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What should I consider before marketing to businesses? 07/07/2010
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You should expect to find that business-to-business (B2B) marketing primarily involves communicating how you're going to save money or make money for potential customers. A key reason for this is that many businesses require a   group decision before making significant changes or purchases.

While it's easy to cast doubt over a potential qualitative improvement, it's challenging to argue effectively against something that quantitatively reduces costs or increases revenue. In other words, everyone stands ready to shout "I told you this waste of money wouldn't work," but no one wants to admit "It's my fault were spending too much or not  selling enough."

Once you can describe how you can help prospects save money or make money, the next step is determining how to best communicate this opportunity to the individuals that will most benefit.
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What are 5 things that will make or break my Internet marketing business? 06/24/2010
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The most common mistake I see people make as they plan, start, and grow their Internet marketing businesses is to focus more on the marketing than the business. That is, they invest all of their energies following someone's "system" before determining if their business is viable (or that the system works for anyone other than the provider).

Also, no matter what type of business you have, you will need to ensure that your costs to acquire and support a customer are significantly less than the expenses.

Suppose you need to reach out to 1,000 strangers (aka prospects) in order for 10 to become acquaintances (aka opportunities) and one to become a friend (aka buyer). Then suppose selling one of your items (product or service) provides a gross profit (selling price minus item cost) of $100 total. This means you will need to spend 10 cents or less to reach each stranger just to appear to break even. In reality, you'll loose money on every sale because of other business expenses in this example.

You need to get your business formula (model) figured out before you begin to pour money into your marketing to ensure your business can succeed.
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What's the best way to market a product that cuts costs, but doesn't generate revenue? 06/22/2010
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A common obstacle in marketing and selling products that pay for themselves over time is the pay-back period, or the amount of time required before the advantages of the product overcomes its investment. A business buying such a product would need to have the cash reserves to tie-up money for months or years in order to achieve future savings. 

A hybrid pricing model that balances the upfront capital cost (price) with ongoing operational expenses may provide a solution. In other words, you could price the product at near-cost and require periodic payments (maintenance agreements, annual licenses, etc.) to generate revenue. This is a well proven and effective approach since the selling price covers your costs and the payments bring in cache flow and profits.

If this approach seems attractive and feasible for your business, consult an accountant to ensure your pricing and fees are precisely balanced and do not create cash flow or other financial challenges.
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I'm working on my first ebook. Should I use lots of pictures and graphics? 06/18/2010
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I think pictures and graphics make books more pleasant to read, whether they are printed or not. However, you will need to adapt your book for each distribution vehicle -- PDF, iBook, Kindle, etc. -- as each supports different text, graphics, and layout options.
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I have an idea for a new marketing concept. How can I develop it and make it real? 06/14/2010
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I suggest you take your idea and imagine you are starting a new business instead, then prepare the materials you would need to get funding from a venture capitalist or other investor. The result should be that you develop a clear way to communicate your idea and a way to express its value. Once you have achieved this, paths and options will begin to appear for moving forward and making it real.
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What are some options for an individual to market a product idea to Wal-Mart? 06/13/2010
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You should expect to find that Walmart will show little interest in an idea. Their business model involves offering discounted products they can purchase that have a demonstrated demand from consumers rather than taking ideas and making them products.

You should try to create a small batch of products from your idea and market them directly to potential buyers. You will find that about one person per hundred is willing to take a chance on an unknown product or company. These people are often referred to early adopters and this community can often be found (or will find you) on the Internet.

Once you have some customers you can approach small resellers and work your way to larger ones, eventually convincing Walmart to carry your product.
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I have knowledge and ability, but no credentials. How do I market? 06/09/2010
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If you're thinking of providing a service, start by determining where your potential customers interact with one another and begin to establish a presence where they gather. This might be a virtual location such as a website, or a physical location such as an organization. Share what you know and help them to achieve their goals, then offer to do more for a fee.

Avoid trying marketing tips, tricks, or tools that have worked for others unless those businesses are very similar to yours and you have the resources (time and money) to experiment.
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I need an advanced SEO tool. What do you recommend? 02/09/2010
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The first step is to use WebsiteGrader.com to check your website and review any recommendations it provides. Otherwise, try the tools at SEOmoz.org. I suggest starting with the free SEOmoz tools and consider the paid tools once you've covered the basics. While it's probable that you will need professional help to make the changes required to improve your SEOmoz results significantly, understanding the type of work needed to improve your scores is useful when searching for help.
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Who has the best free SEO audit tool? 02/08/2010
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I recommend using WebsiteGrader.com for quick SEO, or search engine optimization, checks. It's fast and simple to use and provides a broad analysis of the Internet marketing effectiveness for any website, even if the website is not yours (think: competitor and admired sites). You'll receive an easy to understand report with specific recommendations for improving your website. If you think it's time to further optimize your website, I suggest starting by running a WebsiteGrader check and reviewing any recommendations.
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Can you help me find some great blogs to read? 02/05/2010
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Our idea of a great blog probably differs, but I have three recommendations for finding blogs that have worked well for me:

  1. Search the blogs you enjoy for mentions of blogs the author reads.
  2. Ask the people you trust to introduce you to their favorite blogs.
  3. Review a few blog directories for ideas. Need a place to start? Try AllTop.
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