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In this issue:
Marketing Article: Get New Customers Now for Pennies, that Traditional Marketing Methods Can’t Find
Marketing Article: Seven traits of happy and successful entrepreneurs

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If you’re in business - at any level - you will understand the constant quest for new customers. Whole departments exist, whose purpose in life is to lift the phone, write letters, make appointments and nail those sales.

Anyone who works in sales and marketing will know about the lonely hours spent on the phone and how the sidewalk eats your shoe leather. The hoops you have to jump through to get new sales can lead to frustration and even burnout. Worse still - every year, they raise the bar.

If you’re on a daily quest for fresh business - perhaps the idea of new customers and clients who track you down when they’re ready to buy - rather than you chipping away at their resistance with sweet talk and killer closing skills - sounds attractive to you.

Today – most businesses have a website. But the key question is “Does it attract new business - or is it just an expensive, must-have, online brochure ?”

I will now briefly describe, within the limits of this short article, how to make your website work harder in conjunction with a very specific internet marketing medium – to produce qualified new leads for your business. By ‘qualified’ I mean they will either be proactively looking for information on your product or service – or they will be ready to buy.

The medium is called ‘Google Adwords’. And anyone who has already tried it, may have discovered it’s possible to burn money and get poor results using this mode of advertising.

But don’t let that put you off. As with most things in life - there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it – and the right way sure pulls in new business.

If you’re unfamiliar with Google Adwords . . . I will outline the basic mechanics of how it works.

Google is an internet search facility that allows anyone with a web connection to find products, services and information triggered by typing in relevant keywords.

So – for example – if you want to take a vacation in Spain – entering the words ‘vacation’ and ‘Spain’ should bring up a host of websites with some relevance to Spain and/or vacations. Doing that right now, in the UK , I get 9,010,000 results in 0.28 of a second. Pretty powerful stuff!

However, if your business sells products or services relating to Spanish vacations, it’s very unlikely that anyone will ever see your website by virtue of this kind of search, unless you appear on the first page of those search results.

Why ? . . . because nobody, but nobody, looks any further than the first page – or very occasionally, the second page.

If your business is down there on page 3 (or lower) – you won’t be seen – it’s as simple as that.

Google decide who is top and who is bottom of the list using a set of complex algorithms, which they change from time to time. It’s their secret – and far beyond the wit of us ordinary mortals to figure it all out.

But help is at hand. Google Adwords is the solution to pushing your message up onto the first page where it can be seen.

To the right of page one of most Google search results, you will find brief adverts containing links. If you want to view the advertiser’s full message, clicking on a link will cause the following two things to happen:

1. You are taken directly to the advertisers website.
2. As you go – Google deducts a tiny payment from the advertiser’s account. (Hence the name, ‘Pay Per Click’)

It’s good to note the following points:

• Advertisers only pay when their link is clicked. So if people look at an ad but don’t click – the advertiser pays nothing.
• It’s important to understand that some keywords are more popular – and carry a greater cost to the advertiser.
• Ads only appear when certain search criteria are met. The advertiser can alter these criteria at will.

To give you a flavor - here are some examples of Google Adwords campaigns I have worked on in the UK.

(Conversion Rates: £1 = US$1.77 = 1.46 Euros)

Example 1 - House of Mirrors
Website: www.houseofmirrors.co.uk

This excellent business specialises in restoring and supplying fine antique English 19th century mirrors. Their showroom is in fashionable Chelsea in London. They understand that you can't sell mirrors costing thousands of pounds over the internet - but your showroom can become visible all around the world, and attract enquiries that significantly boost future sales.

We set up an Adwords campaign on Google, so anyone searching for ‘antique mirrors’ would immediately see the ‘House of Mirrors’ website on the first page of their search.

This campaign produced good identifiable results - particularly from the USA, which was the proprietor’s intention.

Typical month's Google Adwords figures for House of Mirrors . . .

Total people searching = 17,125
Clicks for House of Mirrors = 794
Cost per click = £ 0.13
Monthly cost = £102.22

So each new person who came as a result of this campaign and registered an interest to look at the House of Mirrors website cost 13 pence.

Example 2 - Cranmore Cattery
Website: www.cranmorecattery.co.uk/

This is a small and delightful business set in the English countryside. They will lovingly look after your cat while you are away on vacation.

Although in need of new business, initially the proprietor was highly reluctant to do any internet marketing. However, since we set up a campaign for her, she’s had such a strong response, that she is now considering putting up her prices by 50%. A highpoint was when somebody's butler phoned to place two very aristocratic cats.

Typical month's Google Adwords figures for the Cranmore Cattery . . .

Total people searching = 7,139
Clicks for the Cranmore Cattery = 149
Cost per click = £ 0.04
Monthly cost = £ 5.96

For a monthly advertising cost of £5.96 the Cranmore Cattery achieved
149 potential customers who were interested in looking specifically at their business. Each lead cost an unbelievable 4 pence each. If you can find better results than that - I would like to hear about it !

Julie Ottey (the proprietor) said . . . "It was obviously worth our while, to link our web site to Google Adwords. It has created loads of new business, particularly new clients from London. Thanks for the advice.”

Example 3 - The Private Clinic
Website: www.theprivateclinic.co.uk

This is a much larger business in a more competitive market place than the previous two examples. As their website describes - this group of highly acclaimed London clinics deals with a range of illnesses and cosmetic surgical procedures. Clients will be asked to pay many thousands of pounds for the more demanding treatments.

A tightly focussed Google Adwords campaign was required here due to the high level of competition. This has been running continuously for many months and the clinic is delighted with the results they have been getting.

Typical month's Google Adwords figures for the Private Clinic . . .

Total people searching = 427,102
Clicks for the Private Clinic = 9,526
Cost per click = £ 0.24
Monthly cost = £ 2,286.84

As there are 15 clinics in the group – advertising costs amount to approximately £150 per clinic for the month. The number of new clients arriving as a result of this campaign, makes this an extremely cost effective method of producing new business.

So – bearing in mind that I’ve only scratched the surface - where do you go from here with all this ?

I buy a lot of marketing books. Some are good and some are truly awful. One I can hand-on-heart recommend – (because it’s where I picked up ALL my Google knowledge and strategy) - is Perry Marshall’s very comprehensive toolkit called ‘The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords’.

Your first step is to road test Perry’s tutoring skills by signing up to his free 5 day Google Adwords course at www.perrymarshall-adwords.com.

I want to stress that Google Adwords will work for your business whether you run a home for cats or a Fortune 500 company – it’s just the strategy and the keywords that may be different. Even if you’re already using Google Adwords, reading Perry Marshall’s book will put your strategy and results onto a whole different level.

When I started my marketing business I used only traditional methods to attract customers. I still use those methods. And I’m certainly not suggesting you abandon what you’re already doing.

But you can see how you can easily find additional hot prospects and boost your sales over the internet, for just pennies a lead.

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Byline for Simon Bailey :
Coming from a 30 year career at the sharp end of international finance – Simon Bailey has built a successful, UK-based marketing and communications business with clients over in Europe, Asia and the USA. Products and services promoted cover a wide spectrum of different market places. Simon can be contacted at simon@nicewords.com.

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Not all of us have the same experience of being an entrepreneur. For some, running a business is an extremely stressful process that's full of struggle (even when the profits are good!) For others it's hard work but, when it really comes down to it, a joy.

Why is this? A lot of it has to do with how you see the world – your beliefs and attitudes. It’s cliché, but true: your inner world reflects your outer world.

As a copywriter and journalist, I’ve interviewed my fair share of happy and successful entrepreneurs. And I’ve noticed they all seem to share certain traits. I’ve listed eight of the biggies below.

1. They think positively.
As you well know, entrepreneurs are consistently faced with obstacles. If you think negatively, you’re more likely to give up at the first sign of struggle. Because positive thinkers expect to find solutions, they are more patient and creative when it comes to problem solving. When you think positively, you can overcome the many challenges inevitably faced by every entrepreneur. And (even!) maintain a good attitude in the process.

2. They see the world as abundant and providing.
Those who succeed tend to see the world as abundant and providing rather than scarce and limited. If they lose money, for example, they know they can create it again. If a deal falls through, they believe a better one is coming soon. This kind of thinking cannot be willed, it comes from having a deeper faith in the way the world works. When you have this mentality, you have less fear…and more opportunities naturally open up for you.

3. They avoid complacency at all cost.
As a business owner, you don’t have the luxury to settle. You can’t just sit around passively, waiting for success to happen to you. Having your own business should always be about figuring out what you can do to grow - and doing those things. Complacency is growth’s enemy. It's also a passion killer. So make it a high priority to always be thinking ahead and moving forward.

4. They think big.
Successful entrepreneurs first picture their success on a big scale, then figure out how to get there. This is in contrast to what most people do: focus on their obstacles and lower their standards for success accordingly. Successful entrepreneurs rarely start off thinking, “I just want to make enough to quit my full-time job,” they think, “I want to be one of the biggest and best in my field.” The bigger your vision, the further you’ll push yourself to reach it. And your resultant success will be greater.

5. They are practical.
Yes, you should think big. But successful people are also realistic. They spend within their limits. They calculate their risks. They know when to let a sinking boat sink. The key is to find your personal balance between taking risks and maintaining a realistic assessment of future repercussions. If you exercise practicality and logic instead of merely writing off your logical side as a dream-killer, you'll stay in control of your course - and avoid getting in many counterproductive situations.

6. They are not put off by failure.
Unlike many people who give up easily, successful entrepreneurs simply aren’t that phased by failure. They know it’s an inevitable stumble on the road to success, and accept it as such. Instead of wasting their time beating themselves up over their mistakes and failures, they learn from them. Then they use this new knowledge to help them attain future successes.

7. They are persistent.
Because failure is an inevitable part of business, it takes the truly determined entrepreneur to keep at something until they get it right. Successful people are motivated by their visions, and they make the necessary sacrifices to make those visions realities. Such a pursuit requires great doses of patience, commitment and focus. It’s like they say: if you want something bad enough, you’ll figure out how to make it happen.

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Amy Sorkin Kurland is a freelance journalist and copywriter who helps businesses increase their profits by maximizing their marketing efforts. Her website is at http://www.amyswords.com.