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Archive for July, 2009

The Hopping Frog Approach To Internet Marketing

Just as a frog hops from one lily pad to another in case there’s something better on the next one so the newbie Internet Marketer jumps from one tactic to another to try and get instant results.

The Hopping Frog syndrome is very common and comes about for one very good reason. The simple fact is you want to succeed and as you’re new and short on experience you’re prepared to accept what you’re told by others who appear to know more than you do. And very soon you’ll have the world queuing at your door to tell you they’ve got the secret that will make you rich and you’re ready to believe them.

To succeed in any online business you have to get traffic coming to your site without it you’ll do absolutely zero business. So the Holy Grail is finding the way to generate that traffic and here’s where those rear legs start limbering up.

What do you do? You buy traffic as that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? The offer of having 1000s of people visiting your site is just too tempting and can’t possibly fail. Yes the traffic might come but there’s no guarantee that they’ll buy what you’re selling.

Then you hop to the next lily pad and buy ads as you’re told this is the most effective way to attract targeted buyers. OK they might buy but possibly not in the numbers you were expecting and you might not even have covered the cost of your ads. The rear legs flex once more and hop onto the next tempting offer as this will be the one that does it and so on and so on and before you know it you’ve done a lot of meaningless hopping and blown a lot of cash with little to show for it.

Don’t get me wrong the options mentioned above are genuine ways to attract traffic to your site along with countless others but it’s not guaranteed. As with most things in life you have to know what you’re doing to make it work well.

So what can you do to avoid the hopping frog approach?

First and foremost you must be clear on what your objectives are.

Then you must determine your budget and stick to it regardless. It still might be that you’re paying to learn but if your budget is set right and you stick to it you won’t get into trouble.

Measure everything that you do. There are plenty of programs out there to enable you to keep track of the results of your efforts. Knowing what works and what doesn’t is extremely vaulable information.

Do research. Picking other people’s brains is a good idea and there are plenty of resources available online. There are internet marketing forums where you can find out what others do and don’t do to achieve their success and it’s available to you free of charge.

Look for free or low cost ways to get traffic. Getting links from sites with a lot of traffic is one way. Writing and giving away free articles with a link back to your site is another. Be creative and look for other ways that will cost you next to nothing. It just takes a little research.

Nothing happens overnight. So when you’ve decided on your traffic generating approach that’s reasonable and within your budget have patience and give it a fair trial. Only if it becomes obvious that it’s not working as expected do you consider abandoning it for something else.

Internet Marketing can be a low cost way to creating a succesful business with a little research and patience. But who knows you might find the Holy Grail straight away.

About the writer:  Sharquenta Wells is the Author of this Article and has an extensive 20 year background in the area of Sales and Marketing. If you are a ‘newbie’ and an aspiring online entrepreneur attain Success with your online business today with the shrewdest Internet Marketing Solution. Learn by taking your Video Tour Now!

Fundraising Letter Envelopes: How To Make Them Irresistible

Readers spend only a few seconds deciding the fate of yourdirect mail fundraising appeals. Either they open them on thespot set them aside for later or chuck them in the waste paperbasket. Here are some creative ways to tease your donors intoopening your envelopes.

Hint at the contents
A 10 envelope fromCovenant House is covered in retro 1960s flowers with theheadline “A Special Gift for you inside . . .

Demonstrate exclusivity
A 6 x 9 envelopefor Nature Conservancy shows wetlands forests and coastlinesand bears this teaser headline: “Your exclusive briefing onCanada’s most ambitious campaign for conservation.

Ask a question
A 10 envelope for Habitatfor Humanity features a photo of a tape measure and the questionbeneath: “How do you measure hope?

Arouse curiosity
Doctors Without Bordersfeatures a photo of a hand holding the special bracelet thatdoctors and nurses use overseas to asses children formalnutrition. The headline reads: “See inside for a very usefullittle bracelet. Try it on!

Create urgency
The Salvation Armyfeatures on its 10 outer envelope a “todo” list featuring thedays of the month from December 17 counting down to December 25which is circled. The headline written by hand says: “Urgent:Christmas Countdown! Please help us get ready!

Capitalize on current events
DoctorsWithout Borders uses a broad red stripe across its envelope withthis headline reversed out in white type: “7.5 million Afghansin humanitarian crisis.” Stamped across the envelope in astencil font is this subhead: “Was and Winter in Afghanistan.

Use both sides of the envelope
A mailingfor the World Wildlife Fund features on the front a tiger asleepon a log that stretches from one side of the envelope to theother. On the reverse side of the envelope a square windowreveals some teaser copy and a premium inside.

Involve the donor
Doctors Without Bordersshows an immunization card and this teaser: “As a child youconquered this deadly disease . . .

Use an invitation
Hope for ChildrenFoundation intrigues donors with this headline: “Your invitationto turn a life around by one degree.

Promise a benefit
InTouch Ministriesfeatures a 6 x 9 envelope bearing a photo of a hand holding aremote control pointed at a television. On the television is Dr.Charles Stanley television preacher and founder of InTouch. Theteaser copy beneath the remote control says: “Why you need tograb this on May 1st.

Announce news
Trans World Radio intriguesdonors with a photo of a man from Central Asia and thisheadline: “Exciting News Inside: New TWR broadcast signal goingout! Millions in troubled region to hear the Gospel!

Add human interest
Hope for ChildrenFoundation features a photo of a smiling mother holding hersmiling daughter. The headline reads: “This Christmas celebratethe impossible.

Hint at success
A letter from Oxfam showsa girl standing at a blackboard. The headline says “Pascalinewill change her world.

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Why An Online Postcard Mailing System Is More Practical

After having your postcard printing project delivered to your house or office youre now ready to send them out to your prospective clients. You have a list of hot prospects on hand and you know the only way to make your postcards work is to get your postcard printing message to each target client.

But you also know that addressing more than a hundred people on your postcards can take much longer and can consume much of your time which can be better used with the other parts of your business.

And you know for a fact that youre going to do this not only once but more than a few times because you also know that not following up with your target clients would just be a waste of your time and money spent on your postcard printing campaign.

Youre thinking that there must be a better way. And you know what? There is a better way indeed an online postcards mailing system. With this innovative method you will be able to do 3 things: 1 set up multiple mailings in advance; 2 sit back and relax; and 3 wait for your postcard printing pieces to get sent on the date you specified.

Definitely this online postcard mailing system developed by the United States Postal Service will help you effectively manage your time so you can use it on other business operations that need your attention.

Getting signed up is fairly simple. You just go online and click on their website and youll be able to avail of their service. The first time though you will need to sign up for your personal account. When you finally have your own account this will allow you to save your postcard printing design and layout as well as your mailing lists for future use.

Advantages of an online postcard mailing system

1 Compared to the normal postage rate for a standard postcard printing piece the online postcard mailing system costs 1 cent more.

2 You can save hours of work from an online posting system because it eliminates several tasks such as going to your postcard printing shop to pick up your postcards addressing and stamping your postcards by hand and then getting them to the post office to be mailed to your target clients.

3 You can also save time by using their readymade postcard printing templates that can be downloaded in several widely used applications. You dont even have to hire a postcard printing designer to the job for you. Simply download a postcard printing template from the online mailing system and youre good to go.

4 You dont even have to worry about your mailing lists. You can easily upload them from several file formats from Microsoft Excel to Word.

5 And whats great about the online postcard mailing list is that you have access to the US Postal Service official records where you can verify the authenticity of your target clients addresses. If they dont match you can easily erase that client from your mailing list.

6 And best of all you can automatically set up a schedule when you want your postcard printing pieces to go out.

With an online postcard mailing system you definitely save significant amount of money and most importantly the time you save is remarkable.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit:
Postcard Printing

About the writer:  Janice Jenkins is a writer for a marketing company in Chicago IL. Mostly into marketing research Janice started writing articles early 2007 to impart her knowledge to individuals new to the marketing industry.