Small Business Advertising p. 2
Press releases: Press releases are a great form of internet marketing because of the large quantity of people they reach. What exactly is a press release? A good press release is one that is one page long and that emphasizes your business in a news article format. It is very important that the release is written with quality so you may want to invest in a freelance writer to complete the release for you. Writers charge varied amounts for releases but it is important to get quality out of this document because it holds quite a bit of power when advertisement practices are brought up.
There are a number of different outlets these releases can be used on and one of the best is PRWeb. PRWeb is a distributor of press releases that accepts only the best quality releases (if yours isn’t high quality they will send it back to you so you can revise it) and they send it out over their servers where a lot of the worldwide newspapers and internet surfers will see it. PRWeb is a much respected distributor and since they only accept high quality work, people rely on them to get the latest news in the business industry.
If you are determined to write your own press release, there are a few things you should keep in mind:
Write it in a journalistic sense
Don’t write “I” and “you” within the body of the release
Don’t use the press release to promote your retail products but to introduce something newsworthy
Keep it to one page and follow the format that is accepted (check other press releases online if you are unsure).
Having your own blog: Don’t think you’re much of a writer? Well it doesn’t matter much if you have the desire and will to create a blog that directs traffic your way and that advertises your products in a user friendly format. What is a blog? If you are completely out of the loop, a blog is an online journal that can be public or private where you can write pretty much whatever is on your mind. Some people use blogs to spout their political viewpoints while others use it to keep track of family and friends. If you want to really hit the target with your customers and give them something to read you may want to consider starting your very own blog! Here are a few suggestions:
Do it regularly! The only way to really get customers to read your blog consistently is for you to write it consistently. While writing everyday may be a bit of a lofty goal, you should aim for a once a week blog or a Monday/ Friday blog. A blog can have links to your poker website and can have room for comments, so anyone who reads it can click a hyperlink to your homepage or can comment on their opinions!
Write on a relevant topic! Since this blog is business related keep it business oriented! This blog isn’t for your personal thoughts or your day journal, this blog should consist of articles and content that is directly influenced by your retail products. For instance, if you try to sell cards primarily your blog should talk mostly about poker cards, although you may take side articles about other poker products and ideas. One popular idea is to link your blog with other poker product website who are sub- competitors with you (look to Section Two for definition). This way you can broaden your base and affiliate yourself with other reputable businesses.
Hire a writer if necessary! If you don’t feel like you’re a good enough writer or if you don’t have the time to write the blog, look to a freelancer to do the work for you. The best way to go about this is to look on one of the freelance work places (Freelance Writer, Freelance Work Exchange, and ECT) and let the writer know what work you are looking for. A professional freelancer will probably be able to bring more visitors to your blog (and ultimately your website) then you could with blog content.
Targeted emails: Email promotion is a double edged sword for many people because it has severe ups and downs. On the one hand, if you send off specific emails you will be able to service a narrow part of your customer base while on the other hand many people feel that email ‘spam’ is intrusive and rude. You will always be running a fine line between what is acceptable and what isn’t with targeted emails but there are a few things that you can do if you are determined to use this effective, but risky, way of advertising:
Make it optional: A great way to use targeted emails is to make them optional. Here’s how you do it: On your business website have a sign-up. This volunteer sign up will be up to the consumer whether they give you their email address with the intent of you sending them promotional emails.
Make them fun: If you can have fun and exciting targeted emails then you are taking the first step in impressing potential and current customers. How can you do this? It’s actually quite simple; just use a colorful backdrop, large type and exciting verbs! Fun emails are more accepted and less intrusive then others!
Make them personal: If you know who your emails are going to you can have a better chance of customizing them to their needs. For instance, knowing the buying patterns of specific buyers will help you send off emails that hit those certain needs. Take the hint from Amazon; Amazon recognizes what you buy so every time you log onto their site they recommend similar products. This relates to your poker product site because you can send off emails that deal with a certain person’s buying habits! Targeted emails mean customization!
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