What is one of the main keys to a successful internet business Marketing. What do we all strive to perfect Marketing. What is this article going to address to help you improve in You got it, Marketing.
I recently had the pleasure to be impacted by a very simple yet effective marketing technique that had nothing to do with the internet, but could easily be applied there.
I work for one of the largest and most popular privately owned general contracting firms in the area that I live, and because of that, there are many companies that want to partner with us on projects that we do and get their piece of the market.
We have salespeople taking us out to lunch, on golf outings, to sporting events and our CEO even got to go to Florida to sit in the stands at the Super Bowl, courtesy of one of our equipment suppliers. Individuals who desire to do business with us are willing spend gobs of money just to keep themselves out in front of the competition, but those big things arent what I am basing my article on. Its a simple, inexpensive technique that I like to call Candy Jar Marketing, and it has almost everyone of my co-workers attention.
Several months ago I was walking past the receptionist desk and I saw a small jar of candy. Inside was mini chocolates, hard candy and other miscellaneous edible sweet treats. I was so delighted to see it because if youve ever worked in an office, that afternoon sugar rush really helps get you through the day.
I casually walked over to the jar and on the outside was the name of an engineering firm that I personally never heard of, and in the top of the cap was the persons business card that placed the jar. I thought, wow, what a nice jester that this individual was thoughtful enough to set this jar of free candy for us in the entire office to enjoy.
As far as I know, this individual hasnt asked for business or even met with one of our estimators to get on our bidders list, but they are leaving an impression.
Eventually, the jar empties and it is set aside, but not disposed of, because the person who put it there, said that they would be back in a few days to fill it again. Sure enough after a few days of it being empty, this person showed up again to fill it with more goodies.
This has been going on now for several months and because our office is so large, I never met this person and I dont know if anyone but the receptionist has, but we really like them. If this person would come to me today and ask to bid a job, I would most definitely allow them to do so.
This person is going out of their way to leave an impression prior to asking for business and they are doing it in a subtle inexpensive manner that is having an extreme impact.
What does this have to do with internet marketing Simple, give your potential customers a candy jar and keep filling it with candy. Yeah, ok, what do you mean by that, Scott. I mean, set a budget to give free stuff away to your customers, and when they wind up on your opt-in list, keep filling them up with more free stuff.
Dont have an ezine for people to subscribe to Dont worry, I put together a short email mini course to help you out. Send an email to newsletter@getresponse.com and youll be on your way to building a powerful ezine.
Heres what I believe is the easiest way to apply the Candy Jar Marketing method.
1. Assuming you have an ezine for people to subscribe to, begin by giving away a free gift to people just for subscribing. That is probably the most effective and inexpensive way to begin building your list.
2. Dont stop at one free gift. They subscribed because of the free gift, so to keep them there, give them more free gifts. You can even have the same person opt-in to several lists, if you have them, just by giving away free gifts for subscribing to other ezines.
3. Now after youve filled their jars several times and gained their trust, you can ask them for business, and your results will be astonishing.
4. After they buy, and even if they dont, keep filling the their candy jar.
This method of marketing is already being used by internet marketers, and they are very successful with it because it makes sense and really works.
Try it out and youll really be glad that you did.
Scott Burkholder is an experienced internet marketer who specializes is helping people start an online business of their own. You can visit his website at
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last year or so, you probably know that Google has become the king of the search engine hill. There are many reasons for this but number one in my opinion is that above all else they put value on content. Today I want to introduce you to two very powerful small business advertising options created by Google.
These two ingenious programs have all but revolutionized the way advertising is done on the web. Warning: If you are thinking...web advertising isnt for me, I just need a few more clients around the block...you better read this or be prepared to have your competitors eat your lunch.
Goolge AdSense - Again content is king at Google. This program allows web site publishers to add some code from Google and receive content relevant ads on their site from other site owners. Here is an example - those ads in the box on the right of the page are delivered by Google and are matched to the content on the page. When someone surfs to the page and decides to check out one of those ads, the web site owner earns a portion of the advertising revenue that Google collects.
The key here is that if you go to a site about quilting, you will see ads about quilting and not about dog grooming. I know this sounds so obvious but Google was the first to really figure this out.
This program has worked so well that some website owners are actually building content specific sites and paying for them solely through AdSense revenue. Small business owners should consider adding this feature to pages on their site for several reasons.
Ive already mentioned the fact that there is money to be made, but what many site owners are finding is that because Google is so respected and because the ads are highly targeted...they are no longer looked at by surfers as ads, they are looked at as content.
Some will even go as far as to say that by putting the Google ads on your site you actually better your chances of higher rankings with Google. Google flatly denies this claim and I dont think it is true but I do know that Google AdSense ads should be on every small business owners site. (Google AdSense)
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Another Warning: This is somewhat complex stuff. This article is only meant to introduce you to the power of these programs. Check out Google Cash by Chris Carpenter for a deeper understanding of ways to make this work for you.
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Google AdWords - Ive already talked about those ads you see on websites, well those ads need to come from somewhere dont they. AdWords is Googles program for advertisers.
Any site that wishes to participate bids for keywords that are relevant to their product, service, or site and then creates ads to attract hits. These ads show up on private websites, like this example, and on the right side of Google search results like this search for Free sales letters and tools As you can see from this Google search you received the content related sites that you searched for but you also get some related ads that are sponsored.
Now here is where Google is genius. Instead of simply subjecting surfers to any ads that anyone is willing to pay for, they actually police the ads that are running. On some pay per click programs, whoever is willing to pay to most wins. Google uses a performance model. In other words an ad that is the most relevant and therefore receives the most clicks will move ahead of an ad that may pay more but isnt as effective. This simple philosophy is why Google has quickly dominated the PPC world.
Okay...and now the really big innovation
Regional targeting. Google recently introduced a system that allows advertisers to target certain metropolitan markets only. In other words, a remodeling contractor who only wants to do kitchen remodels in say, Denver, can bid on the keyword phrase kitchen remodel and only have his ads show up for people who live in and around Denver.
The implication this has for local small business owners is staggering. In the example above, our Remodeler can now tap into highly targeted web traffic for pennies per lead. In my opinion, small business owner who learn the ins and outs of this medium will dominate their markets. (Google AdWords)
Look for more on this topic in the future.
Copyright 2004 John Jantsch
About The Author
John Jantsch is a marketing consultant based in Kansas City, Mo. He writes frequently on real world small business marketing tactics and is the creator of Duct Tape Marketing a turn-key small business marketing system. Check out his blog at