Daniel asks…

How do you find facebook as a marketing channel?

There are various ways to market your product online and social marketing is just one of those. In comparison with other strategies such as article marketing how heavy do you use facebook as one of your strategies to market a product?

internet marketing strategies

Drew answers:

Facebook can be a lucrative internet marketing strategy if used effectively. You can’t just use one strategy though, and you have to know that Facebook is more of a branding opportunity, and most successful businesses will not use it to sell products directly, but indirectly (if that makes sense).

Why?

Because building a successful online business isn’t about using one channel, it’s about using multiple internet marketing strategies together. Lately there is so much hype about using Facebook to market products online. This is completely wrong. People are on Facebook to connect with people, not businesses.

The way people use the internet is much different than old school brick and mortar business. It’s not selling to users, it’s users having the option to make there own decisions…just a click away.

You need to look at marketing on Facebook as permission based and 99.99% of people will not buy products or services if they “like” your business, or friend request you. Top internet marketers will agree that successful online business is not about getting, it’s about giving. That principle even holds more true to Facebook marketing. This is a direct channel to provide value to potential customers, free reports, thoughtful information, humorous tidbits of information sometimes seemingly unrelated to your business.

If potential customers see you as not selling, there more likely to look into what you do, consequently resulting in more traffic and more business.

If you have any questions about that let me know.

Sincerely,

The Wealth Kid
WealthKID.com

Ruth asks…

What marketing strategies have been effective for you as a mortgage loan officer?

I’ve just gotten into the mortgage business in Texas. I’m looking for any tips to help me to deal with the marketing side of the business and any success stories of particular types of advertising. Thanks!

internet marketing strategies

Drew answers:

There are several marketing techniques that are in use today.

#1 You can purchase leads from a lead provider normal cost is approximately $25.00-$35.00 per lead and there is a minimum purchase amount like about 100 per purchase. Some of these are retreads, so you are really guessing which are real or is this someone that just like talking on the phone.

There are cheaper ones but they have been around the block a few times. So you are really guessing on these leads.

#2 There is telemarketing, but then there is the “Do not call list” So you have to be careful there and not make a mistake or you will be sued.

#3 Advertise in the local newspaper that you are now in the business of doing loans

#4 You can direct mail to individuals that you are in the business of doing loans.

I suggest you secure your own leads by leaving the office and spending time in a area that you want to work and get to know the people that could be your future clients.

Find an area in your city that you want to work approximately 5,000-10,000 houses. Make you enough flyers to cover your area. If you have children this will be a good weekend activity for them as well as yourself. While walking the area passing out your flyers, if you see someone out doing the lawn or just out introduce yourself, give them one of your cards. See if they are willing to give you their name and email address so you can email them, on a monthly basis, things about the mortgage industry as well as your monthly newsletter. Place any information you collect in a data base that you should start.

Your flyer should tell them a little about you and a few of the loan programs that you will be offering and introducing. This is an introductory flyer that you can make on your computer. You can get them printed at Staples or Office Depot.

You should pass these type flyers out at least 3 months in a row. This will let them know that you are sincere and look as if you will be there for them.

You should also visit the local commercial places in the same area. Find out if they will allow you to place a flyer holder in their business, give them one of your business cards, find out their name, write it down you never want to forget it because they will become one of your partners. Buy something even if you are gonna give it away and don’t need it. Do this to as many commercial businesses in the area as will allow you to place a flyer holder in their place of business. You will also find the flyer holders at Staples or Office Depot..

Call the post office and inquire about their bulk mailing stamp. Get one and learn the system of bulk mailing.

Also call your title company and get them to provide you with the names of the people in your area that you have been passing out your flyer.

Remember your data base you were starting and now should have over a thousand names that you alone should have been able to get if you have been walking the area.

Once you have passed out the flyers for at least 3-4 months start a newsletter covering topics on the mortgage business. Get articles from your local newspaper as well as off the internet. Just remember to give credit to the author of the article. You might have a doctor, lawyer or some other professional to help you on your articles. Charge them for the articles, about 50% of the cost of the newsletter.

Now remember the businesses that you had your flyers in and you now know their names because you have been there to change your flyers about 2 times per month. Place your news letter in these businesses also.

The best thing about these businesses is now you want to see if they will advertise in your business newsletter being sent to the local area in which their business is located. You should be able to charge them about $45.00 to $50.00 per business size card advertisement. Try and get them to place a coupon in the flyer offering some type of discount if the customer bring the coupon in to their store.

Now you will need a professional team to assist you in your business. You will need an attorney, a notary, a title rep, an insurance agent that sell homeowners insurance policies and a real estate agent. You should pass out their cards to your clients that need their services and they should pass out your business cards to their clients that need your services. This should give you a steady supply of referrals. This should not be a one way street, they should be helping you as much as they are in the habit of helping you. So you might have to change your professional team to get what’s need to be accomplished.

Now that you have your bulk stamp, your newsletter and your data base that you have now added from your title rep to the names you had already. You are now ready to mail or email your newsletter each month.

Don’t forget to offer your clients a FSBO ( For Sale By Owner) package, where you will qualify their possible buyers if they are not pre-approved already. You will want to assist them in setting up an open house where you will be there to assist potential buyers and most importantly pre-approve all those that come to look at the house that aren’t. This will give you a steady source of leads also. This should always be in your monthly newsletter that you will assist all those that want to sell their own property. You can charge them $500.00 for providing escrow service, title services, appraisals and other services they will need to close the transaction. With the $500.00 you should be able to place an ad in the local paper of all open houses you will be conducting on the 2nd and 4th weekend of each month or whatever weekend you chose to have open houses.

What ever you do, don’t try to talk them out of selling their own home, you are there to assist and get to the clients that need pre-approval for loans to purchase homes. They would not be at an open house unless they were considering buying. Always have an ample supply of 1003’s on hand.

I hope this has been of some help to you, good luck.

“FIGHT ON”

Sharon asks…

What are some creative Online marketing Strategies?

I am looking to advertise a new web site upon its completion. I know about being on a search engine, banners, and simple things like that. I am looking for some new creative ways of advertising that have been created by using the web. I am not very familiar with these new internet-based advertising schemes such as network marketing, however, these are the type of things I am looking to learn of and about. If you have any idea, an explanition of that idea would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

internet marketing strategies

Drew answers:

“If you build it, they will come” is not necessarily true on the Web. Putting a website up is one thing, but getting visitors to come to your site is another. The process becomes even more difficult if you have limited resources to market your business.

Here are some shoestring marketing ideas that can help you get the visitors you need at the least cost possible:

1. Create the best content you can with the best products you can possibly offer. Your content is your best advertisement – if visitors love your content, then they will go back and spread the word to others.

2. Make it easy for users to recommend your site. Viral marketing is very important — and easy to tap on the Web. But give your users the tools. Get a Recommend this Site script from websites such as cgiscripts.com and similar directories of scripts. Some even go as far as giving incentives to those who recommend the site to their friends. If only 10 people go to your site, but these 10 people invite 10 more – that’s additional traffic that you get for FREE!

Recommend Site Scripts (various) http://php.resourceindex.com/Complete_Scripts/Website_Promotion/Recommend_Site/
Big Nose Bird Recommend this Site http://bignosebird.com/carchive/birdcast.shtml
CGI Resource Index http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Website_Promotion/Recommend_Site/
Hostscripts http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_and_Programs/Site_Recommendation/index.html

3. Rank well in the search engines (organic search results, not the pay per click). SEs can be a big source of traffic. The key is to create the best content in your niche. If you have good content, other websites will gladly link to you and offer your site as a resource to their audience. Check the on-page factors and be sure to get linked from authority sites in your topic area.

If you are going to read only one piece on search engine optimization, I suggest you read Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld.com’s “Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone: 26 steps to 15k a day.” http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm

SEO for Google http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/google.htm
SEO for Yahoo! Http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/yahoo.htm
SEO for MSN http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/msn.htm
Tying It Together: SEO For The Big Three http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/seo.htm

4. Send out press releases. While outfits charge as much as $650 per release, there are free press release submission places on the Web. Press releases allow you to (a) attract media attention; (b) get more back links to your website without sending each website an email request; and (c) get more visibility especially if your press release gets in Google News or Yahoo News.

Http://www.prleap.com/sign_up.html
http://i-newswire.com/
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/cgi-bin/links/add.cgi
http://www.pr.com/press-releases
http://www.prfree.com/
http://www.clickpress.com/releases/index.shtml
http://www.theopenpress.com/
http://www.przoom.com/
http://www.prweb.com
http://www.newswiretoday.com/
http://www.free-press-release.com/

5. Submit articles. Write articles and submit them to websites accepting author submissions. You get exposure for your business; establishes you as an authority in your field, and allows you to get backlinks for your website. If 50 websites publish your article and it contains a link back to your website, then you easily get 50 links from a single article. The more links you have, the greater your chances for increasing your search engine rankings.

Here is a comprehensive list of where to submit your articles http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AhzreGmnCUicOoyedqypscUjzKIX?qid=1006022407481

6. Improve your conversion. Getting visitors is one thing; getting them to buy your products is a whole different story. Read the article “10 Ways to Convert Visitors to Buyers” http://www.powerhomebiz.com/072005/conversion.htm for tips on how to improve your conversion rates.

7. Post a link to your site for free where it is allowed (always read the Terms of Use). Examples are:

Craigslist http://www.craigslist.com
Google Base http://base.google.com
Classifieds for Free http://www.classifiedsforfree.com/…
Text Link Exchange http://www.txtswap.com/
Recycler.com http://www.recycler.com/
Yahoo Classifieds http://classifieds.yahoo.com/
US Free Ads http://www.usfreeads.com/

William asks…

How can I learn more about my target market?

My customers tend to be middle class homeowners over the age of forty. How can I learn more about such a broad target market? Thanks for your responses, and have a great day.

internet marketing strategies

Drew answers:

That Guy Drew,

A well-defined target market is the first element to a marketing strategy. I would like to appreciate your interest to study the target market. Learning about the communities, about the age you mentioned would be truly hard. Still, you may get it from the Internet, as some news letters.

Some articles would always help.

Psychology e-books would help us in this regard.

This link would help you may be. At least gives a hint to get along.

Good luck.

David asks…

What can a small businesss do to expand business?

I work for a computer repair business and we are looking to expand some and develop something of a marketing plan. Often, we’ll be with a client and they’ll say something like “I didn’t know that you guys did taht too” So, what would be a good way to advertise our additional services to existing clients and what is any other good advice that comes to mind? Thanks!

internet marketing strategies

Drew answers:

How effective is your current website for your business? And if your website does not draw major Net traffic, perhaps an inspection of your SEO metatags is in order. Remember that having a high web presence/ranking on major search engines is the key to expanding your business.

Here’s a helpful article in producing the most effective SEO metatags.

The most effective way to advertise on the Internet is
to first set up a website and publish its domain name
on major search directories such as Google.com,
Yahoo.com [at http://www.google.com/addurl/?…… And
MSN.com since 85% of Internet shoppers rely on these
search directories to provide them with goods and
services. In a sense, these search directories are a
very large Internet Yellow Pages.

Nevertheless, should your website or opening webpage
fail to contain “generic” keywords, then anyone using
such “generic” queries will not be able to discover
your website. Your domain name [URL] of your website,
in a sense, will be invisible, undiscoverable.

You may want to consider some simple algorithms which,
when observed and committed in designing of a website
with placement of various critical metatags that can
surely achieve a high search engine presence and
increase Internet traffic to your website. These
metatag strategies work well with published webpages
at Google and Yahoo.

Design: Should you create an extensive Flash-based
website, make sure to fill-in the property entries
such as the Title, Description and Keywords. Failing
to do so, leaves no hard HTML or ALT resource that can
be readily indexed by search robots. Also consider the
Internet audience and their incoming setup. For
example, if they are on analog/dialup, Flash webpages
take too long to load up and therefore analog users
will likely lose interest and discontinue entering the
Flash site. On the other hand, anyone on hi-speed DSL
lines, will welcome Flash pages which load quickly. So
before designing a pure Flash websitge, ask the simple
question, “Who’s my end user – is he on dialup or
DSL?” And if you had to choose between these two users
for maximum marketability, then select analog users
since 80% of most resident users are still analog
Internet subscribers and pure HTML designed webpages
is best for them.

A non-Flash-based website which relies on hard text,
is far easier to be indexed by search robots. Limit
the use of stylized text saved as .gifs since as a
graphic, they are not indexable by search robots.

Avoid use of frames since any number of search robots
are unable to properly classify textual material.

Placement of Metatags:

A ranking or search order does take place with Google
and Yahoo and it begins with the “Title” metag which
should consist of no more than 65 characters separated
by commas. The “Title” should describe in generic
terms, the goods and services, followed by a location
from which the resource is located, i.e., city, state.
The placement of a domain name which is not generic
within the “Title” is not appropriate, unless your
domain name is a major recognizable brand name.

The second metatag is the “Description” which is
usually 25-30 words to form a complete sentence which
best describes one’s goods and services.

And the very last category – “Keywords” are also
somewhat limited to 15-16 words which can be plural
and compound in nature. Again, avoid multiple entries
which could be mistaken as “spamdexed entries” which
is defined as the loading, and submission of
repetitive words into a particular metatag category.
“Spamdexing” when discovered on a webpage and reported
to Google’s spamreport.com can result in the
elimination of your website from their search
directory.

Here’s an example of a very highly-placed website on
Google.com: Begin with the very “generic” search query
“sandwiches downtown los angeles,” taking note to not
abbreviate Los Angeles to “LA” and of course, leave
out the parentheses (“). It will bring up some 2.4
million+ search results. Check out where “Nazos.net”
is ranked. It’s ranked No. 1!
Again, Nazos.net’s high web presence was achieved by
proper web design and placement of relevant metatags
according to Google’s publication guidelines.

Good luck!

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