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2. Diversify your offering – take a look at what you offer your customers and consider how you can offer alternates that are better suited to their financial situation.

3. Review your credit and the credit you offer – start asking for more credit from your suppliers and offering less to your customers, this helps improve your cash position and reduces your risk. Plus it's easier to negotiate better credit from a position of strength before you need it.

4. Chase ALL outstanding, overdue debtors and make sure you manage your debtors to ensure prompt payment.

5. Review all discretionary spending, cut what you can without compromising the quality of your offering.

6. Review your customers – typically 20% of your customers provide 80% of the revenue for your business. The other 80% of the customers provide less revenue and are often far less profitable (or even not profitable) to serve. Consider firing some of your customers if it helps reduce cost without hurting your profit. Equally work on building your relationships with the best 20% as you may well be able to offer them more or related products or services.

7. Maintain, or better yet increase your marketing – most small businesses cut their marketing in a recession, that's a huge mistake as marketing is what drives new business to you. Note: I said increase your marketing, not your marketing budget – in fact in a recession you can often increase your advertising without increasing your budget as newspapers, magazines and the like are all desperately looking for more business, so take advantage and negotiate hard. The added bonus is that your advertising will often become more effective as there's less adverts for your competitors.

Businesses that do well in a recession are those that are able to minimize their costs and maintain or even growing their revenue. In order to do this you need to focus on two key areas:

Cutting costs – lower costs mean higher profit margins and/or the ability to offer lower prices without reducing profit margins.

Growing market share – the businesses that do well in a recession are those that invest in their marketing.

With WebsiteForge our advanced Search Engine Optimization Technology will help increase your traffic to your site. The more traffic your site gets the more conversions you'll have and profits will increase.

For more information on how WebsiteForge can help your business, please contact me.

Thanks,

Douglas A. Marks

Website Marketign Consultant

www.websiteforge.com

888-558-2446 X 208

Posted in Uncategorized by Doug Marks
Views: 4883

Do you need financial help with your business website project?

July 29th, 2010 at 11:29 am

Do you need financial help with your business website project? If you do, please read this post.

I know businesses are hurting these days, but I'm here to tell you, online sales are going through the roof and you're going to miss out if you don't have your website programmed the correct way to capture online leads.

In order to get high results in the free search engines your website needs to be programmed to do so. Just having Meta Tags on your site is not enough. You need what's called an ISMFS or Internal Site Mapping File System programmed into your website so the search engines will give you a preference over other sites without one.

The Downside: Here's the problem with the ISMFS (Internal Site Mapping File System) it can cost a small fortune to program your existing website with one. The average E-commerce website can run $50,000+ and the average informational website can run $10,000+ but typically can help your site achieve page 1, 2 or 3 results for the keywords or keyphrases that will help make your site money.

At WebsiteForge we spent over $150,000 and invest over $50,000 a year to make sure the ISMFS (Internal Site Mapping File System) that we have developed - works all the time! This allows businesses to help rank extremely high in the search engines and achieve page 1, 2 or 3 results.

The Upside: With WebsiteForge we don't charge $10,000 or $50,000 for this technology, but you do have to host your website with us and become a Member of our Community, which I think is one of the best reasons to switch to WebsiteForge's website platform and management services. Not only do you get a technology that you may not be able to afford, but you also get over $250,000 in Hosting technology and additional programming to improve the performance of your site for only $49-$99/month depending on your level of service.

This website building platform with the ISMFS and Content Management Tool to edit your site could cost your business $10,000 to $50,000 or more.

As a member of WebsiteForge's Community your investment is only a fraction of that. Depending on the level of your site design, it could be anywhere from the following...

Free In-stock Template sites: $99
Basic Template Color Design: $249
Custom Graphic Designed Site: $599
Custom Graphic Designed Site w/Home page graphics: $999
Site Conversion (depend on the setup time - call for a quote)

E-commerce add $500 for the shopping cart software
- Setup add $1000 (depends on the setup time - call for quote)
- Product Import $500

Informational Page layout & Setup by WebsiteForge is $75/page/hour
- If you use our Content Management Tool you can setup your own pages.
- Ecommerce pages do not count as Informational pages.

We're seeing sites getting up to 1231%+ more traffic in just 2-6 months of being with WebsiteForge and the conversion rates increasing up to 34% and higher.

If you had those increases, just think what that would do for your bottom line!

Contact me today to discuss how WebsiteForge can help your web sites financial performance.

Douglas A. Marks
Website Marketing Consultant
Website - www.websiteforge.com
Business - (888) 558.2446 Ext. 208

Posted in Uncategorized by Doug Marks
Views: 5169

Where are web site owners spending money?

July 29th, 2010 at 9:47 am

Posted in Uncategorized by Doug Marks
Views: 4772

Ecommerce web site is a great way to increase sales!

July 29th, 2010 at 9:17 am

Posted in Uncategorized by Doug Marks
Views: 4722

How Do You Make Your Website Make You Money?

June 2nd, 2010 at 9:33 am

If you've been reading about online stats then you know a few of the following statistics:

70% of the U.S. population regularly use the Internet
Over 1 billion people in the world are online
The average adult spends 3 hours more a day online than watching T.V.

These are all encouraging statistics for small business owners. It means you have a very large target market, and as long as you have a website, you have a better chance of being found online than in a phonebook, flier, or other advertisement.

But...

There are over 400 million active websites &
The average person only gives a website 10 seconds before deciding whether the site is worth their time.

Which means, you've got ten seconds (or less) to:

1)    attract the viewer
2)    declare your message &
3)    get them to take action

A challenge for sure! But it's not impossible. To make the most of your website, you simply need to know a few basic psychological tricks.

Maximize the Focal Point: Most online viewers can only focus on one thing at a time. So although you may have a bunch of great stuff on your site, find the focal point and make sure it's declaring your message loud and clear.

Make the Message Count: If it takes 2-3 seconds to read a sentence, that sentence better matter to the reader. Does your main message apply directly to the needs/wants of your target market? Don't be clever, elusive, or try to reach everyone. Focus on your target market and speak directly to their emotions.

Give Them Something to Do: Most viewers are searching for a site they can DO something on. Provide them with forums, blogs and other ways to connect with you and like-minded consumers. And don't forget to offer something free in exchange for their contact information.

Give Them a Reason to Return: Keep your site up-to-date and full of interesting, valuable information. When your viewers realize that you are constantly updating your site, they are much more likely to return.

Ten seconds is all you have to attract and keep prospects online. So, whatever else you do, be sure to collect lead information off your site. Even ten seconds gives you enough time to start building that relationship with your prospects.

If you are interested in learning what a supercharged website can do for your business, you can call me at (888) 558-2446 x 208 and I will be happy to help you.

Thanks,

Douglas A. Marks
Website Marketing Consultant
Website - www.websiteforge.com
Business - (888) 558.2446 Ext. 208
Fax - (517) 338-5064

Business Hours: (Monday - Friday) 10 AM - 6 PM Eastern Standard Time

Posted in Uncategorized by Doug Marks
Views: 5723

Add Your Comment

10 Tips to Write the Email Subject Line Right

June 2nd, 2010 at 9:16 am

Fifty characters could be all that stands between you and success in your next email campaign. Fifty characters is all the space you have in a typical email subject line to catch your reader's eye and entice him to open your email and take the action you want.

How could something so small make or break an email marketing campaign's success? Because many recipients use the email subject line to decide whether to open or delete an email.

Because so much is riding on your email subject line, we came up with 10 rules for crafting a good one.

10 Tips to Write the Email Subject Line Right

Tip 1: Read the newspaper.
If you want to write a better email subject line, pick up your local paper. The headline usually highlights a story's most important fact in a limited space. A subject line, in turn, should clearly state what your reader can expect from your email message, what's in it for them or what you want them to do as a result of the email. However, there isn't enough space to do all of them all the time. Look at the newspaper headline to see how it interplays with the story.

Tip 2: There is no sure-fire formula.
What works in one email campaign might bomb with the next. A discount offer should be worded differently from an up sell, and both are different from a breaking-news announcement.

Even if you are sending out email messages to promote similar campaigns, you shouldn't recycle an email subject line from a past campaign. You need to stand out each time, yet be familiar to the reader, too. How do you find out what works best? See Rule 3.

Tip 3: Test, test, test.
Test continually to determine trends and styles that appear to work. Add a day to your campaign-creation schedule to give you enough time to try out different email subject lines.

Tip 4: Open rates don't always measure subject-line success.
Look at the subjects associated with the highest number of conversions, such as registrations, clicks to view newsletter articles, sales or downloads. If you drill down into your web analytics, you might find some anomalies, such as an email with a relatively low open rate but a high sales-per-order rate. That could mean something in the subject line strongly appealed to a narrow segment of your email list and could point the way to a more lucrative segmentation. Remember, your end goal is not necessarily high open rates, but to have email subscribers take a specific action. Focus on your end goal.

Tip 5: Urgency drives action.
Set a deadline: "Order by midnight tonight;" "Last day to ensure Xmas delivery." Use urgency and deadlines as part of a planned series of emails as well. For example on Monday incorporate: “5 Days Left…” and then on Thursday follow it with: “Only 24 Hours….”.

Tip 6: Watch spam filters.
There's a fine line between "catchy" and "spammy." Run your email copy through a content checker to identify any spam like words, phrases or construction. The content checker will tell you which phrases to avoid.

See subject line specifications here:

Subject line must not be all in upper case.
Subject line must begin with a capital letter.
Subject line, words with more than three letters must have first letter capitalized.
Subject line must be more than a single word.
Subject line should be a description of the e-mail.
Subject line cannot use "RE" or "FW".
Subject line can not contain punctuations marks.
Subject lines can not contain website address.
Subject line can not contain e-mail address.
Subject line can not have any special characters.

Subject line can not use the following words or phases:

► breaking news

► breaking
► your own boss
► levitra
► call now

► loans
► cash bonus

► make money
► cialis

► multi level marketing
► click here

► notspam
► Dear Friend

► numerical digits at the end
► don't delete

► online degree
► earn extra cash

► online marketing
► easy terms

► online pharmacy
► eliminate debt

► alert
► extra income

► apply now
► fast cash

► as seen
► financial freedom

► as seen on Oprah
► free access

► as seen on TV
► free gift

► act now
► free info

► all words that relate pornography
► free instant

► promised you
► free offer

► refinance
► free samples

► reminder
► friend

► satisfaction
► g a p p y t e x t

► search engine listings
► get out of debt

► serious cash
► god

► sex
► get out of debt

► Sunday morning alert
► hello

► teen
► herbal

► undisclosed recipient
► Hi

► valium
► hidden

► vicodin
► home based

► winner
► hot

► work from home
► information you requested

► xanax
► instant

► your family
► insider

► Your own

Tip 7: Lead, but don't mislead.
Don't stretch the truth in the subject line or promise more than the email can deliver, or make grand claims that readers will find hard to comply with in order to get a special offer or benefit. Readers will distrust you (and reach for the report-spam button) if your subject line doesn't reflect the email content.

Tip 8: Write and test early and often.
Writing the subject line is often the last and most hurried step in email campaign development. It should be the other way around. As you plan the email marketing campaign, start thinking about what will go into the subject line. That will help you sharpen your campaign's focus and may even change or tweak the offer or article focus.

Tip 9: Review subject-line performance over your last several campaigns or newsletters.
See which email subject lines delivered the action you wanted – the most conversions, the highest average sale per order, the highest click-through rate, etc.

Tip 10: Continue the conversation.
Sending email more frequently than monthly or quarterly helps you create a conversation with your readers. Your tracking reports should show you what their crucial or hot-button issues are, what topics get them opening and clicking more vigorously. Feature those keywords or issues prominently in the email subject line where appropriate -- first or second position -- to capture readers' attention.

Posted in Uncategorized by Doug Marks
Views: 17586

Add Your Comment 4 Comments

I need to be Ranked in the First Page of the First Few on the Search Engine Pages Google , Micro , Yahoo

June 1st, 2010 at 11:33 am

QUESTION>

Douglas,

What I need is to be Ranked in the First Page of the First Few on the Search Engine Pages Google , Micro , Yahoo . . I don't want to make another website I have too much time in the one I have. Can you Help? Please Reply

Thank You

Joe Wood

www.theoldcuriositystore.com

REPLY>

Hi Joe,

Here is an example of the huge problem with your website.

When you do a search for a product you sell in Google it's not found..

"1996 1st Anniversary Silver Legacy $10.00 Silver Strike issued by the Silver Legacy Casino & Hotel Resort , Reno , Nevada .... This is for the Rare ! marked .999 Fine Silver on Brass Rim ! Shipping w/USPS Delivery Conf $5.99"

Search Results...

http://www.google.com/#q=1996+1st+Anniversary+Silver+Legacy+%2410.00+Silver+Strike+issued+by+the+Silver+Legacy+Casino+%26+Hotel+Resort+,+Reno+,+Nevada+....+This+is+for+the+Rare+!+marked+.999+Fine+Silver+on+Brass+Rim+!+Shipping+w/USPS+Delivery+Conf+%245.99&hl=en&start=0&sa=N&fp=9d63b61ca9166abe

Your site is not found.

Unfortunately your site was never set-up correctly to be found in the search engines. This problem exist with 99% of all the sites I come across.

To fix the issue would cost most people up to $50K to enhance your site the right way.

It's like converting a Hugo into a Lamborghini. The most economical way would be to hire us to redo the site using the lasted Search Engine Optimized website code available.

We update the code every Sunday directly to your new site and cost range from $500-$5000 depending on how much Design and Setup you want us to do.

Most people have a huge investment in their website and hate to think they wasted money on it, so they keep on investing money or what I say, throwing their money down a rat hole or good money after bad.

You have have to think of it this way... the vehicle you have used will only get you so far if you want to go even further and make more money, you'll have to buy a new vehicle to do it with, and that is what I offer you.

Right now you have an old clunker that gets 1 mile to gallon if that. WebsiteForge has a vehicle that will get you unlimited miles. Anytime that vehicle needs something replaced, WebsiteForge does it for you at no cost other than your Monthly Managed Services & Hosting Fee.

WebsiteForge invest over $250,000 back into your website code so you don't have to. What other company will do that?

WebsiteForge would love to help you make money online like our other 4000 clients. Call me and I'll explain more about what we can do for you.

Thanks,

Douglas A. Marks
Website Marketing Consultant
Website - www.websiteforge.com
Business - (888) 558.2446 Ext. 208
Fax - (517) 338-5064