The Niche Marketing Blog

Tools for understanding and reaching your market

Archive for March, 2011

Niche Marketing Strategy – How You Can Make Money From Beef Jerky

Niche marketing and beef jerky

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[Editor's note: In the on-line marketing world we constantly hear that "the money is in the list". While this is generally taken as an axiom, what we don't usually consider is, "how do we build a list (and make some money!) within a niche, especially in a very narrow niche?" The following guest article examines how to make money in just such a niche - in this case, the "beef jerky" niche. As you are about to find out, the secret lies in marketing to the NEED, not the NICHE. Focus on the prospect's needs, and offer solutions to those needs. That's how you build a following, a list, and, ultimately, a nice bank account. I hope you enjoy this short article on niche marketing strategy. ~Scott]

By Chris S Richardson

Applying a niche marketing strategy or two is one of the best ways that anyone, from newbie affiliate to superstar affiliate marketers, can easily earn money from the Internet. Niche marketing basically works like hyper targeting people. Specific demographics like age and gender really don’t matter, what matters is that you know what their specific problems are and the solutions you have for them.

A specific problem that you identify within one industry is a niche. For example, if you want to sell something in the beef jerky industry, you actually have several niches that you can tackle:

  • How to make beef jerky at home
  • What are the best brands of beef jerky
  • How to cook delicious meals with beef jerky

In the examples above, beef jerky is the market and the items listed above are the niches. Internet affiliate marketers know that profitability hinges on a very good niche marketing strategy.

Why? Think about this: with so much information and free products available on the Internet, people are only willing to pay for products that answer problems that seem unique to them. And these problems should not be ordinary problems, they should be problems that have been NAGGING your customers. They should be problem that’s been buzzing in their inner conversation.

It’s only when you’ve identified the problems that you should find the products that solve people’s problems. And when you have the product that matches the problem, you can then start to promote it to your target market. Of course, a niche marketing strategy is really not as simple as it sounds. Some strategies may even seem too technical to a non-technical person.

But of course if you sign up with the right affiliate marketing network program that teaches you, in plain and simple English, a niche marketing strategy and how to apply it, then you should be earn money in no time.

http://www.MoneyOnAPlate.com is already taking the internet by storm, offering affiliates never before seen tools and features that have already taken complete “newbie’s” and transformed them into successful internet marketers. Even experienced internet marketers that have joined this program have seen there sales and profits go through the roof. It would take about 10 pages to list all the 100% unique tools/features this affiliate program has to offer, to why not check it out for yourself.

To check out everything this site has to offer and reserve your place today visit: http://www.MoneyOnAPlate.Com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_S_Richardson

http://EzineArticles.com/?Niche-Marketing-Strategy—How-You-Can-Make-Money-From-Beef-Jerky&id=2724652

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7 Reasons Your Small Business Needs Location Based Marketing

Location based marketing

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[Editor's note: Location based marketing services - like Foursquare, Loopt, and Gowalla - are gaining momentum as powerful promotion and incentive tools, helping both niche marketers and local businesses drive foot traffic and sales leads. The LBM providers are picking up on this trend by complementing their own services with promotion tools aimed at helping the merchant attract loyal customers. The following guest article takes a look at how to leverage these free LBM services to help increase leads, and build foot traffic for your business. ~Scott]

By Matt Bodnar

Location based marketing (LBM) is an immensely powerful tool for small business marketing. Here are 7 reasons why every small business should implement an LBM campaign.

1. Customer acquisition – location based marketing helps you reach out to new customers. You can offer deals or rewards for first time check-ins to encourage new visitors to your store. These customers can find your deals either by using location based services like foursquare, or by finding online deal listing like Gowalla city pages.

2. Reward loyal customers – location based marketing lets you reward your most loyal customers. You can choose to use mayor specials to reward your top customers with special goodies, or you can use repeat check-ins to reward customers with something similar to the Smoothie King punch card.

3. Monetize your social media presence – what are you going to do with all those fans on your restaurant’s Facebook page? LBM lets you drive those customers into your store by offering them specials or promotions – and its measurable because you can track check-ins and monitor all your LBM analytics.

4. Low Risk / High Reward – there is little to risk for setting up an LBM campaign, spending 15 minutes to set up foursquare and get your campaign going is your only real cost (other than the promotional items). So what if no one checks in for a few days? Even 1 or 2 sales extra sales would still make 15 minutes a worthwhile investment.

5. Free to use – Foursquare and Gowalla are both free to use for small businesses – there is no cost to set up your campaign. Do I really need to say more?

6. Differentiate yourself from your competitors – be the first of your competitors to get ahead of the trend. If you dominate the LBM space before anyone else then you will be the go-to spot and your brand will be associated with location based promotions in your customer’s mind.

7. Proven marketing methods – at the end of the day, none of these tactics are new or untested. Location based marketing takes the proven and successful tactics of coupons, customers loyalty cards, promotions, and discounts and moves them all onto a mobile platform in the social media space.

What are you waiting for? Go set up your location based marketing campaign today. There isn’t much to lose but it could really help your business grow sales and outmaneuver the competition.

Matt Bodnar is a restaurant entrepreneur with a passion for social media. Visit his blog http://www.LBMGuru.com to learn more about location based marketing and get the latest updates. Matt also offers tips and strategies for using location based marketing to grow your business with a free how-to guide you can download right now at: http://www.locationbasedmarketing.biz

(C) Copyright – Matt Bodnar. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Bodnar

http://EzineArticles.com/?7-Reasons-Your-Small-Business-Needs-Location-Based-Marketing&id=5729036

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FourSquare Marketing – Making Location Based Marketing Part of Your Business Campaign

Foursquare and location-based marketing

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[Editor's note: Foursquare has recently announced a series of merchant tools that are designed to help create promotions and incentives for increasing foot traffic to merchant locations. Those tools are just now being released and I will be reporting on them as they become available. In the mean time, the following article examines a few ways in which the local merchant, or niche marketer, can leverage Fourquare to bring more people to your business location. ~Scott]

By Randy G Bess

Many people might have read that the location-based services are going to explode big during 2011. So, the challenge now is to find a way to convert the excitement of a new craze into something helpful to generate data that we can evaluate and then act on. This brief guide was prepared to highlight how you can utilize FourSquare Marketing in your 2011 campaign.

Foursquare is really a location-based game which asks gamers to utilize their mobile phone to check-in at any locations they go to during the day. The users get points whenever they check-in and will be able to share these points with friends who they are connected to on Foursquare and also their Twitter and Facebook accounts. As soon as players complete specific tasks on Foursquare, these people will be awarded with badges. When player checks in the most for certain location then this will ranked them as the mayor for that place, which means that their user profile name and picture will be shown to everybody who checks in at that place.

How to use Foursquare

Offer promotions and discounts to individuals who check-in! When you offer discount codes to people who check out your company or perhaps a location nearby this will generate more business This is actually an inexpensive way to get customers.

Look for your brand supporters

Once individuals check in they can leave comments about their location. Check out these comments in order to get a genuine feedback about how users see your brand. Foursquare offers location owners lots of information about check-ins associated with their company.

Reward Loyalty

A good example of this is when Starbucks rewarded the mayors for each branch with the opportunity to receive $1 off coffee daily. In addition to getting a lot of media coverage, the campaign incentivized individuals to check out Starbucks with the hope of becoming the subsequent mayor, therefore escalating the amount of mentions which appeared in news feeds and also increasing communication with the brand.

Connect with complimentary brand names

In case you own a product, you could offer special samples or versions to anyone who checks-in at certain locations. For instance, if you are promoting moisturizer for men, you could offer free samples at specific hair salons or gyms. By doing this, you are increasing product awareness amongst your target market.

MobileMarketingUSA.org is a trusted online source for the mobile Web and location based marketing strategies for local businesses. The small business owner is just starting to hear about Foursquare marketing. As a local business owner you can get the jump on the competition in your community by utilizing the new and exciting mobile marketing strategies starting with the creation of a mobile friendly website. Visit us today at http://mobilemarketingusa.org and learn about the best mobile techniques you need to implement to connect with the local mobile users.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Randy_G_Bess

http://EzineArticles.com/?FourSquare-Marketing—Making-Location-Based-Marketing-Part-of-Your-Business-Campaign&id=5958197

 

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Marketing Tips For Franchises – Use Location Based Marketing

Location based marketing

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[Editor's note: While today's guest article focuses on location based marketing for franchises, it is equally applicable to any off-line business - from the local "mom and pop" store, to the niche marketing enterprise. The whole point is to increase traffic to your store and/or sales leads for your business. As technology advances, location based marketing - and the Internet sites that support this type of marketing - will become an ever more important part of the local, or niche marketer's, overall marketing strategy. ~Scott]

By Bob Richman

Internet marketing has revolutionized the way that people can find your franchise business. However, many owners of franchises aren’t aware that they can use their website as more than just a fancy brochure. In fact, the combination of social media, smart phones and your website can create a powerful system for getting more feet in your business’s door.

Here are five tips for using location-based online marketing in order to increase the success of your franchise business.

1. Learn the location based marketing platforms.

Although your website is an important piece of the puzzle, the main components of location-based marketing are going to be with a variety of third-party sites that allow smartphone users to learn about businesses around them. They range from service selection engines (that allow users to select a service in their area based on the location of their phone) to review sites (that aggregate reviews of a business for other users to read). Local customers can “check in” with these platforms when they are at your location or have used your business. By using these sites you can keep local customers updated on special deals and also make sure that there are good things being said about your business. The most popular location-based marketing platforms are FourSquare, Loopt, Brightkite and Google Latitude. Others are Yelp and Facebook.

2. Decide how you’re going to use these sites to market your franchise business.

Before you start plugging yourself into these networks you need to set some goals. Do you want more fit traffic in the store? Do you want more people at a particular time of day? Do you want to sell more of one item? By specifying your objectives you’ll be able to better approach these sites.

3. Register for each site to list your business.

Make sure that your business is listed with each of the major sites. If it’s already been listed by local customers and the information is incorrect, be sure to contact the site owner. They are normally happy to help you correct errors. If you have a physical location, place stickers or signs in your location in order to make sure that customers now that your business can be found on foursquare, Yelp etc.

4. Use fun and exciting promotions on the site.

Location based marketing sites can help you run promotions for your franchise business that can get people in the door or more people calling. For example, on foursquare you can run a special that allows users to get a free item if they check in with the site a certain number of times. This creates a lot of activity on your profile on a certain location-based marketing site, which can in turn encourage more people to patronize your business. You can run raffles, specials or when a customer first checks in or something like what is described above (a type of “digital punch card.”)

5. Get involved with the community.

A lot of franchise owners shy away from review style site because they think that the ability for customers to post to a bad review is a bad thing. However, social media is not a one-way megaphone. You need to interact with your audience. Thank customers for good reviews and try to respond to bad reviews as much as you possibly can.

With these tips you can make location-based marketing work for you. Visit any of the sites listed above to get started today.

To view additional franchises and profiles for 1,500+ franchises for sale, please visit FranchiseGenius.com.

FranchiseGenius.com is a free, comprehensive franchise selection resource, with 1,500+ franchise opportunities summarized. Franchise Genius is used by prospective entrepreneurs to research franchises in all industries and price ranges.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Richman

http://EzineArticles.com/?Marketing-Tips-For-Franchises—Use-Location-Based-Marketing&id=4819142

 

 

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Social Media Strategies for the Off-Line Business – Part 2

Increase your sales leads through social media

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[Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part article that focuses on the use of effective social media strategies for  increasing the number of sales leads for your business. Part 2 focuses on specific steps you can take to increase the overall effectiveness of your social media campaigns and, thereby, increase your sales leads.]

In my last article I stated that social media is about “building relationships” and not “pitching the sale”.  I suggested that a more indirect approach needs to be taken if your social media strategies are to be effective.

OK, if the direct route in social media doesn’t work well, are there any specific ways in which you can use social media to increase sales leads for your company? Yes! Here are a few specific steps to take:

  1. Develop a personal style – Your posting style can be funny, serious, professional, or any of a number of other styles. Just pick one that is natural for you. Don’t try and be something – or someone – that you are not. People really can spot the disingenuous speaker (or writer) and that will turn your prospects off.
  2. Speak like you are speaking to a friend – Imagine you are at a cocktail party. Most people wouldn’t walk up to a complete stranger and start selling them something; at least if they didn’t want the other person to get up and walk away. Instead, speak to the other person like you were speaking to friend. Get to know them – what they like and dislike, what they want and need. Offer solutions. Point them in the right direction. Be helpful. That is how you develop a relationship.
  3. Build out your network – Many businesses set up a page on, say, Facebook, and then sit back waiting for the multitudes to stop by and “like” their page. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Social media marketing is a lot like dating: you have to get out there and introduce yourself. Start with people that you already know, and that are already on-line. Invite them over to your new page and ask them to like, follow, or link-up. Then, branch out and search for others who match your core demographic and find out where they are hanging out (hint: search on-line for blogs, forums, groups, etc.). Listen to their conversations. Comment where appropriate. Seek out the problems they are having and offer solutions. Build credibility and trust and they will start to show up on your page.
  4. Think beyond the obvious – If you can’t figure out where your prospects are hanging out, then start liking, following, and linking-up with groups and organizations that are likely filled with your best prospects. For most off-line businesses, a natural starting point would be pages sponsored by local Chambers of Commerce, business organizations, and community service organizations (like Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs) and other non-profits. Depending on your particular type of business, city government pages might be a good resource as well. The point is that all of these organizations, and thousands like them, are probably already in the social media circles with their own pages. Your job is to connect with them, join the conversations and offer value through your postings (again, DO NOT jump in and start selling here – that activity should be reserved for your home web site)

Remember that social media is about building relationships first; sales leads will come later. Complete the four steps above and you will start to see your social media sales leads increase.

Do you have an opinion on this subject? Tell me what you think.

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Social Media Strategies for the Off-Line Business – Part 1

Social Media Strategies for Off-Line Business

Image by ShashiBellamkonda via Flickr

[Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part article that focuses on the use of effective social media strategies for  increasing the number of sales leads for your business. Part 1 identifies the common mistakes that business owners make when using social media.]

As a Social Media Strategist, I spend more time than most setting-up and managing social media accounts; both for myself and for my clients. As more and more “brick and mortar” businesses have flocked to social media sites over the past couple of years,  I have seen an increasing discrepancy between the typical business owner’s use of social media and their understanding of how that media works.

Despite the almost constant barrage, offered up by gurus of all stripes, of the “latest and greatest, whiz-bang secrets” that promise to unleash the proverbial “flood of hungry customers to your web site via social media sites”, few, if any, of the promises come true, and the expected flood of sales leads coming from the typical social media marketing campaign usually turns out to be a mere trickle.

The problem isn’t the social media channels; it is true that there are untold millions of potential buyers out there. The problem lies in how the social media is being used – or misused – when trying to attract those potential buyers.

This is where the business owners are being misled, and where they make their fatal mistakes in the social media circles. These mistakes are almost always a result of a faulty, linear mindset. Business owners are used to viewing marketing activities as a linear, cause and effect relationship; i.e. place an ad, pull in some leads, distribute some flyers, see more walk-in traffic, that sort of thing.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, doesn’t operate in such a linear fashion. Rather, social media is more dynamic. Social media marketing is about developing relationships. It is about engaging the prospect, helping to solve problems, offering useful and timely information, and allowing the prospect to develop trust with the business and their products and services.

In short, social media is not about selling the prospect; it is not about taking the customary direct approach that so many business owners and marketing managers are used to in other forms of marketing.

Rather, to be effective, social media campaigns need to take an indirect approach. It is this indirect approach to marketing that is so misunderstood by, and so frustrating to, many business owners and, in my opinion, this is why many business owners eventually throw up their hands and claim that social media is a waste of time.

[Editor's note: The second part of this article will focus on specific steps you can take to increase the overall effectiveness of your social media campaigns and, thereby, increase your sales leads.]

 

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