ADUTAINMENT: Advertising as Entertainment
JellyBasket.com - JELLY by the CASE or as a GIFT BASKET.

Viral Marketing: Internet Marketing Strategies
First of all, I realize that anything with "viral" in the name doesn't conjure up images of something you want close by, but there is a new type of Internet marketing known as "viral marketing" is worth investigating. Despite its unflattering appellation, it is an effective Internet collaboration marketing tool, and one that is important to understand if you want to expand your business.

Viral Videos: Lethally Effective Advertising Carriers
Are you one of those millions out there hooked on the viral video craze? This article describes the opportunities that viral videos offer to internet marketers.

Internet Marketing and Viral Marketing Techniques
It seems as if viral marketing is one of the most successful strategies that one can employ with Internet marketing. Viral marketing is an Internet marketing practice that employs referrals, recommendations, and reviews in order to quickly spread word about a product or service. Gmail, Utube, and various viral videos on the Internet have all been transmitted by the viral marketing technique. These online entrepreneurs have enjoyed immense success by employing the viral marketing technique. For more details visit to www.paylock-generator.com .Think about it as an exponential effort once launched its benefits and effects only get stronger.

Internet Marketing - How to Make your Online Advertising Business Produce Money on Internet Marketing
The success or failure of your Internet marketing business depends largely on the Internet users. If they are interested on the products and services that you are offering for sale, definitely you can expect hundreds to thousands of dollars in revenues from your online business. On the other hand, if they are just too lazy to hear what you want to say and what you are offering, better shut down your personal computer unit and find some other ways of earning money.

Viral Video Evolved - Startup LonelyBloggers.com Launches With Viral Marketing Case Study
LonelyBloggers.com is proud to announce a 7 episode, 40 minute viral video series called LBTV that can be watched in it's entirety on YouTube right now. Despite recent reports that a viral video now cost up to $250,000 to produce, LonelyBloggers was able to produce our viral video series with only a $5000 budget. Internet marketers need to understand the growing importance of adding video to your marketing mix as people flock to video sharing sites like YouTube. This means potentially free website traffic as a result, all the time presenting your brand in an exciting manner. Viral Marketing has to be considered as a key part of your future marketi...

How to Incorporate Viral Marketing Techniques to Your Internet Marketing Arsenal
Viral marketing is not the last disease found, nor a virus to your desktop

Using Viral Advergames For Worldwide Advertising and Marketing
Branded online games are being used more and more as an advertising medium by everyone from small businesses to big worldwide brands, but can branded games really help as part of your marketing efforts Branded online games (or Advergames as they are commonly known) can be one of the most effective viral marketing agents, if used correctly

Mortgage Marketing - Viral-Email, Referral Marketing Strategy
This is a devastatingly powerful way to extend your marketing reach. For this to work right you need a website that promotes your business.

MJM Internet Adds Internet Video Production to Enhance Dealership Websites With Tactical, Online Video Marketing
Automobile dealership website production firm, MJM Internet, has added Internet video products to enhance their clients' online marketing. Produced quickly, and at low cost MJMI internet video's feature online actors, and dealership personnel. They help bring car dealerships' online marketing to life using the site, sound and motion of video seemlessly added to their websites. Flexible and effective, integrated video should prove to give dealerships a competative advantage.

Free Web Advertising: Chat Room Marketing Secrets Of Internet Marketing Gurus Exposed
Have you ever been to a chat room?Have you ever posted a message?If yes, now you may learn some free web advertising secrets on how to market your products and services in chat rooms.Chat Room Marketing is the use of online chat rooms to promote your product or service.

Consorte Media Announces New Email Marketing and Video Advertising Solutions
New product offerings from leading Hispanic digital marketing company give publishers additional ways to monetize traffic and help advertisers connect with Hispanics online

Internet Advertising: Viral Ads
Viral ads are called so because they are sent through emails, from account to account, spreading like viruses. The negative connotation of the name is merely due to its dispensational nature and not necessarily to any potential ill-effect brought on by its presence or any possible disruptive intent of the Viral Ad?s designer.

Video Email And Its Impact On Internet Marketing
Email is a revolutionary means of communication facilitated by the advances in information technology. With the acceleration of e-commerce as a consequence of these same technological innovations, email is now a significant means of marketing products and services through the internet. Through email, myriad companies and businesses have a convenient means of reaching potential consumers. Through email, marketing copies get delivered directly to a person?s inbox; companies no longer had to wait for consumers to come across their ads in the internet.

Internet Marketing And Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is a unique tool designed to create so much buzz about the article itself that even the largest sites will want to publish it.

SIPA's 32nd Annual Conference Showcases Latest Internet Advertising Trends And Email Marketing Through Client Newsletters
The Specialized Information Publishers Association Will Feature Leadership Keynote Speakers (http://www.newsletters.org/Events/Annual/2008/index.htm), Jay Berkowitz, Josh Macht, Bob Bly, Chris Schroeder And Fredrick Marckini On June 1, 2008 In Washington, DC

Pricing Strategies in Marketing

Price is an often overlooked marketing strategy, as many tend to focus on promotions or advertising. Pricing strategies, however, can have a large impact on sales and (more importantly) profit. The price is what your customer pays and/or what the end consumer pays for a product or service. In the case of products not sold directly to the end user, pricing is often described as "wholesale" and "retail." When the distribution channel is long (such as when there is a manufacturer, broker/distributor, retailer, and end consumer), multiple mark-ups can occur between the wholesale and the retail price.

Your optimal pricing strategy will depend on more than your costs. Forces within your business environment such as your competitors, your suppliers, the availability of substitute products, and your customers come into play as well. Positioning (how you want to be perceived by your target audience) is also a consideration.

Pricing Strategies

There are a variety of pricing strategies in existence. Each strategy is used in a different set of circumstances. Some of the things to consider when choosing the best strategy for your situation are your costs; both short term and long term sales and profit goals; competitors' activities; and customer lifetime value. While there are others, a few of the more popular pricing strategies available to you are:

Cost plus mark-up. Here, you decide the profit you want to make before setting the price. Figure out your costs and your selling price is simply your costs plus your pre-determined profit number. This approach helps keep your profitability top-of-mind, but may also result in prices that are out-of-line with customer expectations and competitor pricing.

Competitive pricing. When competitive pricing, you look at the prices your competitors are charging and use those prices as a benchmark when pricing your own products. You and your competitors' positioning strategies will determine whether you price at par, slightly below, or slightly above the competition.

Price skimming. This technique is used when you offer a unique or scarce product with few or no substitutes. The price is set high, resulting in high margins for the seller. Buyers are those that are willing to pay the price because of the product's prestige and/or uniqueness. In the case of a scarce but necessary product, customers pay the price because they have no choice. Often, price skimming is a short-term strategy as competitors enter with their own products, bringing prices down. In the case of scarce products, either the need passes (salt during an ice storm, for example) or the shortage is temporary. Before considering this technique, be aware that if your customers feel you have taken advantage of them, you could be building "bad will" for your business.

Penetration pricing. This is the opposite of price skimming. Prices are set low in an effort to gain large market share. Because the penetration price does not cover costs, this is also a temporary strategy. For this strategy to be profitable, customers must be willing to pay your normal, higher price.

Loss leader. Here, you price one or more products below cost to attract customers. You hope that those customers will purchase other profitable products from you. This strategy is often implemented as part of a short-term promotion.

Close out. This is a tactical move to clear slow-moving or excess products out of inventory. You sell the inventory at a steep discount to avoid storing or discarding the product. End-of season merchandise, perishables that are about to expire, and prior software versions or book printings are examples of eligible closeout items.

Multiple unit pricing. Also called quantity discount. The customer gets a price break for purchasing multiple units or large quantities.

Membership or trade discounting. Here, some customers (those that you know are heavy or frequent purchasers) are given an elite status, which gives them the privilege of a price discount on their purchases. This elite status can be based on occupation, membership in an organization, subscription status, or some other criteria.

Variable pricing. With a variable pricing strategy, different customers pay different prices. Often, this strategy is used for project work. Each project has unique characteristics so is priced by the job. In other cases, the price is negotiated with each customer (cars are an example).

Versioning. This is offering the same product with different levels of functionality. Each level is priced differently and includes a different bundle of attributes. Software and Web hosting companies often use this pricing strategy. A trial or very basic version may be offered at low or no cost. Upgraded versions are available at higher costs.

Bundling. Here, several items are sold together at a price less than if they were purchased alone. By bundling a popular item with lesser-known products, you can increase your sales. Additionally, in the case of inventoried items, you may be able to avoid a closeout.

Impact of Internet on Pricing Strategies

Aside from making some pricing strategies more prevalent, the Web has also affected the importance of choosing correct pricing strategies, by allowing customers to be better informed and more vocal. In the case of consumer products, the purchaser can go to www.MySimon.com or another price comparison service and in seconds look at a side-by-side price comparison from several online retailers.

There are also numerous forums and discussion boards where members discuss their experience with providers. For example, your customer in Paris can complain or spread praise about you to a potential customer in St. Louis. This means the customer can not only make a better decision before purchasing, but can also better spread the word (both praise and complaints) after the purchase. For these reasons, the Web has made it more important that you remain competitively priced with your competition and maintain sensible pricing practices.

Combined, smart use of both the Internet and available pricing strategies can help boost your company's bottom line.

About the Author

Bobette Kyle draws upon 12+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, Marketing MBA, and online marketing research in her writing. Bobette is proprietor of the Web Site Marketing Plan Network -- http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com -- and author of the marketing plan and Web promotion book "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing For Small Budget Business": http://www.HowMuchForSpider.com