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How often are you tempted to adopt a broad niche market segment, hoping that more visitors will find your website or blog either through search or from referrals and links. The facts run contrary to the expectations. So hold your horses if you are hoping that it is easy to generate to your site focused traffic driven by very niche target segments as there are some real facts you need to understand.

Always remember, for some things, it’s better Less than More !

To understand why online niche marketing has sprung up as a euphorically huge topic of discussion within the internet fraternity is equivalent to understanding as simple as how people search the Internet for information.

Let us use a comparison to illustrate. Take for instance, you own a brick and mortar shop called The Brick, a physical entity tangible and locatable. Now visualise how people search for directions and arrive at your The Brick. People within a certain locale take out a street directory, or a tangible map of your county to physically search out The Brick. And once there, you shop the aisle like no tomorrow with all the time and money to spend.

Now, take for instance you own a website called OnlineNicheMarketing.com … a new site which I do own and only recently started building.

Again, visualize how people search and arrive at your site. In actual fact, people Do Not Search for your site!

To start, if they are searching for materials on niche marketing on the internet, they could be trying the following key phrases in quotes "internet niche marketing", "niche marketing online", "online niche marketing", "niche web marketing" or simply "niche marketing". For each key phrase, they get a long list of search returns with some variations, and with some luck, your site is listed within.

Needless to say, with such a long list of search returns, your web timeshare is scaled down to mere 10s of seconds before they switch to the next site for good if your content is not specific enough or impressive enough to retain them!

There are several variables in this very different paradig m , the more important ones being - The probability of "your niche" chosen as key phrase and being searched, the number of similar topical websites competing with you, how well you niche your topics and articles at your site, how well you do your site ranking homework, etc…

Let’s hope the above experiment has convinced you that by way of how people search the internet, it is critical to select an appropriately narrow niche segment with sufficient demand and unfilled supply which you are confident in dominating .

But most importantly, as I have mentioned in my last article at onlinenichemarketing.com, choose a niche that you have passion in building and bonding with . This makes online niche marketing all the more exciting.

So do it with a passion!

Good Luck!

I read an email today and choked with surprise upon reading it. As a marketer, I felt compelled to share this with fellow marketers.

A popular job search directory hub has recently launched a "I Love My Job Photo Contest"…. The prize is a Nikon DSLR D80 camera and many other prizes".

This contest has all the usual membership drive tactics for membership recruitment purposes. And of course, you have to become a member of job search site to join the contest.

But up till here, do the above read normal to you or have you already spotted the rhetorical paradox?

What seems more like a "work life balance awareness drive", it is rather paradoxical, don’t you think that in the 1st place, if I really love my job, would I need the services of a job search directory hub … ?

And if the marketer is trying to imply that you are happy after finding a new job through the search hub and join the contest, it defeats the purpose of the recruitment drive!

This is a true life example of an unthinking marketer, who lacks in-depth understanding of his/her potential target market’s mindset and needs.

There are other more effective and rewarding marketing tactics that gives better levarge. For instance, organising Career Seminar Tie-Ups with participating MNCs or Large Locals Employers or Job-skill -Based Contests like planning and implementing a business plan etc.

I cannot stress more that as true marketers , one needs to delve deep into the needs of one’s target markets , know them thoroughly and activate appropriate marketing tactics to garner their trust.

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Visualize their reaction upon receiving your direct mailer or especially unsolicited email trying to sell them something. Some people do tend to react badly to direct mailers which contain even their very basic particulars, viewing this as an infringement of their privacy. Wile I do not react too badly to "junk mail", I feel bad that many trees are sacrificed for this purpose!

Due to the more rampant abuse of email marketing, an "ethics barometer" is much required by the fraternity.

You need to build your copy with a permission-based "option-in" feature which enables willing parties to join your promotion/ campaign. I have given it a name - "The Direct Marketing Essential Ethics Barometer ".

Serious internet marketers adopt this marketing approach very stringently lest the internet marketer is mistaken for a spammer. The process is such - you lead generate a potential customer by giving away free information or a free gift, but on the pretext (and genuinely so) that you need their permission and verification via their email. After obtaining their email, your very intelligent auto-responder will send a confirmation email to the prospect. The prospect logs into the email account and clicks the confirmation link. The link brings the prospect to a site to download the promised free info or gift.

With the opt-in email address, a touch point is successfully and legitimately created for you, the marketer, to continue connecting with the prospect until he or she buys something from you.

And of course, those who are not keen to participate can choose to ignore the mailer or your first marketing email.

This also serves as an effective tracking system for respond rate as your auto-responder should have comprehensive performance tracking analytics. You can then tweak your campaign accordingly for better response results.

What is the single most critical tool of closing a sale? You’d think it’s your selling skills, or your looks, your sales pitch, your script, or even remotely … your outfit … Think again.

It’s Your Heart. Sell it with a Conscience. Yes, Sell it with a Heart.

Yes, you probably heard this many times. But let me share with you that this is not cliché. I have learnt from a ripe young age as a financial planner, the ultimate tool to close a sale is to let your prospects feel your conscience, that you genuinely know their Needs, that you sincerely & full-heartedly wish to help them solve their problems. Convince them with your sincerity.

I have gratifyingly seen many instances in my sales management career whereby my staff sincerely feel for their clients and go the extra mile to do their best and exceed those needs. When you s erve a client unconditionally , you will be naturally rewarded with more future sales, because the trust is built subconsciously.

The end results is truly customer loyalty, because the clients feel in their heart that the sales representatives care, and even more so that when they need their sales rep again the next time round, they can reassured of my staff being there for them.

Sales & Servicing are One and if your chosen career is in Sales, always remind yourself that You are in it for Life … with a heart.

Apply your marketing media channels selectively to your target audience when executing Interactive Media. Converge your various new media tools to provide multi-play platforms. To highlight, look to the modern day mobile phones where radio, still & video camera, voice recorder, MP3, video streaming are all built-in within one mobile phone…

Multi-play is a compelling business model most leveraged by telecommunication service providers whereby infrastructure platforms such as Broadband Internet access, television, land-line telephone as well as mobile phones are provided by ONE service provider.

A little twist to this concept and You too can multi-play, by packaging your products to provide a strong unique value-for-$ proposition to your end consumer. Multi-Play helps you to further Lock-In your customers with a "premium all-in-one package ". Adapting the spirit of this concept i.e. all-in-one package, which also mean "bundled pricing " in pricing strategy, you could create great perceived value in your offerings. This concept also helps you to tie down your customers via the various products in your bundled offer.

Yes, The name of the game for you could be to Lock Your Customers In! Converge Your Marketing Tools & Product Offerings via multi-play.

The Other Side of the Coin

Realize though that Not All Products need to be bundled for a value-for-$ proposition . You must understand your product as well as your target markets sufficiently thoroughly to explore the multi-play model. For instance, you don’t actually need to package an iphone with an ipod.

You should never blindly jump on the multi-play bandwagon without understanding your target customers’ needs. Survey your target markets, do focus groups, research your markets, carefully define the Needs Gaps. If the opportunity for multi-play arises, apply your multi-play business model accordingly.

Pricing of your bundled package should be meticulously worked out, lest you spread the profits thin.

For those of you who still believe that playing computer games, be it using your console or via the internet is a waste of time, well think again. Whether they are played on consoles like Nintendo WII, Sony PSP, Microsoft’s Xbox, or online in the form of MMORPGs or individual gaming on Yahoo! Online, interactive gaming currently involves a total of more than 30% of the world’s population.

About 40% of the active gamers are from Asia, namely Taiwan, China & South Korea, generating about US$150 million subscription revenues. Increasingly, more women between the age of 36 to 45 have become gamers. The channels of online gaming has extended from your home PC to internet cafes, mobile phones etc.

To highlight the business opportunities which abound in China, online gaming has reached a frenzy stage, and that means growing profits for the companies who can capture the most gamers, whose habits range from hobby to, literally, addiction. And that makes online gaming a burgeoning business in China, where research firm IDC estimates revenues will double by 2010. The average player spends two to three hours online a day, and surprisingly, the majority are adults, who’ve got the money to spend. Active players on average spend 59 RMB ($8) per month, bringing the total market to $816 million last year.

This has given rise to a whole new meaning to Gaming advertising . New channel of delivery are not limited to the home but has expanded outdoors to Internet Cafes, Mobile Phones and any On-The-Go gadgets. Check out the new digital gaming advertising tools that you could utilize below:

Enter the New Digital Gaming Advertising Media :

In-game Advertising is a term which means you place products or widgets as advertisements.

Adver-gaming is all about clever branding and advertising blended into the games. You blend your products or product mascots as characters or process into the scheme of the games. This way, you achieve exposure to your defined target segments playing the games.

Movie-gaming is a form of adver-gaming, with popular movie characters tactfully blended into the games.

I would deem In-gaming Advertising and Adver-gaming as also Sponsor-gaming when your company sponsors your product or company mascot as character within the games.

Statistics shows that Telemarketing responses fetches 4 times more than mail generated leads. To think that the cost is exorbitant since large corporations invest millions prepping up their telemarketing centers. But you too can leverage on Telemarketing in a Small way to generate Big Revenue.

4 Criteria rules your telemarketing usage which your business should satisfy. They are namely, the suitability of your business for the telemarketing channel of distribution, the function of telemarketing as marketing tool in your business i.e. using it as a sales tool, or after sales service support tool or rapport-building tool, the "recency" of your call list and finally, the rewards structure to your telemarketers.

If you run a tight ship, small business with small sales budget you could start training one or two existing staff to spend 30% to 50% of their time conducting telemarketing out of a potential client listing generated from your many events and campaigns as well as existing client lists. Leveraging on existing manpower resources, you have created a new channel of distribution!

Be sure to pick staff with tact and are able to take rejection and has great perseverance.

Remember to Reward them generously in addition to their salary on a per sale basis. This way, you motivate for continued sales. You also only need to pay commission on sales generated without incurring extra labor costs. You are essentially leveraging on the concept of variable revenue.

Yes! Small Steps for BIG WINS!!

Cheers!

You might be in such an industry: You are in an industry which sells pretty much "generic" type of products. Your business benchmarks against your competitors and theirs yours. Your competitors run campaigns & slash pricing, so you do the same. And whenever they run yet another one-for-one campaign, you are compelled to match them in your next campaign. Tiring "guerrilla warfare" you say?!

How would you like to save on all the campaign expenditure, yet generate the same amount of response and sales as your competitors?

Yes! It can be done and it’s easy. The answer is to simply Beat them at their own game! Run a "Competitor Coupons Accepted Here!" Campaign.

But what if your competitors are out to phase you out of the market? That’s easy again. Set a timeframe to limit the upside "loss" generated from your "competitor" campaigns. Essentially, launch your "Competitor Coupons Accepted Here!" with an "Offer expires on XX (date)".

Kudos!

Direct marketing is one of the major drivers in your marketing plan’s 4Ps marketing mix - Promotion, marketing your products or services on one-to-one, one-to-many or even many-to-many modes of touch points of your pre-selected target segments. Traditional direct marketing communication tools include direct marketing, direct mailer, ads, telemarketing, email marketing , point of sales. In the internet arena, Direct marketing tools have seen creative changes in the form of Digital or New Media and has since morphed from internet developments when the industry saw the advent of Web 2.0 - an advanced version of the world wide web. The agents of change define Digital or New media as digital media, Virtual worlds, Multimedia CD-ROMS, brochure-ware, blogs, wikis, emails, RSS, electronic kiosks, Affordable I nternet TV , Mobile devices, Podcasting, and the list goes on… From the perspective of a marketer, you must familiarize yourself with such mediums as most of them will be your "bridge" of communication for your brands and products with the very technology-vibrant young consumers.

Integrated Communications defines one focused & unified message across all the marketing mix of advertising, public relations, direct marketing as well as all marketing collaterals. And in Internet marketing, you maximize your keyword SEO, links, social bookmarking, social networking, and viral marketing activities. Integrated Marketing Plan is Integrated Communications crafted with an allocated budget.

To highlight the above, I share my past experience when I was executing a 3-day advertising and marketing campaign for a national insurance company. We ran a health insurance campaign but leveraging it as a "door-opener" for financial advisors to market the company’s other product offerings. The Health insurance is IS plan.

On the original campaign draft, we scheduled prime time TV ads with hotline and email links plus brochures for the financial advisors to approach clients. Financial Advisors are situated in a large geographical area around a province with local TV network.

I redrafted the campaign to include a back-end lead generation tracking mechanism which will man the hotlines and emails as well as consisted of participating advisors’ contact details, added email announcements of the TV ads to financial advisors, uploaded all the related marketing collaterals and application forms into the advisor’s intranet for easy retrieval, created a campaign webpage and a template for potential client’s auto-registration.

This is the procedure that enhanced our sales by 240% above target for that single campaign run.

3 days before the campaign run, I sent email announcements to all Financial Advisors with the TV ads scheduled timing, attachments of all related marketing materials, instructions how to access the advisors’ intranet as well as links to the campaign webpage for clients to directly register for the IS plan. I include instructions and suggestions for them to approach potential clients at their homes at prime time when the TV ads would be running.

On the day, I sent a reminder email enclosing all the above. When the TV ads ran at prime time, the lead generation hotline staff handled incessant first level enquiries, and routed the 2nd level enquiries to a system-randomly picked advisor’s cell phone number. The advisors would either arrange to meet up or direct the client to sign up on our website. Eventually, the advisor would report back into the intranet system to update the status of the lead, be it pending, or closed.

Meanwhile, while the TV ads were run, a large number of advisors were knocking on doors, talking to potential clients at their homes, with the TV ads as "door-openers" or "conversation leads". This approach managed to warm up the potential clients much faster and expedited the IS applications. The status of the leads is also updated into the intranet system.

A daily report would be generated with all leads streaming from all channels, displaying the total number of leads closed and pending, with the channels of leads clearly tabulated.

At the end of the 3-day campaign run, there is a consolidated report displaying the grand total of the daily reports.

This is an example of the clever use of the integration of a range of integrated communications comprising of direct marketing, hotline & lead generation tracking, TV ads, marketing collaterals, which eventually gave a 240% more sales above our original target.

The marketer should be leveraging upon all his or marketing tools to extend the potency and intensity of the campaign, not simply riding upon what meet the nake eye.