Mi-info News: Dot to Dot

The pattern of Mi-info's progression to being fully utilised is abit like dot to dot. We are taking each step with our next improvement firmly insight. The back office is currently a luminous array of post it notes. Our developer Les is busily getting things ready for Mi-sales to go live and with it Mi-info complete. Good news for you subscribers as this means adverts, and adverts means points!

As i have recently read in both the Mi-info forum and outside forums there is much hustle and bustle about when Mi-info will be fully functional. I know it seems like our subscribers have been signed up for a while and cannot reap the full rewards of sticking by us just yet, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Here at the office we're frantically testing the website in every nook and cranny to check their are no underlying problems with the websites functionality. Slowly but surly we ARE making progress. As stated on th Mi-ads page we hope to be up officially by September at the latest. Thank you to everyone who has joined Mi-info and stuck with us, it will be worth it! =D

In the mean time remember their are a number of things you can do to be rewarded for taking an interest in Mi-info:

1. Refer, Refer, Refer those friends of yours!


2. Complete all profiles to enter the Smart Car & iPod Touch competition.
   
3. If you have'nt already signed up to Mi-info why not sign up through popular cashback rewards site iPoints and in return up iPoints for registering for one of their offers.


4. Check out our forum as we often do giveaways for interesting suggestions made to the staff of Mi-info.


5. Another tip to reward yourself for all your hard work is keep on an eye on the Newsletter that goes out fortnightly with helpyful hints and discounts on the internet.

So, that just about does it for one days news, hope this was helpful. If you have any suggestions you would like to make to me personally on the blog or about Mi-info in general please feel free to get in touch via the comments box on this post. Have a good day!

Mi-sales, stop beating around the bush.

It would seem the launch of the Mi-sales website is on the horizon. For months there has been a stir amongst Mi-info subscribers who are desperate to see the website fully functioning and serving ads. However, without its counter part website no such action can take place. Mi-info works on the idea that subscribers will see targeted ads to their page sort of like a newspaper served to them by advertisers on the Mi-sales website. Advertisers on Mi-sales can target their consumer right down to their postcode or favourite food if they wish. Then the advertiser advert enters a bidding process with others who compete for the advertising space on Mi-ads. Should work well for both advertiser and consumer when fully launched.

Mi-sales is now in the last stages of web development with vigorous testing currently in process as we speak. All we can say for now is watch this space, adverts will be coming to a Mi-ads page near you very soon...

Newsletter Success!

Mi-info have been sending out their very own newsletters for a couple of months now and have reached their fifth issue already! It came around quickly and seems to be a success with the subscribers judging by the comments left in the forum. The newsletter offers advise and tips about up and coming topics from the internet industry that our subscribers would like to read about. They also inform you of great offers and discounts from a range of online shops. The newsletter has recntly expanded to two pages detailing even more discounts and wonderful offers for everyone registered with Mi-info. Those who join up to Mi-info can only benefit from gaining points, insider news and reviews, a unique online community in our forum and the chance to earn points from adverts.

Talking of adverts Mi-info hope to launch Mi-sales by late September as they are in the process of testing as we speak. There is much to tweak and improve ready for both the advertisers and subscribers benefit. The request for people to join up as guinea pigs has been very successful. So far we have 80 guinea pigs! However, Mi-info still want more testers!

And finally, Congratulations to Wendy K from Essex who was June's winner of an iPod Touch with Mi-info!

Effortless Signature Selling.

Marketing Tip of the Day:

One of the easiest ways to spark a little interest in you website or blog and it costs you nothing at all. What is it? Your signature! Using your signature as a space for a discrete link or simple logo of your brand can work wonders. People will get familiar with the companies logo and you can brand you comments in just a click. From forums to comments on other blogs, your signature tells people about who you are and what you do. So why not use this opportunity to market your company to those you talk to. If you stay loyal to a few forums you may even see people visit your website and even better TALK about it to other bloggers or forum goers. 'Word of Mouth' has long been one of the best ways to get people interested about your product. Mi-info has it's very own forum and i use the Mi-info logo as my signature in there. My reason being is that it shows people i'm a moderator and work at Mi-info so they know who to direct their questions to.

I've found signature branding works reasonably well and the more you use it the more people you can get to visit your site. Target the areas where you use the signature, particularly the types of blog you comment on and the sort of person who uses the forum you comment in on a regular basis. After all website want to attract and maintain its customer base. So it's loyaly and quality rather than quantity your after. It does'nt hurt to be fussy now and again!

Affiliate Future training for Mi-info.

As an employee of Mi-info i was asked to attend a training session for Affiliate Future last Week. Thursday i went down to London to do the affiliate training and learn more about the company we deal with. Affiliate Futures has been around for a while now and they act as the middle man between merchants (Mi-info) and affiliates (other websites that promote us) to make sure we both benefit from this business relationship.

Affiliate future does this very well and so far we have been getting some great results and have on board a fair few affiliates who promote us for a set price or CPL (Cost per Lead). The training prooved to be a useful experience guiding us through some common pitfalls of being a merchant such as lack of communication with the affiliate and not using enough promotional techniques to gain affiliates. AF suggested some forms of promotion for us to try such as email affiliates (we currently use one of these but are looking to gain more) as well as incentivising our affiliates with gift vouchers or experience days. AF also hold various events or bespoke events to suit a merchant who wants to meet and greet other affiliates and get more companies on board with their campaign.

All in all this was a good training day that gave us insight into what other things we could be doing and what to avoid as well as how to use the new tools they are integrating into thier system. Watch this space for information about our promotional techniqes and companies we favour who are generating leads and sales for Mi-info. These posts will give you the reader an insight into our marketing mix that goes on everyday just to try and reach you the subscriber. It may even inspire you to try some marketings techniques for yourself.



Another feature i am going to add this week will be the Blog roll with all my favourite blogs, most of which i read on a regular basis. For example Dosh Dosh, i find this blog of great use as a marketeer its innovative techniques and ideas can be used to improve your blog and make it more inviting to you all. Apologies for the long post it seems a while since the last one and i had a fair bit to say!

Mi-info Guinea Pigs! + General Mi-info Update...

In a bid to tell as many people about Mi-info as possible we have advertised Mi-info on BT's BT Tradespace pages with a place for people to leave feedback and follow links to the website. Over the next few months i will monitor how well it does. Currently things are quiet on the page but we will shall wait and see if anyone reads the page and leaves a comment.

The forum is still running smoothly with all our subscribers vewing the pages and some registering and leaving very productive comments. Cheers Everyone! =D

UPDATE: Mi-sales is still in developement, we predict it has been put back another couple of weeks. Once it has ben developed you guinea pigs can give us a much needed helping hand in testing ads coming your way. Thank you to all of you who have offered to be a guinea pig!

A Suggestion Digested.

With the addition of the Mi-info forum, subscribers are encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions about the websites and indeed other similar websites that they enjoy. Mi-info ran a prize give away of a Pen Drive for who ever could come up with the best suggestion to add to Mi-info. The website recently underwent a facelift to improve userbility and design. This mostly involved the tabs at the top of the page and new features. We want to keep adding these so we gave away a Pen Drive to Caroline Thom in Cheshire. As the site progresses we hope to incorporate many more of your ideas and give away more prizes for your ideas.