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Beyond Chronic Pain
Beyond chronic pain transforms lives with chronic pain conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, back pain and others by providing information and guidance on-site as well as based on the book "Beyond Chronic Pain: A get-well guidebook to soothe the body, mind & spirit". Articles and resources are available to support and educate caregivers, family members and health care professionals.
Category: Pain Management

Nick Stamoulis SEO Services
SEO is one of the most cost effective ways a website can market a product or service on the internet. Simply changing your website to rank in the search engines is not enough. Great organic rankings in the major search engines demands persistence and a current knowledge of elements that continue to change. And you’ll get just that!
Category: Products / Services (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Is Web Content Really That Important?
In this series of FAQ about search engine optimization (SEO), Jill Whalen answers common questions about SEO.

Introduction

If you're so smart and keep telling everyone that content is king, then how come the top pages for the keyword [insert any word here] don't have lots of visible content?

I do believe that content is king, because that's what the people who visit your site are looking for. However, content doesn't necessarily mean 250 words (or whatever) of text. Content means different things for different sites. Content can simply be your product offerings. For instance, sites from well-known brands very often have no visible copy on their home pages, but still rank highly for some very general keywords. This is often due to their strong brand, which brings in tons and tons of natural links to the site.

Branding Gather Links Naturally

Natural links are those that people add to their own websites just because they found them relevant to whatever point they were trying to make...

Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

HighRankings' SEO Process
In this article, Jill Whalen explains how to improve search engine rankings through keyword research and search engine marketing.

Introduction

Set Website Goals

The first thing I do when starting a new SEO campaign is find out the goals for the site and the optimization in general. For instance, is the goal simply to drive more targeted traffic to the site or is it to get people to sign up for a newsletter? Is the goal to get someone to make a purchase online, or is it to entice people to call or fill out a form requesting more information? Usually, the goals will be a combination of things. Very often different pages within the site will have different goals, and these need to be kept in mind throughout the SEO process.

Conduct Keyword Research

With the end goals in mind, the next step is to compile a brainstormed keyword phrase list. At this point...

Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Common Sense Search Engine Optimization
Jill Whalen explains a common sense approach to search engine optimization.

Introduction

For years, when people thought about search engine optimization, in all likelihood, gateway pages, doorway pages or informational pages probably came to mind. If you're a search engine optimization specialist, you've probably had clients requesting that you create these types of pages for them.

They may believe the following statements to be true:

Every search engine has a different algorithm (formula) to determine the ranking of a Web page, and therefore none of their "regular" pages will rank highly in all of the engines.

Keyword-rich copy that the search engines will like is not text they can visibly put on their site where people can see it, especially not on their front page!

Our site needs to be on the cutting edge and use Flash animation and/or lots of graphics. Since the search engines can't index these very well, I have to use gateway pages.
Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Improving Link Popularity
Increasing link popularity means more than trying to improve Google PageRank. Jill Whalen explains linking strategies, clarifies reciprocal linking, and discusses link quality.

Introduction

For years, "link popularity" and "Google PageRank" have been the talk of the town in the search engine optimization community. However, the definition of link popularity and how it differs from PageRank (PR), as well as how much effect these actually have on search engine rankings, is often misunderstood.

What is Link Popularity?

The theory goes something like this: The search engine Powers That Be have decided that if other sites are linking to your site, it must be a winner; therefore, it deserves a boost in rankings (when all else is equal). If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. People link to good sites, not bad ones.

PageRank Does Not Equal Link Popularity

It's important to note that Google PageRank is not the same thing as link popularity...

Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Choosing Keywords that Attract a Target Audience
A reader wonders how to differentiate her Website for her target audience.

Introduction

How To Achieve Rankings High Enough To Attract My Target Audience?

I am planning to start a web design business, targeting small business owners, within the next year. I want to make sure that my clients receive the best advice from me that they can about how to attract visitors to their web sites.

I have searched the web high and low for an answer to my question regarding the effectiveness of SEO, and have not found a satisfactory answer.

Since my clients are going to be small business owners, and there are gazillions of web sites relating to all of the search terms they could possibly come up with, how can SEO help them? What are the odds, even with expertise such as yours, that they will achieve a ranking high enough to enter the consciousness of their potential customers?

Jill Whalen responds...
Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Placing Key Phrases on a Web Page
In this series of FAQ about search engine optimization (SEO), Jill Whalen answers the question "Where should I put my keywords and phrases?"

Introduction

I heard from the dogcatcher that I need to place my keyword phrases in: [bold] [italics] [H1s] [alt tags] [Meta tags] [anchor text] [Title tags] [body text] [the first few words on my site] [the first paragraph of my site] [the last paragraph of my site] [my cousin Vinnie's site]. Is this true?

The most important places to utilize your researched keyword phrases (anywhere from 3-5 of these per page) are:

1. your Title tags
2. in the visible copy that people read, and
3. in onsite and offsite links (aka the "anchor text").

Place Keywords for the Reader

Whether they're in the first paragraph, first words, last words, or whatever really doesn't make all that much difference. I've long ago stopped worrying about specific places and coding and simply use them where they make sense from a reader's perspective.
Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Frequent Search Engine Spidering
SEO Jill Whalen explains affect of frequent search engine spidering on Web page rank.

Introduction

Does a "Fresh Site" Improve Search Engine Rankings?

I've been following your newsletter for ages now (since before you went solo with High Rankings) and would appreciate your help with this question. I've been speaking with a client about changes to their web site. They have been told previously that using rotating images on a web page helps to keep a site "fresh" for search engines. That sounds odd to me.

Plus, based on comments you have made in previous newsletters, I get the impression that good content does not need to be updated to remain high on search engines' results. So please help me...how important is updating content? Do search engines reward sites with recent changes?

Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Ranking Well in Google
In this series of FAQ about SEO (search engine optimization), Jill Whalen answers the question "Why does my site rank poorly on Google?"

Introduction

My site is showing up for my major keyword phrases in Yahoo and MSN but I'm nowhere to be found in Google. Why does Google hate me? (Or alternatively, my site was doing well on Google but its rankings have suddenly plummeted. Am I penalized?)

If you're going to be in the SEO biz, or even if you're just trying to get your own personal business site more exposure in the search engines, you need to realize that rankings (and the traffic they may bring) are not static. You may get comfortable seeing your site rank highly for your most coveted keyword phrases, but don't ever assume it will remain there forever.

Search Engine Penalization

Sites do not get penalized or banned unless something has been done which deceives the search engines...

Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Doorway Pages, Duplicate Sites, and Mirrors?
Jill Whalen explains how the search engine marketing (SEM) tricks of doorway pages, mirrors, and duplicate Websites affect rankings.

Introduction

Hello Jill,
As a new subscriber to your newsletter, I'd first of all like to say thanks for a very good newsletter! Your newsletter has quickly become one of the "I can't wait for the next issue" ones, and they aren't that many!

I'm writing you regarding your latest issue and the topic of doorway pages.

I planned on getting more exposure from search engines to my site and thought that making "duplicates" of my existing site, each site with a new unique URL and unique domain, unique title and description, and body text slightly rewritten to focus on different keywords, would be a good idea. I also planned on a new look with different background color and font.

Now I read your newsletter and see that you think it's a BIG no, no! Instead you suggest creating keyword-rich content pages for my main site.

My questions to you about this matter are...

Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO
Jill Whalen discusses validity of ethical search engine marketing versus "black hat" spamming.

Introduction

Definitions: Ethical SEO = White Hat
Search Engine Spammers = Black Hat

For those who haven't heard, for the past year or two some have labeled different forms of search engine optimization by different hat colors. Those who practice what some refer to as "ethical" SEO are the White Hats (like the good guys in the movies), and those who some refer to as "spammers" are the Black Hats (like the bad guys in the movies). Those who are not quite as pure as the driven snow but who aren't quite as... umm... aggressive as a full-fledged "search engine spammer" are sometimes referred to as Gray Hats.

But are these labels helping anyone, and do they really mean anything? Certainly, the SEO methods I use would put me into the White Hat category. Lucky me. Does this make me better than those in the Black Hat category? I guess the question would be, better at what? It doesn't make me a better person, nor does it necessarily make me a better SEO. It might make me better at not getting a site banned from the search engines, but then again, most Black Hats know that their sites will eventually get banned and have figured that into their business model. So it's not really a question of good or bad, like the hats seem to imply.

Different Business Models ...

Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Alexa Toolbar Rankings
Search engine optimization expert Jill Whalen addresses accuracy of the Alexa toolbar rankings.

Introduction

Can you tell me a little about the Alexa toolbar and whether the "traffic ranking" has any real bearing on the popularity (traffic) to the website? My understanding is that it can only track site visitors who have the toolbar installed.

Specifically, I'm puzzled about a site that I just came across. The Alexa ranking is 151,351 which is not too shabby, all things considered. (Of course it doesn't compare with your site!)

This site has a single link on the front page that takes you to a Flash intro. The site is done in frames. It seems to me that it should not be drawing that kind of traffic. I couldn't find them on Google or Yahoo in the natural or paid listings. Where is this traffic coming from?

It seems they are doing everything that you warn against and are still able to draw significant amounts of traffic. Please enlighten me?
Category: Articles (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

Choosing Effective Programs for Your Internet Marketing Plan
How to choose the programs for your online / Internet marketing plans that make sense for the business.

Introduction

Objectives, strategies, and tactics (i.e. programs or action plans) - these are the parts of a solid strategic marketing plan. Your site objective defines the big picture, strategies provide the framework, and tactics fill in the details. Tactics are where the action takes place - these are the things you will do to bring your plans to life and "work" your marketing mix.

There is no shortage of Internet related marketing tactics. Many have great potential. The challenge is to sift through and choose the ones that are right for your situation - the ones that have the greatest potential to support your strategies and, together, incorporate all elements of the four p's.
Category: Articles (Marketing Strategy, Techniques)

13 Lessons In Marketing From The Super Bowl
Marketing lessons from Super Bowl XXXVI as demonstrated by the game itself and advertisers / sponsors.

Introduction

Each year, the Super Bowl provides marketers opportunity to study and learn from the game's advertisers, players, and coordinators. Super Bowl XXXVI was no exception. Foremost, of course, was The Game's appropriately patriotic theme. America's mettle and proud heritage were showcased to the world through this year's red, white, and blue logo; music selection by the performers; and depictions of historic U.S. icons. The Game further supported U.S. patriotism through the presence of the armed services, police department, and fire department at the game as well as interviews with troops in Afghanistan.

Finally, as if by design, the unlikely Patriots won the championship.

Lessons from the Advertisers...


Category: Examples from Life (Marketing Articles)

5 Ways to Convert Offline Strategy to Online Marketing Success
You may tend to look at offline and online marketing differently, building separate strategies and marketing plans for each. Thinking differently, however, could better grow your business. Most goals and strategies that work offline apply online as well (and vice versa). The underlying concepts are the same but executions differ. Some examples follow.
Category: Articles (Internet Marketing Plans / Marketing)

Internet Marketing for Local Small Businesses
Article explains ten Internet marketing strategies local small businesses can use in their marketing programs

Introduction

Not long ago I was speaking to a C.P.A. friend of mine who had invested a significant amount of his marketing budget to build an online presence. He spent a lot of time carefully designing the site and providing information and graphics to bring it alive.

Once the site was completed and the switch was turned on there was a sense of pride and accomplishment with high hopes that the website would provide a marketing spark that would help to increase his client base.

After several months, with next to no traffic, my C.P.A. friend confided that he regretted investing so much money in something that brought so little value. After all, he mentioned, it’s not like he was selling his services to clients outside his local town.

After consulting with him I offered several strategies that he could use to increase the amount of local, hometown visitors to his website. If you are a small “offline” business you may find several of these innovative strategies useful to your local Internet marketing efforts.
Category: Articles (Marketing Website Offline)

Marketing plan, small business management, and other articles on the Web Site Marketing Plan Network
Site map of articles on the Web Site Marketing Plan Network.
Category: Articles (Marketing Strategy, Techniques)

Your Brand Is Your Promise! (What are you promising?)
When people mention the word “brand” they usually mean a well-known, well-defined company that’s done an excellent job in crafting an image and sticking with it. Buyers know what to expect from these companies, and as long as these companies meet that expectation, they will continue to imprint their brand in the minds of their audience. It’s pretty simple really; if you just keep in mind the two principals detailed in the article.
Category: Branding Articles (Marketing Strategy)

Web Site Marketing Plan Network Site Map
Site map of marketing, management & planning articles, resources, and Websites within the Website Marketing Plan Network.
Category: Articles (Marketing Strategy, Techniques)

Marketing Strategy Article - Developing a Website Marketing Plan
For many of us, finding the time and commitment to develop an online marketing strategy is difficult. There are so many other obligations vying for our attention it is tempting to push strategies to the back burner. Giving into that temptation, however, means putting your business at a disadvantage.

This is because an overall marketing strategy is the compass by which you navigate. As opportunities arise or your business environment changes, the objective and marketing strategies in your plan will point you toward the best action. Without a strategic plan, you risk becoming unfocused in your marketing efforts, resulting in guesses about what might be best for your business.
Category: Articles (Marketing Plans)

Marketing Objectives for Your Web Site
Web site objectives drive site structure, marketing strategy, and program decisions. Consequently, when marketing objectives are set in the form of a marketing plan, this sets a Website up for success. Article discusses Internet marketing plans in terms of site business models and customer decision making stages.

Introduction

Do you have marketing objectives for your Website? With objectives to help overcome your main online challenges you can work smarter, not harder.

Think of your Website objective as the "big picture". It is the basis for a marketing plan and, in general terms, answers the questions:

- "How can I use the site to overcome my business's main Internet related challenge?" and/or
- "What is the purpose of my site?"


Category: Articles (Marketing Plans)

Invest in Marketing Programs
Some businesses tend to look at marketing and planning as expenses that take profit away from the company — as luxury items to “splurge” on when they have the money — but not a necessity. This approach is short sighted. Marketing is an investment that increases profit and improves business value over time. The article explains.
Category: Articles (Marketing Plans)

Website Design Companies in St. Louis
This page describes several Website design businesses headquartered in or around St. Louis, Missouri.
Category: Products / Services (Web Design)

Increase Sales - Surprise Your Customers
When’s the last time you surprised prospective customers? “Me? Never! You can’t do that to customers. You’ll drive them away!” Yet I tell you that it is possible to surprise them and have them glad that you did.





Category: Customer Relations

Making It Easy for Customers To Choose You
Here’s something every web site owner should know. When visitors come to your site, they are looking for a reason to buy from you.

Think that’s stating the obvious? You’d be surprised! I come across countless sites every day that do everything but give the visitor a reason to buy, subscribe, click, call or otherwise take action. It’s a fatal mistake in any business, but it’s especially damaging for web-based companies.

Karon goes on to explain how to go about differentiating your business online.
Category: Articles (Internet Marketing Plans / Marketing)

Credit Card Articles
A variety of credit card related ecommerce articles. Topics include:

Credit Card Processing Fees
Overview of Options
ECommerce Website Design and Hosting
Internet Merchant Accounts
Online Merchant Account Pitfalls
Credit Card Merchant Account Questions
Accepting Credit Cards Online Through an Online Payment Processor
Category: Articles (Merchant Accounts)

Lessons in Prosperous Competition - Vegas Style
A recent trip to Las Vegas inspired thoughts about how direct competitors can thrive in the same physical or virtual space. I often hear people overly concerned that their actions will somehow help the competition. While it’s strategically healthy to be aware of competitors’ activities, an obsession with doing absolutely nothing to help a competitor can be detrimental to your own business.
Category: Examples from Life (Marketing Articles)

Is Your Website Pulling Its Weight As A Business Tool?
A Website is a business tool as well as a marketing tool and can help make many departments within your company more efficient. Which, in turn, increases your company’s customer service, reputation and profitability. The article explains how to uncover ways *your* Website can function as a company business tool.
Category: Articles (Small Business Management)

How to Defuse a Potentially Dangerous Work Situation
In a perfect world our employees would perform perfectly and act like well-behaved adults. All too often, bad behavior in the workplace is commonplace. The path of least resistance is to remain in denial by rationalizing bad behavior, and pretending it isn’t happening. You convince yourself that the issue isn’t important, or that you hope the matter will clear up by itself up in due course. This course of action is usually not very effective. A problem employee is often emboldened by non-action and the behavior often gets worse. In a very real sense, you lead by what you tolerate. By approaching the problem the right manner, you can often defuse a potentially dangerous situation.
Category: Articles (Small Business Management)

Constructing Classified Ads for Maximum Profits
This article explains how to apply attention, interest, desire and action (AIDA) when copywriting, using a classified advertisement resources as examples.

Introduction

I enjoy reading most books related to "self-help." The fact that lives can be completely changed for the better, as a result of following the printed word, is amazing in itself. And, when self-help subjects are produced in video format, this is even better because of the added visual aspect. In fact, I grasp concepts that are expressed visually much faster than with ones that only present the printed word. As this article relates to the construction of ads and, particularly, classified ads, I will merge both of the elements of print and visual for a (pardon the pun) "clear" understanding.
Category: Articles (Online Advertising)

Keeping the Worms Away. How to Minimize Virus Threats.
Article explains how worms and viruses spread and gives links to keep updated about current threats.

Introduction

Over time, worms and viruses are becoming potentially more destructive.

According to Digital Risk Specialists mi2g, SoBig alone was responsible for nearly 91% of the $32.8 billion in economic damages caused by viruses and other system attacks during a single month in 2003.

And it isn't over.

Technical experts and risk specialists warn there's every indication that worm attacks will continue indefinitely. For example, there is a "self destruct" date built into each iteration of the SoBig worm. The unknown person coding the SoBig strain purportedly learns from each iteration and generally releases a more destructive version soon after.
Category: Articles (Email Marketing)

Website Marketing Program Success: Web Metrics
Article discusses ways to measure Internet marketing program succes through Web metrics.

Introduction

Measuring and understanding your Website's marketing performance is a process that is sometimes placed permanently on the "back burner." Knowing how and why your Website marketing programs perform the way they do, however, can lead to greater success. In Part 1, http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/Arts/SiteSuccess.htm , we looked at how to improving Website marketing success through marketing planning and project evaluation. Here, we'll look at several Web metrics, ways to measure and improve your Website marketing by understanding the data. The specific data you collect and analyze will depend on your Website goals and resources available to you. Here are just a few of the measures to consider, along with ideas for making related Website marketing programs a success.
Category: Articles (Web Metrics, Measurement, Logs)

The One Vital Web Design Element That Virtually No One Is Telling You About
Article explains why the customer is a critical consideration in Website design.

Introduction

You've probably seen articles that cover the "Top Ten Web Design Mistakes" or something to that effect. They all seem to say the same things, don't they? No animation, keep the appearance professional, use easy navigation, and so on. You've done everything those articles told you to do, but your site still isn't making the progress you'd like. What's wrong?

You know, out of all the ebooks I've seen - and all the articles on Web design I've read - one thing is rarely mentioned. You would think, since this element is absolutely vital to any Website's success, that it would be the talk of the town. That one vital element is... your customer.
Category: Articles (Website Design)

What’s in it for me? (A targeted marketing and unique selling proposition article.)
Article explains how to target your market with a unique selling proposition, or USP.

Introduction

"Don’t tell them what you do. Tell them what you do for them.” As a small business owner, service provider or medical professional, one of the biggest challenges you will face is telling others what you do. The challenge comes from the fact that most people are only interested if what you do fits what they need or want. Otherwise they are not interested. You must tell the listener how your product or service can benefit him, and how you can do it better than others who do what you do. This is your unique selling proposition (USP). A great USP has these key elements.
Category: Targeting Articles (Marketing Strategy)

Your Unique Web Proposition
Article explains how to develop a unique Web proposition by asking and answering three questions.

Introduction

Every week, tens of thousands of new people and organizationsUnique Web / Selling Proposition Article. Tell a friend. are jumping onto the Internet bandwagon. How can you ensure that you will be found, and better yet, stand out as unique among this rapidly swelling crowd?

The key is to clearly define your Unique Web Proposition (UWP). Your UWP defines your place in the Internet marketplace, making you separate -– and better -– than everyone else.
Category: Articles (Marketing Strategy, Techniques)

Television Advertising - Advantages and Disadvantages
Watching TV is the most common leisure activity in our country today. It is the medium where the consumer spends the most “attentive” time. A number of surveys report average daily television viewing time as high as five to six hours. No wonder it has grown into a giant advertising medium.
Category: Articles (Small Business Management)

How to Get the Right Subscribers for Your Newsletter
Example of how one publisher built a successful email newsletter by learning to target her customers.

Introduction

A key to successful marketing is to get the right folks interested in your products and/or services. You have to get their attention then convince them to buy.

The "getting attention" part is not as easy as some would have you believe. Sure, there are ways to drive massive amounts of traffic to your newsletter. Unfortunately, most are a waste of your time and money because they do not attract the right kind of subscribers.
Category: Articles (Ezines and Online Newsletters)

Targeting Your Best Customers Improves Your Marketing Plan Success
Article discusses how to incorporate needs of your customers into a marketing plan. Topics addressed include: Identifying Your Best Customers, Discovering Your Customers' Needs, Targeting Those Customers, and Integrating Best Customer Targeting Into Your Marketing Plan.

Introduction

Your best customers are those customers who purchase frequently enough, the products or service you provide, to be profitable. This type of customer generates regular income and is a very desirable customer for your business. Making an effort to target customers like these will rapidly increase your income while creating stability for your organization.

Identifying Your Best Customers

 While a marketing plan outlines general characteristics of your customer base, only by concentrating action on your best customers will you achieve the greatest returns. While your marketing plan provides guidelines for marketing, knowing who your best customers are helps you turn those guidelines into actionable steps relevant to these customers needs. Relevancy is the key. The more your message talks to the needs of your best customers, the more likely they are to listen to you.
Category: Articles (Marketing Strategy, Techniques)

Target Market - 3 Big Reasons You Need To Know Yours
Most of us know it is important to find and target the right audience, but sometimes how or why are unclear. Here, the author explains three reasons knowing and relating to your target audience is critical.

Introduction

Rule Number One when writing marketing materials is "Know Your Target Market." There's a lot of foundational work to do before you ever put a word on paper but this is the place to start. What happens when you define your target market and become intimately acquainted with their needs and problems?
Category: Targeting Articles (Marketing Strategy)

SWOT Analysis - Evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
When conducting strategic planning for any company - online and/or offline - it is useful to complete a SWOT analysis.

Introduction

It is useful to complete an analysis that takes into account not only your own business, but your competitors' activities and current industry happenings as well when conducting strategic planning for any company - online and/or offline. A SWOT is one such analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Completing a SWOT analysis helps you identify ways to minimize the affect of weaknesses in your business while maximizing your strengths. Ideally, you will match your strengths against market opportunities that result from voids in your competitors' products and/or services. Traditionally, a SWOT analysis confines strengths and weaknesses to your company's internal workings while opportunities and threats refer only to the external environment. Here, I suggest a twist to that approach. To get a better look at the big picture, consider both internal *and* external forces when uncovering opportunities and threats.
Category: Articles (Marketing Strategy, Techniques)

Beyond the Super Bowl: Advertisers’ Strategic Marketing Campaigns
The cost to run a 30-second spot during Super Bowl XV is a reported $2.6 million, far beyond a small business marketing budget. By looking at the larger strategic picture, however, we can all pick up some tips on how to better market our own small businesses. The article explores techniques advertisers used beyond the commercials in their marketing campaigns.
Category: Examples from Life (Marketing Articles)

Superbowl 2005 Advertising and Marketing Lessons
Demonstrates marketing and advertising examples from the Superbowl in 2005. Examples include Tabasco Brand, Fox Broadcaster Joe Buck, New England Patriot’s Head Coach Bill Belichick, and Paul McCartney.

Introduction

Advertisers, performers, broadcasters and coaches involved with the 2005 Superbowl demonstrated several marketing and management lessons during the course of the game.

Stay with a winner.

This year's Tabasco commercial demonstrated how one can maintain effectiveness by carrying over successful elements to a new campaign. In 1998, Tabasco ran a simple, wordless Superbowl ad that was both entertaining and effective at communicating the brand’s primary benefit.

The 1998 Tabasco commercial shows a man sitting, eating pizza on his front porch. Before each bite, he splashes on a liberal dose of Tabasco sauce. A mosquito flies in, bites the guy on the hand, and flies off. A second later, we see the mosquito explode in a mass of flames. Cut to the guy chewing and smiling, Tabasco bottle clearly displayed on screen. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

In 2005, Tabasco used that same simple, wordless format for another Superbowl commercial.
Category: Examples from Life (Marketing Articles)

Implementing Super Bowl Marketing and Advertising Techniques (No Deep Pockets Required)
The article explains various marketing techniques as demonstrated by Super Bowl advertisers and gives examples.

Introduction

Each year, advertisers with super sized budgets sink millions of dollars into Super Bowl commercials. While most of us do not have a large enough budget to advertise on the Super Bowl, the commercials - past and present - demonstrate several marketing techniques we can apply elsewhere. Here are some lessons for us all, as demonstrated by Super Bowl advertisers:

Entertain

The primary focus of Super Bowl commercials is usually entertainment. After the fact, discussion and analysis revolve around how amusing or interesting the commercials were. Little or no mention, however, is made of how effective they were in advertising the product.
Category: Examples from Life (Marketing Articles)

Direct Email - Thou Shalt Not Spam
Article explains reasons for not spamming, references UCE laws, addresses opt-in emails (permission email marketing), and more.

Introduction

If you are new to Internet marketing, you might equate direct email to direct postal mail. The concepts are very similar; in both you broadcast a standard message to a large number of individuals in hopes of receiving positive responses. To the uninitiated, it is logical to assume you can approach the two in the same way. It seems like the only difference is the means of communication. If you are thinking this way, STOP! STOP! STOP! The unsolicited commercial message (UCE) - spam - has a different connotation to the recipient than junk mail from the postal service. Spam on the Internet ties up resources. It uses storage space, slows down systems, and can crash equipment. For this reason and others, many abhor spam.
Category: Articles (Email Marketing)

How To Measure and Improve Site Success Part 1: Plan and Evaluate Marketing Programs
Measuring and understanding your Website's success is a critical process that is sometimes overlooked.

Instroduction

Measuring and understanding your Website's success is a critical process that is sometimes overlooked. Many times, marketing efforts stop at getting traffic to the site. The next step is to evaluate results. By "connecting the dots" between your marketing programs and end results, you can improve performance. Ultimately, site success depends on how well your site performs with respect to your goals. Measuring actual results against those goals tells you how well your site is succeeding.
Category: Articles (Web Metrics, Measurement, Logs)

Radio Advertising Pros and Cons
280 million people own more than 300 million radios and, contrary to the predictions of doom, radio still fills a strategic advertising role for businesses both large and small. It is a relatively inexpensive way of reaching people, and it has often been called the “theater of the mind” because voices or sounds can be inexpensively used to create specific moods or images.
Category: Articles (Marketing Website Offline)

A Product is More Than Your Product
I had a wonderful Thai dish for lunch today. I’ll likely never return to the restaurant, however. Although the dish itself - the “product” - was delicious, the entire “Product” was a disaster. The restaurant owner failed to understand that there’s more to his Product than the dish itself and that when it comes to marketing, the customer’s perception is reality.
Category: Examples from Life (Marketing Articles)

Pricing Your Service or Product: Things To Ponder
Article describes eleven things to consider when pricing a product or service.

Introduction

Terrific students attend the classes I teach. They ask profound questions that "stretch" my knowledge and resources. When I teach a building a business foundation owner class, I'm usually asked, "How does someone price a product or service?" During a recent class, I promised to write down what's in my head and send it to the students. And because of them, you now have it, too. In order to keep things simple, I'll use "services" to mean both services and products in the list below.
Category: Pricing Strategy Articles (Part of Marketing 4 Ps)

Don't Gimme No Solutions!
Rant about business people using technical and other jargon to explain products and ideas.

Introduction:

Ever thought that this whole technology thing is just too confusing for the average person to understand? Ever visited a Website to learn about a new computer product only to leave the site muttering, "I don't get it. It's way too complicated?" Well, if you have, you're not alone, and the problem may not be of your making. The way I see it, the technology marketers on the Information Superhighway are spinning their wheels in a morass of jargon and hype. The result? A phenomenal tendency to say much and communicate little. When these Marketer Persons put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, who the *^&* knows what they're talking about? Not me, and certainly not the end user, the person who might actually want to buy the product, if they knew what it was and what it cost and how they might use it.
Category: Articles (Marketing Communications)
 
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