The vast majority of businesses in the world today are seeing a sharp downturn in their profits.  Consumers are buying less, which means workers are often making less (or losing their jobs), which means they are buying less - you get the picture.

The one segment that seems to be thriving is Internet marketing.  Why?  According to some, it’s BECAUSE of the failing economy that businesses are looking towards the Internet as an alternative to higher priced television and other forms of advertising.

Last week was a big week for one market segment that has been hit hard by tough financial times: automotive.  With two major conferences, the Digital Dealer AAISP conference in Dallas and the JD Powers Conference in Las Vegas, most of the attention was placed on how to leverage the Internet as a smarter way to advertise.

Joe Turner, Executive Director of Marketing for TK Carsites, an Internet marketing and website design firm, said, “Car dealers are looking for a lifeline.  Times are beyond tough and they need a way cut costs without making sales worse than they already are.  They are looking to the Internet to replace much of their traditional advertising.”
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update : We got an email from Uprinting and they asked us to up free business cards count. It went from 250 to 1000. Serious jump. So now we are giving away 250 business cards each to 4 readers. Some cool folks!

Alright guys its time for a contest. We don’t even remember the last time we held one and it sure as heck is due. Although we are calling it a contest its not really a contest where you really have to sweat it out, we like to make things easy for our readers and visitors. This contest will let you in on some really cool business cards that you can get for free, courtesy of our friends at Uprinting. I personally recommend their business cards printing services and when you can get it for free, you just can’t go wrong.

We are giving away 1000 business cards to four winners ( actually Uprinting offered more than that but we are keeping some for ourselves, we like free stuff too ). The winners can choose any of their stocks, including the eco-friendly cover stock (13 pt. Cover Uncoated - Recycled) or the the 14 pt. family in Matte, AQ, or UV at any custom size they offer such as square cards, odd sizes like 3×3, 2×2. Overall a great deal considering business cards are a must have.

Alright enough of the rambling, lets get to the contest details. Well its simple….just tell us what we can do to make Marketinghackz more appealing to you guys. Design, articles, posting frequency, more articles on social media and Internet marketing? Give us some suggestions, suggestions that will make us think and compel us to implement. All in all, just give us some of your valuable opinion and suggestions on how we can make marketinghackz even better than what it already is.

This contest will end on Tuesday, October 14th. We will announce four winners based on their suggestions. All winners will be contacted through email so please leave a valid email address while commenting.

Now that they have upped the ante we are going to give 250 cards to each of the 4 winners so go ahead and shoot some suggestions our way.

First : 250 Free Business Cards
Second : 250 Free Business Cards
Third : 250 Free Business Cards
Fourth : 250 Free Business Cards

Well there it is. Go ahead let the comments roll and secure yourself some business cards for free.And finally, we would like to thank Uprinting for giving us this opportunity to give away business cards to our readers.

Viral marketing in the simplest words means the marketing strategy which encourages e-mail recipients to pass along messages to others in order to generate added exposure. This can be a great way to attract traffic to your website and expand business dimensions. This form of marketing has existed in the society for a very long time and still holds a strong position. Anything from telling a friend about a new product that you liked to e-mailing a couple of colleagues regarding a free e-book or service could be called viral marketing. But for the users of today’s generation need to be sold things in a different way and must be tackled in a unique manner. Here’s a few tips and tricks for marketing virally which are sure to get you silver if not golden results:-

1. Give out a FREE service or product: People remember when they hear or see anything available for free. This is especially true in the case of websites. If you have a website, offer your customers a free gift like an e-book. It doesn’t take long for people to pass on a word regarding the same then. This can be an excellent way to do viral marketing.
2. Scalability and How-to Spread the Word: In the not so virtual (real) life, it is impossible to get people to do something. This mammoth of a task is actually easier in the virtual life as you just need to request your customers to send a chain e-mail or leave a signature on your website. Your daily downloads can hit amazing numbers which you probably wouldn’t have ever thought of.
3. The “Cool” Rules: Everyone who is well connected with people is aware of the “cool” or the “in” factor. Tight jeans might be “in”, so the chances and the opportunity for you to exploit as a businessman increase as well. You can with the help of sites like digg, reddit, Slashdot, etc., promote your website and products. Get hold of people who like the stuff you do and just ask them to “digg” your story or simply pass on a word to others. Use keywords which can drive traffic. Be patient as things like these require time and become successful after a lot of efforts. How will you get the chicken, if you don’t wait for the egg to get warm.
4. Make use of Web 2.0 tools: Websites like Twitter can be of great help in unimaginable ways. All you need to do it just post what you’re doing currently. If you have a strong following on Twitter, you can get great traffic and more in just one day. This is viral marketing at its best.
5. Bookmarks and link-backs: Use link backs on websites which have already been established and get good traffic. Apart from this make sure you use social bookmarking websites like del.icio.us. Save bookmarks to your website and blogs using keywords which help in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Its your turn to share some tips with us.

A pay per click company can help your business by controlling the cost of marketing and investment return of your strategy for marketing. A pay per click agency can help you with attracting potential customers to your business at the precise moment in which they are looking for the service or product you are offering. A pay per click company can assist you in targeting your customers on a broad basis or to a specific demographic or geographic location in any language. You choose how much you want to pay. You will be able to keep up with your statistics and make the necessary adjustments to your active campaigns. The company you select should offer you the most comprehensive and controlled method of reporting all forms of currently available marketing.

Just designing and building a website and publishing it on the world wide web does not ensure that customers will be able to locate your website. There are millions upon millions of websites currently active on the Internet in all different languages all around the world, and they are all in competition for high website traffic and customers. An experienced pay per click company with a knowledgeable marketing team can help you build the best marketing strategy for your website that will bring the customers you seek to your business.
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My girlfriend pointed out a great commercial a few minutes ago, and thanks to the wonders of the Internet - I am posting it for you!

Other than being pretty entertaining - this commercial does something that is rare to see. It speaks to you emotionally. Sure the features are cool. It’s got a pop-up navi and a 40 gig hard drive, but the end line is really the killer. I’d buy one if I was looking for a new car..

Enjoy..

There was a point when marketers were trying to create videos for pretty much everything hoping it would go viral. Viral videos were quite popular for a while but lately it seems like it has gone downhill. Recently some blogs and sites are making use of images to get the word out. Although the sites I will be mentioning here aren’t of typical business nature they still give us an insight on how viral images can be created.

One of the ways viral images can be created is by using current trends and including that into your image. I came across a few images that were made using this trend. They used the popularity of Facebook combined with Football and Sarah Palin. As you can see these are the current trends. These blogs/sites used what is popular currently and used it to promote their site and or blogs. Please take a look at the links below,

Facebook and NFL

Sarah Palin’s Facebook Page

As you can see from these images both sites used what is current at the moment to boost their presence on the web. Videos were strong at one point to create a viral message and it still is to some point. But images are definitely taking the viral marketing to a different level through humor and other aspects of marketing. Although these images don’t market or promote anything in particular, they sure as heck help these sites and blogs get their name out there.

If you have links to any images that went viral please feel free to share with us through your comments.

Pay per click (PPC) is one of the most effective online advertising methods known to webmasters. It is very easy to set up, it brings in results immediately, and it costs very little to get started with a PPC campaign. However, pay per click management needs your time and attention and like any other method, pay per click has its own pluses and minuses. Let us take a look at them now.

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Couple weeks ago we published an article that showed some of the best creative ads out there. After going through all the emails and suggestions we received we knew we had to do it again. Today we bring you 20 creative advertisements that are simply amazing. They convey the message in best possible way without overdoing it. These are some of the most simple, creative and effective ads that will for sure grab your attention if you happen to see them somewhere. One more thing before we get started, don’t forget to let us know which one is your favorite through your comments.
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When I first came across Zimbio last month, i didn’t think much of it.  It looked like so many of the other “spam your blog” or “citizen (playing) journalist” websites out there — didn’t really take a second look.

That is, until last week.  Now I’m hooked.

Zimbio draws its strengths from many different marketing disciplines and combines it to form a smooth traffic and link generating machine if used properly.  That’s the key - it MUST be used properly to have a strong effect.
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A while ago we had compiled a post that contained 7 Sites Every Marketer Should Keep An Eye On. Once again, as promised we have compiled a list of another 7 sites that will help you make better marketing decisions. This time around we didn’t include our own blog since we know you have already subscribed to this one. Although there are only 7 sites listed we believe each site is extremely valuable when it comes to providing sales and marketing information and tips. If you have any that you would like to share with us please use the comment section to share links with us.
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