The concept of blogging to increase visitors and interests has been around for quite awhile. With the onset of social networking many people are dropping their blogs in favor of 'Friend'ing and 'Follow'ing. Our suggestion is, not so fast...hang onto those blogs!

What exactly are the advantages of blogging over social media? Blog can greatly assist in SEO! ( A reason on its own to stay...) Blogs contain content which search engine index and rank! Due to the fast changing text, search engines are constantly crawling and updating. Additionally blogs are a great link builder. It's a great forum for people to drop links (only reputable ones) and for you to share back.

There is something about the personalization in the way a blog is written that garners people interests. Social networking just doesn't achieve the same connections. Blogs lend an opportunity to connect with your readers on a more personal level, allows you to share a bit more of your personal life with our customers. For example, share a hobby or favorite past time, you'd be surprised how much people appreciate the personal touch! Even if its just one or two viewers who love golfing as much as you and decide after your post in which you dropped a line about golf, "This guy is my kinda guy. I wonder what else he's got to say...." It can really lead to continuous customer support, an increased viewer interest and eventually profitable conversions!

Blogging is a great opportunity to increase brand awareness. It gives the opportunity to present your product in its own unique niche that sets it apart from its competition. You can express more in the casual conversation of a blog about your company and what it offers, without throwing it in your reader's face, than you can via social networking. It allows your readers to feel a connection to your brand, a connection that will usually play itself out to your benefit!

We mentioned just a couple of reasons why blogging should not be disregarded. There are great benefits in maintaining this kind of connection with your readership and you'd do best to keep the lines open!

Can there be an advantage to referring customers elsewhere when a company can%u219t satisfy its customers needs? Marketing research has shown that not only will it not hurt a business to refer customers elsewhere it can even assist in conversions!! There are a couple of reasons for this.

One reason is that customers admire honesty in the businesses they shop at. By referring a customer over to another company, especially a competitor you are showing the customer that you have their best interests in mind. Customer trust is priceless, after all it keeps them coming back!

A shopper who has a need satisfied by completing a successful purchase is much more likely to pursue another purchase soon after, even if it wasn%u219t such a necessary want. So by referring a customer to a competitor which leads him to a purchase you are increasing your chances of having him return and purchase something you do carry!

A satisfied shopper can drop a quick post or tweet about a purchase or a happy browsing experience which greatly encourages third party conversions.

To illustrate this point, review the following scenario. A popular bath soap company that retails all kinds of bath essentials, oils and creams, doesn%u219t stock the particualr cream that a browser is interested in. Obviously the first step can be to offer, without being too pushy, a comparable cream that is stocked by the company. If that doesn%u219t seem to satisfy the customer it may be in the best interest of the salesperson to refer the browser to another bath soap company which may stock the particulalr item. After such a display of honesty and integrity there is a great chance that the customer will return to purchase other items stocked by the company in addition to suggesting to all friends and acquaintances to shop at this particular bath soap company. The company will lend up benefiting over and over again from that competitor referral! What a worthwhile suggestion!

A key in marketing success is branding. The goal in branding is to create a company awareness to the extent that when people think of the product you market they automatically think of your company. There are many ways to increase brand awareness but we will choose to focus on a cost effective and generally successful idea, blogging.

Using a blog to create a brand awareness has many benefits. Numb one, it costs nothing. Most advertisement methods incur large costs, though they may be worth it in the long run. It's ideal to focus on an idea that is cost free and can result in ultra awareness.

A blog lends a personal touch to your product. It allows you to share the virtues and to familiarize your readers over and over again about your product. It's a story you can constantly retell in different ways and gives you the chance to put a face behind your product.

A blog is a great conversation station, a place for customer and business owner to interact and build a relationship. It is a great benefit for a business owner when a customer has a relationship to the 'brand,' it increases the chances that he will use it and that he will share with his friends. This is in essence viral marketing. Word of mouth advertisement. A satisfied consumer who shares his positive reports with a friend, a coworker, a neighbor is promoting your business for you in the best way. People are so much more likely to listen when a friend recommends something to them as opposed to some anonymous rating on your product page.

And most important is spice your blog up with a little personality and invite your customers to see your friendly side more than just the professional touch. You can open up more on a blog, share tidbits back and forth and inject some positive product info as you chat! Get blogging!

The goal of any retail website owner is to generate as many conversions as possible which will hopefully ultimately result in profit. Each business owner tries to figure out a way to expedite the selection process and facilitate a quick adding to cart and finalizing purchase procedure. Many customers get stuck on the selection process, comparing different items, which slows down the adding to cart and completing purchase time. This is where instating a 'Quick View' option may really come into play!

'Quick View' otherwise referred to as 'Quick Look' enables viewers to view a larger more detailed image of the selected item complete with product descriptions just by scrolling over the item and clicking the quick view option! Without having to wait for a new page to load, a small pop up window will appear and provide all the information. This can greatly speed the selection process as a shopper can easily determine which product is best for him without the additional waiting time between loading pages.

To give an example: A visitor is scrolling trough the clothing products you market and notices a beautiful girls jumper. Excitedly the visitor decides to check which material it's made out of and see the design in larger view. Voila enter quick view where the visitor can decide quickly, based on the information displayed in the pop up window, whether the cotton material is to her liking or whether shed prefer something made out of a different fabric. Decision made the visitor can now proceed onwards with the rest of her browsing, having dramatically quickened up the choosing process!

Important features to insert on your 'Quick View' button will include an 'add to cart' option, the price (especially if its discounted, let the customer know early on in the process,) product detail images and an option to 'see full product details.'

To ensure the success of this feature it's a good idea to place the 'Quick View' button in a visible place to minimize confusion caused by the pop up window springing up from a hovering mouse. As this feature grows in popularity it will become a standard part of each website. For now as you introduce it to your visitors, design it in the clearest way possible to ensure that your browsers will appreciate the full advantage to this feature.

We've touched on different aspects to email marketing in previous articles. We know that in order to achieve maximum results an email need to be relevant to its recipients. But how do we create a relevant email? I'd like to focus on the personilization aspect of email marketing.

The basic way of personalizing an email is by inserting the name of the recipient into the heading, such as 'Hi Tom! We'd like to inform you of a promotion we are currently running..' as opposed to writing simply, 'Hi friend.' But that's just the basics and as the Internet communications world expands, soon this may not be enough to achieve optimum personalization results. Since you want to give your email the best chance to be viewed, you've got to tap into your creativity and get the ideas flowing!

One great method in personalization is to gather all the facts you know about the recipienet and insert them appropriately into the correspondence. For example, Robert lives in Maine and has a pet dog and his birthday falls in March. With this valuable information you can pen an email to Robert as follows, 'Good morning Robert. Just suggesting you take a look at our latest sweater arrivals which you might found a great way to combat the cold weather!' Of course we are not suggesting a separate email to each of your subscribers, you can program the emails to transfer the appropriate words taken from customer files. While some companies may feel this is not necessary, it definitely improves your chances of having you email opened which hopefully leads to some serious shopping!

Another idea is to to suggest products in your email that the recipient has previously purchased or shown an interest in. Aside from the personal touch this lends, there's a much greater chance of conversions occurring if you are indeed advertising a product that the customer is interested in. Instead of a response sounding like: "Wool suits on sale again! How many wool suits can a man own?" Delete, You can generate a reaction more similar to "Oh they're having a sale on the shirts I like! Let me check them out!"

A date triggered campaign is the next step in personalization. A typical example would be a Happy Birthday campaign which many companies currently use to wish their subscribers well and to include some special birthday deal too. We'll use Robert from Maine again in our example. Roberts birthday is March 14 to be exact. His information is stored in the database and a set amount of days before march 14 a happy birthday email is sent to him with a 10 percent off coupon to use on his next purchase. The email can be further personalized to include any other information you wish and can be set up to include other special dates such as anniversary or graduation too! I'm one of those who looks forward to that special day the whole year just for the coupons that come pouring in my inbox! It's really not that difficult to set up these campaigns and you will have your business on the road to personalizing success!

Viral Marketing is a method of Internet Marketing by which brand or company awareness spreads by word of mouth or Internet connections. As opposed to a paid advertisement campaign, viral marketing leans more towards promoting the services you offer in such a way that people will feel compelled to share what you offer with their friends.

Firstly,implement a giveaway campaign. Offer a free gift, useful knick-knacks (engraved with company logo), service or whatever else can help promote company awareness to all visitors or Facebook fans. One thing, in order for this to be effective, don't give away junk, give away something that people will really use or appreciate which will encourage them to tell their friends. A CD producer, may want to offer a free download of a song, a detergent company can send out free samples, a photographer can offer a free sitting fee as part of a package, etc. Aside from satisfying your visitors with their free acquisition its a great advertisement!

With today's dependency on social networks for communication, work your network!! Create an account and update your statues with messages or information that will really GET PEOPLE TALKING. After all that's the main objective here, to spread the word! Post exciting information about the products or services you offer. Extol the virtues and advantages to your goods; after all if a 'friend' is constantly viewing your updates on the quality eyeglasses you provide, its only natural that the next time his prescription changes he'll decide to check out your service. And it just spreads from there as he wears the glasses and encourages his friends and families to try you out too! What people hear and read gets subconsciously embedded in their minds only to be pulled out at the slightest cue! The constant advocates for you business that you send out will just reinforce the positive impression you are trying to give.

Sometimes posting random, interesting, even humorous bits of information (for example: fish sleep with their eyes open) will keep people interested in what you have to say. Your success will be measured through your contacts who encourage their friends "Check out this website, the guy always has something interesting to share." You want positive company awareness to spread and spread some more. People trust the opinion of their friends way more than the five star rating on your product page. And it can be fun for you too!

Most businesses expect the month of January to be kind of slow. After the frenzy of the December shopping most people need time to replenish their cash supply and enjoy the gifts they've received and are not looking to spend more. So how can we take advantage of the first month of the year and use it to the fullest?

Consider offering free shipping. I know personally that when I'm notified of a free shipping offer (especially when it's for a limited time only) I'm much more likely to shop the merchandise and complete a purchase. Things just seem so much cheaper when there are no additional shipping costs.

Since most people are feeling cash strapped it's a fantastic time to spotlight on your clearance items, particularly accessories. Accessories make customers feel like they're not spending too much, after all its just a complement for the main articles. Its a great way for you as a reatailer to rid yourself of all leftover items that didn't go during the busy shopping season.

Additionally consider selling grouped items at a lager discount. Its a wonderful idea to implement this feature on a general basis too, to have a list of 'things you may like' appear when a single item is selected. Offer an additional discount to customers purchasing multiple similar items, such as a hat, scarf and glove set, or an ipod charger and case,etc.

Many times introducing your new arrivals at a discounted price will garner interest. Many people are a tad bored we can say, of the items they've been perusing the entire shopping season. Though not on the lookout for anything in particular they may just want to browse the new products to see if something catches their eye. By offering a discount, say 30 percent off a single item, there's a good chance they may purchase a single item or two of your new stock.

Though January arrives after shopping season it is still the calendar month of many people's birthdays. Send out reminder emails to customers about possible birthday obligations they may need to fulfill. It's a great reminder where applicable, may actually generate sales, and portrays your company in quite a thoughtful light!

Prepare yourself that January might be a relatively slow month but utilize the time to conduct surveys, read through customer comments about your site, touch up the design a a bit, review your SEO strategy, etc. January can serve as your catching up month, sorting through all the things that kinda got pushed aside with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. However you choose to conduct yourself, you know you've given January your best shot!

We've discussed the advantages of email marketing for an online business in previous articles. With the onset of 2012 new ideas to better utilize these programs are becoming popular. Email segmentation is the method of organizing contacts into groups thereby individualizing the mass emails as per the nature of the group. So say you have one group of loyal customers and one group compiled of names retrieved from other businesses. You don't want both groups' emails to be identical, on the contrary there is a different message you want to portray to each one. The email to your loyal customer group will be written in a more friendly and relaxed manner, and the group whose interest you are trying to attract will be a more professional email, detailing the main aspects and advantages to your business. Sometimes the emails may overlap which is fine, you just want to ensure that the emails you send out suit the status of the recipient in relation to your company.

There is the additional concern of individual filters. One in ten people are using their smartphone or other mobile device to open emails. If the option to open the email in a mobile friendly way is not available, you can be losing a lot of potential clients. If you take this one step further we can create the mobile version as an entirely different email! If you are a company who specializes in electrical appliances, your standard email will include the newest products available with in depth descriptions and beautiful images. When an individual will activate the mobile friendly button you can sing an entirely different tune and advertise for your portable chargers and smartphone applications. You are showing people what THEY are interested in. The mobile friendly option is another indication of what is most relevant for this individual. If this information is utilized correctly you can really be on the road to email success and profitable conversions!

Most email domains censor all received emails. You don't want your beautiful, well-constructed email to end up in someone's spam. By individualizing and categorizing appropriately you will give your emails a better chance.

There is quite a high percentage of people who delete emails not completely relevant to them, without a second thought. It is becoming increasingly more important to include more relevant and specified content per group to avoid being deleted altogether.

The results of all the research done on this topic show that segmenting email groups even according to job type or zip code can result in an almost 20 percent increase in open rates! By properly segmenting emails and including appropriate content you can drastically improve the success of your email marketing campaign.

Nowadays when people rely on the Internet for everything from booking hotel rooms, developing pictures and creating shopping lists to establishing international business it is imperative for every business aiming for success to create an online presence. Aside from the whole social aspect of it, developing a website is a an essential part to any business's success.

`Firstly a website creates awareness about your company world wide. Though your actual business center might be contained to a specific geographical location, building a website will assist your business into expanding internationally. Without a website there is really only a slight chance that someone in a different state or country will know your business exists.

`When marketing on the Internet there are many relatively cheap ways to ensure top advertisement. Organic SEO does not have to run a lot of money and it can achieve valuable leads for your business. Linking is another cost free option that can greatly benefit your website ranking. Email marketing is a great way to establish and maintain customer relationships. These are just a couple of ideas in the sea of available options of Internet marketing!

`You will have the additional advantage of the 24:7 availability of the Internet, it doesn't close. People can browse your website all hours of the day or night with no disturbance to your preferred rest time!

`A website simplifies the task of describing your products or services thoroughly and clearly. Seeing is believing and when you post pictures or even videos of your products and uses it is a fantastic advertisement. Additionally, many times a lot more can be accomplished (in terms of product descriptions) with the written word as opposed to a verbal description. You can design the layout you prefer that will best portray your products and offer the best chance for success.

These are just a couple of the benefits to website development, in reality the list is endless! Though the initial start up cost may seem like an unnecessary expense, the tremendous opportunities and profits available will outweigh any hesitations! Additionally for the business owners who get overwhelmed with navigating the world of website creation there are many reputable web design companies available to customize according to your taste and budget!