This Issue: Powerful Marketing Ideas for the New Internet Age

Last week I had lunch with a CEO who had just asked his Website team to re-optimize his company's site. "We've got to get more traffic to our site," he told me, "or else we're never going to sell more product."

Of course, he's right. To sell on the Internet, you need traffic. But getting traffic is a lot harder than it used to be, given the staggering number of companies doing business on the Internet. The greatest optimization in the world will probably land your company mid-pack in search results and when those visitors arrive, they better find something pretty unique, or they won't stick around for long.

So, what works better than optimization, pay-per-click and the other tactics that most people reach for to squeeze more income from a static site? Here are some that can make you dominant, not dominated, in Internet commerce.

Strategy One: Create a stand-alone Website for each of your enterprises. Let's say that you have a company that sells bar supplies. You could optimize your site around "bar supplies" - and get lousy search engine results anyway. (A sample Google search for that key term just netted me 11,400,000 hits that led me to a lot of similar-looking companies.) Or you could build a separate site for each of the categories of products that you sell, like tavern puzzles. (Those neat wrought-iron puzzles that tease the brain.) A search for "tavern puzzles" just took me right to a company called tavernpuzzle.com, which occupied first position in a list of more than a million sites. So I rest my case. Instead of trying to be all things to all people, be something unique to a special group of customers.

Strategy Two: Create a simple Website that supports just one goal. Do you want your visitors to place an order, to subscribe to an eNewsletter, or to sign up for a free software trial? Remember that goal, and don't pack in a lot of things that distract your visitor from it. To see an example of a company that does this well, visit Carbonite.com. This very simple Website's only goal is to convince visitors to sign up for a free software trial.

Strategy Three: Do micro-diagnostics on your Website. You need advanced diagnostics that tell you which pages your visitors are landing on, how long they remain there, which other pages in your site they click to - and whether all that activity supports your goal for the site. (See Strategy Two 2 above). If you don't have tech people in house who can amass that kind of data, consult with an outside vendor that specializes in advanced site analysis. Onereputable firm that can help is Keynote.

Strategy Four: Get sound market research behind your Internet efforts. Conduct a survey that asks your customers some simple questions. What were they looking for when they came to your site? How did your site enable, or discourage, that effort? Next, have a market research company conduct focus groups with pre-screened, experienced Internet buyers who test your site and tell you how well it is working. A company called Wilson Internet Resources offers some excellent free articles on the subject.

Strategy Five: Be among the first in your field to claim a spot on the Mobile Internet. It's coming - so why aren't you the first to be there? But there is a lot to learn first. You can't just shrink your Website and stick it on a phone. A recent article in PC World covers the basics.

The days when we all thought that the Internet had limitless growth potential are gone. As the space it offers gets more saturated, only the very smart will survive.

Michael Sexton is President of Trump University. To learn the latest strategies for Internet Marketing, enroll in Trump University's Marketing Mastery Program,taught by professor Donald Sexton, PhD. Classes are forming this week.

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My friend, Robert Kiyosaki, and I recently came out with a new book -- Why We Want You to Be Rich - and it's already a huge bestseller.

Some of the points we make in the book are sure getting a lot of attention.

We say the middle class is shrinking and America is becoming a two-class society. Soon, you will be either rich or poor. So in the book we offer readers a way to be rich.

People also have an entitlement mentality. Too many people assume that the government will take care of them. And our government has gone from the richest country in the world to the biggest debtor nation in history.

The solution is financial education in schools and individual responsibility. You can't sit back and wait for the government to take care of you. You have to take care of yourself. Learn to write a business plan, and be on the path to entrepreneurship.

We're giving a percentage of profits to support financial education and hope to raise half-a-million dollars in the first year. That's reason enough to buy the book. Find out Why We Want You to Be Rich. And then find out how to do it.

Donald J. Trump is chairman of Trump University. He shares his philosophy in many Trump University Courses, including The Marketing Mastery Program.Classes are forming now.

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Click on the Discussion tab on top of this page to join one of the many great conversationsin progress at Trump University. Don't miss out!

Powerhouse marketing strategies from Trump University's Marketing Mastery Program

When you start a new company, chances are you do not have the marketing budget of a Toyota or Procter & Gamble. How can you attract new customers?

It might surprise you to learn that you need to apply the same marketing principles usedToyota and P&G. Just like they do, you must target your market and position your product. The difference is that you need to be more creative and strategic about how you do those things.

Irecommend an approach called guerrilla marketing. It relies on the basic tenets of marketing, but is more tightly focused. Here's how to put it to work for you:

• Target a highly specific market. If you are starting a family restaurant, for example, focus your efforts on persuading families with small children to come to you. Find out where they get their information - on bulletin boards, radio stations, mailers - and utilize those communications channels. Perhaps you should sponsor a youth soccer team or create promotions with local childcare centers. The more closely you target your market, the better the return on investment from your advertising dollars.
• Position yourself distinctively in the marketplace. Positioning is how you differentiate yourself from your competition. If you are a family restaurant, for example, you can offer a large selection of "secret recipe" fruit drinks for kids. Or train your wait staff to sing "happy birthday" with special flair. The best positioning is defensible, meaning that it is so unique, your competitors will be reluctant to copy it.
• Brand your products strongly and consistently. Develop strong product names, memorable taglines ("The Smile Doctor," if you are a dentist), a distinctive product logo - and use all those elements consistently and often in your advertising.
• Provide guerrilla service. Recruit and train front-line people who are polite, courteous and enthusiastic. Be open for business during the hours when your target customers need you. Have a clean place of business. Provide extras, like fresh coffee in your lobby. Handle customer complaints and service needs promptly and cheerfully.
• Create guerrilla promotions. It takes more than pricing to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Use coupons, gift certificates, frequent-shopper discounts and other promotions that engage your consumers in the process of doing business with you. You'll be a standout - and standing out is what it takes to become a company of choice for your target customers.

In an upcoming post on this blog, I'll share do-or-die tactics for guerrilla advertising and marketing research. Please look for it soon.

Donald Sexton, PhD, is Trump University's professor of marketing and sales andinstructor for our Marketing Mastery Program. He is also Professor of Business at Columbia University and President of The Arrow Group, Ltd.,a leading marketing consulting group. Dr. Sexton is author of Trump University Marketing 101. Contact Dr. Sexton at marketing101@thearrowgroup.com.