Archive for August, 2007

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Internet Marketing – Dealing with Refund Requests Internet Marketing

Friday, August 31st, 2007

I think we all cringe and dread when we open our mail box and see that dreaded Refund Request in the subject line. And I guess we dread it for a number of reasons.

1. We know that that person got the use of our product and didnt have to pay a cent for it (and it can be a disturbing thought but it does happen some people are just habitual refunders)

2. Advertising isnt cheap and when youve paid to get that customer in it can feel like a beat around the head when you not only refund the money but it often incurs a fee for the refund purchase, so now youve just paid that customer to have your materials

3. Organizing a refund could be time spent better doing other things

The best thing you can do for yourself and your company is to keep a cool head about it. Getting all nancy about it even if it is a habitual refunder can do more damage for your name in the long run.

Im sure were all aware of the statistics of if someone has a bad experience with your business they will tell 11 people about it, if they have a pleasant experience they will only tell 3 people about it.

Well I think those numbers are a little higher on the internet. People have access to forums, emails, websites etc.. etc.. They will take neither pity nor a second thought to run off to these places and give your name a real bashing if you handle the refund request in an unprofessional manner. Once they head to these type places on the internet you can pretty much be assured they will be telling a LOT more then just 11 people. One bad review is all it takes to lose business.

Thankfully most people in the world are decent and wont take advantage of you or your company and sometimes the best mind set to have is believing they have a genuine reason for requesting the refund. And sometimes not all business is lost even if someone has requested a refund, if youve dealt with it professionally and their motives for the refund were of good intentions (maybe that wasnt the product they were interested in) you could still stand a chance doing business with this person down the track with another offer of something thats more suited to them.

About the author:
Joanne King – http://www.joesy.com
Get your Free book on Affiliate Marketing Quick Start Guide by visiting http://www.joesy.com.

You are welcome to reprint this article on your website or send to your mailing list however it may not be edited and the link in this bio must stay active. Cheers =)

Contextual Ad Networks…The Baby Boom Is Upon Us Kirk BannermanNo, this baby boom will certainly not swamp the Social Security

system (sort of a bad joke for those that live in the United
States, but many other countries…most notably Japan…have an
even more acute problem), but this baby boom is revolutionizing
the way that pay per click advertising is being spread across the
Internet.

One of the early participants in this pay per click baby boom was
Google, with its AdSense program. With this program, Google
shares pay per click revenue with a huge number of individual
partner websites that carry a few pay per click ads that are
distributed by Google. In essence, this creates a whole bunch of
little pay per click locations (websites) throughout the Internet
and hence the term “pay per click baby boom”.

Conceptually, programs like AdSense are similar to what the
computer hardware folks refer to a distributed processing.
Instead of trying to draw everyone to a large pay per click
search engine site, little groups of pay per click ads are spread
widely across thousands of locations (websites) all over the
Internet.

Actually, this distributed processing or propagation technique is
not limited to pay per click advertising. For example, Amazon
uses a similar arrangement (called Amazon Associates) to sell the
products it carries on amazon.com and ClickBank has a sales
program called CBAdwords which operates in a similar fashion.

According my trusty Ouija board, it seems likely that most
commercial hubs on the Internet will be shifting to this
propagation concept as time progresses…all of those individual
partner websites that carry the message/proposition will
constitute the vast army of worker ants that keep the queen ant
alive and healthy.

From a pay per click marketing perspective, these programs make
brilliant use of leverage while providing highly targeted
prospects for the paying advertiser.

There are, of course, some interesting things that occur as a
result of all of this stuff. For example, consider what I call
the “cross fertilization effect”: Suppose a person goes to
yahoo.com and performs a search that leads them to one of my
websites that happens carry Google AdSense ads and that visitor
then clicks on one of those ads…the net result is that Yahoo
natural search provided Google pay per click with some revenue!
Aren’t these fun times that we’re living in?

As these programs continue to proliferate, the individual
webmaster needs to exercise a little restraint and avoid the
temptation to go overboard by plastering these ads all over your
website and thereby diluting your own primary message/proposition
and confusing your hard earned visitor. When properly used,
these ads are just ancillary or complementary content that you
are providing to enhance the information and opportunities that
you are providing to your visitor…if something happens to
strike a responsive chord with your visitor, you might make a
little pay per click money.

If properly used, these propagation programs can result in the
classical “win-win” situation. However, if you over do it, this
can quickly turn into a loss for you (the individual webmaster)
and a win for your pay per click partners that are distributing
the ads. As in many things, moderation is important.

The dynamic search engine marketing industry continues to evolve
as users began to take advantage of the steady stream of new
features, tools and innovations provided by the ever increasing
number of search engines offering quality search results (it’s
not all about Google anymore). The evolutionary time line for
Internet marketing continues to run at warp speed.

An example of previous evolutionary periods (which by now may
almost seem prehistoric) would be the emergence of pay-per-click
advertising and the cooresponding rise of search-marketing firms
specializing in AdWords and Overture. As long as there are methods
for finding and retrieving information in digital databases by
using keywords or similar attributes, there will be a
search-marketing industry. How that industry operates in the
future depends on how the search engines operate and how consumer
tendencies evolve.

It’s a constant sea of change, but the good things just keep on
getting better! Stay alert, and light on your feet, and the
opportunities will just keep on coming your way.

The above are just some observations from “the peanut gallery”,
but I don’t think I’m far off the mark about where things are
heading. With that, I’m off the soapbox and wishing you
success in whatever you do online!

About the author:
Kirk Bannerman operates his own successful home based business
and also coaches others seeking to start their own home based
business. For more information visit his website at http://www.home-based-business-team.com

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Direct Marketing – Internet Word of Mouth Marketing!

Friday, August 31st, 2007

Internet Word of Mouth Marketing!
Colleyville Courier – Easy, do-it-yourself direct e-mail marketing and management software. 150 formatted templates to choose from. Real-time tracking. Free 30-day trial. Unlimited campaigns. http://www.benchmarkemail.com/ Newsletters Enjoy Savings & Selection On newsletters
Source: www.thenewscourier.com

iMergent to Appeal California Decision
Forbes – In addition to software, iMergent offers site development, web hosting and marketing products. iMergent typically reaches its target audience through a concentrated direct marketing effort to fill Preview Sessions, in which a StoresOnline expert
Source: www.forbes.com

Daily hog prices
Cleveland Plain Dealer – COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Eastern Cornbelt Daily Direct Hog prices for Friday as provided by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Marketing Service: Barrows and gilts on a carcass basis: 88 cents lower. 54.00-65.00, weighted avg
Source: www.cleveland.com

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Internet Marketing – The secret behind a successful business is the best SEO firm

Friday, August 31st, 2007

The secret behind a successful business is the best SEO firm
pressbox.co.uk – The best SEO firm focuses on getting the internet marketing, content development, search engine optimization, and various marketing programs for its customers. As a result these services will provide a new look to the refurbished website and
Source: www.pressbox.co.uk

American Bridal.com Named Regional Minority Retail Firm of the Year by
Forbes – Her internet marketing strategy allowed American Bridal to move up to the top of search engines for “wedding favors,” “bridesmaid gifts” and other key terms. Tan is passionate and committed to create values to her lifetime customers by continuously
Source: www.forbes.com

Experts Weigh in on Real Estate Marketing
Blackenterprise.com – Basic tools of the trade include multiple listing services (MLS), Internet marketing, print ads and open houses. Buyers are no longer physically looking at 20 or more homes before choosing the one they want to buy because they conduct their searching
Source: www.blackenterprise.com

Internet Advertising Group Announces New Marketing Vehicles
Forbes – Internet Advertising Group, an IAG Interactive company and an industry leader in online lead generation, has launched CoRegConnect and merged Internet Media Affiliates (IMA) and Partner Stats, its two affiliate networks, into one affiliate network as
Source: www.forbes.com

Portal Plays: Strategies and Developments of the Big Three”"
IT-Analysis.com – This spotlight report looks behind the homepages of the major portal sites to give you an in-depth look at how decisions and developments at these online giants will impact your traffic, your marketing, your business. The Internet is still evolving
Source: www.it-analysis.com

Dot-com names get dottier
Los Angeles Times – Entrepreneurs say having to explain their mission provides a marketing opportunity. But naming experts say the current crop of Internet companies is in danger of overwhelming customers. Not many will bother to commit it to memory that Imeem is a
Source: www.latimes.com

ALI-ABA Teams with Internet Research Experts to Launch an Internet
PR.com – Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch are nationally recognized authors and speakers on the subject of using the Internet effectively for research and marketing. They are principals of Internet For Lawyers (http://www.netforlawyers.com), a CLE seminar company
Source: www.pr.com

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Direct Marketing – 5 Ways of Using Direct Marketing

Friday, August 31st, 2007

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5 Ways of Using Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is the best way to attract and obtain clients.

By William Dupree

Direct marketing is attractive to many marketers because in most cases its effectiveness can be measured directly. For example, if you were to send out one thousand solicitations by mail and you receive seventy responses, then you know that the mailing led to a seven percent response rate.

Any medium that you choose to use to communicate directly to your prospects is being employed in direct marketing. These 5 methods are examples of direct marketing that you can use to obtain prospects and increase sales for your business.

Direct mail

One of the most commonly used mediums in direct marketing is direct mail. Direct mail allows you to design marketing pieces in many different formats. Direct mail can include envelope mailers, catalogues, self-mailers, snap mailers, dimensional mailers, brochures, and postcards. When you write your direct mail piece make sure you know your target market, and how you are going to appeal to their wants and needs. Write your objective and refer to it often. Don’t lose sight of where you want to go with the piece that you are writing. You can purchase a mailing list of businesses and services in your target market from a list company, or you can develop your own list by gathering email addresses on your web site.

Telemarketing

Telemarketing is a direct marketing sales technique that has the advantage of speed in a marketing campaign. When you are a conducting a telephone solicitation you should first introduce yourself then offer an incentive in solving a problem that you know exists (to do this would require you to do some research on the business or what individuals would be looking for in your product). Ask question that you know will lead to a yes answer (keep prospects on phone answering yes to your questions). Describe your product or service and how it solves the client’s needs. Ask if they have any questions. You now can ask for a face to face meeting, or to get permission to send information via mail or e-mail, or make another brief follow-up call. If unavailable, ask what would be a good time to call back.

E-mail

The most common medium today for direct marketers is e-mail because of its low cost, and because customer responses can be generated rapidly. You must understand that the internet is a different medium. The copy that worked for you in postal mail will not on the internet, not as e-mail. In e-mail copywriting, the subject is the headline, you must write succinct headline-3 to 5 words. Your subject determines whether your e-mail gets read or not. Next, make it personal. People on the internet want personal notes. Next, get to the point keep it short and simple. Next, give them an incentive to act by giving them a reason to buy now. Next, include a call to action to tell people what you want them to do. Don’t leave them wondering what to do next. Next, drive people to your web site (don’t try to close the sale in the e-mail). Next, build relationship with your clients. Listen to their want and needs. Treat your clients like you would treat yourself. Next, you must follow through on your promises that you made to your client. Do what you said you were going to do.

Direct response

In direct response marketing the customer responds to the marketing message directly. An example, of this would be infomercials, where prospects view a television presentation of a product offering, and can make a purchase with a credit card over the telephone or internet. You can use communications in magazines, newspapers, radio, e-mail, and direct mail to solicit a response. For example, order forms or coupons in magazines and newspapers to purchase products, or receive discounts on products are techniques that have been used very successfully in increasing sales. These same offers are distributed by e-mail and tell and toll-free numbers, which in today’s marketing world, is more economical and faster.

Personal selling

Making personal sales calls on prospects is another technique of direct marketing. You should first conduct research on the companies, or the target prospects that you are trying to sell your product or service too. You can also buy a list from a reputable list company. If you take this route make sure that you have complete information on your target market. When making a personal sales call you must write a sales presentation before hand. This presentation should be written to fit the needs and desires of the prospect that you are presenting your product too. Your presentation should provide clear examples, or even demonstrations of how your product or service will accomplish this. Your presentation should contain more that just one way your product can be of service to your prospect. You must also be prepared to handle objections and questions that the prospects will have.

About the Author

William Dupree is the owner of I.M.P.S. (Interactive Marketing & Promotional Solutions Inc.) (www.intmktprosol.com) a sole proprietorship marketing firm located in New York City that specializes in developing interactive marketing strategies for small businesses. Prior to founding I.M.P.S. in 2005, Mr. Dupree was a senior partner at E.D.L. Marketing for twelve years. Before joining E.D.L. he worked for the Diamond Marketing Group.

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Marketing – Postcard Marketing Tips for Real Estate Agents

Friday, August 31st, 2007

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If you’ve been practicing real estate for any length of time, you’ve encountered postcard marketing in some form or fashion.

Real estate agents use postcard marketing (also known as direct mail marketing) for a number of reasons. Among other things, postcards are cost-effective, versatile and targeted.

But the purpose of this article is not to tell you why you should use postcards to market your services. The purpose of this article is to address the “how” of postcard marketing.

To be exact, this article will show you how to use postcards to outperform the competition and increase your ROI. Now that I’ve made a huge promise to you, let me deliver the goods:

Step 1 — Identify Your Audience
When creating your postcard message, start by identifying your audience. This is a critical step because the rest of the process depends on it. To identify your core audience, you simply have to ask yourself a series of questions.

Here’s an example of how your Q&A might go:

1. What area do I want to represent? Happy Town, Vermont.

2. Am I focusing on buyers or sellers? Buyers.

3. Any particular type of buyer? First-time buyers.

4. Where might I find them? Apartments. Perhaps living with relatives in the area.

5. What’s important to them? Learning about the home-buying process.

6. What else is important to them? Finding an agent they’re comfortable with.

Step 2 — Create Your Audience Statement
When your list is complete, you should be able to combine the answers into a paragraph. This paragraph is your audience statement, and it will help you set your postcard marketing objectives (Step 3).

Here’s what the audience statement might look like from the example above:

“I want to reach people looking to buy their first home in Happy Town, Vermont. Being first-time buyers, they probably live in nearby apartments or with relatives (so I should send my postcards to homes and apartments in my farm area). These people will want to learn about the home-buying process in order to feel more comfortable with it.”

You’re probably starting to see the value of an audience statement. In fact, you might even have ideas popping up on how to connect with such an audience. And that leads us to our next step…

Step 3 — Determine Your Objective
Now that you know your audience, you can set the objective for your postcard marketing campaign. Ask yourself, “What do I want to happen as a result of sending my postcards?”

Here’s the key to this step. Don’t ask your postcards to do more than they’re capable of doing. For example, don’t use postcards to try and convince recipients that you offer superior service. That’s a common mistake, and it’s too much to ask of an 8″x5″ piece of card stock.

“Superior service” cannot be conveyed through a postcard. It can only be conveyed through a working relationship.

So let’s scale back the objective until we find something that (A) gives the postcard a more realistic task, (B) follows a more natural sales progression, and (C) capitalizes on known consumer behavior.

Let’s use our postcards to generate a response from recipients.

Now that’s something a postcard can handle — especially if you create a compelling message with a strong offer. And since we know from statistics that most consumers end up choosing the first real estate agent they contact, we’re capitalizing on known consumer behavior.

Following our first-time buyers example, maybe we will promote a free home-buying seminar to generate interest and response. After all, anyone can benefit from a home-buying seminar — but especially those who’ve never bought a house before.

Step 4 — Conduct Your Mailing
This step will vary depending on your audience and your objective. But you’ve done the most important parts already. You’ve determined your audience. You’ve identified what it is you want your audience to do. And you even have some ideas on how to motivate them in that direction.

Continuing our first-time buyers example, this step might involve sending a postcard that promotes a free home-buying seminar.

Step 5 — Evaluate Your Response Rates
Make sure you have some way to track the responses you get back from each mailing. This will allow you to compare one postcard message to another to see which one performs better.

In the first-time buyer example, this could be as simple as tracking the number of RSVPs, or asking people in the seminar how they heard about it. Record the number of people who attend the seminar as a direct result of the postcard, and you’ve measured your response rate.

Armed with this information, you can experiment with other versions of the postcard to see which one performs or “pulls” the best.

Conclusion
There you have it — a structured and logical approach to postcard marketing. Identify your audience. Create your audience statement. Determine your objective. Conduct your mailing. Evaluate the response. Five easy steps!

And here’s a step that will follow automatically — succeed.

** You may republish this article on your website as long as the byline, author’s note and hyperlink are left intact. Please include the article in its entirety.

About the Author

Brandon Cornett is the editor of PostcardSmart.com, the Internet’s largest website dedicated entirely to direct mail marketing with postcards. For more expert articles on postcard marketing, visit www.PostcardSmart.com

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Marketing – Quality Traffic Depends on Using the Proper Internet Marketing Tool.

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

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Internet marketing tools are used to build a web presence, to make your product or service know to the world. There are many types of internet marketing tools which can be used, and each are meant to be used by someone who is in need of additional marketing, additional traffic, and to increase sales in the long run.

Who is going to use items such as these? Webmasters, those who have just one site, or if you have fifty sites, these items and tools will become very helpful in your overall processing of finding customers, getting those customers on your mailing list, in front of your products and services, and eventually purchasing the products and services that you offer. Without using some type of Internet marketing tool, you will find your web site published, but that traffic will only trickle through. Using additional marketing tactics for your web site, you will increase traffic and sales.

Marketing is an ongoing task that must be performed to increase traffic, to get people through your web site and in the long run increase sales. Various types of marketing exist in the world of the online surfer, and they might not even realize that the things that they are reading or seeing, or perhaps don’t even see, are marketing tools.

A first line of marketing is ‘knowing who’ you are marketing to. A marketing tool that is going to track who is coming and going from your site will help you learn more about who is reading, using, and purchasing from your web site. Methods of marketing using trackers include such things as a guest book, cookies, and back end programming that will use information about what site a person was on before coming to your site, and then what site they went to after leaving your site. This can be very helpful in realizing how much traffic is actually turning sales on your site.

Promotion of your website begins with writing to those who are reading on your site. Even if you are selling products or services online, that are completely automated, people want to know, learn and see more. Adding as much information to your website as possible is going to add to the overall value of your site, and will be great in the additional promotion of your site through web spiders, search engines and similar types of tools.

Promotion of your web site can be done by adding your valued services or products through an affiliate program, by using an affiliate network, such as in a click bank. Pay per click, and similar types of instances create a promotion of your site, an additional awareness of your site, and it will motivate others to promote what you are selling. Giving a percentage of what is being sold to others is a form of promotion that is constantly happening in the online world.

Use solid Internet marketing tools such as email programs, guest books, blogs, articles, freebies, and viral marketing techniques to get and keep traffic moving through your site. Ad website optimization techniques, promotion and submission to all types of search engines and you can find your marketing techniques will boost your traffic. Review the many types of marketing tools available and set your goals on new traffic!

About the Author

Quality traffic depends on using the right Internet Marketing Tool. Mark Williams has other Internet Marketing Strategies. that can help!

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Internet Marketing – Internet Marketing Agency WebsiteBiz is Chosen by National Gypsum for

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

Internet Marketing Agency WebsiteBiz is Chosen by National Gypsum for
dBusinessNews.com – Internet marketing agency WebsiteBiz ( www.websitebiz.com ) has been chosen by National Gypsum Company to develop an integrated online marketing strategy for Gold Bond BRAND SoundBreak Gypsum Board, an acoustically enhanced gypsum board. Based
Source: kansas.dbusinessnews.com

Twelve Tips for Writing Better Marketing Brochures
Portland Business Journal – Every year, thousands of online businesses fail. No business owner plans to fail, but they fail all the same. One of the main reasons for the high failure rate is an overreliance on one marketing channel: the Internet. Marketing isn’t about the
Source: portland.bizjournals.com

Is A ‘Voice Over IP’ Phone System Right For You?
Forbes – Before Bob Halper, CFO of Janou Pakter, decided to change his company’s voice and Internet services, he used to compare his them to hosted VoIP, we’re looking for a way to impact their business in a good way,” says Jeff Silbert, VP of marketing at
Source: www.forbes.com

Being A Good Online Advertising Client In China
ChinaTechNews.com – Let’s talk about what it takes to be a good Internet marketing or advertising client in China. It’s actually not difficult at all. There are two types of clients. The ones who have a clear idea as to what they want to achieve online. Then there are
Source: www.chinatechnews.com

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Internet Marketing – Lead Me On Learn About Internet Marketing Leads

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

Lead Me On Learn About Internet Marketing Leads
Every business is engaged in selling something, whether a product, service, information, or something else
Source: www.feed24.com

SES ASTRA in New Partnership to Step up Marketing of High Speed Internet Access ‘ASTRA2Connect’ (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
BETZDORF, Luxembourg—-SES ASTRA, an SES company , has closed a new contract to market its high speed internet access product ASTRA2Connect to end consumers in Germany. The contract has been signed with the German provider of Internet and telecommunications services, H3 Netservice.
Source: biz.yahoo.com

Internet Radio The New Vehicle for Your Marketing Message
Marketing professionals have always been extremely innovative in using various mediums and Internet marketing professionals are probably the most proactive group in this fraternity when it comes to employing some new medium to spread their message.
Source: www.feed24.com

FREE Internet Marketing Tips
Erik Stafford (The Faster Category: Howto & DIY Tags: free, internet, marketing, tips, faster, webmaster, erik, stafford
Source: www.feed24.com

SES ASTRA in New Partnership to Step up Marketing of High Speed Internet Access ‘ASTRA2Connect’ (Broadcast Newsroom)
BETZDORF, Luxembourg, BUSINESS WIRE — SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), has closed a new contract to market its high speed internet access product ASTRA2Connect to end consumers in Germany.
Source: www.broadcastnewsroom.com

Search Marketing 101 – PC World
Search Marketing 101PC World - 20 hours agoSEO should be at the core of your overall internet marketing strategy. It's one of the most inexpensive and effective approaches available. …6 SEO Blogging Tips Entrepreneurall 4 news articles
Source: news.google.com

Promoting Your Web Biz with eBay – Entrepreneur
Promoting Your Web Biz with eBayEntrepreneur - 10 hours agoDerek Gehl is Entrepreneur.com's"E-Business" columnist and CEO of the Internet Marketing Center,MarketingTips.com, an internet marketing firm that has …
Source: news.google.com

Email Marketing Why it Works for Me
Email marketing is critical in today s web market. You simply have to build a list and email to it. The internet has become so very competitive and fast, that people just don t spend as much time on your web page as they used to. Think about it, has your conversion rate gone down in the last year? Or do you have more traffic, but fewer sales.
Source: www.feed24.com

Internet reaching wider market of Filipinos abroad–Century (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MAKATI CITY, Philippines — A local real estate developer said its Internet marketing strategy has helped them reach a “broader” market of Filipino expatriates most likely thinking of investing in property, an executive said Tuesday.
Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

SEO Expert Susan Gilbert to Lead Author Marketing Experts Internet Division (PRWeb)
Gilbert brings high-end strategies and innovative search engine marketing to Authors and Publishers. (PRWeb Aug 28, 2007) Post Comment:Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/UHJvZi1QaWdnLVBpZ2ctSW5zZS1UaGlyLVplcm8=
Source: prweb.com

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Marketing – RCHS Graduate Mayumi Smitka Hired As Tourism Marketing Assistant (Rockbridge Weekly)

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

RCHS Graduate Mayumi Smitka Hired As Tourism Marketing Assistant (Rockbridge Weekly)
The Lexington and Rockbridge Area Tourism Development office is pleased to announce that Mayumi Smitka has been selected as their Marketing Assistant.
Source: www.rockbridgeweekly.com

Redback Wireless Corp.: Redback Wireless Corp. Enters Mobile Multimedia Messaging Service Advertising & Marketing Industry
NEW YORK, NY (MARKET WIRE) Redback Wireless Corp. (Redback), a provider of mobile advertising solutions, is pleased to announce it has entered the global Mobile Advertising & Marketing Marketplace and that it will be launching its proprietary Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) software in the coming months.
Source: www.feed24.com

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Marketing – Forgotten Marketing – Who Is The Customer?

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

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I have witnessed a couple of discussions recently, amongst “internet marketers”, that made me recall the real world of offline marketing and how it relates to the world of the internet as it presently stands. Both discussions revolved around Google, which is not unusual; and both led me to believe that many online money seekers, who regard themselves as internet marketers, are a long way from understanding what marketing really is.

As is often the case, there were those who saw Google as a great ogre out to stop them making a living, and these people were the ones stimulating a discussion on Google Adsense.

Google Adsense – Who Is The Customer here?

As far as online advertising goes, Google is a market leader, and deservedly so. Their pioneering approach has always been well ahead of the opposition, although others are trying hard to catch up. However, they have a dual role, as reflected by two products, Adsense and Adwords.

For the purpose of this discussion, I will concentrate on Adsense, as this was where many online “marketers” seem to get confused. For those who do not know about Adsense, this is a partnership product of Google, through which Google and web site owners come to an agreement for the web publisher to show Google ads on their web sites, and share on any income when somebody clicks on the ads. Adsense has given many web site owners the chance to bring in some extra income.

What I found so strange about one of the discussions I mentioned in the first paragraph, was that some people who own web sites see themselves as the customer, and Google as the supplier, when it comes to Adsense. Coming from the real world of magazine advertising, I have no problem understanding that it is the publisher who is the supplier, and the advertiser, or their agent, who is the customer.

Those who seek to attract advertising of any form to a magazine know that, as a publisher, they need first to look after their reading customers. To do that, they seek to provide good quality material for the magazine, and present it in an attractive way that will attract and retain readers. Only when they have done that can they expect to attract good advertising customers.

Ultimately, those who survive in online publishing in the long term, and who will depend on advertising revenue, will recognize that an advertiser is a customer, and needs to be treated like a customer, not a provider of a service. Google may not be a traditional media buyer, but they are the first of a new wave of media buyers who will yield a lot of power for the long term.

For now, though, it appears that many web site owners think Google owes them a living, and that they, the publisher, are the customer. Such people may well benefit from a journey into reality, to a bookstore or magazine stall where they can browse through magazines and see what publishing is about.

Why Should Web Site Owners Write Copy?

The second discussion was, in a way, related, as it reflected the way many internet marketers do not see themselves as web publishers, but people who have to use the latest tools to trick the search engines. That discussion related to duplicate content, and whether using such content will get publishers banned by Google. It rapidly moved on to public label rights articles, and the degree to which, if any, that they should be rewritten.

Some, like I, argued strongly for rewriting to make a web page competitive. There was no notable disagreement on that, but when one individual took the idea on board, the reaction was: “Ok, what tools do you use?”

This reflects a tendency, amongst those trying to make a living online, that the solution to any problem is a tool, a piece of software that does the work for you. That’s all very well for some things, but for writing an article? Would a genuine publisher want software to do an article rewrite? No, of course not.

In the long run, it is those businesses that understand their market place which will survive and prosper. Recognizing a customer is not a bad place to start; and understanding that they will expect good quality publishing is another.

About the Author

This internet marketing article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner author of the Change Direction web site.

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