Your Online Driving Force

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY
As I write this venture capital companies are funding off shore ventures in China and India. There is a dwindling interest in getting behind new companies and upstarts in America. The face of Direct Marketing is changing dramatically as we know it.

Marketing is being re-invented. The communication process between vendor and customer is in a state of overhaul. The core process of how the relationship works is still intact and goes along with textbook definition. But the ways that relationship can flourish are being challenged.

It is getting so precise now where we, (as marketers) can create our own financial realities. It is no longer a crap shoot. We can also eliminate a lot of the steps and the waiting period factors when it comes to making a sale.

It makes the efforts of top marketing legends Dan Kennedy and Jeff Paul seem a little tired. A marketing guy can now topple the search engines in a matter of hours and create sales within 24 hours of making those changes. Instead of printing an ad for lead generation and waiting for those people to contact us and then leaving a message on an 800 number or being directed to a web site….. we can contact them online.

We just have to find out where they are hiding…..

ONLINE COMMUNITIES ARE KEY
My Space is kooky and at times very ugly to look at can offer some incredible tools. It is outrageously popular lately. The other thing is that tapping into online communities like this and inviting them to come into your site is nice. Spam doesn’t stand a chance next to a warm invitiation like this.

Creating your own online community is possible. When you use a service like Podomatic you will create a subscription list. People will tap into your podcast and become a fan. In a typical week I can generate 156 new listeners and subscribers.

The key is to keep on inviting them to new things, new shows, new online messages, new web site updates and so on. You want to keep on inviting them to new happenings. Sales will follow as long as you continue this buying process.

AREN’T SEARCH ENGNIE RANKINGS MORE IMPORTANT?.........
Search engine rankings are important of course. But it isn’t until you start building online communities and relating to them on a 1-1 basis that things start to happen. Marketing maven Joe Vitale talks about how people like to feel special and important. You can do that with customized emails, and database capture and using that information for sales.

Align your site with those who are in your market. You can partner with sites that have a Google ranking of 8 or higher. The Google ranking system goes from 0 – 10, (10’s are rare) and you can benefit from getting inbound links from them.

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Ted Cantu is the creator of Mobile Cast and www.911Copywriters.com he has handled the marketing for such innovative groups like www.WindsorBeauty,com and contributes to several blogs and podcasts such as….. http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.