In This Issue:

• Overture Changes Policy

• Promote Your Site Offline

• Pay Per Click Search Engines

Overture Changes Policy

Purchasing paid listings just got a whole lot more complicated -- or a lot more easier -- depending on your perspective, thanks to changes at Overture last week. The company rolled out a new bidding system that will force many advertisers to think more about how much they can afford to pay to gain leads rather than how cheaply they can get those leads. This important change has come about through the introduction of "auto-bidding." This feature lets advertisers indicate the "max bid" they are willing to pay for a particular word, then have Overture automatically increase the amount they pay to get them the best position, as long as it doesn't exceed the maximum.

With auto-bidding comes simplicity. Just decide how much you can afford to pay, and we'll get you the best spot, is the message from Overture. We'll even ensure you don't pay more than a penny more than the maximum someone below you is willing to pay.

Simplicity can also be dangerous. It's bad advice to walk into a car dealership and let a salesperson ask you how much you are willing to pay per month. You'll end up with a monthly payment that fits your budget, but that may be because the total price of the car is spread out over several years. You should know how much you can afford to pay in total before talking.

Promote Your Site Offline

• business cards

• letterheads

• envelopes

• address labels

• fax cover sheets

• checks

• invoices

• receipts

• reorder forms

Gift Certificates - Gift certificates are good because they allow your customer to share their discovery of your products and services with friends, family and colleagues. To be effective, especially in connection with services, a gift certificate needs to have a tangible dollar value to the recipient rather than merely offering to redeem the certificate for a particular service. This is because the referral customer probably has no conception of the dollar value of your service. The potential customer can, however, readily appreciate the value of a "$30 toward your purchase of $60 or more" gift certificate.

Brochures - Brochures are an effective way to create a professional image and promote your products and services at the same time. Give them to prospective customers for a quick overview of your business and to give them a reason to visit your Web site for more information. Distribute your brochure whenever you get the chance: carry them with you wherever you go and hand them out whenever you hand out your business card. Mail your brochure to current clients to inform them of additional products and services that they may be unaware you offer and to prospective clients sourced from rented mailing lists.

Classified Ads - Place small classified ads in your local and city newspapers and include the URL of your Web site.

Yellow Pages - If you purchase display advertising in the Yellow Pages, be sure to include your URL.

Telephone - Every time you answer your business phone be sure to give the caller your Web site address so they can find out more information about you and your business. Make sure your Web site address is included in the message recorded on your answering machine.

Word of Mouth - Finally, perhaps the most effective and under-appreciated tool of them all - word of mouth. Talk about your business and your Web site at every opportunity and encourage your customers, friends, family and colleagues to do the same. You would be surprised at just how many businesses out there owe their success to little more than word of mouth referrals.

Successfully promoting an online business requires a sound understanding and methodical application of the principles of online marketing and promotion. But to focus on online methods to the exclusion of offline does only half the job. Give due attention to offline methods of promotion in conjunction with your online promotional efforts to ensure the widest possible coverage of ALL of your potential markets.

Pay Per Click Search Engines

Pay Per Click Search Engines (aka PPC) are all the rage these days and for very good reasons. They may be an inexpensive way of achieving targeted traffic. If you're not familiar with them let's go over the basics.

With PPC search engines, you bid on keywords/phrases and when someone searches for those keywords, your site will appear on the search results page. If someone clicks on your site, you're charged the amount you have bid. If they don't click, your account is not charged.

To learn more about Pay Per Click Search Engines click HERE.