Internet Marketing Focus

Strangest Classified Ads Ever

Imagine a place where you can find your soul mate, search for lost items, announce found objects, and sell goods that are no longer wanted or needed. To some people, this might seem like an alternate reality. After all, nowhere can you do all these things in one place, but for those who frequent the local or national classified section, you know such a place exists. Because this realm of exchange is real, unusual listings are bound to crop up.

Got to Have a Picnic Table and Chair Set at all Costs

SWAP – Will Swap my .410 shotgun with box of buck shells for picnic table or chairs

Posted: 1940s

Today, people would be horrified at the thought of trading a gun for a picnic table and chair set, but in the 1940s, this was the norm for business transactions. Obviously, this picnic set was more important than life itself, as a .410 shotgun was a highly valued possession. These days, getting a picnic table or other outdoor supplies is as easy as going to eBay.

Have You Seen a Strange Red Cow Acting Strangely?

FOUND – Strange red Cow

Posted: 1770s

In a time when most classifieds were short and to the point, this simple, yet humorous classified brings up more questions than answers. What makes the cow strange? Was it acting in a peculiar manner? Why is a random red cow running loose in America in the 1770s?

Of course, we’ll never know if the strange red cow found its home or rightful owner, but it’ll live on as one of the first classifieds that made you laugh. Too bad they didn’t have an online lost and found back then.

Every Surgeon has to Start Somewhere

WANTED – Surgeon for a new health clinic opening in the area. No experience needed. Must have own tools.

Posted: Late 2000

Just the thought of an out-of-work, inexperienced surgeon walking around with his or her own tools is enough to send shivers up your spine. But let’s face it, every surgeon has to start somewhere and gain experience. It just makes you curious to know how the clinic advertises their services to their clients. Thankfully, sites that allow you to check doctor certifications exist.

Sometimes the weirdest ads are the ones that engage you the most. They have an air of mystery to them — what’s this person’s story? What possibly possessed him or her to put out an ad like that? We may not know the answers, but thinking about strange ads is a fantastic way to exercise your imagination.

Filed Under: Blog Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: Advertising, Classified advertising, Classifieds, eBay, Shopping

Social Networking Pages and the Small Business

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Image by daniel_iversen via Flickr

Social networking sites are internet behemoths. You would be hard pressed to find a person who is not connected to any one of the popular sites. Many small businesses are also clamoring to sigh up for an account and start networking. Let’s take a look at social networking from a small business point of view.

The amount of people who spend their time posting, tweeting and blogging grows each day. Facebook alone is one of the most visited websites in the world. Users are avid about checking their pages and sharing their lives. If they like something, they will proclaim it proudly with the click of the very recognizable thumb icon of Facebook. They will also link that site to another account like Twitter and in one post, shout out to the world at large.

Small businesses may gain an edge in participating in social networking sites. Depending on what kind of business you have, or who your customer base is, you can reach people like never before. Not only are you able to connect with existing customers or clients in your area, you can expose your brand to a broader market. By optimising your use of such sites you might find that your customer list will blossom.

If you have an upcoming sale or special event, you can alert your followers in an instant. It can be challenging for small business owners to expand their brand in the marketplace. Social networking sites are a good resource to introduce yourself to the networking world.

Filed Under: Blog Marketing, Marketing Basics Tagged With: Business, Facebook, Twitter

Companies Providing Electronic Signature Services

Waiting for documents to get signed can slow your business deals substantially. There are so many steps to the signing process (which can take days to complete) that you never know when you can finally close the deal. Even if you were to pay the high price of a courier service, you would still have to wait several hours just to get a signed contract from a client located across town. The delays become even more exaggerated when you deal with clients and partners located in other states and countries. That’s why you should learn more about companies providing electronic signature services.

What Are Electronic Signature Services?

Electronic signatures make it possible for people to send, sign, and receive documents within a matter of minutes. When you use an electronic signature service, you can create a document, send it to the client and receive a copy with their electronic signature on it in less time than it would take for you to contact a courier service to deliver a paper contract.
In addition to faster service, you also get increased security when you use companies with electronic signature services because you do not have to rely on a human to deliver the contract. As long as you choose a company with reliable security features, you can send and receive documents without worrying that someone has peaked at your private information.

Companies That Provide Electronic Signature Services

A quick Google search will show you that there are a lot of companies that offer electronic signature services. Some of those that you might find include:

EchoSign
Topaz Systems
Alpha Trust
Access Smart
BlueWare

Some of the companies that you find will offer general signature services that are useful for most businesses. If, for instance, you own a small business that sends and receives contracts with vendors around the world, then you could use EchoSign to take care of your needs. If, however, you own a company that works in the health care industry, then you might want to consider a company such as BlueWare. BlueWare has highly specialized software that might meet your needs. Of course, the vast majority of companies will find that a generalized service like EchoSign meets their needs better than a specialized software company.

Features to Look For

When choosing companies that provide electronic signature services, look for the features that mean the most to you. You’ll probably want to make sure that they offer strong security features that will protect your confidential files. You might also ask them how long it takes to send and receive documents to make sure that you choose an option that works fast enough for your business. You might even ask the companies what types of guarantees they can offer to attract you as a client.

Now that you have learned some basic information about companies providing electronic signature services, which features do you think are most important for you?

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Benefits of Online Advertising

SAN ANSELMO, CA - NOVEMBER 29: In this photo ...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

There are many ways to maintain a successful online business, but one of the most important steps is to spend some time and money getting the word out. Marketing is crucial, since there are millions of websites available with just a few clicks of the mouse, so making sure a specific website or business venture is easily accessible is very important.

Businesses can elect to hire a marketing representative, since these individuals often have access to reach more potential customers. However, this can also add expense, so choosing to work from home to market the business can also be profitable. Some companies offer pay per click advertising, which allows the business owner to place an ad on a related website, and pay the website a royalty each time someone clicks on the banner. This can be very helpful in tracking what types of customers are interested in the product or service, as well as increase traffic to the site. Reading forums of specific advertising agencies can help owners realize how much it may end up costing them to get their business into the public eye, and how successful these ventures have been for those in similar situations. Bright colors and humorous advertisements and videos can help to keep a company in the minds of customers for days or weeks at a time.

Choosing to market an online business is a necessary expenditure in order to have success. It takes some time and will add cost, but the benefits can make it very worthwhile. Even if it only added a few customers per week, these are people who can talk to friends, and increase business greatly.

Filed Under: Marketing Basics Tagged With: Advertising, Business, Pay per click

How to Succeed with Online Business

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Many people are now taking advantage of the opportunity to start an online business and work from home. It isn’t nearly as expensive as opening a physical office or store, and many people can work right from a home office or even while sitting on a couch in the living room. It does take some discipline to work from home, since there are often more distractions, but those who are successful can earn a great income without having to pay a lot of overhead costs.

Small business owners should follow a couple of rules in order to keep clients and customers happy and continue to come back for the product or service. Having a lawyer help explain some of the important rules can avoid messy legal issues down the road, and online businesses are just as subject to these problems as a traditional business. Maintaining a clean and visually appealing website is a must. Cluttered pages and broken links are one of the first things a potential client will see, and if navigation isn’t an easy process, many will just leave the site. Making sure to provide a secure and safe place to do business is a must, because if any personal information is stolen, customers will come back to the business owner to seek damages. Marketing both on and off the web is smart, to make sure that plenty of people learn about the site.

Online business can be a great way to earn a living, as long as individuals are willing to be patient and work hard in order to make sure their site is easy to use and satisfying to the customers.

Filed Under: Marketing Basics Tagged With: Business, Home Office, Telecommuting

Creating and Hosting a Website

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As the internet continues to grow and expand, users are able to access websites from just about anywhere via tablet computers, mobile phones, and wireless devices. Internet businesses have seen a decline in revenue after the bubble burst. This was especially true since it seemed for every business listed on the web, there were ten just like it, offering similar services. Companies couldn’t succeed at the rate of growth, so many went under. However, this does not mean that the internet is no longer a good place to market or sell items.

Just about every company has a website, and those that don’t may find a decrease in business due in part to that fact. Before making a purchase or soliciting a service, individuals are doing research to make sure to get the best deal. A simple web search is all it takes to find out what is available on the market, and if a business cannot be found online, it is likely that it will be forgotten. Starting a company website is a fairly easy process, and when deciding which service will host the site, it’s good to check out the benefits and perks. Some companies provide technical support when creating the site, while others will alert the webmaster when there are broken links or issues. This will help ensure that the page stays user-friendly at all times.

Having a current and well-maintained website is crucial in succeeding in the business world. Although some may argue that the internet is not the place to be anymore, the millions of users worldwide prove that it is still a place to reach many at one time.

Filed Under: Blog Marketing Tagged With: Business, Company, Website

The Danger of Pop-Ups: Design

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Desperation was once a too familiar companion: your site was in need of visitors. Traffic had dwindled; pages remained unread; and interest had wilted to apathy. Your business was failing, with no sales to commend it and no profits to find. You needed… help.

And you sought it — with affiliations created and secondary support utilized. It was an easy exchange: your pages would be linked to ones more popular than your own, with you merely required to offer the same courtesy. Success would be yours.

That success came with a heavy price, however — pop-up ads.

Too often do fledgling web designers try to boost their rankings within search engines by choosing to affiliate themselves with others. The intention is to borrow notoriety, channeling it toward higher user views. This does work… but can demand the use of pop-ups. These ads are ways for allies to attract the attention of guests; but they manage instead to merely flood browsers.

This appeals to no one.

It is vital therefore that designers try to refrain from relying on affiliate programs that require these types of ads. While color bars, banners, RSS feeds and interstitials are to be expected (and can be used to great effect), pop-ups only serve to frustrate guests. They demand immediate attention, can slow page loads and can even stall out-of-date browsers. It is strongly recommended then that online business owners find alternative methods.

Design is meant to offer ease, not spark anger. Pop-up ads provide little rewards for readers, tempting them to abandon pages rather than discover what content waits beyond. Avoid these methods. Choose wise affiliations instead.

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks Tagged With: Affiliate marketing, Desperation, Pop-up ad