Bill Rice Internet Marketing > Internet marketing

Wednesday Webinar: SEO Fundamentals

January 3, 2012 By

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year’s Eve.

Are you ready to take it up a notch in 2012? I sure am.

Seo magnet

January is always an exciting time–fresh beginnings and new challenges. On the flip side it can be a little scary. It’s kind of like an artist staring down a blank canvas hoping to create a masterpiece.

Starting from scratch is always hard. That’s why I like to start a New Year by reviewing the fundamentals. In my business (and probably yours), that means taking a look at how I am doing SEO for each of my websites.

Join me tomorrow (1/4/2012) at 1 pm ET for a FREE webinar to review SEO Fundamentals.

register-now-grn.jpg

Here’s what we will be reviewing…

  1. Keyword research
  2. Content architecture
  3. Editorial calendars
  4. Link building strategies

Bring your notepad and your questions and we’ll get a little search traffic headed your way!

You can’t make this one? Join Bill Rice for one of his other Internet Marketing Courses.

Filed Under: Lead Generation Tagged With: Internet marketing, seo basics, seo training, webinar

5 Tips to Get More Sales from Linkedin

January 20, 2011 By
LinkedIn Sales

LinkedIn Can Be Your Best Friend

LinkedIn is a powerful tool that you can use in order to improve the sales of your business. It is a social network for salespeople and business owners. Some people use it to find employees, but it can also be used in order to streamline your sales method. The first part of taking advantage of this process is making sure that you understand who your customers are and what type of mindset they have. With that in mind, here are 5 sales tips that you can use in order to take advantage of LinkedIn.

1. Create a Clear Profile

It is surprising how common it is to find profiles that don’t really explain what a company even does. More than boasting about the benefits of any particular company, a LinkedIn profile should make it clear what service it provides to its clients or customers. It should go on to explain what results you can provide for your clients, and how things will improve for them if they work with you rather than somebody else or nobody at all.

2. Do Your Research

With LinkedIn, you have access to all of the information that you need in order to find the right person to get in touch with. It makes it possible for you to know everything that you need to in order to have a good business relationship before you even begin speaking with them. All of this makes it much simpler for your first sales call to go much more smoothly than it otherwise would.

3. Build Lasting Relationships

This is one of the sales tips that often goes ignored, but it is perhaps the most important. In order for a company like LinkedIn to be useful for you, you absolutely must use it on a regular basis. It is a good idea to use the system for about twenty minutes every day, keeping in touch with your business contacts. This ensures that your clients and business contacts don’t forget about you, so that you will be one of the first people that they get in touch with if something comes up that you have the skills to help them with.

4. Write Recommendations

If you work with somebody and you feel that they were legitimately helpful, be sure to recommend them. If you already have a working relationship with somebody who has an account, offer to write them a recommendation as well. In many cases, you will get a recommendation in return.

5. Recommendations

It is also a good idea to request recommendations from clients. Don’t get pushy about it, just realize that most people don’t think to do it without some prompting.

Filed Under: Social Networking, Social Selling Tagged With: Customer relationship management, Internet marketing, linkedin, linkedin marketing, Social Media, Social network

In Pursuit of Experts and Expertise. Is it Necessary for Success?

May 29, 2010 By
Trust us, we're expert
Image by phauly via Flickr

One of my BizSugar friends, Susan Oakes of Marketing for Business Success, took me to task for my use of Expert in 8 Ways to Become an Expert in Internet Marketing. Our discussion, available here on BizSugar, centered on whether being an expert is necessary in all cases.

Her question really got me thinking.

The answer is obvious. Of course not. In fact, in many cases (maybe even most) the biggest successes are not experts. They are doers.

Unfortunately, I see far too many ideas never started or fizzle in failure because of attempts at expertise. (Secret: I’ve been handed defeat many times because of this).

Think about your own goals…

  • How many blog posts did you not write?
  • How many conferences have you not attended?
  • How many people have you not called?
  • How many prospects have you not engaged?
  • How many heroes have you not reached out to meet?
  • How many email lists have you not started?
  • How many eBooks have you not written?
  • How many books have you not written?
  • How many businesses have you not started?
  • How many ideas have you not tried?
  • How many adventures have you not pursued?
  • How many times have you convinced yourself to quit?

…all because you weren’t the expert?

Here’s my final thought (one I try to remember):

Expertise is rarely necessary for success. Doing always is.

What do you think? Do you have to be an expert?

Filed Under: Social Selling Tagged With: business, Expert, facebook, Internet marketing, marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Social Media

Why I Joined Third Tribe

May 24, 2010 By

Third Tribe emerged from a blog post I never read. And I’m pretty confident I know a lot about Internet marketing having been deep in the Internet lead generation business since its early inception. But, in October 2009 at BlogWorld a panel of my favorite smart Internet people: Brian Clark, Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, and Sonia Simone said they were going to do something new, together.

I knew I was in.

There are just some people that you know will do it right. Some brands you don’t need to read the marketing copy for, you just buy. This was my perspective on Third Tribe.

However, many of you might not know these people as well. Or, had an opportunity to shake Chris Brogan’s hand and have him talk to you candidly, eye-to-eye. It’s for that reason that I write this post.

I don’t want you to miss the opportunity to become a better marketer.

Whether you are a professional marketer, freelance anything, or small business owner Third Tribe is important. This community will get you to your goals faster than figuring it all out on your own.

Why wouldn’t you give it a $47 try? (affiliate link)

Here are the most important things I get from The Third Tribe Community:

  • All-star seminars from some of the most successful Internet marketers in the business. I’m continually amazed at how open they are with methods and techniques. We are generally a paranoid and secretive bunch—Internet marketers. (What’s really cool is there is an archive—so you haven’t missed anything if you sign-up now).
  • Live Q&A sessions. I get to ask the Pros free questions about my projects. Free Internet marketing consulting!
  • Forums, discussions, and niche expertise. I’m amazed at the number of specific details and example experiences I can find related to projects I’m currently developing.
  • A core group of friends and collaborators that are willing to help me on my initiatives and projects. Relationships that are extending beyond the private Third Tribe community environment.
  • A repository of great talent in every facet of Internet marketing: copywriting, design, programming, web development, community managers, video, etc.

It’s pretty clear that at $47 a month you are getting your bang!

You should join today (affiliate link)

In case you’re not convenience here are a couple of specific personal examples you are seeing as my customers and audience that are a direct result of Third Tribe Marketing:

  • My resurgent email newsletter. Inspired by Action Email: Copywriting Tips for Effective Email Marketing
  • Upcoming products and launches. Inspired by Product Launch Strategies: What Always Works and What’s Working in 2010

Do you see why I’m excited enough to write a post about Third Tribe? I’m bringing you better stuff (even free stuff) for a very small monthly investment of $47. You’re worth it. Because I appreciate you, each of you. So, the investment is a no brainer!

Are your customers, clients, audience worth $47 a month to get better stuff from you?

Heck, you might even figure out how to make those people happy to pay you (you’ll learn that too).

Sound interesting? Join me Inside the Third Tribe (affiliate link).

Filed Under: Lead Generation Tagged With: Internet marketing, Lead Generation, third tribe

How to Ensure Your Email Marketing Campaign is Successful

June 2, 2009 By
Image via Wikipedia

Email marketing, when used properly, is a very powerful tool for businesses. Despite the fact that it has been abused by spammers, with the right techniques and the right approach, it can have a dramatic impact on sales.
Let’s take a look at what you need to know to make sure that your next campaign is a success, and discuss some pitfalls that you’ll need to avoid.

List Building Made Easy

The first step to effective email marketing is list building. In some cases, it can take years to build a responsive list, but there are a few shortcuts that you can employ to speed this process up.
First, you’ll need to come up with an incentive that will make people want to join your list. Whether it is a free gift that is related to your niche, or simply a helpful newsletter that contains tips that will appeal to your audience, this incentive is vital.

In order to convince a future customer to join your list, you have to give them something with a perceived value. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, but it should make the decision about whether or not to reveal their email address to you an easy one.

Using a double opt-in system is the best way to build your list effectively. In fact, many web hosting companies now require this step before they will allow you to use their servers to send out emails. Even if you decide to use a third party list application, double opt-in is the best way to go.

This is also known as permission maketing, and will make a difference in the type of response you receive. Although you may have a smaller list if you utilize double opt-in techniques, it will be a list comprised of those who are truly interested in your product or service.

You can look at it this way – would you rather waste your time with a big list of 5,000 people who are not really interested, or with a list of 500 people who continually make purchases?
Third party list applications, such as AWeber, make it easy to manage and keep in touch with your list. Beginners are better served by using a proven service like this instead of trying to host and mail their list on their own. Most third party list servers will make permission maketing much easier.

Once you have your list, you don’t want to lose the momentum you’ve worked so hard to build. It is very important that you keep in regular contact with them. Typically, you will want to send out at least one message per week to keep those lines of communication open.

List building is an activity that should be continued, even after you have a solid base of subscribers. This will help you beat attrition rates, and assist you in continually reaching out to new markets.
Now that you know what to do, let’s take a look at some techniques you will need to avoid.

  • Failing to use permission maketing. It may seem easier to simply collect email addresses, without adding the double opt-in step, but in the long run, you may regret it. Take the time to build your list the right way.
  • Over communicating with your audience. One email a week is sufficient, and occasionally two if you have something special to discuss. Any more than that may be considered spam.
  • Getting too friendly with your audience. Developing a rapport is one thing, but if you’re discussing your fabulous vacation instead of topics your audience wants to hear, your unsubscribe rate will go up.
  • Falling out of touch. Your email list is only effective if you use it. Some weeks it may be difficult to find something to discuss, but with a little effort, you can keep those lines of communication going.
  • Failing to introduce new products or services. If your business does not evolve, your list may grow stagnant. Don’t stop innovating.

The best time to start your list is right now. Don’t put off using this powerful tool that can help you grow your business. In time, the effort will pay off.

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Filed Under: Email Marketing, Lead Generation Tagged With: E-mail, E-mail marketing, Electronic mailing list, Internet marketing, marketing, Spam

The Secret to Finding Customers While Reducing Costs

June 1, 2009 By

In today’s economy, it has never been more vital to reduce operating costs, but this doesn’t mean that you can stop finding customers. It is a catch-22 situation that has brought many companies to their knees, but there are ways to circumvent this problem.

In order to stay alive in this harsh environment, companies need to learn to move quickly, to scale as needed and find a profitable niche that they can easily exploit. Sales prospecting is a key component to staying afloat, and it doesn’t need to be expensive or difficult to achieve.

Innovate or Die?

The old saying “innovate or die” has never been more apt. Tried and true methods of sales prospecting may no longer work in this economy, but that doesn’t mean you have to go down, clutching a sinking ship.
There are many new ways of targeting prospects and they are cheaper than you may think. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on leads that may never pan out, there are ways to make these leads come to you, hungry for what you have to offer.

Social networking, when utilized properly, has had a tremendous impact on businesses. We now have the ability to reach right out to our customer base, build a relationship and watch it flourish in record time.
If your company is not taking advantage of this new form of sales prospecting, you could be missing out on thousands of dollars of potential revenue.

Finding Customers the Easy Way

Thanks to the internet, we now have the capability of reaching out to consumers in many different ways. We’ve already talked about social networking, but it doesn’t stop there. Building an effective and compelling website is one of the first steps to utilizing all that the internet has to offer.

Corporate blogging has skyrocketed in popularity, and even the most respected and staid companies are finally getting on board. This is the century of personal relationships with your clients, and this is yet another means to accomplish this.

Search engine optimization and pay per click advertising offer another low cost way of targeting prospects. Gone are the days of spending thousands of dollars on banner ads, hoping to get a click through.
Now, we can sit back and enjoy targeted customers, eager for what we have to offer, and at a fraction of the cost. By properly utilizing SEO practices to optimize your website, and by taking advantage of pay per click marketing, you can easily improve your bottom line.

Putting the Theory Into Action

Your products are not going to sell themselves, and “build it and they will come” has been disproven roundly. You may need to do a little extra legwork today, but you can increase your customer base. The key is putting these proven theories into action.

The best strategy a small business can use is finding the easiest way to take advantage of all of the available opportunities. Even if your budget is small, the practices we have discussed are either low or no cost to implement.
Success is possible, even in hard times, but you have to work for it, you have to want it, and you have to make it happen.

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Filed Under: Lead Generation Tagged With: Advertising, Internet marketing, marketing, Pay per click, Search engine optimization, Small business, Social network service
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