IMAGINE THIS: YOU OPEN AN ACCOUNT IN A MAJOR search engine by charging $10 to your credit card. You then place highly focused ads in account pointing to relevant page of your e-commerce site. By end of day you have received 2000 visitors to your site at cost of $1000, ($0.50 per click). And best of all, you haven’t even had to pay for ads yet..

Further imagine that you have made 20 sales at $500 each, ending day with $10,000 revenue. You just made a $3000 gross profit. You then pay search engine $1000 and you are left with a net profit of $2000.

Direct Response Marketing – Redefined This is today’s reality. Immediate Purchase Intent is name of game when it comes to Direct Response Marketing. A traditional marketer on-line and off-line is not accustomed to having immediately measurable ROI like this. And Search engines are a cost effective way to acquire qualified prospects, and convert them in to buyers immediately.

Search is one of Internet’s most essential and wanted services. As popular as email, search has morphed into an advertising avenue that leverages web’s inherent ability to link consumers and small- to mid-sized businesses in ways that traditional media alternatives cannot match.

Where else can advertisers “self-serve” themselves to an audience of 200 million-plus consumers, communicate directly with only those prospects who are specifically and currently seeking goods, services and information that advertiser provides, and at a cost of $0.15-$0.50 for each customer lead? No other advertising avenue, online or offline is growing as fast as search is currently. In my opinion, search’s impressive growth through worst ad market in a decade is a testament to its value proposition and potential.

Controlled ROI The great thing about search-based advertising is that, as an advertiser you can control your keywords and ad creative in real time by adjusting position of your ads, based on its real-time measurable performance/cost analysis.

By using some simple software like GOTOAST you can do this optimization across board in all search engines, portals, directories and intermediate syndication channels such as Overture. These apps automatically check status and position of your bids as often as you choose and makes appropriate strategic bidding changes based on your parameters. It saves you money by making sure you do not overpay for your preferred position and helps increase sales by ensuring your listings are located where you want them, at price range you are willing to pay. Whether you have thousands of keywords or just very active, competitive listings, for only dollars a day, it makes your life easier and puts more money on your bottom line.

Instant Gratification And if ROI works for you, OR you are smart enough to make this work for you, one can control as much as 1 million keywords through these types of software in real time. This can help you generate large amount of revenue with a tight control on ROI, which you can measure and control every minute. Tens of thousands of business owners already know about one of best kept secrets on Internet: paying for small text advertisements on search engines on a “pay-per-click” basis. Probably best part about pay-per-click advertising is there is no waiting around. Instant Gratification. Qualified visitors to your web site, no matter what your budget is.

So are YOU ready to communicate in this international medium? Whether you're building your own Web site, taking part in discussion groups, visiting a chat room, or just sending and receiving e-mail, you'll meet more and more "foreigners" on Internet - and vice versa, of course.

Let's look at some tips for communicating effectively in this new global village.

1. Write in plain English

Write clearly, with small words and short sentences. If you're writing long messages or creating long Web pages, include a simple summary at top.

Be very careful to write exactly what you mean. If you're writing for a general audience, avoid sarcasm, colloquialisms and other things that rely on a certain tone of voice or cultural background.

2. Watch out for phrases with two meanings

Although English is de facto international language of Internet, differences abound between, say, English and American English. It's easy enough to allow for differences in way that we spell "colour", "apologise" and "organisation", but other - more subtle - differences can easily lead to misunderstandings.

For example, does "bi-weekly" mean twice a week or once every two weeks? It's different for Australians and Americans. Similarly, when Australians "table an issue", they are raising it for discussion, but for Americans, "tabling an issue" means putting it aside.

3. Include area codes in phone numbers

Any time you quote a telephone, fax or mobile (cell) phone number on Internet, ask yourself whether your readers reside outside your local area. If you're potentially addressing distant readers, include your international code and area code in these numbers.

4. Allow for variations in postcodes

American zip codes and Australian postcodes use numbers only; U.K. postcodes contain letters and numbers; Singaporean postcodes use numbers only, but appear in a different place in address; all have different lengths from each other.

If your Web site includes an order form or a demographic survey, allow for postcodes that fall outside your own local format.

5. Include your full postal address