How to find influential sites to promote your online store
Beside blog sites, there are many more traditional influential sites within your niche. Hopefully you know many of them off the top of your head. But, if you don’t, you can use your favorite search engine to find some. Try some of the following phrases: Niche name + association Niche name + wholesale Niche name + manufacturer Niche name + magazine Niche name + publisher Niche name + editor Google Groups, Yahoo Groups Linked In Groups Groups on Ning.com And many more… What to do once you find these influential sites You don’t need to over think this. Here are some ideas to approach these sites: Ask for links from these sites to your online store. If the site you are... [Read More]
Marketing through other bloggers
Over the last several years, bloggers have become the new reporters, living day-to-day on the front-lines of their niche. Many of these passionate bloggers have built large loyalty followers who anxiously wait to read and comment on the blogger’s next post. And many of these influential bloggers in your niche want to know about your products. Learn how to find these bloggers Here are my favorite tips to find influential bloggers. Type in “blog” and another relevant keyword from your niche into your favorite search engine. For example if you sold organic food online, you could type in something like “organic food blog” into Google. Don’t forget to try the... [Read More]
Maximize Sales With Your Affiliate Program
Now if you already have an affiliate program, you’ll want to learn to drive additional traffic to your online store by following these steps: Contact your top affiliates - ask them “what do you need to generate more sales for my business?” You might need to provide them banners, offers, exclusive content or more. Contact your non-performing affiliates - if you have a typical affiliate program, a majority of your affiliates are inactive. Try to make them active. Send them an email with a special bonus if they generate $50 of sales this month. Contact potential affiliates - either within your industry or the other key affiliates that join most companies’ programs. They... [Read More]
Create a radio show to get more free traffic
For a super-simple solution to get your own online radio show, there is no easier service than BlogTalkRadio.com. And it is FREE (there are upgrades to paid services, if you wish)! Imagine a radio show where you can take calls, record the show, replay the show, and syndicate it out throughout the Internet. Plus, when you make your radio shows, you can easily syndicate them through iTunes, so you can get some BIG exposure for your radio show. Here are some examples of popular shows on BlogTalkRadio.com: Authors on Air Movie Geeks United! WalletPop To get started on BlogTalkRadio, click here. Here’s to your online (radio) success, David Read More →
Broadcast your own live show on Ustream.TV
Ready for your very own live broadcast channel? Forget big budgets, long lead time and editing! It is time to go live, it is time for Ustream.TV! Different than podcasting, where the format is usually a produced .mp3 file or edited video, broadcasting on Ustream.TV offers live video to a worldwide audience. You just need a web camera and an Internet connection and you are ¾ of the way there! Just add content. Here are some ideas for retailers to use Ustream.TV: Editorial talk show about your industry Answer common product questions Get to know the employees and engage with your audience Broadcast with a well-known expert Discuss current events and tie the discussion to your product... [Read More]
Marketing your online store through a podcast on iTunes
Originally launched in 2001, iTunes was created by Apple Inc. and has soared to the number one download store for music. As digital media (music, videos, podcasts) has gained incredible popularity throughout the world, iTunes remained the center of it all. Of course, portable media players (like the iPod) and smart phones (like the iPhone) have helped reinvent music distribution forever. Unfortunately, going into all of the details of creating, producing and marketing your podcast won’t be captured in this article. Frankly, there is a lot to learn. However, these sites can help you learn more: What is a podcast? iTunes - Podcast Specs Jason Van Orden - podcast expert and overall... [Read More]
The Magic of Marketing Videos with Embedded Links
Yes, you can do this these days. Many marketers don’t realize that you can have videos that contain embedded links. The concept is that as a viewer is watching your online video on another site, you can have an embedded link within the actual video that when clicked will take the viewer to your online store. As of this writing, YouTube does not allow videos hosted through them to contain embedded links. My guess is that changes in the future, but for now, we will have to live with linking from video descriptions and YouTube Channel descriptions. There are plenty of ways to use videos with links embedded in them. Here is a partial list to get you started: Featured products showcase ... [Read More]
