McIntosh Marketing Blog

Now this is a question that I hear over and over from client’s and co-workers alike.  Everyone wants to know if Affiliate Marketing is not only worth it but if it is really beneficial?  Or what the risks are of marketing for a company and then finding out their unethical?  Just like everything else, it really depends on what products your sign up for and how you market them.

One of the most important things you must do before deciding to market for a company is to inspect the website.  Take your time to check and make sure they have accurate contact information by calling them or looking them up in an online phone directory.  You can also take this time to verify their address.  If you notice the address varies with other listings online then this may be a flag that the business is not legitimate.  This is not always the case as others may be marketing this product as an affiliate as well but the corporate information, address and phone number should all match up regardless.

PAY ATTENTION!!!   You should always make sure their site offers details, images and a full description of the product or service that they are offering.  You are responsible for what you are promoting so it is very important that you educate yourself on the product or service prior to any affiliate marketing promotions.

Always check the sites disclosure on what the charges will be to the users/client’s.  This will show you that there is nothing the company is trying to hide and that it is not a scam.  If there is no disclosure on the site it may be a real good sign to take your business somewhere else.

Next you should search for their company name on Google.  This will show you how well they are ranking currently which can give you some insight on how easy or difficult it may be to market the product.  Like I said, this is just for insight and it may not be accurate for a product that is brand new.  Also at this time you can see what kind of feedback people are giving on the product prior to committing to selling it.  You can see if there are lot’s of customer complaints or satisfaction which can help you make your decision before investing any time or money into it.  You have to be realistic when using this tip to make a decision because many companies will have complaints, regardless of their legitimacy, so you may need to feel them out to see if the complaints are valid.

Allot goes into finding an legitimate affiliate with a good offer besides just how much they pay out.  Always make sure you feel 100% informed about your product so you are totally comfortable prior to selling it.  Confidence and believing in your product truly is the key to increasing your online sales and making your affiliate marketing really worth it!

Over the last few years I have been asked for my marketing glossary several times.  Truth is, I don’t really have one.  I do have notes with definitions here and there but have never actually put them all in one place.  In fact, when I try to explain these marketing terms to someone, it seems to me that most of the time they think these terms don’t really exist!  It could be due to many of them sounding very similar to each other but trust me they have very different meanings.  I really felt the following keywords should be listed as they tend to be used most often and more commonly but for the full list with detailed definitions go to http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/

deep linking – linking to a web page other than a site’s home page.

description tag – an HTML tag used by Web page authors to provide a description for search engine listings.

impression – a single instance of an online advertisement being displayed.*

interactive agency – an agency offering a mix of Web design/development, Internet advertising/marketing, or E-Business/E-Commerce consulting.

keyword research – the search for keywords related to your Web site, and the analysis of which ones yield the highest return on investment (ROI).

search engine optimization – the process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a Web search.

By taking the time to learn these terms you will not only become more knowledgeable of Internet marketing but just by reading them you will start to understand more and more of what actually goes into your marketing.  I feel this list is pretty thorough list and can help even the beginning marketer to understand the terms of the online marketing world better.  Not only will you be able to learn more about the terms but once you start to understand them you will learn more about how marketing is actually done!

McIntosh Marketing’s Chief Brand Officer, Edwin Dearborn, has authored a new white paper titled, Using Social Media to Effectively Market Your Brand, Developing A Common Sense Plan. It is being broadly issued for its first time. Here is the link: SEO White Paper

This white paper details how to develop a common sense plan for any business on how to use social media to effectively develop a powerful presence on the web. This white paper also provides key web marketing tips that any business can utilize and implement to become more comprehensive, effective and thus more profitable through internet marketing tools.

McIntosh Marketing alos offers a free web marketing analysis for any business.

The key to organic internet marketing success is to do the right things right, and to do them consistently. Now this may seem to an oversimplification or even overused. But from our experience of speaking with over 300 companies in the last six months, we have found over 90% of businesses with web sites violating this simple mantra. Here are some things you must do to generate more success:

1. Put the keywords, no more than 8, in the Title tag.
2. Repeat the key words and/or phrases as least 3 or 4 times in the body of the blog, article or press release.
3. Make a keywords meta tag even though most engines ignore that now. Some use it, and so it’s worth it.
4. Write articles and have them submitted to over the 100 directories available.
5. Have at least 400 words in the body of the article, blog or press release.
6. Make sure that the title tags on subsequent pages use other keywords.
7. Get your blog listed with the over 300 directories available.
8. Post your blogs in your social media pages, linking them automatically through your RSS feed.
9. Comment on others blogs, allowing you to build relationships and links back to your web site and blog.
10. Always include your web site and social media pages on all email salutations that go out from your company.
11. Continue to educate yourself. Go to seminars, read books and subscribe to various blogs to learn how to become a better and more competent member of the web marketing community. “Knowledge is Power.”

These are simple actions that any small company can do, and over time, these actions will generate new relationships and ultimately new business.

Listening to the radio can sometimes pay off.

In listening to the success of Lisa, who started Hungry Girl, I was delightfully surprised to hear a key to her success; something we constantly preach at McIntosh Marketing: Original Content. While Lisa has a great idea, a wonderful message and coveys it so wonderfully on her web site, http://www.hungry-girl.com, she gained that by being an active web marketer and blogger.

With her blogging and her e-mails, she stayed true to her cause by constantly adding original content. As she commented, if you continue to do that, people will eventually find you. And now her book is a New York Times bestseller.

Many people have a dream and just as many have a blog and a web site. But so few are actively adding original content. This is also something that David Meerman Scott cites as to anyone’s success in his best-selling book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR.

Success comes to those who do the right things on a consistent basis. When it comes to web marketing and blogging, original content is a vital action to sustain.

McIntosh Marketing, a leading Internet marketing consultancy, announced today its offer to provide free local online marketing evaluations and plans. These consultations will give customized steps and strategies for getting concrete results from web marketing.

Stanton, California, March 27, 2010 – McIntosh Marketing, an experienced online marketing company, announced today the launch of its newest offering, a free Internet marketing analysis and strategic plan.  The strategy creates a step-by-step plan to dramatically improve a company’s revenue, website traffic, and online prestige.  McIntosh Marketing will include instructions on how to do video marketing, social media image, and local search engine optimization.

This free consultation is produced to give companies the chance to turn any non-performing website or online marketing project into a profitable endeavor.  Daily changes in communications technology, like Google’s smartphone interface, have catapulted the importance of establishing a positive, highly visible, local online presence.  The local Internet marketing plan provides a detailed guide of how to maximize Internet exposure for increased business, including how to obtain positive reviews, optimize local search engine results, create loyalty, word-of-mouth online advertising, improve website design, and take advantage of new social networking sites.

Over the past 12 years, Bill McIntosh with McIntosh Marketing, has created 1,000 plus websites and generated $20 million in revenue for its clients.  The company’s Twitter followers number 40,000 and CEO Bill McIntosh’s YouTube videos have had more than 500,000 views.  McIntosh Marketing’s website, http://www.mcintoshmarketing.com/products-services, offers additional resources for Internet marketing.

About McIntosh Marketing:  McIntosh Marketing is a premier, genuine web marketing and consulting company with expertise advising businesses on how to improve their profits, website traffic, and online buzz.

Contact:

Edwin Dearborn

12235 Beach Blvd. Suite 206
Stanton, CA 91505

(877) 797-6825

http://www.McIntoshMarketing.com

###

McIntosh Marketing, a leading web marketing consulting company, attended the Orange County Mixer business networking event. The company offered assistance to fellow businesses in perfecting their local online and search-engine marketing presence.

Costa Mesa, California, March 25th, 2010 – McIntosh Marketing, a premiere company that offers customized local Internet marketing, just attended Orange County’s Largest Mixer.  The company offered its expertise, eager to help the thousands of local business attendees during a rebounding economy.

The mixer comprises chambers of commerce, business organizations, and hundreds of industries and companies seeking to network and display their trade.  Bill McIntosh of McIntosh Marketing brings over 12 years of successful experience honing companies’ online presence to boost revenue, website traffic, and word-of-mouth Internet referrals.  During the mixer, McIntosh Marketing offered up its own success at creating more than 1,000 websites, gaining 40,000 plus followers on Twitter, and 500,000 YouTube video views as an example of what it can do for other businesses.

Interested companies were offered the new website address, http://www.mcintoshmarketing.com/about-us/the-ceo-bill-mcintosh, to gain further information on the company’s services and a free marketing plan consultation.  Says company CEO Bill McIntosh;

“I have taken my 12 years of experience and whittled that down to a precise system that I know works every time. It works for every business, every time.”

McIntosh Marketing has helped bring in $20 million in revenue for its clients, using its 88-step plan to create an online buzz of business reviews, a flood of website traffic, and ultimately more profits.  The company states that 89% of offline purchases are made after being researched online first, making a local Internet marketing plan crucial for all businesses.

McIntosh Marketing offers a blog and live training videos to teach companies how to improve their online marketing, as well as tips on their website for a wide range of topics, such as using social media, search engine and website optimization, and affiliate program management.

About McIntosh Marketing:  McIntosh Marketing is an experienced online marketing and consulting company.  They aim to help clients establish a powerful Internet marketing campaign to increase business and website traffic.

Contact:
Edwin Dearborn
12235 Beach Blvd. Suite 206
Stanton, CA 91505
(877) 797-6825

http://www.mcintoshmarketing.com

###