What Anti-Virus Protection Do You Use?

I used the paid version of Norton Anti-Virus for years, until recently. On a recommendation from one of my readers, I tried the free version of AVG 8.0. Well, its been about 3 months since I switched and I'm ready to give you my analysis.

In my opinion, AVG 8.0 provides better overall protection than Norton. I especially like the new SafeSearch Link Scan feature where the software checks search results when you use one of the major search engines against AVG's database for known malicious sites and warns you of the potentially harmful link.

What about you? What anti-virus protection do you use? Are you happy with it?

I'm Rich, Bitch!

One of Dave Chappelle's most popular catchphrases is "I'm rich, bitch!" No, he doesn't say it to be disrespectful toward women. He uses it as snobbery to assert his authority and superiority.

Here's the thing though. Dave Chappelle really is rich. The $50 million contract he signed with Comedy Central is a matter of public record.

So, here's the question: When you hear internet marketers and so-called gurus bragging about how much money they make, do you believe them? Or do you think they're full of crap?

Please share your honest thoughts.

Is Pay-Per-Click Advertising Killing You?

Over the last few years pay-per-click advertising has gotten increasingly more competitive and much more expensive.

The days of paying 10 cents for a prime keyword are long gone.

Nowadays, ppc requires a substantial investment. And if you don't know what you're doing you can lose a ton of money.

In that regard, before you enter the ppc arena, I suggest you take time to study the ppc market and learn how to make it work to your advantage with Perry Marshall's "Definitive Guide to Google Adwords."

If you're serious about ppc advertising, I consider it a worthwhile investment.

And just for the record, I don't make a dime if you purchase the book. You'll notice, that's not an affiliate link. This is just another free marketing tip.

What's a Good Conversion Ratio?

Many marketing experts will tell you that on average, converting between 1-2 percent of your visitors to buyers is a an acceptable conversion ratio.

But I disagree with that "one size fits all" theory.

I believe a good conversion ratio is any ratio that provides you with a satisfactory profit margin for your business. That can be as little as 1-2 percent or less, or it can be as high 5-10 percent or more.

However, only you can determine what a satisfactory profit margin is for your business. No one can do that for you.

Fundamental Marketing: Inside the Numbers

Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing deep, dark or mysterious about marketing. It's a numbers game, plain and simple.

Fundamentally, marketing comes down to two different sets of numbers:

1. Conversion ratio
2. ROI (Return on investment)

Let's take a moment to look inside the numbers and discuss their importance.

A conversion ratio is the percent of dividing the number of visitors to your website who make a purchase or perform the desired action to the total number of visitors.

For example, if 100 people visit your site and 3 make a purchase, then your conversion ratio would be 3 percent.

I'm often asked what's considered a good conversion ratio.

Many marketing experts will tell you that on average converting between 1-2 percent of your visitors to buyers is a an acceptable conversion ratio.

But I disagree with that "one size fits all" theory.

I believe a good conversion ratio is any ratio that provides you with a satisfactory profit margin for your business. That can be as little as 1-2 percent or less, or it can be as high 5-10 percent or more.

However, only you can determine what a satisfactory profit margin is for your business. No one can do that for you.

Our next set of numbers is called ROI (Return on investment).

The dictionary describes ROI as a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or a number of different investments. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio.

For example, let's assume you spent $10,000 on an advertising campaign that brought in $20,000 in new revenue.

Obviously your ROI would be 100 percent, right?

Wrong. That was a trick question. I calculated your investment ($10,000) to your gross revenue ($20,000). It's a fundamental mistake that newbies make all the time.

Now if we were talking about horse racing you would have doubled your money.

However, in business, you have to consider what it costs to produce whatever it is that you’re selling and subtract that cost from your gross revenue.

In other words, you have to calculate your return based on your PROFIT, not on your GROSS REVENUE.

Here's a simple formula to help you remember the difference:

Profit equals Gross Revenue minus Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).

To sum things up, marketing is nothing more than a numbers game. The trick is making the numbers work to your advantage.

About the author:

David Jackson is a writer and the owner of the Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com - free marketing tips for your website or blog!

http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com/

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the authors bylines are included.

The Fundamentals Of Marketing

If you're a sports fan like I am and watch sports on tv, you've probably heard certain athletes being described as fundamentally sound.

For example, in the NFL, quarterback Peyton Manning is always described as being fundamentally sound. That means he displays proper footwork, and is always on balance when he throws the football. Those are two of the fundamentals of playing the position of quarterback.

And while most quarterbacks are undisciplined, Manning follows the same basic steps each and every time.

In fact, he's mastered the basics. That leads to consistency, and that's part of why Manning is a great quarterback.

In golf, Tiger Woods is always described as being fundamentally sound. That means his follow-through on his golf swing is always the same, and when he putts the ball he always keeps his head perfectly still. Those are two of the fundamentals of playing golf.

Woods is spectacularly consistent, because he too has mastered the basics.

But what about marketing?

Are there such things as marketing fundamentals? Are there marketing basic?

In a word, yes.

They're called the 4P's of marketing:

1. Product

2. Price

3. Promotion

4. Place (distribution)

And despite the advent of the internet, those fundamentals really haven't changed in all these years. For example, you still need a product to sell. And unless you're a non-profit entity, that product has to have a price.

In addition, you still have to promote that product. Now the one thing the internet has changed is how products are distributed. Because of digital products, you no longer need a physical place of distribution such as a warehouse.

People now have the ability to get certain products instantly, right over the internet.

However, if you want to be successful at marketing you have to master the basics. Or at the very least become very good at utilizing them.

That means acquiring the basic marketing skills, tools and techniques necessary to identify, evaluate and solve marketing problems.

It means understanding the various components that make up compelling marketing promotions.

It means creatively discovering ways to apply sound marketing principles in order to successfully compete in today’s topsy, turvy business environment.

In a nutshell, it means understanding the "why's" behind basic marketing principles.

So how do you do all of that?

Unfortunately, there's only one way that I know of - through education. You have to educate yourself on sales and marketing techniques.

The good news is how you educate yourself is entirely up to you. You have many options available to you.

For example, some people are excellent self-learners. They teach themselves what they need to know by reading books, articles, newsletters, etc., and putting into practice what they read.

Others need to be taken by the hand. These people take college courses, attend seminars, hire mentors etc.

Whichever way you learn best, you can be certain of one thing:

If you don't educate yourself on the fundamentals of marketing, you will not be successful.

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By the way, I'll be launching my new website later this fall. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It will feature "real" customer reviews of top online copywriting, hosting, website design, ISP, printing, SEO services and more! Follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews for further updates.

Best Article Marketing Software?

Don't believe the hype about article marketing software. Most of it is more trouble and aggravation than it's worth. The same goes for article distribution services.

Take a few minutes and manually submit your articles to the half dozen or so largest directories, and you'll get plenty of exposure.

These are the directories I personally submit to, and I can vouch for their effectiveness:

1. EzineArticles.com

2 ArticlesBase.com

3. Searchwarp.com

4. Ideamarketers.com

5. GoArticles.com

6. ArticleAlley.com

7. AmericanChronicle.com

Why I Hate Gurus

Last week I purchased a couple of e-books and a software product from three different so-called Internet marketing gurus.

Since that time, it's been an onslaught of e-mails - one right after the other.

Welcome e-mails, tutorial e-mails, new products launches, past seminars, upcoming seminars, etc., etc., etc.

I received over twenty e-mails from these guys in one week.

Anyway, to make a long story short, they've lost me as a customer. I've unsubscribed from their lists, and I actually requested a refund on two of the three products that I ordered.

I requested a refund because the products didn't come close to living up to the hype.

But here's the funny part.

I wouldn't have requested a refund if I hadn't been aggravated by the avalanche of e-mails I received. That's what set me off.

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By the way, check out my new website. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It's an exclusive business directory that features reliable online services, such as Adsense alternatives, copywriting, hosting, logo design, website design, SEO services and more! Also, follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews.

Should You Blog?

I'm often asked by beginners if they should build a website or a blog. My answer is always the same:

"Contrary to what you may have heard, a blog is a website."

In fact, here's how wikipedia defines a blog:

"A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video."

So you see, a blog is indeed a website.

Okay, now that I've cleared that up, let me explain why I prefer operating a blog site.

It really comes down to one word - simplicity. I'm technically handicapped, so I really need a simple platform from which to present my views and opinions, and conduct business.

And you just can't beat the simplicity of a blog. In fact, today's blogging software takes simplicity to a whole new level. To build a professional looking blog nowadays, it's basically point and click, and you're done!

It really is that simple.

When I decided to start my blog, I looked at the three most popular blogging platforms. Google's Blogger, Wordpress and Typepad. Typepad is a paid service with subscription plans starting at $4.95 per month.

Blogger and Wordpress are both free services.

After reading information on all three services and doing some exhaustive research, I decided to go with Blogger. Why?

Again, it came down to simplicity. You just can't beat the simplicity of Blogger's platform. And Blogger's boatload of free, easy-to-install features were also appealing to me.

Of course, that's strictly a personal preference. And the last thing I want to do is sound like a commercial for Blogger. Perhaps you'll find Wordpress or Typepad more to your liking.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the top services. You can build a professional looking blog with either of the three.

And that's really the point, isn't it?

So should you blog?

Well, that depends. If you're opinionated like I am, have something of value to say and want to share your views and opinions with the world, then you'll probably find a comfort level with a blog.

But whether you decide to blog or not, if you're building a website as a "for- profit" enterprise, it's important that you take it seriously and treat it like a business - because that's exactly what it is.

That means approaching your business with commitment and passion. It means paying close attention to the appearance and functionality of your site - making sure it's user-friendly.

It also means following up with your customers, refreshing your content regularly and concentrating on getting plenty of backlinks to your site. If you're not prepared to do those things on a consistent basis, then you're not ready for a website.

But if you do decide to make that commitment, I look forward to seeing you on the Internet!

One more thing: If you do in fact decide that blogging is for you, be respectful of your readers. Only post to your blog when you have something worthwhile to say. That can be once a day, once a week, once a month or more.

You see, many bloggers make the mistake of making frivolous posts, just for the sake of posting something. That's a mistake. If you make a habit of making low-quality posts, readers won't pay attention, when you actually post something worthwhile.

Only post information that your readers would consider worthwhile.

NEVER waste your readers time with frivolous posts!

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By the way, check out my new website. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It's a directory of reliable online services, such as anti-virus protection, copywriting, hosting, logo design, website design, printing, SEO services and more! Also, follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews.

How To Write Better Headlines

If you want people to buy your products, you have to advertise. Unfortunately, there's no getting around that fact. Like it or not, advertising is a necessary evil.

The key to all advertising is the right people seeing your ad and responding.
However, your ad has a far greater chance of succeeding, if your headline is strong.

How important is a strong headline?

If your headline is weak, no one will read your ad and it will fail. It's as simple as that.

“The Father of Advertising,” legendary copywriter David Olgivy once said:

"Five times as many people read your headlines as do your actual copy."

Whether or not he's right about the actual percentage isn't important. What is important is that your headline is the first thing people see, so you'd better get it right.

So what exactly does getting it right mean?

What makes a good headline?

Before you can write a good headline, you first have to understand what the job of a headline is. The number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention - period.

Now there are a number of ways that you can do this. I personally like to direct my headlines toward a specific audience. I find that to be the most effective method.

However, for this method to work, you have to understand your target market. You have to know your audience.

Now being the owner of a marketing blog, I know for a fact that advertisers are always interested in writing better headlines. How do I know this? Market research.

Always, Always, Always research your market! That can be your edge over your competition.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. My target audience for this article are marketers interested in learning how to write better headlines. So, in my headline, I focused on my target audience, and what my audience wants, "to write better headlines." Hence the headline:

"How To Write Better Headlines"

Now only testing will tell for sure. But my experience tells me that's a strong headline and would be successful. "How To" headlines are generally very effective.

Now I simplified the writing process here for the sake of brevity. But you'll more than likely have to write dozens of headlines for each of your ads before you come up with something you like - something that's going to be effective. It's all part of the process.

For me personally, my best headlines are usually the ones that sort of just pop into my head. But generally speaking, you're better off writing a bunch of headlines, until you end up with your strongest one.

So how will you determine which is your strongest headline?

Show your headlines to your friends, and family. Get their opinions. Also, if you're a member of a small business forum, show your headlines to forum members to get their feedback.

Ready to see me write another headline? Let's do it.

Suppose I owned a pet grooming shop. Now since I already did my market research, I know that most pet owners like to pamper their pets. So I'm sure that I would get a pet owners attention with a headline like this:

"Pet Owners: We'll Pamper Your Pet Like It Belonged To Oprah!"

Now let's discuss the fundamentals for a second. My target audience for this ad are pet owners. So in my headline I targeted my audience by using the words, "pet owners" and I gave my audience what they want by using the word "pamper."

Let me explain what else I did. I used the name of a famous celebrity in my headline, which is always guaranteed to get attention. Remember what I said earlier. The number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention.

But I also did something else. I brought emotion into the mix. In my headline, I told readers that my pet grooming shop would "treat their pets like royalty!"

And while I didn't use those exact words, the implication is there.

That headline has strong emotional appeal. After all, what loving pet owner doesn't want their pet treated special, right?

By the way, emotional appeals are very powerful in headlines. So use them as often as possible.

So are you starting to understand this headline writing thing yet?

Well, let's write one more to make sure.

Suppose I owned a pizza shop. Again, start with the fundamentals. My target for this ad is a general audience. After all, nearly everyone eats pizza.

But despite that fact, I'm still going to target my audience by using the word, "pizza" in my headline

Now this one's a little trickier because pizza ads are a dime a dozen.

So I need to do something to make my headline different - to stand out. I've decided to give my headline instant credibility by using a feature that is unique to my pizza shop. Here's the headline I came up with:

"Jackson's Pizza: Voted the City's Best Pizza For 10 Straight Years!"

Do you know what the reaction of most people reading that headline would be?

"Wow...voted the city's best pizza for 10 straight years! It must be good!"

This headline also has strong emotional appeal. Why? Because everyone likes to be associated with a winner. It's human nature.

Wrapping everything up, I'm going to summarize what it takes to write effective headlines into 5 simple steps:

1. You must know and understand your target audience. Research your market!

2. Target your headline to that audience.

3. Give your audience what they want.

4. Your headline must get the readers attention. Be creative.

5. Use emotional appeal whenever possible. Again, be creative.

One last thing. When writing headlines don't try to trick or mislead people. Get people's attention, yes. Be creative, yes.

But above all, be honest!

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By the way, check out my brand new business directory. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It features reliable online services, such as hosting, website design, copywriting, logo design, SEO services and more! Also, follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews.

Internet Marketing Is Stupid!

Are you familiar with the story "The Fox and The Grapes?"

It's a classic Aesop fable that goes something like this:

One hot summer day a fox was strolling through an orchard when he came upon a bunch of grapes just ripening on a vine high off the ground on a lofty branch. "Ahhh, just the thing I need to quench my thirst," said the fox.

Stepping back a few paces, the fox ran toward the vine launching himself high into the air, just missing the bunch of grapes. Not easily deterred, he took a few steps back and again ran toward the vine, launching himself high into the air, once again missing the grapes.

Again and again he launched himself higher and higher into the air, coming up short each time. Exhausted and frustrated, the fox finally gave up and walked away muttering: "The grapes are probably sour anyway!"

The moral of the story is:

"It is easy to despise what you cannot get!"

So what does any of this have to do with Internet marketing?

Well, a couple of days ago, I received a private message at one of the small business forums that I'm a member of. The message was from another forum member chastising me for trying to help other members of the forum.

In a nutshell, he said Internet marketing was stupid and that you can't make any decent money doing it, because he had tried several times and failed.

Hmmmmm...sounds a lot like our fox in the aforementioned story.

"It is easy to despise what you cannot do!"

He went on to tell me that I was giving people false hope by encouraging them with my advice. Anyway, that message got me thinking.

There are probably plenty of other people out there who erroneously think the same exact thing about Internet marketing, because of a negative experience they may have had. You may even be one of those people.

If you are, this is my message to you and the person who sent me that private message:

Internet marketing isn't stupid. It does work!

How do I know? Because I'm personally making my living online, as are several of my friends and colleagues. But it didn't just happen by chance. It's like anything else in life, you have to learn how to do it. You have to put in the work.

For example, people aren't born knowing how to drive a car. You have to learn how to drive by getting behind the wheel and practicing.

Well, Internet marketing is no different. You have to learn the fundamentals, and you have to practice them. Along the way, you may fail a few times, but whenever you're learning something new, you're bound to make mistakes.

I failed at Internet marketing many times, before that little light bulb finally came on inside of my head and I finally figured it out.

But I never gave up on myself and I never stopped learning. I read every marketing book, newsletter and article I could get my hands on. I still do.

You see, learning is the key.

If you want to succeed at Internet marketing, you have to learn how to do it. You have to put in the work!
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By the way, check out my new website. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It's a business directory that features reliable online services, such as Adsense alternatives, copywriting, hosting, logo design, website design, SEO services and more! Follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews for further updates.

Does Your Advertising Cry Wolf?

Are you familiar with the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf?" It's a classic Aesop fable about a young shepherd, who fraudulently called for help by repeatedly shouting "Wolf!"

Local villagers who came to his aid several times discovered that his cries were bogus, and that he had wasted their time.

Finally, when the boy was actually confronted by a wolf, the villagers ignored his cries for help and the wolf ate the flock of sheep, and the boy himself.

The moral of the story is:

"Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed."

That's the problem with a lot of advertising these days. It's crying wolf. It can't be believed or trusted. And that's a shame.

Because in my opinion, it's wrong to use advertising to mislead customers about the virtues of a product, when you know for a fact that the product is not what it's advertised to be.

Just imagine how you would feel if someone did that to you. You wouldn't like it would you? See my point?

Look, I'm a marketing guy, so I understand hype in advertising. Heck, I use it myself on occasion.

But if you're going to hype your product to the moon and beyond, you'd better make darn sure that it can deliver on all the outlandish claims and promises presented in your advertising.

Unfortunately, few products ever do and that's disappointing.

Now if you happen to be one of those "boy who cried wolf"marketers whose advertising is at best exaggerated and at worst a pack of lies, you best change your ways.

Why? Because while "you may be able to fool some of the people some of the time, you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

And once people discover that you're nothing more than a slick charlatan - a con artist if you will, they'll avoid you and your company like the Bubonic plague. Even worse, they'll tell others to avoid you as well. And that will be your death knell.

Because a bad reputation is like viral marketing in reverse. It will take your business down quicker than the Titanic! And while history suggests that most people probably won't go through the trouble of requesting a refund, you can forget about acquiring any new or repeat business.

And you know what happens when you can't acquire new or repeat business? Eventually, you end up going out of business altogether. So in the end, all you've really gained by ripping people off is a bad reputation.

When you stop and think about, it's just not worth it!

How's this for a novel idea? Instead of ripping people off with inferior or mediocre products, why not over-deliver on what your advertising promises?

True, it does require a little more effort to produceexceptional products. But I can assure you, it's much more profitable in the long run. Or in the words of the legendary L.L. Bean, courtesy of consultant Susan Walker:

"Make sure the story isn't better than the store."

I couldn't agree more. Let me give you an example of a marketer who consistently over-delivers.

Anyone who has ever purchased Dr. Ken Evoy's internet marketing bible, "Make Your Site Sell" would agree that Ken over-delivers big time with this product.

How much does he over-deliver? When his classic e-book was published back in 1999, it was a whopping 1500 pages and sold for a ridiculously low price of $17.

Can you believe that? 1500 pages of pure marketing brilliance for only $17! To date MYSS has sold well over 100,000 copies, generating nearly 2 million dollars in sales!

And as a result of Ken over-delivering with MYSS, whenever he launched subsequent products, word of mouth took over and all of his new products experienced explosive sales as well.

Why? Because people trust Ken Evoy. After all, he's never given them a reason not to. His advertising doesn't cry wolf!

You see, Ken Evoy has cultivated the kind of reputation that every business should strive for.

The kind you can take to the bank!

About the author:
David Jackson is a writer, and the owner of Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com - free marketing tips for your website or blog!
http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com/

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the authors bylines are included.