Most digital marketing agencies have it wrong. They focus on rankings, not revenue. All we care about is how much revenue and profit we can drive to your business by optimising your entire online sales process. How we help grow and automate your business.
There’s a tonne of “how to” guides around about internet marketing but most of it is aimed at the “make-money-in-your-dressing-gown”, information marketing crowd. I’m not knocking it – selling information online is a great business model in many ways.
But what if you operate an “offline” product or service business, and you want to learn how to…
Generate more qualified sales leads and enquiries using the Internet
Leverage the results of your current website
Continuously improve your marketing ROI.
Many “information-marketing” principles don’t necessarily apply. That’s because you actually have to DO something such as set an appointment or ship a physical product to your customer. And many “offline” businesses are not particularly web-savvy – they want to use the internet as a sales or lead generation tool, without wanting to make the web their core business. The Exponential Internet Strategies Report addresses these issues – providing business owners and managers with a thorough strategic overview of how to use the web as part of the marketing mix, plus dozens of highly successful tactics for leveraging the Internet to create real business results.
I’ll keep you posted about results as they come in.
Publishing a book can be a fantastic way to establish yourself as a
“thought leader” in your industry and expand your reach. A successful book can be a suburb lead generator for consultants, speakers, professionals (to name a few).
Two Australian accountants, Tony Melvin and Ed Chan, have recently launched a book called “How to Legally Minimise Your Tax”. It has not only hit the bestseller lists in Australia, but has also provided them with a raft of back-end sales opportunities. Some of their back end offerings include more advanced DVD-based products in addition to the professional services that they provide. All in all, a job well done!
So how do you get your book published?
I too have had a book project in the wings for some time but the whole business of getting a book published is rather daunting and for one reason or another I’m at the same stage with this as I was 6 months ago.
Recently I regained some momentum with this project when Charles Cuninghame from Text-Centric Copywriting introduced me to Pam Brewster from Brolga Publishing, who very kindly gave me some pointers on how to go from an idea to actually seeing your book in bookshops.
Here’s a summary of Pam’s recommendations…
Broadly speaking, there are three options: going through a publisher, self-publishing via traditional bookshops or self-publishing on the Internet. Let’s look at each one in turn…
Option 1: Going through a publisher
The key advantage of going through a publisher is that the publisher meets your costs and distributes the book on your behalf.
The first step is to approach a publisher (preferably one who publishes books in a similar genre to yours). An easy way to find appropriate publishers is to simply go to a bookshop and look at who’s publishing books in your chosen genre.
The next step is to submit a brief synopsis, Table of Contents, author profile and 1 or 2 sample chapters to “sell” the manuscript. If the publisher likes what they ready, they’ll contact you to request the full manuscript.
If a publisher agrees to publish your book, they will meet the cost of production and distribution. First-time authors typically receive a royalty payment of 10% of RRP and royalties are paid 6-monthly.
If you go through a publisher, one of the prices you may have to pay is letting go of some editorial control.
Option 2: Self-publishing
If you can’t find a publisher to take on your project (or you’re the maverick-type who just likes to make their own rules!) self-publishing is another option.
First step is to find a distributor รข€“ the distribution cost is typically 60% to 70% of RRP. The remaining 30% to 40% has to cover all of your costs including printing. If you’re lucky there will even be a bit left over as profit!
The word on the street is that distributors normally aren’t terribly thrilled to work with first-time authors. The reason is that newbies often have unrealistic expectations and are more trouble than they’re worth to deal with.
Option 3: Self-publishing via the Internet
The other option is to self publish and distribute over the internet – either in e-book format or in printed format. The advantage of this include the relative ease of publishing and the ability to potentially target very tight subject niches (plus, you get a much greater percentage of the profits).
The disadvantage is that your reach is significantly diminished, especially if your target market are not necessarily active online. [Or your industry may be very competitive online but far less so offline. When you go offline your marketing efforts will gain much greater traction.]
How many authors actually make a profit from their work? A few bestselling authors make millions, but the majority either eke out a modest existence or make nothing.
If publishing a book is a “means to an end” (i.e. a lead generation tool for your business), then not making any profit on the front end isn’t a problem. If you structure it correctly, you should have a back end of products and services where you make your money.
And simply calling yourself a “published author” can add significantly to your pre-eminence within your industry. Even if you never sell a copy, you’re still a published author and an industry expert.
If you haven’t paid much attention to the recent buzzword of ‘Gamification’, listen up!
Last week I went to Interactive Minds @ The Edge in Brisbane, and listened to three exceptional speakers talk about Gamification in marketing. I would have to say it was the best Interactive Minds session I have been to in the last 3 years.
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimension.” – O.W Holmes, Jr. Tweet This
Listening to Kim Hopwood @kimhopwood, Adam Corney @Corney, and Dr Jason Fox @DrJasonFox, I had sparks going off in my head “why haven’t I looked at gaming like this before!”. The theory, the evidence, the concept…it all makes sense. Prior to this morning, I thought good Communication would change the world and now I am starting to see the real potential of using game thinking to change the world! Maybe Al Gore is onto something.
Rewards, motivation, competition. Gamification might be a new buzzword, but the principles and methodologies of game based thinking are ancient, and games are an integral part of all societies. Similarly in marketing, these principles have been popular for years and most commonly associated with loyalty programs. It is human nature to enjoy games, and companies are quickly learning that these mechanics are an effective way to create meaningful experiences with customers. With platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, there are more opportunities to really engage with your customers.
A buzzword is born… Gamification
*Google Trends: “Gamification” Screenshot taken 21/04/2013
So What is Gamification?
As Kim @KimHopwood explained, Gamification is the process of applying game thinking and mechanics to engage users (your customers). Gamification is a layer on top of your marketing that should aim to motivate, influence and engage customers by making non-game activities more entertaining.
Warning: Beware of using Gamification without using the right ‘strategy’ – a lot of marketing budget has been wasted creating ‘fun’ applications that seemingly engage customers, with ZERO marketing objectives actually being achieved in the process.
By 2014, 80% of Current Gamified Applications Will Fail to Meet Business Objectives Primarily Due to Poor DesignTweet This
The exponential growth of Gamification can be aligned with the rise of the connected consumer. As consumers become more empowered through social technology and their expectations of companies increase, there is great potential for companies to proactively design positive experiences and push the boundaries of engagement.
The Gamification market is currently estimated around $100 million, and is expected to grow to more than $2.8 billion by 2016!Tweet This
As Dr J.Fox proved by showing the video below, it isn’t only humans who like playing games…
Why Use Gamification?
The success statistics of Gamification aren’t great, but there is a real belief and strong evidence that these principles work. Goals, rules, feedback = results. It is a powerful tool to engage your customers, change behaviours, develop skills and drive innovation.
3 Reasons To Use Gamification in Marketing:
Brand Promotion: Playing games is fun! While playing games you can develop positive attitudes, and positive brand associations. People have the desire to win, and we don’t mind telling people about it.
Product Awareness: Make the product the hero. Nike+ have successfully developed a game (NikeFuel) around their product. You are motivated and inspired to use and engage with the product.
To Change Behaviour: Reward positive behaviour and punish negative behaviour in a game environment. A great example of this “Quit Now: My Quit Buddy”, an App from the Australian Government that uses game mechanics to reward people for not smoking.
Gamification is not a short term strategy, it’s a long-term commitment. Like any marketing strategy, you need to test, learn, and optimise. Using these types of techniques as part of your marketing plan isn’t for all companies, and although the rewards can be huge, so are the risks. BUT, as our customers constantly evolve online it is important for us to start thinking outside the box to engage customers on a deeper level.
This topic is fascinating! If you are interested in learning more about the rise of Gamification, here is a good place to start:
‘Community Building’ – or engaging people who have a common interest in a brand or idea – is on everyone’s mind these days. The Next Web recently devoted a panel discussion to this topic at its annual conference in New York City. There I joined representatives from Tumblr and startup accelerator AngelPad in a fascinating conversation about building community through trust and authenticity.
Here are six tips that can help brands stir passion and deepen connections inalmost any community:
1. Address a need
In order to build a vibrant community, address a real need and provide true value. Ask yourself: Am I providing a benefit to my customers? Am I helping them accomplish their goals, or addressing concerns they have?
At Fiverr, for example, our community initially grew through sellers of digital creative services wanting to learn from each other. At the same time, many felt professionally isolated as freelancers and missed the personal connections. Today, through the Fiverr Forum, blog, community events, meetups and other grassroots activities, we work to connect freelancers across the globe and help them consult with each other, collaborate, and make new friends.
2. Use the community for the community
Brands rely on their communities to fuel their own growth. After hosting a few community events, we began getting requests from community members in different locations to hold their own, independent events. This year, our community will host more than 50 self-organized events around the world.
Passionate users like these are also the best brand ambassadors. Our Fiverr Ambassadors — successful sellers on the platform — help us monitor our forums and help newcomers build their businesses on Fiverr. When you want to scale community building efforts, expanding your team is one way to do so. But try utilizing your community to effectively scale, especially as an alternative to scaling up your team. No one can represent you better than an empowered customer.
3. You can’t replace face-to-face
As Thomas Korte of AngelPad mentioned during our panel, meeting someone in person, even for a few minutes, makes a world of difference.
For most brands, community-building is exclusively virtual. Online venues become places for people to communicate, share success stories and case studies, and create virtual friendships. But consider adding in-person community events where human touch can amplify the collaboration experience. Danielle Strle of Tumblr shared similar advice.
In Tumblr’s case, in-person meetups were originally initiated by independent community members. Tumblr followed its community’s lead and began to host events as well.
One of the major developments in my business this year has been to co-author the Exponential Internet Strategies Report with US Marketing Marketing Wiz Jay Abraham.
