Welcome to all our brainy new subscribers!


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY Tidbits

The ezine with brainy ideas & resources
for marketers & small businesses


This newsletter brought to you each Tuesday by
Lois Carter Fay & The Marketing Idea Shop
http://www.marketingideashop.com
mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com


Issue 45 - March 30, 2004
Reading time: 10 minutes

Circulation:  1367


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


PLEASE FORWARD ~~~ WITHOUT CUTTING ~~~
to anyone who can use a few timely marketing
and creativity tips to improve their business.


This is an opt~in email - By subscription only
You are receiving this newsletter because you requested it.

You can manage your subscription easily at the end of the
newsletter.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


IN THIS ISSUE

1.   Ringing Up Sales on the Net
2.   Customized Autoresponders
3.   Quote of the Week
4.   PR & Networking Opportunities
5.   Resources for Entrepreneurs and Marketers
6.   A Little Fun
7.   Smell the Coffee


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


1. Ringing Up Sales on the Net


Practically every business can use its website as a sales
tool, either by selling directly from the site or by using
it as an image enhancer. While most companies could take
advantage of the ability to sell from the site, for some
this wouldn't be a good financial decision.

A small-town restaurant, for instance, that depends upon
its customers to come to its eatery would use a website as
a traffic generator while a caterer might use it to
actually make sales and schedule jobs. A law firm would
usually use its website as a credibility and reputation
builder, but it might also offer ebooks, special reports,
audios of teleseminars given by the firm's attorneys, and
informational presentations on DVD or video for sale
through the site to generate income that is not dependent
on billable time.

Information businesses, like a company that sells
downloadable books and special reports, and those that
easily lend themselves to "cataloging," such as my client
Rowena's (great cakes and other gourmet foods at
http://www.rowenas.com ), are the best types of companies
to sell directly on the Net. The purchase process is fast,
easy and secure, so customers are increasingly more willing
to pull out their credit cards.

If you plan do to use your site to sell products and
services to your customers, there are a few things you need
to have: a good website, a hard-working electronic shopping
cart with credit card processing capability, one or more
products, and a way to contact your customers and prospects
on a regular basis. Let's look at each of these
requirements.

==>A Good Website

What constitutes a "good" website? Well, one definition
might be that you actually make sales or generate leads
through the site. Whether you make direct sales or not, the
site needs to be quick to load, easy to navigate, have
contact information on every page, and be easy to
understand. It doesn't, however, need to be particularly
pretty or glitzy.

==>Electronic Shopping Cart

A good shopping cart will help you sell. It will be easy to
use, allow you to upsell (do you want fries with that?), do
all the calculations for the sale including taxes and
shipping, allow the buyer to add or remove items from the
cart anytime in the process, deliver or help you deliver
your goods, and help you manage your customer and prospect
lists. It will work with several credit card processing
companies and gateways (the real-time credit card
processing folks), and the shopping cart company will help
you get approved for credit card processing. It will also
allow you to follow up with your customers on a regular
basis with autoresponders (more on this in the next
article).

==>Products

Of course, a key element to selling online is having one or
more products to sell. These can be your products or those
developed by someone else. Just like in a bricks and mortar
store, if the products are inexpensive, then to make
considerable money, you will need to sell in volume.
Offering a variety of prices and bundling products will
help you appeal to more customers and make more money.

==>Publicity

The best way to keep in touch with your customers and find
prospects is to create an email newsletter that provides
information to them while also offering your products for
sale like I do with this newsletter. Of course, the
recipients will have to "opt-in" (or subscribe) to receive
it, giving you permission to email them. A ratio of 70%
content/30% sales material is standard. You can also use
the traditional publicity avenues (newspapers, radio, TV,
word of mouth, etc.), coupled with new media
options--posting articles online, offering helpful comments
on Internet discussion lists, and joint venturing with
people who sell to the same market--to spread the word.

All of this starts with having a good website. But you'll
also need excellent products, a shopping cart that helps
you sell, and hard-working marketing tactics to create your
successful business. In my new 28-page booklet, "BUSINESS
SUCCESS SECRETS: HARD-WORKING TACTICS & RESOURCES," you'll
find over 150 tactics to help you get your company or
products noticed in a busy world and make more sales. It
also includes over 50 links to terrific resources you can
use to improve your business.

And if you buy it N*O*W, I'll throw in two bonuses! You'll
also get Yanik Silver's ebook, "14-Point Web Copy
Analysis," and Tom Antion's ebook, "How to Pick a Shopping
Cart System That Makes You Money" totally F~REE. All for
just $19.95. Buy it here:

http://tinyurl.com/23u7n

Or if you'd like to read more about it, visit:

http://www.marketingideashop.com/documents/bizsuccess.htm


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


2.  Customized Autoresponders

In the first article I briefly mentioned autoresponders.
I'm sure you have experienced this Internet marketing
phenomenon. You sign up for a newsletter and immediately
get a return email from the publisher. You purchase a book
from Amazon and you get a thank you note, notice of
shipping date, and a couple weeks or a month later you get
a note that says, "Hey. We noticed that you bought NAKED
MARKETING by Rob Grede. Did you know that people who
ordered NAKED MARKETING have also purchased MARKETING PLAN
ESSENTIALS: ONLINE & OFF by Lois Carter Fay? Would you like
to add this terrific marketing book to your library?"

Autoresponders are great for "pinging" your customers and
prospects. Here are just some of the ways you might use
them:

==> To follow up on an order or purchase.

==> To deliver a 7-day marketing course and entice your
prospects into buying your products.

==> To confirm delivery.

==> To remind buyers to come back to your website to see
what's new.

==> To sell more products.

==> To announce new services.

==> To upsell other products and services.

And all of this increases your bottom line and decreases
the time you spend on marketing because you have automated
parts of the sales process.

Here's a great example of using customized email
autoresponders and viral marketing (making it so
interesting that people forward your email) to sell more
products. It was forwarded to me for Brainy Tidbits by Joan
Stewart of http://www.publicityhound.com , who received it
from one of her subscribers, Scott Kroeger of Vistelar (
http://www.vistelar.com ). Thank you Scott for sending this
in:

"Today one of my colleagues got an e-mail from a company
he's done business with. They've done a wonderful job using
technology to customize messages to their customers. It's
not PR, but it is great marketing.

My colleague, Dan, purchased a yoga music CD. CDBaby
remembered that, and made good use of it when they decided
to promote their latest CD sale. You can imagine that some
serious thought went into automating something so well it
looks handcrafted. I think the customization took into
account Dan's gender, as well as his recent purchase.

Here's what he received:


Hi Daniel -

Ever since you bought that first CD from us (RAGANI: Best
of Both Worlds - Yoga Music) - we've had your picture on
our wall as "Customer of the Year."

Every Friday night, we bake some mint cookies and sit in a
circle around your picture, chanting, "Oh Daniel, oh Daniel
- what would make you happy?"

After weeks of obsessing, I think we've finally got
something that will make you happy:

The $5 CD sale.

Go to http://www.cdbaby.com/sale

We put over 6000 albums on sale for only $5.

They are some great full-priced CDs that still sell for
full price, but once you have at least three different "$5
specials" in your shopping cart at the same time, you will
see their price drop to just $5 each.

We did this so you could afford to experiment and get a LOT
of new music at once, so feel free to get as many as you
want!

START HERE:  http://www.cdbaby.com/sale

--
Derek Sivers, CD Baby
http://www.cdbaby.com/sale

P.S.  You look great today!  That's a nice shirt on you.

P.P.S.  If you want us to never speak to you again, we'll
be
heartbroken but understand some day.  Just click this
link:
[un*subscribe link]"



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


3.  Quote of the Week

Jo DeMars, president of DeMars & Associates, Ltd. (
http://www.demarsassociates.com ) in Waukesha, Wis., is one
of the women who will be included in my ebook, SUCCESS
SECRETS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS (coming this summer). Here's
Jo's definition of success:

"I think you're successful when you wake up in the morning
and you're happy. And you know that the activities you have
planned are going to make a difference."


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


AND NOW, A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS...


What's your definition of success? Email your comments to
me at
mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com?subject=Success_Quote



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


4.  PR & Networking Opportunities

If you have PR or networking events that would interest our
readers, please send an email to me at
mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com with all the details.


==> Seminar: Increasing Federal Sales for Small Firms

This all-day seminar will be held April 27 from 9 am - 4:30
pm in Washington, DC. Today's outsourcing climate places a
premium on the GSA Schedules as vehicles for federal
contracting - and the competitive federal marketplace
always places a premium on savvy marketing, especially for
small businesses. There will be ample time for questions
and networking. For more information, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/2v8uq


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


5. Resources for Entrepreneurs and Marketers

==> Looking for a website to submit your articles?

Submitting articles you have written to showcase your
expertise is a terrific way to get free publicity and drive
traffic to your website. Here are four websites that accept
articles from writers:

http://www.suite101.com
http://www.about.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.business.com


==> Need f*ree help with your marketing questions?

Marketing Profs lets you join discussions about a variety
of marketing topics. You can post your question and get
useful advice, or answer a question by another member. It's
another opportunity to let people know about you. Go here
to sign up for the listserv and for their newsletter:

http://www.marketingprofs.com


==> Do you know your third-grade geography?

Here's a fun online US geography test. But you have to be
fast...can you pass?


http://www.madblast.com/funflash/swf/map_test.swf


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

6.  A Little Fun


Humor can sometimes be a big help in marketing...and in
life. Here's a real example of airline humor:

On a Continental Flight with a very "senior" flight
attendant crew, the pilot said, "Ladies and gentlemen,
we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down
the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance
the appearance of your flight attendants."


Thanks to Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound,
http://www.publicityhound.com for today's joke.

Help keep the smiles coming...please send me your
marketing, PR or sales jokes. I'll be happy to give you
credit and list your website! Email me:
mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com?subject=marketing_joke


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


7.  Smell the Coffee...

My nieces got a little taste of fame this week. They
attended an event at Massanutten Technical College last
Saturday and ended up on the radio and quoted in the
newspaper!

The morning event was an introduction to nontraditional
jobs in the trades for teenage girls. We were quite shocked
to open up the newspaper on Monday and find a front-page
article that began with Roni's name, quoted her throughout
it and had a terrific picture of Nessa laying a brick
sidewalk. Roni enjoyed the carpentry lesson, but she
thought laying brick was too dirty. Nessa was very good at
laying brick so maybe we'll get a brick sidewalk this
summer!:-)


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


MORE PRODUCTS

I encourage you to visit the Marketing Idea Shop website
for lots more information. Plus, you'll find a lovely
picture of me there! There are f~ree articles, past copies
of Brainy Tidbits, resources, ebooks and special reports.
Remember, we are constantly adding brainy ideas and
information to the site for you.

http://www.marketingideashop.com



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

THE FINE PRINT

© 2004 Marketing Idea Shop. All rights reserved.
This publication is registered with the
Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
ISSN 1545-035X


THANK YOU!
We appreciate your business.


PRIVACY STATEMENT/COPYRIGHT
We will not distribute your email address or personal
information to anyone. Period.


PERMISSION TO REPRINT
You may reprint any items from "MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY
Tidbits" (except those with a copyright listed from another
source) in your own print or electronic newsletter. Please
be kind and send us a copy so we can see it in print. Also,
please include the following paragraph:

Reprinted from "MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY Tidbits," a F~REE
ezine from Marketing Idea Shop and Lois Carter Fay
featuring brainy ideas and resources for marketers and
small businesses. Subscribe today at
http://www.marketingideashop.com and receive F~REE by email
"67 Ways to Promote Your Business."


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Published by:
Lois Carter Fay, APR
Founder, Marketing Idea Shop
411 Rainier Road, Massanutten, VA  USA 22840
Voice 540.289.3840 or 800.203.8660
lcf@marketingideashop.com
http://www.marketingideashop.com