A few years ago, pop-up windows were all the rage in Internet
marketing. It seemed that every time one opened a web page they
would be bombarded with offers for this or that. It had gotten to
the point where surfing the Internet was almost like playing a
video game; when the ads would pop-up one would try and close
them out before another one came. This is precisely why we have
seen the decline in the use of pop-up windows on the Internet
today; surfers simply do not even look at the pop-ups anymore.
They close the windows out before even reading the ad.… Read the rest

There is a word for what Internet marketing spews forth…the word is GARBAGE! And it’s a mess cleaning it up, often requiring spam filters, ad-ware & spy-ware removers, and pop-up blockers.

Internet Marketing worked for a while, and we put up with it for a while longer. The Internet was new, and everything about it was a novelty. We’d not only read spam, but actually get exited about buying from the money mongering website linked to it. It’s a bit like never having watched TV…you would probably get mesmerized even by the commercials!

The thing about television commercials is they sponsor the REAL products which are shown.… Read the rest

Confused? Think words like ?force? ?struggle? and ?demand? are a little extreme when talking about an ?e?? It may just be a letter, and a little one at that, but the impact it?s had on the world has been tremendous?and we?ve only seen the beginning.

When ?e? was added to commerce, many companies blithely ignored the addition and the Internet. Either they didn?t sell products ?suitable? for sale online (how do you download a bulldozer?) or their businesses were wholly local (how do you guarantee hot pizza delivery halfway around the world?). So they thought they were safe. No more.… Read the rest

One of the joys of niche marketing is the luxury of tapping
into a favorite hobby, occupation or expertise and building
a business around it.

If you are expanding an existing off-line business by
setting up a webpage you may find your most valuable
contacts right in your store. Make some brochures or cards
that announce your online presence, or ask customers if
they’d like to sign up for your online newsletter.

Now you can contact your customers about new products,
industry news or specials with no postage costs or time
consuming envelope stuffing.

Invite your subscribers to recommend the site to friends
who are interested in the topic.… Read the rest

Typically this agreement could run to 40 or 50 pages andcan be a daunting read to those unfamiliar withcommercial contracts. The very nature of a franchisebusiness structure means that the agreement will befairly complex. Remember that this document providesthe framework for your business life over the next sevenyears or so.

Franchisors, particularly established ones, will rarelychange or negotiate the terms of their standardFranchise Agreement as they will want to maintainuniformity across all the franchises. However, it isessential that you understand what you are being askedto sign. Once you have signed an agreement as abusiness person (without the cotton wool treatmentgiven to consumers) you will struggle to persuade a courtlater that the terms were unfair or sufficientlyunreasonable to be void.… Read the rest

Before seeking out prospects, having a marketing plan is essential to any business. I’m going to present a lot of research and my objective is to include the need to quantify all the results from all your marketing efforts. And to look at all the strategies for conducting direct marketing campaigns and testing variables to determine the effectiveness of each of the marketing strategies within your business.

Most people want to be successful, but few plan to be. Very few people take the time to plan anything. Most people take more time to plan their vacations than they do to plan their lives.… Read the rest