Clean Web Site Design

First and foremost make sure your visitors know what site they are on at any given time. Integrate the same look and feel (colors, layout, fonts, images, navigation, etc.) throughout your websites and different landing pages. This will allow visitors, no matter how or where they have entered your site, to quickly get their bearings by using the navigation menu.

Good Looking Sites Sell Better

Just as many people judge a book by its cover, the look and feel of your website is half the battle. Never underestimate the power of first impressions. Here are some of the basic look and feel elements that instill your visitor’s confidence in your green business.

• Main text is Arial or Times Roman fonts no bigger than 10 points.

• Text is set against a white background

• Familiar navigation structure of top bars and vertical menus on the left

• No sloppy graphics

• Plenty of white space (meaning it's not cramped with text from end to end)

• Natural earth tones/ green & blue color schemes

If you apply these style points above, you are ahead of 80% of the green websites online. We've evaluated hundreds of websites and asked panels which of the samples instilled the highest levels of trust. The samples that incorporate the elements above were consistently the highest-rated sites.

Structure Built Around the User:

One key aspect in designing a successful green website is having a fundamental understanding of the needs of your visitors, and reflecting them in the design and development of your website. Consider how the user may want to interact with the webpage, perhaps by selecting products or services that you offer or moving around the site using hyperlinks. Hence, you will want to use linked text and short descriptions, and organize links into related topic groups.

If the page contains large amounts of text, keep paragraphs short to aid online reading. Break the copy up into separate pages/sections as done on grenbuitlbusiness.com. Ensure that the text is legible by providing enough contrast between the background and foreground colors.

Rank the information you want to display in terms of how important it is. A visitor’s eyes will naturally navigate towards the center of the page, then up, and then to the left. Position the most important information in the middle of the page, next important across the top, with the least important or static information in the left margin.

Don't make users navigate through too many layers of the site to find the information they want. Provide prominent navigation aids so the user can quickly find the information they need. A standard navigation bar that is in the same place on every page enables the user to move quickly through the site.

Use hypertext to provide links that will enable the user to move easily around the site. They should also be able to return easily to the higher sections of the site. A hypertext table of contents allows the user to pick the exact topic that they want to view. In addition your site should be set up so a user can get to any section of the site in three clicks or less.

Create copy that sells, not just informs

Divide your site, and each page in your site into roughly three main sections: opening, setup, and punch line.

• Your opening begins with the home page. It should immediately grab your visitor’s attention. Make it short, concise and speak directly about the benefits the site offers.

• The setup is the detailed description of green products and solutions you are selling.

• The punch line is the sales action page—your order form or “contact us” form.

Here is a simple test to see if you've written copy that sells instead of just informing. Finish writing a page. Ask three other people (it can be your friend, postman or whoever) if they can answer the question, "What next?" If they answer this question with anything other than your intended call to action, you need to re-work the copy. If you leave your visitor without knowing what to do next, you've written to inform, not to sell.

You have probably heard the old sales adage of "always be closing." Or maybe "Don't be afraid to ask for sales." On the Web, you should apply the same principle—with a twist. You should always ask visitors to act. It can be as simple as a “Click Here" button. A well built website will direct their visitors to keep on clicking until the sale is closed.

The same concept applies for your online advertising landing pages. Although for landing pages the opening and setup may be combined with the action item such as an order or contact us form taking up most of the real estate. Visitors that are directed to landing pages tend to have already completed one action – clicking on an advertisement or finding your site through a search engine. Leading them to the action item immediately (one or two clicks) is essential for the success of your online advertising strategies.

The Sales Pitch: This is usually on the Home Page or Landing Page.
Studies show you have 8 to 15 seconds of time during the first screen view of your website to capture your prospective buyer to stay on your site. So right from the start, you need to build trust with a professional design and effective web copy that will get the visitor’s attention, and maintain it until the close.

When working on your sales pitch copy, here are a few questions to consider:

• Why is your green product so good?

• Why does the visitor need your green product?

• What can your green product do for the visitor, the environment, etc.?

Once you have their attention, you have to keep it with riveting copy that keeps them reading until you have convinced them they cannot live without your green product. If you sell multiple green products, then your copy must work harder to get the visitor to stay and browse through additional products you have to offer.

Using Testimonials to Sell: Customer testimonials carry tremendous weight and should be used as sales tools. The key in maximizing the value of the testimonials is making them verifiable. Testimonials should include a real name, city, and, if you can, the email address of the person who made the statement. Most people won't verify it, but knowing that they can is quite important in making your testimonial credible.

Quantity counts… The more favorable testimonials you have, the better.

The mistake most green websites make is that they hide all these great testimonials in some subsection of their About Us page. Testimonials should either be the very first thing people see when they come to your Websites, or incorporated on every page on your site.

Have a goal of obtaining a testimonial about your green business’ level of service or positive effect on a community and the environment.

Detailed information on green products and services you sell

No matter if you setup an ecommerce or catalogue site, think of your green website as a printed catalog, but on the web. The web pages that display the products must do their work too. The product descriptions must be appetizing and anticipate and answer as many questions about the product as may arise in the customer's mind. The product photos must be clear and attractive with thumbnail size for fast loading taking up little space plus click-throughs for larger photo versions so the customer can see details. Some sites use sophisticated scripting to allow the customer to rotate the product with their mouse so they can see all sides. Give the customer as much information about the product as possible. This builds confidence in the customer that this is the product they want or need. Left with too many questions about the product a customer is unlikely to contact you with questions. Some do, but most go onto the next website hoping to get their questions answered.

Clear and trustworthy conversation points/customer check-out/conversion process

Give Them a Reason to Leave Their Contact Information

If you close the sale on the first visit, that’s great. However, most people won’t buy on their first visit. They are likely to delay their buying decision for whatever reason and are likely to shop around. At the same time, some of our research shows that most people limit their comparisons to three sites. The theory goes that three is the point of diminishing returns in terms of time spent to find a bargain. So, assuming that your pricing and features are about the same, why should a prospect return to your site versus the other ones? What can you do to increase your chances against your competitors?

Here are some things that have worked well other online business professionals.

• Do everything you can to collect visitors' contact information, especially their email addresses and obtain permission to send them email. To do that, you need to offer something compelling. What's in it for them? You can give them access to premium content. If you are selling something, you are a subject expert in at least one area that the visitor will find valuable. You can write an unbiased guide that is related to what you are selling that buyers may find useful, similar to our series of White Papers.

• Less time-consuming tactics may be simply offering to send special discount coupons or a subscription to the monthly newsletter, which contains tips and special offers. Whatever it is, give visitors some incentive to give you their email address. That way, you have a chance to contact the prospect via email, which costs you next to nothing. Even if they leave your site, you still have a link to them through email, while your competitor is sitting passively waiting for them to come back.

These same concepts can be geared towards your online advertising landing pages, especially if its goal is lead generation.

Trust Sells and Selling Trust

What a secret! Gain the trust of your visitors and you have the sale. We've read research paper after research paper that point out the #1 inhibitor of the growth of online sales is the concern for privacy and legitimacy of the Websites operators. The thought is we can't see you so how can we be sure that you are who you say you are?

Customer Check-out Process
For most Ecommerce Websites, a shopping cart is essential. It allows the customer to buy more that one item at a time, change the number of each items they are buying, let them see what their total charges will be, and encourages them to keep shopping. It allows the website owner to add/show the shipping costs and show discounts or rebates. Shopping cart run from some that are relatively simple and free, like the one that PayPal offers, to extremely complex ones that will automatically compute discounts and /or shipping charges to a specific zip code.

The checking-out process of the shopping cart is where the customer pays for the items they have purchased. Normally they enter their billing address, shipping address, and credit card information. As with shopping carts in general, the check-out process can be simple or sophisticated. The higher end shopping cart check-out processes will automatically charge the customer's credit card in real-time, send them a confirmation email, and even keep track of inventory for you.

Of course there will be additional sections and pages that you will want to offer on your Ecommerce Website. You may have some products where it would be advisable to place some of the drier, more technical specifications on another linked page, in order to not take the sales momentum off the products main page. Other pages may be Shipping Information, Merchandise Return Policies, General Policies, Customer Service, and Contact Information.

If an Ecommerce website with a shopping cart if appropriate for you business, expect to spend a great deal of time, thought, and planning on how it is executed and put the various pieces together. It is a complicated business, but if set up correctly will get product sales coming your way like clockwork. Another principle you should apply early on in the planning stage is to test how many clicks it takes for a visitor to get to the sales action stage of the site. No matter what the entry page is, the rule of thumb is that it should take no more than three clicks for a visitor to reach this stage. This may not always hold true, but if you start exceeding four clicks, you should reconsider the organization of your pages.

Privacy Policies

According to an Internet Day article, "64% of online orders are abandoned before completion.” People’s concern for protecting their private information is the key inhibitor to taking action on your Websites and landing pages. You can ease their concerns by integrating BOTH a clear and well-advertised privacy policy and Opt-In information.

If you don't have one already, you should develop a clear and succinct privacy statement. If you need help developing a privacy statement, check out http://www.privacy.org. Then make the privacy statement prominent on your Websites and landing pages so that visitors are aware of it at all times. It should be on the bottom of every page. Every place that asks for personal information should have a prominent link to your privacy policy with a few key points highlighted. You can't expect to generate sales online without acknowledging and easing your visitors' privacy concerns. Many sites do a poor job of communicating their privacy policies and that can give you an edge over your competitors.

Monetization

We will go into details on this in the separate monetization section, but the most successful green businesses understand that online success comes from creating multiple revenue streams from their website, not just the sale of their core product or services. Websites that integrate monetization strategies including, but not limited too online advertising and email list building achieve an accelerated rate of profitability.

Integrated, Interactive Marketing, Planning & Implementation:

Interactive Marketing means using digital technologies to help sell your green product or services. This includes everything from simply building a website to advertising on others’ websites. These technologies are a valuable complement to most traditional marketing tactics, and can be even more cost efficient depending on the size of your green business.

The basics of an interactive marketing plan remain the same - creating a strategy to deliver the right messages to the right people. What has changed is the number of options you have. Many green businesses are producing great results with Interactive Marketing, and its flexible and cost-effective nature makes it particularly suitable for most small businesses, especially those attempting to build an online business.

Specific benefits of Interactive Marketing include:

• Global reach - a website can reach anyone in the world who has Internet access. This allows you to find new markets and compete globally for only a small investment.

• Lower cost - a properly planned and effectively targeted Interactive Marketing campaign can reach the right customers at a much lower cost than traditional marketing tactics.

• Trackable, measurable results - marketing by email or banner advertising makes it easier to establish how effective your campaign has been. You can obtain detailed information about customers' responses to your advertising.

• 24-hour marketing - with a website your customers can find out about your products even if your office is closed.

• Personalization - if your customer database is linked to your website, then whenever someone visits the site, you can greet them with targeted offers. The more they buy from you, the more you can refine your customer profile and market effectively to them.

• One-to-one marketing - Interactive Marketing lets you reach people who want to know about your green products and services instantly. For example, many people take mobile phones and PDAs wherever they go. Combine this with the personalised aspect of Interactive Marketing, and you can create very powerful, targeted campaigns.

• More interesting campaigns - Interactive Marketing lets you create interactive campaigns using music, graphics and videos. You could send your customers a game or a quiz – whatever you think will interest them.

• Better conversion rate - if you have a website, then your customers are only ever a few clicks away from completing a purchase. Unlike other media which require people to get up and make a phone call, post a letter or go to a shop, Interactive Marketing is seamless.

Together, all of these aspects of Interactive Marketing have the potential to add up to more sales.

Some of the most popular and commonly used Interactive Marketing Tactics among green business include, but are not limited to the following:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

• Online Advertising

• E-Mail Marketing

• Lead Generation

• Newsletter Sponsorships

• Social Marketing

• Affiliate Marketing

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Increasingly customers are searching online to find green products and services they require. As a result, Green Search Engines such as including Green Maven, Greener, GreenGamma, LiveGreenOrDie, GreenLinkCentral, EcoEarth, EcoSeeker and Earthle among others have been created. Statistics show that over 80% of web users access websites via search engines rather than the web address. When a user types a keyword, phrase or URL into a search engine, two kinds of results are returned - those that have been paid for by advertisers (sponsored results), and those that are natural search results (organic listings).

Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a specialized technique that involves analyzing site architecture, index able content, meta data etc. Enhancing the website so that the site is ranked highly in the search returns for given keywords. Search Engine Visibility is one of the keys to online success. Search queries bring interested users directly to a website or service. However, the vast majority of those using search engines will not go beyond the first page of results. The higher you rank in a search engine's index, the more visible you will be. This means more visitors, who can be turned into customers.

The following steps will help you turn your green website into one that works well with search engines.

1. Identify Targeted / Attainable Keywords: Target descriptive search terms in your campaign. You are far more likely to gain first page rankings for 'Organic Shropshire Apples' than you would targeting the generic term 'Apples'. There are many of keyword tracking tools available including Wordtracker, WordStream etc.

2. It’s not just finding high traffic terms to target; the key is identifying keywords that are attainable in an SEO campaign. For example, it’s easer to gain rankings for a term that has 10K searches per month than it would be for a term that receives 10M searches. Go after the low hanging fruit rather than spin your wheels on targeting traffic that may never come.

3. Keyword Placement: Place keywords on your pages - generally the higher in the page, the better. Put keywords in the Meta Tags of the Page HTML including Title and Description Tags. Keywords should also be used as part of sentences, but avoid 'keyword stuffing' - the practice of using keywords indiscriminately.

4. Simplify Page Layout: Complex layouts don't work well with search engine crawlers. If it's easy for a human to read, it'll be easy for a search engine to work with. Search Engine Friendly web sites limit the use of FLASH and image based text.

5. Initate a Link Building Campaign: Find good quality, relevant links from other sites that are in a related field. You can increase the quality of incoming links by offering services and useful applications related to your site subject.

Avoid attempts to manipulate search engine indexes

It's important to avoid certain activities often referred to as 'black-hat' search engine optimization techniques. The best way to avoid this is to remember that websites are for visitors rather than for search engines. Things to avoid include:

1. Websites that automatically redirect visitors to pages

2. Hidden text on pages

3. Doorway Pages or Hidden Pages

4. Pages with nothing but keywords and links to other websites

5. Content intended only for search engines

6. Links from websites that replicate content belonging to other sites

For help with building a search engine friendly web site or to find out more about Search Engine Optimization visit Incite Interactive Media online.

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

What is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising?

PPC advertising is easy and effective way for green online businesses to drive web traffic and generate sales. Also known as “Auction Based Media” or “Sponsored Listings” PPC is a platform on which web marketers bid angst other marketers for specific keywords. The higher you bid on a term the higher you will show up in the search results of sites like Google, Yahoo, MSN etc.

When you have conducted searches on search engines like Google, Yahoo, or MSN, you may have noticed small shaded text ads at the top and right hand side of the page. The text ads are from companies that are interested in grabbing the attention of search engine users at the exact moment they are searching for the products and services the company offers.

The great thing about PPC advertising is that advertisers only pay when a user views and clicks on the ad. The price of the ad depends on how competitive the keyword is - or, in other words, how many companies are bidding on the keyword and the price those companies are willing to pay for a click. This is a boiled down version of how PPC advertising works, as there are several factors that go into determining the order in which the ads appear.

It is important to note that PPC Advertising can be expensive and as PPC continues to grow over the next few years, it will get more expensive as advertisers drive the bid rates up on each other. Always consider PPC campaigns as a complement to your organic SEO campaigns to manage cost and maximize exposure. While PPC traffic is more immediate, over 70% of all Internet traffic originates from the “Organic” space of the search engines.

How will PPC help a Green Business?

With PPC, a Green Business can accomplish the following:

• Connect with potential customers at the exact moment they are looking for the green products and services you provide

• Pay for your advertising only when an interested customer has visited your green websites/landing page by viewing and clicking on your ad

• Target customers in a specific geographic location

• Turn advertising on and off at any time based on your budget or available inventory

• Update your ads at any time to promote upcoming promotions or new green products

• Easily test which ads produce the best results

10 steps to launching a successful PPC program for a Green Business

So, you’ve heard all about the wonders of PPC Advertising and how it could transform your green business. You’ve thought, “That all sounds wonderful, but how do I actually do it?” Look no further. The following 10 step guide will help you get started and give you plenty of advice on how to launch and manage a successful PPC advertising program.

Step 1: Learn as much about PPC Advertising as possible…

Education is the key to success, so the first step is to tap into the dearth of information about PPC Advertising. Learn as much about the major search engine’s platforms as possible: (all should be daughter windows)

• Google: adwords.google.com

• Yahoo: searchmarketing.yahoo.com

• MSN: advertising.msn.com/microsoft-adcenter

Each search engine will walk you through how to sign up for an account and launching a program:

• Google has a great Help section, so be sure to read every word of their AdWords Resource Center at https://adwords.google.com/support

• Read industry sites such as www.searchenginewatch.com and http://www.clickz.com/experts/search/strat/ to get a sense for what’s going on in the industry and to find tips on how to manage your own campaign

Step 2: Research what your competitors are doing:

If you’re looking for inspiration for your own PPC Advertising campaign, look no further than your competitors and other in the green industry. Go to Google, Yahoo and MSN and conduct searches on several keyword terms and phrases relevant to your business. Take a look at the companies that are listed in the Sponsored Listings at the top and right hand side of the page. Pay special attention to the following:

• Do they use keywords in their ad titles?

• What do their text ads say?

• How highly are your key competitors’ ads listed?

• What do their websites look like? Are they using individual landing pages for their campaigns?

Note: Make sure you don’t click on your competitors’ ads. They’ll have to pay for your clicks. Pay them a professional courtesy by right clicking on the ad headline and selecting Copy Link. Paste the link in your web browser. This will take you to their landing page.

Step 3: Identify your target audience carefully:

The single biggest mistake that companies large and small, across all industries make is not clearly defining their target market. Whatever your target, make sure it’s well defined and you understand their nuances.

How do you define your target market? If you’re an established green business, take a close look at your current customers. What is their profile? What motivates them to purchase? If you’re just starting out and don’t have a customer base to fall back on, consider what type of consumer is likely to buy your products or services. If the answer is “everyone,” you need to reevaluate your business. It’s a rare occurrence that a new business, let alone an established business, succeeds without a clearly defined target customer.

Why all of this talk about target markets? Because without an understanding of who you’re marketing to, how will you ever understand how they will be searching for your products? The likelihood of how you think potential customers will search for your products/services aligning with how they actually search is slim to none. If you have intricate knowledge of your customers’ search behavior, it will be much easier to develop a successful list of keywords for your PPC campaign.

Step 4: Define your advertising goals:

Without a specific goal in mind, how will you know your campaign is successful? It seems like a no-brainer, but far too many companies launch PPC campaigns without a clear definition of their advertising goals. Before you launch your campaign, you should be able to answer the following questions:

• What are you trying to get people to do once they visit your site? Make a purchase? Submit a form? Call you?

• How much are you willing to pay for a sale/lead?

• What must your return on investment be in order for your campaign to be a success?

Write the answers to these questions down and continually refer to them as you evaluate your campaign. If you’re not meeting these goals, something needs to change. Ultimately, PPC Advertising, like all direct response marketing, should be a self funding proposition.

Step 5: Keyword Development:

Develop a powerful list of keywords that are most important to your green business. Think of keywords as a customer’s gateway to your business. They may not know you exist, but they do know they’re looking for what you sell. Developing a list of powerful keywords that a customer might use to find your business will help guide customers to your website’s front door.

Be exhaustive when you’re developing your keyword list. Don’t use extremely generic, one word terms. They aren’t targeted enough and you’ll waste your money on clicks from “browsers” not “shoppers.” For example, if you sell organic fruits and vegetables, don’t simply bid on the term, “organic food.” Bid on the terms with multiple words. These search phrases will drive better traffic and convert higher than generic terms.

Google’s and Yahoo’s keyword suggestion tools should be your first stop when developing your list. These tools provide suggestions based on terms you’re interested in or terms that appear on your website. Google allows you to enter your website address and then suggests keywords based on your site content. Yahoo will give you estimates for how often your keywords have been searched for in the last month.

• Google Keyword Tool: http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool

• Yahoo! Keyword Tool: www.inventory.overture.com

The key takeaway here is that your initial keyword list should be exhaustive. Don’t settle on a handful of terms. It’s better to start your campaign with hundreds of terms so that you can see which terms work the best. Over time, you’ll be able to hone in on the terms that are generating the best results and get rid of those that aren’t performing well.

Step 6: Write ads to get the right customers to convert!

Writing PPC text ads is as much science as it is art. Increasing your Click Through Rates (CTR) a mere 1% could have a major impact on your sales, so think long and hard about how you’re going to utilize the 35 characters Google and Yahoo! provide to communicate your message.

For optimal results, you should follow four basic rules when writing your PPC text ads:

1. Use Keywords in your ad titles

2. Have a strong “Call To Action”

3. Use concise, powerful language

4. Test more than one ad

Google, Yahoo! and MSN allow you to dynamically insert the keywords a search engine user searches for into your ad title. For example, if your user searches for “green cleaning solution,” your ad will automatically include those terms in the title. Studies have shown that inserting keywords in ad titles helps increase click through rates.

Like any direct marketing creative, your PPC text ads should have a compelling call to action. You have 35 characters to convince customers to click, so provide customers an incentive to click. If you’re offering free shipping, make sure you say it in your ads. If everything on your site is 50% off, say it in your ads. If you have a 100% user satisfaction rating in eBay, say it in your ads!

All too often, green businesses using PPC write one ad for all of their keywords. Google allows you to automatically rotate several text ads to see which one works the best. Google will begin displaying the ad that is receiving the most clicks more often than the ads that are receiving a lower click rate. This process is known as optimization.

Step 7: Optimize your website to convert visitors…

Arguably the most important piece to a successful PPC campaign is a great landing page. The landing page is a separate entity from your website. The page focuses on the exact green product/service for which the customer searched and its sole purpose is to get people to convert. Without a great landing page, it will be difficult to maximize your PPC campaign’s success.

There are six things to consider when developing a landing page for your PPC campaign:

1. DO NOT send PPC visitors to your home page!

2. Create a landing page specific to your PPC ad

3. Have a strong call to action above the fold of your landing page

4. Have multiple conversion points throughout your landing page

5. Delete all unnecessary navigation

6. Keep it simple

Step 8: Track Your PPC Conversions

To avoid wasting money, before you ever launch a PPC campaign, make sure that you’ve implemented Google’s and Yahoo’s conversion tracking on your website or landing pages. Both tools are free and it requires very little technical knowledge. If you’re uncomfortable implementing conversion tracking yourself, find a web designer friend or hire a web designer such as Incite Interactive that will help you do it.

To learn more about Google’s conversion tracking tool, visit their Help Center at https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=86.

Why should you track conversions? Without a clear conversion metric against which to measure success you’ll never know if your money is being spent effectively. What’s more, conversion tracking will help you optimize around your keywords’ performance. You’ll have a solid understanding of the keywords that are generating the most conversions and those terms that are lagging behind.

So, what should you track? That’s easy. You should track whatever you consider to be a conversion. Are you trying to generate leads via a form submission? Track the number of search visitors that submit the form. Are you selling items online? Track the number of search visitors that make a purchase. Are you trying to generate calls to your sales line? Use a service such as Who’s Calling to generate tracking 800 numbers for your Pay Per Click campaign.

Step 9: Test, Test and Test some more!

The wonderful thing about Pay Per Click advertising is that you can easily test the performance of various creative executions. At the bare minimum, you should run multiple text ads to see what works best. Try different variations of your ad title, display URL and ad copy.

You should also try to create multiple landing pages for each keyword group to see which one converts the best. Try different images, headlines and body copy. Test the colors of the “order now” or “click here” buttons. If you’re trying to get people to submit a form, test the fields that you include to see which form generates the most submissions.

At the end of the day, testing will make you more intelligent about what makes Pay Per Click visitors convert and allow you to make your money go further.

Step 10: If it all seems overwhelming, hire a firm to do it for you…

It’s true; there is a lot to learn about Pay-Per-Click Advertising. While the tools are there for you to try it out yourself, PPC can quickly become a full time job. However, there are professionals that know the search engine marketing space much better than you and have the technology and experience to help your PPC campaigns deliver better results. Companies such as Incite Interactive Media that will manage and optimize your PPC campaign for you. Outsourcing your PPC Advertising campaign will also save you valuable time so you can maintain focus on running and growing your business.

Online Advertising

What is Online Advertising?

Online Advertising is the process of embedding banner, rich media and text advertisements into a specific website or a series of selected websites with links back to your website or landing page.

Online Advertising:
      • Can be demographically and geographically targeted
      • Comes in static and animated forms in a variety of sizes
      • May also include flash and/or streaming audio/video
      • Are used to generate targeted sales and leads and/or build brand awareness

When done correctly online advertising campaigns can have extensive reach and powerful connections with target markets.

Three Reasons Why You Need Online Advertising

1. Online Advertising is an effective way to connect with all types of potential customers. Over 70% of the US population uses the Internet. 92% of those users are utilizing it to shop and gain information on products and services, but studies suggest that only 5% of their time online is spent on search engines. This means that 95% of their time is spent on actual websites where advertisers like you can connect with them via Online Advertising.
   In 2007, Online Advertising

   1. Produced an 11% lift in dollars spent during in-store conversions

   2. Increased page views on advertisers websites by 37%

2. If your competition is not using online advertising, they will be soon.

3. Online ads works as a great compliment to tactics you may already have in place. In terms of direct response, one of the most popular tactics is search engine marketing. Studies suggest that when online advertising was added to a search engine marketing program, the overall marketing plan:

   1. Generated an 83% lift in dollars spent in later in store conversions

   2. Increased incremental in-store revenue by 90% (as opposed to 43% with search only campaigns)

   3. Positively influenced converting 43% more online researchers to in store purchasers
      
      

Online advertising can also help other brand building marketing tactics succeed. A 2007 study reports that when television alone indexes at 100 for brand awareness, and is then supported by an online advertising program, brand awareness increases to 138.

E-Mail Marketing

What is Email Marketing?

Any type of communication conducted with customers or prospects via email can be considered email marketing. Specifically, email marketing focuses on:

• Sending direct promotional emails to try to acquire new customers or persuade existing customers to buy again

• Sending emails designed to encourage customer action, build & maintain loyalty and enhance the customer relationship

• Placing your marketing messages or advertisements in an email sent by other people, known as list rental

Promoting your products or services by e-mail can be a powerful and flexible form of direct marketing. You can communicate your messages quickly and cheaply. You can also tailor your message to specific types of customer more cost-effectively than with paper-based marketing.

However, you should plan your email marketing with care to make it relevant and interesting to recipients. You also need to be aware that you must always obtain their consent before sending them marketing emails.

Why Email Mail Marketing Works & Why It Should Be Part of Your Media Mix

Email marketing is generally one of the most cost effective forms of communication. It lets you deliver your message to a targeted group (unlike a website, where people have to come to your message). When done correctly, email marketing has proven results.

Email works because it:

• Is driven by data collected from interested individuals

• Allows marketers to target based on many data point

• Drives direct sales

• Builds relationships, loyalty and trust with customers

• Supports sales through other channels when integrated into a marketing plan

Why should Email Marketing be part of your media mix?

Simply put, Email Marketing generates high returns on investment. For every $1 spent, it produces on average a $50+ ROI. Compared to other forms of media such as print catalogs ($1 / $7.20) and non email internet marketing ($1 / $21.08), the value of Email Marketing is evident.

Lead Generation

What is Lead Generation?

More than just "permission", consumers explicitly request YOUR marketing message (no one else’s) and give you their personal info in order to receive it. Unlike Pay-Per-Click (PPC) service, with Lead Generation you’re only charged for the leads you receive!

By the Numbers: Lead Generation & PPC

Why Lead Generation

1. You can build a targeted database of prospective clients

2. Unlike PPC, you are paying for a leads, not clicks.

3. Target ONLY those consumers who are interested in your brand.

4. Connect with prospects in some of the most expensive PPC verticals including

5. Choose the data points you require. (first & last name, email, address, city, state, zip, phone, date/time, IP address) custom criteria also possible

6. Select the target audience that best fits your business goals (vertical, gender, age, geographic location).

7. Select the number of leads to maintain your budget

8. Each lead is put through a validation process to assure its quality.

HOW IT WORKS:

Newsletter Sponsorships:

What Are Newsletters?

Newsletter (also called e-zine) is a periodical publication sent via email to subscribers. They contain articles about one main subject, written for a specific group of people with a common interest, who have requested to receive the information. Newsletters are frequently used by businesses to promote a product or service. Although not strictly a sales pitch, newsletters do strive to turn prospects into customers and customers into repeat customers.

What Are Newsletter Sponsorships?

Newsletter sponsorship opportunities usually involve being the sole advertiser in a given issue. With a newsletter sponsorship, it's a requirement that the newsletter be focused tightly on your target market. For example, if your product is a green cleaning solution, you'd want to sponsor a newsletter that's exclusively about environmentally friendly cleaning products. But if your product is so specialized that there are no newsletters available, ads can be placed in parallel newsletters. For example, green cleaning solution sponsorship would work in any type of green or environment related newsletters. Readers of these newsletters would be interested in the product. The secret is targeting.

Why You Should Use Newsletter Sponsorships

With a newsletter sponsorship you can reach quality prospects already interested in your product or service. Sponsorship impact in a newsletter tends to be higher than for websites. Once a subscriber to the newsletter has opened the message and is scanning or reading it, the sponsorship is typically more visible to the reader than on a website. Avoidance of clutter increases the connection with the target, and not only generates leads and sales, but reinforces your brand.

How To Setup A Newsletter Sponsorship:

STEP 1: Research your target audience before you write your ad. Know who you are talking to and what they want.
STEP 2: Write a short descriptive advertisement that explains what your company is all about. Include important information like your company name, your logo and your company slogan. The ad is usually presented in banner form so make sure it is eye-catching so the reader notices your advertisement.
STEP 3: Create a hyperlink to your website so that Newsletter readers can find your products and services. Lead them from the Newsletter to your business.
STEP 4: Make sure your ad is informative. Describe your product or service and how your company can benefit the reader.
STEP 5: Offer something free in the first sentence to catch the reader's attention. You can offer advice or information on how to do something. Then get to the point of your ad; tell the reader what your company stands for before you lose their interest. Provide a link or address to obtain the free item.
STEP 6: Use clear language. Keep the advertisement short yet enticing. Try to be unique so you catch the reader's attention.

Social Marketing

What is Social Marketing?

Social network marketing is an advertising method that makes use of social network service and to increase their web presence. This ranges from simply advertising directly on social networking sites, viral marketing that spreads throughout the web, email, and word of mouth, or providing niche social networking sites focused around the item being advertised. Many sites include features where companies can create profiles. For example, on Facebook companies can create "pages" where users can become fans of this company, product, service, individual, etc. Many companies create MySpace pages for themselves. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_marketing)

Five Reasons Why Social Marketing is a MUST for a Green Online Business:

1. Social marketing gets you the information you need. Social marketing is a popular and effective way of getting vital information that is essential to the success of your green business. Social networking directories such as Netscape and Digg are increasingly gaining favor as an option for people across the globe to keep in touch with the latest happenings in their area of interest, including the green movement.

2. Social marketing is an easy and affordable way of connecting with, directing & keeping traffic of your most desirable prospects. Unlike conventional marketing, social marketing does not involve a huge marketing team or a prohibitive budget. As an example, consider how little time it takes to create a blog or a social network profile. All that is needed is a steady stream of interesting, relevant posts is a reliable way to sustain blog interest.

3. Social marketing helps you develop a relationship with your customers. Developing interactive relationships with customers is crucial to the success of any green business. Before the advent of social marketing, most online businesses had no dependable way of reaching out to customers either to prove their qualifications or to perform market research. Social networks and blogs created interactivity, and gives online businesses the previously unavailable opportunity of earning customer’s trust and increasing the chances of repeat sales.

4. Social Marketing is about the quality of traffic, not the quantity. If your green website’s only profit center is the sale of your core product or service getting a mass of traffic to your site is irrelevant if nobody stays long enough to buy or download anything. Social marketing attracts pertinent traffic, gives potential buyers the opportunity to interact with the seller and voice their opinions. Perhaps even more importantly social networks will allows buyers to interact with a related community interested in green products, giving them the advantage of collective wisdom.

5. Search engines love Social Marketing. When you create a social profile or blog around keyword-rich topics you attract search engine robots which are always looking out for fresh, relevant and high-quality content.

Seven Social Networking Rules that ALL Online Green Businesses Should Follow:

If you are engaged in selling your green products or services online, there is plenty you can do with social networking sites to promote your green business. However, the possibilities are accompanied by inevitable pitfalls. Here are a few things to keep in mind in order to raise your effectiveness when using social networking sites.

1. One Site or Many: While large corporation implement strategies to maintain their presence on several social networking sites, it can take up considerable amount of time and resources. This is especially true for smaller business. It's far more effective to spend extra time and energy maintaining high profile on one, well-chosen site rather than spend time trying to update numerous profiles.

2. Look Who’s Talking: Check out a few social networking sites. If there is already an existing group talking about and discussing you’re your business or related green topics, you may want to put your energy into building your presence on this site before venturing on to other networks.

3. Prepare your Site Completely before promoting it: First impressions matter. Make sure your site is prepared to accept all the traffic a social network might send to it. Review our information on website design and web monetization

4. Invite your supporters to be your first friends: Visit blogs and other social networking sites and sift out your supporters. Send them each an e-mail and ask them to become your friend. Better to start off with definite supporters and build a staunch and loyal following before leaving yourself vulnerable to unknown, untested users.

5. Post your most Viral Content: Social networks are most effective when content is being disseminated amongst the readers. Update your site regularly with new content reflecting new issues that you are working with. Giving your visitors something new and interesting to read everyday is a good way of keeping them loyal.

6. Test the Waters: Use your social networking page to test out innovative ideas that people may want to be associated with. Putting out questionnaires and inviting feedback to your ideas are the best ways to get a feel of the market.

7. Direct users to your organizational Web site: While making new friends and communicating with them on social networks is great, the key to marketing success is to get your new friends onto our organizational e-mail list so you can move from passive to direct communication with them.

Putting easy, prominent links on your networking profile will help you convert your friends into email list members. Keeping track of who comes into your system can help you tailor and personalize your messages.

In addition to the most common social networks (facebook, myspace, twitter, etc), here is a list of ten that focus on green movement and markets:

(all links should be daughter windows, probably linking to our page on these network)

• www.carbonrally.com
• www.worldcooler.org
• www.zerofootprint.net
• www.bigcarrot.com
• www.makemesustainable.com
• www.care2.com
• www.celsias.com
• www.2people.org
• www.change.org
• www.begreenow.com

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts.

The Affiliate Marketing industry has four core players at its heart: the Merchant, the Network, the Publisher and the Consumer. The market has grown sufficiently in complexity to warrant a secondary tier of players, including Affiliate Management Agencies, Super-Affiliates and Specialized Third Parties vendors.

Affiliate marketing overlaps with other Internet marketing methods to some degree, because affiliates often use regular advertising methods. Those methods include organic search engine optimization, paid search engine marketing, e-mail marketing, and in some sense display advertising. On the other hand, affiliates sometimes use less orthodox techniques, such as publishing reviews of products or services offered by a partner.

Affiliate marketing—using one website to drive traffic to another—is a form of online marketing, which is frequently overlooked by advertisers. While search engines, e-mail, and website syndication capture much of the attention of online retailers, affiliate marketing carries a much lower profile. Still, affiliates continue to play a significant role in e-retailers' marketing strategies. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affiliate_marketing)

Website Monetization

Monetization is the process in which specific strategies our integrated into a green website resulting in accelerated profitability.

Combined with a clean design, user-friendly functionality, effective SEO, interactive marketing tactics, the goal of monetization is to turn a green website into a money making machine.

How is this achieved? By developing multiple profit centers.

• Profit Center 1: Your business’ core green product and services

• Profit Center 2: Online Ad Space

• Profit Center 3: Co-Registration

• Profit Center 4: Email Lists & Newsletter lists

• Profit Center 5: Affiliate Marketing

By having multiple Profit Centers you will be creating passive revenue streams. This means your site can profit from users who may not even convert on your core product/service

What is Online Advertising?

Online advertising is the process in which for a significant fee, you allow advertisers to embed banner, rich media and text-link advertisements into specific sections of your website.

Marketers utilize the tactic because online advertising:

• Can be demographically and geographically targeted

• Comes in static and animated forms in a variety of sizes

• May also include flash and/or streaming audio/video

• Are used to generate targeted sales and leads and/or build brand awareness

When done correctly online advertising campaigns can have extensive reach and powerful connections with target markets.

Three Reasons Why You Need Online Advertising

1. A clean design with relevant banner ads makes your website more credible: Every website has a purpose. No matter if the goal is sell a product, promote a service, provide content or build up registrations, if a user does not deem a website credible it will not achieve its goals. Numerous studies suggest that almost 50% of potential web conversations are lost on websites that fail to build credibility with visitors.
   
   In addition to a professional look, proper functionality, and relevant information, a joint study by Harvard and UC Berkley reports that websites with professionally designed, relevant advertisements will be deemed legitimate, credible and trustworthy by its visitors

2. Increase the user experience: Your website visitors are willing to read ads if they are looking for something and the ad helps them reach their goal. Ads are desirable if helps a user in some way - choose the right product, stay in touch with something or introduced to something new. The key is to integrate best practices through targeting, transparency, and creative quality.
   
   Online ads positively affect the user experience and works best for advertisers and host websites when ads clearly:

   • Indicate what will happen when a user clicks on them

   • Relates to the host site and to what users are doing online

   • Identify themselves as advertisements

   • Presents information about what is being advertising, and additional information without having to leave the page

3. Revenue, Revenue, and more Revenue: With over 70% of the US population online, and over 90% using the web to shop and gain information on products and services, advertisers must implement strategies to connect with these potential customers. Studies suggest that while search engines are used, 95% of time spent on the web are on actual websites. In order to connect with the potential customers Marketers must utilize Online Advertising in their strategies. This is fantastic news for websites as Online Advertising is anticipated to increase 14.4% across all industries in 2008.

Co-Registration/Lead Generation

Co-registration
A negotiated arrangement in which companies collecting registration information from users (e-mail sign-up forms, shopping checkout process, etc.) include a separate box for users to check if they would also like to be added to a specific third-party opt-in.

Co-registration is the practice of collecting opt-ins for multiple organizations, and sometimes for types of products or services, on a website's registration page or on a paper subscription form. An individual provides registration information once, but then opts in (via checkboxes) to receive marketing communications from multiple companies.

What is Email Marketing?

Any type of communication conducted with customers or prospects via email can be considered email marketing. Specifically, email marketing focuses on:

• Sending direct promotional emails to try to acquire new customers or persuade existing customers to buy again

• Sending emails designed to encourage customer action, build & maintain loyalty and enhance the customer relationship

• Being paid to send out an advertisement of another company to your email list on the other company’s behalf. This accepted practice is known as list rental

Why Email Marketing & List Rental Such A Popular Choice Among Advertisers

Advertisers are always looking for efficient ways to connect with new potential customers and email marketing is generally one of the most cost effective forms of communication. Email lets marketers deliver their message to a targeted group (unlike a website, where the people have to come to their message). When done correctly email marketing has proven track record. Marketers use email because it:

• Is driven by data collected from interested individuals

• Allows marketers to target based on many data points

• Drives direct sales

• Builds relationships, loyalty and trust with customers

• Supports sales through other channels when integrated into their marketing plan

Simply put, email marketing generates high ROIs. Every dollar spent on email marketing produces on average a $50+ ROI. Compared to other forms of media such as print catalogs ($1 / $7.20) and non-email internet marketing ($1 / $21.08), the value of email is evident, especially to marketers developing their communication plans.

How To Leverage the Need for Email Marketing To Turn A Profit As A Website Owner

If you properly drive traffic to your website, correctly register your users, and maintain your database, the cross marketing practice known as “list rental” could be a viable option. List rental is the process in which advertisers will pay you to send its messages to your list. As the list owner, you would be sending the message on the advertiser's behalf. For properly built lists, this practice is an acknowledged and accepted marketing tactic. With no cost, and with very little effort, many website owners have already taken advantage of the additional revenue that list rental can generate.

Proper Steps for Building A Valuable Email List...

• Consider All Touch Points: Use every point of contact with customers and prospects.

• Obtain Permission: Always obtain permission with the confirmed (double) optin method for online contacts. For offline contacts, update your database with when, where and how the contact was initiated. Confirm their permission in the first email.

• Required Information: Obtain email address, name, format preference and logical interests/preferences.

• Focus Equal Attention on Existing Lists: Implement strategies and incentives to transform inactive subscribers into active ones.

• Provide Valuable Benefits: Convince potential subscribers of the valuable benefits they’ll receive.

• Convey Trust: Clearly state your privacy/email policies.

Newsletters

By offering newsletter sponsorships you allow a sole advertiser the opportunity to sponsor any given issue of your newsletter. To maintain positive communication, the sponsorship should be tightly focused around the target receiving the newsletter. For example, if your newsletter focuses on HDTVs, then those sponsoring should be in the same arena. This does not mean that you can’t go outside of the HDTV world, but their should be a natural connection, between the ads and the and the content of your newsletter such as home theatres or entertainment rooms.

2 Reasons Why You Should Offer Newsletter Sponsorships

First, by offering a newsletter sponsorships you are bringing your subscribers a product or service that they could potentially use. If the sponsorship is properly aligned with the newsletters, your reader will be grateful for the opportunity to learn about the offering. This reinforces a positive connection between your newsletter and your readers.

Second, newsletter sponsorships create a new line of revenue for your business. By offering newsletter sponsorship you will no longer after to rely primarily on the natural sales pitch within the newsletter to create revenue.

How To Assure A Sponsorship Fits Your Newsletter...

• Step 1: Research product offering to confirm that it matches the content of your newsletter.

• Step 2: Review the provided advertisement to assure that it explains what the offer is all about and that it includes important information like the company name, logo and slogan. The ad is usually presented in banner form so make sure it is eyecatching so the reader notices it, but not intrusive on the newsletter.

• Step 3: Assure the quality of the site in which the advertisement will link too. If the website or landing page is unprofessional, it could reflect poorly on your newsletter.

• Step 4: Make sure the ad is informative and clearly describes the benefits of product or service.

• Step 5: Determine a profitable pricing model based on the size of your list, how frequently it is sent out, and the demand for sponsorship.