9-Sugar Coating

		Chats These are sites people can go to for company or for information.    They can chat about any subject out there.    There are thousands of different kinds of chat rooms, with every kind of  topic you can think of.    This is a great place for you to meet your ideal customers.    All you need to do is find your target market and join in.    DO NOT blatantly advertising in a chat rooms.    Keep in mind that people are there to socialize, not to buy.   Be ready to present your product in an informative way when and if you are asked a question, or when the discussion is going that way, or when you can lead the discussion that way.    At this juncture you can guide them to your website.   Another way to get the ball rolling is your user name.    Create one but think of it as a personalized license plate.    Combine letters, numbers, and abbreviations to create your handle people will know you by.   We might suggest you get familiar with chat rooms by going into one with your favorite hobby, or activity, before moving onto your business interest site.    You will begin to get the hang of the conversation, be led by the discussion, and see just how you can add to the conversations.    It may also point out where other people's interests lie, and this is information you can use in focusing your efforts in your site.   What good is anything, if no one cares to see or hear about it?

E-zines   E-Zines are usually free of charge.    There are hundreds of thousands of them out there, on every topic you can think of.    They are usually published monthly, weekly, and some even daily.   These are a great way to collect information from your competition, and a way to get ideas about your own business needs.    You can even publish your own E-zine for your own website.    This is a great way to keep in touch with your customers while building a huge database of your targeted customers.   The best way to create an E-zine is to relate it to your website business.    You want to be sure to target it to your customers needs and not to a subject outside that realm.    They can go elsewhere for that and take their business with them.    So write about what is important to them about what they need on your website.   (Have a friend or someone edit your work for spelling, grammar, and sentence structure for mistakes.    Be sure it is well written and easy to read and understand.   Your best bet  for topic ideas is to subscribe to E-zines that are related to your business.    Also, it’s a great idea to invite your customers to write for your e-zine.    You can even offer an exchange of advertising or banner ad for their article.    BE SURE they are not a direct competitor.   What a wonderful way to sell Advertising on your E-zine as your subscribers increase.    There is a current rate of about $25 - $35 per ad for every 1000 subscribers you have.    So just think, if you publish an E-zine weekly, and have just 10 ads, you can earn $250-$350 per week, or a $1000-$1400 per month.    You could make a living on an E-zine along. Think of it.  Many people do.   Ideas for topics for your E-zine can come from your competitors’ and related E-zines.    DO NOT COPY.  Start drafting your own with the information you gather.   Do you want to do this daily, (for the ambitious) weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly?    It might be best to start off with a monthly and see how you can handle it.    As you become proficient you can always move up to bi-weekly and then weekly if you choose.   Before you start, you might want to consider having a few months created before you start sending them out.    Once you feel they are ready and you have up to the minute information your subscribers are asking for, then start sending it to your subscribers via e-mail.   This E-zine idea is a continuous process and should be informative and short enough to keep your readers interested and begging for more.    One downside is that it is not a "do it once or twice and forget it" thing.    Once started, you must keep it regular and up to date.

		Newsletters A newsletter can be an excellent tool for your website, in more ways than one. Offering a FREE newsletter is a way to build up a miling list.  It is a way to nofity subscribers of any changes or additions to your website. You can use it (but do not oeveruse it) to promote any special offers you have. There are also downsides to newsletters.  A.  They must be published on a regular basis.  It is easy, the first few months, in the flush of enthusiasm, to write, edit and publishj, but you may find it becoming an un-welcome chore later, and start minimizing or skipping issues.  If that happens, perhaps you should just drop it - a poor newsletter can be worse than no newsletter.  (No news is good news, to many readers). B  Your newsletter must be interesting and readable to make subscribers want to read it.  Topical items, interesting ideas, and humor all help.  Keep your prose light and down to earth. C.  Be wary of just filling out your space with reprints from other sources - chances are your readers wil already have read them once of several times. Once you have built a mailing list and written your first newsletter, you get them together by using a list management program, such as:      More Sales - Less Work Automated e-mail follow up from AWeber.

		Autoresponder An autoresponder is a service program that allows you to send e-mails automatically to a list of addresses, at any date and/or time of your choosing.  This takes virtually all the work out of sending newsletters, special promotions, notices of changes, etc. to selected opt-in subscribers.  Selectivity means you can send a topic to only a section of a master list, or to only one of several lists you maintain in the autoresponder.  These are paid services, but if you do any volume of list e-mailing, it is well worth the cost. Depending on the program, there are other features available, such as anti-spam controls, the ability to add files, text and/or pictures, return notification, response tracking and list management, (to remove wrong or dead addresses and repeated undeliverables). As with any other program, you should review several autoresponders to find out which best suits your needs and budget.                     http://www.aweber.com You will need to go all the way to the bottom of the Turbozine page to click on Autoresponders. http://www.autoresponders.org                     http://www.getresponse.com

		Contests A good way to boost traffic to your site is through the use of CONTESTS, where you give away a prize or product periodically, by a random drawing.  A requirement for entry to your contest should be that they submit a friends e-mail address, or a friend's e-mail address for each of several entries.  From this, you can E-mail the friend, through an autoresponder, asking if they want to enter the contest, by joining your subscriber list. (For a newsletter, "specials of the month", new products, etc.) A downside of contests is the time, effort and cost of the giveaways, to be balanced against the number of potential new customers.  Also, the frequency with which you hold drawings must be balanced with the traffic to your site for the period.  Since everyone likes the chance to get "free things", this is a way to create interest and return visits to your site.

AWARDS: There are hundreds of these given away every day for different sorts of reason, from awards for the best design to awards for the coolest site.    These website awards can boost your traffic and give credibility to your website.   Receiving an award like this might help your site stand out from all your competitors and give you special recognition in your field.    Word of mouth advertising can arise out of this kind of award, leading to repeat traffic to your site.    The winner’s list is usually set up for additional advertising and can even give prizes.   Go to your favorite Search Engine and put in “website awards”.    Prestigious awards usually go to big money companies, but small sites can have an occasional win also.   You might want to try an award submission service, as this can save time and money.    Be aware that some award sites are only created as a free advertising link for their site.    If you can gain a few awards for your site you may choose to create a special page just for all your site’s awards. Check these out:               http://www.award-it.com             http://www.awardjungle.com     Back to Top                             OR                                   BACK TO HOME