Ever since the first merchant promoted his product to make a meaningful trade, marketing has been an essential part of any sales or promotional formula. Today, the formula seems complex, but it doesn’t have to be. At the core of any effective marketing strategy is value.

So how can you create value for your customers? Begin with a firm understanding of your market. Who are your best customers? Who has a need that you can meet with your products and services? Delivering value becomes easy once you understand what you customers need and you find a way to deliver it at a fair price.

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If you’re trying to make sense of PPC and how it works, listen to this brief video from Google Chief Economist, Hal Varian, who explains the AdWords Ad Auction and how your max CPC bid and quality score determine how much you pay for a click on Google.com. More importantly, Hal specifically mentions which factors determine your quality score – definitely worth the next 9 minutes. Be sure to retweet and share with your marketing buddies…

The challenge when writing copy for the web is to consistently create content that is unique, relevant and entertaining—all at the same time. But it’s not easy to feel inspired and creative day after day.

The next time you find yourself in a rut, test out these 5 tips for creating fresh and unique copy for the web:

1. Have some fun with your writing. Write down 20 words or phrases on separate pieces of paper and place them in a container: “purple elephant,” “Chihuahua,” “cold beer” or “glass houses,” for example. The sky’s the limit—or dictionary, rather—and the more creative, the better.

The next time you’re stuck with regards to your writing, randomly select one slip of paper and include that word or phrase in your blog post or article. You may find that the word or phrase simply doesn’t fit with your concept or targeted keywords, and in the end, you eliminate it. But regardless of whether you keep or delete the word or phrase, this exercise is an effective way to get the creative juices flowing again.

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