TheAlphaMarketer: June 2006 Archives

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Jun30	How to increase you email conversion rates Gary Bourgeault June 30, 2006 Know More: Email Marketing, Internet Advertising, Marketing Realities, Marketing Secrets, Online Advertising 2.0, Marketing Secrets The Alpha Marketer Most online marketers have a pretty good idea of how to set up emails and have good content connected to the interests of their readers. Many still have a problem though with converting their readers to buyers; whether through their own products or products and services of others. Here are several things to do to help you increase your email conversion rates: 1. The first thing to do is to continually test various combinations. The frequency of the email being sent, whether to send text, html or maybe even video emails. Look at where you place certain advertisements. Track and measure everything to see what works best. Continue Reading Posted at 1:54 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun29	User-generated Testimonials - You gotta have them! Gary Bourgeault June 29, 2006 Testimonials are one of the most powerful selling tools that we can use in our online marketing. There are a few things that need to be overcomed to make them even more powerful. One of the existing problems is that... Continue Reading Posted at 3:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun28	Answer this question on every page of your site! Gary Bourgeault June 28, 2006 The Alpha Marketer You make a web site for only one reason: to get results! There shouldn't be anything on your site, or on any page, that is wasted. A web site needs a fast-loading quality design, quality significant content... Continue Reading Posted at 10:19 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun27	Targeting Parents buying Cars Gary Bourgeault June 27, 2006 In new research by comScore Media Metrix, is was found that online users between the ages of 25 - 44 having children were more apt to buy a automobile in the next six months than any other demographic grouping. Mediapost.com... Continue Reading Posted at 10:09 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Kefta offers an excellent customized customer solution Gary Bourgeault June 27, 2006 The Alpha Marketer The more one is able to customize their customer's experience, the higher your conversion and response rates will climb. Here is one company that a number of key companies use to take advantage of this reality. They... Continue Reading Posted at 3:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun26	One time not to use an Ad Tracker Gary Bourgeault June 26, 2006 If traffic exchanges are part of your strategy to get traffic, there is one thing to understand concerning them and using an ad tracker: Don't! For emails and other things it works great, but it actually does harm to the... Continue Reading Posted at 2:32 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun24	Have a bad weather Sale Gary Bourgeault June 24, 2006 The Alpha Marketer What happens whenever you hear that there is going to be some bad weather coming into town? The first thing you know the convenience and grocery stores are packed with people getting their bread and milk. We... Continue Reading Posted at 6:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"Build it and they'll come?" Gary Bourgeault June 24, 2006 How many times have you come across the movie "Field of Dreams" being mentioned when surfing around the Internet? You know, the saying, "Build it and they'll come?" You hear tons of people that take it and use it for... Continue Reading Posted at 5:48 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Don't fall into this rut! Gary Bourgeault June 24, 2006 The Alpha Marketer No matter what business or endeavor you're involved with in life, it is tempting to fall into the pattern of listening to what others have to say, and then doing it in an endless cycle. How many... Continue Reading Posted at 5:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	YouTube.com, has greater reach among some US audiences than MTV Gary Bourgeault June 24, 2006 How could such a thing happen? What is causing it? How can an upstart online company already penetrate larger markets than a company like MTV that has been around for years? It can be answered with one word: Viral! Viral... Continue Reading Posted at 2:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun23	Reciprocal links and reciprocal articles: They're the same thing! Gary Bourgeault June 23, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Lee Odden talks on his online marketing blog about a trick that is being used to try to mask those offers of link exchanges and make them look like article exchanges are something different. Here's an excerpt... Continue Reading Posted at 10:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Beyond SEO or what do you want your visitor to do? - Part 2 Gary Bourgeault June 23, 2006 In this post we'll talk about site metrics a little bit. Don't get intimidated by this if you're not too familiar with the term. It simply means statistics that reveal what actions your visitors are taking when they get to... Continue Reading Posted at 4:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Beyond SEO or what do you want your visitor to do? Gary Bourgeault June 23, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Because there is so much press coverage of SEO, it often blurs what the purpose of SEO is. Sure you want to get someone to arrive at your home page, but if they don't do what you... Continue Reading Posted at 3:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun22	Online Marketing and "Cool" Gary Bourgeault June 22, 2006 I've listened to a lot of talk and read a lot of articles concerning why companies offer products that they make no money on. Take Microsoft (MSFT) for instance. Everyone talks about why they create a product like the XBox... Continue Reading Posted at 8:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online U.S. adult usage growing Gary Bourgeault June 22, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Taking into account almost all places you can get connected online to, the latest Harris Poll states that the number of adults getting connected to the Internet are now at an estimated 172 million in the U.S.,... Continue Reading Posted at 8:15 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The AOL customer service nightmare continues Gary Bourgeault June 22, 2006 My recent experience with cancelling from AOL was brought to memory again as I heard about the problems so many are still having with their customer service department. They gave me the customary two month free offer when I cancelled not telling... Continue Reading Posted at 2:38 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun21	Is MySpace even worth the trouble? Gary Bourgeault June 21, 2006 Is there anybody out there but MySpace that doesn't see the endless string of lawsuits that are already beginning to unfold? They have dropped the ball on this so badly and responded in such arrogance and idiocy, that I'm not... Continue Reading Posted at 9:14 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Move on quickly if it doesn't work Gary Bourgeault June 21, 2006 The great strength of the Internet is that you can try things for relatively little cost and time and see if it will work or not. If it doesn't work, don't hang around the thing and try to force it... Continue Reading Posted at 8:56 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Grabbing more Internet advertising dollars Gary Bourgeault June 21, 2006 Photo: Edwina Pickles Kaylie Smith, managing director in the Asia-Pacific region for internet advertising software provider DoubleClick, has had her ups and downs in the online advertising world. The Age reports: Before the internet bubble burst in 2000, Smith got... Continue Reading Posted at 5:39 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Don't let due diligence hold you back Gary Bourgeault June 21, 2006 The Alpha Marketer This comment might sound provocative, but there are many times that people who are rightly performing "due diligence," do it for so long that they never get their online marketing going, or they fail to take it... Continue Reading Posted at 4:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun20	U.S. Newspaper publishers looking to the Internet for growth Gary Bourgeault June 20, 2006 U.S. newspaper publishers acknowledged that growth in their Internet departments are starting to be a major part of their revenue stream, which will help the deteriorating base of their traditional means of delivery. With readers moving online to get their... Continue Reading Posted at 1:51 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun19	Marketing to teens Gary Bourgeault June 19, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Last post we talked about the power of business blogging and used a case study of Dolly magazine's Bronwyn McCahon. This post let's look at some to the ways that Dolly markets to their target audience... Continue Reading Posted at 4:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Blog insights from Dolly magazine editor Bronwyn McCahon Gary Bourgeault June 19, 2006 Photo: Natalie Boog When a lot of people still write saying that they don't understand the power of blogging and its relationship to a business, here's a great case study from Dolly magazine editor Bronwyn McCahon. She mentions that... Continue Reading Posted at 4:19 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Tracking your competitors? Here's how! Gary Bourgeault June 19, 2006 A lot of people will encourage email marketers to look at your competitors to see what is working for them. This can be a good thing, but, only if you understand what is happening out there. One of the strengths... Continue Reading Posted at 3:01 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun18	A lesson from Ray Ozzie, Bill Gate's successor Gary Bourgeault June 18, 2006 The Alpha Marketer We talk here about the need to simplify for our eventual end-user: our customer. With the appointment as Bill Gates successor, Ray Ozzie as the head of the world's most powerful software development organisation, he already has... Continue Reading Posted at 6:39 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun17	One thing that can really paralyze your efforts Gary Bourgeault June 17, 2006 With the steady barrage of information, products and services being touted everywhere, one of the great weaknesses we have is that we are so curious and interested in everything, that we continuously try it all without ever making decisions about... Continue Reading Posted at 7:20 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Set specific deadlines for actions, not results Gary Bourgeault June 17, 2006 The Alpha Marketer One of the most misunderstood aspects of marketing or business success in any field, is the misunderstanding of setting deadlines. We hear so many gurus telling people that they should fix a certain amount of money or... Continue Reading Posted at 4:06 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Build credibility through honesty Gary Bourgeault June 17, 2006 People have gotten so tired of the ridiculous claims made by online marketers that they cringe and go on quickly when they read the endless hype and false promises. One great way to differentiate yourself is to tell the truth... Continue Reading Posted at 1:46 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun16	Amazon.com has entered the grocery business Gary Bourgeault June 16, 2006 The Alpha Marketer On May 25, Amazon.com quietly added food to its product categories through a beta page. Interesting in that it was one of the largest losers of the dot-com bust. At this time they're limiting the offerings to... Continue Reading Posted at 8:39 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	China blogger is big hit with Chinese World Cup on-line audience Gary Bourgeault June 16, 2006 Wearing a multi-colored Afro wig and a fake mustache, Dong Lu, a Beijing blogger and postcaster produces an irreverent, fun look at the World Cup soccer tournament. He produces his show in his apartment living room with the help of... Continue Reading Posted at 1:44 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun15	Turbo Charging your new ezine opt-ins Gary Bourgeault June 15, 2006 A key online marketing truth you need to know is that new people that sign up for your ezine, are far more active and willing to try your products and services than those that have been on your list for... Continue Reading Posted at 9:02 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	One way to maximize your email opt-ins Gary Bourgeault June 15, 2006 There is one thing that I've seen online marketers do, even those that have been around for a while, that hurts their email marketing strategies. It is the simple placement of their sign-up form. Many have it in a number... Continue Reading Posted at 8:44 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Bill Gates announces he's retiring Gary Bourgeault June 15, 2006 Microsoft (MSFT) in a somewhat shocking announcement, revealed that founder Bill Gates, is scheduled to retire in 2008, and will start the transition out of the company starting now, being aided by CTO Ray Ozzie. Gates and buddy Paul Allen... Continue Reading Posted at 4:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Text or Graphic ads? Gary Bourgeault June 15, 2006 One thing that us online marketers are apt to make is when we hear that one thing won't work, we will generally stop using it altogether and hop onto the next thing that's working. Now this isn't necessarily bad, but... Continue Reading Posted at 3:54 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun14	Toyota targeting kids for short and long-term Gary Bourgeault June 14, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Beginning in April, Toyota began marketing its Scion on Whyville.net, an online community that is frequented by mostly 8-15-year-old children. Their purpose is both for short and long-term: influence their parents buying decision for a vehicle... Continue Reading Posted at 9:18 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	MySpace soliciting bids for search company Gary Bourgeault June 14, 2006 News Corp. (NWS) parent company of MySpace.com Web site is looking to one of the three leading Internet companies to supply the network with search-based advertising. They are looking for bids from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Yahoo... Continue Reading Posted at 8:36 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The New Microsoft Word 2007 Beta 2 Blogging Functionality Gary Bourgeault June 14, 2006 Neville Hobson gives a brief synopsis of his experience with the blogging funtionality of Microsoft (MSFT) Word 2007 Beta 2. There are known issues concerning the post date/time and categories. Here is his experience with the new software and how... Continue Reading Posted at 4:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Quit trying to beat the system or always looking for a shortcut Gary Bourgeault June 14, 2006 There is a steady stream of techniques that make their rounds of the Internet all the time. They usually have to do with some way to beat the search engines and get yourself some fast traffic. It usually comes from... Continue Reading Posted at 2:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun13	You need to Woo your clients Gary Bourgeault June 13, 2006 There are two main streams of thought about building email lists and how to market to them. In the marketing area you have those that tell you that once you get your leads, then hammer them hard until they either... Continue Reading Posted at 1:19 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun12	How to build word-of-mouth fast Gary Bourgeault June 12, 2006 The Alpha Marketer The greatest challenge to online marketers when they want to expand there horizons by creating new online businesses is how to get viral marketing working quickly for them. Unless you have a lot of money to spend... Continue Reading Posted at 7:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Teen online statistics Gary Bourgeault June 12, 2006 The Alpha Marketer According to a recent Burst Media survey, 37.4 percent of teens aged 13-17, say they spend 3-4 hours each day on the internet - this is in addition to school. Teen males who spend that much time... Continue Reading Posted at 5:55 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	E-newspapers could be here next year Gary Bourgeault June 12, 2006 We have heard talk of the e-newspapers for close to 30 years and how it is just about read to be introduced to the consumer. The time for its arrival may finally be here. Some of the biggest newspapers in... Continue Reading Posted at 5:16 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Higher conversion rates in your Email campaigns Gary Bourgeault June 12, 2006 Research has confirmed what hopefully most of us already know, that in your email campaigns you get far better conversion rates when offering one choice of services versus multiple choices. One recent test sent emails focusing on one product with one... Continue Reading Posted at 1:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun11	The end of "push" marketing Gary Bourgeault June 11, 2006 We talk about the need for compelling content in our writing and ad copy at thealphamarketer.com, and it's true how much we need that. There is one area in marketing that is changing almost overnight and that is that marketing... Continue Reading Posted at 6:15 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun10	Sifting through the Information Maze Gary Bourgeault June 10, 2006 The Alpha Marketer If you're anything like me in marketing and business, you're always looking and searching for another tip and idea to give you an edge. In our information age, there is, well, too much information. How many times... Continue Reading Posted at 7:02 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	3 Online Networking Tips Gary Bourgeault June 10, 2006 One thing that doesn't change, whether you're marketing online or off, is the need to grow your network. In the online world, I think there is even greater opportunity to connect with other people, whether you may end up doing... Continue Reading Posted at 2:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 9	Are you offering high priced items? Part 2 Gary Bourgeault June 9, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Continuing our conversation about offering higher priced products or services, let's look at one of the great benefits and competitive advantages of doing it. More Marketing Money If you were offering a $300 private online membership,... Continue Reading Posted at 1:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Are you offering high-priced items? Gary Bourgeault June 9, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Many online marketers have an insecurity streak, and as a result don't put together products and services in the higher price ranges. Obviously its not something you just decide to do regardless of what you're offering. When... Continue Reading Posted at 1:10 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Try these new Adwords features Gary Bourgeault June 9, 2006 The Alpha Marketer There are a couple of new Adwords features that are definitely worth trying out. The first one called... "Position Preferences" which is in the advanced options area under the edit campaign settings - lets you keep your... Continue Reading Posted at 12:46 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 8	Most European internet users buy online Gary Bourgeault June 8, 2006 The Alpha Marketer According to an article in DMeurope.com, more than half of European internet users have purchased items online in the last year, citing a study by European research agency InSites. In the survey it was found that 70... Continue Reading Posted at 9:14 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Keyword, Subject and Content Tip Gary Bourgeault June 8, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Does a place like Alexa have any value since it's powered by Google. If you do one search don't you get the same results. If that's the case why bother? Alexa does have one little thing... Continue Reading Posted at 7:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Give yourself an edge with your testimonials Gary Bourgeault June 8, 2006 The Alpha Marketer If you have a lot of people looking at your site and offerings without buying, one of the things keeping them from making the decision could be your testimonials. A new company called Trusted Testimonials has... Continue Reading Posted at 5:20 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	More Web Design Mistakes Gary Bourgeault June 8, 2006 The Alpha Marketer We've talked about a number of web design mistakes before. Here are a few more that I continue to find in my online surfing. Web Pages way too long - One way of getting somone to leave... Continue Reading Posted at 3:02 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 7	Are you really your own boss? Gary Bourgeault June 7, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Many people promoting online marketing and business opportunies always throw in the line that you can be your own boss. Now this has some truth in it, but at the same time it is far from... Continue Reading Posted at 9:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Marketing during unstable times Gary Bourgeault June 7, 2006 The Alpha Marketer a An interesting thing about instability is that it doesn't matter if it is true or not if people believe it. For example, in America, the economy has been doing pretty good for several years, but... Continue Reading Posted at 2:29 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 6	Hijacking some keywords! Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 The Alpha Marketer a One way to get insight into what types of things are getting people interested in discussing is Google (GOOG) Groups. That along with other ones like Yahoo! (YHOO) Groups ad MSN (MSFT) Groups. The way to... Continue Reading Posted at 11:23 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Has Google indexed me? Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 If you've ever bounced around the SEO forums, you know that one of the most asked questions is, When do you know when your page has been indexed on Google (GOOG)? One simple answer that you never find is that... Continue Reading Posted at 10:51 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Topix Quietly Growing its Free Local Classifieds Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 Topix.net has joined the free classified markets adding the offer to post to the site listings for housing, jobs, private party items, services, events and "local shops." This has been going on for several months, as topix.net users know, but... Continue Reading Posted at 10:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	User-Generated content exploding Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 Studies are now showing that 10% of people in the U.S. have their own blog and 15% their own webpage. That's millions of people that are adding their own online content on a consistent basis. Around 43 million do it... Continue Reading Posted at 8:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Wikis: The new local strategy? Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 Let's talk a little about Wikis today, niche publishing and going local. We've talked a lot about local marketing and promotion at The Alpha Marketer, today let's get into the locality as a market. John Gartner at Marketingshift.com says: "Wikis... Continue Reading Posted at 4:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 5	A tip about search engine positioning Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 We've talked some about this issue before, but let's talk a little bit more on the reasons why being on top of the search engine rankings isn't necessarily the place you want to be. In the past we've talked about... Continue Reading Posted at 11:08 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Google introducing online spreadsheet Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 Reuters Photo a Google (GOOG) Inc. is continuing its assault upon Microsoft (MSFT) Corp. as it announced that it is introducing an online spreadsheet Tuesday. The online spreadsheet will offer consumers and businesses a free alternative to Microsoft's Excel. To... Continue Reading Posted at 6:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online newspaper ad revenue up 35 percent Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 Online newspaper websites in the first quarter increased to $613 million, almost 35 percent more than last years first quarter, according to estimates by the Newspaper Association of America. That makes it the eight straight quarther that online newspapers have... Continue Reading Posted at 5:57 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Doing Press Releases Right - Part 3 Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 Normally, press releases with contact information include a hotlink at the end of the release. One great edge you can get here is to forget all of that and begin to put your hotlink at the top of the page;... Continue Reading Posted at 4:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Doing Press Releases Right - Part 2 Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 We are continuing our look at creating powerful press releases that bring great results and clickthroughs. Here is another tip to consider when creating a press release. Make sure your first paragraph has several keywords in it. The first paragraph... Continue Reading Posted at 3:22 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Doing Press Releases Right Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 One of the most underrated search engine marketing techniques is the use of press releases. They really work well to get clicks, but they must be done right. The reason they work so well and are a great strategy is... Continue Reading Posted at 3:08 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	MerchantCircle: New way to market online locally Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 We have talked before about all small businesses should have their own Web sites. A new service being offered by MerchanCircle, which is launching today (June 5, 2006), makes it a whole lot easier. Rafe Needleman reports on Cnet: "MerchantCircle,... Continue Reading Posted at 1:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 4	The secret headline they don't want you to know! Gary Bourgeault June 4, 2006 One thing about people that we can always count on is that they love to find out about something that is being kept from them. They love to discover secrets! This is why not only gossip columnists, political parties and... Continue Reading Posted at 10:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	New Firefox 1.5 patches released Gary Bourgeault June 4, 2006 Mozilla Corp., the open source developers of Firefox 1.5 and Thunderbird email client, released patches for a dozen security issues in the software. Some of the patches should also help to stabilize the browser software itself. The update which is... Continue Reading Posted at 9:27 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Broadband Market Still Poised for Growth Gary Bourgeault June 4, 2006 Talk of a slowdown of broadband adoption in the U.S. for 2005, proved to be totally off target as high-speed access has grown to 60 percent of U.S. households, according to a report by Leichtman Reasearch Group, called "Broadband Access... Continue Reading Posted at 7:21 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	48 million Writers Gary Bourgeault June 4, 2006 Pew recently stated that 48 million Americans have posted content on the Internet. Most of them use broadband as their ISP of choice. Between March of 2005 and March of 2006, broadband usage increased by over 40 percent. Those that... Continue Reading Posted at 1:16 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 3	How long can Dell survive? Gary Bourgeault June 3, 2006 Former computer superpower Dell (Dell) , is scrambling to come up with answers in its eroding PC business. They once had a huge lead over all competitors and have now come to the place where they are less than two... Continue Reading Posted at 6:52 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Remember the personal touch

Jun30	How to increase you email conversion rates Gary Bourgeault June 30, 2006 Know More: Email Marketing, Internet Advertising, Marketing Realities, Marketing Secrets, Online Advertising 2.0, Marketing Secrets The Alpha Marketer Most online marketers have a pretty good idea of how to set up emails and have good content connected to the interests of their readers. Many still have a problem though with converting their readers to buyers; whether through their own products or products and services of others. Here are several things to do to help you increase your email conversion rates: 1. The first thing to do is to continually test various combinations. The frequency of the email being sent, whether to send text, html or maybe even video emails. Look at where you place certain advertisements. Track and measure everything to see what works best. Continue Reading Posted at 1:54 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun29	User-generated Testimonials - You gotta have them! Gary Bourgeault June 29, 2006 Testimonials are one of the most powerful selling tools that we can use in our online marketing. There are a few things that need to be overcomed to make them even more powerful. One of the existing problems is that... Continue Reading Posted at 3:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun28	Answer this question on every page of your site! Gary Bourgeault June 28, 2006 The Alpha Marketer You make a web site for only one reason: to get results! There shouldn't be anything on your site, or on any page, that is wasted. A web site needs a fast-loading quality design, quality significant content... Continue Reading Posted at 10:19 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun27	Targeting Parents buying Cars Gary Bourgeault June 27, 2006 In new research by comScore Media Metrix, is was found that online users between the ages of 25 - 44 having children were more apt to buy a automobile in the next six months than any other demographic grouping. Mediapost.com... Continue Reading Posted at 10:09 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Kefta offers an excellent customized customer solution Gary Bourgeault June 27, 2006 The Alpha Marketer The more one is able to customize their customer's experience, the higher your conversion and response rates will climb. Here is one company that a number of key companies use to take advantage of this reality. They... Continue Reading Posted at 3:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun26	One time not to use an Ad Tracker Gary Bourgeault June 26, 2006 If traffic exchanges are part of your strategy to get traffic, there is one thing to understand concerning them and using an ad tracker: Don't! For emails and other things it works great, but it actually does harm to the... Continue Reading Posted at 2:32 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun24	Have a bad weather Sale Gary Bourgeault June 24, 2006 The Alpha Marketer What happens whenever you hear that there is going to be some bad weather coming into town? The first thing you know the convenience and grocery stores are packed with people getting their bread and milk. We... Continue Reading Posted at 6:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	"Build it and they'll come?" Gary Bourgeault June 24, 2006 How many times have you come across the movie "Field of Dreams" being mentioned when surfing around the Internet? You know, the saying, "Build it and they'll come?" You hear tons of people that take it and use it for... Continue Reading Posted at 5:48 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Don't fall into this rut! Gary Bourgeault June 24, 2006 The Alpha Marketer No matter what business or endeavor you're involved with in life, it is tempting to fall into the pattern of listening to what others have to say, and then doing it in an endless cycle. How many... Continue Reading Posted at 5:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	YouTube.com, has greater reach among some US audiences than MTV Gary Bourgeault June 24, 2006 How could such a thing happen? What is causing it? How can an upstart online company already penetrate larger markets than a company like MTV that has been around for years? It can be answered with one word: Viral! Viral... Continue Reading Posted at 2:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun23	Reciprocal links and reciprocal articles: They're the same thing! Gary Bourgeault June 23, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Lee Odden talks on his online marketing blog about a trick that is being used to try to mask those offers of link exchanges and make them look like article exchanges are something different. Here's an excerpt... Continue Reading Posted at 10:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Beyond SEO or what do you want your visitor to do? - Part 2 Gary Bourgeault June 23, 2006 In this post we'll talk about site metrics a little bit. Don't get intimidated by this if you're not too familiar with the term. It simply means statistics that reveal what actions your visitors are taking when they get to... Continue Reading Posted at 4:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Beyond SEO or what do you want your visitor to do? Gary Bourgeault June 23, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Because there is so much press coverage of SEO, it often blurs what the purpose of SEO is. Sure you want to get someone to arrive at your home page, but if they don't do what you... Continue Reading Posted at 3:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun22	Online Marketing and "Cool" Gary Bourgeault June 22, 2006 I've listened to a lot of talk and read a lot of articles concerning why companies offer products that they make no money on. Take Microsoft (MSFT) for instance. Everyone talks about why they create a product like the XBox... Continue Reading Posted at 8:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online U.S. adult usage growing Gary Bourgeault June 22, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Taking into account almost all places you can get connected online to, the latest Harris Poll states that the number of adults getting connected to the Internet are now at an estimated 172 million in the U.S.,... Continue Reading Posted at 8:15 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The AOL customer service nightmare continues Gary Bourgeault June 22, 2006 My recent experience with cancelling from AOL was brought to memory again as I heard about the problems so many are still having with their customer service department. They gave me the customary two month free offer when I cancelled not telling... Continue Reading Posted at 2:38 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun21	Is MySpace even worth the trouble? Gary Bourgeault June 21, 2006 Is there anybody out there but MySpace that doesn't see the endless string of lawsuits that are already beginning to unfold? They have dropped the ball on this so badly and responded in such arrogance and idiocy, that I'm not... Continue Reading Posted at 9:14 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Move on quickly if it doesn't work Gary Bourgeault June 21, 2006 The great strength of the Internet is that you can try things for relatively little cost and time and see if it will work or not. If it doesn't work, don't hang around the thing and try to force it... Continue Reading Posted at 8:56 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Grabbing more Internet advertising dollars Gary Bourgeault June 21, 2006 Photo: Edwina Pickles Kaylie Smith, managing director in the Asia-Pacific region for internet advertising software provider DoubleClick, has had her ups and downs in the online advertising world. The Age reports: Before the internet bubble burst in 2000, Smith got... Continue Reading Posted at 5:39 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Don't let due diligence hold you back Gary Bourgeault June 21, 2006 The Alpha Marketer This comment might sound provocative, but there are many times that people who are rightly performing "due diligence," do it for so long that they never get their online marketing going, or they fail to take it... Continue Reading Posted at 4:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun20	U.S. Newspaper publishers looking to the Internet for growth Gary Bourgeault June 20, 2006 U.S. newspaper publishers acknowledged that growth in their Internet departments are starting to be a major part of their revenue stream, which will help the deteriorating base of their traditional means of delivery. With readers moving online to get their... Continue Reading Posted at 1:51 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun19	Marketing to teens Gary Bourgeault June 19, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Last post we talked about the power of business blogging and used a case study of Dolly magazine's Bronwyn McCahon. This post let's look at some to the ways that Dolly markets to their target audience... Continue Reading Posted at 4:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Blog insights from Dolly magazine editor Bronwyn McCahon Gary Bourgeault June 19, 2006 Photo: Natalie Boog When a lot of people still write saying that they don't understand the power of blogging and its relationship to a business, here's a great case study from Dolly magazine editor Bronwyn McCahon. She mentions that... Continue Reading Posted at 4:19 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Tracking your competitors? Here's how! Gary Bourgeault June 19, 2006 A lot of people will encourage email marketers to look at your competitors to see what is working for them. This can be a good thing, but, only if you understand what is happening out there. One of the strengths... Continue Reading Posted at 3:01 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun18	A lesson from Ray Ozzie, Bill Gate's successor Gary Bourgeault June 18, 2006 The Alpha Marketer We talk here about the need to simplify for our eventual end-user: our customer. With the appointment as Bill Gates successor, Ray Ozzie as the head of the world's most powerful software development organisation, he already has... Continue Reading Posted at 6:39 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun17	One thing that can really paralyze your efforts Gary Bourgeault June 17, 2006 With the steady barrage of information, products and services being touted everywhere, one of the great weaknesses we have is that we are so curious and interested in everything, that we continuously try it all without ever making decisions about... Continue Reading Posted at 7:20 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Set specific deadlines for actions, not results Gary Bourgeault June 17, 2006 The Alpha Marketer One of the most misunderstood aspects of marketing or business success in any field, is the misunderstanding of setting deadlines. We hear so many gurus telling people that they should fix a certain amount of money or... Continue Reading Posted at 4:06 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Build credibility through honesty Gary Bourgeault June 17, 2006 People have gotten so tired of the ridiculous claims made by online marketers that they cringe and go on quickly when they read the endless hype and false promises. One great way to differentiate yourself is to tell the truth... Continue Reading Posted at 1:46 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun16	Amazon.com has entered the grocery business Gary Bourgeault June 16, 2006 The Alpha Marketer On May 25, Amazon.com quietly added food to its product categories through a beta page. Interesting in that it was one of the largest losers of the dot-com bust. At this time they're limiting the offerings to... Continue Reading Posted at 8:39 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	China blogger is big hit with Chinese World Cup on-line audience Gary Bourgeault June 16, 2006 Wearing a multi-colored Afro wig and a fake mustache, Dong Lu, a Beijing blogger and postcaster produces an irreverent, fun look at the World Cup soccer tournament. He produces his show in his apartment living room with the help of... Continue Reading Posted at 1:44 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun15	Turbo Charging your new ezine opt-ins Gary Bourgeault June 15, 2006 A key online marketing truth you need to know is that new people that sign up for your ezine, are far more active and willing to try your products and services than those that have been on your list for... Continue Reading Posted at 9:02 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	One way to maximize your email opt-ins Gary Bourgeault June 15, 2006 There is one thing that I've seen online marketers do, even those that have been around for a while, that hurts their email marketing strategies. It is the simple placement of their sign-up form. Many have it in a number... Continue Reading Posted at 8:44 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Bill Gates announces he's retiring Gary Bourgeault June 15, 2006 Microsoft (MSFT) in a somewhat shocking announcement, revealed that founder Bill Gates, is scheduled to retire in 2008, and will start the transition out of the company starting now, being aided by CTO Ray Ozzie. Gates and buddy Paul Allen... Continue Reading Posted at 4:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Text or Graphic ads? Gary Bourgeault June 15, 2006 One thing that us online marketers are apt to make is when we hear that one thing won't work, we will generally stop using it altogether and hop onto the next thing that's working. Now this isn't necessarily bad, but... Continue Reading Posted at 3:54 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun14	Toyota targeting kids for short and long-term Gary Bourgeault June 14, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Beginning in April, Toyota began marketing its Scion on Whyville.net, an online community that is frequented by mostly 8-15-year-old children. Their purpose is both for short and long-term: influence their parents buying decision for a vehicle... Continue Reading Posted at 9:18 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	MySpace soliciting bids for search company Gary Bourgeault June 14, 2006 News Corp. (NWS) parent company of MySpace.com Web site is looking to one of the three leading Internet companies to supply the network with search-based advertising. They are looking for bids from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Yahoo... Continue Reading Posted at 8:36 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The New Microsoft Word 2007 Beta 2 Blogging Functionality Gary Bourgeault June 14, 2006 Neville Hobson gives a brief synopsis of his experience with the blogging funtionality of Microsoft (MSFT) Word 2007 Beta 2. There are known issues concerning the post date/time and categories. Here is his experience with the new software and how... Continue Reading Posted at 4:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Quit trying to beat the system or always looking for a shortcut Gary Bourgeault June 14, 2006 There is a steady stream of techniques that make their rounds of the Internet all the time. They usually have to do with some way to beat the search engines and get yourself some fast traffic. It usually comes from... Continue Reading Posted at 2:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun13	You need to Woo your clients Gary Bourgeault June 13, 2006 There are two main streams of thought about building email lists and how to market to them. In the marketing area you have those that tell you that once you get your leads, then hammer them hard until they either... Continue Reading Posted at 1:19 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun12	How to build word-of-mouth fast Gary Bourgeault June 12, 2006 The Alpha Marketer The greatest challenge to online marketers when they want to expand there horizons by creating new online businesses is how to get viral marketing working quickly for them. Unless you have a lot of money to spend... Continue Reading Posted at 7:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Teen online statistics Gary Bourgeault June 12, 2006 The Alpha Marketer According to a recent Burst Media survey, 37.4 percent of teens aged 13-17, say they spend 3-4 hours each day on the internet - this is in addition to school. Teen males who spend that much time... Continue Reading Posted at 5:55 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	E-newspapers could be here next year Gary Bourgeault June 12, 2006 We have heard talk of the e-newspapers for close to 30 years and how it is just about read to be introduced to the consumer. The time for its arrival may finally be here. Some of the biggest newspapers in... Continue Reading Posted at 5:16 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Higher conversion rates in your Email campaigns Gary Bourgeault June 12, 2006 Research has confirmed what hopefully most of us already know, that in your email campaigns you get far better conversion rates when offering one choice of services versus multiple choices. One recent test sent emails focusing on one product with one... Continue Reading Posted at 1:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun11	The end of "push" marketing Gary Bourgeault June 11, 2006 We talk about the need for compelling content in our writing and ad copy at thealphamarketer.com, and it's true how much we need that. There is one area in marketing that is changing almost overnight and that is that marketing... Continue Reading Posted at 6:15 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun10	Sifting through the Information Maze Gary Bourgeault June 10, 2006 The Alpha Marketer If you're anything like me in marketing and business, you're always looking and searching for another tip and idea to give you an edge. In our information age, there is, well, too much information. How many times... Continue Reading Posted at 7:02 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	3 Online Networking Tips Gary Bourgeault June 10, 2006 One thing that doesn't change, whether you're marketing online or off, is the need to grow your network. In the online world, I think there is even greater opportunity to connect with other people, whether you may end up doing... Continue Reading Posted at 2:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 9	Are you offering high priced items? Part 2 Gary Bourgeault June 9, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Continuing our conversation about offering higher priced products or services, let's look at one of the great benefits and competitive advantages of doing it. More Marketing Money If you were offering a $300 private online membership,... Continue Reading Posted at 1:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Are you offering high-priced items? Gary Bourgeault June 9, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Many online marketers have an insecurity streak, and as a result don't put together products and services in the higher price ranges. Obviously its not something you just decide to do regardless of what you're offering. When... Continue Reading Posted at 1:10 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Try these new Adwords features Gary Bourgeault June 9, 2006 The Alpha Marketer There are a couple of new Adwords features that are definitely worth trying out. The first one called... "Position Preferences" which is in the advanced options area under the edit campaign settings - lets you keep your... Continue Reading Posted at 12:46 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 8	Most European internet users buy online Gary Bourgeault June 8, 2006 The Alpha Marketer According to an article in DMeurope.com, more than half of European internet users have purchased items online in the last year, citing a study by European research agency InSites. In the survey it was found that 70... Continue Reading Posted at 9:14 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Keyword, Subject and Content Tip Gary Bourgeault June 8, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Does a place like Alexa have any value since it's powered by Google. If you do one search don't you get the same results. If that's the case why bother? Alexa does have one little thing... Continue Reading Posted at 7:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Give yourself an edge with your testimonials Gary Bourgeault June 8, 2006 The Alpha Marketer If you have a lot of people looking at your site and offerings without buying, one of the things keeping them from making the decision could be your testimonials. A new company called Trusted Testimonials has... Continue Reading Posted at 5:20 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	More Web Design Mistakes Gary Bourgeault June 8, 2006 The Alpha Marketer We've talked about a number of web design mistakes before. Here are a few more that I continue to find in my online surfing. Web Pages way too long - One way of getting somone to leave... Continue Reading Posted at 3:02 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 7	Are you really your own boss? Gary Bourgeault June 7, 2006 The Alpha Marketer Many people promoting online marketing and business opportunies always throw in the line that you can be your own boss. Now this has some truth in it, but at the same time it is far from... Continue Reading Posted at 9:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Marketing during unstable times Gary Bourgeault June 7, 2006 The Alpha Marketer a An interesting thing about instability is that it doesn't matter if it is true or not if people believe it. For example, in America, the economy has been doing pretty good for several years, but... Continue Reading Posted at 2:29 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 6	Hijacking some keywords! Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 The Alpha Marketer a One way to get insight into what types of things are getting people interested in discussing is Google (GOOG) Groups. That along with other ones like Yahoo! (YHOO) Groups ad MSN (MSFT) Groups. The way to... Continue Reading Posted at 11:23 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Has Google indexed me? Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 If you've ever bounced around the SEO forums, you know that one of the most asked questions is, When do you know when your page has been indexed on Google (GOOG)? One simple answer that you never find is that... Continue Reading Posted at 10:51 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Topix Quietly Growing its Free Local Classifieds Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 Topix.net has joined the free classified markets adding the offer to post to the site listings for housing, jobs, private party items, services, events and "local shops." This has been going on for several months, as topix.net users know, but... Continue Reading Posted at 10:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	User-Generated content exploding Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 Studies are now showing that 10% of people in the U.S. have their own blog and 15% their own webpage. That's millions of people that are adding their own online content on a consistent basis. Around 43 million do it... Continue Reading Posted at 8:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Wikis: The new local strategy? Gary Bourgeault June 6, 2006 Let's talk a little about Wikis today, niche publishing and going local. We've talked a lot about local marketing and promotion at The Alpha Marketer, today let's get into the locality as a market. John Gartner at Marketingshift.com says: "Wikis... Continue Reading Posted at 4:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 5	A tip about search engine positioning Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 We've talked some about this issue before, but let's talk a little bit more on the reasons why being on top of the search engine rankings isn't necessarily the place you want to be. In the past we've talked about... Continue Reading Posted at 11:08 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Google introducing online spreadsheet Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 Reuters Photo a Google (GOOG) Inc. is continuing its assault upon Microsoft (MSFT) Corp. as it announced that it is introducing an online spreadsheet Tuesday. The online spreadsheet will offer consumers and businesses a free alternative to Microsoft's Excel. To... Continue Reading Posted at 6:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online newspaper ad revenue up 35 percent Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 Online newspaper websites in the first quarter increased to $613 million, almost 35 percent more than last years first quarter, according to estimates by the Newspaper Association of America. That makes it the eight straight quarther that online newspapers have... Continue Reading Posted at 5:57 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Doing Press Releases Right - Part 3 Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 Normally, press releases with contact information include a hotlink at the end of the release. One great edge you can get here is to forget all of that and begin to put your hotlink at the top of the page;... Continue Reading Posted at 4:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Doing Press Releases Right - Part 2 Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 We are continuing our look at creating powerful press releases that bring great results and clickthroughs. Here is another tip to consider when creating a press release. Make sure your first paragraph has several keywords in it. The first paragraph... Continue Reading Posted at 3:22 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Doing Press Releases Right Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 One of the most underrated search engine marketing techniques is the use of press releases. They really work well to get clicks, but they must be done right. The reason they work so well and are a great strategy is... Continue Reading Posted at 3:08 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	MerchantCircle: New way to market online locally Gary Bourgeault June 5, 2006 We have talked before about all small businesses should have their own Web sites. A new service being offered by MerchanCircle, which is launching today (June 5, 2006), makes it a whole lot easier. Rafe Needleman reports on Cnet: "MerchantCircle,... Continue Reading Posted at 1:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 4	The secret headline they don't want you to know! Gary Bourgeault June 4, 2006 One thing about people that we can always count on is that they love to find out about something that is being kept from them. They love to discover secrets! This is why not only gossip columnists, political parties and... Continue Reading Posted at 10:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	New Firefox 1.5 patches released Gary Bourgeault June 4, 2006 Mozilla Corp., the open source developers of Firefox 1.5 and Thunderbird email client, released patches for a dozen security issues in the software. Some of the patches should also help to stabilize the browser software itself. The update which is... Continue Reading Posted at 9:27 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Broadband Market Still Poised for Growth Gary Bourgeault June 4, 2006 Talk of a slowdown of broadband adoption in the U.S. for 2005, proved to be totally off target as high-speed access has grown to 60 percent of U.S. households, according to a report by Leichtman Reasearch Group, called "Broadband Access... Continue Reading Posted at 7:21 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	48 million Writers Gary Bourgeault June 4, 2006 Pew recently stated that 48 million Americans have posted content on the Internet. Most of them use broadband as their ISP of choice. Between March of 2005 and March of 2006, broadband usage increased by over 40 percent. Those that... Continue Reading Posted at 1:16 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 3	How long can Dell survive? Gary Bourgeault June 3, 2006 Former computer superpower Dell (Dell) , is scrambling to come up with answers in its eroding PC business. They once had a huge lead over all competitors and have now come to the place where they are less than two... Continue Reading Posted at 6:52 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
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