CHALLENGE“We were actually thinking about selling our site to some other marketer who might be able to do a better job at it,” confides Sumantra Roy, an owner in ParrotSecrets.com. More than 83% of all visitors were bailing within 30 seconds of entering the site, and sales were far below what Roy expected. Roy believed in the product -- a set of four ebooks on training and caring for parrots -- and traffic was substantial, but much of that was generated by expensive keyword buys. Even sign-ups for the site's free enewsletter were a meager 0.4%.After two years of struggling, it was time to stop squawking and take action. Roy and his team were determined to reduce the abandon rate...

By Contributing Editor Dianna HuffWhite papers are hot. Our research shows that 69% of prospects who download and like your white paper will actively pass it along to their colleagues. 36% of total downloads will be passed on to a supervisor. The more people who read your white paper, the better your chance of closing a deal. One 2004 study showed that 57% of IT purchase decision makers said a white paper influenced at least one buying decision in the past 12 months. But, with more than 48,000 white papers being promoted online by business-to-business marketers, you had better make sure your white paper isn't a dud. To help you get the most bang for your buck, we bring you...

CHALLENGE“If you don't have a lot of data, a lot of how you perform depends on if you interpret your situation as a positive or as a negative,” says David Manela, VP of Channel Development at upscale fashion retailer Vivre Inc. “We focus on what our positives are when we go about marketing.”Manela's can-do philosophical approach has played a major part of the 10-year-old company's entrepreneurial ascent. In the early days, they relied almost solely on a thin mailer and grew to a full-scale book that reaches 1.2 million catalog subscribers. But since going online in 2001, they've boasted 30% overall growth year over year, doubling sales for four out of the past five years.Growth hasn't been easy since Manela...

CHALLENGE"I remember meeting with a peer who did catalogs when I was doing online marketing for Schwan's and thinking, 'Man, how boring catalog marketing must be,'" laughs Glenn Bader, Schwan's Director of Emerging Channels.That was before management asked him to develop a catalog offshoot to promote holiday 2003 gift sales for their Impromptu Gourmet ecommerce division."It seemed kind of odd to go from online to print," Bader admits. He knew little about offline aside from the fact that production cycles were hideously long compared to the speed of search or email. So, he turned to a traditional offline agency for help.The slender catalog promoted about 20 separate food items ranging from fancy entrees to luscious desserts as potential holiday gifts....

By Anne Holland, PresidentWelcome to the very height of coupon season. Roughly 20% more coupons are redeemed this time of year than any other. But, according to a fascinating data report from CMS (see hotlink below), your redemption rate can range from a low 0.22% to 20% or higher depending mainly on the big three factors:a. distribution method -- in-store instant redemption pulls the bestb. coupon value -- higher usually does betterc. expiration date -- longer is preferred for print couponsCoupons are not just for CPGs (consumer packaged goods) anymore. Two new ideas are:o Search marketing and couponsAccording to MarketingSherpa's Search Marketing Benchmark Guide, more than 60% of US online consumers use search engines to research purchases at all price...

By Anne Holland, PresidentWhile in San Francisco at our B-to-B Summit last week, I drove up to the Presidio neighborhood for dinner with a real-life Sherpa, Chhring Sherpa, owner of Taste of the Himalayas Restaurant. Sherpas are a native tribe of Nepal, some of whom earn their living by guiding climbers up Mount Everest. Very few live in the US. Our company name is meant as a tribute to their abilities.Chhring, who came to the US a decade ago after meeting his wife (a nice girl from New Jersey), has just taken over ownership and management of Taste of the Himalayas restaurant on 2420 Lombard Street. They don't have a Web site (yet) but you can reach them at (415)...

By Anne Holland, PresidentLast week while I was in San Francisco for our B-to-B Summit, I also grabbed the chance to talk with Matt Ackley, eBay's VP of Net Marketing. I met Matt at a NorCal BMA luncheon. He's funny, honest and smart -- especially about search marketing. Here are highlights of what I learned from him:o Why eBay buys the keyword 'eBay'"We actually buy the word 'eBay,' which is very, very unintuitive. We've done numerous, numerous tests on this, because every time I go and say, 'We buy the keyword, eBay', people come back and say, 'You're an idiot. Why are you buying the keyword eBay? Everybody knows eBay. You don't need to buy the keyword eBay.'"We have proven...