MMS Logo
Volume III, Issue 5
November 2007
Important Announcement

Can You Believe that the holidays are here?

It seems like just yesterday it was the Fourth of July and today we're preparing to eat turkey, face the crowds to do our shopping, and get in the holiday mode. Plus, we're supposed to do this with all while trying to run and market our businesses.

For some, it's a slow time of year...for those of us who aren't directly affected by the holidays. But for others, this is our time... our busy season and we look at it with as much dread as we do anticipation.

If this is your slow time, use it wisely. Take this time to sit back and re-evaluate your marketing. What's working? What's not? How can you capitalize on the holidays for your business?

Have you started thinking about holiday cards yet? How about gifts? Might I recommed Send Out Cards and GiftCertificates.com to help alleviate the stress? Send Out Cards will allow you to have them printed with a note and sent without the hassle of having to address, sign and stamp all of your cards at a very affordable price. And with GiftCertificates.com, simply send your clients a Super Certificate and allow them to chose where they want to spend it. It's a great way to give a gift that won't be thrown away or shoved in a drawer and will allow them to think about you when ever they see what they've purchased.

Regardless of the routes you take this holiday season to market your business remember to stop and think about how it will affect your business and how others will see you.

And have a great one!

Happy Marketing!

 

 

Featured Article

Content: How Can it Help you Generate Traffic?

The term "content" when used by Internet Marketers refers to written words, audios or videos. Incorporating content in your website can help you generate more traffic in a number of ways.

So, exactly how does content help get me more traffic?

I'm glad you asked. It's fairly simple...

Search engines love website that offers valuable content. No matter what type of site you have, you can leverage this to increase the traffic to your website. Whether you have an online store, a forum, or a blog, you can add content to generate traffic.

Also, visitors just plain love sites that offer free content. Personally, if I go to a website that is just a storefront, I may be hesitant to buy. However, if I come in and click around a bit and get to know more about the owners and their products, I may just pull out my wallet.

Plus, content makes websites "sticky". Simply put, if a visitor comes to a website and finds good information (in any format), they are more likely to return than if they just land on a sales page.

How can you Add Content to your Website?

1. Add articles to your website. You can use a mix of your own unique content, free reprint articles and Private Label Rights (PLR) articles. I recommed Easy PLR or All Private Label Content for the best selection of PLR articles.

2. Add a blog. If you don't want to add articles directly to your site, then create a blog where you can talk about your products or services and list special offers. You can add articles to your blog, or simply chat and showcase specials and uses for your products and services. Establish yourself as an expert and people will come back for more.

3. Tweak your product descriptions. This is a simple way to increase the content on your website (and, possibly, increase sales). Just add more text to your product descriptions in your storefront ñ be more descriptive, and youíll be providing more content.

4. Ask for comments and feedback. No matter what kind of website you have, incorporating comments from others can help make your website more valuable.

5. Add testimonials. Simple and effective, testimonials not only make your site appear more trustworthy, but they also add content for search engines.

6. Archive your newsletters. If you publish a weekly newsletter, archive your previous issues on your website.

7. Add audio. It's simple and easy to record and publish audio online now, with services that do everything for you. Interview someone or have someone interview you. Include your interviews on your website for added credibility and information for your visitors. I recommend BYOAudio. I've used it for years and love it!

8. Frequently Asked Questions. Keep track of the customer service questions you receive, and answer them on a FAQ page. You'll add content and spend less time answering repeat questions from your potential clients.

The age old addage of "content is king" is true. The more quality content you have the better off you'll be. Now get writing!

Heather Jacobson is the author of Making Dollars Out of Cents: 101 Tips for the Frugal Marketer, and is also the publisher of the popular ezine, Marketing Made Simple, a monthly publication filled with simple marketing tactics designed to enhance one's marketing efforts. An expert in implementing marketing campaigns for companies on a budget, Heather thrives on coaching others to achieve financial success. For more information, visit http://www.HeatherJacobson.com

Graphics By:

Signature Worx

 

To view past issues of Marketing
Made Simple, visit http://www.valleyva.net/Marketing-Made-Simple/

 

7 Dollar Business Builders - Create a newsletter

Check it out!

Expand Your Business...One Subscriber at a Time

Expand Your Business...One Subscriber at a Time covers everything from idea to final publication and more! Get yours now for just $7 (and be immediately enrolled in the affiliate program that pays 100% commissions instantly to your PayPal account!)

Easy Press Releases

Haether Recommends

Camtasia Studios (v5) is about to be introduced and as to gain awareness v3 is now available for free! Get all the details here.

Managing Your Thriving Business for Success

Managing Your Thriving Business for success is the latest from Yvonne Weld and Sally Kuhlman and proves to be a great asset for running a successful business. With the new year just a few weeks away, it would be a great time to pick it up and determine how you're going to make 2008 even better than 2007!

Click h.ere to view more details

Introducing SwypeFile!

Swype file was recently introduced and I signed up. They claimed that you could drive more traffic to your blog AND earn money at the same time. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Only time will tell, but I submitted 3 articles this morning from my site and already they've been "swyped" a few times (meaning that someone bookmarked them) and I've gotten some comments from new people. I also added a little more o my Adsense account, received two new newsletter subscribers. So perhaps this will be another way to get traffic to your site.

Give it a whirl and tell me what you think. I'm going to keep at it and see what happens!

Oh, did I mention that Swype File is another f.r.e.e. marketing tool? (And you can learn and earn at the same time!)

 

Inexpensive Marketing Ideas

Marketing Q&A with Heather Jacobson

Q: With all the talk about press releases, I'd love to try my hand, but don't know where to start. How exactly do I write a press release? And then what do I do with it?

A: Press releases are a very good tool to promote your business (and inexpensive to boot). Many people know this, but they "meltdown" when it come to writing them.

I'm going to admit, I've always had to have someone else write my press releases. I can write them for others, but never for myself.

However, Alice Seba and Mila Sidman teamed with Shannon Cherry to come up with All Press Content and now you can take the template and modify it for your business. It's no fuss and anyone could do it.

Your other alternative is finding someone else to write it, which works fine too!

But once you get it written, submit them. There are hundreds of places to submit press releases. You can search and find them yourself or hire a VA to do it for you. Personally, I use Patty at Time if of the Es-cents. She's got the database and takes care of all my submissions so I can just sit back and watch the traffic roll in.

Do you have a marketing question for Heather? Simply email it to info at valleyva. net and it will be featured in an upcomming issue!

 
   

Disclaimer

Valley Virtual Assistants welcomes articles and suggestions from our readers. If you have information that you feel will be a benefit to our readers, drop us an email . We cannot guarantee that all submissions will be accepted for print. Valley Virtual Assistants will notify you via email if and when your article will appear.

All written information included in Marketing Made Simple is the opinion of the individual author. Readers agree to hold Valley Virtual Assistants harmless for its content. Most article writers are not attorneys or accountants and the content should not be construed as legal and/or accounting advice. If an article is written by an attorney or a CPA it will be clearly stated in the byline of the article, however please consult your legal counsel and/or CPA firm before utilizing the information contained herein.

We appreciate you taking the time to read Marketing Made Simple. If at any time you wish to un.subscribe please go to Valley Virtual Assistants and follow the un.subscribe instructions.

This newsletter template and all graphics custom designed for Heather Jacobson by Signature Worx, LLC