Sep
25
marcscz asked:
I have a Bachelor’s Degree with a concentration in Marketing. I am interested in getting into a career in the market research industry, however I am having difficulty finding jobs in this field. Most jobs for marketing majors seem to be in sales. I do not feel that I have the right personality and strengths to be successfu in sales. I am more of an analytical, detailed, organized person who prefers woking with data and solving problems. I have looked on the major job search sites, but there are not many opportunities for entry-level candidates. I have researched companies who specialize in market research in my area, and I have been on two interviews, but no job offer.
I have a Bachelor’s Degree with a concentration in Marketing. I am interested in getting into a career in the market research industry, however I am having difficulty finding jobs in this field. Most jobs for marketing majors seem to be in sales. I do not feel that I have the right personality and strengths to be successfu in sales. I am more of an analytical, detailed, organized person who prefers woking with data and solving problems. I have looked on the major job search sites, but there are not many opportunities for entry-level candidates. I have researched companies who specialize in market research in my area, and I have been on two interviews, but no job offer.
Should I start to look in another direction? What type of work could be a good stepping stone for somebody who wants to get into marketing research? The job interviews I had with the market research companies were entry-level posiitons involving clerical type work.Should I look for clerical positions for experience?
Sandra
Sep
25
Victoria asked:
I’m putting together an event for which I need to find an alcohol sponsor. Are there marketing companies out there that help people do that?
Rachel
I’m putting together an event for which I need to find an alcohol sponsor. Are there marketing companies out there that help people do that?
Rachel
Sep
24
Filed Under Marketing | Comments Off
Marketing Guy asked:
Not two weeks ago I had a chat with someone (an SEO) about some online media buying and although the figures made an infinite amount of sense (6 figure monthly page views – prime location banner purchase for less than £90 per month!), he said, “but there is no SEO value from the banner link” (it was JavaScript)! Astonished, I spent the next hour arguing the case for buying the coverage, but it would seem that the majority of SEOs just don’t see the value of applying traditional marketing techniques to the web – they just don’t “fit” into the SEO mindset.
What is really bizarre though is that while the optimisation industry doesn’t see the value in some less search engine focused marketing techniques, they will pay a veritable fortune for paid links. The likes of ReviewMe (http://www.reviewme.com) change up to $250 for a single “review” (which is SEO speak for a plain text link not so subtly hidden in a purpose written article). One text link. One! Not just that, but a single text link on a new page that has no PR (and will maybe only will ever receive minimal PR filtered through from other page links)!
For that $250 (around £150) there are so many different options you could aim for. While a lot won’t have any direct SEO benefit, we still need to consider traffic and branding benefits.
$250 would allow me to buy banner advertising on a niche site / forum / blog for a limited amount of time. Depending on the type of site and its subject area you could be looking at a decent amount of traffic, enquiries and exposure – certainly enough to justify the cost.
An alternative would be to spend the money on a directory listing on a site such as TheBestOf (http://www.thebestof.co.uk) - £10 per month for a year and you get a full page listing (written by your local contact), an audio advert where you can pitch your service, inclusion in a high traffic site and a direct (SEO friendly!) link back to your site. A link AND qualified traffic – that’s like SEO Christmas!
Online marketing professionals do focus on SEO a lot and that isn’t a bad thing – it just isn’t the only thing and you should be looking to spend your budget wisely and spread your marketing scope.
Stephanie
Not two weeks ago I had a chat with someone (an SEO) about some online media buying and although the figures made an infinite amount of sense (6 figure monthly page views – prime location banner purchase for less than £90 per month!), he said, “but there is no SEO value from the banner link” (it was JavaScript)! Astonished, I spent the next hour arguing the case for buying the coverage, but it would seem that the majority of SEOs just don’t see the value of applying traditional marketing techniques to the web – they just don’t “fit” into the SEO mindset.
What is really bizarre though is that while the optimisation industry doesn’t see the value in some less search engine focused marketing techniques, they will pay a veritable fortune for paid links. The likes of ReviewMe (http://www.reviewme.com) change up to $250 for a single “review” (which is SEO speak for a plain text link not so subtly hidden in a purpose written article). One text link. One! Not just that, but a single text link on a new page that has no PR (and will maybe only will ever receive minimal PR filtered through from other page links)!
For that $250 (around £150) there are so many different options you could aim for. While a lot won’t have any direct SEO benefit, we still need to consider traffic and branding benefits.
$250 would allow me to buy banner advertising on a niche site / forum / blog for a limited amount of time. Depending on the type of site and its subject area you could be looking at a decent amount of traffic, enquiries and exposure – certainly enough to justify the cost.
An alternative would be to spend the money on a directory listing on a site such as TheBestOf (http://www.thebestof.co.uk) - £10 per month for a year and you get a full page listing (written by your local contact), an audio advert where you can pitch your service, inclusion in a high traffic site and a direct (SEO friendly!) link back to your site. A link AND qualified traffic – that’s like SEO Christmas!
Online marketing professionals do focus on SEO a lot and that isn’t a bad thing – it just isn’t the only thing and you should be looking to spend your budget wisely and spread your marketing scope.
Stephanie
Sep
22
How is affiliate marketing? Is it another smoke screen to sell useless guides to desperate people?
Filed Under Marketing | 3 Comments
myportraitdrawing asked:
I am desperate to find a way to start my own home based business, and affiliate marketing seems good because there is virtually no startup cost (I’m broke). Is this something likely to bring in a real income?
Heather
I am desperate to find a way to start my own home based business, and affiliate marketing seems good because there is virtually no startup cost (I’m broke). Is this something likely to bring in a real income?
Heather
Sep
21
war_1948 asked:
Who should prepare the marketing plan is it enough for one person to prepare it?
What type of companies needs marketing plan for example Investment Company needs a marketing plan?
Rachel
Who should prepare the marketing plan is it enough for one person to prepare it?
What type of companies needs marketing plan for example Investment Company needs a marketing plan?
Rachel
Sep
20
snownice70 asked:
I’m interested in going into marketing as a career, but I’m not sure what exactly I would be learning in school. If it’s just going to be something I could find out by reading a book, why would I want to go school for it?
Craig
I’m interested in going into marketing as a career, but I’m not sure what exactly I would be learning in school. If it’s just going to be something I could find out by reading a book, why would I want to go school for it?
Craig
Sep
2
Filed Under Marketing | Comments Off
Wildfire Marketing Group asked:
Before you rush out to have 50,000 brochures printed and all of your company vehicles wrapped in vinyl, you need to take a minute to ensure that your marketing materials are going to deliver the results you are looking for. While achieving maximum results is probably something that you won’t be able to do without the help of an experienced marketing professional, there are several things that you can to improve your own results.
Have your marketing materials professionally designed. Even though you and your family and friends may love the new brochure that you designed in Microsoft Word, chances are that it is not going to be as effective as a brochure from a professional graphic designer . As a result your return on investment will be lower.
Have your printed marketing materials produced in full color. Full color printing has been shown to significantly increase response rates compared to any other combination of colors and can be surprisingly affordable for even the smallest of businesses. Another benefit is that it makes your company appear larger and more established while improving your credibility.
Include a call to action in all of your marketing materials. The most beautifully designed brochure will deliver poor results if it doesn’t clearly tell your prospect what they need to do. Do you want them to call you? To visit your web site? To send you something? Tell them exactly what you want and when you want it and your results will improve dramatically.
Include your URL on all of your marketing materials. From your business cards to your vehicles and everything in between, your URL needs to be easily accessible in order to open up another opportunity to expose your company to your prospects and clients.
Ensure that your company’s image stands out from your competitors. No matter how much you love your biggest competitor’s color scheme or style of advertising, copying it will not work for you. Small businesses often try to emulate other companies with the mindset of ” if it works for them it will work for me ” which is not true and will hurt your business in the long run.
Sandra
Before you rush out to have 50,000 brochures printed and all of your company vehicles wrapped in vinyl, you need to take a minute to ensure that your marketing materials are going to deliver the results you are looking for. While achieving maximum results is probably something that you won’t be able to do without the help of an experienced marketing professional, there are several things that you can to improve your own results.
Have your marketing materials professionally designed. Even though you and your family and friends may love the new brochure that you designed in Microsoft Word, chances are that it is not going to be as effective as a brochure from a professional graphic designer . As a result your return on investment will be lower.
Have your printed marketing materials produced in full color. Full color printing has been shown to significantly increase response rates compared to any other combination of colors and can be surprisingly affordable for even the smallest of businesses. Another benefit is that it makes your company appear larger and more established while improving your credibility.
Include a call to action in all of your marketing materials. The most beautifully designed brochure will deliver poor results if it doesn’t clearly tell your prospect what they need to do. Do you want them to call you? To visit your web site? To send you something? Tell them exactly what you want and when you want it and your results will improve dramatically.
Include your URL on all of your marketing materials. From your business cards to your vehicles and everything in between, your URL needs to be easily accessible in order to open up another opportunity to expose your company to your prospects and clients.
Ensure that your company’s image stands out from your competitors. No matter how much you love your biggest competitor’s color scheme or style of advertising, copying it will not work for you. Small businesses often try to emulate other companies with the mindset of ” if it works for them it will work for me ” which is not true and will hurt your business in the long run.
Sandra