The Perils of TheInternet and What You Can Do To Protect Yourself

"Spamming is not something you want to do. It will get your site shut down, your domain blacklisted, your ISP accounts closed, and cost you a lot of business" (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 222)

With the advent of the Internet and access to e-mail, many users are getting spammed. E-mail can be used to attack machines and outright destroy them. With this in mind, spammers use robots and dictionary based attacks to fill our Inbox with junk mail. Luckily, we can use filters to stop them dead in their tracks. With blocklists and content filters, we are able to ignore threats as well as malicious e-mails.

Harvesting e-mails from the visitors to a site will usually produce the most effective email lists. The only issue I have with this is that this can take years to achieve.

Secondly the volumes of spam messages on the web is so high these days that it becomes difficult for recipients of messages to tell the difference between genuine mail that they have requested to receive and spam. This greatly hinders the effectiveness of email advertising.

In conclusion, e-mail marketing is good because it allows us to personalize our outbound email that are effective opt-in email messages, distributed to targeted prospects, and will result in a higher, more positive result.

Mastering E-Mail Marketing

"Prelaunch registrations. A prelaunch registration list is another great list. You could have thousands of members ready to become active even before youur project is completed" (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 202)

With the idea of marketing lists, we can time to really go after a segmented group. We can find out who we want to market our materials towards. We can save time and money by patiently extracting our users from our database list. By having our target audience voluntarily join and register with what we present to them and believe in, we can then use it to give them desirable content. We can include them in future e-mail marketing campaigns. Really, we have a lot of options with them as long as they are active members. Once they sign up, it is then our responsibility to maintain the relationship with them.

By having their e-mail addresses, we save more. The cost to send e-mails versus other ways is really nothing. Also, we can have global reach. Borders are no obstacles in e-mail marketing. Furthermore, if we so would like it, they can be interactive. We can send them a video, we can send them an animated graphic, etc. In addition, we can do this around the clock, since the Internet is 24 hours. Our audience can read our mail any time of the day, and they can also forward it to their friends. With this in mind, e-mail marketing will also have a faster response time .

Ebay - The World's Online Marketplace

"One of the reasons eBay has been so successful is buyers essentially set the price they are willing to pay. The end result is rarely are retail prices ever reached on eBay." (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 141)

One of the best advantages of eBay is that you can find anything, at any time. When only actions come to mind, most of us don't think uBid or Yahoo Auctions. We tend to thing eBay. With this in mind, we can buy anything anywhere in the world, with the convenience of having to stay at home. Not only that, but we can buy things cheap. Furthermore, their powerful search engine lets us find what we need without having to know exactly what it is we are looking for.

One of the downsides (as with anything in life) is that one is open to fraud and scammers. Some people don't leave negative feedbacks against bad sellers/buyers because of their that in turn, they will also leave the good individuals negative feedbacks.

In conclusion, eBay is a terrific place for targeting a market. As long as you are aware of the negatives and the downsides it possesses, and as long as you know how to get ahead of your competition when trying to sell/buy an item, then eBay is the best place.

Speed Selling on the Internet

"Everyone is obsessed with having a great Web site. They spend countless hours and thousands (if not tens or hundreds of thousands) of dollars to come up with cool, slick graphics that dazzle the eye and boggle the mind." (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 130)

There are better reasons to have a Web site than to just be in. To just have one because you can. Better reasons to have a web site is to be able to reach a larger market. Large corporations have advertising budgets that are difficult to keep up with. However, a personal site can reach the ever-growing market of internet-connected customers. Even if a business is limited to a geographic area, there are still more prospects there than one can reach in any other way.

A second reason would be to attract new prospects, for example, by providing something free (samples, newsletters, or marketing gifts) which will attract prospects to the site. Once there, they can learn more about the company or individual and if interested, they can take the next step to becoming a member.

A third reason would be to keep up with the competition! If my competitors are online and I'm not, what does that say about my business? More and more, everyone we meet will expect us to have a website. If they don't find it, they will find the competition's.

Building Youru Business Using Audio, Web, and Video Conferencing

"Using cutting-edge technology, you can reach out to your markets, bringing your products and services right ot the consumer's computer desktop. This audiovisual collaboration is delivered easily and effortlessly through the Web." (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 120-121)

It is no surprise that as soon as streaming media technology was developed, people wanted to broadcast events on the Internet. While there are some arguments on what webcast means, most people typically refer to webcasting or cybercasting as a live stream on the Internet.

Webcasts can include audio, video, and other data types such as PowerPoint slides, animation, or whiteboard-type applications and are typically referred to as an interactive webcasts when such components exist.

Also, many webcasts include some form of communication between the audience and the talent. This is one advantage that webcasting has over traditional forms of broadcast.

There are a number of other benefits as well: digital data stream. It's asynchronous. There is bandwidth asymmetry. There will be a downstream backbone. It can be high speed (up to 20 Mbps if money allows). It's universally accessible and not limited by geography (it can be local or international.)It has unlimited spectrum (it is not currently regulated by any governmental agency and does not require a license.) It is low cost (webcasting does not require a large amount in infrastructure) and it can be targeted (it can be cost-effective for smaller audiences.)

How To Automate Your Online Marketing

"Testing and tracking bring you extremely valuable data to measure and improve your online effectiveness." (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 114)

Google has a wonderful tool for web developers. It is called Google Analytics. It is the free successor to the previously commercial Urchin Analytics software. This online tool is constantly being updated and improved, and is a must-have resource for anyone's search marketing campaign. It will show you valuable data about your visitors that you can use in combination with Google Sitemap, another must-have arsenal, along with other Google services...

Google Analytics allows the developer to view statistics on users visiting the web site. Such what is being click most often on the web site, where the users are coming from, what king of web browsers they are using, what kind of computer and connection they are using, time frame they stay on a particular page, their arrival source, etc.

Furthermore, one can know whether the visitor rate is going up or down by the conversion summary. We can also find the top five sources to the site and top five keyword if we use adwords. We can know which article's popularity is increasing and which is decreasing with the content summary.

This allows us to better adjust the page and improve it. Furthermore, this will allow us to reduce the bounce rate.

Traffic Conversion Secrets

"The most important point is to focus on principles, not tactics. Principles are enduring. Tactics can become obsolete overnight. Anytime someone teaches you a tactic, ask yourself, What is the principle behind this tactic? What is fueling this tactic to work?" (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 103)

Mitch Meyerson gave us a lot of insight in how conversion works. Most importantly, he shows us how to use the principles he as learn. They are very basic, but obviously play an important role. The examples of the geniuses at McDonald University with there "Would you like to add fries with that?" paints a vivid image on what it takes to bundle users. From that example, the corporation had a net profit of $35 million the following year, simply by using this tactic. Furthermore, I can see how using the other principle drivers is beneficial. For example, the notion of engaging your target audience by giving them a free 15 day trial of a piece of software is smart. It's really not that long, but long enough to win them over. By engaging my audience through clicking from page to page, I am getting them used to feeling comfortable with the content that is on my website. The only issue that I have had with this is, sometimes people forget which day they are on and they end up getting charged $77. Maybe that person didn't really enjoy the Video Professor CD, but still got charged with the price tag.

My Grade so Far at Midterm

I believe that I deserve a B for this Midterm project, based on my work. Most of my time obviously went into the website as a whole. All of my web design skills came forth. All of the content was ready to go. Due to my negligence towards my other areas of marketing, I believe that they were not as compelling. However, I chose this because I know that the meat of everything is in the main website. Not the Twitter. Not the MySpace. Not the eBay. Not the YouTube. From my main page, I'm able to cross link to those and everything else. I do see the value in the Networking sites, of course. But to me, they were not my priority in this campain.

Las Vegas Martial Arts Project

"Planning - It's the most powerful tool in the history of marketing, but it's definitely not mandatory. You've got to know ahead of time what you wish to accomplish with your Web site." (Meyerson, 25)

In essence, I want to make what we read into a website, which can then be converted to the Offline world.

"Involvement - Involving visitors means you give them a quiz, or maybe they enter your contest-whatever it is, you involve them." (Meyerson, 27)

I plan to use my obsession website to have features which can mobilize them to get up and meet up with others better discuss (or practice) their interests.

"Great Content - It's going to make visitors happy when they're there; it's going to keep them coming back for more visits on a regular basis." (Meyerson, 26)

My main plan is to get a list of martial artists who are in the greater Las Vegas area by giving them what they want - martial arts content.

"Promotion - You must promote your site online by registering it with search engines and by linking it with other sites. You've also go to be promoting it offline in the mass media and mailings." (Meyerson, 28)

I plan on incorporate the issues and ideas we have discussed in class by practicing what I have been reading. Cross linking, networking, etc.

YouTube Project

YouTube Account

My YouTube posting is designed to work along with the rest of my web sites - MySpace, Movie Obsession website, etc. It is meant to network along with other users who are fans of the martial arts industry. Furthermore, it is meant to enhance my relevancy with SEM. The movies in my channels are favorites because those are the movies that I have on my website. Those are the same movies that have rankings, which further fuel users to reply.

eBay Project

eBay Sale

"Show Hot Benefits - With bullets you want to create more curiosity. You're hitting them over the head with bullets, bullets, and bullets. Each bullet talks about a benefit, not a feature." (Meyerson, 46)

My Ebay LG Voyager cellphone sale includes all the hot features that a lot of people are wanting to buy. For example, it's Touchscreen, so I added that on there. Furthemore, I stated that it is used, but that it is in excellent condition still.

"Create The Greed Desire - Create a "greed desire" or "got to have it" mentality with free bonuses." (Meyerson, 51)

The purchase comes with the phone, a black silicone cover, and a charger - All for a very low price. This has the user feel that they are getting more for their money, which in turn makes them want to buy it.

"Create A Sustainable Advantage - By finding out what people want to buy, allowing them to buy it from you, and being able to deliver a benefit to them, you are able to sustain over a period of time" (Meyerson, 38)

If you go to my sales page, you are able to see what I have on display. It's a cellphone, like new, that costs $35 + $5 shipping. The lowest I found myself was $0.01, while the highest was still at $254.00, with the rest ranging from $40 to $110. My advantage is that I am selling the same item, for much less.

"Build Value By Comparing Apples To Oranges - Price becomes a nonissue because you establish the value of your offer as much, much greater." (Meyerson, 49)

In this case, my value is below the average of all the phone selling listed price was. The headline itself was stronger in comparison to the other sellers' headline for the same product.

MySpace project

http://www.myspace.com/jrnetweb

"Promotion - "You must promote your site online buy registering it with search engines and by linking with other site." (Meyerson, 28)

Another valueable piece of marketing is the fact that this myspace page has been made. By cross-linking it with my main website, I am able to elevate my rankings within search engines, which enhances my credibility on the Internet. Using this type of networking site is a very powerful tool that some mis-use and/or don't use it enough.

"Target A Hungry Market - These are people with money to buy products and services that really help, and people that are really hungry for a certain class of products or services." (Meyerson, 38)

The whole point behind this myspace is because I love martial arts. I know there is a chance that someone else out there is as well. By doing MySpace, I may potentially meet the next person who can further advance my education in this field. Or I can enter a business with someone who has the products and money, but doesn't know how to bring it forward onto the internet 100%.

"A Classic Headline - These are old words that have been used forever and ever. And sometimes the simplest words are the best!" (Meyerson, 44)

My headline of "Become the Next Martial Arts Master" is designed to capture martial artists. Anyone not in this field who happens to stumple upon my site won't care much about it. However, my market is for those in the martial arts, hence the title.
I feel this incorporates the idea behind a strong headline that uses simple words and builds interest.

"Build Interest - ...build interest by discussing a problem, expanding on your headline, or incorporating a story." (Meyerson, 45)

With my MySpace page, I wanted to start to build interest. By networking with those who are also obssesed with movies, I am able to better grow my network. My story in this case is how I'm a person from a city in the US who is obssesed with martial arts movies.

Movie Obsession Websites

Jose - http://www.joserosariolopez.com/kungfu

Content wise, I think that the strongest movie obession web site was mine. I believe that I have incorporated several of the features that were discused in class as well as in the book. For example, the headlines add to the page because these are hot, action-packed movies that have been released in the martial arts community.

By adding content that is fresh, I give the users the chance to keep wanting to come back and read about what I thought. Furthermore, the addition of the rating system along with the Leave a Reply feature enhance to value of the web site by creating a community within community.

Minni - http://www.lunaobscuradesign.com/fantasyObsession/

Clean, filled with a lot of great content. This website is easy to navigate and the
site is visually pleasing at the same time. What I wanted to find in here is how users interact in the page amongst themselves.

Albert - http://www.vampfansite.com

The concept behind this page is a good one, yet sometimes the color in the main navigation tends to bleed onto the text, which takes my focus away from the content that I'm trying to seek.

Ardie - http://www.manfilms.hunterunknown.com

The web site is pretty cool. The one reason I like it is because it looks...manly. The logo's black background at the very top makes me think of footbal. The one thing that I felt was lacking was the content area. In the reviews section, only three movies were added. If this is a movie obsession website, I want to know about a lot of movies.

Kiely - http://www.fagabeefee.com/

I'm actually a little bit thrown off by the main index page. I don't know what I am supposed to do once I finish taking the quiz. I'm assigned a rank, but I don't know what to do with it, or how to promote myself. I think this is a very interesting concept that could be expanded upon.

The Magical Power of Headlines

"The problem is that their headlines don’t “reach people where they live.” These headlines don’t create interest, desire, or receptivity to taking action. They don’t do their job, so they’re not good headlines.” (Meyerson, 77)

Every day when we drive around the freeway, we see many headlines. They advertise either casinos, or nightclubs, jewelry stores, or even lawyers. Some of them catch my interest, but most of them do not. In fact, I have a hard time remembering what they were about. Even the ones that I liked, I forgot for which company they were even advertising for in the first place. On the web, the idea is the same. We have a tendency to not read everything on the web unless it is something we really like. We tend to skim through content that probably someone spent a lot of time writing. Why is this? Well, first of all, we lack the time needed to really sit and enjoy reading or even learning from an article. We also need things now, and if it’s not now, it is not happening. This is where headlines come in for the internet. If we can write power headlines that can capture our audience at the snap of our finger, we can have them read a little bit more of our content. If that content is strong, then we can keep them yet a bit more. Through the use of power headlines, we can sell our site better. We can increase and hopefully retain our audience. As a web designer then, the use of copywriting then becomes a very valuable asset that we have obtained. We now have to manage it well in order to increase visitors to our site.

The Seduction of the Online User

"I find you very attractive. Your assertiveness tells me that you feel the same way about me. But ritual remains that we must do a series of platonic actions before we can have intercourse. But all I really want to do is have sex with you as soon as possible.” (Meyerson, 58)

Taken from the academy award-winning movie ABeautiful Mind, author Mitch Meyerson tells us how shortcuts just do not work. If taken lightly, some users may get a chuckle out of this example, but in reality, we cannot just say or do what we want to do, when we want to do it. We have to entice our users and feed them what they want until they just need and want what we offer. We can lure them by fascinating them and teasing them a bit. In order to meet our goals, we have to have users. In order to have users, we must keep them. This goes all the way down to the core of the subject matter. I must not only entice you , the users, with something that is valuable to you, but also give out content that you just cannot get enough of. I must first cater to you and service you, before I can get what I want. I must deliver bits and pieces of what you want to see. I must get in your thoughts and read what it is you came to my site for, in order to provide that. I have been to sites that just want me to enter my credit card information in order for me to buy their products. Why should I? As soon as I see the Visa or MasterCard logo on the first page, my cursor is already moving towards the X. This is unacceptable practice in the online business, but I guess it works since several people are doing it, right?

Writing Web Copy That Sells

"Create a greed desire – Create a “greed desire” or “got to have it” mentality with free bonuses. You may have people really excited about your offer, but not ready to buy…make your offer irresistible and pile up the value side of the scale with free bonuses.” (Meyerson, 51)

In our times right now, everyone is being more money conscious. They tend to spend less and less and just in what they need. Not what they want anymore. With this in mind, we have to give them the most value, actually, the most perceived value in their eyes. We have to get and generate business. We may offer discount if they book ahead of time, or discounts if they involve their friends. This would in turn keep them motivated. Along with this, however, we should offer extra incentives to lure them more in. We may offer backstage tours for a facility, or special 1 on 1 training for a limited time, etc. Even though it may not really be out of our way to do this, for them, it may appear as if they truly are special in. Furthermore, who is to say this will hurt. It will hurt the business more if we lose a customer just because we had to stick to the rules. If we not flexible, in the long run, this may hurt the company. What if they had the time of their life and run off and tell their friends, and then they also come, etc.? We need to approach our clients with a perceived value in what they are getting.

Building Your Online Brand

"Go to Your Customers – Ask them who your company is and what your company is about, and see if your customers all say you’re about the same thing, or if they have conflicting messages.” (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 34)

This is a great message to always convey. Sometimes we try to change who we are in order to appeal to some demographic. Sometimes we may lose focus of who really we are targeting by going after the wrong audience. This costs time in marketing. And all this lost time is valued as money. In the Wynn, not only the customers know what we represent, but more importantly, us, the staff, need to know what we belief in and represent. This is vital to provide the quality service that is expected from us. If all of us who work there are on a different page regarding standards, values, etc., then we are conveying the wrong message to our guests. By knowing our customers, we can better serve their needs and expectations. The branding message is portrayed by our core values, and that is what is important. Sure, we may get local guests who come into the casino, but we treat them no differently than anybody else. Why should they be? If they do not come back to us, they will just go to our competitor. When we make the customers feel like they are really at home (even though they are on vacation or on a convention trip,) that is when we really feel proud.

Killer Content

"Promotion will lure them to your site, but it's killer content that will encourage return trips. Killer content means information that gets people to respond emotionally." (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 24)

I think too often websites focus excessively on how the site itself looks. They think that if the website looks good enough, people will stay. But not everyone is like this. People go to your pages to find out more about what it is that interests them. I see other sites that just have tons of content smeared all over the page, where I find it difficult to get to where I need to. These pages just overload me with too much information, which is not really fun. When I'm interested in something, I want to be lead to other similar content, which in turns, keeps me motivated in finding more about what the company is all about or what services they are trying to offer me.

Starting An Online Business

“Online is the most profitable way for launching your business. It may take you a little while to figure it out because it’s a little bit of a different animal than traditional business. But once you figure out how you make your online presence successful, then you have the best of all worlds.” (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 12)

Everything in this day and age has an aspect that could include the internet. We even have access to it (by paying) on our phones. I think that having an online business, just like with anything else, has its inherent risks. However, I also believe that while this may hold some individuals back, I agree that online business are profitable. One good example that comes to mind is Ebay. Many people make their livings by simply being the ‘middle-man’ with many transactions. Some don’t even have to see the package. They just act as the intermediary person between the company and the customer.

The most important goal....

“Your most important goals must be yours. Not your spouse’s. Not your child’s. Not your employer’s. Yours. When you let other people determine your definition of success, you’re sabotaging your own future.” (Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Meyerson, 5)

In my opinion, this is one of the best goals that I can relate with! As I grew up and went to school, I would always see fellow classmates going after degrees that really meant nothing to them. Even through a second college, I would still feel students were going after a title. Do not get me wrong, the titles were nice and all, but that was it. The only reason I feel some of them were doing this, was to make their their parents happy. Others were in it just because of the money. But wait! Where is the passion for doing what they really love? You know, money comes and goes. It is nice to have and enjoy the better things in life, but that is so superficial. Is it really meaningful to go after a degree just for the money, or for others? Really?