Internet Marketing News Flash

Findwhat.com Launches pioneering advertising service - PayPer-Call

Pay-per-call is offered through FindWhat.com PPC2, a unique service which allows FindWhat.com advertisers and private label partners to choose pay-per-click and/or pay-per-call advertising, according to their needs.

With the pay-per-call service, advertisers only pay when someone calls them after seeing their ad, as opposed to the pay-per-click service where advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad and is transferred to their website.

To read a full press release please visit
http://www.findwhat.com/content/about/news/pressrelease.asp?a=166

AOL To Introduce Comparison Shopping Site

America Online is preparing to introduce a Yahoo or Froogle-like shopping web presence that will allow users to search and compare desired products. The site, called In-Store.com, is scheduled for launch on Monday September 20, 2004.

http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-45-20040913AOLToIntroduceComparisonShoppingSite.html

Overture Germany Introduces Budget Smoothing

Beginning in October, Overture Germany will begin use of an account control feature called Budget Smoothing. Serving as a spending limit option, Budget Smoothing allows Overture to control the amount of appearances member listings make, depending on their daily budget.

http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-45-20040907OvertureGermanyIntroducesBudgetSmoothing.html

Overture: So Much More Than Pay Per Click

Overture is known for being the Leader in "Pay Per Click" (PPC).Owned by Yahoo, Overture advertisers can reach over 80% of Internet users. If you take a closer look and pop the hood, you'll find a whole suite of useful tools for Marketers.

1) Precision Match: This is where Overture began, back when it was known as GoTo.com. Precision Match is the original "bid for keyword" search engine, and it's still a core utility for Overture users. You select your keywords/phrases and the amount you want to pay per click and you are only charged that amount when someone clicks through to your website.

Overture has relationships with Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, Infospace and others. By bidding into the top three positions, you'll also enjoy exposure on those top search engines as well under what's called "Sponsored Listings." For more, see:
http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ays/index.jhtml

2) Content Match: Unlike "Precision Match," where your listings appear on search results pages, "Content Match" displays your listings alongside articles, product reviews, etc. Currently these listings appear on many of Yahoo's content areas (including Entertainment, Finance & Shopping), MSN content areas (including Money & Tech & Gadgets), and other online destinations.

Your listing will only appear on Content Pages that are relevant to your service or product. For example, if you sell fishing gear, your listing might appear on a web page that contains articles or other information on how to be a better angler.

You can set your bids for Content Match separately from those on Precision Match, giving you the opportunity to track results to see which type is converting best for you.

If you use "Precision Match," Content Match can be turned on or off from within the control panel. For more on this, see:
http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ays/ays_cm.jhtml

3) Local Match: If you want to target customers in a certain geographic area then you'll want to take a look at "Local Match." This would be perfect for Mom and Pop operators or those who sell products and services to a local crowd only. There is no monthly minimum, with the minimum bid of only 10 cents per click. This service can be used by those who don't have a website, as Overture sets up a landing page for users of this service. Called a "Locator Page," it displays a map, store hours and a link to your site (if you have one). Local Match listings appear on CitySearch, AltaVista, Yahoo, AllTheWeb and more. For more on Local Search, see http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ays/lm.jhtml

4) Marketing Console: Helps you to measure all of your online marketing campaigns so you know where you're getting the best return for your money. Track your Pay Per Click Bids, email ads, banner ads, affiliate program and more. This site will also tell you how well your website is converting leads to actual sales. To use this service, you'll need to paste some JavaScript code onto your pages.

Depending on the package chosen, pricing starts at $149.00 a month and goes up from there. For more on Marketing Console, see:
http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ays/mc.jhtml

5) Site Match: This is a component of Yahoo's Search Content Acquisition Program. By submitting to "Site Match," you'll ensure your pages are reviewed and included in Yahoo, AltaVista, AllTheWeb, and others. Your site will not be shown under "sponsored listings," but appear in the main body of the search results pages. You must pay an annual fee for inclusion, which is $49.00 for the first URL and a cost per click for each click thru of $.15 to $.30 depending on the category chosen. See this page for more:
http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ays/sm.jhtml

6) Conversion Counter: Free tool that tracks the number of conversions that are generated from your keywords listings at Overture. A conversion happens when someone enters your site and performs an action, such as buying something or signing up for your ezine or free report.

To use "Conversion Counter," you'll need to sign up for it in Overture's Control Panel, then copy some HTML code onto one page of your site (generally the sales confirmation page).

7) Merchant Solutions: Since Yahoo owns Overture, you'll also find a variety of tools for small business owners, such as:

A) Shopping Carts
B) Web Hosting and Email Accounts
C) Domain Name Registrations

For more details, see:
http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ays/yms.jhtml

As you can see, Overture has come a long way from just offering a "one size fits all" Pay Per Click Solution. By utilizing their variety of tools, you'll increase your website exposure and spend your marketing dollars more wisely.

About the Author:
Merle http://www.EzineAdAuction.com "Where some of the BEST Deals in Ezine Advertising are Made" Buy & Sell Ezine Ads in a live auction setting! Publishers sell off your excess inventory and Buyers pick up some Fantastic bargains. Go now.

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Effective Email Communication

Email, when used properly, can generate additional direct sales and leads; can be used as a tool to communicate with your existing client base to let them know of upcoming events which may affect them; and as a means of ongoing promotion for your business.

The following is a list of simple guidelines and tips that will help you become an effective email communicator. Please bear in mind that many of these guidelines assume that you have never established any prior dialogue and, as you become more familiar with your customers, can often be altered to meet your client's needs.

• Send your emails in plain text. While HTML/rich-text-formatted emails do look much more attractive, they will often be accidentally blocked by anti-spam filters and either show up incorrectly or not at all in various email programs. Plain text, on the other hand, will show up exactly as intended in all email programs.
  
  
• Include a signature of no more than four lines. Your signature should provide the recipient with a means to contact you other than email, and should mention your company name. A good email signature format will look something like this:

  Mike Leblanc
  Any Vacuum Cheap
  Website: http://www.anyvacuumcheap.ca
  Telephone: (905) 509-1661

  This signature provides not one, but two ways for a customer to reach you.

  Note: Many people will put their email into their signature files. This is, however, unnecessary as the email itself can be replied to directly and the email address may be extracted from it.
  

• Use common file formats for email attachments. There are a wide variety of formats for attachments; however, these formats are not universal and as such, many people cannot open various types of attachments.

  The following is a list, in approximate order of universal acceptance (based on my own experiences), of attachments which are commonly accepted:

  • TXT (plain-text)
  • JPG/GIF (pictures)
  • PDF (Adobe Acrobat Reader)
  • DOC (Microsoft Word/WordPad document)
  • XLS (Excel spreadsheet)
    
    
• Use short paragraphs. Try to keep your paragraphs to 50 words or less to ensure maximum readability.
  
  
• Don't send unsolicited sales information/commercial emails. Unsolicited commercial emails, or spam, are becoming an increasing problem and many organizations are blocking, deleting, and in many cases reporting the senders of these emails to various anti-spam services and search engines in an effort to curtail the sender's efforts.
  
  
• Use second person terms as much as possible. Words such as "you", "your", and "yours" personalize your emails, letting your customer know that you're thinking of him/her specifically.
  
  
• Check your emails for spilling n' grammer...er...spelling and grammar. A minor typographical error in a lengthy email will generally go unnoticed, but a series of typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors will indicate a lack of professionalism and has the potential to cost you business.
  
  
  Many email programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, include spelling and grammar tools to ensure that mistakes are kept to a minimum. If you do not have an email program with these tools activated, then alternatively you can open up your favourite word processor; type your email; check it for mistakes; and then copy and paste it into your email program.
  
  
• Respond to all emails within 24-48 hours. If you cannot answer your customer's question in this time period, at least send him/her an email letting them know the status of his/her inquiry and that it is being taken care of. Some things do take longer than one day to resolve, and the vast majority of customers are very understanding of this, as long as they're kept apprised of the situation.

Depending on your level of familiarity with your customers, some of these rules can be relaxed and altered to meet their specific needs. However, adhering to these general guidelines will ensure that, more often than not, you will become an effective email communicator.

About the Author
Adam Senour is the owner of ADAM Web Design http://www.adamwebdesign.ca, a leading web design and development company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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