Would Your Sales Increase If All Mary Kay Prospects Wore Loudly Colored Green T-shirts?

Would Your Sales Increase If All Mary Kay Prospects Wore Loudly Colored Green T-shirts?

As a consultant to this industry, I remember quite often having the honor to working with Mary Kay independent beauty consultants. Regardless of my blog tips, my trainings, or any number of tutorials I publish, I still sometimes get people that say, "running a pay per click marketing campaign might be the best thing since sliced bread, but paying money everytime somebody clicks scares me to death. Perhaps this is not best marketing strategy for my personal care products, nutritional products & cosmetics."

While this always amazes me, I'm certain that one of the reasons I hear this is because the "strategy" of running a pay per click marketing campaign is still not understood.

I'll attempt a little analogy to see if I can get everyone confortable with the concept...

Imagine if you could park at the front door of a Target store or Best Buy and immediately spot customers who were looking for your product? Lets say they wore loudly colored Green tee shirts revealing what they were at the store looking for. And what if they knew to go straight to you rather than go round and round the store searching out the items on their shopping list?

With Google AdWords, Yahoo's Sponsored Search, a top 10 pay per click search engines, or perhaps even one of the minor league PPC engines, you connect with targeted customers immediately, the second they want to hear from you.

Now let's dig a bit deeper into this idea. What if you could have tens of thousands of college students at the door of every shopping mall in the country. What's more, you'd have to pay them only if they got customers and began marketing to them your personal care products, nutritional products & cosmetics.

Now, even if your competition has posted giant ad banners, hovering over everyone, it doesn't matter. Few customers are going to pay that any attention. All the while, your "agents" are constantly interacting with every single potential shopper.

Using search engine ads is like deploying a team of non-stop "agents", except that these search agents won't require breaks and they require no pay unless they produce results. Your "agents" will be waiting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for customers looking for your products or services. As soon as they start looking, you'll be the first to know.

Search engine marketing will grow by 33% this year, with growth slowing to 10% annually by 2010, when spending will hit $11.6 billion. (Source: Forrester Research 02/2005)

Until next week, happy internet campaigning...


Technorati:
Mary Kay | PPC | pay per click | Google AdWords | Yahoo Sponsored Search | Dan Hollings | personal care | nutritional supplements | nutrition | cosmetics
Other recommended blogs:
FreeLife | Global Health Trax | Gold Canyon Candles

Mompreneurs are everywhere at Mary Kay?

Mompreneurs are everywhere at Mary Kay?

Source: Direct Sales Association

Based on statistics available from the Direct Sales Association, 79.9% of people in "direct sales" are female. Do the math and the guys total a paltry 20.1%. Many of the women in our industry (and site visitors we seek) are current or future moms. It seems natural that a new term has morphed from entrepreneurism and it called Mompreneurism.

Yes, you're reading it right. According to authors Patricia Cobe and Ellen Parlapiano, who trademarked the term "mompreneurs" and were recently featured in Time magazine and various other programs like National Public Radio; their mompreneurs online site draws millions of visitors each month.

In reading through the Mompreneurs Online web site you'll learn that they've interviewed hundreds of work at home moms. Their interviews revealed that these hard working women share certain secrets for success when doing business online. I borrowed a few points about mompreneurs from their site... below is a sampling of why and how mom-owned businesses are surviving and thriving on the web according to Pat and Ellen:

• Money Smarts. Moms don't overextend their financial resources and are less likely to use outside funding during start-up. So they don't have to worry about venture capitalists pulling the plug on their businesses.
• The Control Factor. Moms start home businesses for family flexibility, so they grow their enterprises slowly and steadily to retain control over their work/family time. The 24/7 availability of the Internet lets them work when THEY want to.
• A Natural Niche. Cyberspace opens up a wealth of business ideas, allowing moms to tap into their talents, skills and passions to create products and services for highly targeted audiences.

It's possible you think Mary Kay is a good place for moms? Maybe you're hoping to attract work at home moms to your site, blog, product or business? Or, maybe you already have lots of moms and a true mompreneurial team working toward your goals?

Whatever the case, moms running their own business from home are an important niche and your internet marketing can target these moms. Moms are both a consumer and a business force to be admired and respected.

With any luck, your personal care products, nutritional products & cosmetics will be just the thing these mompreneurs are looking for? Now, let's continue (below) with more tips in our series on how to best implement a successful pay-per-click campaign. Maybe you can get some moms clicking!

Tips, Tips, Tips... They just keep on coming!

• Expand your keywords by asking your spouse, friends, neighbors, relatives, existing customers and strangers to look at your web page and offer their keyword suggestions. In this phase you cannot have too many cooks in the kitchen.
• Put your biscuits in the oven and watch'em rise... That is, use web based 'keyword expanders' and research tools to expand your keywords beyond what you can come up with on your own.
• Remember, searchers may type in something that describes your product, but more often than not they will be typing in words describing their problem. If your product or service solves, fixes, heals, masks or even distracts them from their problem, you want those keywords on your list.
• "In-house" keywords (those used frequently by others in your industry or business) are often the most costly because lazy business owners don't often think beyond their own nose. The result is these limited keywords get bided-up sky high. Customers on the other hand seldom search using "in-house" keywords. Your goal is to find keyword niches popular with customers but less popular with your competition.

Making Yourself (or Your Business) Attractive to Mompreneurs

Here's one way you can be relevant and attractive in reaching out to work at home moms:

MAKE IT VIRAL: Viral marketing is huge among mompreneurs. Easy-to-forward articles, mini-ebooks and cards are perfect. But low-tech solutions can be equally effective. For example, Clorox offers a new mop which includes several postcard-style coupons that let happy customers share the handy product with their friends.

Last week I posted the another round of search engine marketing tips and even more tips in the weeks before that. Check previous weeks for more suggestions.



For additional tips visit:
Internet Marketing Tips for Mary Kay

Until next week, happy pay per click campaigning...


Technorati:
Mary Kay | mompreneur | mompreneurs | mompreneurism | entrepreneur | PPC | pay per click | Google AdWords | Dan Hollings | personal care | nutritional supplements | nutrition | cosmetics
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Personal care products, nutritional products & cosmetics. Help! Can these products be sold successfully through PPC

Personal care products, nutritional products & cosmetics. Help! Can these products be sold successfully through PPC

Mary Kay has been enriching Women's lives for many years with wonderful, affordable skin care, spa & body, and fragrance products. From an initial nine-item collection, the Mary Kay® product line has expanded to include more than 200 premium products in six categories: facial skin care, color cosmetics, nail care, body care, sun protection and fragrance. In fact today, Mary Kay Inc. is one of the largest direct sellers of quality skin care and color cosmetics in the world.

As A Mary Kay independent beauty consultant you know your product and you've set your goals. Your web page, site, or blog is up and you're pondering methods to get people visiting your web page.

Can your personal care products, nutritional products & cosmetics be sold through PPC or not? This is question number one, right? But equally important, can you implement a pay per click strategy that produces more profits bottom-line results than lost money?

Guess what, the answer is: "probably yes."

PPC Tips list continued from previous weeks:

• When cooking-up your keyword phrase list, use an extended "keyword discovery" phase. Your competition, like you, will do basic keyword research. You can only beat them if you take it to the next level, and that won't happen in the first day. Having a large number of targeted keywords in your campaign is a side effect of an extended period of brainstorming, discovery, research, or whatever you want to call it.
• Not very wood with gords? There is a hidden target market of quality visitors who type in incorrect spellings of what they are looking for. Site owners often overlook this. In a recent 30 day period on a major search engine at least 108 people where searching for a 'buisness'? Hundreds more were searching for: 'vitiamins', 'vitimans' and even 'vitamens'... You can bid on misspellings and have very little competition on the search results page.
• Assume that at least half your keywords will be rotten eggs, that is, no one will ever look for them and end up at your site. Because there is no extra cost to add as many keyword phrases as you can think up, treat them like biscuits and bake-up as many as you can... 100 or more keyword phrases for each destination page you list in any PPC search engine.

In earlier blog posts you'll find several installments of my PPC tips.


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Mary Kay | PPC | pay per click | Google AdWords | Network Marketing | Yahoo Ads | Dan Hollings | AdWords | personal care | nutritional supplements | nutrition | cosmetics

How to run ads with Google and Yahoo: Tutorials for Mary Kay.

How to run ads with Google and Yahoo: Tutorials for Mary Kay.

As you consider which PPC seach engine is for you, you might find our tips this week particularly relevant. The top two are Yahoo Sponsored Search and Google AdWords. It's a good idea to start your advertising effort with a small budget, spreading it out over a few different search engines to experiment and see where your target market may be lurking.

We recommend you begin by viewing the wonderful tutorials and flash overviews offered by Google and Yahoo. Below are samples, you'll find others at Google and Yahoo:

Pay-per-click Yahoo Search: Overview
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/rc/srch/tu_srch.php
Flash presentation explains Yahoo sponsored search.

Keyword Matching Options with Google AdWords
https://services.google.com/marketing/stats/tutorial_redirect

Improve your AdWords targeting and cut down on 'lookie-lou' clicks.

AdWords Optimization Tips
http://services.google.com/tutorial/opt_tips/google_opt.html
Attract more prospects by editing your Google ads.

Let's Look at The Google and Yahoo Bidding Rules:

Yahoo Sponsored Ads

• Yahoo sets your keyword bid only 1 penny over your next lowest competitor. Thus, if you bid $3.00 per click, and the next highest bid is $1.95 per click, you will only pay $1.96 per click.
• Yahoo allows you to see who you are bidding against and what they are bidding, so you know exactly where you will rank, and how much you will pay.
• Yahoo's maximum bid is $999.99
• Yahoo's minimum bid is $0.10

Google Ad Bidding Policy

• Google doesn't tell you how much you will pay per click. Thus, if you bid $3.00 per click, you will pay anywhere from $0.05 to $3.00 per click.
• Google does not allow you to know how much your competitors are bidding per click.
• An advantage with Google is that you will rank higher if your click-through rate (CT rate) is better (a CT rate is the ratio of clicks on your ad to the number of times your ad is shown). Thus, you may have a better rank than your competitor, even if he or she bids more than you (because of your CT rate).
• Google's maximum bid is $100.00
• Google's minimum bid is $0.05

New Google AdWords keyword status changes: Simplified keyword states and quality-based minimum bids.

NEW: Google announced in early August 2005 that they will simplify their keyword status system and introduce quality-based minimum bids, giving us more control to run all keywords we find important.

How it works

Each keyword will now be assigned a minimum bid that is based on the quality (also called Quality Score) of your keyword in your account. If your keyword or Ad Group's maximum cost-per-click (CPC) meets the minimum bid, your keyword will be active and trigger ads. If it doesn't, your keyword will be inactive and will not trigger ads.

Previosly, keyword statuses were called normal, in trial, on hold, and disabled. Under the new rules, this will be replaced with active (triggering ads) or inactive (not triggering ads). No more slowed or disabled keywords if no do not have a minimum clickthrough rate (CTR) threshold.

Search engine marketing tips:

Pay-per-click advertising tips for the Mary Kay independent beauty consultant continue below:

• Remember that with PPC campaigns, you are not sending search visitors to a site, you are sending them to a web page (called: a destination or landing page). You must discover keywords and set-up ONE page at a time.
• Remember that people search by typing in more than one word:
• The 7 most used word phrases in search engines according to OneStat.com:
• 2 word phrases 32.58%
• 3 word phrase 25.61%
• 1 word phrases 19.02%
• 4 word phrases 12.83%
• 5 word phrases 5.64%
• 6 word phrases 2.32%
• 7 word phrases 0.98%
• Start your "keyword discovery" process by visiting the destination page you intend to send your search engine visitors to. Put on the 'reading glasses' of a customer and look at your page through their eyes.
• Ask yourself this: "What keywords might a person type in a search box where when they arrived at this destination page, they'd say 'BINGO' this is what I was looking for?" Find these keywords and you've discovered your best keywords.

For additional tips that might improve your pay per click ad campaign review the tips in my previous posts.


Check back next week for the next in this series of PPC tips...


Technorati:
Mary Kay | PPC | pay per click | Google AdWords | Network Marketing | Yahoo Ads | Dan Hollings | Sponsored Ads | Contextual Ads | AdWords

Mary Kay? I know my opinion, but what about my customers?

Mary Kay? I know my opinion, but what about my customers?

Have you ever thought about the public's perception of what you do?

Mary Kay

Mary Kay has been enriching Women's lives for many years with wonderful, affordable skin care, spa & body, and fragrance products. From an initial nine-item collection, the Mary Kay® product line has expanded to include more than 200 premium products in six categories: facial skin care, color cosmetics, nail care, body care, sun protection and fragrance. In fact today, Mary Kay Inc. is one of the largest direct sellers of quality skin care and color cosmetics in the world.

Do you truly believe that visitors already think this about Mary Kay?

That's an 'unknown' in any search engine marketing campaign; you might best think through this issue at the outset (as you are preparing your keywords, your ads, and your landing page) what the majority of visitors already 'know' about you and the personal care products, nutritional products & cosmetics you offer. If you're not sure, assume they've never heard of you. That's always the safe bet.

If you're selling iPODs or something very well known, you can approach things much differently. Less time explain 'what' you've got and more time explain 'why' they should buy from you.

If your selling something that has become a common commodity (vitamins, shoes, cosmetics, telephone services, etc), then you must differentiate your product from the other seemingly similar products or services that customers will associate you with.

Much of these consumer 'mindset' concerns should be addressed the moment they hit your first web page after clicking your ad; so before you start any traffic generation strategy, think like a customer and look at your landing page.

Search engine marketing strategies:

Without any further delay, I'll continue with my tips this week.

• Forget stupid characters. We are talking search engine listings (not eBay) so cool the clever punctuation it L@@KS stupid!!!!!!!! Don't make SOME words CAPITALIZED; it looks like you're shouting desperately for business. Respect the people who read your search engine listings.
• People are by nature often interested in things like 'saving money', 'making money', 'curing something', 'striking a deal', and getting anything of value that is 'free'... but be careful. The addition of such self-interest phrases in your ad copy may skew your clicks upwards while leaving your sales flat. If you're tempted to try such phrases... test, test, test... while keeping an eye on your bottom-line.
• Bluntness works: 'Refinance 4.5%', 'Viagra $39', 'No Interest VISA', etc
• These are the type words that appeal to searchers: more information, complimentary, love, youthful, safe, new, benefit, gain, money, happy, glad, proven, guarantee, resource, fast, results, discover, how you, how to, your, yours, you'll, healthy, natural, magic, secret, comfortable, save, proud, secure, solution.

In earlier blog posts you'll find several installments of my PPC tips.


Check back next week for the next in this series of PPC tips... Until next week, happy PPC campaigning...


Technorati:
Mary Kay | PPC | pay per click | Google | Network Marketing | mlm | Dan Hollings | internet marketing | Contextual Ads | AdWords

In a society where we are bombarded with fashion, next on the horizon: Google FadSense?

In a society where we are bombarded with fashion, next on the horizon: Google FadSense?

At Google they claim their mission is to organize the world's information and make it useful and accessible. But they also seem to recognize that people do not sit in front of a computer screen all day. This fact seems to have restricted Google from reaching many markets with their search results and AdWord advertisements.

Well, that was then and this is now. Seems they're beta testing FadSense with Geo Referencing. It's a futuristic line of "wearable ad sponsored cloths" designed to make a fashion statement while earning participants extra income.

Frankly, I'd burn all my clothes tomorrow if I could get my hands on some jeans, a t-shirt, and some tennis shoes that would fill my wallet with cash! How about you?

Make sure you're sitting down before you click... Google FadSense™

As A Mary Kay independent beauty consultant, you might be wondering why I'm talking about a futuristic contextual AdSense (AdWord) program like FadSense. It's partially because it's funny, but more importantly, it's because I feel the type of advertising we have been discussing here at my "Internet Marketing Tips for Mary Kay" blog, is critical to your future. What I'm hoping to teach you are skills and tips that will not only work for Google today, but for any similar type advertising in the future. Google FadSense, real or not!

Before we continue with this week's tips, let's look at what we must concentrate on:

• How to find keywords related to your products and services.
• How to determine "tags" that help categorize your content.
• How to prepare your marketing campaign from the ground up.
• How to track your traffic, results, and advertising ROI (return on investment).
• How to create a destination or landing page that works.
• How to write effective ads.
• How to manage your advertising budget.

My Continuing Tips To Help You With Mary Kay...

Over the past few weeks we have hammered away with dozens of valuable tips. This week we continue.

• On the subject of ad copy (the words which will comprise your numerous different listing titles and descriptions) we can sum it up briefly: RELATE your listing to the keyword the searcher has typed, SPARK curiosity in their minds to encourage a visit, be TRUTHFUL, be BRIEF, be CLEAR, don't HYPE, and FILTER out bad clicks.
• FILTER OUT BAD CLICKS? Yes, if your product is NOT for certain searchers, be clear upfront before they click. Example: If you bid on the keyword 'herbal shampoo' because your product is an herbal dog shampoo, make sure your ad copy reads: for dogs, pets, or animals. If you only fulfill orders in Canada, state this upfront in your listing ad copy. There is no need to pay for a visitor click if you cannot service a particular customer's needs. Use words to filter out bad clicks.
• There are many good resources to help you with ad copy, writing, and knowing what to say about your product. We recommend the eBook by Kim Klaver, "If My Product's So Great, How Come I Can't Sell It". Click here for a complimentary 'Mini-edition' of this eBook.

In earlier blog posts you'll find the first, second, third and fourth installments of my PPC tips.


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Mary Kay | PPC | pay per click | Google | FadSense | AdSense | Sneakers | Dan Hollings | internet marketing | Fashion | Contextual Ads | AdWords

On this date... Google Inc. Closed Its Doors, After 118 Years Searching for Answers.

On this date... Google Inc. Closed Its Doors, After 118 Years Searching for Answers.

www.flickr.com

What started as a a unique approach to solving one of computing's biggest challenges (retrieving relevant information from a massive set of data) and and grew to become the "five-and-dime" of pay-per-click search engines, pulled the plug on the last server on this date in Mountain View, California. It's a story of a future time that could be soon, or beyond our horizon.

If anyone back in the late 1800's or early 1900's had been thinking ahead to the future of Woolworth Corp., it's unlikely they would have ever predicted that the famous five-and-dime would be a line item on a "Today in History" script published to millions of readers across this thing we call the internet.

Yet today, has I opened my RSS News Reader, there it was. I can recall shopping at the five-and-dime as a kid. It was the "best" store in town. Just like Google; the best. Now, its history. Perhaps the best is not good enough?

"The perfect search engine, would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want," says Google co-founder Larry Page, "Never settle for the best."

On this date...

In 1997 - After 118 years, the Woolworth Corp. closed its last 400 five-and-dime stores. The Woolworth building (opened in 1919) in New York City was the world's tallest skyscraper until 1930.

Could this happen to Google? Well, yes. If the thought of Bill Gates over throwing Google interests you, read this Fortune Magazine article: Search and Destroy. For now however, it's all fantasy thinking as the titans of search (Google, Yahoo, & Microsoft) battle it out in cyberspace.

Global search advertising revenue, which was $369 million in 2001, is expected to hit $7.9 billion this year, according to research from Piper Jaffray & Co. Those who work in and cover the industry see further expansion as paid search grows overseas and is embraced by ever- larger companies following audiences to the Web. (Source: Reuters 2005)

Good news for the Mary Kay independent beauty consultant

The Cost Per Lead using Pay-per-click is Cheap Compared To Other Ads

Pay-per-click search listings appear to out perform other methods when it comes to delivering a cost-effective way to get customers. According to Piper Jaffray & Co., the cost to acquire a customer is approximately $8.50 for search, $20 for Yellow Pages, $50 for online display ads, $60 for e-mail and $70 for direct mail. Television data was not mentioned. The choice for advertisers is clear.

"Paid-search advertising has become a do-or-die proposition," says Jeff Saville, a consumer direct marketing manager at Deckers Outdoor Corp. "The market is growing fast, primarily because the ads are trackable and target people who are already interested. The medium is also inexpensive compared with television, radio, direct mail and Web banner ads." (Nasdaq:DECK - news)

Are there dangers or flaws in search advertising?

• According to WebTrends the data suggests that 60 percent of marketers do not measure sales, leads or key actions resulting from campaigns. [This is a dangerous number because that means you are competing with people who don't know what things are truly costing them. You need to be extra analytical when going head to head with this guy.]
• Some worry that new advertisers are rushing blindly into paid search and inflating key word prices -- a concern underscored by WebTrends data.
• Certain campaigns fail because they are ill-conceived or unsuited to the medium.

Adding all this up, we come to two conclusions: 1) It pays to get good at pay-per-click advertising if you plan to do business online and 2) we may only have 118 years left with Google :-)

More tips for your PPC campaign:

• Sometimes people type in web addresses in those search boxes! So bid on those if the search engine allows it: 'www.website.com', 'website.com', 'http://website.com' and every combination full or partial you think a searcher might actually type.
• Match up keywords with words in your ad copy. Even though a 'spa', a 'hot tub', and a 'whirlpool' might mean the same thing in your mind, if a searcher types in 'hot tub' and your listing says: "Relax and save in your new Spa", you will miss out on many interested customers.
• Think negative... yes, people search for herbs that can kill, plastic surgery pitfalls, mlm scams and sundry other peculiar things. Invite them to explore your related listing. Do you offer cosmetics or skin car as an alternative to plastic surgery? Is you mlm a beacon of light in a sea of seemingly dubious scams?
• Get creative with interest spikes in the news. 'Mad Cow' might be a great keyword for your all vegetarian product line. The 'SARS' outbreak might have generated millions of searches that your 'immunity booster' could have benefited from (just don't make any false claims). And where were all the bra ads when a gazillion people typed in 'Janet Jackson' after the 2004 Super Bowl surprise?

Check back over my last three blog posts for the first, second and third set in this series of PPC search engine tips.


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Mary Kay | PPC | pay per click | Google | marketing tips | search | Woolworth | Today in history | online advertising