Monday, May 20, 2013

Keeping Prospects Engaged over the Long Haul

According to Justcreative.com, Chilton Research shows that many consumers take quite a while to make a large purchase---as much as 60% take seven months or longer to punch that buy button. Staying ahead of the competition by engaging and keeping with your prospect is even more important. An innovative internet marketing plan can position your company to do just that.


  • Start with a website that provides information on the product that the prospective customer can add to a wishlist, watch videos, find specs, and see all the great things your product can do. This provides something that can be shared with other decision makers in the family. At the same time, though, you need to link to something even more dynamic and that would be:
  • Engaging and active social media that not only offers tips, samples, sales information, but legitimate praises from your Facebook fans. This is a sure way of keeping connected to your prospect. Since your potential customer has already identified a need for your product, at this point you're staying ahead of the competition with your online community. This is a great way to celebrate what your business does best and proves just how responsive and inclusive your business community is.
  • Ask your potential customer for an email address and permission to sign up for your newsletter at the time of first contact. Fill the newsletter with reasons that the purchase shouldn't be put off. Share tips, personal stories, events, and links on your business---push information out to your customer and stay ahead. 
 With an online strategy connecting with a prospect over the long term yields the results. And the online strategy keeps that customer with your business community even after the sale is completed.        


Monday, May 13, 2013

Perfectly Sized Facebook Cover Photo's

Facebook cover photos need to be resized to 851px x 315px. Taking a relatively square photo down to a rectangle that remains attractive is simple---get out your tools!

A photo editing software is needed. I use an old version of Corel Paint Shop Pro and/or the latest version of PhotoScape that is absolutely free on the web.

The next thing you need is a good photo that you can cut in half---because that is basically how much you'll lop off to get the 851px x 315px dimensions. I like to choose a photo that has some close up interest or a nice landscape that can stand a good cropping.

The first step is to reduce the width to 851px---easily done in photoscape using the resize/width setting under the edit tab. Then choose the Crop tab in the lower menu and crop freely to 315px height. Move the crop box around until you get the perfect area of your photo. Then all there is to it is to save and upload.

Voila! Perfect Facebook Cover Photo!
     

Monday, May 6, 2013

Navigating the Shipping Options

With the threat of the UPS strike behind us and the increased costs of the new contract surely to be passed on to customers, it may be time to review your shipping options on your website, eBay store, Etsy store, Amazon, or Paypal options. Each place you can buy postage will more than likely have different rates for each of the major shipping companies.

Among the rewards of growing an eBay store to preferred seller status is a bigger discount on shipping through USPS. This discount may not be passed on if you use one of the other options; UPS or FedEx. And you are always at risk of losing your discount at the whim of a buyer who misunderstands your store policies.

Comparing the options for a website can be an enormously daunting task and it is better to go with one vendor for convenience as each vendor will require special programming with an app that must be approved and tested through the chosen vendor. Here are a few links to help you on your quest through the options: