The Search Engine Marketing Option for SMEs

If you're an SME in Malaysia and looking for a cost-effective way to give your business a boost, you should probably consider Online Marketing. Compared with traditional print, tv, radio and OOH advertising, Online Marketing provides much better targeting, is measurable and way cheaper.

Production costs is also much lower because there are no physical prints and videos to produce. This also means that you can get your ads out quicker with Online Marketing.

Online Marketing has evolved tremendously over the years, from just simple banner advertising to a sophisticated array of tools. Today, one has the option of email marketing (EDMs), pop-ups and pop-overs, social media marketing, article marketing and search engine marketing.

What is Search Engine Marketing? Search Engine Marketing or SEM, is an umbrella word for all methods that are used to promote websites in the search engines, e.g. in the search results of Google, Yahoo and Bing.

There are two main methods in SEM - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-per-Click (PPC) advertising programs that are offered by the search engines themselves. SEO helps increase your website's visibility in the organic part of the search results (i.e. the left side), while PPC lets you place your ads under the Sponsored Ads areas (i.e. top and right side).

Between the two, SEO is more important because based on a number of studies, organic search results receive about 75% of the click distribution compared to 25% for sponsored ads. This can be attributed to 2 main reasons:

1. People apparently trust the organic results more because the positions are determined by Google based on a number of quality signals.

2. A big portion of users have developed some sort of "ad-blindness" which makes them look only at the organic search results.

Still PPC advertising shouldn't be neglected because it provides better certainty than SEO and lets you push your message out as quickly as within the hour. Unlike SEO, PPC also doesn't incur high upfront costs and you can stop your campaigns anytime when you feel that it has stop giving you a good ROI.

HomeGuru Malaysia vs. iProperty Malaysia

It looks like the battle of the property portals in Singapore, between PropertyGuru and iProperty, has now spilled over the causeway into Malaysia. However, All Property Media has given it a different brand here, calling it HomeGuru - a joint-venture with Redberry (Malaysia).

The competition has so far resulted in some consolidation, as a result of iProperty snapping up ThinkProperty, while HomeGuru bought Fullhouse. Other property portals in the country are StarProperty, Propwall, and of course, the free and popular Mudah.my.

The core revenue for these property portals come from the listing fees paid by property agents. And then there is some income from display ads, and also from marketing projects for property developers. Listing is mostly free for ads posted by the public.

For now, it remains to be seen how HomeGuru intends to win market share from the incumbent, iProperty - which has a very established brand in the country. The battle is expected to be intense, infact, both portals are already suing each other over the use of the brand "HomeGuru".

With less than a year in the market, it's hard to tell who will emerge the victor. Currently, HomeGuru is expanding their staff size at their Bangsar South City office. The new kid on the block has also boasted of having over 50,000 listings of Malaysia property for sale and rent on their site.

Using AdWords To Boost Your Business During This Lull

The global economy looks like its weakening again. The U.S. is still fighting with high unemployment, growth in the U.K. has been anaemic at best, and some of the countries in the Euro zone are at risk of going bankrupt. Hence, it's no wonder that you may be experiencing a slowing business during this period.

One of the quickest and most effective way to give your business a boost is by advertising, and nothing gives you better ROI than Google AdWords - the world's largest Internet advertising program. There are several benefits of using Google Adwords:

1. Hundreds and thousands of Internet users advertise with Google AdWords every year, and it’s no wonder why. Google AdWords will advertise almost any niche or genre for anyone, anywhere, that when published will be aimed directly at your market’s target audience. AdWords uses PPC (pay per click), which simply means that you do not pay for your advertisement until someone clicks on it.

2. When signing up for your Google Adwords advertising account, it allows you to set a maximum bid limit for you PPCs, with bids starting at just 1 cent US. Advertisers are able to see their ads up and running on Google within a few minutes of setting them up. The ads are displayed along with search results when someone searches Google for any one of your keywords. Ads are listed under the heading "Indicators" on the right side of your search results page. They can also appear in additional positions above the free search results. This way, you are advertising to an audience that is already interested in your topic. You can also place the ads on sites in the Display Network part of the growing Google Network. You can select the exact placement of the display of the network on which your ad will appear. Alternatively, you determine the right content for your keywords with contextual targeting.

3. Choose from a variety of ad formats, including text, image and video ads. Each has it’s own benefits in relation to your target audience. With the statistics and reports in your AdWords account, you will have full control over your ads’ performance.

4. With Google AdWords there is no minimum monthly fee - only one initial activation fee.

If you feel that you'd like to focus your time on your core competency and leave the campaign management to professionals, or if you feel that AdWords is too technical for you, you can always engage one of the many Google AdWords agency available in Singapore. Be sure though, to check that the person or company is an AdWords Certified Individual or Company - a validation by Google that the person/company has passed certain minimum criteria, and thus is capable of managing your AdWords campaign adequately.

Looking For A Reliable MLM Company?

Much controversy surrounds multi-level marketing (MLM) companies, and none more so than QuestNet. This article gives the company profile of QuestNet and talks about whether the company is legitimate or if it just a pyramiding scam.

Who is QuestNet?

QuestNet traces its beginnings in 1998. Initially, it dealt exclusively in selling collector coins and medallions, eventually earning a reputation as being one of the world's leading companies in numismatics. Eventually, the company expanded their product line, including other kinds of jewelry, luxury watches, health and wellness products, household products, and even vacation packages. Aside from retail, the company has also delved in telecommunications, also investing in radio stations.

Strictly speaking, QuestNet is unlike other kinds of MLM companies in that it neither has physical distributors that sell the products, nor does it require those who are part of the network to reach a certain sales quota each month. Instead, it has independent representatives (IRs) that earn money by referring people to QuestNet, effectively making the organization a mail order retail company that makes use of MLM strategies to get the word out on their products and services. Because people don't have to deal directly with inventory management and don't require a big capital in order to earn in QuestNet, a lot of individuals have become interested in joining the organization, with most doing so in order to supplement their income. A person can earn as much as $2,400 per day, depending on how much effort he or she makes in promoting the company. See this QuestNet presentation for more details.

Another difference QuestNet has with conventional MLM companies is that IRs can have unlimited operating accounts, which theoretically gives them an unlimited source of income, while other MLM organizations limit their members to having only a single account at a time.

Today, QuestNet has over 5 million IRs worldwide, establishing and maintaining their presence in over 160 countries.

Is Questnet a Scam?

As with other companies that operate using networking principles, a lot of critics have come up and accused QuestNet of being a big scam, with some of the accusers previously serving as some of the company's IRs who didn't manage to make a lot of money even if they were involved in the company. The controversies surrounding QuestNet has left a bad taste on a lot of people's mouths, and they automatically believe the naysayers simply because they have the loudest voices.

The truth, however, is far from what is being widely publicized. QuestNet is in fact a legitimate business. The reason why it has received so much negative flack is that, being one of the companies that make use of MLM models, the company has automatically become attached to the pyramid schemes that have victimized thousands of people globally. The fact that QuestNet has been in the business for over 10 years and is a trusted brand by even some of the biggest events and companies, including but not limited to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2004 Athens Games, and the Federacion Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), to name a few is a testament to its legitimacy.

While it's true that there are some IRs that don't make a lot of money even if they joined QuestNet, that is mainly more their fault than the company. All too many people join QuestNet and other MLM companies because they believe that these organizations can make them get money quickly and easily. However, like other legitimate companies, the income of the IRs will depend on how much effort and commitment they put into their work. Simply put, if they don't work, they don't earn.

The fact that it has weathered several criticisms and controversies is testament to the enduring nature of this organization. QuestNet is a reliable company that seeks to share their financial success with hardworking individuals who are willing to take the time and effort to earn extra income.