My Marketing tips

Archive for October, 2009

Consumer Psychology – Selling The Wireless Technology Dream

Wireless has become the buzzword of today no longer causing us to think of our favorite radio shows but instead to focus upon the freedom and convenience that new wireless technology can provide. This change in concept is largely due to the skill of the marketers who have dedicated themselves to finding the best way possible to sell the wireless dream to the consumer. What they have discovered through trial and error is that the people who most wanted wireless solutions in their lives needed to be told that they wanted them and that a description of what the technology could do was to many useless unless put into an everyday lifestyle context.

The Consumer Decision Making Process

Its important to bear in mind that one of the key aspects of consumer psychology lies in the decisionmaking process. This comes about as an attempt to solve problems. A problem in the consumer psychology sense can be described as a need or desire that is as yet unfulfilled. For example a businesswoman may want to reach her office in under thirty minutes by car but is subject to constant traffic delays which slow her down. In this instance a service that could offer a personalized daily route planner to steer her clear of any traffic holdups would be of particular value as it would fulfill a need by solving her particular problem.

Major and Minor Problems

Problems can be major or minor. Major problems such as unemployment have an impact upon minor problems and push them into the background. This of course means that unforeseen changes to the economy can consequently have a huge knockon effect upon product sales no matter how many consumer problems they may appear to solve during times of economic growth.

Problem Recognition

Consumers will often create their own problems by drawing internal comparisons upon what their life is and what they want it to be. Discrepancies will undoubtedly be found in some areas and once the consumer has pinpointed these a psychological balancing act will take place to determine whether the weight or difference is great enough to justify action being taken. If justification is made then either consciously or unconsciously the consumer will begin to search for solutions usually in the form of a product or service.

Active and Inactive Problems

There are two primary types of problems in consumer psychology: active and inactive. An active problem is one that requires immediate attention; for example you have a toothache and you need to relieve the pain without delay. With an inactive problem on the other hand the consumer may not be aware that their situation is indeed a problem; for example they may not realise that they could double their modem speed by using a particular plugin device.

Links to Maslow

Maslow taught us through his hierarchy of needs theory that active problems follow a strict order of internal significance. In other words once we have satisfied our primary instinctive need for food warmth and shelter our psyche is free to attain higher levels of satisfaction such as those relating to selfesteem and a sense of belonging. The search for attainment of these higherlevel needs initially falls into our category of inactive problems as they are not considered a necessary part of our internal lifestyle model and exist for the most part on a subconscious level. Necessity is born only when our inactive needs are stimulated and enhanced by both our external and internal perception of the world around us. Our search for fulfilment of these needs then becomes an active problem when their characteristics become seen as necessary to our lifestyle.

Lifestyle Model Reinforcement

Furthermore active problems are often effectively stimulated and reinforced by marketers in their drive to provide prospective purchasers with the perfect lifestylemodel that is a glimpse into the perfect lifestyle where the attributes of your product are seen to be key to finding a better way of life. The power of the lifestyle model lies in its subconscious link to the feelings of fulfillment and acceptance being sought by the consumer. Good technology marketers know that inactive problems are the ones most commonly used to introduce new products into the marketplace. Indeed the marketer will often create a problem for the consumer that is initially inactive but then gradually grows in significance to the consumer through repeated media exposure routes until it becomes an active problem that requires immediate attention.

Find out More

Find out more by reading Marketing Wireless Products by Gratton amp; Gratton Butterworth Heinemann 2004. The book comprehensively explains how by fully understanding consumer lifestyle elements we can help to build an effective bridge between product development and onshelf success.

About the writer:  Dr SarahJayne Gratton has a PhD in Psychology and an Advanced Diploma in Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy. She is the author of Marketing Wireless Products Butterworth Heinemann 2004 and her work has been published in a number of newspapers and magazines.

The MLM Survival Guide Part One

Is Network Marketing or Direct Sales really for you?

You may be asking yourself this very question whether this is your first stab at Networking Marketing or it may be your tenth.

When you were approached by the person that ultimately sold product to you or sponsored you into the ‘business opportunity’ the picture that was painted for you was probably very rosy and appealing.

You love the product and believe that your enthusiasm will make it easy to get others to buy it or join in on the “opportunity”.

The Presentation you saw or the Briefing Call you heard made it sound like a piece of cake.

But the question still lingers in the back of your mind….

Is Network Marketing Really For Me?

ABSOLUTELY YES!

Let me tell you first hand that Network Marketing has amazing benefits that can really help anyone to be successful in their lives.

There are some very important steps you must take first before you jump into the world of Network Marking MLM or Multilevel Marketing Direct Sales or Internet Marketing.

The very first thing you should know is that NetWORK Marketing is WORK just like every other venture you will get involved with whether it is a traditional W2 job or your own business.

Oh no! Did your sponsor forget to tell you that part? Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news but it is the truth.

Also when you join this awesome company or amazing opportunity you become a Business Owner.

Yes you are now officially an ENTREPRENEUR!

Your new company may provide you with a boatload of training calls and materials have tremendous Upline support inspirational live calls or conventions and more “education” then you know what to do with.

The bottom line is that YOU are 100 responsible for making things happen in your business.

YOU are your own fastest path to Success!

Here are some basic definitions and terminologies that you will hear in the Industry and throughout this series that will help you to fully understand and grow forward with your success:

Network Marketinga business in which a distributor network is needed to build the business. Usually such businesses are also MLM in nature in that payouts also occur at more than one level.

Network Marketing is sometimes also used incorrectly to indicate that the business uses a network of product suppliers in order to offer a broader selection of products. It is usually used this way to differentiate themselves as a way to suggest that their program is superior to other such programs.

MLMis selling products by using independent distributors and allowing these distributors to build and manage their own sales force by recruiting motivating supplying and training others to sell products. The distributors’ compensation includes their own sales and a percentage of the sales of their sales group downline.

Another description is any business where payouts occur at two or more levels; i.e. if you make a sale both you and the person above you will get a portion of the proceeds.

Downlinea multilevel marketing term that refers to the distributors sponsored directly in your group as well as those sponsored by other distributors below.

Uplinethe distributors that you sign up with your Multilevel Marketing plan are called your downline. The distributor that originally recruited you is called your upline. Often he or she will give you some help getting started including training.

Warm Marketin sales and direct marketing your warm market is said to be people you know which could be friends relatives and existing customers even referrals are said to be warm.

Three Foot Rulestates that whenever you’re within three feet of someone you should talk to them about your business and the services you provide.

Leadspossible parties that may or may not have an interest in your product service or opportunity that you will be contacting in person by phone mail or Internet.

Prospectingfinding qualified prospects or interested parties for your products or services is a necessary first step in the sales process. You need to have someone to sell to before you make a sale. There are “cold prospects” “qualified prospects” and “targeted prospects”.

Closingcompleting a transaction or sale.

Network Market is definately for you!

The opportunities for success self satisfaction financial freedom and control over your life are all true advantages to Network Marketing.

You will realize these benefits by taking 100 responsibility for your own actions and by empowering yourself with the appropriate training and marketing tools that will ensure your success without stress!

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Tina Williams is a Business Growth Specialist focusing on Network Marketing MLM Internet Marketing and The Health and Wellness Industry.

For Tina’s Free Report and access to the MLM Survival Guide visit her on the web at:
http://www.NWMSuccessWithoutStress.com
http://www.NotYourMamasMLM.com

Viral Marketing Techniques Every Web Site Should Be Using

Viral Marketing Techniques Every Web Site Should Be Using

Viral marketing can work wonders for any business web site orproduct. It can be a great source of sales leads oneway linksand targeted traffic. Yet many marketers are not taking fulladvantage of this ‘viral factor‘ in their marketingefforts.

How about you? Are you using any viral marketing methods withyour web site? Or does the word ‘viral’ make you cringe?

Many people believe ‘viral marketing’ is a myth one of thoseInternet follies that only happens on rare occasions when somefantastic product or site comes along.

In reality viral marketing techniques can be used by any website big or small. They can be used by any marketer who takesthe time to put some simple steps into place. Viral marketing’done right‘ can have many benefits. It will:increase your link popularity often one way links increasetargeted traffic to your site build your brand recognitioncreate targeted leads for your products automate yourmarketing efforts

Here are some simple viral marketing techniques you can try withyour web site product or business:

1. Word of Mouth We have all seen this phenomenondisplayed with many products . People spread the word about somegreat movie or gadget and suddenly everyone knows about it.Human nature dictates we tell our friends about some greatproduct we have bought or found. Nature of the beast it’s justthe way we are so why not take full advantage of it?

If you have a web site put up a simple ‘tell a friend’ form soyour visitors can easily tell others about your great site. Easyand very simple to do but many webmasters don’t do it.Similarly if you have a newsletter service product or withany aspect of your site just include a few sentences at theend of your copy asking very politely “if you found thisservice product or web site helpful why not tell yourfriends family and colleagues about it.

2. Branding Make sure you have a logo on your site orproduct. Branding your site is very important if you want yoursite or product to be noticed and talked about. For that mattera catchy brand name can be a ‘viral technique’ in itself sotry and come up with one that springs from the lips with adistinctive ring to it!

People recognize brands it gives them a clear image of yoursite or product. Include your brand or logo on every page ofyour site and on every product service material coming fromyour site or business.

3. eBooks Savvy marketers jumped on this new inventionvery quickly they knew the ‘viral’ power of these littleebooks. Ebooks are electronic files that can be downloaded fromany web site and distributed easily around the web. You can alsohave other webmasters or marketers ‘rebrand’ these ebooks withtheir own links. High quality ebooks get passed along veryquickly and are great viral tools.

Anyone can write a simple ebook on the topic of their site. Ifyou can’t write just get permission to use a collection ofarticles from the numerous ‘article directories’ on the web suchas www.ezinearticles.com or www.goarticles.com . Ebook compilingsoftware in both .exe or pdf format is relatively cheap or canbe found for free on the net. Just Google to find it!

4. Viral Software Some simple software products orapplications can be very viral often passed around ordownloaded from the web by thousands each day. These have to beuseful or handy products that the users will desireecalendars organizers personal planners link checkingsoftware and so on. Many are desktop products that sit on thecomputer user’s desktop prime location in the marketing arena.

And the best examples of this kind of viral software have thecompany logo sales message and contact email with LIVE LINKSto all of the above conveniently displayed within the product.These simple software programs can be great viral promotionaldevices that spread like wildfire across the web. get anexample of this below in the author’s resource box

5. RSS Newest player in the viral game! RSS whichstands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’ and just by the nature ofwhat it does; RSS is an awesome viral tool. Originally used bynews organizations to syndicate their news stories it isusually associated with Blogs because blogs use an RSS feed todistribute their content. Good quality RSS feeds are picked upand displayed by different web sites all across the web.

Since Microsoft has announced the next version of Windows willhave RSS integrated into its operating system new RSSapplications will take viral marketing to heights that have notbeen witnessed before. Alert marketers are already gearing upfor this viral explosion.

You should also be gearing up for RSS if you haven’t already.Using a simple site like blogger.com owned by Google will giveyou a basic blog and RSS feed to spread your message or productto all interested parties.

These are just some viral techniques that will help increaseyour web presence. They will also boost your traffic andincrease your links. Used properly these viral techniques willalso spread your web site product or service around the globe.

What more can you ask for

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Author: Corey Morehousehttp://freewebbizsolutions.wordpress.com/2006/02/04/viralmarketing/