New media pundits are fond of pointing out how consumers would much rather get product info from peers than marketers. And on the surface, it makes sense.

But in reality, it’s not working out so well: according to a survey by ChoiceStream, nearly 6 out of 10 Internet users are not happy with the product recommendations they receive from fellow consumers at e-commerce sites.

One solution: establish yourself as an expert in your field, so visitors to your web site will trust YOUR recommendations even if reviews from fellow consumers are suspect.

Make sense?

Word-of-mouth marketing has always been more powerful than paid advertising, simply because people believe their friends more than they believe advertisers.

Social networking multiplies your ability to share your opinion about a product exponentially.

According to a study by Jupiter Research, online social network users are 3X more likely to trust their peers’ opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions.

People talk about products on social networks. The social networking site myYearbook found that 81% of survey respondents said they had received advice from friends and followers related to a product purchase through a social site.

Of those who received advice, 74% found it to be influential in their purchase decision.

It would seem that marketers who can successfully integrate social media with traditional marketing would wipe the floor with the rest of us, don’t you agree?

An article in BtoB (1/18/10, p. 21) says, “Given the plethora of webinars these days, it isn’t altogether surprising that some companies report a decline in attendee registration.”

I love webinars as an offer, especially in e-mail marketing. But can BtoB magazine be right? Is the market becoming oversaturated with webinars, just as some people say it is already oversaturated with white papers?

And if so, what offers can we use in BtoB lead generation in lieu of webinars and white papers? What other offers are in your bag of tricks for B2B lead gen?

Every guru says that content is the key to effective online marketing.

So you write an article or two. Nothing happens. And you wrongly conclude that content marketing doesn’t work.

The problem is that marketing with content, deceptively simple on the surface, is a little more involved underneath.

You have to know a bunch of things like: what kind of articles to write … what length articles to write … when to publish them … where to post them … where NOT to post them … what key words to incorporate into your articles … recycling and repurposing content … marketing with press releases — and many other details that seem niggling but are vitally important.

The solution is to attend a 2-day teleseminar called “Content 2.0: The Missing Piece in the Internet Puzzle to Traffic, Leads, and Sales.”

In this event, you will learn the techniques and methods that can enable your content to generate more traffic, raise your search engine rankings, and direct a flood of new prospects to your site — all on a shoestring budget.

For more information on our upcoming “Content 2.0″ tele-seminar … or to register for just $19 … visit:

www.blyteleseminar.com/content2

You always read the old rule “use serif type which is easier to read than sans serif.”

That may be true in print but it’s not online.

Reason: the lower resolution of the screen vs. print renders the serif imperfectly, making it less attractive and more difficult than sans serif to read.

With that in mind, here are the best typefaces for online marketing:

>> For e-mail marketing messages, use either 12-point Arial or Verdana.

>> Do not use Times Roman for web pages – it’s a serif type and difficult to read online.

>> Recommended typefaces for web sites include Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, and other popular san serif fonts.

>> If your web pages are too light to read on screen or when printed, use a boldface font like Helvetica Bold Condensed.

>> The most common error in web page design is using too small a type size. Use at least 12-point type. Even 16-point won’t look awkward, and larger is easier to read than smaller.

>> For web page headlines, use Impact or Arial Bold in 2 or more point sizes larger than the body copy.

>> Avoid gray or colors other than black for headlines, except if you want to emphasize a word or short phrase within the headline, put it in red.

>> Georgia is a good font for subheads. Bold Times Roman can work for copy subheads in a pinch. As can bold Arial.

A lot of people who claim to be rich and successful – and I say “claim” because we don’t know for a fact that they are — act as if it’s all them … and that luck had nothing to do with it.

But the fact is, there are 6 specific factors that contribute to anyone’s success or lack thereof – and luck is clearly one of them:

#1—Intelligence.

Some people are just smarter than others.

Intelligence is a result of genetics and environment – your upbringing.

Since heredity and the home you are born into are purely by chance, intelligence is largely a matter of luck.

By the way, by “smart” I don’t mean “book smart.”

I mean smart at anything that can make money – whether it’s business, art, computers, or whatever.

#2—Knowledge.

Successful people are students for life.

They are constantly acquiring specific knowledge in their business or field — as well as a large storehouse of knowledge on all sorts of other topics.

As a rule, the more you learn, the more you earn.

#3—Effort.

The cliché about working smarter, not harder, is B.S.

Successful people work both smarter — and harder — than others.

#4—Attitude.

Successful people have an attitude. But it’s not an attitude of ripping people off … or making as much money as they can any way they can.

It’s an attitude of service: of giving their customers (and others) more value than they have any right to expect.

Many successful people are also goal-oriented, and it is important to them to become successful. So they focus their efforts on achievement of that goal.

#5—Aptitude.

We tend to be good at things we like and have an aptitude for.

Financially successful people just happen to have an aptitude and talent for things that make money.

Warren Buffett has said that the reason for his great wealth is that he was born with aptitudes and talents for which our society offers huge financial rewards.

Some of us are good at stuff, but not stuff that pays well. And if we pursue those interests exclusively, our incomes can be limited as a result.

#6—Luck.

As you can see, the key success factors of intelligence (#1) and aptitudes (#5) are determined mainly by chance – and are largely beyond our control.

Yes, Warren Buffett studied finance, worked hard, and had the right attitude.

But he was also lucky, as is virtually every person who has achieved significant wealth, success, or accomplishment in life.

The honest ones admit this and are thankful.

Any rich or successful person who said luck had no part in his achievement is either in denial or unwilling to come clean.

Therefore, if you are successful, you should be humble, not arrogant and boastful.

After all, you were lucky. Right?

After 23 consecutive years of advertising during the Super Bowl, Pepsi has finally said: “Enough!”

The cost of running a TV commercial during the Super Bowl last year was $3 million for a 30-second spot.

Can you imagine watching your commercial run knowing that each second just cost you another $100,000?

According to an article in the Record (12/18/09), Pepsi plans to shift the ad dollars to a new marketing effort that’s mostly online.

Can you imagine what you could accomplish with a $3 million marketing budget for your Internet business … or even a $100,000 budget?

I predict we’re going to continue to see a shift of ad dollars away from TV and into Internet.

As for Pepsi, I think they made the right move — don’t you agree?

It’s a business revolution: marketing with free content instead of sales pitches.

Except this “revolution” has been going on for decades.

And here are some content marketing tricks I’ve found to be particularly effective:

1–Giving your free report an attractive or compelling title helps boost response rates when offering it as a premium.

Example: During the Clinton years, the American Spectator offered a special report “Inside the Clinton White House” as a free gift to new subscribers.

2–Since so many marketers offer free reports, you may stand out by offering free content in other media; e.g., audio CDs, videos, software, online tools.

Here’s a way to quickly and easily create an effective information premium: promote a paid teleconference to your list and record it. Then duplicate it on audio CD and offer that as a bonus.

If you charged $79 for the teleconference, you can legitimately say the CD has a value of $79.That’s important, because the higher the perceived value of the free bonus, the greater the demand.

3–If you use free special reports as information premiums, put a price in the upper right corner of the front cover of each report.

Then set up a reports page on your Web site where visitors can purchase the reports for that price.

That way, when you give them away as free bonuses and specify the value, you can legitimately say: “This report sells for $29 on our web site, but reply today and it’s yours free.”

4–Here’s a gimmick that works well: instead of using an 8 ½ by 11-inch page size, make your report digest size (5 ½ by 8 ½-inch page size).
Let’s say the report is tips about leadership. Print the title on the front cover in reverse – white letters on a black background – and call it “The Little Black Book of Leadership Secrets.”

Reason: Both “secrets” and “little black book” create an aura of importance and exclusivity that makes people want the booklet.

5–If you are creating the free booklet to build your image as a thought leader in your industry, consider publishing it as a small paperback book.

Then, when you offer it free in your marketing, you can position your company as “The Folks Who ‘Wrote the Book’” on Topic X.

6– I’ve found that anything having to do with making money works well as a free information bonus.

For instance, a newsletter published as part of its subscription an annual salary survey of the industry it covered. When we offered reprints of last year’s salary survey to new subscribers, orders for new subscriptions increased 25%.