February 1, 2003
Table of Contents
Welcome
Quote of the Week
Administration
Featured Resource - THE INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT
Editorial
Staff Article -
QUICK AND DIRTY ROI
Guest Article -
NETWORKING YOUR MARKETING STRATEGIES
Parting Comments
Unsubscribe Information
Welcome
Thank you for subscribing to
the Peak
Small Business Newsletter!
If you prefer to receive the html version, let us know by emailing us at:
mailto:cary@peakconsultinginc.com?subject=HTML
You can also view it online at:
http://www.peakconsultinginc.com/newsletters/sbnl_feb0103.htm
Quote of the Week
Though no one can go back
and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new
ending.
- Carl Bard
Administration
INTERESTED IN THE HOME BUSINESS NEWSLETTER?
If you're interested in subscribing or switching, a simple blank email will
do, as follows:
mailto:s2home@peakconsultinginc.com - to switch to the home
business version and unsubscribe from the small business version.
mailto:both@peakconsultinginc.com - to receive both versions of
the newsletter.
Featured
Resource THE
INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT
Your computer is moving more slowly than molasses on a cold winter day and
you wonder, is it your machine or is the Internet just slow right now? Well,
now you can find out. Just hop on over to
http://www.internettrafficreport.com/main.htm and see what's happening
online on every continent. This is a really interesting site.
Staff Article
QUICK AND
DIRTY ROI
by: Cary Christian
If you've ever embarked on a major project for your company where achieving
a decent return on investment quickly was important, you know the bone
chilling fear such a situation can create.
If you're the owner of the company, miscalculation can ruin your business.
If you're an employee, it can cost you your job and your reputation.
If only there were a way to be sure your return on investment would be good
enough before you commit to the project.
Well, perhaps there is.
The good news is that the method I'm going to describe will be fairly
accurate and does not require all the mind numbing analysis you normally
think of when considering return on investment. Most analysis of this type
is so heavily dependent on assumptions that it's useless anyway, so a
shortcut that works is a real benefit.
The bad news is that there is no surefire method of guaranteeing ROI on a
specific project. The method I'm going to give you, however, is an excellent
predictor of success and involves just five simple factors. These concepts
can be applied to almost any type of project, from software development to
factory automation to new auditing methodologies. So here we go!
1. Pervasiveness - The more people using the new application or
process being developed the greater the potential of realizing positive ROI
quickly.
2. Automation of complex or expensive tasks - ROI is realized much
more quickly if the project results in making it easier for employees to
perform their most complex, and often most hated, tasks more easily. The
same is true if the project produces measurable cost savings through
automation of expensive tasks.
3. Importance of the subject matter of the project - The more
critical the work is that is affected by the project, the easier it becomes
to generate a solid ROI.
4. Collaboration - Projects that increase employee interaction with
one another and facilitates their working more closely together generates
greater value.
5. Reusability and cloning - If the product, knowledge or methodology
created can be reused or used in other ways to better other processes, the
project creates higher value, and thus, higher ROI.
If you find that these five factors apply to the subject matter of your
project, it is highly likely that generating a decent return on investment
is not going to be a problem. And you can make this determination very
quickly and without making lots of assumptions and spending weeks crunching
numbers to build a business case. Use it as a litmus test for every new
project you consider. Then, if you must build a formal business case for the
project, use these five factors to support it.
Time is money and simple evaluations like this one can save you tons of it!
Copyright (c) 2003
Guest
Article
NETWORKING YOUR MARKETING
STRATEGIES
By Shelley Lowery
A network is a group of points or locations interlinked with specific paths.
A network can be computers, people, web sites, or anything that is linked
together to form a group.
Remember the old adage, "There is power in number?" You can utilize this
power by developing a network of locations all promoting your products or
services.
Web Sites
Networking your web sites in one of the best marketing strategies you can
use. The concept is simple. Develop several web sites promoting similar
products, and link them all together.
Let's say for example you have a web site that focuses on dogs and offers
the following products:
• Dog grooming course
• Dog grooming supplies
• Dog obedience training
• Dog breeds guide
• Dog show supplies
Rather than using one general site to market all these products, develop
five separate targeted sites and create a network.
Your first step will be to register five separate domains, each targeting
your products. Your domains might look something like this:
doggroomingcourse.com
doggroomingsupplies.com
dogobediencetraining.com
dogbreedsguide.com
dogshowsupplies.com
Selecting the right domain names is an essential part of developing your
network. Your domain names should include your primary keyword phrase.
A keyword phrase is two or more words that best describe your web page.
However, selecting the right keyword phrases can be a bit difficult.
Goodkeywords.com offers a free little software program that will assist you.
Simply type in a keyword and the program will provide you with a list of
additional keyword phrases.
http://www.goodkeywords.com
Each site within your network should be strategically optimized for the
Search Engines and solely focus on your primary keyword phrase.
For example, the dog grooming course site might provide visitors with free
dog grooming tips, articles and advice. The dog grooming supplies site might
provide visitors with tips on selecting a good grooming table, or tips on
how to properly use clippers and scissors.
All of the content within each network site must be completely targeted to
each site. This in-turn will drive highly targeted traffic to each site.
In addition, each site should also link to all the other sites. This can be
accomplished by setting up a special link section within each site. Your
link descriptions should be your primary keyword phrases:
• Dog Grooming Course
• Dog Grooming Supplies
• Dog Obedience Training
• Dog Breeds Guide
• Dog Show Supplies
To get the most out of your network, consider publishing a generalized ezine
that targets your main keyword. In this example, dogs. You can then set up a
subscription form on each site and collect new subscribers from each.
Can you see how powerful a network can be? You're targeting several
different keyword phrases, driving highly targeted traffic to each site,
sharing the traffic with your other sites, and collecting email addresses
from each.
Networking is not exclusive to web sites. You can use this same technique to
network all of the following:
Products
When marketing similar products, develop a network by promoting all of the
products within each individual product. For example, within each of the
above dog products, we would promote all of the other products.
Free Ebooks
Free ebooks offer a great way to promote your products. For example, each of
the dog sites above could offer a different free ebook that provides tips,
articles and advice that targets their specific audience. In addition, each
of these ebooks should promote the sites and the other ebooks to create a
network.
Autoresponder Courses
Autoresponder courses not only provide your visitors with great free
content, but they also provide you with a great opportunity to promote your
web sites and products. For example, the dog sites can each offer a
different autoresponder course. Each of these courses should also promote
the sites and the other courses.
Affiliate Sites
Just as you can network your own products and web sites, you can also
network affiliate products that target your market. This technique involves
registering a domain name for a handful of targeted affiliate programs,
developing customized affiliate pages, and setting up your sites just as you
would for your own products.
Although this article provides some basic networking techniques, it's far
from complete. Networking is one of the most powerful marketing strategies
used on the Internet. Use your imagination and develop a networking plan for
your business. It will be well worth your time and effort.
Copyright © Shelley Lowery 2003. All Rights Reserved
------------------------
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of several successful ebooks including Web
Design Mastery - An in-depth guide to professional web design. Ebook Starter
- A Complete Ebook Design Kit, and eZines: A Complete Guide to Publishing
for Profit. Subscribe to Etips and receive a free copy of her highly
acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies."
http://www.web-source.net
Parting
Comments
We hope you have enjoyed this issue of the
Peak Small Business Newsletter and found it useful.
Please visit our website at
http://www.peakconsultinginc.com to check out all the resources we
provide.
If
you need to contact us, please use the following link:
Support -
support@peakconsultinginc.com
To suggest content or ideas for articles,
click this link to
send an email.
Unsubscribe Information
You are receiving this newsletter because you
requested it on our website or through an advertising link on the Internet.
If you want to cancel your subscription to this newsletter, simply click the
following link -
unsubscribe@peakconsultinginc.com |
