“US online retail will grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years to reach nearly $249 billion by 2014. Online retail within the largest European Union nations in Western Europe will grow at an 11 percent CAGR over the same period, hitting €114 billion by 2014.”*

*These projections exclude online sales of autos, travel, and prescription drugs.

Some other stats from the U.S. forecast:

• e-commerce sales will represent 8 percent of all retail sales in the U.S. by 2014, up from 6 percent in 2009
• In 2009, 154 million people in the U.S. bought something online, or 67 percent of the online population (4 percent more than in 2008)
• Three product categories (computers, apparel, and consumer electronics) represented more than 44 percent of online sales in 2009

As we see greater confidence in online shopping, increased access to the Internet, and greater diversity of accepted payment methods is, indeed, good news.

As a marketing coach I find the first thing business owners want to talk about is the latest and shiniest marketing tactic out there. These days, that seems to be Social Media and Social Networking.

I am not saying that Social Media isn’t a viable marketing tactic. Time is money and you need to have a system to track your efforts to make absolutely sure they are profitable.

Regardless of the tactics you use to market your business, you need to understand two (2) key metrics. Understand these metrics and you will not only make more money, but your revenues will soar when you apply pressure to those areas of your marketing system that are clearly working.

Notice I said marketing system. But more on that later…

The two (2) metrics you must track and analyze:

Metric #1 – Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) – The first metric you should track with ALL your marketing is Cost Per Acquisition. The whole goal in your marketing and sales system is to ultimately put $1 in and get $2 out. Right? I can’t tell you how many business owners that I talk to that truly don’t understand what it actually costs them to acquire a client.

This one number will tell you what you can pay per client profitably. If you disregard this number, I can guarantee you that your cash flow will be impacted for the worse.

My advice is always to start small with any tactic. Track your existing CPA within your current marketing system, then apply that to new efforts such as Social Media. Even if it is only your time, your time is money. Assign a value to each hour of your time, then go back and look at the CPA metric again.

The whole goal is to apply pressure where you will reap the largest return on investment of time and money.

Metric #2 – Long Term Customer Value – After you spend the money to acquire your client, you need to assess the long-term value of this client.

Look at your current clients, what on average are they worth to you in a fiscal year?
How can you apply both up sell and cross sell opportunities in your sales process to increase the long term value?

This metric will be a key indicator as to how much you can afford to spend on the “front end” of your marketing and sales system. Assuming you have a back end system…

If you don’t, you may want to figure out how to maximize your initial CPA and create more long term value from your new clients.

Does that make sense?

The bottom line is that you need to measure your results. And, you need to have a marketing system that allows you to measure your results. Focusing on the latest and greatest tactic might seem fun, but it is the discipline to measure your results that will make you more money in the long run.

Now… Go Target, Attack, and Profit!

About the Author

Matt is the founder of MarkeFin. MarketFin is an Authorize Duct Tape Marketing coaching and consulting company focused on helping small businesses achieve their goals.

Matt specializes in helping small business owners install online and offline marketing strategies and systems for lead generation.

Subscribe For Free to Matt’s bi-monthly Marketing Master’s marketing newsletter.

Title Tag

The title tag is actually not a META tag. It is simply the title given to a particular page of your site. If you’ll look in the source code of most any web page, you’ll see something that looks like this. (I’ve added bolding to make it easier to read.)

<html>
<head>
<title>Web & SEO copywriting course that increases sales & search engine
positioning.</title>

<meta name="description"content="The original Step-by-Step Copywriting
Course teaches SEO & web copywriting. 209-page self-scoring copywriting
course complete with assignments and answers.">

<metaname="keywords"content="copywriting course, learn copywriting, SEO
copywriting course">

The title holds a lot of weight with Google and other engines. It also is the first exposure searchers have to your website so it must play a dual role. First, it should contain at least your primary keyphrase. If there is room, insert others as well. Second, it should entice the searcher to click to your site as opposed to choosing any other option such as the other nine organic listings, 10-11 paid AdWords ads and possibly an eight-pack of local listings.

Just filling your title tag with keyphrases is usually not the best route to take, in my opinion. While it is important to the rankings equation, it also must fulfill its status as a copywriting platform. You have to get across why your site is different or better than the others the searcher will encounter. You have to attract people who are interested in what you sell and discourage those who really don’t match your target market.

For instance, using the same example above, let’s see what types of listings would appear when we do a search for “copywriting course” in Google. We’ll look at the top four organic (free) results.

The first one includes keyphrases and also specifically outlines what type of copywriting course this is: Web and SEO. That would tell anyone looking to learn direct mail or other forms of copywriting to look elsewhere. The title is very specific and clear.

The second listing’s title is just stuffed with keyphrases. In fact, it doesn’t look like it has anything to do with copywriting courses based on the description. (Take note of how the two work together. We’ll look at the description tag next.)

The third offers copywriting course reviews. Simple and clear enough.

The forth title is lacking. It states the company’s name. No keyphrase at all. If people are familiar with this organization, that tag would be fine. But for those who don’t know who American Writers is, the tag would do little to persuade them. No keyphrase + no persuasion = poor results.

How long should the title tag be? In reality, it can be as long as you want. However, only around 65-70 characters (including spaces) will be displayed. The rest will be truncated.

Description Tag

While Google no longer uses the description tag for ranking purposes, it is still an important element to include on every page. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that, just because this tag no longer holds ranking value, it shouldn’t contain keyphrases. By all means, it should.

When you begin a search for something on Google, you type in whichever terms come to mind that describe what you’re looking for. You have those phrases on your mind because they represent what you’re trying to find. You’re sensitive to seeing those words on the screen. You’re attuned to search listings that use those phrases. Add all this to the fact that keyphrases are bolded in the description tag and it gives a powerful one-two punch that attracts searchers to your listing.

“But Google doesn’t always display the description tag. Why bother?” Because eight times out of 10, Google will use the tag you provide *if* it is relevant to the search query. In other words, if it matches what the searcher is looking for (i.e., includes keyphrases) it is very likely to be used. It’s the times that the description doesn’t effectively describe the search or when no description is provided that Google opts to select its own description from the content on your page.

The length? Again, you can put an entire paragraph if you want, but only about 175 characters will show in the listing.

Keyword Tag

The keyword META tag hasn’t been used since the mid-1990s. It doesn’t hurt to put a few phrases in this tag, including perhaps some common misspellings, but it won’t help your rankings one bit.

Now that you understand the dual purpose of tags and what’s at stake rankings-wise, you can go about crafting a tag set that encourages clicks and contributes to solid search engine positioning.

Want more information about SEO copywriting from Karon Thackston? Subscribe to her Marketing Words Copywriting Blog today and receive your free target customer discovery questionnaire.

This excerpt from Wikipedia outlines the incredibly rich life of Aristotle.  His profound saying, “We are what we repeatedly do!”  So true!  This not only applies to one’s life, but to the world of business and marketing!

So why is Aristotle one of the original marketing geniuses?  Because as marketers, we are what we repeatedly do!  That’s why!  If you are repeatedly marketing, you will repeatedly get desired results.  On the other hand, if you are not repeatedly marketing, you will not get those desired results.  So…if you are not working on your business, not thinking about marketing your business, not thinking about how to reach new customers, not thinking about how to satisfy existing customers, not creating and developing new products and services for your target markets, not utilizing the latest technology for efficient marketing…then you will REPEATEDLY not achieve the desired results to grow your business.

It is imperative that as a Small Business Owner, you create a marketing system…what do we mean? Very simply stated, a series of marketing activities that are completed by the minute, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or annually (whichever timeframe is most appropriate for the activity).  Definable, REPEATABLE systems create on-going predictable, desired  results!

Marketing is simply about educating…it is imperative to continue to educate your prospects, customers, and clients on a consistent basis.
You…and your business ARE WHAT YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS REPEATEDLY DO!   Our apologies to Aristotle and yet, thank you, for your insight a long, long time ago.

By the way, if you have a minute, go back to Wikipedia and submit Aristotle’s marketing genius into his biography…

JEFFREY G BISHOP, Certified Duct Tape Marketing Coach, resides in Naperville, IL.  He is a “wannabe” Greek philosopher. He can be reached at jeffreygbishop@gmail.com or 630.305.0609 or  www.jeffreygbishop.com

Ms. Brodigan details how to design a lead generation page to effectively engage your potential customer’s interest and direct them to your site or collect useful information. Using both dating and Internet gaming industries as examples, she illustrates what works well in getting leads to potential customers. She also gives handy testing guidelines and plenty of examples.

She concludes with some key design elements that can be used by almost anyone selling products and services online, for example:

• Maintain consistency with the original [site] design elements
• Determine restrictions of stock imagery & develop an A/B test plan
• Incorporate authentic imagery

Lead generating pages can convert casual shoppers into paying customers. However, they can easily be taken for spam if poorly designed.

Refer your clients to people you trust

Your clients count on you to deliver an outstanding product or service that meets their needs, suits their vision, and matches their personality. Extend this trust past your existing relationship and refer them to members of your network you would stake your reputation on. By removing yet another headache for them – that of searching around for a service provider they can trust – you’re further demonstrating your value. You’re also making life a little easier for your partners that get referred!

Marketing networks strengthen all members

Being part of your marketing network doesn’t just benefit your graphic design partner, your social media partner or your SEO partner – it benefits all of them. Building a network of experts affords all partners the opportunity to learn from and be referred by each other.

Your marketing network can be a built-in idea source

You value your partners because you trust them, get along with them and respect their opinions. No matter how different your approaches or personalities may be, there is probably something about the way their brains work that you like. Use these brains to give you a fresh perspective on plans and ideas you’re working on for your business.

By creating a marketing network, you’re providing your clients with a strong team of talented experts who step in to provide the services you may not be able to offer. This positions you as an invaluable resource for your client, capable of satisfying their needs even after their time with you is over.

Fiona Friesen is an authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach located in Calgary, AB, Canada. Find out more at www.gluehq.com.

“But how do I test my copy?” people ask. It’s actually very easy, thanks to some free tools provided by Google. Install Google Analytics, or have your web designer install it, and add the tracking code to every page of your site. Then start testing. You can do this by either comparing data in Analytics or by using Google’s free Website Optimizer to conduct A/B tests.

Website tests can get very elaborate, but they don’t have to be. Simple A/B tests (where you make one change and then compare the results between version A and version B) are the basis for most online testing. Set up two versions of the same page. Make a single change to one of the versions, then track the results.

It isn’t surprising to find that the slightest changes can pull the biggest lifts in conversion rate.

What You Should Test

Where do you start? At the beginning. There are numerous areas of any given page that can (and should) be tested. Let’s go over a few of them.

Headlines

By far, THE most-read section of any web page is the headline. Because of the importance of this snippet of text, it deserves to be tested often. I recommend starting with two very different headlines to see which pulls best.

Once there’s a clear winner, do some micro-testing. Exchange adjectives: instead of “great” use “awesome,” for instance. Play around with verbs: rather than “improve” try “increase.” Change the order of the words in the headline. Unless you are familiar with multivariant testing, make one change at a time until improvements level off.

If your copy uses sub-heads, repeat this same process to test them as well.

I have personally conducted tests that resulted in an 84% increase in conversion rate just by changing the word “creative” to “expert.”

Opening Paragraph

The opening paragraph is usually the second most-read section of a web page. While this content always needs to support the headline, test various ways of communicating your ideas to your visitors.

If you sell pet bedding, the copy on your Home page might read:

Handmade with love, these adorable pet beds are filled with 100% organic cotton padding to ensure comfort and a peaceful night’s sleep.

That has a very feminine tone. Change it up and test something like:

After romping through the woods or clowning around at the dog park, your best friend will sleep like a rock on these overstuffed, 100% organic cotton pet beds.

Other Areas to Test

What else can you test? Everything!

• Bullet Lists – If you don’t use bullet lists, add some. If you have them, change the order of the bullets.
• Captions - Switch up the captions under your images. Don’t have captions? Add some.
• Images – Change the images you use, or keep the same images and adjust the sizes to be larger or smaller.
• Text Color - Change a headline or important sentence from black to red or blue or green.

If it’s on your web page, the content can be tested. Take an inch-by-inch tour of your Home page. With each element you encounter, ask yourself, “What can I change about this copy?” Then set out to discover where improvements can be found.

By Karon Thackston © 2010, All Rights Reserved

Karon Thackston is author of the Step-by-Step Copywriting Course, now in its 5th Edition. Copy not converting well or boosting your search engine rankings? Get Karon’s self-paced web / SEO copywriting course at http://www.CopywritingCourse.com and learn to write like a pro.

Below is the official announcement

Columbus, Ohio:  2Checkout.com, Inc., a leading provider of e-commerce and payments processing solutions for merchants, announced today the appointment of Christopher Daly as Chief Marketing Officer.

Daly, a veteran of the payments industry, held previous positions at Alliance Data, PayPal, and Bill Me Later.  “I am really excited to join the team at 2Checkout.com.  The company has experienced amazing organic growth that we plan to build on to make 2Checkout synonymous with global payment processing,” stated Daly.

Tom Dailey, president of 2Checkout.com, stated, “We are very happy Chris is joining our executive team.  His deep industry knowledge and marketing experience will be important as we implement our aggressive growth plans.”
About 2Checkout.com, Inc.

Established in 2000, and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, 2Checkout.com (2CO) offers full service e-commerce and payments solutions serving over 60,000 web-based businesses throughout the world.  2CO provides online businesses a merchant account alternative and a fully automated suite of backend services. In addition to a fast and secure checkout system accepting a wide variety of payment methods, 2CO offers built-in fraud protection, 24-hour customer care, PCI data storage compliance, an automated shopping cart, easy to use plug-n-play code and settlement in multiple international currencies.

Contact:
Vic Cleary
2Checkout.com, Inc.
614-921-2450 x147
vcleary@2co.com

Now that you know how you are different, let’s market differently.  We’ve all heard the phrase “think outside the box”.  Thinking outside the box is certainly a step in the right direction but I would encourage you to be even bolder and “think outside your industry”.  Caution:  this is not for everyone.  If you are afraid of what others will think or the attention you will attract by being different, then don’t try this at home.

If, however, you are someone who is not afraid of attention, wants to attract more qualified leads, convert more sales and build a strong brand and profitable business then listen up.  The best way to stand out from the crowd is to stop following the crowd.  In other words stop doing what your competitors are doing to market your business.  If you are a real estate agent; stop advertising like all the other real estate agents.  If you are an engineering firm; stop advertising like all the other engineering firms.  You get the idea!

Look outside your industry for ideas that appeal to you and start using them to market your products and services.  Here are five things you can do to stand out from the crowd:

1. Start a swipe file.  Start collecting marketing pieces from all different industries and different media and use them as a guide for creating something fresh for your business.
2. Create non-traditional partnerships.  Partner with someone outside your industry who serves the same market as you.
3. Choose a advertising medium unrelated to your industry
4. Find new ways of saying the same old things like “Free Consultation”.
5. Stop using industry templates for things such as newsletters.

Mixing up your marketing and making it stand out takes a certain level of confidence and that comes from knowing your market.  It’s wise to test your ideas with your clients so you can see what you can get away with before you go too crazy.

Imagine the attention and the sales if you starting marketing like no one else in your industry.  Luc De Clapiers said it best when he said “Action makes more fortune than caution.”

Brenda Mahoney is a Duct Tape Marketing Coach located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  Find out more at www.criticaledgemarketing.com

Once you have learned the ground rules of social networking, look at the overall goals of your business and figure out how to utilize social networking to achieve these goals. Social Media is a process. You need to:

1. Listen and learn
2. Evaluate
3. Create a strategic plan
4. Develop your social media system
5. Implement

Always analyze your results. Don’t only define success by number of Twitter followers or Facebook friends. Are you building new mutually beneficial relationships? Have you been generating additional traffic to your blog and website? Are you gaining new information, if your goal is to listen and learn what your competitors are doing? If you are using social networking for your company’s reputation management, do you know what people are saying about you? Social media can even change how your company operates by creating new platforms for communication.

Be cautious of negative aspects of social networking as well. Unwanted negative buzz spreads like wildfire, therefore you need to carefully consider your messages. Don’t fall victim to identity theft or viruses. Avoid con-artists. Use common sense and develop your social media marketing plan.

About Varju Luceno:  Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach and the owner of Global Office Partners – a marketing firm that focuses on the needs of professional service businesses.  Varju is also a global marketer, blogger and writer on small business and technology related topics