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=========================================
ARE YOU SKIMPING ON
YOUR BUSINESS CARDS?
By Tom Falco
http://www.XpectMore.com
Are your business cards working for you?
Are they bringing you business?
Before I go on, please tell me you aren't
using cheap stock and printing your own cards
on a laser printer, or even worse on an ink
jet. How unprofessional can you get?
No matter what business you are in, your business
card is your calling card. It portrays your company's
image. It is important not to skimp on them. You
can save money other ways, but don't do it with your
most important selling tool.
Your card should portray the image you want to share
with the world. Are you trying to show off your company's
expertise and excellence or are you trying to say "We
cut corners on everything, including our shoddy business
cards."
Be proud. Be bold. Show off your assets.
You can design and purchase business cards very
economically these days. You can even get full color cards
for the price of one or two color cards. Why not go all the
way?
Realtors love color cards. They are able to put their color
photo right on the card and they appear more down to earth
and friendly. The recipient of the card doesn't just see a
stale black and white card, they see a smiling face in color.
They keep the card and use it.
Color cards can be used for any business or industry. I have
seen full color cards promoting limo companies, with a huge
stretch limo right on the front of the card. I have seen dog
groomers use nice animal photos to brighten up an otherwise
dull card. Hair stylists use funky hair models or abstract
images of combs or scissors.
If you run an on-line business why not promote the business
on your cards with a computer photo or even your own photo?
Many stores or coffee shops have bulletin boards where cards
can be posted. I have even seen this in gyms. Which card would
you choose - the black and white boring card or the bright,
catchy colorful card? Most would choose the colorful card.
There are different techniques that can be used. You can have
a color background bleed right off the card or you can have
a photo in a box on one side of the card. You can have type
on one side, or right on top of the photo or on back of the
cards. A lot of people like putting calendars on back of cards
so that people will be using them constantly.
Whatever you do, remember, your business card may be the only
image your potential clients see of your business. Don't skimp
on this important item. People don't want to do business with
someone that prints out cheap cards and proudly passes this
off. Be proud. Show your best side.
Cards can be had for as little $59.00 for 1000 full color cards.
TheDiscountPrinter.com is offering cards at this price and with
no shipping charges! That comes to less than .06 per card.
See: http://www.thediscountprinter.com
Is your potential customer worth that? You pay more than that
on pay-per-click search engines!
Don't skimp on a very important marketing tool - business cards.
The proper card can bring you years of happy customers.
This article may be reprinted with permission by including the
resource box in its entirety at the bottom of the article.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Falco is editor of XpectMore.com eZine
and also owns: http://www.TheDiscountPrinter.com
To subscribe to XpectMore.com Marketing eZine
mailto:ezine@xpectmore.com?subject=subscribe
or visit: http://www.XpectMore.com
==========================================
ARE YOU TOO STRICT
WITH FORMS?
Don't Scare People Away! Be User-Friendly
--------------------------
By Tom Falco
http://www.XpectMore.com
Do you ever fill out an on-line form and have it
bounce back to you for some unknown reason?
After you check and check you see that something
minimal was left out, like your favorite color or
something stupid like that.
Are you losing business because of your forms? Are
they too strict? Are they too mean?
When someone fills out a form to order something
it is important to have their name, address, and
email address for confirmation, but is it that
important to know what search engine they found you
on or when their birthday is? To them it isn't.
Is it worth losing the sale because someone gets
frustrated and just clicks off and goes elsewhere?
You need to leave certain things on the forms
optional so that you don't scare people away!
If someone is subscribing to your newsletter or
wants a quote, you don't have to have their full
name and address and every single piece of personal
information. You can actually just let them use the
form as they see fit and just send you the information
they feel comfortable with. In this way, you will not
scare them away.
If a person wants a quick quote, they don't always
want to give their name and address or phone number.
An email address is all that is needed.
The same with newsletters. While demographics are great,
why scare potential subscribers by asking them too much
and having the form not work if they don't fill in every
single line. If the form bounces back even once, people
are turned off and many will just click off and go
elsewhere.
You can have all the information you want on your forms.
You can ask all types of demographics but don't have the
form set so that they MUST fill in every single detail.
Be lenient with the forms. Be user-friendly.
This article may be reprinted with permission by including the
resource box in its entirety at the bottom of the article.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Falco is editor of XpectMore.com eZine
and also owns: http://www.TheDiscountPrinter.com
To subscribe to XpectMore.com Marketing eZine
mailto:ezine@xpectmore.com?subject=subscribe
or visit: http://www.XpectMore.com
==========================================
MAKE YOUR HOBBY YOUR BUSINESS!
SELL WHAT YOU KNOW
By Tom Falco
http://www.XpectMore.com
I find it totally amusing that people want
to start an on-line business, yet they don't
have a clue what to sell or promote.
They actually buy a domain name, or in worst
case scenarios they get free hosting and then
expect the world to be at their door (home page).
We get letters all the time from people asking
what business they should go into and what they
should sell.
Would people actually buy or rent a location on
Main Street and then decide what to sell or
market at the location?
NO. So why do it on-line?
The internet should be an extension of your own
business or hobby.
If you are an avid golfer, why not set up a site
based on golf? You could give tips, or list golf
courses, etc. and then offer books or merchandise
for sale on that subject.
If you own a bakery, why not put that up on the
web to promote that business and perhaps sell
your baked goods there as well.
It isn't enough to decide to have a website and then
decide what to sell or promote.
Being on line and selling on line is a business. It
isn't a game where on a whim you sell whatever comes
to mind.
You need to know your product. You need to love your
product. You need to be willing to promote your
website and your product and you need to be willing
to answer emails and phone calls about your product.
Many people feel that putting sites up with just
affiliates is the way to go. Sit back and watch the
money roll in. NOT!
The way to run a business is with repeat customers.
Affiliate programs are great for one time click throughs.
If I find a popular site through your website once,
I won't go back to your site to click through again, I'll
bookmark that site and just go directly next time. That
is why you can't just rely on affiliates to make your
business grow.
Granted you can make money every month. But not what you
would be making if you had a real business.
Think about it. Wouldn't you rather be the affiliate
offering to pay commissions than being the one trying
to send business to the affiliate for pennies?
Make a plan. Decide what your favorite hobby is. Do
what you love and the money will follow. Don't just
set up a website on a whim.
In a future issue, we will talk about how to get
the ball rolling on setting up your site with your
favorite hobby as topic and how to make money at it!
This article may be reprinted with permission by including the
resource box in its entirety at the bottom of the article.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Falco is editor of XpectMore.com eZine
and also owns: http://www.TheDiscountPrinter.com
To subscribe to XpectMore.com Marketing eZine
mailto:ezine@xpectmore.com?subject=subscribe
or visit: http://www.XpectMore.com
==================================================
Eradicate Spam with SpamCop
By Tom Falco
http://www.XpectMore.com
I've been using SpamCop a lot lately. Unfortunately
the spam does not always stop. But through
SpamCop, we all can make a difference.
I have seen a major difference in only a week.
Some of our email accounts that were spammed
non-stop have actually dried up of spam! I suspect
this is because some law-breaker who was selling
our address to unsuspecting novices was caught and
put out of business, or maybe they just removed our
email addresses from their harvested lists. But at least
we have stopped the problem at our end.
SpamCop helps you go after spammers. This service
is free. Often, spammers lose their accounts and even
get charged "cleanup fees" by their internet providers.
Unfortunately, life is still too easy for the spammer. They
sign up with new accounts as fast as they are down. By
reporting spam, you can help to turn the tide. SpamCop
makes this otherwise slow and technical task quick
and easy.
Also, it seems that many spammers are innocents who
don't have a clue that they are purchasing bogus, illegal
harvested email addresses. Once they are threatened
with termination of their websites, email accounts, etc.
They get the message pretty fast and no longer spam or
buy harvested email addresses.
SpamCop is a free service and very simple to operate.
SpamCop will send email on your behalf to the
appropriate network administrator. This gets results faster
than if you reported the email yourself to an abuse account
or whatever.
How it works is easy: You go to SpamCop.net and register.
Again, it is free. They will give you your own private email
address to send spam to! You can email the smap or just
go to the SpamCop website and send it. Email seems easier.
When you receive spam, forward it to your SpamCop
email address in its entirety. Send all the headers, if
possible get the full headers (SpamCop will explain
how to do this).
Send the whole email to the SpamCop address you are
sent after signing up with SpamCop and that is it!
Within seconds, SpamCop will send you an email with
links to the complaint site. There you will see full details
of the spammer and a list of email addresses that will be
notified of his/her spamming. You can pick and choose
who receives the spam report, although SpamCop usually
has the important boxes checked.
All you do next is hit the "send" button and the job is done.
It all really takes seconds. A few seconds to forward the
offending spam and a few seconds to open the webpage
and send that.
Let's all help fight spam. It is a waste of time, money and an
annoyance to everyone.
Again, visit http://www.SpamCop.net and get started today!
It is all totally free.
This article may be reprinted with permission by including the
resource box in its entirety at the bottom of the article.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Falco is editor of XpectMore.com eZine
and also owns: http://www.TheDiscountPrinter.com
To subscribe to XpectMore.com Marketing eZine
mailto:ezine@xpectmore.com?subject=subscribe
or visit: http://www.XpectMore.com
==========================================
TOP WAYS TO REACH CUSTOMERS
OTHER THAN ON-LINE:
By Tom Falco
http://www.XpectMore.com
Consumers discover/find new web sites via:
- Word-of-mouth (100%),
- links (83%),
- advertising (67%),
- magazine articles (61%),
- newspaper articles (50%)
- and conferences (17%);
Business users discover/find new web sites via:
- Magazine articles (94%),
- links (88%),
- advertising (76%),
- word-of-mouth (71%),
- newspaper articles (53%)
- and conferences (47%)
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