Sunday, March 06, 2005
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Online Market Segmentation
The fact is that people like to do business in different ways. There will always be a segment of the population that prefers to walk into a store and make a purchase rather than shop online. However, buying products and services online is taking off. No longer is it just a curiosity, but shopping online is becoming mainstream. As consumers spend more time online, wise marketers are spending more of their advertising budget online. They understand and know who their audience is. Three distinct market groups are emerging: buyers, consumers and surfers. Here's an overview of these groups:
Buyers
Buyers are business professionals who may be executives, engineers, managers, researchers, in fact anyone who spends most of their working day online. This lucrative market segment does not get the attention it deserves. Often these people are responsible for making purchasing decisions that require sourcing supplies, materials and services all under very tight time pressures. What a perfect target for online advertising! Make sure you don't discount these very influential buyers.
Consumers
This category includes the home computer user who routinely checks out commercial online services. This group is a gold mine. They're already receptive to making purchases over the Internet. Marketers only have to make the online shopping experience easier and this market is hooked. No longer will consumers be heading out to the mall for goods and services, they'll be shopping online in droves and loving it.
Surfers
Surfers are the online fun seekers. They use online technology as a form of recreation, to play games, get music and expand their knowledge. They are typically younger and fickle. And these people have short attention spans. They move all over in cyberspace. If something catches their attention, they stick around. If a little bit of boredom sets in, they're off again and surfing elsewhere. This is the most challenging group to market to, but one with a huge potential. Surfers are an impulsive bunch. If a product catches their eye, they'll buy online with no second thoughts. It's a bit like positioning the candy at the check out counter in the supermarket...you have a captive audience who finds it hard to resist temptation.
When planning your advertising strategy consider the three market segments. They are all different, but each one deserves attention. Your bottom line depends on it!
Scott F. Geld is the Director of Marketing for MarketingBlaster.com, a company providing targeted traffic and direct links starting at just $5. For more information visit http://www.MarketingBlaster.com
Buyers
Buyers are business professionals who may be executives, engineers, managers, researchers, in fact anyone who spends most of their working day online. This lucrative market segment does not get the attention it deserves. Often these people are responsible for making purchasing decisions that require sourcing supplies, materials and services all under very tight time pressures. What a perfect target for online advertising! Make sure you don't discount these very influential buyers.
Consumers
This category includes the home computer user who routinely checks out commercial online services. This group is a gold mine. They're already receptive to making purchases over the Internet. Marketers only have to make the online shopping experience easier and this market is hooked. No longer will consumers be heading out to the mall for goods and services, they'll be shopping online in droves and loving it.
Surfers
Surfers are the online fun seekers. They use online technology as a form of recreation, to play games, get music and expand their knowledge. They are typically younger and fickle. And these people have short attention spans. They move all over in cyberspace. If something catches their attention, they stick around. If a little bit of boredom sets in, they're off again and surfing elsewhere. This is the most challenging group to market to, but one with a huge potential. Surfers are an impulsive bunch. If a product catches their eye, they'll buy online with no second thoughts. It's a bit like positioning the candy at the check out counter in the supermarket...you have a captive audience who finds it hard to resist temptation.
When planning your advertising strategy consider the three market segments. They are all different, but each one deserves attention. Your bottom line depends on it!
Scott F. Geld is the Director of Marketing for MarketingBlaster.com, a company providing targeted traffic and direct links starting at just $5. For more information visit http://www.MarketingBlaster.com
Reasons To Archive Those Articles
by James D. Brausch
When you send out your newsletter, you need to archive the article on your site. Each article should be on it's own page with an index to the articles on another page. A link to your index of archived articles needs to be on your navigation bar. You can see an example on this site:
http://www.AtHomeBusinessPortal.com/newsletters
Here are some of the reasons you need to do this:
It adds content to your site. The search engines love content. They will send visitors directly to your article pages. Your navigation bar will give those visitors a chance to visit the parts of your site that make you money.
It gives people a reason to bookmark you site and return often.
It gives people an idea of what they will receive if they sign up for your newsletter. A higher percentage of people will sign up if you have an article archive.
At the end of each article, you should have a courtesy notice like the one you see at the end of the articles on the above site. Some people will reuse these articles and include a link to both the author's site... AND your site.
You should also solicit articles from other authors. More authors will submit articles if they know you will be archiving them on your site.
There is a chance that some search engines will eventually ban any site that is low on content. An article archive makes your site a content site is everyone's eyes. It's insurance against such an event.
The author, James D. Brausch, is the coach and webmaster of QuitThatJob.com, a site dedicated to providing step-by- step instructions to start your own profitable Internet business and Quit That Job! For more info, please visit : http://www.QuitThatJob.com
When you send out your newsletter, you need to archive the article on your site. Each article should be on it's own page with an index to the articles on another page. A link to your index of archived articles needs to be on your navigation bar. You can see an example on this site:
http://www.AtHomeBusinessPortal.com/newsletters
Here are some of the reasons you need to do this:
It adds content to your site. The search engines love content. They will send visitors directly to your article pages. Your navigation bar will give those visitors a chance to visit the parts of your site that make you money.
It gives people a reason to bookmark you site and return often.
It gives people an idea of what they will receive if they sign up for your newsletter. A higher percentage of people will sign up if you have an article archive.
At the end of each article, you should have a courtesy notice like the one you see at the end of the articles on the above site. Some people will reuse these articles and include a link to both the author's site... AND your site.
You should also solicit articles from other authors. More authors will submit articles if they know you will be archiving them on your site.
There is a chance that some search engines will eventually ban any site that is low on content. An article archive makes your site a content site is everyone's eyes. It's insurance against such an event.
The author, James D. Brausch, is the coach and webmaster of QuitThatJob.com, a site dedicated to providing step-by- step instructions to start your own profitable Internet business and Quit That Job! For more info, please visit : http://www.QuitThatJob.com
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Google blazes trail to Oregon
Google has bought 30 acres of land from the Port Authority of The Dalles, Oregon, for a new technology infrastructure facility, the Web search giant said Thursday
Read the entire story here
Read the entire story here
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