I like to write; I also like to ramble. So to keep on track I developed an “ideal client.” I even have a picture of her:

I put this picture and her statistics (the answers to the questions below) by my computer. That way when I write, I don’t get too off track. Develop your ideal client with the following checklist:

1. Is your idea client a man or woman? (Women are more openly touchy-feely than men. They go online more often than men to socialize and express themselves. Men, on the other hand, go online to do more business.)
2. How old is she? (In general, the age of your target-market determines how much jargon they understand. For instance my 76-year old mother has no idea what “BFF” means and I in turn have no idea what my teenagers are talking about some of the time; so I have to ask them.)
3. Where does he work? (from home, in corporate America, at a small business, etc.)
4. What is her job? (Title and functions such as ’salesman who sells specific widgets,’ or a ‘consultant to life coaches,’ etc. Where someone works and what they do is important if you are marketing products to businesses.)
5. How much money does he make? (This helps in determining the size of the offer you make on your product or service.)
6. Is she married or single? (This helps in connecting with your ideal client in the examples you use.)
7. How many children does he have, or is he childless? (I will discuss tomorrow how this affects your marketing specifically to women. You may be surprised like I was.)
8. What does she do in her free time and what are her hobbies? (Again, this can help in forming connections.)
9. What are the biggest concerns in his life at this time? (Most people buy products to solve problems.)
10. How can you help her solve those problems? (This is probably the most important question in putting together an offer for your products or services.)
11. How technically savy is he? (If I ask my mother to download a product she will be confused. She is much more comfortable in having something mailed to her. However, many people expect things immediately and so want downloadable products.)

All the answers to the above questions help you define how you market your products and who you market them to. Come back tomorrow for some more information on marketing specifically to women.

Dave Navarro is increasing his readership through a contest. This isn’t so unusual except for the fact that you can enter more than once by tweeting about his blog post “7 Steps to Playing a Much Bigger Game (with Free Workbook).” He has a tiny url so you can tweet about your experiences with his workbook. Dave will then have a drawing for free stuff – an ipod touch, Dell Mini Notebook, gift certificates, etc.

I thought this was a brilliant digital marketing idea. (His extremely long blog post and workbook are pretty good too.) There are three things I really like about his method:

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Testimonials from satisfied customers add credibility to you, your company, and your products and services. Before using any information from a customer, be sure to get their permission in writing.

1. Put testimonials on your website.
2. Testimonials are great on landing pages.
3. Highlight a satisfied customer in your newsletter. Customer comments get the highest readership in newsletters because they are compelling and fun to read.
4. Add customer comments to a brochure or white paper. Comments from satisfied customers can add interest to an otherwise dry subject.
5. Use a customer testimonial in a press release. These pique interest of readers and may lead to someone contacting you.
6. Put three short comments together for an ad. These always get read because they are true stories about real people.

I have several friends who host their blogs on a free program. That is great if you don’t plan to make money in any way from your blog. If you want to blog about your family, then I recommend you use a free service.

If you want to make money, however, then it doesn’t make sense to use a free service. With a free service you don’t have complete control of your site. Also many free programs will shut you down if you “commercialize” their site. I didn’t realize this until a friend had her site shut down. It was sad because she had put time and effort into her blog and she can no longer use it.

WordPress isn’t the only program you can use to blog, however. Before I began my blog I did some research on several programs that I could host myself. (As you’ll get to know through my blog, I am big on research. I absolutely love it! I know, I’m quirked – and yes that is a word and I like dictionaries too.)

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Why I choose WordPress:

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I love You Tube. You can learn how to do almost everything there. This set of 60-second videos about using Google Analytics is a great way to see how using Analytics can help you monetize your website better.

When I went to college, writing was a big deal. Most of my classes required that papers be turned in with a certain format and in third person. Writing for the web is a lot different than that. Writing for the web is writing to SELL.

And Freelance X-Factor is written by Brian Clark, of Copyblogger. He boils writing for the web down to these 3 requirements:
• A way to differentiate yourself from the pack
• A way to raise your perceived value to clients
• A way to deliver higher actual value to clients

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Many people see the value in setting up a blog with their own domain name. A lot of them just search for the cheapest hosting service.

I personally have used four hosting services. One of them I had problems with. The other two were fine, but I like Blue Host for the following reasons (most important item first):

1. Customer Service. Blue Host has terrific customer support. It is US-based and all of their servers are US based as well. They have happily answered my questions, even if they have been about WordPress. They also are available 24/7. Read the rest of this entry »

digital flower

I recently interviewed the owner of a local company that has been around for 30 years. When I asked the owner what had changed in that time, he responded that people were pretty much the same, but that advertising had changed tremendously.

He told me that he used to place an ad in the local paper and his store would be flooded the next day. Now he can’t much tell the difference between when he places an ad and when he doesn’t. Also he told me there are many more places to advertise than 30 years ago.

This got me thinking about how important it is to be on the internet. Even if you have a brick and mortar company, it is important to be listed on the internet so people can find you. Read the rest of this entry »

Wikipedia describes Digital Marketing as “the practice of promoting products and services using digital distribution channels to reach consumers in a timely, relevant, personal and cost-effective manner.”

That’s a pretty big explanation; but again, digital marketing is a pretty big topic. I asked several friends what digital marketing meant to them and the answers included thing such as ads on the internet, blogs, and email marketing.

So exactly what are the components of digital marketing?

Is it a banner ad? Or a viral video? Perhaps it’s a marketing campaign that uses optimized keywords to drive traffic to a website. Whatever it is, it certainly changes quickly.

Digital advertising can refer to telemarketers calling cell phones, or television ads, or spam. For the purposes of this site, we will discuss advertising on the internet. The first types of digital marketing this site will explore include: Affiliate Marketing (also called CPA marketing), Relationship Marketing, and Social Media Marketing.

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