DIVADIGEST: FEBRUARY '05, ISSUE 15

The race for obtaining return links on the internet is in full swing. In order to survive in today’s cyber-world, the ability to garner inbound links is critical. Webmasters are striving to outdo each other in a frenetic attempt to get the most links, and many are running out of creative ideas. Let’s take a look at a couple of simple steps to get your links to multiply.

 

Web Peppering with the Write Stuff

Unless you, or one of your staff, possess the talent – and the background – writing high-quality articles can be an almost insurmountable challenge. Yet, this is one of the best ways to advertise your services and capture inbound links that will turn your pitfalls into profits. If you don’t want to burden yourself with the “how-tos” of writing expertly presented material, the web writers at DivaDesign World are available to create innovate web content that will have visitors knocking down the electronic doors of your website. These masterful writers are rich in professional experience and are fully prepared to meet your visitors’ needs with attention-grabbing articles on any topic. A variety of insightful keyword-rich articles can be created to pepper the web on sites that will publish your articles for free. From there, return traffic will come your way in no time, since return links will be integrated into the articles.

 

For each article that’s published, links will be provided that direct readers to your website, and include customized keywords that capture and entice readers to visit your web site.

 

Once your articles hit the internet, you may find that your site is suddenly inundated by web traffic. This will simply be the result of webmasters – who are in a never-ending search for quality content – having read the articles that you or DivaDesign World’s web writers, have published on your behalf. Let’s face it, webmasters don’t have the time to create and maintain a website, in addition to attempting to create quality articles. Instead, they turn to those wordsmiths that are accomplished in their field. In many cases, there are virtually thousands of pages of web content that are needed to populate the various sites that these webmasters oversee. Each time a webmaster views an article that contains a link to your site, it will result in a return link. Within weeks, your articles could be distributed hundreds of times over, and the return links could achieve site traffic beyond your wildest imagination.

 

Automated Reciprocal Linking

Don’t waste money buying expensive software that’s designed to automate your reciprocal linking. Often these programs will get you into trouble with search engines like Google. Instead, garner your links through a customized, personal approach that no software can match. If you don’t have time to send hundreds of e-mails to webmasters consider hiring a firm like DivaDesignWorld. Such firms provide comprehensive linking and tracking services that best serve your interests in the area of reciprocal links. With all of your newfound free time, you’ll be able to turn your attention to those new clients that are surfing into your online business.

 

If you’re serious about becoming a leader in the field of internet business, contact DivaDesign World. We’ll be more than happy to discuss your needs and outline a plan that’s right for you.

 

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Tips for Tradeshow Success

As a consultant I’ve met numerous companies eager to jump on the tradeshow circuit. These ambitious entrepreneurs invest thousands of dollars in booth space, travel, and employee fees. They attend their first trade show, eagerly talk to every person that stops by their booth, leave feeling like stars, then go back to the office and wait for the phone to ring. After a month passes by with no new business, such companies declare tradeshows a waste of time.

 

It is true that, when done poorly, tradeshows are a complete waste of time and money. However, when done correctly, tradeshows offer untold marketing potential. Below are a few tips on how to improve the return on your tradeshow investment.

 


PreShow Marketing
While trade shows come with a built-in audience, it’s important to maximize your efforts by attracting as many qualified prospects as possible to your booth. Assign a member of your team to implement a targeted mailing campaign using flyers, postcards and/or direct mailers that invite current and potential clients. A one-time mailing will not suffice. For best results your mailer should go out several times. For example, one company sends mailers about 9 months, 6 monthss, 3 months, and two weeks before every show they participate in.

 

Mailers must be creative, captivating and consistent. If you don’t have a strong in-house marketing department, hire a professional firm like DivaDesignWorld to handle your preshow marketing campaign. In addition to design, the professional at DivaDesignWorld can help you identify suitable mailing lists.

 

In addition to a systematic direct mail campaign, your preshow marketing efforts should involve phone calls and email. For better turnout, we recommend that you personally invite key clients and prospects to your booth. Rather than asking them to ‘stop by’, schedule a booth appointment, and go prepared with a specific agenda.

 


Attract Attention
Short attention spans are the order of the day at a trade show as attendees drift down long aisles of display after display. At the show, you’ll only have 10 seconds to catch prospects attention. Your signs must be bold and clear, and your look must entice from a distance.

 

A professionally designed booth is highly recommended. At DivaDesignWorld our team considers many factors when designing a tradeshow booth, including graphic presentation, shipping weight, ease of assembly, durability, and client budget.

 


Make Your Booth Sell For You
Whatever your product or service, make your display as interactive as possible. If you’re selling a computer program, have laptops on hand and let visitors actually try out the application. If you sell cosmetic products, give out free samples. Show a DVD or PowerPoint slide show of your products or services and have the appropriate mix of business cards, flyers, brochures and catalogs on hand.

 

The marketing tools that you use, and how they are distributed, will depend on the nature of the show, target audience, and several other factors. For example, it is not wise to distribute high-end full color brochures to every person that stops by your booth. Such high-cost items should be reserved for qualified prospects*. On the other hand, low-cost one-color flyers are perfectly appropriate for unqualified booth traffic.

 

At DivaDesignWorld we design a variety of materials for our clients’ tradeshow participation, from budget flyers, to sophisticated presentation kits.

 

Beware of Giveaway Grabbers
The behaviour at tradeshows can be shocking. I recall a specific show where visitors ran around in a frenzy trying to scoop whatever they could get into their bulging plastic bags. The worst story I’ve heard is of a client who was giving away highly priced, gourmet cookies to visitors. He set a limit of two cookies per visitor. When he turned his back, one particular tradeshow attended swooped in, and swept the entire plate of cookies into her bag. Then, denied doing it! Of course such overt greed is more characteristic of public shows, then industry events. However, the lesson is the same – guard your giveaways, and use them wisely.

 

Don’t go broke catering to the giveaway grabbers. Keep your general giveaways extremely low-cost. Reserve the nicer giveaways for qualified leads who have provided your company with full contact information.

 

Pens, pencils, and magnets are often used for cheapie booth gifts. While these old standbys are always handy, think outside the box for more impactful giveaways. We know of a company that gave away free bottles of Heineken at a male dominated industry show. They generated huge amounts of traffic!

 


Staffing Your Booth
You can create a mind-blowing display, with clear, interactive product information, and the best promotional giveaways ever seen, but it will be meaningless if the people manning your booth lack customer service skills. Be sure to train your staff ahead of time on crucial topics like:
- how to qualify visitors
- the best way to approach and interact with visitors
- how to give an elevator pitch
- how to capture vital prospect information
- how to work as a team to maximize booth success
- what your specific goals are for the tradeshow

 

Follow-Up is Key
The most important part of your selling job comes after the show. It’s important to follow up on every promising contact and lead within a few days of the show. If you’re not sure what the best follow-up strategy would be, general consulting services from a firm like DivaDesignWorld can help you create the plan of action that will best capitalize on your trade show experience.


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Overcoming Office Politics

You’ve just landed a great new job and have hit the proverbial ground running. Somehow, in spite of your zeal, it’s not going quite as well as you’d planned. Instead of embracing your efforts and applauding your talents, your co-workers have drawn a definite line between your camp and theirs that you dare not cross. Regardless of what you do to breach the wall of rejection, you’re met with the harsh reality that you’re the Newbie and you just don’t belong.

 

After wracking your brain to try and understand how this could have happened, the memory of being well-received and in the loop at your last job leaves you mystified as to the reason for this puzzling new experience. You make a mental checklist of your skills and abilities, noting that you’ve established a firm reputation in the field, but to no avail. You’re losing the office politics game, and they’re beginning to eye you in much the same way as the members of the Senate did when they encountered Caesar on the steps one bright morning.

 

It wouldn’t be so bad if you hated what you were doing or if the schedule was all wrong. In reality, this may be the best job that you’ve ever had, and your hours are what dreams are made of. No, that’s not the problem at all.

 

The fact is, you’re suffering from the effects of one of the deadliest work-related illnesses of all time: office politics - with all of its underlying motives, emotional predators and treacherous atmosphere that’s ripe with gossip and backstabbing. It’s all too much, and you’re left feeling drained.

 

As a result, your performance has begun to waver, and those who would see you fall are ready to go in for the kill. What’s a Newbie to do?

 

Before you quit your job and book time on the therapist’s couch, try these tricks of the trade:

1. Choose an advisor, either within the company or from an external source. This individual should be willing and able to offer counsel and provide an ear when you need to sound off a bit. One of the main characteristics that you should look for is the ability to be objective, and they should be able to provide professional support, as well.


2. Keep your eyes open and take note of who seems to be performing well and enjoys good working relationships with others. The types of things that you should remain alert to are their language skills, level of confidence, general tone when verbalizing and their ability to be prepared to take on assigned tasks. Set them as your role model and give it some time.


3. Avoid the tendency to take on the attitude of “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. By joining others in their petty gossip sessions or backstabbing schemes, you’ll only be putting yourself on the level of the ones who are making you so miserable, which won’t solve the problem at all. In fact, you’ll only end up feeling worse in the long-run.


4. Take note of any differences that you may express in the way that you dress. How does it compare to the dress code of the others? Are you speaking on the same level? Make sure that your personal preferences don’t conflict with the company’s overall mission statement. If, for instance, you’re working for a company that has a vested interest in animal rights, don’t start talking about your upcoming hunting trip.


5. Do your best to gain favor from those who are in a position of power or who have gained a good reputation within the company. By being available for assistance, you may find that you’ve gained a network of supporters when you find that you’re in need.


6. Never act rashly. Take time to pause and give serious thought to what you’re going to say or do when confronted with a situation. This will not only help you to make better decisions regarding your actions, but will also help to build your reputation as being thoughtful and level-headed. For that matter, it isn’t written in stone that you must offer opinions at all. Silence is sometimes the best approach.


7. Keep in mind that when someone receives an e-mail, there are no gestures or tones of voice that they can reference when receiving your message. As a result, things are sometimes misconstrued. Be sure to carefully proofread your outgoing messages – not just for typos or grammar, but for statements that may be misperceived. Each message that contains your signature is going to receive some type of judgment by the recipient. In addition, be sure to respond quickly and thoughtfully when receiving messages from others.


8. Don’t be afraid to request that a manager with whom you’ve established a good working relationship pass along words of praise to your boss. Tidbits such as these – especially when put into writing – are worth a great deal when it comes time for a review, or simply to defend some claim that someone’s made against you.


9. Above and beyond anything else, keep your perspective and adopt a good sense of humor. Most people will respond well to this approach, and it can help you through some very difficult times at the workplace.

If you ever find yourself in a situation such as this, don’t turn and run. You may be leaving what turns out to be your dream job. Simply learn effective strategies for surviving what can, at first, be a harsh environment and, with a bit of practice, you’ll soon turn around the bad attitudes that are keeping you from enjoying what would, otherwise, be a great experience.



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Secrets to Winning Marketing Videos

A well produced video presentation can have a profound impact on your business, turning apathetic prospects into eager clients. Before you spend thousands of dollars on your blockbuster production, I suggest that you consider these ‘secrets to winning video’.



== A Super Script is Crucial ==

The script is the most crucial part of your video. A good script is fast-paced, attention grabbing, effectively communicates your central marketing message, and caters to a specific audience. Steer clear of lengthy harangues and wordy monologues. Writing a video script requires a professional. At DivaDesignWorld we have an extended team of wonderful writers members who are able to meet these needs.

 

A meticulously written script helps schematize the entire concept before actual shooting begins.

 

== Keep It Short & Sweet ==

The ideal length of a marketing video should remain under 10 minutes. Beyond this point, viewers begin to lose interest.

Preparing a shorter marketing video seems daunting at the outset but actually is not. You just need to set your priorities right and focus on what you really want to communicate. The greatest messages in the world are often uttered in just a few minutes, yet repeated for generations to come. If you need assistance crafting a succinct message, the pros at DivaDesignWorld can help.

 

== Select Speakers Carefully ==

Most people love to talk about their organizations and themselves. Remember, your marketing video is not a home video being made for your boss's mom -- it is being made for an audience that might be interested in buying your product or investing in your next IPO. Only cast people who can genuinely contribute toward making your marketing video effective.

 

It's good to have an anchor person and a few others who have something valuable to say. A person like the chairman or the CEO brings in a sense of authority and hence, should be given a minute or two of coverage. Leaders believe in action, not in delivering interminable speeches. While speaking in front of the camera, ‘performers’ should look and sound comfortable, lucid, confident and amiable. Every aspect of your video throws light on the overall image of your organization.

 

== Production Quality is Key ==

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, every aspect of your video throws light on the overall image of your organization. Unless you are experimenting with bohemian surrealism, the quality of your marketing video should be high, if not exceptional. Good camera equipment, right angles, correct focus and proper lighting can make a tremendous difference.

 

The last thing you want to show your target audience is a shabbily made marketing video. That's why it is vital that everything is planned before hand, every single shot is pre-conceived and well laid out, and only well-qualified professionals are commissioned to shoot and edit the video.

 

== Find Your Niche ==

Your marketing video should aim at targeting a particular segment of the market. If you try to address an overly diverse audience, you will end up addressing nobody in particular. Your effectiveness and purpose is lost when this happens.

 

Your marketing video should focus on a one specific audience, even if it means commissioning different videos for different market segments.

 

== When to Commission a Video ==

Before embarking upon a video marketing campaign, ask yourself a few questions. Does your organization really need a marketing video campaign? Commissioning a marketing video just because the other guy has one isn't wise. Get a marketing video only if your organization really has something to communicate through this medium. If you have no definite message to convey, it'll show in the video.

 

When looking for a production company, make sure they are fully qualified, well-versed with their skill, and have vast experience to deliver the right kind of video campaign to your organization. There are many quality production studios that can assist with this. As a full service agency, DivaDesignWorld can arrange these services on your behalf.


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