When it comes to online marketing, where does a newbie marketer with no experience start?

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What’s your goal? Creating a website? Email blasts? Pay-Per-Click? SEO? Building traffic? E-commerce? Blogs?

Pick one thing, and play with it. Pretty much everything these days has free versions to experiment on. Lots of books, blogs, online tutorials, forums, and websites. Nothing is inherently hard to do - it takes time to become efficient at it and produce great results. In some cases there isn’t a science - it’s an art (so there’s multiple right “answers”). You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Read a lot. Try it out. Ask some questions. Have fun.

I am in the midst of obtaining my Wedding Coordinator license, so still a student. I thought I should start exploring potential business names for when the time comes. I am located in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The wedding planning business is booming here. I am looking for names that will stand out from the rest. Wedding planning is my passion, I love nothing more. I cant really put into words what it means to me, but I’d like it to be known, if you know what I mean.

I’d really like a catchy name with a neat tag line. I also would like something that could, in the future be modified so I expand my services (like event planning in general - not just weddings).

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• Eventualities: I Plan For Everything
• The Big Event: Making Your Dreams Realities
• A Day In Your Life: Every Event Is Unique
• It’s All In The Details: Problem-Free Special Events

Our organization has a many international region websites based on the same core content. Many pages are localized for that region, but much content is the same for each region. So, we will have information about a service available at, for example:

www.companyname.com/productname (worldwide site)
www.companyname.com/us/en/productname (US)
www.companyname.com/ca/en/productname (Canada)
and so on for several English-speaking regions.

Without printing brochures specific for each region, how do most people direct customers to specific web content? Do you direct to the Worldwide content and mention there may be specific info on your regional site? Do you say ‘go to productname on the companyname web site’ and let them navigate to it? Do you say ‘go to companyname website and enter a keyword in the search box’? Or some other strategy?

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You don’t want to make the user “work” to get information. You want them to have an easy experience getting what they need quickly.

Here are some different techniques:

1. Use subdomains that have an .htaccess file that forwards to the relevant page. canada.companyname.com/product would go to www.companyname.com/ca/en/productname
2. Determine what country the user’s IP address is from as a clue and default to that country.
3. Have on all product pages a popup (upper right of the page) that allows them to switch the country. This would be akin to changing languages.
4. Buy more domain names: companyusa.com, companycanada.com, etc. The generic company.com website would ask (or default to, see #2) for the country of interest, then jump to the companycanada.com site. Bookmarks that the user would place would take them to the proper country.

I have a sports simulation website (chancebot.com) that runs simulations of the professional football season to determine each team’s chances of making the playoffs. I had a similar site last year where I did the calculations by hand for one specific team. That site (the first one) was actually mentioned on an ESPN radio talk show. So naturally I have it in my head that sports talk radio is probably a good marketing channel for my site. I have even gone so far as to build an interface that allows somebody to quickly and easily set up a request for a special simulation that can analyze the impact of possible future outcomes.

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How do you plan to make money at this? For example, you could be a sponsor for the “prediction minute”. In exchange for your predictions, you’d get a mention (on radio) or graphic (for television). That would hopefully attract people to your website, and then..?

The best hook for me would be your accuracy. If you can claim, in the last 4 years, I’ve been accurate 83.4% of the time, then you’ve got my attention. Otherwise, your numbers are as good as a dice roll.

The second part of your communication would be “what’s in it for them?” Why would using them be beneficial to their show?

Also, don’t use email to get their attention. Identify the producers of the shows you want to target, and write them a letter and follow-up a week later with a phone call (mention to them you’ll be calling in the letter). Tell them what you like about their show, and mention your idea for something new - something you can promise as an exclusive for their region.

I am planning to launch an e-boutique in around 3 months and am looking for tips and strategies. Ideally, I don’t want to be just another site you might find in searching. My e-boutique will cater to ladies (25-55 years) and sell mainly upper body clothing (for career, casual, dressy, maternity) including the usual styles/fabrics/etc in addition to more exotic offerings such as a couture blouse or a hemp jacket. I plan to use one type of product to capture a variety of styles whether light and feminine, avante-garde, fashion-forward, etc.. I would like the website to also be a place of learning and fun with articles, blog, contests, etc with the emphasis on having fun with style, trying new things and being creative. Not everything may be launched at the same time, but that’s the direction. There is no brick and mortar store, but it is a desire for the future.

The start up process could probably take less time but I have a full-time job and therefore have to be creative with time. I am currently building the website as well as working through merchandise, operating conditions, delivery, and other back-office functions. But the marketing is stumping me.

I am new to the selling side of e-commerce. How do I get people to my site as a relative unknown in an ocean of e-commerce sites? What can I do now? I’m particularly concerned about my official ‘launch’? How do you launch with more than friends and family? or is that all you need to start? Is it necessary to do an official ‘launch’ or just complete the website as well as office matters, and just submit to the search engines?

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If you haven’t already, create a strategic marketing plan. Getting traffic alone isn’t enough - you want the right people looking at the right time. Getting your business message placed correctly is more than simply putting up your website, listing it in a few places, and waiting for the phone to ring.

You’ve identified who you’re targeting. How much will the average sale be? Will they be from the US? Who is your online competition? What, besides information, would make your site more appealing to them?

Creating a business is more than a website and figuring out stuff to sell. It’s a bigger vision of where you’re going, how will you get there, what resources will you need, and what milestones are you creating for yourself?

I need help naming my massage biz. I have decided to target my massage biz to specific clients. I specialize in therapeutic massage for fibromyalgia, anxiety and depression, and stress-reduction. As well as massage, I direct clients on general “brain” health - diet, exercise and relaxation and resources. My working tagline is: calming your complicated life…

Some names I’ve played with (Therapeutic Massage after each): Good Hands, Sundance, Sun Bear, Oso Sol, and Oso del Sol (I’m in the Southwest).

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Great niche.

Perhaps you don’t need massage in your name if your goal is to provide massage + consulting on diet/exercise/etc.

As for name, it can be anything you want. If it’s abstract, then you’ll have to spend more time educating people in your tagline and other materials who you are. If your name is specific, they’ll quickly “get it”.

• Pain & Stress Relief Clinic
• Sun Bear Pain Clinic (or Oso Sol/Oso del Sol)
• Body-Mind Pain Clinic

I have determined my company name but need a catchy tagline. I have come up with one but I feel it needs help. My company name is “CEVA Services” and under that on my cards is “Virtual Office Assistant”. I want to change that to “Your Virtual Assistant”. My Vision Statement is “CEVA Services is an innovative administrative service provider working in partnership with the world”. Now the problem I have is my tagline is “I help to help you build”. I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

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Virtual Office Assistant - I understand, but am confused at the same time. What does “office” add (why not Virtual Assistant)? Do you have specific business skills you wish to market? Administrative skills? Computer Skills?

Now, remove the “virtual” from whatever your tagline is. Does it stand on its own? “Virtual” means, I’ll be working from my home and reporting to your business.

How do you add value as a “virtual” consultant? Why are you better than someone than might hire locally? Is it your skill set? Hours? Educational background? A long list of happy customers?

Your business won’t appeal to everyone. Make your tagline appeal to those ideal clients for you. Identify them, and align your tagline benefit with their need.

What are the effective ways of marketing to reach those CEOs and CFOs, as targeted audience? The industry I am in is Accounting Software Solutions.

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You’ve identified only a piece of the marketing target: management in a field. What problem is your company solving of theirs? Why should they believe you’re the best for solving it?

Getting a message in front of your audience isn’t hard. Getting the right message is much harder. The right message will create a dialog with you. The wrong one will result in no phone call.

Focus on the benefit message for your demographic. Once you’ve narrowed that down, then it should become clearer how to reach them: email, phone call, ads, postcards, hand-written notes, white papers, or clever “gifts”.

I am writing a business plan to seek financing to open a family clothing store in rural north central Idaho the nearest department store is 70 miles away. Most of my inventory will come in as department store overstocks..think ross, marshall, and tj maxx as the concept. We will also carry domestics and will phase in cottage industies (artisans) to attract the tourism and seasonal customers. The area is low/moderate income and I will be selling at discount but I do not really want to have an image that is really low end… would it be a mistake to brand our store around the discounts or should we go ahead and capitalize on the discount image?

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It seems to me that you want to position yourself as the nearby shopping choice. You don’t need to mention price at all - that’s a given that people will care. Instead, focus on serving the community itself.

Create “We have what you need” type tagline. Because of your demographic, that’ll determine what you sell and for how much. Stress convenience. Stress saving time & gas. Stress that you hire locally and give back to the community.

If there’s no competition right now, position yourself not only as the only choice, but also the smarter choice.

If your community’s demographic should change, your store’s image/inventory can change with it seamlessly.

I am requested to provide the management with a marketing plan for Information and Communication Technology solutions. Our products are the service that we provide. However I need to put them into packages in order to be able to sell them. I was thinking about internet ad (such as in yahoo and msn …), technology and business magazine, what else might help? tournament? in what? or TV program? I need ideas that enable me to brand them.  What may I suggest as activities? or marketing ideas? My target audience are all the large and medium size enterprise in the Arab countries.

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If your target is “all the large and medium size enterprise in the Arab countries”, what problem/challenge/need do they all have? If they don’t have a common need, then you need to narrow your target even more.

If you’re selling IT & Communication services, why should these companies (which have these departments in-house), choose you? What can you offer that they can’t do themselves?

Who within the organization needs to hear your message? IT? CEO? C-Level? Manager of IT?

To advertise/market to your target, you need to be places they look: online, magazines, newspapers, trade shows, television, radio, websites, blogs, etc.

Your message needs to be written specifically to the target company/person within the company in language they use (different levels of management use different terms for the same thing because of their different perspective).

The entire point of your message is to get them to contact you. Don’t spent a lot of time crafting your solution to their problem and advertise that. Instead, identify who you’re talking to, their problem, and your solution (benefits-based). You want them to go to your website, email you, and/or call to find out more information. Make it easy for them to find you.

Your website should likewise talk in the same benefits-based language as your advertising. However, as people click through your site to find out more information, you speak more in details. Provide lots of examples, white papers, testimonials, videos, etc. Anything that can help people feel more confident in your company. You’re building trust.