In the survey they conducted in October they found the following results:

The October survey shows that the American consumers think that they will spend $740 this holiday season.

The results of the November survey are not that promising for all the retailers out there, because the results are lower in November than October.
The American consumers spending intentions for November are $639 (that’s a difference of $100!)

We have to wait and see what the end results of this year will be.

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Christmas Spending Forecast (Part 2)

As you can see, the average American spend the most on Saturdays and they spend the least on Tuesdays. The survey also shows some other interesting patterns. For example: Americans spend significantly more in weeks if they earn a paycheck that week:

According too Gallup the “paycheck effect” is getting stronger in recent months. An explanation could be that Americans are becoming less comfortable using credit than they once were, and that they prefer shopping when they have the cash on hand.

The Gallup survey also found that the average (self-reported) daily spending is higher for men than for women. (Men = $73 and Women = $53) Also the highest daily spending is done by adult age 30-49.

This information can be valuable for an Internet marketer, because it can be used in your marketing campaign. For instance you could step-up your ad campaign in the weekend or on weeks that people receive a paycheck. Read the complete report to come-up with a strategy for your Internet marketing campaign.

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Americans Spending Patterns Survey

As you can see the holiday spending intentions are down if you compare it with 2008. If this year is the same as last year than November and December will lower the spending intentions, but we have too wait for the November results.

Only time will tell how this plays out in 2009, but given the trends, it seems unlikely that consumer spending intentions will drop significantly by December without another major setback in the U.S. economy. The complete Gallup post can be found here. Make use of it to determine your Internet marketing campaign for the 2009 holiday season.

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Christmas Spending Forecast

Call to Action

The first thing your landing page needs is a clear call to action. A call to action is a thing that you want customers to do. For instance: download something, opt-in on an e-mail list or to buy a product. It should be clear what you want a customer to do.

Ad Relevance

You have to make sure that the landing page is relevant to your ad. If you promise something in your ad then you should always deliver. For instance in a PPC ad you say something like: Cheap Premium Word-press Themes. If the customer clicks your ad and read on the landing page that the word-press themes are $100 a piece they will most likely move on. Or even worse, they click on the ad and they find nothing about the mentioned word-press themes (you think it doesn’t happen, it happens more often than you think.)

Scan-able

If you are like me, I don’t like to read a whole PPC landing pages, so in most cases I scan across a page. There are a lot of people who do this, so make sure that your landing pages are scan-able. (Easy to find what is sold, how much it costs, how it is delivered and where to opt-in.) In most cases you can simply make the most important points in a larger bold font.

Remove Distractions

You should remove all distractions from your landing page and your landing page should only offer one product or service from top to bottom. An example of a distractions could be links to other pages. You won’t want this because you want them to do something on the landing page (the call to actions you’ve placed.) so don’t distract them!

Simple and Short

You should keep thing simple, short and to the point. Large and complex landing pages can create confusion and this in turn will distract them from your call to actions.

Above the Fold

The most important elements should be placed above the fold, such as a compelling headline, offer mentioned in the ad and of course a call to action.

Learn from Others

This is the last tip, but this is the most important one. You should look at landing pages of other people, especially at the ones that are doing well. (Research is the key!) And always run tests, this is very important. So create some different landing pages on the same offer and run tests to see which landing page converts well. (Note: you should do the same for your PPC ad text.)

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Creating Effective Landing Pages for PPC Campaigns

Every freelancer will sooner or later misses a deadline. It’s not the end of the world, but a client can get really angry if you just tell them. So you need to know how to break the news to the client. In today’s post some tips on how to handle things.

1. Notify the Client

This is of course the most difficult step of all the steps, but you need to notify the client as soon as possible. It’s a must! For example if the client has a client of there own (that is waiting for your work), your client has to notify them that they can’t deliver on time. So bite the bullet and tell them at once.

Waiting until the last moment is never a good idea. Almost every freelancer knows or feels when they are not going to make the deadline of a certain project. So if you feel that time is going to be a problem (for example a week before the deadline) then let your client know you concerns. By telling your client that you probably won’t going to make the deadline, they’ll be able to create other plans or if you lucky grant you an extension. But in any case you need to let them know as soon as possible.

2. Apologizing

If you didn’t met the deadline because of someone else its fault (for instance the client or a supplier) then maybe this step don’t apply. But if you committed to a deadline and missed it based on no fault but your own, then it’s professional to admit to your mistake(s) and apologize. In most cases an apology won’t help, but it demonstrates good manners and an appreciation of the client’s needs.

3. What Went Wrong

Asked for to little time, job to large for one person or order supplies too late? You need to indentify what went wrong! Without knowing what went wrong you can’t correct the problem or avoid it in the future. So this is a crucial step! If you’ve find the problem then also tell the client (maybe you both can learn from the experience.)

4. Create an Action Plan

After you’ve found out what went wrong, you need to create an action plan to show to your client that you intend to avoid the same problems in the future. This will show the client that you’re serious about your working relationship and most of all, that you don’t take missed deadlines lightly. They need to feel reassured that you’ve corrected the problem!

5. Never Again

There will always be unforeseen circumstances and random occurrences that could get in the way of meeting a deadline. But it should never happen two times with the same client or you will probably lose that client’s business. So don’t let it never happen again! Keep on top of your time lines and communicate everything with your client as soon as possible.

It’s also a good habit to document your communications with a client. For instance if they are “accusing” you of not telling them on time then you have something to backup your side of the story. (Store email etc.)

Original post by MoneyAside.com

How to Handle a Project Missed Deadline

Manufacturer’s Coupons

Of course your online business doesn’t have to give out coupons, but you should consider it, because it is a great way of indirect advertising for your business. For instance you can give loyal customers coupons for your products that they can give away to their customers.

They get a free additional incentive that they can use to get customers to buy their products and you get free publicity and new potential customers.

Many companies use this strategy, like for example HostGator and Google.  HostGator gives away free $25 Adwords advertising incentive if you get a specific product of them. (Of course, I don’t know if Google is paying for the coupons or HostGator is, but I know that it is beneficial for both companies.)

This free coupon can be a deciding factor for customers to buy their product or take the same product from a competitor that doesn’t give away the coupon.

Of course this is not the only way to use coupons as an incentive, there are many ways to use it in your marketing strategy. Take a look at how other businesses use coupons in their marketing campaign. Look for instance at local grocery stores or at other online businesses (like for instance amazon.)

Some Coupon Ideas

Below you will find some coupon ideas that you can use in your marketing campaign to make money online with your business. Note that it doesn’t have to be a $5 off coupon. Try to be creative and remember to make it of value for the potential customer.

1. Free shipping coupons
2. Prescription coupons
3. Manufacturer’s coupons
4. Buy 2 and get 1 for free coupons
5. Renewal coupons
6. Etc.

The ideas are endless. The best way to see what works is to look how other businesses are using coupons and simply experiment with some small marketing campaigns. Coupons are a great incentive booster and it can give your business more customers (or at least some free publicity.) Try it!

Note: there are many directories and forums online where you can find coupons or where you can promote your coupons. Just do a quick Google search!

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Use Coupons to Increase Your Online Business Sales

But as with everything in live, you need to play by certain rules to be successful. Below you’ll find three things you need to keep in mind to avoid failure:

1. Sales Pitches

The goal of every email marketing campaign is to share useful information with potential customers in the hope that they get interested in products or services you provide.

Try to offer useful information such as tips, tricks, free goodies or tutorials. After a while you can try to sell them something in one mail. After that you should return to offering useful information. After a couple of days you repeat the process.

2. Off-topic Messages

Try to avoid off-topic messages to your list members. You need to keep in mind that the people subscribed to your list with a specific goal in mind. If they not receive what they are signed up for they will unsubscribe.

3.  Unscheduled Emails

Try to come up with a weekly schedule for sending your emails. The regular you send the emails (fixed day and time) the less likely the recipient will delete the mails. If you stick to the created schedule, the bigger the change is that you’ll get a higher open rate.

If you want a successful email marketing campaign then you should at least try to avoid the things described above.

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Three Simple to Implement Email Marketing Tips

Own Business Domain

Business marketing efforts and departments often focus on building out product and service solution pages. They also do some minor press releases or some other type of information. Sure they try to get information on other people’s analyst sites, but it often links back to their own domain and more than often these analyst sites make use of the content, like product description, from their own ecommerce site.

Google Domain

Often a large portion of the marketing budget is spending on Search Engine Marketing and in most cases the search engine they focus on is google.com. They often hire someone to do their search engine marketing for them. Part of the budget is often spending money on finding the best search engine marketing firm. (Don’t know why they do this, finding the best search engine marketing firm is easy. Just do google.com search on “search engine marketing” and pick the top one.)

Spread Your Marketing Efforts

Sure a top position in google.com for a certain keyword would be nice, but this is not the only domain that can get you visitors and prospects on your ecommerce/business site.

Nowadays, consumers and prospects are sharing information on a wide range of domains. They use forums, blogs, podcast, comments, video and other types to communicate with others. For instance they leave comments on forums or blogs about certain products or services and discuss their usability.

Social media sites like facebook.com are used to pass information about a product on to “friends.” Sites like Digg.com and chowhound, allow mass user voting on what products and services really work and those don’t. Video-sites like youtube.com or blip.tv are used by users to show-off just bought products. Don’t forget that many use mobile devices to access the web and contribute in that way, for instance on twitter.com.

Integrate All Domains in Your Marketing Campaign

The many types of ways users and potential customers can discuss and form an opinion about your products these days, makes it vital that you incorporate these domains in your marketing strategy. The decisions about your company and future products are being made there.

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Don’t Focus on Two Domains Only!

Below you’ll find five simple tips for branding your business on a budget to create the illusion of a million-dollar brand.

1. A Website as your Brand Universe

Every business needs a website these days, without a web presence you’ll lose customers! Simplicity is the key to look one of the big players. So try to keep things as simple and clean as possible on your website. Try to design your site with the needs of your users in mind, like easy navigation to your product and services. If you don’t have a domain name already then remember that the right URL is a vital part of your brand positioning strategy.

2. Vanity Numbers

Although you have a website and use e-mail as the main communication tool, you’ll also need an easy to remember phone number. This is especially true if you mention the phone number in radio spots or use it on billboards. One way to make the phone number easy to remember is by using vanity numbers and the good thing is that it’s cheap. For around $50 you can buy a vanity number from an online service such as tollfreenumbers.com

3. Virtual Offices

Even though you use your mobile phone and maybe take the call from your living room, it’s important that your customers believe that you have a large office. If you conduct business in this way and rarely need to host your client’s on-location than maybe a virtual office is something for you. For a couple of hundreds dollars a year you can hire a virtual office service. Most of these services include a high profile mailing address on brand name streets in metropolitan areas, mail receiving and forwarding services, receptionist and on-location meeting space.

4. Automated Phone Systems

You can combine your vanity number (and/or toll free number) with an automated phone system and virtual assistant. This makes your small business look like one of the large players, especially if you also combine it with a virtual office. You can hire such an automated phone system from for instance onebox.com for around $50 a month.

5. Business Card

A good business card is a vital part of the first impression experience. An uninspired or cheap looking business card may send the wrong message to prospective clients. You want prospective customers to say, “That’s a nice business card!” So try to be creative, yet tasteful and spend enough time designing a great looking business card. Also use a thicker card stock with a quality finish if possible (they feel much better than thin business card.)

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Looking Like a Million Dollar Brand

Today we are looking at 5 common e-mail marketing mistakes that many e-mail marketers make, especially the once that are just starting out. Of course not only beginning e-mail marketers should review their e-mail campaigns to make sure that they don’t make the 5 common mistakes described below, also a seasoned pro can review their e-mail campaign to make sure that they don’t make these mistakes.

Mistake 1: Permission Violation

When you send out your marketing e-mail you have to remember one thing and that is that the recipient (and not you as the sender) decides whether they want to receive a business e-mails. If you don’t have their permission then you are spamming! You must ask permission before sending any commercial e-mails. You also need to offer the recipient a way to unsubscribe (or also called opt-out) from you mailing list.

Asking for permission isn’t just polite, it makes also good business sense, because you want a responsive list and you want to keep your good business reputation. Besides all these things, in some countries it’s also the law. (For instance in US you have the federal CAN-SPAM act.)

Mistake 2: Doomed from the Start

The “From” and “Subject” are the first things a recipient sees, so you have to make sure that they catch the attention of the recipient otherwise they will hit the delete button.

You have to make sure that your e-mail “from” line displays your company name or brand name and not some name of an employee. The recipient might not know the name of that employee and hits the delete button. So don’t make this easily fixable mistake.

In the subject line of the e-mail your must clearly state what is inside the e-mail. Subject line like “News from Website X” will probably get overlooked. Subject lines like “Tips for Small Business Owners to Make Money Online” or “25% Off Everything Holiday Discount” will probably get their attention and their interest. Of course you should make sure that the content of the e-mail matches what is stated in the subject line and that is of relevance to the recipient.

Note: always run the e-mail through a “spam checker” to guard you against e-mail marketing no-no’s, which could trigger spam-filters.

Mistake 3: No Call to Action

You have to make sure that you have a clear call to action in your marketing e-mails. Without a call to action is like having a sales meeting and not asking for the order. So if you are not sure of the desired outcome of an e-mail or e-mail campaign then don’t hit the send button.

I want to emphasise the word clear in the phrase “clear call to action.” Don’t send e-mails with too many different calls to actions (read links.) A better way is to use only one call to action per e-mail. Of course you can mention this call to action several times in one e-mail.

Mistake 4: Not focused

Many overzealous e-mail marketers try to cram way too much into one e-mail. As a result the recipient gets overwhelmed and nothing gets clicked. Don’t try to accomplish your year-long sales goals in one single e-mail. Instead you should focus on one subject per e-mail with a clear call to action.

Mistake 5: Thinking the List is to Small

Many beginning e-mail marketers think that they have to have a large list before they can send their first e-mail campaign. This is wrong! Of course, a large list will get you probably more response, but you have to build a relationship with your e-mail readers. So don’t wait, even if your list has only 20 people on it. Send your sales messages or tips from the very beginning. If the e-mails contains good content than they’ll “forward it to a friend” and your list will only grow. Your list helps build itself virally, but only with regular, relevant e-mail contact. So don’t wait!

The mistakes described above are very easy to avoid. So get going today! Your potential customers are waiting to hear from you. Good luck, with your make money online efforts!

Original post by MoneyAside.com

Common E-Mail Marketing Mistakes