Web Marketing – Page 53 – TP Javeton WebNet

Targeted Marketing Drives Website Traffic!

Driving traffic to your website

Drive traffic to your website! You’ve probably heard the phrase repeated often, but actually performing the action of driving traffic to a website has caused many new website owners to lose sleep at night and, in some cases, a lot of money in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), pay-per-click, classified and other advertising methods. Targeted marketing can be the answer for many of these new website owners, but it must be done right through proper keyword research, website layout and well-written content; Because let’s face it, simply having the website alone doesn’t get it done!

So you’ve got your website up and running. You hired an excellent web designer to craft a perfect home page and satellite pages that will really draw in the visitors and inspire them to buy. You have a beautiful catalog of products with detailed descriptions. You have a section dedicated to the services you provide with praises from past customers; And you have the best online shopping cart service out there so that your customers can buy from you with no hassles and you provide next day shipping. That’s great! Now where are your customers?

The traffic hype does not conform to reality

Yes, driving traffic to your website is a much discussed and much misunderstood topic. There are a million theories out there that claim to drive tons of new visitors to your site daily; and there are services that say they will increase your traffic by an enormous percentage if you will only pay them their small fee over a period of fifty years. There are so-called experts who will place your pages on all the best search engines on the net, and by doing so, they claim that this kind of blanket exposure will explode your website traffic within days.

But the only sure-fire way to draw productive traffic to your website is through targeted marketing. The important word to notice here is “productive.” You can draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to your site every year by hosting a giveaway of some kind. Services that search the internet for freebies will have people clicking a link to your site like crazy. But these people are not there to buy anything from you … quite the opposite. They are empty clicks. There is nothing productive about this kind of traffic. People looking for free stuff will rarely make you any kind of money. And that’s what you’re after, right?

So target your marketing to the people who really want to buy what you have to offer. How? Start by trying these basic steps in the following paragraphs.

Hire an experienced copywriter

The copy that is published to your site makes a world of difference in the sales you garner from the internet. Most important to targeted marketing are the keywords found in your title and the metatags in the website’s code.

An experienced copywriter will know how to determine the most effective keywords, and s/he will place them strategically in your site’s copy. If you cannot afford a copywriter, do some research and talk to your web designer about inserting metatags. You can start by taking a look at our page about copywriting, and the one dealing with salesletter writing.

Join and participate in PPC search engines

Obviously, Google is the leading pay-per-click (PPC) searching engine, but most of the keywords with the highest degree of popularity are already taken; but if you can think of some original phrases (key phrases) that people use to search for your products or services, you can post your ad next to the text that comes up when people search for that phrase. Every time someone clicks on your ad to go to your site, you pay Google a nominal fee.

Submit articles to free eZines and directories

Submitting articles to directories is especially helpful if you are a service provider. You can write – or hire someone to write – an article for you about your area of expertise. Give some free tips, offer your experience, and be accessible in the text. Then at the bottom of the article, you get a link to your website advertising your services. Every time someone publishes your article in their ezine, newsletter or article directory they must use your web address at the bottom.

These are just a few of the many ways to ensure you get “productive” – or targeted – traffic. Empty clicks are just that … empty… and your wallet will stay that way, too, if you fail to attract paying customers to your website or product page. If you find this article helpful to you, please tell your friends about this website and make a return visit yourself. Thanks!

How Is Entrepreneurship Defined?

In discussing entrepreneurship and writing articles on the subject, it seems logical to me – or sensible anyway – to begin the discussion by agreeing on exactly what the word or term means to us as participants in the discussion.

Entrepreneurship defined

Entrepreneurship is the process of creating or seizing an opportunity, and pursuing it regardless of the resources currently in one’s control. According to Wikipedia entrepreneurship is defined as “the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as ‘one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods’. This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity”.
Dictionary.com defines entrepreneur as “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk”.

These are rather abstract concepts for a person just beginning to consider whether s/he ought to start a business rather than take a job, or leave a secure job for a chance at greater self-fulfillment. Let us try to refine our understanding of entrepreneurship by asking some more specific questions.

Narrowing the scope of entrepreneurship

Is everyone who runs a business an entrepreneur? Many would not consider the newspaper carrier, shoeshine person, and grass cutter entrepreneurs, though these are often the youthful pursuits of those with an entrepreneurial characteristics, if not aspirations. In fact, lawn manicurists today are managers of well-managed businesses.

Does it matter whether the endeavor is merely part-time? Whereas some part-time activities are basically hobbies, or undertaken to supplement income – similar to certain jobs and types of employment – some entrepreneurial ventures can be tested in the marketplace on a part-time basis.

The path to an entrepreneurial venture might begin by earning a salary in the business you expect to enter, while learning more about it, and waiting for the opportune time to go out on your own. This time can be used to develop a support network – professional and personal – and generate ideas to “bounce off” people whose opinions you respect.

At what scope does self-employment become a venture? The primary objective of many self-employed people is merely to employ themselves (and others if necessary) at a moderate to good rate of pay (or salary); some are even willing to eke out a living to do what they enjoy. This approach is often referred to as a “lifestyle” business, and is generally accompanied by little, if any, plan for growth.

Entrepreneurship: An attitude?!

These questions are intended, not to develop a precise definition of entrepreneurship, but to develop a better understanding of our attitude toward its many forms of expression. We may each answer these questions differently, yet we all answer them appropriately within our own frames of reference.

Entrepreneurship is more an attitude than a skill or a profession. Some of us may prefer employment in a corporate or public service field, but many would choose an entrepreneurial opportunity that “feels right.”

Would you consider a person who inherits a business an entrepreneur? From the point of inheritance on, it is their own money and financial security at risk. They could possibly sell the business, invest the proceeds in blue-chip stocks, and live off dividends. Some might consider managing a personal stock portfolio for a living as an entrepreneurial venture.

Would a person who inherited a small or marginal business, then took it to new dimensions be considered an entrepreneur? The inheritor could have tried merely to keep it going, or even to pace the business’ decline to just carry them to retirement. In a family-held business, long-term success is often a central goal.

In conclusion…

Are franchise owners entrepreneurs? Many feel that, for those who have access to the large up-front investment, franchises are sure things. For many, operating a franchise is similar to investing in “blue chips,” a relatively sure thing with generally unexciting returns.

So whether you’re inclined to work in an atmosphere where you call your own shots, take your own risks and take your destiny into your own hands; Or you prefer the guaranteed salary, set hours and safe (free of risks) circumstances offered by a job, it is good to have a clear understanding of both kinds of work before pursuing either. And since most people have a relatively good understanding of a salaried job (or position as the case may be), I hope we’ve defined entrepreneurship in a way that is easier to understand.