
5. What’s in a Name/Logo.It is paramount that you get your name and/or logo right the first time, because this is how your brand is recognized. Your name/logo should appeal to your core audience, it should be recognizable plus it should reflect both the nature and tone of your story and messaging/taglines.