Strategic2successful

Hello Everyone, I’ve added a new twist to my services. I am now offering as part of our business model, Affiliate Program Management. While we still do the website development, content, content writing, copy-writing, Internet Marketing, etc.

This became official yesterday as I have become officially ACC Certified, truly a fantastic course and one I strongly recommend to anyone looking into affiliate management.

If your company is looking to start a program, have someone manage your program or simply develop a customized program for you, please contact us for your needs.

Lets face it, just the term “outsourcing” scares the heck out of most people yet we all do it most days without even realizing it! It’s also called delegation.

If you are a small business (less than 3-people), then you should really think about outsourcing, however, keep in mind that Coke, Pepsi, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, 7-11, The Source…ALL of them use outsourcing. Not only for product, but for processes, web-development, admin, payroll and the list goes on. Ya see, it’s really not that bad and once you have used someone else to do the small stuff, the things that you are just not good at, things you just don’t want to do or items that take away from you getting done what needs to be done…PERIOD.

I started outsourcing for my business 2-years ago and yes, the first few jobs that I had someone else do, I watched like a hawk! I mean I was emailing every 4-hours asking for updates, etc. By the time the jobs were completed (and done very professionally, on time, under budget, way better than I could do), I had spent almost as much time. The point I want to stress is that we all feel that we are the only ones who can do the project well, when in fact, outsourcing typically gives us results from people we don’t even know, a far superior product/service.

Now…for the bad, there is not much to say here. IF…you don’t research your project meaning you know what needs to be done, make sure that you post for hire in the right category on any of the outsourcing sites. You WILL receive many applications from people that are over qualified as well as under-qualified, and you will have to make sure that you ask for samples and previous work as well to verify. While there is more to it than that, the best advice I can give you, do your homework, do NOT expect someone to take on a large project (would you) without having them try a small job first to “test” them out. Make certain that you have 2-3 people that can do what you need done, just in case the first person is not able to complete the project, and yes, that does happen from time to time, but if you give them precise instructions and monitor the job, it is very likely that the end result will be more than what you expected for 1/10 of the price of hiring someone local.

I’ve found that I am far more productive with the whole of my business and will never ever regret the whole process and will always recommend the idea of outsourcing to anyone who will listen!

If…and that is a big IF anyone is interested in knowing more about how, whom, when, where etc, leave me a comment or send me an email and ill respond to you right away.

Click the link to watch the video on how you can dominate the competition online. The video is a replay of one done by Kevin Wilke but I added a couple of items to enhance the flow.

I have clients that NEVER knew how to not only get online, but to use video, articles, pod-casting, etc to grow their businesses. It bothers me that the so called “web-hacks” out there try to take someones money and give them what in return, a poorly done site with nothing more. Drives me insane!

Click the link below and sit back, take some notes!

Are you looking for a magic pill of sorts?  Has your “web guy” told you about everything that is really going on with the Internet and how to “Effectively” market your business, to the fullest extent of what they know?  Can your web company take your sales from 20% gross margin to 55% + within 6-months or LESS?  If you answered no to any one of these questions then you have a situation that needs to be closely looked into.

The marketing process on the internet is no longer just the idea of “throw it out there and see what sticks” mentality that many web development companies still seem to take!  At Strategic2successful we clearly take the path less traveled and that’s just fine with us.  Not only are you paying us “the client”, but you are also our loudest voice when it comes to testimonials and referrals.

So…what do you need to do?  First lets look at the whole vs. the parts:

• Does your website sell or just inform?
• Did you have a “real” web designer do your site or a friend of a friend?
• Was the site properly optimized?
• Is the site SEO friendly?
• Are you targeting the right keywords?
• What other forms of media are you using to spread your message?
• Do you effectively use Social Media?
• Do you know what social media is?
• Are you capturing your clients contact information to let then know about future promotions, upcoming events, etc?  (This alone can add 30% increase to the bottom line)
• Are you using article marketing in your program?
• Are you using video marketing in your program?
• Do you offer POS solutions to your clients (buy online, pick up in the store -think Best Buy)  — One client increased their revenues from $2.5M to $3.2 by offering just this one solution.
• Does your website simply suck?  – Sorry but that’s the best word I could think of.

Bottom line,  The web CAN increase your business bottom line for no effort on your part.  At Strategic2successful, we have been in the business of taking care of business for the past 5-years.  We expect our clients to have input and then we take care of the rest.  We insist you work “ON” your business and not “IN” your business.

Get a hold of us for our no-obligation web review and development consult.  What have you got to loose?  Remember, it’s always worth a talk.

This, my friends has become a very contentious issue in the last 3-weeks.  My business partner and I just finished a seminar regarding this very thing, when a person from the crowd came over to talk and proceeded to tell me that “your online business is waaaaay to expensive to start and takes forever so why bother!”.  As most of you know and those who know me personally, know that this is as far from the truth as there is!  I mean, you can build a website for under $10 now, you can use gmail for basically all your emails and they have a better online presence than @hotmail or @yahoo does (sorry guys).

So…what’s the deal?  My response was, “well, a traditional brick and mortar business has a limited area of demand”, meaning unless you are very niche product, you tend to do business within a defined area of your city/town, UNLESS you have a website and your business is online.  “And that you need to advertise in local papers, phone books, network meetings, luncheons, cold-calling, mailers, etc all that cost varying amount of money.”   If you have budgeted for this then you are fine, but if you haven’t then you rely on taking some of your revenue dollars for your marketing budget, again easy stuff.

By taking your business online, you can save significant dollars by using social media marketing, SEO, SEM, and many other features that are out there.  Many cost you nothing, some a bit and others are more expensive and you will get what you paid for.  Here, we have a saying, “Price, Quality or Time-frame, pick any two.”  Meaning you can’t have cheap and fast, or fast and perfect, or perfect and cheap, it simply can’t be done.  IF someone says they can do that, then not only should you run, but run fast!  We used a vendor for business cards that said that, and well, suffice it to say, we got what we paid for.

As Strategic, we have helped traditional “Of-Line” business go online and I’d like to say it’s seamless, but I won’t.  There are pitfalls to be aware of, items that you will need to know and do, and most of all, be sure that your website is going to do exactly what you need it to do.

DO NOT sacrifice the added cost of doing it right the very first time, spend the little extra to ensure that you have the right merchant account, your shopping cart is done the right way, you have the right hosting for your type of site, you are using social media the right way, that you are capturing the names and emails of all the people who came to your site as potential customers, set up of your email marketing campaigns, etc, etc. This can be daunting or you can let us help you get your business online in an efficient manner that works well and in a way you see immediate benefit by added sales and growing your customer base faster than you ever thought possible!

Remember, Time, Quality and Price, pick any two!

To your online success!

Many times over, I get asked “is it really necessary to use Facebook for social media marketing?”, and the answer is..YES, YES, YES!

Facebook is used by 1,000’s of people as their website alone!  They do the same as anyone else does when setting up a website, create their page, upload pictures images, documents, videos, etc.  Just as you would with your own website.  The difference is, they already have TONS of traffic literally at their fingertips, just waiting to be taken!  Now I know that I’m going to get a TON of emails or comments simply asking why I don’t recommend Facebook every where I go.  Well I do and I don’t, confused yet?  I do when it’s right as part of the social media marketing program, it’s one of many sites that I use myself and set up for my clients.  The main reason I don’t use it as my primary is that my business is very diverse, I am involved in CPA, CPV, PPC, Adwords, SEM, SMM, SEO, etc, etc, and YES…you can use facebook for all of that, I can target each specific sector using my own site along with other “Mini-sites” that help me make a nice tidy sum every month online.

Let’s face it, Facebook has the 3rd largest population in the world, with approx. 575 million users + – depending on the hour!  You can’t get that type of traffic on Google adwords unless you had a budget of $100K/day and even then.  The advertising on Facebook, for an average cost of $600 for the ad and targeted audience, yielded one customer a return of $40,000 in highly targeted sales!  That, my friends is a very healthy return.

Facebook has a great advertiser section, one that is probably as good as Adwords or in some cases better,  with highly targeted traffic for less $$$ than you may have ever thought.  I recommend to those using Facebook to  visit the advertiser section and look it over.  I will be doing a video series soon on how to set up and use this with an actual campaign if you are interested.

Thanks for reading.

It’s very likely that you have heard about the new FTC ruling to do with online businesses that are monetized.  Basically meaning that you use your site to generate revenue and are likely an affiliate but not necessarily in that order.

Confused yet?…We were also until I sat down with an expert on the ruling to talk about what this all means!

In short, if your website promotes any sort of affiliate program mainly, or indicates that you can make significant revenue (guarantees a specific income) or otherwise potentially misleading information, without a disclaimer section indicating that results are not typical and you can in-fact loose money…they can enforce a policy to have you change or cease and desist your site.

Not only that, but for those Internet marketers that are making up false testimonials about their products or services will be dealt with accordingly.  There are literally hundreds of thousands of sites that are put up in haste to promote other peoples programs, it’s called affiliate marketing and I do this as well.  The difference is the fact that I do not mis-lead when it comes to promoting other peoples products, it has always been my mandate that it will always be a product that is beneficial to my clients and that there is value to promoting, that you will be able to add this item or service to your business and yield results.

If you want to ensure that your site will meet FTC guidelines, please contact me for a free site audit, it takes about 15-minutes, but it could save you a TON of stress and heartache.

In the beginning, using social media is a process or system that as an entrepreneur should be doing, is building relationships with their clients long before they become their client!  It sounds strange but keep this in mind, when you first meet someone, do you shake their hands and simply say hello, nice to meet you, or…do you thrust your business card in their hand and tell them they have to do business with you?  Likely the latter if you are truly an entrepreneur.  Social media can be like telemarketers, you can start off by bothering people at dinner time, or you can be smart, earn their trust and then as you present new and useful information over time via Twitter, or whatever social media medium you are using, you’ll gain their trust, and also the opportunity to earn their business.

If…and that is a massive if, you try and jam information to them as well as offer free  “stuff” a mish-mash of crap, guess what is going to happen, you are looked upon as un-trust worthy, then after that, people typically will do whatever they can to keep away from you or un-follow, delete, etc.

I am very cognizant of the fact may people use the Internet to research, however, I want people to not only research, but find my material to their benefit, useful in what they do everyday, I do want to earn their business,and I do offer many “free” things, all you need to do is ask me!

You’ve been warned, don’t make the same mistake that over 100,000 others have made, I’ve deleted and un-followed (is that even a word?) more people than I care to imagine or don’t care to imagine.  It’s that simple, the world is literally your oyster, take care of it and you’ll get pearls, mis-treat it and you get nothing.

Twitter on my friends, Twitter on!

I get asked this all the time by my clients, which is better?  It’s a lot like the chicken and the egg!  I tell everyone that asks, make your site work around social media and…social media around your site!  Basically if you have an existing site, then decide what social media platforms you want to work with.  Not all social media sites work well with your business platform.  A bit of research into what other businesses like yours are doing will pay dividends for sure.  What i mean is that while Facebook can pretty much be used for almost every aspect of ones business, other social media sites are more tightly geared towards a specific genre and you don’t want to advertise your wares in the wrong one, it gets no respect and likely a rating you don’t want simply due to wrong location.

Aside from that, once you have developed your site, then build your social branding around that, driving traffic to your main web-site is the key.  Social media isn’t about telling everyone what you do and how you can work with their business, at least not in the beginning.  It’s about building a strong reputation within a defined community, freely helping others while earning their trust and positive feedback.  Once that starts, others tend to gravitate to you simply by what others have to say.

http://bubblesoftstore.com