Ok – here is a really good submission from Victoria of Hellopink.Ca .

She runs a unique service –> providing lawn cards ( special signs for special occasions ) that dress up a party, or landscape for special functions like Birthdays, Retirement , Graduation parties, etc…..Her site is new – ( she said only a few weeks old ) and is running into the proverbial sort of conundrum that most people face when spreading their wings into the online advertising and web promotional space.  

So check out their site for cool and unique party ideas  – and I have posted the full unedited ( sans personal contact info  ) she submitted, and my reply.  ( Yes, I know — with spelling errors..;-) 

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We are a start-up business (lawn card rentals — think flamingos on the
lawn) looking for marketing help. We’ve tried a few traditional avenues
that aren’t working. Web advertising is foreign to me. I read your Ezine
article (3 Tools…).

My partner, who is my brother in Toronto (I am in Chicago), and I have
full-time jobs and can’t afford to quit right now but that’s the goal when
we can generate enough sales.

Can you help us?

Thanks,
Victoria

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Hi Victoria –

Here are my initial thoughts:

1) You have no incoming links.  What are incoming links?  Other sites
from around the web that are linking to your site as a source for information
on anything related to your niche – ie – lawn ornaments, party accutrements/enhancements,
or any and all other * words and phrases * that someone would use to find a solution
related to the service you are providing.

Ie – if I live in Chicago – or Toronto – and I am searching for interesting and innovative
ways to liven up my house for a party – or novel party ideas – or whatever the logical
search progression would be for your target audience – clearly – you want to show up
at a very minimum for those topical phrases in the * natural * or * organic * search
engine listings.

If you aren’t now – you have to work to achieve that using onsite search engine
optimization  – ( ie – using your keyword phrases throughout the text in your site &
even more importantly – having incoming links for those phrases on your important
keywords from other sites  that would point to yours as an authority, or source
of info so that the search engines consider you to be a viable site for those terms,
hence – giving you better rankings for those terms.

( You have a very nice site – simple – elegant – and aesthetically pleasing – but
if you aren’t showing up in the engines – well – it’s not doing you much good )

As a side note – it looks like the site has only been live for a few months – it does
take a little bit of time to * rank * well – but links can be achieved immediately.

How?  Articles for one!  You said you found my site through an article you read
on a directory.  What about doing the same thing? 

5 Ways to liven up your party?

3 Simple, inexpensive decorative ideas guaranteed to make your party the talk of the town?

Etc……

This gives you incoming links – ( ie for more info on how you can……visit……..etc )

And market coverage.  Both things you are presently lacking.

2) PPC advertising –

Are you running PPC ads  – ( ie – google adwords/Yahoo/MSN ) for your markets? 

If not – why?  This gives you immediate placement in the engine results even if your
organic or natural results are slow to show up or improve.

Make a list of twenty phrases or keywords that you want to show up for – and do
manual  searches for each one – look at the competition – what are they advertising
for – how are they monetizing those ads?   Use the free  tools provided by google
yahoo et al to price your keywords and phrases and simply decide what your acceptable
expenditure  should be for each phrase.  Ie – if " lawn ornaments " is  a 25 cent keyword
to advertise for – and your average new customer spends 100 bucks with you upon
retaining your services for a party – ( I’m assuming that most of that is goign to be
profit as your * critters * are probably paid for and your fufillment expenses are
most likely limited to gas/time  to deliver, etc….) You could afford probably 300
clicks to break even – ( 300 clicks on your 25 cent advertisent =$75.00).

Of course – you should probably be converting a whole hell of alot better than 1 out
300 – and if you are not – you need to modify the * landing * page – or the page
that your potential customer lands on after clicking your ad until you do.

( If I were you I’d look for a conversion percentage of 2% as a baseline for profeciency
and shoot to double that with each modification to your ad campaign)

3) Very simply – use your existing customers as advertising vehicles – or marketing
partners.  Have them give you a list of people they know who have upcoming parties
and or events that would benefit from your ornaments and lawn critters!  Give them
a discount, enticement or * bribe * to help you market your services when they
hire  you.

4) Get better testimonials for your site – the ones you have are good – but improve their
profundity ( is that a word ?) on the site – get them in bolder more provocative fonts,
in color, sound and or video.

5) Use Video on your site to illustrate what a house properly adorned with your ornaments
looks like – the look on the face of a 6 year old who comes home to a birthday party with
his favorite characters all over the lawn – or basement – or whatever would be priceless.

( think Ed mcmahon publishers sweepstakes..:-)

How about a suprise party – the reactions of the guests, etc with the backdrop of your stuff
in the background.

For testimonials, videos and a whole source of free multi-media presentation –>

http://Splashcastmedia.com

Will allow you to quickly and easily aggregate a whole host of media files into a * show *
that will sell your services far better than the written word – and it will do it for free!

6) Submit your videos ( ie – from above ideas ) to places like Youtube/Vsocial etc….find
any and all sites that are relevant to your topic that accept video and submit there too! 
Find forums/blogs etc that cover your topic and link back to your site/ and or videos on
your page showing what a killer party could look like for those willing to think outside of the box.

7)  Write Press Releases and submit them to free directories ( paid releases are better, free are ok
though if you are on a budget )

They can’t be advertisments for your business – rather – make them topical to your marketplace –

ie –

* Toronto partygoes pinched by financial concerns………*

Toronto party planners are feeling the pinch of a slower local economy and are having to come up with new and innovative ways to make their special occasions stand out.  According to Victoria  of hellopink.com, a site and services that specializes in………………….Many party hosts are seeking affordable and interesting ways to host a killer party, while not breaking the bank…

Etc, Etc…

These work great – get good coverage online – will give you backlinks and site visitors and if done right – will give you  FREE LOCAL PRESS!  Which ultimately – for a biz like yours – is important as well ( offline )

9) I would identify your target offline audience – ie – who is your * perfect customer * – what do they look like, where to they live, what kind of parties do they have, neighborhoods, etc…..And do a simple postcard mailing campaign.  Big postcards – free offers/special offers –> directing them to a special
unique page on your site  to take advantage of the offer.

Plan them around popular upcoming holidays – ( halloween/thanksgiving/Christmas/new years )

And make holiday specific offers on the  page on your site.

This is cheap – has a low percentage of mailing return ( 5 % would be considered great ) but postcards are a great lead gen, low cost basis – and if done right – gives you brand awareness and new business all while maintaininig a positive cashflow for the effort.

( I have done large mailings that have had a 10-12 percent success rate – even though conventional wisdom will tell  you that 1-2 percent is the highest response you should expect.  Not True.

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And so much more.  Just think creatively and you will be succcesful.  I could think of 20 more simple ideas in 20 more minutes – but the above  – if you are so inclined should get you started!

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And yes – to answer your question – I do do fee based work obviously – I don’t know what sort of budget you have – but I’d be more than happy to take a look and see if  I’m able to help you  further.

Best..:-)

Ian

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Note:  I can’t post all of the questions submitted, purely from a time standpoint – as well as obviously not boring the hell out of everyone reading this – I will however try to answer all reasonable requests submitted via email for the foreseeable future.  ( even though they won’t appear here )I will try to post the questions that I think serve the largest group of readers with the most common problems most of us face when trying to launch a new or existing business, online or off.

PS –>  If you have something further, better or more impactful to add that I missed, or think would be more beneficial or appropriate for the question presented – please share it with us in the comments section below – or – just email it to me and I will post it as a follow up and  take full credit   Give you full credit and post a link to you/your site to say thanks..