4Squared Media

It is my observation that consumers are much more able and likely to research before making a decision today.  It seems that in the past it was enough to fill a potential customers mind with your message and convince them that your product was the one to buy.  Does that work today?  In a world where everyone has the internet at their fingertips. A world where your potential customer can Google you on a whim.  It is my opinion that people just don’t want to be ’sold’ any more.  They want to be aware of their options, research them, and then make their own decision.  So, what does that do for the direct sales form of marketing?  Does cold calling still work?  Are people so a tune to the ‘voice of the sales guy’ that they automatically block it out even before he has had a chance to ask for a chance?  As sales and marketing professionals and consultants how do we effectively get a customer to give us a chance?

So now Facebook is phasing out FBML.

“We are in the process of deprecating FBML. If you are building a new application on Facebook.com, please implement your application using HTML, JavaScript and CSS. You can use our JavaScript SDK andSocial Plugins to embedded many of the same social features available in FBML. While there is still functionality that we have not ported over yet, we are no longer adding new features to FBML.”

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/fbml/

So if you are confused about when Facebook will be deprecating the FBML checkout the Facebook developer road map here - http://developers.facebook.com/roadmap/

In the marketing world “Promotion” is a key component of your marketing mix.  The promotion of your product or service can take a variety of forms.  Common methods include advertising, direct sales, and referral business.  Traditionally the promotion of products have been executed using print, radio, TV, promotional items, etc.  All of these are still viable forms of marketing.  As technology is progressing we as business owners must consider using new and innovative forms of marketing along with traditional methods.

In steps the internet.  With the power of the internet there are many new ways to promote products online and reach a world audience with your message.  Remember that frequency and reach are two key components of marketing.  So the idea is to be able to reach your target market with the greatest frequency possible in order that consumers will remember your brand.

I sell websites and internet marketing for a living.  At first I sold websites without marketing because I didn’t understand business or marketing.  As I began to understand marketing I realized that it was a disservice to my customers to just build them a website without talking about marketing.  If you are new to the world wide web as a marketing tool the temptation is to believe that having a website will bring you customers.  The reality is that a website without proper marketing behind it will bring as much business as a drawer full of brochures.  Until you put the brochure into the hand of a potential customer it will do you no good.  The same goes for your website.  It is essential to have a professional website, but don’t expect that a professional website will bring you business.  Marketing brings you business.

So then what’s the take way?  The point is, as business people we must have a plan for marketing our business.  That plan should include harnessing the power of the internet.  Internet marketing is more cost effective and more measurable then traditional marketing.  With internet marketing you have the option of paying for performance.  You have the option of only paying when you actually get visitors.  With internet marketing you can choose to go “organic” which means you simply spread the word about your site through mass propagation.

The web has opened up opportunities for business owners that previously would not have been possible. It would be very expensive to create and distribute your own newspaper in order to market your products, but the web lets anyone become a publisher.  Anyone can share their knowledge and spread the word in order to build their reputation. On the web anyone can have his own TV channel or radio show. People want to do business with experts that have a proven track record and they are using the web to find those experts.

The time has come to leverage the power of the internet and add it to your marketing mix. There are many options available to you. I’ve created another article that defines some of the internet marketing terms and methodologies. 4squared Media is here to help you get a handle on the options available to you and help you put together an effective internet marketing campaign as a part of your marketing mix.

PPC: Pay per click marketing is a method by which you pay for clicks.  I know that sounds simple, but if you’ve never done it then it can be daunting to figure out.  Anyone can setup a pay per click campaign to market their products.  The major search engines and social networking sites all provide a way to implement a pay per click campaign on their sites.  When creating pay per click campaigns use caution.  Make sure you set your budget at a reasonable level.  You can choose a daily budget for your campaign.  Understand that clicks have a different price depending on what keywords you are targeting.  Some keywords will cost you 0.25 per click where others will cost $25.00 per click.  Next time you are on Google, Yahoo, or Bing.  Take a look at the sponsored ads sections.  Then tend to be at the very top of the page and along the right hand column.  The top spots are worth more and ads are shown based on what keywords you have just searched for.  The much more to say about this, but this is enough to give you an idea.

CPA:  Cost per action campaigns are usually implemented by advertising networks like Commission Junction or ClickBank.  There are many networks that will execute CPA campaigns for you.  So what is this?  Cost per action campaigns allow you to pay when a desired action is completed.  Suppose you want to sell your book online.  You can create a website, submit the site to an advertising network and only pay the network when a book actually sells.  These are usually more expensive per action then a click campaign, but you also only pay for actual sales or leads.  So the other option for CPA campaigns is using them to generate leads.  Let’s say you are a realtor who would like generate an interest list for a specific property using the internet.  You can have a web development company create a lead generation site for you and pay only when a person actually fills out the interest form in reference to the property.  Leads may cost you any where from $3.00 per lead up to $30 per lead.  It really just depends on the product you are generating leads for.  When using CPA marketing beware of fraud.  CPAwatchdog.com is a company that helps to fight CPA fraud.

CPM: These are cost per impression campaigns.  With this sort of advertising you can place your ad on a website and pay to have it shown a pre-determined amount of times.  So let’s say you want to buy 100 impressions on a website.  You would pay a fixed dollar amount to have your ad shown on that site 100 times.  Usually sites that have this option will rotate your ad through the system with other ads so it won’t all be spent in the first 5 minutes that the ad is up on the site.

SEO:  Search Engine optimization is not really a direct advertising technique.  It actually is more of a long term solution to getting your site to consistently show up in the search engines.  The reality is that internet users spend less then 5% of their time on search engines so SEO is important, but will only get you so far.  SEO is really about making sure that you site content is relevant to what you expect you customers will be searching for.  In addition to achieve higher rankings in the search engine you want to make sure you have back links to your site.  A back link is when another site links to your site.  This adds to your ranking score because the more others link to you, the more likely it is that you have content that others truly value.  Technically it is free to optimize you site if you have the skills to do so.  If not it is possible to hire companies like 4squared media to optimize your site for you.  When hiring a company to perform SEO service for you be sure that they are providing reports for you.  These reports will be the proof to show that the SEO techniques implemented by said company are actually working.

In summary there are many ways to advertise you site online.  Ideally you want to implement a variety of online advertising techniques to drive traffic to your website.  As you drive traffic to your site make sure that you are tracking the effectiveness of the advertising and eliminate or refine those that are not performing as expected.

Written by Isaac Martinez of 4squared Media an Internet Marketing and Web Development company

As an internet marketing professional I get frustrated at times with peoples lack of understanding the true value of a website.  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve come across that are looking to start a business, but don’t want to invest any real money into their web presence.  The reality is, I get it.  I’ve been there.  I’ve been at the start of a new venture, strapped for cash and looking for shortcuts.  I understand that it is hard to come up with the captial necessary to start a business and then its even harder to decide where to spend it first.

Let’s talk about the reality of our society today.  The reality is that consumers are more and more inclined to want to see your website and based on what they see they will pass judgment on the worthiness of your business.  Of course this is my opinon based on my research.  Having an unprofessional website is the equivilant of showing up to a business meeting unprepared, wearing the clothes you used to cut the grass last weekend.

If you have a limited budget for your website don’t just resolve to make your own, unless you have a graphics and web development background.  Instead focus on a professionl look and feel along with providing the most essenital information about your website.  Make sure you clearly define how you do business and how people can reach you if they want to do business with you.  Don’t be vauge or elusive out of fear that your competion might figure out your prices.  Be straight with your customer because today’s consumer wants to be educated before speaking with you.  If your competition wants to figure out your prices, they will find a way.  Besides, competing on price alone is not competing at all.

Make sure your content really emphasizes the keywords that will be used when searching the web for your service.  In today’s search engine world content is king.  What does that mean?  It means if you sell homeowners insurance in orlando, fl, make sure you really highlight that multiple times in your content.  Don’t be tacky about it and just put useless text on your website.  Write relavent articles on your website that speak to the consumer.  Let them know that you are an expert in your field.

To recap, in order to make the most of your website regardless of your budget, focus on looking professional and writing relevant content that speaks to your target audience.

The world is changing right before us, each day getting smaller. It’s amazing how connected we can be today,  so much then ever before.  We can find people we haven’t seen in 10 or 20 years and know everything about them in minutes by reading their online profile. As Social Networks online are changing the way we connect with friends, it is also changing the way business connect with current and potential customers.

So what’s happening? People trust other people more then they trust marketing fliers and billboards. Social media, Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, all of these tools are empowering the consumer to share valuable information with their network of friends at light speed. So what should we as business owners do in response to this trend? We should embrace it. We should begin to blog, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Why? Because it will allow us to get our message to our existing customers at light speed, who will in turn share it with their network of friends who trust them.

What then do we talk about using our Social Networking tools? Share your expertise. The goal is not to sell people on your product through Social Media. The goal is to use it to be deemed an expert and to create a following. As you create this following encourage dialog. Pose questions to your followers and get them involved in the conversation. Ask your exiting customers to “Follow You” on Facebook by becoming your “Fan”. Have them leave comments about your service and your ability. Use this tool to build credibility.

The reality is that there are many who might propose to make you money with Social Marketing tools, but the most important function of Social Marketing is not the money that you can make directly using it, but instead the friends that you can make. Why? Because as I remember from my Marketing 101 class “People buy from people they like and trust”. Get started today, create your following!

Written by Isaac Martinez

Owner of 4squared Media, an Internet Marketing Company helping small businesses make money online.

Welcome to the new home of 4squaredmedia on the web. We are full service internet marketing and web design firm here in Altamonte Springs, FL. Our goal is to help small and medium sized businesses achieve marketing success in the online world. In addition to our online services we can also design a complete branding package for you that includes a logo, business cards, letterhead, and a website. Check out our One Brand packages here. Our offices are conveniently located in central Florida in North Orlando. We can meet with your in our Altamonte Springs office or come to your office for a web site design consultation. We will architect your website design from the ground up and use our years of experience to insure your success. Give us a call today to speak with our web design and internet marketing specialists.