Arran Events, Advertising and Marketing

All selling starts with self-promotion. Before anyone will give you money, they have to know something about you. They need to feel comfortable with you and to trust you. This means that they have to get used to seeing your name and your story.

When you’re starting out with a new small business, you may feel uneasy about self-promotion. After all, bragging is wrong, right?

If this is you, that’s fine. You can become a superb self-promoter without changing who you are. You find it difficult because you’ve been told stuff like: “Good work speaks for itself”, and “Do a good job and recognition will come”, and “Don’t blow your own horn”. Those aphorisms may have worked 150 years ago. They don’t work today.

There’s a reason Pizza Hut and Macdonald’s advertise, advertise, advertise. They have to do it to survive. If they have to do it, when they’re so highly visible, it makes sense that you need to promote yourself as well. Everyone’s busy today. We’ve all got short attention spans.

YOU must tell people who you are, and what you do. If you don’t do it, it won’t get done, and that would be a tragedy, because you’ll miss out on dozens of opportunities which would have flowed into your life as a natural outcome of your promotional efforts.

Creative self-promotion is an art, and it all starts with your attitude.

=> Enthusiasm: decide to have FUN with self-promotion

Your attitude must be based on enthusiasm. Nothing sells like enthusiasm. Are you enthusiastic? If not, tell yourself that you are. Keep telling yourself this at least 15 times a day for the next month — yes, this is an affirmation, and affirmations work. Put a little note on the corner of your computer monitor, or on the dashboard of your car: “ENTHUSIASM— I am enthusiastic!”

Your second affirmation for the next month is: “Self-promotion is fun!”

You may feel silly at first, repeating your affirmations, but if you find marketing difficult (promotion is an integral part of marketing) it’s because you’re letting your attitude get in your way. And because your attitude is in your mind, you can and must change your mind.

So for the next month, put the proper foundation under your future marketing endeavors by working on your attitude. At the end of the month, you’ll see a real shift, I promise.

Author of many books, including Making the Internet Work for Your Business,
copywriter and journalist Angela Booth also writes copy for businesses large and
small, and consults on search engine marketing. Angela has written copy for
companies in many industries, ranging from technology and real estate to the
jewellery trade. Her clients include major corporations like hp (Hewlett Packard),
WestPac Bank, and Acer Computer. For copywriting services and marketing
advice contact Angela at angelabooth.com

Tags: Marketing, PR, promotion, publicity, self-promotion, Selling

Personalized candy is a new and creative way to get your message across. Whether business or personal you can now put your message on candy.

Candy has long since been a way to give a simple gift to someone. For your business it will make a great gift for employees and colleges alike. You can personalize your candy with a label congratulating an employee on a job well done from your company. You can also use the labels to advertise your company. Why hand out typical boring business cards when you can hand them a candy bar with your business on the label? Your business will be sure to be noticed when they improve on the business cards!

Another exciting part of personalized candy is the vast amount of reasons to give. A new baby in the family generally entails sending out announcements that are glanced at in passing. With personalized candy you can announce all the wonderful stats of your new bundle of joy on the wrapper or even directly on the candy itself.

Birthdays will never be the same again with a treat for the birthday boy when he opens his own personalized candy. His friends will be excited and impressed to see his name in print.

Holidays are another excellent reason for personalized candy. Instead of handing out simple valentines to your friends and family, watch them smile when they receive personalized messages on the candy. Christmas morning will fill with glee from children when they see Santa Clause delivered a candy bar with a personal message from him directly for them! Halloween treats can be enhanced when you add a special message to your candy, but watch out or the kids may return for more! You can enhance your wedding with personalized candy for others to remember that special day they shared with you.

Entire parties can be personalized with special treats, leaving a lasting impression. A child’s “pirate birthday party” can include clues printed on hidden candy that will have even the adults participating.

The Internet has a vast market available for purchasing the personalized candy. You can also find personalized candy at many specialty candy stores around the nation. It is available to order in advance or with a few days notice. The possibilities for using personalized candy are endless.

There are also many possibilities for personalizing candy at home. You can purchase computer programs to print labels right on your home computer. There are many molds available if you want to make candy with your message. You can even make your own molds for candy.

Personalized candy makes an excellent gift no matter what age you are. There are so many ways to use personalized candy in your business or personal life. Whether for parties, holidays, or special days, you will find so many ways to make others smile with personalized candy.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as sweet candy at
http://www.sweetcandyshop.com

Tags: candy, personalized candy

Like any industry, Internet Marketing has its own special
marketing tools and methods. Many of these marketing tools
may already be familiar to you: autoresponders, SEO software,
link-building systems, content management programs,
affiliate software… and the list goes on.

However, Internet Marketing has other more effective,
non-traditional marketing tools every marketer should
know about if they want to reach their full potential as
online marketers. Some of these marketing tools come cleverly
disguised or camouflaged, with many surfers or customers
completely unaware that they’re receiving a sales-pitch.
Yet, these innocent and simple sales techniques are some
of the most effective marketing tools on the web.

For anyone involved in Internet Marketing or for anyone
wishing to become involved, a quick rundown of these
marketing tools may prove helpful. Here’s a brief list
and a few pointers on how to effectively use these
marketing tools.

1. Domain Name

Lets start at the very beginning. Your domain name should be
considered your first Internet marketing tool. Pick it right
and your domain name can also be your most effective marketing
tool. Get it wrong and it may spell game over.

Most marketers agree you should pick a short memorable
keyword-related domain name. For example, www.hotels.com,
it’s easy to remember/spell and it tells you exactly what
the site is about. Picking a domain directly related to the
keyword or keywords of your site will help greatly in obtaining
a high ranking for your site with the search engines. Not to
mention, it will be a great marketing and promotional tool,
telling your potential customers exactly what your site is
promoting and displaying.

On the other hand, some marketers suggest you opt for a short
jazzy name that can be easily remembered by your visitors.
Ebay, Google, Napster, Yahoo… regardless of which route you
take, make sure you examine all the marketing potential before
you pick your domain name. The right domain name can be one
of your most effective marketing tools on the world wide web.

Many experts also suggest you only set up a dedicated server
for your domain or domains. A dedicated server only carries
one domain. Most hosting companies (for economic reasons)
often share hosting servers, i.e. your domain is co-hosted
with hundreds of other domains on the same server. Since you
will be using the same IP address this may have dire consequences
if one of the domains is accused of spamming or some other
unscrupulous behavior. Even if you can’t afford a dedicated
server, it would be wise (for SEO purposes) to have a separate
IP address for each domain you own. Most hosting companies
provide this service for a small fee.

2. Keywords

Keywords, what surfers type into search engines to find what
they’re looking for, are the real building blocks of the web.
They are the single most important element in any online
marketing venture. Pick the right keywords and you’re in
business, pick the wrong keywords and again, it’s game over.

Therefore, you must have special keyword software or use some
online sites or services to help you pick the right keywords.
Many top marketers use WordTracker.com, GoodKeywords.com,
or the new Keyword Elite by Brad Callen. A superior keyword
research product will supply valuable information: number
of searches made each month, amount of competition and the
top sites targeting your keywords.

Remember, you must target the right keywords with your site
or online marketing. Targeted keywords draw targeted traffic
(customers) to your sites or products. The right keyword software
or program will have a direct correlation to the success
or failure of your online marketing efforts. So choose wisely!

3. Articles

Many marketers believe in and rely upon purely organic SEO
techniques for marketing their sites. One simple method of
organic SEO is writing and submitting keyword related
articles around the topic of your website with links back
to your site. As other sites display your articles you gain
valuable one-way links back to your site. Search engines then
follow all of these links and rank your site highly for the
keywords in these articles. For this reason the modest article
may prove to be the single most important marketing tool you
have in your arsenal.

As your site becomes highly ranked for these keywords, other
sites will want to link to your site in order to become
optimized for those same keywords… article keyword marketing
is one of the most effective Internet marketing tools at your
disposal. Used properly if can position your site in the search
engines and bring in all that highly prized targeted traffic.

Keep in mind, many Internet marketers have side-stepped the
whole SEO optimization process by going directly to search
engines and buying their traffic with PPC pay-per-click
advertising. Overture and Google Adwords program are good
examples of this method. Marketers bid on clicks to their
site’s keywords and bring in targeted customers. In
knowledgeable hands, PPC marketing is an extremely
effective and lucrative marketing tool.

4. Lists

The backbone of any Internet marketing system is the list.
It is another marketing tool you can’t do without. The list
is simply a large database of contacts, people who have
given you permission to email or contact them. These are
subscribers who have opted-in to your ezine or newsletter.
Most successful marketers keep countless different databases
for each product or topic they’re targeting with their marketing.

Ezines or newsletters are vital Internet Marketing tools that
no online business should ignore. It is essential you keep in
contact/touch with your past and future customers. You must
build an ongoing relationship and connection with your customers.

Besides your ezine or newsletter, many marketers also set up
lists of affiliates to help promote and sell their products.
Never underestimate the power of an affiliate system as an
effective marketing tool. It is the stuff Empires are made of!
Once a marketer has acquired a large list of loyal contacts
or affiliates — the flood waters open up. Opportunities for
JVs or Joint Ventures with other online marketers make for
serious cash flow.

5. Blogs And RSS Feeds

Blogging and RSS feeds have become essential marketing
tools for savvy online marketers. Online journals or blogs
are all the rage, especially in the marketing field. These
blogging systems such as WordPress are great content
management tools that will quickly build a content-rich
site, pulling in targeted traffic from the search engines.

Search engines are enamored with blogs and RSS feeds mainly
because blogs provide fresh content, the main lifeblood
of every good search engine. For this reason no site should be
without a blog and RSS feed, it will keep your content
regularly visited and indexed by the search engines. In
addition, all that information and content is a perfect tool
for drawing potential customers to your products and services.

Along with your domains, lists, keywords, and articles —
blogs are effective marketing tools that will play an
important role in the success of your online marketing.
In the right hands, these Internet marketing tools can
work magic on any company’s bottom line. They are some
of Internet Marketing’s most effective tools.

You don’t have to think outside of the box, you just have
to know what makes up the box!

—-
The author runs an Internet Marketing website featuring
all the latest marketing tools and techniques. Click
here to visit Internet Marketing Tools

Copyright © 2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if
this resource box stays attached. Anyone wishing to learn about
Internet Marketing and don’t want to spend a bundle should try
these: Free Internet Marketing Courses

Tags: internet marketing, internet marketing tools, marketing tools