The 2008 Email Marketing Buyer's Guide sited email deliverability as the primary consideration for online marketing professionals.  As consumers continue to rely more and more on the internet for their shopping and purchasing considerations, today's successful business professionals maintain their edge by remaining visible and easily-located online.  Effective email marketing is an important component of any campaign; therefore, increasing email deliverability is a primary concern for many online marketers. As email marketing becomes increasing complex, many business owners find it advantageous to invest in an email service provider (ESP), an email marketing suite designed specifically for the kind of high-volume, permission-based ...

As modern marketing practices become increasingly high-tech and advanced with every innovation in communications technology, you might be surprised to learn that overwhelming research indicates that a standard of the industry, direct mail marketing, continues to be a strong and high-yielding option, especially in today's slowing economy.  Print in the Mix, a  clearinghouse on print media effectiveness, follows marketing data in all areas of print marketing, including direct mail, magazines and catalogs, newspapers, and custom publishing.  According to Print in the Mix, in 2008, direct mail marketing campaigns produced a ROMI (return on marketing investment) of over $15 for every ...

Today's marketing professionals are buzzing about the many benefits and unique opportunities inherent in social media tools such as Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, and blogging.  Among these tools, Twitter stands out as a favorite among online marketers because of its many useful features for the business community.  Whether you are new to the Twitter community or an experienced veteran, these Twitter tools may prove useful in expanding your following and increasing your capacity to network through this social media marketing goldmine. Who Should I Follow? This tool, whoshouldifollow.com, is simply a way to find new Twitter friends.  It allows a member to find out ...

Does the thought of creating a website for your business excite you, or does it keep you awake at night? For those who fall into the latter group, here's some news that might help you fall asleep quicker. According to an article in Business Week, not all companies should buy into the concept that your business will not flourish unless you have a full-blown website. Gasp! You've heard and been told otherwise. Well, let's differentiate between the types of businesses that stand to profit most from a full-fledged website. A complete website often involves multiple pages, sitemaps, flash, videos, links, and much ...

Once you've outlined your marketing objectives you'll have to come up with marketing activities to achieve those objectives.  But before you begin creating marketing strategies you'll need to conduct a SWOT or situation analysis of your company.  This will help you to not only gain a better understanding of your business, but also of your current and potential environment. The purpose of a SWOT analysis is identification.  A SWOT analysis will help you identify your internal  (S)trengths and (W)eaknesses and your external (O)pportunities and (T)hreats. A good strategy when conducting your internal analysis is to focus on your resources:  Operational costs  Marketing skills and ...