6 Reasons Why Your Business Need an Affiliate Program

On August 20, 2012 / Affiliate Programs, Uncategorized / Leave a comment

If you’re an entrepreneur, you are very likely on the lookout for low cost marketing ideas that work. An affiliate program is just such an idea, but many entrepreneurs don’t consider it because they believe it is too costly, or too difficult to set up and manage. Those entrepreneurs are for the most part wrong and here’s why:

It’s affordable marketing done for you. The best reason of all to implement an affiliate program is that it’s an inexpensive way to market your business. Think about it; anyone who signs up will want to promote your business to their tribe. This means low-cost advertising in social media, on websites, in newsletters, on blogs, in forums and anywhere else your affiliates can post links online.
If the affiliates are getting paid, it’s because you are getting paid. If you set up an affiliate program that pays an affiliate only when they refer a customer who buys a product, then it’s a win-win situation. You get paid, and only then will your affiliate earn his/her commission. If the affiliate doesn’t refer anyone who makes a purchase, then there is nothing for you to pay.
You are in control of the program. You have the ultimate say on how much your affiliates earn – the more generous you are, or the easier the program is to sell, the better your affiliates will do in selling your product or service. You control whether affiliates get paid every time someone clicks their affiliate link, or they get paid only when a sale is made. You control whether an affiliate gets paid a percentage of the sale, or a flat rate. You control when and how affiliates get paid – monthly, or after each sale, and whether there is a minimum amount they have to sell before they get paid.
It can increase your website traffic and boost sales. An affiliate program will enable you to extend your reach on the web. If you have enough affiliates marketing your program for you, traffic to your site should increase and along with increased traffic should come increased sales.
It can be extremely easy to implement. Depending on how easy your website is to work with, adding an affiliate program can be as simple as installing a plugin and adding a widget. Platforms such as WordPress make it extremely simple and often do not require technical skills other than very basic WordPress knowledge.
It can help you grow your tribe. Even if the increase in traffic for some reason doesn’t boost your sales, it can definitely increase the number of people signing up for your newsletter, e-zine, or opt-in list and as you likely know people on your list are more likely to buy your products.

An affiliate program is basically a done-for-you advertising campaign while your affiliates are your low-cost sales force. There are very few downsides. You stand to increase your income and so do your affiliates. What could be easier than that?

Marketing Visuals: You Really Do Need Them

On May 23, 2012 / Graphic Design, Uncategorized / Leave a comment

I had an odd experience the other day that prompted me to do a little research. I joined a group on Facebook and was reading the rules of the group which basically said that members were able to post links to their business’ Facebook pages and websites, but they were not to post photos and in fact, they were to erase the thumbnails that are automatically generated when you post links on Facebook. The reasoning for this according to the site’s admin, is that people would be less likely to click the link if there were photos there distracting them. Being a designer, you can rest assured, I couldn’t disagree more strongly with this assertion, which has absolutely no basis in fact.

Source: thewellnesswarrior.com.au via Sarah on Pinterest

To see just how wrong this view is one need only look at the latest social media craze, Pinterest. Pinterest is basically an online pin-board; you like an image and you pin it to your board (with credit to the author), which in turn means you’ve shared it with your followers. It’s a great way to share your interests, things that you find cool, or funny and/or your products if you are a business owner. If you haven’t heard what all of the fuss is about, then head over to Pinterest (after you’re finished reading this post of course!) and I dare you not to become addicted. That site alone is a perfect demonstration of the power of using effective good visuals. And, if I’m going to get very picky, I doubt Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg do anything for kicks; when they added automatic thumbnail creation, I’m fairly certain they had good reason for it.

Still not convinced? Fine, here are some hard facts: A study conducted by the Poynter Institute comparing the way that people read news in print and online found that:

Alternative story forms (including Q&As, timelines, lists and fact boxes) helped readers remember facts presented to them in a test of six different prototype designs of one story;
Alternative story forms also drew a higher amount of visual attention, compared to regular text in print;
Short text, especially with visual elements, is accessible and attractive to readers.

The Poynter Institute

When I design a website I know that certain things will be more visually appealing than others. What is 100% not visually appealing is a website that has a ton of text and no eye candy. People have short attention spans, especially when browsing the web. If they don’t find something visually appealing they are more likely to click away and leave the page, or the site altogether.

A good graphic can provide information quickly and easily and is usually more memorable than mountains of text. They can allow website visitors to see at a glance what your blog post, website, article, etc. is all about. It can grab the reader’s attention, reel them in and entice them to read your content. Without great graphics, the web would be a dreadfully boring, colourless place. Luckily for us, most people see the value fantastic graphics bring to their website and their social media profiles.

If you’d like to learn more about how great marketing visuals can help you keep your website visitors engaged, be sure to pick-up our free 5 day marketing visuals e-course.

Take Control of Your Website!

On May 15, 2012 / Uncategorized, Website Design, Wordpress / Leave a comment

Take control of your website with WordPress It wasn’t long ago that when an individual or a business purchased a website, they were at the mercy of their Web Designer or Web Master to make any kind of modifications to it. If that Designer wasn’t an employee, you were either extremely lucky to have a Designer that would respond to your requests quickly, or you had one that took weeks to make even the smallest changes to your site. Back then, if you were in the latter situation, your choices were to either find a new designer, or sit and wait until the changes were made. Today, if you are in such a predicament, there is a third option: Have your site re-designed using the WordPress platform and manage it yourself.

This is not a joke, you can actually manage your website yourself, and by that I mean, that you can change pictures, add text and even add entire pages to your own website and you won’t need to learn any new technical skills to do it. WordPress is an extremely user friendly software that enables even those without the technical knowledge to set a PVR timer to add content to their website.

Back in the day of HTML websites, updates, even seemingly tiny ones, were often tedious for designers and impossible for site owners to accomplish themselves without some technical knowhow. This knowhow usually included knowledge of HTML and CSS, not to mention familiarity with FTP software and the need for often expensive programs such as Adobe Dreamweaver to make these changes. In addition, paying a designer to make changes to a website isn’t cheap, causing some business owners to put off making important updates, or not making them at all. The result of not making these changes or updates is often lost revenue. For example, if your business wants to advertise an annual event, or sale, your website is a wonderful place to publicize it, but if your designer is too busy to get the information on to your site on time, or if you opt not to have him post it to “save” money, your website visitors will be unaware of your sale, or your product launch, or your award, or whatever other piece of information would be useful for them to know and you will likely lose money in the long run.

Today, once your WordPress website is set-up by your designer, she just needs to provide you with the login information for your site and you have total control of its content. If you’re not familiar with WordPress’ Dashboard (admin panel), a simple Google search of “Wordpress Dashboard Tutorial” should result in several brief (and I do mean brief) tutorials that will walk you through updating your site step by step.

Your business should not be at the mercy of your designer. Switching to a website on the WordPress platform will save you money on costly updates and give you back control of your business’ online presence.

Announcing the Oomph Referral Rewards Program!

On March 19, 2012 / Announcements, Uncategorized / Leave a comment

We have some exciting news to share with you today. Please have a look at our latest press release for the details and then head over to our Rewards page to learn all about our new Rewards Program!

Montreal Area Website Design & Branding Company Launches Referral Rewards Program

Montreal, QC – New Website Design and Branding company offers thanks in the form of referral rewards.

Oomph Studios, a Canadian Website Design and branding company established in early 2012 has announced the launch of a new referral rewards program. The company intends to compensate individuals and companies who refer others to their services by paying out 10% of the total project cost.

Company owner and self-proclaimed “web design geek” Kelly Sims began the program as a way to show gratitude to clients for their loyalty and is now opening the program to the general public. Sims explained, “Most of our clients come to us by word of mouth. They’ve usually been referred by clients who have previously worked with us. In the past, I’ve offered compensation for referrals by providing discounts on services, but I wanted to offer more, a bigger thank you,” she continued. “We wanted to show our clients how grateful we are for their support and their loyalty, and what better way to say thanks than by sharing in our returns? And then we figured, why stop there? Why not offer rewards to anyone who sends us referrals?”

The program, officially opened to the public on March 17^th, offers 10% compensation for any referrals sent to Oomph Studios by participants. The program offers incentives to prospective customers in the form of promotions. Coupon codes and links are sent to program members at the start of each promotion. Members then use these coupons and links to promote the program through their social networks, websites, in person, or any other way they choose.

The company is offering $200 off their standard “Website with Oomph!” package as the current promotion until April 1^st 2012 when their next promotion will begin. A program member who refers an individual or company that then purchases a “Website with Oomph!” package using the current promotion, will receive 10% of the service cost – a value of $119.50 for the referral.

“Even if there is no promotion ongoing, or someone is referred and they choose a different service than that being promoted, the referrer will still receive 10% of the project price,” Sims explained. “All referrals for any of Oomph Studio’s services will result in compensation of 10% of the project cost for the referrer as our way of saying thanks.”

Oomph Studios provides website and graphic design services to clients worldwide. More information about the company, or about the Oomph Rewards Program can be found on their website at https://oomphwebdesign.ca/.

-END-

Press Release Announcing the Grand opening of Oomph Studios!

On February 6, 2012 / Announcements, Uncategorized / Leave a comment

Montreal Area Website Design & Branding Company Celebrates Grand Opening

Montreal, QC – Website design and branding company celebrates their launch by offering big discounts to clients.

Oomph Studios, a new Montreal-based Website Design and branding company has announced its grand opening on February 1^st. The company is celebrating its launch by offering large discounts on its website design services through the months of February and March.

Although the company itself is new, the businesses’ owner has previously run a successful Virtual Assistance company and has been working on website design since 2007. She had this to say about her business’ transition, “More and more clients were approaching me for design services. I loved being a virtual assistant, but I was becoming increasingly aware that the reason I loved it so much was the fact that I was doing a lot of design work. It became my passion.”

Oomph Studios not only provides website design services, but also offers branding services including the design of logos, pamphlets, and other branding materials. These services are offered through their on-staff graphic designer. “We’re basically a full-service design company. Our very talented graphic designer, Francois Leclerc has been working on projects for my virtual assistance company for years and my clients love his work, so he’s made the transition to Oomph Studios with me,” said Sims on the other design services she offers.

Although the company is based in the Montreal area, they provide services to businesses all over the world. “Coming from a Virtual Assistance background, I’m used to working with people from all over the globe and I’ll continue to do that with my design company,” Sims stated. “There’s no need to be situated close to someone in order to design their website, or logo. The Web has really made the world a smaller place. My process doesn’t change whether someone is located 2 blocks away, or on the other side of the world.”

To celebrate the launch of the company, the business is offering $200 off website design for all websites comprised of 6 or more pages through the months of February and March.

Oomph Studios’ portfolio of work can be found on their website at https://oomphwebdesign.ca/.

My First Blog Post on my First Day of Operating Oomph Studios…

On February 1, 2012 / Uncategorized, Websites with OOMPH! / 2 Comments

In this, my first blog post on the first day of operating my new business, I’m going to address the question that everyone and their mother has been asking me leading up to the big launch, “Why Oomph Studios?” When I chose this name, I honestly thought it was fairly obvious why I named it as I did, but according to my husband, my colleagues, my family, some friends, and the strange lady making small talk with me at the bank, the name is not as understandable as I first though.

First, deciding on a business name isn’t an easy thing. There are lots of other businesses out there and often your first choice for a business name is already taken and the URL not available. Luckily for me, that wasn’t the case. My first choice actually was Oomph! (the ‘Studios’ was added later). I wanted my new businesses name to be punchy (read short) and memorable, both of which are traits that the name Oomph Studios happily possesses, but I also wanted it to reflect what my clients ask me for. So here was my line of thinking: What are the most common things that a client asks me for when I design a website? Are you ready? Here they are, the 3 most common things I hear from clients who have hired me to design their website:

It has to be beautiful
It has to look clean
It has to have….OOMPH!

And voila! There is the reason for my business name. It’s because of my very extraordinary clients requesting outstanding websites with “OOMPH!” So, on my first blog post on the first day of operating Oomph Studios, I’d like to thank my clients for inspiring me to give my own company “OOMPH!”

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