pertree

Hi Warriors. After a lifetime in the manufacturing industry, it seems it has all moved to Central America and other parts of the world, so I find myself, at 54, out of any useable skill to earn a living in my smalltown home in the south. I do, however, possess a keen ability to learn, and an incredible imagination, along with a willingness to dive into new opportunities. After a year of passive involvement on the Warrior Forum I am determined to enter the Mobile/Offline marketing business. I have read with great interest all threads of late and find this fascinating and full of opportunity.

I have a few questions, and please don't berate me for asking such basic stuff. Just point me in the right direction and I'll be very appreciative.

Regarding SMS: I have looked at Avid Mobile and Twilio and understand that there is a "cost per text subsciber" charged for each text sent out. I don't understand about the keyword. Is there a charge for each keyword? In a customer campaign would the keyword change for each text week to week? Does a person buy only one short code, or are multiple needed, and if so, why?

For mobile websites: should a .mobi domain be purchased for each one? I have a couple of personal domains hosted on my bluehost account, is this where I would host mobile sites sold to clients? Or would I convert my account to a different type?

Thanks for all replies or comments

Steve

HypeText

Asking questions is how one learns....No worries!

Questions regarding a particular platforms pricing would best be asked of the individual provider, however...

There are two major pricing strategies in SMS Marketing.

"Cost Per Message" and "Cost per Subscriber"

In the per message pricing model an Account can have as many subscribers as it likes and charges are per message sent out.

On the per subscriber pricing model the provider generally has tiered pricing based upon the size of the subscriber Lists and does not charge per message.

The vast majority of Providers charge on a per message basis as an Advertiser doesn't have direct control of who is opting in or how many will do so, while conversely, they do have control of how many messages they send out.

A Keyword is what identifies a particular campaign or subscriber list. Keywords can change but are usually kept over a period of time and an advertiser may have multiple keywords.

For example, Bob's Diner might have the main Keyword of "Diner" but might want a campaign to have people opt in for notifications of daily specials, so he might have an additional Keyword "Specials" where his customers can opt in to "Specials" by Texting the keyword "Specials" to whatever Shortcode he is using.

He might decide to reserve the Keyword "Diner" for sending out discount coupons on slow days, etc.

Most providers will have a surcharge for additional keywords, a few do not. some will allow for generation of random Keywords for free, such as 2 letters and 2 numbers, such as AS13 for example

Still other Providers will allow for Free SUB-Keywords such as "Diner.Specials" that they dont charge for and will only charge for regular keywords.

Generally a business will only use 1 Shortcode. Most of the Platforms will offer "Shared Short Codes" as the cost for an exclusive Shortcode can be high, from $500 to $1000 per month. Generally we only see Large corporations going for their own Exclusive shortcode.

As for Mobile Website domain Extensions...

If one already has a website on their own domain, such as "www.yourbusiness.com", one can opt to either go for a .mobi domain at extra cost or they can just set up a subdomain such as "m.yourbusiness.com" or mobile.yourbusiness.com" to use for a mobile website.

A Script must be inserted in the "Head" tages of the main page of the website that automatically redirects the users browser to the Mobile Rendition of the Website once the script has identified that the user is accessing the site from a mobile device.

There is no right or wrong as both options are completely acceptable.

There is a certain learning curve to Mobile Marketing so I would strongly suggest you try working with a Company with experience in the industry.

Selling mobile marketing is unlike other forms of selling as the potential clients don't want to hear about technology specs etc. All they care about is how it will benefit them and will it increase their profits.

If you have additional questions feel free to post them...I'll be happy to help...

rlhurst

Hey Steve, sounds to me like you'll be just fine. It does take some time to get a handle on all the things involved, but when you're motivated, like you seem to be, that doesn't matter. Just keep reading, asking questions, go Google things you have questions about.... it will come!!

Ron