Web Marketing... Beyond the basics

WebGuru - Andy Beal

2007-12-19T14:10:00.000+09:00

One of the world's most respected experts in search engine marketing, blogging and online reputation management, Andy is founder and editor of the popular internet marketing blog MarketingPilgrim.com.

Me first! Me first! Corporate lessons learned!

2007-12-13T20:12:00.000+09:00

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and their manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, “There are only three wishes, so you have one each.”

"Me first! Me first!" says the admin. clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Poof! She's gone.

"Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life." Poof! He's gone.

“OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager.

The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."

Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say

For more corporate advice : www.bobpritchard.com

Web Guru - Paul Woolmington

2007-11-19T14:14:00.000+09:00

Paul Woolmington is the Founding Partner of Naked Communications.

Eager to champion communications strategy, objective and bias-free thinking, and brilliant misfits, Paul joined Naked Communications as a founding partner to bring the Naked brand and philosophy to the Americas. In parallel, he was also appointed a global partner in the holding group, which currently has twelve-plus businesses in eight worldwide locations.

Paul is widely known as a leading media and communications strategy thinker and savvy entrepreneur, and is also credited with helping create the first Media Lions competition at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, rewarding media neutral creativity and innovation. He also served as its first president.

Championing objective thinking and innovation, Paul has served on a diverse array of creative, media, interactive and integration awards, recently chairing the "Content and Contact" category at the 2006 Clio Awards.

Yahoo Surfers Spend More

2007-08-26T15:46:00.000+08:00

According to WebPro News's Mike Sachoff:

While Yahoo is considered the second busiest search engine behind Google, when it comes to online shopping, Yahoo surfers may be the biggest spenders online.

According to Wayne Perry, president of SiCap Industries, Yahoo surfers spend 30 percent more than other consumers on average.

"We haven't figured out why, but our web stats show consumers referred by Yahoo definitely spend more money on our websites, and according to data collected from our retailers, yahoo surfers also spend more money in the stores that carry our products. This has been a consistent theme for nearly three years," says Perry.

Interruptions are in the eye of the interrupted.

2007-08-05T00:26:00.000+08:00

This was a key point in The Attention Age Doctrine, and one that really struck a nerve with many of my readers.

Information that you think is important to your business, may simply be an interruption to your business goals.

Trouble is, you won’t realize whether or not the information is important until you’ve given it your attention.

New Software Makes It Easy

2007-07-26T15:38:00.000+08:00

The first problem is nicely answered by an open source WYSIWYG editor called Nvu (pronounced "N-View"). Nvu is based on the Mozilla platform and is free to download and use. You can't beat the price.

Nvu is fairly easy to use, but its learning curve will still be a little steep for true technical illiterates (such as me).

When I finally admitted that I could no longer avoid learning how to build a Web site, I went to Google and typed in something like "easiest way to build a Web site." One of the search results that came up was for a program called BlueVoda.

BlueVoda looks a lot like a word processing program. In general, it's more intuitive and easy to use than Word. You click on a button to create boxes for text or images. You put your text or images in those boxes. You move them around until you like how they look. You preview the result in your browser. You click on the "publish" button. You're done.

BlueVoda is by far "the easiest way to build a Web site" I've found. And believe me, I've looked really, really hard...

As with so many things in life, there's a catch. BlueVoda was created and published by a Web hosting company and it's proprietary. In other words, you won't be able to do anything with the files it creates unless you have an account with the hosting company, VodaHost.

Fortunately, VodaHost is the kind of company that produces free tools like BlueVoda for their customers. They're innovative, reliable, and they really emphasize customer service and satisfaction. They have a very active customer forum that makes it a snap to get useful advice, tips, and solutions from both company reps and experienced users.

Step 3 For Internet Marketing Success

2007-07-18T15:36:00.000+08:00

Write your marketing materials. If you are selling affiliate programs, often the work is done for you. You can create an autoresponder series from articles or email messages the site owner may offer. Check to see what materials the site owner offers. They may also offer you free ebooks you can give away, as well as articles. This will cut your work dramatically.

If the site owner offers email messages, rewrite these in your own words. Add messages to the series. If articles are available, then add these to your series too.

Set up your autoresponder and lead capture page, if you choose to use one. Then, write your marketing materials and start driving traffic to this page.

Commit to doing something every day. Test and track your efforts. Add new marketing techniques. Bad marketing is better than no marketing. Building a business is a waste of time of you don't market.

Internet marketing success depends on how hard you're willing to work to get your business out there. Organize your marketing, do it consistently, and you will see success.

Newsletter Are Good

2007-07-11T15:39:00.000+08:00

But you can keep up with all the changes and make suer your results do not suffer.

The easiest way to keep up with internet marketing is by subscribing to newsletters.

The people who are publishing frequent newsletters on internet marketing, keep up to date on changes and tell their readers about them.

You can also keep up on the changes by purchasing the products from well know and established internet marketing experts.

These people make their living with internet marketing so you can bet the house that they know exactly what works and what doesn't.

You can also keep up to date by joining the many internet marketing forums to be found.

The people who post to these forums and share information keep a close watch on trends, fads, and techniques.

Remember that as an internet marketing business owner, you should always keep up to date and make the changes to needed to maximize your profits.

Traffic is the lifeblood of an online business

2007-07-08T23:35:00.000+08:00

Traffic is the lifeblood of an online business.

Without traffic, no-one will buy your product, no-one will click on your ads, no-one will find your salespages.

No traffic = No Income

Everyone needs traffic to make a success of their online business - no matter what they are doing online.

Traffic generating strategies are essential to building a successful online business, and you need to develop a strategy for creating a steadily increasing source of traffic.

Here are some of the ways, in which you can get traffic to your website.

1. Get you website listed in the search engines for specific keywords that relate to your website.
2. Use PPC (Pay Per Click) such as Google Adwords. Obviously there is a cost associated with this, so you have top be aware of the budget you will allocate to this.
3. Post on forums, and have a link in your forum signature file.
4. Have affiliates promoting your products.
5. Email to your opt-in list
6. Giveaway free reports from your websites
7. Write articles and have them posted on Article Directories.
8. Get your website listed on website directories.
9. Host a blog on your website and use RSS to "Syndicate" the posts.
10. Get links to your website from other sites.
11. Create a Podcast and have it linked to your website.
12. Post videos to Google Video and You Tube.
13. Create links to your website from social networking sites.
14. Run a forum on your website so that visitors return to the forum frequently.
15. Post Press Releases about your website.

Ideas from David Watson http://www.websitecontentwizard.com

Concentration

2007-07-02T09:12:00.000+08:00

As the fletcher whittles and makes straight his arrows, so the master directs his straying thoughts. - Gautama Buddha

When every physical and mental resource is focused, one's power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously. - Norman Vicent Peale

Make Money Online Niche

2007-06-25T15:34:00.000+08:00

Another pitfall of Internet marketing is the competition, especially in certain niches like the "make money online" niche. Unlike your brick and mortar business, which you can set up on the street corner and be assured of your little slice of the world, especially if there are no stores like yours within miles, the Internet is not like that. Anybody can reach any web site from any place in the world. So you're competing, sometimes, with millions of sites. This can make getting your foot in the door extremely hard, if not downright impossible.

Another pitfall of Internet marketing is restrictions. Just as the field is wide open, it is also open to rules and regulations from all over the world. For example, in some parts of the world, you can't get a PayPal account. This makes it harder to collect payments from customers. Sometimes finding alternative payment processors is not an easy task. Some programs may only be open to citizens from certain countries, such as Associated Content, which is an article submission site. They're only open to US citizens. So sometimes where you live can affect how well you can do business.

And finally, there is the Internet marketing mind set trap that is very easy to get sucked into. Just go to any web site and take a look at how easy they make this all sound, and without spending a dime. More people than you can imagine get sucked into that game of make a million overnight on a shoestring budget. Trust me when I say, it doesn't work that way. Making a living on the Internet is hard work and does take a considerable investment if you want to see a significant return.

If you keep the above things in mind when and if you decide to get into Internet marketing, you'll have a decent shot at being successful. Otherwise, you could be in for a very long road to hoe.

Setp 2 For Internet Marketing Success

2007-06-18T15:35:00.000+08:00

2. Write your marketing plan. Every marketing plan should include whether or not you plan to build a list or a website. These two elements are crucial because it's getting harder and harder to promote products without a website.

Building a list will help you cut your workload dramatically because you can build relationships with your list readers. You can send them other offers, as well as share valuable information.

If building a website isn't something you want to hassle with, you can build a lead capture page and make a simple one page website. Then, drive traffic to this page.

Without a website, many article directories won't allow you to submit articles that include affiliate links, even when those affiliate links are in the resource box of your article.

You should also include the different internet marketing techniques you plan to use.

This can include: search engine optimization, article writing, press releases, classifieds, joint ventures, or any other techniques.

If you are technically savvy, you can even include Web 2.0 techniques like making videos, or social bookmarking.

If you plan to use pay per click, include your a budget and know how much you can spend.

What techniques you choose to market your business will be determined by what type of business you choose, whether or not you plan to build a website, and what kind, and what techniques you want to use.

If you hate the thought of writing an article, no matter how effective, you won't do it.

Starting off, you should only use one or two marketing techniques and build on your success. Test and track until you find a marketing formula that works for you.

Belief

2007-06-12T16:15:00.000+08:00

The barrier between...success is not something which exists in the real world: it is composed purely and simply of...doubts about...ability. -Mark Caine

We clothe events with the drapery of our own thoughts... - James Allen

Averages

2007-06-11T16:26:00.000+08:00

I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. - Thomas A. Edison

Mistakes are stepping stones to success. - Charles E. Poppleston

Achievement

2007-06-06T16:29:00.000+08:00

The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win ti without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honour. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.
SAMUEL SMILES

Internet Marketing Pitfalls

2007-05-25T08:56:00.000+08:00

By Steven WagenheimFor many people, getting into Internet marketing is an attractive option and alternative to making a living outside of working a regular nine to five job. However, before you venture into this uncharted territory, there are some pitfalls that you need to be made aware of. This article will do just that. Hopefully, after reading this, you will at least have a decent idea of just what it is that you're going up against.

One of the pitfalls of Internet marketing is that there is a ton of information out there. Some of it is conflicting. Therefore, you're going to have occasions where you'll be scratching your head wondering which end is up. This is perfectly natural. Unfortunately, the only solution to this problem is trial and error. Nobody is going to point you in the right direction because everybody's opinion is going to be different, even mine. Ultimately, you have to find out things for yourself. This makes Internet marketing, especially in the early stages, a very slow and time consuming process. It may be months before you see your first sale, let alone a profit.

Step 1 to Internet Marketing Success

2007-05-24T09:19:00.000+08:00

By Jinger Jarrett

Regardless of what types of products or services you decide to offer in your business, there are certain things you should do to insure your internet marketing success.

Follow these tips, and you'll make money much more quickly and build momentum in your internet marketing.

Get organized. First, if you haven't decided already what products or services you want to sell, you need to start here. Although it sounds obvious, many jump on the internet with the intent of starting a business and making money without a thought about how they plan to it.

That's why it's so easy for these new business owners to fall prey to all the hype that's on the internet.

Decide what your interests are, and what you would enjoy doing. What do you like talking about? What would you do even if you knew you wouldn't make any money doing it?

Once you've written down several ideas, then do your keyword research. Find out if there is a market for what you want to do. Is it competitive?

Although you will have to work harder to make your business a success, it's worth it because you'll be doing something you enjoy.

Remember, only about two percent of the market is internet marketing. Billions of dollars are made on all types of products and services. You have lots of choices. Choose something you will enjoy doing.

Making Profits From Internet Marketing

2007-05-22T08:18:00.000+08:00

Anyone can use the internet in order to make money but you need to know internet marketing to make serious profits. The internet can be a goldmine for you if you know how to market your website. Internet marketing looks quite simple when you take a first look but there are many small complications within the simple procedures that you need to know if you are to make good money through this process.

There are several ways of internet marketing including PPC, banner ads, email advertising and many more. However, the best method of internet marketing is the one that gets more traffic to your website and what is more it gets targeted traffic, meaning every visitor to your website is already interested in what you are offering.

This is known as search engine marketing or SEO marketing and it is among the most profitable options among online marketing. It is estimated that 80% of people who are interested in your products or services have a good chance of visiting your website if SEO marketing is done right. The best part is that it does not require any great amount of time or hard work to do. There are several tools that can automate the entire process for you and help you work smartly. Most SEO tasks have been automated so you just need to configure the software and then let it work for you. If you wish to make money on the internet then SEO marketing is the way to go.

Internet Marketing - Advantages and Disadvantage - 2

2007-05-21T11:15:00.000+08:00

Disadvantages of Internet Marketing

- online marketing is not free. The cost of software, hardware, wed site design, maintenance of your site, online distribution costs and of course, time, all must be factored into the cost of providing your service or product.

- slightly over 50% of households shop online. While that number will continue to grow, you are reaching less than two out of three households.

- the internet is still regarded as a source of information gathering for the majority of your customers. Of the number of visitors to your site, the vast majority of visitors who are motivated to buy will do so in person. Many people prefer the live interaction when they buy. If you have a small business with one location, this may deter customers from buying.

- easier to have outdated information on your site, thus timing of updates is critical

- there is no replacement for good old fashioned customer service. The majority of internet marketers lack customer service and inquiry response programs. As a result, many online visitors to your site will already have painted your site as poor service before they have even contacted you. The majority of websites also have poor navigation, which makes it difficult for your visitor to find what they are looking for. Many sites were created with a marketing view, not a customer service point of view.

- is your site secure? Does your customer know this? There are many incorrect stereotypes about the security of the internet out there. As a result, many of your visitors will not want to use their credit card to make a purchase. The fear of having their credit card info stolen is a clear and present danger in the minds of your visitors

- there is a lot of competition for your product already out there. By the time your visitor finds you, they have already been clicking many links. Unless they can find what they are looking for quickly, they are gone.

- many web visitors expect something for free. What do you have to offer them?

There are many other pros and cons of internet marketing. Its important for you to consider each when creating your internet marketing strategy. Each of the disadvantages can be overcome, but only if you view the customer experience from the eyes of your customer, not as an internet marketer.

Making Money With Email Marketing

2007-05-17T08:22:00.000+08:00

In the online businesses the email marketing is some thing very important. In the recent past the internet has grown a lot. It has become the most important source of information for us now. Internet also now serves as the most important market and trading center for the people. In this situation it is important that you plan your marketing campaign properly. If the marketing campaigns are planned properly, your email marketing efforts will result in creating lots of money for you. These campaigns can be made more effective if you build the email lists properly. If you do that by your self, you will be in a better position to make money out of all this effort.

Email marketing is the preferred type of online marketing these days. The sole reason behind this is that the email marketing campaigns take lesser time than any other means of marketing used by online marketers. This source generates results quickly. It generates results on a much faster pace provided the email list is made with care. If the email addresses on the list are not from the target market you are planning to invade, your email campaign will be very successful. If this is not the case the emails will not be able to generate lots of queries and replies. If the list is not build are fully most of the people may consider your email to be only a spam and do not take it seriously. If you want to make money from your email marketing, you need to be careful about the quality of your emailing list.

Creating an Internet Marketing Web Site

2007-05-16T09:35:00.000+08:00

If you've begun researching internet marketing and work from home opportunities, you already realize that there are many different angles and approaches you can take. In fact, there are so many it can sometimes make your head swim!

Almost all of these approaches to internet marketing have one thing in common: They require that you build and maintain at least one Web site. That makes perfect sense: We are talking about internet marketing and online business, after all!

It might make sense, but some of us don't know how to create a Web site. More to the point, some of us have no real desire to learn. We want to publish eBooks or promote products as affiliates or build some other kind of online business. We don't want to learn how to speak to computers or Web browsers in their own language.

Fortunately, relatively new software technology enables people like us to build a Web site without really knowing what we're doing. These tools are known by the techie acronym "WYSIWYG," for "what you see is what you get."

WYSIWYG programs do just what the name suggests: They allow you to build the Web site by showing you only the finished product, not all the underlying code (e.g., HTML, PHP, and other stuff you don't really need to know).

There are mainstream commercial programs such as Front Page and Dreamweaver you can buy, but they come with a couple of caveats. First, they're expensive. And second, they can still have a steep enough learning curve to be daunting for those of us with absolutely no technical skills or inclinations.

The New Wave of Internet Marketing

2007-05-15T08:20:00.000+08:00

I just recently read some more data that shows that internet marketing is going to become increasingly harder to make money at in the very near future. While I believe this when it comes to the ever increasing numbers of junk adsense trash sites out there, I find it hard to believe for the marketers that are taking the time needed to serve their communities. I do take heart at the fact the page generators and adsense template mongers will be cast out of the search engine realm in the near future.

I think it is important to remember that search engine rankings also hinge on content quality and visitor behavior. Making sites that make customers fly away in seconds after landing on your page is a total waste of time. If your customer logs show people exiting quickly then it is time to ask yourself why. If you provide large amounts of information that should be useful maybe you need to analyze how you are presenting it. User experience and ease of use will determine whether or not your site is successful even if it has the best information out there.

It is very important to remember that your sites will be profitable if they are useful to someone else besides your pocketbook. The most important thing you can remember when opening your web business is to focus on serving people and making their lives better. The results of this attitude will pay off big in the long run. If you do not focus on the big picture and choose to shoot for some short term income then you will not be a part of the internet business place for very long.

Here is a tip that will help your sites be more successful:

Research studies indicate that most people use the internet to perform research
on topics and products they are interested in purchasing. So the first way to
ensure your site has some sticking power is to make it a bastion for the
researcher on a quest for information.

Tread Lightly

2007-05-14T08:55:00.000+08:00

Is internet marketing something for you? Do you dream about working at home where your kids are, where you feel you should be? Internet marketing can promise this and so much more. But, tread lightly and do your research before jumping into the world of Internet marketing.

While many people feel that internet marketing is all a scam, simply stated, this is false. There are quality companies and quality business plans that are proven. Likewise, there are just as many and even more that are not worth your time or the expense. To understand the differences you need to take the time to research and then decide if the company is right for you. First, you should understand that in most internet marketing endeavors, you will own your own business. You are not working for someone else, which is a nice bonus, but it can be a downfall to many. There are extra expenses that you personally need to take on. You need to keep yourself motivated to do a good job on a daily basis.

If you believe you can handle these simple things in internet marketing, then you can start your search for a company to work with. There are many. It will take you a good amount of time to decide which one is right for you. Do you want to sell products? Do you know enough to sell software? Can you see yourself promoting your business online, over the phone, in your neighborhood, and to your family and friends? Look into the business's history. Do they have a long background with a proven track record? If it's a ground floor opportunity, can you trust and believe in it enough to make it successful? Is the business a member of the Better Business Bureau? What about others who have done the business, what do they have to say? Will they provide training, materials, or anything else that is needed?

Once you combine all of this information, it is only then that you can and should decide on an Internet marketing company. While there are definitely advantages to working an internet marketing business from home, never kid yourself that it won't be hard work all the way. But, by doing this basic amount of research and gathering this information, you can trust that the internet marketing business you take on is the right one for you.

How To Keep Up To Date With Internet Marketing

2007-05-11T09:04:00.000+08:00

When internet marketing was in its early stages, everyone and everything was exciting and new.

After a few years and as people got more experienced with internet marketing, things began to change at a rapid pace.

Techniques that were once profitable became obsolete.

Internet marketing changes with each passing day and a tip or method that worked a couple of months ago, will probably not be of much use to you today.

Years ago, you could begin internet marketing by placing ads in newsgroups or free classified sites.

It is just not possible to that any longer as internet marketing changes rapidly from month to month.

The Best Internet Marketing Strategy

2007-05-10T08:41:00.000+08:00

The Very Best Internet Marketing Strategy is to gain knowledge your competitors don't have. In all business ventures there is tremendous competition, and this is especially true with the launching of any website. In order to beat the competition, planning, positioning, differentiation of your product as well as effective internet marketing is crucial to a successful website. The two main components that will determine if your web site is successful, is having both the best internet marketing strategy and website content.

Planning your Website Content

With Millions of websites on the internet it is essential that you plan or revise your content so it stands out from your competitors. The best internet marketing strategies involve techniques that make your product stand out from your competitors, give the consumer a reason to choose your product instead of the competitors. Due to massive and growing global competition on the internet, competition in price is often not possible. However, there are alternative differentiation and positioning strategies that can be just as effective.

Most people shopping on the internet have an extremely short attention span. Therefore, often internet marketing strategies like convenience become a more important factor in a successful marketing campaign. The best internet marketing strategies involve presenting your product in a manner that influences customers’ perception of your product in the most favorable manner. The overall objective is to distinguish your product from your competition and give the consumer a compelling reason to choose your product over the competitors. When planning your content, it is important to consider the following checklist during the planning process of your website copy writing.

o All the benefits and features of your product, compared to your competitors

o The level of customer service you offer compared to others

o The delivery time, cost and product guarantees you can offer vs. what they can provide

o The emotional and physical need or desires your product can potentially fulfill

o Are your customers local and are your competitors local

o What demographic your competition is targeting and are there weaknesses you can exploit

o Consider what online advice or value-added services you can provide

(i.e; Newsletters, FAQ page, 1 800 #'s, guarantees, forums, blogs, tools, etc.)

o Can you and do you offer more varied methods of payment

o Does your staff's education, training or experience set your company apart

o Established reputation, customer testimonials and/or celebrity endorsements establish trust

o Can you provide statistics regarding volume of sales and customer satisfaction

o Listing prices of your product or service. Many people will leave the sites without this information

o Ensure you most advantageous points appear within the first two paragraphs

Identifying the competitors’ strengths and weaknesses in positioning will allow you to clearly distinguish your product and website above the competitors and plan for effective website copy. However, if your website does not get seen, it is wasted effort.

The Best Internet Marketing Strategy

All the best internet marketing strategies involve some degree of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Get to know at least the fundamentals of search engine optimization and ensure that your copy writing includes the keyword phrases that your customers are actually typing into the search engines. One of the simpler free SEO tools at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ , can facilitate this process by giving you an indication of the actual number of monthly search queries that are performed. Try to use keyword rich titles and content in your web site copywriting. There are literally hundreds of other on-page and off-page SEO factors that determine a websites internet presence. The best internet marketing strategies often include the following;

o Posting to relevant newsgroups

o Soliciting reciprocal links

o Posting to relevant forums and newsgroups

o Updating and creating fresh and additional website content

o Directory and search engine submissions

o Blogging and implementing RSS Feeds

o Issuing press releases

Finally, if your industry is particularly competitive, or your time line is limited it may be worthwhile to consider the services of a professional search engine optimization expert to improve search engine rankings for that final competitive edge.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Duane_Parakin

Tips For Email Marketing

2007-05-09T09:03:00.000+08:00

There are a lot of people involved in Internet marketing who think that email marketing is dead for a variety of reasons that I will touch on in this article. The truth of the matter is, email marketing can be very effective if done correctly. This article will give you a few tips to make your email marketing campaign a successful one. Hopefully, after reading this, you will have a good solid foundation on which to build your email marketing campaign.

Let's get this first tip out of the way. Don't spam. I know that you've probably been told that by sending out your email to millions of people, even if you get a one tenth of one percent return you can make a lot of money, but the truth is, with the spam filtering that's out there, most of your emails won't get delivered and ultimately you will only end up earning a reputation as a spammer and with it your business will go down in flames. Okay, don't spam. That means, only send information to people who have specifically asked for it.

The next tip involves the actual content of your email ad. Because of all the spam filters that are placed on most commercial email account, you have to be very careful about the words that you use in your email ads. Words like "money" and "guarantee" and "earn" are big no-nos. There are many spam checkers online that you can use that are free. They will give your emails a spam score. Under 2, you're fine. From 2 to 5 you're on the borderline and over 5, your message is probably going to be flagged as spam.

The next tip involves the actual email account that you use to do your marketing with. Lots of people think that this doesn't matter. The truth is, it matters a great deal. If you are using a free email account such as AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, or whatever it is you're using, while your emails may get delivered to other people, there is no guarantee that their return emails to you are going to get through.

What's that you say? Return emails? Um, yeah. You know, the ones that potential customers send to you asking you questions about your product or service? With the free email accounts, oh yeah, and free is another word you can't use in email advertising, where was I? Oh yes, with free email accounts, because of the spam filters that the ISPs put on them to protect you from spam, a lot of your email, especially the emails that you want, won't get delivered. This could mean the difference between making and losing a sale. So get yourself a professional email account so you know you're going to get your emails delivered.

The above few tips are just the tip of the iceberg, pardon the pun, but they should be enough to get you on the right road to a successful email marketing campaign.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Wagenheim

Email Marketing - The Timing and the Relevance

2007-05-08T09:34:00.000+08:00

If you look hard enough you will find research on almost any given topic. For instance, were you aware that there are certain times when sending email marketing is probably a bad idea? There are also times when sending marketing emails makes perfect sense.

Monday and Friday – These two days are not as useful to email marketing as other days of the workweek. The primary reason is Monday is generally a time to get back into the swing of work, while Friday is a time to gear down. Your email is likely to be lost in the shuffle. Since most email marketing can be sent out on command this is something to consider when developing an email marketing campaign.

Saturday and Sunday – The weekend is generally throwaway days for email marketing for much the same reason as Monday and Friday. If someone is in the office on the weekend, the last thing they are interested in is marketing emails. If your email comes in over the weekend chances are pretty good your email marketing campaign will be subject to a readily used email purge without serious consideration.

It should be noted that you might find some receptivity to email marketing campaigns that are sent out to individual consumers late in the workweek or even early in the weekend. This is the primary difference between business-to-business email marketing and business-to-consumer marketing.

Tuesday through Thursday – These are the three days when all email marketing seems to have the greatest impact. Employees and business owners are fully entrenched in their workweek and the result is their minds may be better geared toward business decisions or consumer purchases.

Interestingly if you can send your emails out around either 9 am or 1 pm, response seems to be better than if you wait for either lunch or the end of the workday.

Essentially what we are seeing is if you can approach consumers and business contacts during the ‘trench’ part of the workweek, when their minds aren’t focused on either closing time or lunch you may stand a better chance at affecting a site visit and potential sale. You may even find fewer opt-out requests when you work within this simple time frame for email marketing.

Remember, no one likes junk mail and they don’t like emails that are thought of in terms of spam. Make sure your content is relevant to the topic the individual signed up for, make sure you can provide information or price reductions on products the customer may be interested in or has purchased in the past. Relevancy and timing are keys to acceptability in all email-marketing campaigns.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Lindsay

The Best Email Internet Marketing Strategy

2007-05-07T08:39:00.000+08:00

So is there really a best email internet marketing strategy out there that you could be using to generate wealth? Are there ways to market to your list that are better than others? Is there some tips that you should follow in order to get better response from your list when you send them messages?

There is a best email internet marketing strategy and there is a better way to generate a better response and make more money with your list. Here are 3 helpful tips to remember when setting up your email marketing campaigns.

Best Email Internet Marketing Strategy tip #1 – Don’t over promote to your list

When you promote to your list on a daily basis they get sick of you. You have to stay in their minds, but not be annoying. A good rule of thumb is to promote 3 times maximum to your list per week.

Best Email Internet Marketing Strategy tip #2 – Send something worthwhile to your list

If all you do is send product recommendations and promotions your readers will stop reading your message. You have to give them an article, free eBook, or helpful tool to keep them coming back for more. Do this 1-2 times a week and they will be more likely to buy when you do promote to them.

Best Email Internet Marketing Strategy tip #3 – Be personable with your subscribers

When you treat your subscribers like they are your new found friends, and you write to them like that, instead of like you are a big corporation and they are just a number in your database you will get a better response. Try this and you will be amazed at how much your new subscribers love reading your messages.

There you have it 3 very helpful tips to really boost your email marketing. This is just part of what can be considered the best email internet marketing strategy. There is more that you can learn and use, but this should get you started.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ben_Ehinger

D-List Part 4

2007-05-03T14:47:00.000+08:00

Patrick Says v2.0
Paula Mooney
PBriscoe.com
Pegs AZ Life
Pencil Thin
PimpMyPageRank
Pink Poison Store
Pond, The
Ramblings Of An Undisturbed Mind
Randa Clay Design
Raw Vegan Momma
Reasoner, The
Rotten Bananas
Sassy Southerner, The
Scribble On The Wall
Scuttlebutt Pipeline
Selena’s Travel and Culture
SelfHynosisProgram
Shopping Flavor
ShowMeHealthBiz
ShowMeMoneyBiz.com
Simple Kind Of Life
Simplify Every Obstacle
Skeets Stuff
Solo Technology
Sophistishe.Org Personal Blog
SQKIKs Simple Tech
Super Blogging
Sun-Flower Family, The
Table for Five
TDZ Travel
TeaScoop
TechieZone
Teenage Angst Regression
Texas RV
Travel blog
Thermal
TimeForBlogging
Tricia\’s Musings
Two Dog Zoo
Utterly Geek
Wanders World
Web Files, The
WebStyle
Whatever I Feel Like
Wild & Crazy Ride
Winding Threads
Wired Kayaker, The
Women Mumbles
Work At Home Mom Revolution
Yoga Blog

To be continued

Internet Marketing Online

2007-05-03T09:01:00.000+08:00

If you’re interested in Internet marketing online, than you’re on the right track. Many people use the Internet, and marketing a website online will make you a lot of money if you do it the right way. Internet marketing online can seem easy if you don’t know what you’re doing, but it’s pretty profitable once you’re on the right track.

There are many ways of Internet marketing online – banner ads, PPC, e-mail advertising – to name just a few. However, there is one way of Internet marketing that is better than all the rest, simply because it is free and it provides targeted traffic to your market.

What I am talking about is search engine marketing. This is a very profitable way of doing Internet marketing online. SEO is just a way of optimizing your website so that it appears in the results in the major search engines for relevant keywords.

For example, if you’re trying to market your apple business online, your goal would be that all related keywords to apple (such as big apple, red apple, mackintosh apple…) can trigger results with your website in them. This means that the searcher is already looking for apples, and thus you have a high chance of selling them one.

Internet marketing online through SEO is one of the most profitable ways of marketing online. It let’s you touch 80% of the people who are interested in your product or service, and it requires some work however you can do this in your spare time.

The best way to practise SEO is by being smart – use tools that will do most tasks automatically. Today, there are many software applications that will automate SEO tasks. The result is that you save time and money, and you’re listed faster and higher in the search engines.

If you are serious about Internet marketing online, than doing SEO with the proper tools is what you need. You’ll profit greatly from your website.

The best SEO tool, in my opinion, is SEO Elite. This SEO software can perform many tasks, and, since it comes with an SEO guide, you’ll be able to know exactly what to do and you’ll be able to do it automatically with the software.

To read an honest review on SEO Elite, simply go to my website. If you don’t, you’ll be losing money and throwing away the opportunity to get customers. This is the best way of doing Internet marketing online.

Imagine – you’ll get 10 000 free targeted visitors to your website…daily!

How to Benefit from Email Marketing

2007-05-02T08:56:00.000+08:00

You have tried buying phone lists, ads in the yellow pages, seeming all your marketing options have been exhausted, but if you have not yet used email marketing, you may have missed out on one of the most cost effective marketing solutions. Researchers have made the estimate that in 2006 alone, US companies spent more than $400 million on email marketing. Obviously, there is something to this method.

One of the advantages of email marketing is its relative inexpensiveness when compared with direct mail or printed newsletters. Also, it has proven to provide a high return on investment when done correctly. It is easy to track, and allows active and aggressive marketing, instead of similar internet marketing that forces the user to sit and wait while people click through. It is also instantaneous, as opposed to its predecessor, direct mail, which can take days or weeks to arrive.

All these benefits can make lucrative email marketing a smart choice, and in order to take advantage of it, there are many services that you can hire to help you market your company via email. However, because “junk” email has become so prevalent, a 2003 act of congress called the CAN-SPAM Act authorized $11,000 US for every violation of spamming, or repeated, unsolicited advertising, to each person. This means that you should make sure whichever email marketing service you hire complies with this act.

Lucrative email marketing can be a beneficial step toward increasing your internet presence and making more money. To take advantage of this, the internet is a good resource for investigating email marketing and companies that provide such services.

Have a look eMail Magic here

Internet Marketing Tool

2007-05-01T08:29:00.000+08:00

If you’re into Internet marketing, having the best Internet marketing tools is a must for you. If you’re smart, you know that you should be working smarter and not harder to market online. Having the right marketing tools can change you from an unsuccessful marketer to a successful one. Tools make all the difference: make sure you have the right ones.

The best way to be marketing online is by practising SEO, search engine marketing, and getting yourself a good internet marketing tool. Why SEO?

Search engine marketing is a great way to market your website simply because it’s free, and because you’ll get targeted traffic, which means that people are already looking for what you have to sell. Your sales will greatly increase and your website will be a success if you practise SEO properly.

Now, Internet marketing tools exist for SEO. This is important to consider since many of the tasks involved with SEO are repetitive tasks, and such tasks, with proper Internet marketing tools, may be done in minutes.

Does it make sense to work for 5 hours when it can be done automatically for you in just minutes?

That’s why working with an SEO internet marketing tool will get your SEO done quickly, resulting in high ranking and in quick integration into the search engines. You’ll be saving both time and money if you have the right Internet marketing tool.

Practising SEO is very profitable. Your website will generate a lot of income simply because it’s targeted to the visitors you receive. If you’re serious about Internet marketing, this is what you should be doing.

The best Internet marketing tool, in my opinion, is SEO Elite. This software is extremely powerful and it can automate many tasks. This marketing tool will get you visitors from the search engines in days and it’s truly the way to go if you want to cut out your competition.

Imagine – you’ll dominate your market in the search engines, and you’ll receive 10 000 free targeted visitors… daily!

If you’re business-minded, you’ll see the opportunity in this right away. SEO Elite is truly the best Internet marketing tool around.

Your Future In Internet Marketing

2007-04-30T08:30:00.000+08:00

Schemes, ideas and even secrets are available to the newcomer internet marketer, almost a new one every other day. It holds the promise of riches and a happy fulfilled life for just following a few simple steps.

True it is, the steps are simple, but the profits lie beyond the steps as many disgruntled internet marketers have by now realized. The internet business is not an easy money generating machine for just anyone who dares enter.

What many people trying to make it in the internet marketing business tend to forget, mainly because of very well written and researched sales letters, is that the online business is relatively the same as an off-line business. You can’t run an off-line business working two hours a day and make a ton of cash. Any business needs time to grow with ups and downs, it has always been like that and it will always remain like that.

The autopilot has retired quite some time ago and if you figure that you want to employ him get ready to pay his retirement fund.

Ok this so far sounds like someone who has now become fed up with the online marketing idea and the making money quick schemes.

So why would you still want to pain yourself if there is no future? Guess what, there is a very lucrative future in the internet business you must just learn to see it. Opportunities are as abundant in the internet marketing arena as they have never been before and it is growing daily. More and more people are finding themselves able to work from home and earn a substantial income online.

So is there a secret to this that someone should write a book about? No, you already know the answer. It is plain simple hard work, divided into building your website with quality content, getting back links from authority sites and writing articles and posting them to the article directories.

Next step is to monetize your website, not castrate it. Decide on a product you would like to promote and add it to your site. Place the ad in a good position and do a small write up on the product. A interested visitor can click on the link and off they go to the sales page If they like the product and have the means to pay you have made a sale. It is as simple as that. There are many ways and means to get products and amongst them are resell rights products, PLR products, Affiliate products or your own product.

But remember, your sales will only come from traffic, feet as it is referred to in the off-line world. No feet, no traffic, no sales.

So the secret here is no secret at all, get visitors to your site and you will make money. Make sure your on-page and off-page optimizations are done to the maximum of your ability and then add another one hundred percent of effort to make it better. The most effective way in which to get your pages indexed in the search engines and ranked is with article submissions to the article directories. From them you will receive one way back links, the most important links of all. They are the ones that will give you page rank and good search result placement.

The best place to be is at the top of page one for your search term, it is never easy but neither is it impossible. Have a look, there is someone in position one, and always will be. Why can it not be you?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karl_Stadler

How to Boost Internet Marketing and Sales

2007-04-24T08:37:00.000+08:00

Earning money is the whole point of an online business and every webmaster with an ebusiness is looking for ways to boost their sales. Internet sales can be a tricky thing, but if you know what you are doing, you can ensure that your sales rates increase steadily instead of jumping up and down randomly. This article will provide some tips for improving your internet sales.

- Avoid traffic exchanges and traffic boosting services. They might raise your hits level, but these are not customers, they are simply other webmasters trying to earn hits for their own websites or surfers who are receiving a tiny percentage of what you pay in order to get them to visit. This is not targeted traffic, which is what you need in order to sell.

- Offer high quality products and services. If you ignore your customers’ complaints or offer inferior quality products, you will not get repeat sales and your word of mouth advertising will be non-existent. By responding quickly to comments or complaints that your clients have, and giving them great products, you will boost your reputation in your niche and quickly gain not only repeat sales but new ones from the friends and associates of previous customers.

- Start an affiliate program. There is nothing like a host of salespeople out there promoting your product to get things moving. While you should always do some promotion yourself, it really does help to have other people involved. And since you only pay for results, you will never be money out of pocket! PayDotCom and Clickbank offer easy to use services for setting up your own affiliate program.

- Write some articles. Article marketing is one of the most overlooked forms of boosting sales online. You are basically selling your product in the article, although it should be informative to everyone. For example, you write about how to choose the right web host, listing features to look for, etc. Then at the end of the article, you add a link to your web hosting service, which just happens to have all the features mentioned in the article! It is a pre-sale and can be extremely useful when used with discretion.

- Hold a contest. You can offer a grand prize to the winner. People get an entry into your draw or contest for every $10 they spend or every purchase they make, which encourages them to buy now instead of waiting and thinking about it.

- Build a reputation. If you have a good reputation as being an expert in your niche area, people will want to buy from you. They will trust you. You can build your reputation through ebooks, articles and offering high quality goods and information on your own website.

- Start an opt in list. By offering a weekly or monthly newsletter, you are reminding your customers that you are around. You can also use this to let people know that you have new products and bring them back to the site. This is an excellent way to keep in touch with previous customers and encourage repeat sales.

By following the tips above, you should see results fairly quickly. You might not boost your sales through the roof immediately, but you will see a steady improvement and that is what counts in the long run. It just takes patience and some hard work.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Copper

"Augtomize" year-round

2007-04-23T08:17:00.000+08:00

It's hard to believe the month is already over. It seems like just yesterday when Mike Gutner first announced that August was Optimization Month. Since then, members of the AdSense optimization team and Googlers representing other products have shared their findings and best practices for how to optimize your AdSense earnings. We hope you've come through the month with an arsenal of insightful tips and tricks for optimizing not only your AdSense ads, but also your site content for your specific audience.

We'd like to leave you with the following:

1. Nothing warms the hearts of our team more than hearing success stories from AdSense publishers. Please tell us yours!

2. The road to enlightenment begins with the Optimization Tips page. If you haven't seen it yet or it's been awhile, be sure to check it out.

3. Teach a person to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime. The AdSense Help group is a great community to post optimization tips and swap best practices with other publishers.

Referrals, now with Google Checkout

2007-04-20T08:54:00.000+08:00

Today we're excited to announce that in addition to AdSense, AdWords, Firefox with Google Toolbar, and Google Pack, you can now refer your users to Google Checkout through AdSense.

Checkout gives your users a faster, safer, and more convenient way to shop online. OK, that sounds great for them, but what do you get out of it? Well, every time you refer a user to Google Checkout, you make a little money. It's a simple process that includes all of three steps:

1.You place the Checkout referral button on your site.

2.Someone clicks on the button, signs up as a buyer with Google Checkout using a valid U.S. credit card, and completes a purchase of at least $10 before shipping and tax through Checkout within 90 days. (The current $10 minimum purchase corresponds to our existing $10 promotion for new buyers, so this amount may change in the future.)

3.You earn $1.

It's that simple. Please note that Checkout referrals are currently only available for U.S. publishers, and Google Checkout is currently only available for buyers with a U.S. credit card. We hope to make both Checkout and Checkout Referrals available in more countries soon.

If you're not convinced, why not try it out yourself? It costs nothing to sign up (actually, you'll even get a $10 bonus) and it'll make shopping online a little easier. And remember, if you're still figuring out how to improve the performance of your referrals, take a peek at our optimization tips for referrals.

You can get started with Checkout referral ads by visiting the AdSense Setup tab in your account. We think your users will thank you for showing them Google Checkout, and your wallet will like having some extra money for you to spend at all of those great Google Checkout stores.

Source: Google Inside AdSense

Successful Internet Marketing Strategy

2007-04-19T08:54:00.000+08:00

What does it take for an Internet marketing strategy to be successful? Most often using only one does not guarantee a sure ball. Using different approach on the other hand can increase the likelihood of a successful Internet marketing strategy.

There are short-term strategies that you can use. These include advertising, message boards or forums and search engines. These could be short-term strategies but once perfected, they can lead to more and more sales and traffic in the long run. Advertising can come in paid advertisements or you can take advantage of free advertisements. These free ads include Internet banners and posting comments in blogs or message boards.

For long-term Internet marketing strategies, you can build your opt-in lists and maintain good content. This can give you a steady traffic to your site in a long period of time. As long as you have good content on your website, people will keep on returning to recover these useful data. An opt-in list can come handy to update potential clients who are interested with your offers. Just keep on updating them and sending newsletters that would help them with their decision.

Creating your strategy is as simple as mixing and matching these approaches. Also, measuring and monitoring the results for using each approach can help you decide in strategizing. From there, you will know what needs to be improved. There is really no formula for an effective strategy. But once you have used the approaches that fit to your case, success is not far from your fingertips.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Raymond_Nesa

Marketing an Internet Presence

2007-04-18T08:58:00.000+08:00

I was speaking with the CEO of an executive career and job site recently. We were making another installment in our ongoing discussion about developing and marketing an on-line Internet presence by leveraging on-line networking platforms.

The CEO made a statement that reminded me of the national, multicultural, social marketing campaign coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

VERB™ It's what you do.

To network does - not - mean to simply join a networking platform, create a profile, and passively expect magic to happen. It requires action. It requires reaching out. That's right - it requires effort.

I've talked to many people over the years that complain about not getting anything out of their membership to a given networking platform. When I ask, "What exactly did you - do - after joining the networking platform?" The response (all too often) is, "Do?"

There are millions of - inactive - members of networking platforms. Unfortunately, that translates into million of people that are not realizing the benefit of on-line networking.

Network: It's what you - do - that counts.

There are obviously multitudes of ways one can take action and reach out. You can reach out directly to specific individuals through personal messages/emails or indirectly by posting blogs on topics of common interest, subject matter expertise, etc., or starting a club/forum around a common interest, subject matter expertise, etc. They all require action.

I belong to and I'm a heavy user of on-line networking platforms. All on-line networking platforms are not created equal. From my experience, without a doubt, out of all of the on-line networking platforms I've experimented with, I've found - the best - place to network and start investing in building an on-line Internet presence. It is amazing how fast you can do this.

As an example, do a Google search on the key words: do you exist

The first thing I want you to notice is that the result is a search return of approximately 412,000,000 hits. Now note that my blog post "Do you exist? - by Ron Bates" typically comes up as the 1st - 3rd hit on the first page out of 412 - million - hits. This capability is invaluable to someone desiring to build and market a personal or corporate Internet presence.

I believe so strongly in the power of building an Internet Presence by leveraging on-line networkin that I built a website just to discuss specifically how to do this.

Happy Networking!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ron_Bates

Internet Marketing - Advantages and Disadvantage - 1

2007-04-17T08:07:00.000+08:00

Internet Marketing - It's All Online

2007-04-16T08:26:00.000+08:00

The way the world looks at business and information has changed dramatically in the past decade. In order to survive, yellow pages are not only found in telephone books, but also online. If I want to know what’s playing at the local movie theater I am more likely to go online to find out than I am to give them a call and wade through a never-ending phone message. If I want to know of a certain city I am visiting has shops my family likes I take a tour online to find out which stores are available and where they are located – and I can download a map to that destination in most cases.

When I need to book a hotel I do so online where I can take a photo tour of the facility and can compare prices and amenities.

The Internet has changed the rules for business. This is why it is important to make sure Internet marketing is an important component to your online presence.

Many of the most successful online businesses are an extension to an existing brick and mortar store. It is quite possible that at the onset of the online presence the feeling may have been, “What can it hurt?” However, as these businesses caught a glimpse at the possibilities of taking an already successful business to a global audience a newfound respect for the Internet emerged.

Would it surprise you to learn that brick and mortar stores that began operation as many as ten years ago have seen a dramatic shift in where their income is generated? A jewelry store in New York started online and saw 20% of their overall sales were facilitated in their online store. They were happy because this gave them a revenue stream that improved their bottom line. Today more than 80% of their sales are online. What may be worth noting is the brick and mortar store has also grown in sales, but still only accounts for 20% of the company’s profits.

Internet marketing is not a one-time event. It’s long-term, daily, and vital to the success of your online presence.

So the next time you go online to find out what’s on TV, how your favorite team is doing, or where you can find a special fishing rod, remember the infrastructure of online business was pioneered by men and women who fought to find ways to get the message out that their store was online, open for business and it never closes.

People will go on line to find what they need. Will they find you?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Lindsay

D-List Part 3

2007-04-03T14:47:00.000+08:00

These blogs have the ‘no follow’ link disabled from the comments, which means that if you comment on these sites, you will get an actual link. If you would like to be included here, please let me know.

If you find this list useful, please consider linking to it.

This DoFollow Blog list is courtesy of Courtney Tuttle and was created originally by Coleen as the D-List.

Jonlee
Jones PC
JOIN - Do Follow Bloggers **
Julies
Journal
Just Not Martha
Kansha Shite
Knitting Fiend, The
Last Blogger
LeaveAmerica
Life in the Fast Lane
Life Is Risky
Life Learning Today
Life Of A School Bus Driver, The
Life Passion Travel & More
Life through eyes of Krissy
Lifecruiser
LittleAmerica.us
Live Life Organics & Your Health
Magical Rose Garden
Marketing Blagger
Master Cleanse
Midlife Musings
Mom is Nutz
MomReviews.net
Mothering Many
My Credit Group
My Dandelion Patch
My Home Recipe
My Muddled Mind
My Opinion Counts
My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings
Nanashi-Inc.net
New Century Politics
No Average Mom
Odd Planet
On the Horizon
Open Road Biker

To be continued

You May Not Succeed at Internet Marketing on Your Own

2007-03-21T11:48:00.000+09:00

article by Francis Heywood

It is estimated that 98% of all people who begin online marketing ventures will NOT succeed. Most will fumble around for months until, after spending a ton of time and money and not making a dime, they give up.

Unless you are part of the 2% of people who know what needs to be done and how to do it, you will not make it! Unless you are part of the 2% of people with a passion for becoming wealthy and the drive to do what needs to be done to get your first million, you will not make it! Keep your eyes on the prize. Set goals for yourself that you aim to achieve daily, monthly and yearly.

Getting yourself organized is key! Keep a spreadsheet listing all of your affiliate programs, marketing tools and their passwords. Decide on what advertising works for you and at what times. Then write down a schedule for yourself as to when you will utilize each tool. An ad-tracking program is an excellent way to find out where to spend your money and your time.
Making money on the Internet is not easy! I’m sure you probably already know that. Don’t continue to try and do it on your own, without guidance from experts, without help from people who have already made many millions of dollars online.

The secret to making money online or anywhere else is DUPLICATION. You copy what already works, you copy what has already made other individuals millions of dollars. You don’t reinvent the wheel!

Internet Marketing To Increase Web Site Traffic

2007-03-20T00:31:00.000+09:00

Want to know the best Internet marketing strategies that maximize network marketing Internet businesses to peak potential? Just remind yourself that it’s all about WEB SITE TRAFFIC. Online advertising (plus Internet marketing affiliate programs) are your exclusive way to significantly increased online traffic.

How powerful is your current strategy for Internet marketing online advertising? Have you formulated an effective yet basic plan for your business home Internet marketing promotion?So many potential entrepreneurs have dreams of marketing on the Internet. Yet, the sad reality is that 90% almost continually fail at conducting online Internet advertising in a highly income-producing manner. The key problem is lack of down-to-earth, practical Internet marketing information. For most of us, unfortunately, it takes a while to learn that “quick” Internet marketing solutions actually take longer than doing Internet web site advertising the correct way.

So, what is “Internet Marketing Advertising” all about? And, is it truly necessary for website promotional Internet marketing to cost a lot?The true answer is that Internet marketing home business opportunity can be fruitful and rewarding, but if, and ONLY if, you get the worlds best Internet marketing tools? Which are the best online marketing promotion tools? Well, surprisingly, gaining targeted web site traffic is not just a matter of opinion. There exists a list of the highest, most proven, absolutely effective, and repetitively rewarding Internet marketing advertising online tools available.

For example, the simplified yet outstandingly effective and informative Internet marketing ebook, “Secrets of the Big Dogs,” provides bona fide, down-to-earth online marketing promotion guidelines. It ranks approximately number 17 on the prestigious ClickBank popularity listing of over 470 other "secret-revealing," Internet marketing home business opportunity, and Internet marketing ebooks. The hard-core facts presented here can significantly help almost any Internet marketing “newbie” in obtaining network marketing internet business results, and especially, to locate plus utilize targeted web site traffic.

When you want more web site traffic, use advertising for Internet marketing strategies that maximize your online marketing business opportunity. Online marketing business opportunity demands it because Internet advertising can be tricky. Especially with home based Internet marketing businesses, you may have a tendency to underestimate the residual value of professional and proficient Internet marketing strategy. You simply must increase web site traffic! This is your most crucial, strategic Internet marketing advantage because marketing an online business is all about TRAFFIC.

If you can figure out how to successfully muster up increased web site traffic (but it must be WEB SITE TRAFFIC OF HIGH VALUE) then you successfully master the most rewarding principles of nearly all Internet marketing strategies. Get more web site traffic by following these simple guidelines that most take for granted.

This article is primarily about garnering for yourself the best Internet marketing strategies that boost network marketing Internet business toward soaring financial heights while also providing the additional side benefit of personal satisfaction. However, obtaining superior web site traffic is the only way to attain that most coveted online advertising success.

Today, one of the worlds best Internet marketing tools is Internet affiliate marketing programs. And, when you can find such powerful information in a dynamic, income-generating Internet marketing ebookFree Web Content, you are that much the better for it. Nearly all home based Internet marketing businesses need to maximize their Internet marketing advertising in order to increase web site traffic results. Get more information about Internet marketing strategy and increase web site traffic for your online marketing business opportunity.

Organic Search Engine Marketing is the Trick to be Successful

2007-03-16T15:15:00.000+09:00

article by Steve Waganer

Publicity of any product or thing requires huge efforts on the part of the owner or the person who is involved with the business. You must understand that there are different ways for doing most of the things. The trick for you to be successful in this is through finding out that method which is just perfect for your work. Organic search engine marketing is one such marketing method on the web which has been found to be immensely successful in helping businesses earn huge profits. After all, the purpose of any business is to earn profit and if by implementing certain strategies like organic search engine marketing helps you do well in your online business, there is no chance why you should not implement this for your business.

For implementing organic search engine marketing, you need to hire the services of a professional. After all, he is the best person to tell you to do what is appropriate for your business. Optimization of a site is an important aspect of organic search engine marketing and business owners must give careful considerations to the methods which will be used for this kind of marketing. There are many optimization and marketing firms that provide organic search engine marketing services to clients to help them deal with the search engine marketing aspect of their business. There is no point in undertaking a method about which you do not have any knowledge and in the process end up doing harm rather than good to your business.

Organic search engine marketing methods are not similar to traditional marketing methods. So if you come with idea that the process of doing search engine marketing optimization is easy, you are mistaken. Make sure that the professional you hire to help you in undertaking these marketing strategies has the required professional expertise and knowledge to help you deal with your business, no matter how complex this is. Your business is not similar to the business that your friend has, so you must be careful no to imitate those business strategies that has been successful for your friend.

There are both white hat and black hat methods as well that can be used for optimization of a site under organic search engine marketing strategy. Undoubtedly, you will get instant results through the black hat methods, but in the long run this can cause severe damage to your business. The white hat methods that are needed for optimization may appear to be time consuming, but the best part about this is you will get good results out of this and also you can get actual results which will be beneficial for your business.

Organic search engine marketing if done properly will bring huge benefits to an online business. You just have to make certain decisions after some careful considerations. Every decision that you take will have a bearing on your business, so you must be careful about this. Organic search engine marketing is hugely popular among online business owners and this method is used.

D-List Part 2

2007-03-03T14:45:00.000+09:00

These blogs have the ‘no follow’ link disabled from the comments, which means that if you comment on these sites, you will get an actual link. If you would like to be included here, please let me know.

If you find this list useful, please consider linking to it.

This DoFollow Blog list is courtesy of Courtney Tuttle and was created originally by Coleen as the D-List.

Andy Beard
Ang’s Chicken Coop
Are we there yet
Army Mom:New Jersey
Art Kauffman
Article Writer, The
Ask Jason
Ask Jason Business
Axplay
BenSpark,
The BenSpark 2: Electric Boogaloo
BiggerPockets
BizMark Tech
BlogAboutMoneyOnline
BloggingForBills
BloggingTips
Blogging WV
Blogocola
Blogozine
BMonaco
BodyFitnessInfo
Body, Mind & Solar
Boston Brat
BrownSista
Buy better - Have a Better Life
BuyMeBlog
Buzz Queen, The
By the Sea
Cade’s WriteToRight
CampingCoop.org
Candid Quips
Charmed and Dangerous
Cheffin\’ It!!
Clapping Trees
Colloquium
Comedy Plus
Community Building Blog
Curious Cat Science
Confessions of a Housewife
Confessions of an Everyday housewife
CoolAdzine for Marketers
Craftblog
Crafts 4 Dummies
David Dairey
Dont Fear the Truth
DorisGoShopping.com
Down Memory Lanes
Ecomm Tips
EMomsAtHome
EMoneyMarketing
Endangered Spaces
Fibromyalgia Experiment, The
Finding Life\’s Enchantments
FitForFreedom
Flatwater Tech
Fools Wisdom
FootPrints On the Moon
Fuzzy Future

To be continued

Video post: Laura Chen answers your referrals questions

2007-02-23T10:27:00.000+09:00

We often receive questions about the policies related to AdSense referrals. In this post we answer some of your most common concerns. Live (OK -- pre-recorded) from the Googleplex, here's Laura Chen:

Laura addresses these burning questions:

1. Why am I receiving less than the full amount for each conversion in my reports? Is something wrong?

2. After I've referred a person to AdSense, can I see how much they've earned so far?

3. Can I ask users to click my referral buttons?

Adsense New pricing structure for referrals

2007-02-22T09:04:00.000+09:00

Last year we asked you for your feedback on referrals, and one of the issues we heard quite frequently was that it was too difficult to generate revenue with AdSense and AdWords referrals. To address this, we've just introduced a new pricing structure for both programs, which will be as follows:

AdSense Referrals:

When a publisher who signed up for Google AdSense through your referral earns their first $5 within 180 days of sign-up, you will be credited with $5.

When that same publisher earns $100 within 180 days of sign-up and is eligible for payment, you will be credited with an additional $250.

If, in any 180-day period, you refer 25 publishers who each earn more than $100 within 180 days of their respective sign-ups and are all eligible for payout, you will be awarded a $2,000 bonus (bonus payouts are limited to 1 per year).

AdWords Referrals:

When an advertiser you refer spends $5 within 90 days of sign-up (in addition to the $5 sign-up fee) you will be credited with $5.

When that same advertiser spends $100 within 90 days of sign-up, you will be credited with an additional $40.

If, in any 180 day period, you refer 20 advertisers who each spend more than $100 within 90 days of their respective sign-ups, you will be awarded a $600 bonus (bonus payments are limited to 1 per year).

These rules will also apply to users that you have already referred but who have not yet reached one of the new earning/spend thresholds. For example, if you referred an AdSense publisher who has currently earned $2.00, you will be paid $5.00 if that publisher reaches the $5.00 mark. But, if you have referred an AdSense publisher who has already earned $10.00, you will not be paid $5.00 retroactively for that referral reaching the $5.00 mark. However, should that publisher eventually reach the $100.00 earnings mark within 180 days, you will be paid $250.00.

Finally, please keep in mind that publishers may not click on their own referral ads and will not be paid for referring themselves for any product. For more information about referrals, please visit our Help Center.

Right Internet Marketing Technique

2007-02-21T09:55:00.000+09:00

Finding the right Internet marketing technique that works best for you is probably going to be trial and error. Different web marketers have found their successful by using different marketing ideas. Each person’s target market is different as well. You will have to try a variety before you find the Internet marketing technique that works best for you and your web-based business. Here we will throw out a few suggestions to try and see what works for you.

The Internet marketing techniques that we will discuss first have to do with the basics of a website. Ask yourself these questions to determine what steps you may try to find the Internet marketing technique that works best for you. Does your site’s URL have search engine keywords in the title? Is your site easy to use for beginners as well as experienced web surfers? Do you offer easy accessibility for prospects to contact you? These three issues should be clear before you start to evaluate a certain Internet marketing technique.

Determine what your website’s visitors are really looking for before choosing on an Internet marking technique. Understand what they want to find on your website and make it easy for them to locate it. Trust, credibility, and site loyalty are crucial factors to build into your website. The main aim is to get your visitors to buy something. Give them the opportunity to cruise your site and not be barrage by pop-ups and other annoyances.

One Internet marking technique that is sure to please your site’s visitors is the same as in the real world. That is customer service. Make your site is as user-friendly as possible. To generate revenue from your website start by asking “How can I help?" Friendly service always attracts more buyers than making it difficult to use your system. Don't start out with the attitude, "How can I sell ‘em?" Instead lead your customers to make their own decisions rather than forcing your favorites on them.

Network Marketing in One Easy Step

2007-02-20T08:37:00.000+09:00

Network marketing, also known as multi-level marketing (MLM), can be a very successful way to build a home based business. All you need for a good network marketing business is a great product and the ability to develop an upline and a downline. The nice thing about a network marketing business is that you can work on it from just about anywhere and devote as much or as little time to your network marketing business as you choose. When it comes to network marketing, you set your own rules.

There are a lot of promises on the internet when it comes to network marketing, but there are some key points you need to consider when getting into network marketing. With a business as simple as network marketing, you do not need a college degree or special training. You will actually just need to choose a product or service to sell and have the ability to recruit the right people. The benefit is that if you have a good upline, there will be someone to help you through the process.

One good example of an effective network marketing plan is offered through Home Based Business World. A network marketing business should be simple and easy to run. With Home Based Business Word’s 1StepSystem, you get the benefit of a simple system to make money that does not involve a lot of time or recruiting. Simplicity is something to look for in a network marketing program, because if it is too complex it really might not be worth your time.

Timeliness is also important in network marketing. Whether you are handling your own selling and recruiting or the program works that aspect of the business, you want to look for a network marketing program that allows you to begin making money as soon as possible. For instance, the 1StepSystem was created to help you start earning commissions within a day or two of starting the network marketing program.

Besides earning commissions early, a good network marketing plan will also keep your commissions flowing in. This means that the money your earn from your network marketing program will become a reliable part of your income. Again, with the 1StepSystem, the commissions begin early and usually continue to flow in on a daily basis.

Another one of the other benefits to a network marketing program is that it allows you to work from home. Actually, it allows you to work from anywhere. All you usually need to run a successful network marketing business is your home and a computer. However, just like any business you run out of your home, you also need to make sure you set aside time to work and to play on a daily basis. When you are making good money through a network marketing plan, you will find yourself getting caught up in it a bit.

Read the rest of the article here: Network Marketing.

Web pirates seek own island

2007-02-19T15:57:00.000+09:00

THE Pirate Bay, one of the world's most popular websites for the illegal downloading of films through file sharing, has said it wanted to buy its own island in a bid to avoid copyright laws.

"It's not only about Pirate Bay, it's more about having a nation with no copyright laws," said one of those behind the site, who gave his name only as Peter.
The group said it would consider any territory in international waters to avoid copyright legislation.

"For Pirate Bay it would be awesome to have no copyright law. All countries today are based on the old economy and old ideas and we want to do something new," he said.

On Friday the group established a website - www.buysealand.com - as a discussion forum and to raise funds to buy Sealand, a former British naval platform and self-proclaimed principality six miles (10 kilometres) off the eastern coast of Britain.

No country recognises Sealand.

"We would love Sealand because its history is perfect for us as pirate radio used to be broadcast from there. If we don't get enough money for Sealand we are going to try for a small island somewhere," Peter said.

Pirate Bay was undeterred by Sealand's $US2 billion ($2.55 billion) price tag.

The amount was a "show price," Peter said. "We would love to move there and move all our servers there."

The Pirate Bay site - www.thepiratebay.org - was shut down by Swedish police in May 2006. The site then reopened using servers in The Netherlands before returning to Sweden in June.

The Pirate Bay provides instructions on how to share music and film files using links offered on the site and attracts some 1.5 million users throughout the world everyday.

In 2005 the Scandinavian country passed a law banning the sharing of copyrighted material on the internet without payment of royalties, in a bid to crack down on free downloading of music, films and computer games.

Filesharing in Sweden carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Optimization for misspelled words

2007-02-19T08:51:00.000+09:00

Optimizing a website for misspelled words is often recommended by many people within the search engine optimization SEO community. The concept is to capture the searchers who enter incorrectly spelled words into the search engine's interface search box. The theory is based on creating the wrong spelling, and placing it deliberately on your blog or static website. Theoretically, the pseudo-word will rank at the top of the Google search results, and receive a bonus visitor.

I do not share this SEO opinion; nor do I recommend spelling words incorrectly on a website or blog. The practice does more harm than good. It should be avoided by website owners and bloggers who want to establish a reputation for trustworthiness and professionalism.

The reasons provided by some SEO professionals for utilizing, what could be euphimistically called alternative spellings, are usually presented with good intentions. Of course, as with so many other well intended ideas, the practice doesn't match the theory. In fact, the very reasons for using misspelled words in the first place, are the reasons I don't recommend them at all. They do much more damage to a website than can be countered by any perceived benefits.

SEO theory: Incorrect spellings

The reasons for misspelling words on websites seem reasonable on the surface. In fact, some boosts in traffic can be measured as a direct result of the intentional errors. As with many statistics, the visitor traffic log can be a misleading metric if used improperly. In the case of spelling errors, the visitor traffic might not be of any value at all. It might even be harmful to your company reputation.

Let's examine why incorrect spellings are given such serious consideration as search engine tools.

It's well known that people type wrong letters when making a search query in Google. Instead of the standard and expected spelling, letters are often reversed in a transposition error, letters omitted entirely, frequently misspelled words, or letters adjacent on the keyboard are substituted by mistake. The theory holds that these are searchers who could be captured by way of the spelling error. Instead of losing those people to other sites, say these experts, they arrive at your site from ranking highly for the spelling mistake.

Network Marketing Internet Business Basics

2007-02-16T14:44:00.000+09:00

A network marketing Internet business is what millions of ordinary people are making extraordinary money from. You can too, but only if you put your mind to it. Come to think of it, a network marketing Internet business is no different from any other online business. The fundamentals are the same. What changes are the parameters. So what’s keeping you from running your own successful network marketing Internet business? Nothing! Just find a legit core opportunity and get going.

Going by definitions, a network marketing Internet business program, also known as "network" or "matrix" marketing, is a way of selling goods or services online through distributors. These programs typically promise that if you sign up as a distributor, you will receive commissions – for both your sales of the program’s goods or services and those of other people you recruit to join the distributors. Network marketing Internet business programs usually promise to pay commissions through two or more levels of recruits, known as the distributor's "downline."

Technology is rapidly changing the corporate world today, and network marketing businesses are no exception. Many network marketing Internet business companies make use of their web presence to enhance and accelerate the growth potential of their distributors.

Overwhelmed by the details of your new network marketing Internet business? Still struggling with them? Today there are so many companies, so many products, so much information and so many opportunities, it’s easy to get lost in the maze. Don’t panic. Just take them step by step.

The first, and most important thing, is picking the right company with the right product and the right system that suits your personal style, interest and skills. Take the time to understand and manage your sales tools, marketing systems and compensation plans. The next step is getting ready for all the hard work and sheer perseverence. Accept that you are not going to get rich overnight. No one does. Growing your network marketing Internet business knowledge and earning that subsequent success is a lifelong process.

Choose a product that you feel good about, and select one or two methods from your sales training manual. Utilize the power of the Internet. You can build distributor networks on a national or even a global level right from your home computer. Now isn’t that quite something?

Make it a point to keep the plan as simple as possible but no simpler. In other words, don't be unprepared, but don't also do too much. Just keep on working consistently and stay committed to your goal. Take it one step at a time and you'll get there.

*You have permission to reprint what you just read. Use it in your ezine, at your website or in your newsletter. The only requirement is including the following footer with it...

Internet Marketing: Strategic Alliances

2007-02-15T16:14:00.000+09:00

A strategic alliance is a long term formal relationship between two or more parties that is mutually beneficial. It allows the parties to work together towards a common set of goals whilst remaining independent organizations. The two parties agree to cooperate, bringing complimentary strengths and capabilities to the alliance.

A strategic alliance brings a number of benefits to the parties:

• Increases available funds for research and development whilst lowering risk
• Decrease the time to market of products, i.e. get your products to the market quicker
• Brings together complementary skill sets without the cost of developing them
• Access to skills and knowledge that an individual party does not have
• The ability to quickly expand into different markets
• Build credibility
• Build brand awareness
• Provide more value to your customers

Strategic alliances can also be known as joint ventures, but are subtly different. They are where you join forces with another person for business purposes. Now this may be where you are promoting your product (a joint venture), but can also be a strategic alliance based on a trade of skills, knowledge or experience.

Strategic alliances are important because they can often help you get your business up and running quicker and possibly cheaper.

Think about how an offline company run a strategic alliance. Companies align themselves with other companies that add to their skills and fill a hole in their service or product portfolio.

For example, you may do a strategic alliance with an advertiser for advertising space, or with a web designer for his services. You may exchange your time or your products for their services.

If you are looking to promote your product, you may well approach someone with a large list or website in your target market segment and develop a strategic alliance with them. This strategic alliance could even stretch into developing products together, promoting them and sharing the profits.

How does a strategic alliance fit into your business plan?

Particularly if you are working on a business plan for an offline business, you need to detail your strategic alliances. This influences your cash flow forecasts, your sales forecasts, your marketing plans and so on.

It’s a case of determining what your skills are and what skills you are lacking in order to develop your business. It may also be that you decide to outsource some of the work with strategic partners in order to free up more time for you to focus on the core of your business. For example, you may decide to outsource your website design work and focus on developing and marketing products rather than do the design yourself rather than making money.

When you are planning your business determine what strategic alliances you require in order to make the business a success and then find the best strategic partners to help you achieve this. Strategic alliances can fast track your business to success and free up your time for other activities.

Blogging - New Source of Internet Marketing

2007-02-14T09:03:00.000+09:00

'We never succeed at anything unless we have fun doing it.' This should be an eye-opener for all those who think blogging is too juvenile and trivial to make a difference. Blogs have come a long way since what they used to be – diaries or chronological publications. Today blogging has been mainstreamed. It is no more merely incidental to Online Marketing or Search Engine Marketing. It has opened a new dimension to Optimisation which the wise are employing and the otherwise will employ, later than sooner! It is not without reasons that the Time magazine's person of the year is 'You', that is, user generated content. There is a perceptible movement away from the traditional media.

Blogging really puts a new complexion on your business which is refreshingly different from whatever is formalistic, academic, rigid, ceremonious and official about your website; which however indispensable, may be perceived as boring. Blogging lets your audience communicate and engage in their lingo and style. It is light, energetic, personalised and very helpful in establishing good rapport with clients. You can actually induce your audience with catalysts and hormones(read articles, write-ups, ideas) and invite them to speak their mind. This information may prove extremely useful for your Online Marketing Business, in that it provides you with insights that may have escaped your observation. You may also use trial-balloons or invite a critique on your hypotheses. All of this, free of cost of course. It is a win-win situation for your business.

Blogs can serve as an effective Search Engine Optimisation tool by linking to other Web Pages. However, this has often been abused and Search Engines rightly penalize such spam blogs or splogs. Never do anything to jeopardise the trust of bloggers for blogging is the communication highway resting upon trust and faith. A proper and Ethical Optimisation strategy will result in higher rankings both via the regular social Search Engines as well as the blog or RSS search engines. A blog content is thematically amenable and hence easier for algorithmic categorization. It often has an uncomplicated URL which is more spider-wise, so to say. Also, internal linking, links to RSS feed URLs, factory-fresh content and an active community should be incentives enough for you to Optimise on blogs to hold all the aces in Online Marketing. Most importantly, why put all your eggs in one basket? The modern wisdom in Internet Marketing is having two irons in the fire – get traffic @ regular Search Engines as well as through links and RSS @ blogging. Go ahead and have the best of both worlds!

Using Email Courses for Internet Marketing

2007-02-09T08:13:00.000+09:00

Email Marketing can be a very effective way of getting leads or sales. This article discusses different methods of creating and distributing email campaigns.

Email courses are not surprisingly becoming an increasingly popular way for perceptive Internet marketers to raise awareness of their products and services. Email courses generally contain short presentations which contain good content for specialized topics. In the main these courses are commonly offered in multiple brief segments to retain the student's attention in the subject. This brand of advertising serves a gainful purpose and most of the participants do not even come to realize that they are subconsciously subjected to a clever marketing campaign. This article will reveal methods of creating and distributing an email campaign for the purposes of marketing your business.
The formation of an online campaign in the form of an email course ought to start with a popular subject which relates to your business and is likely being of interest to your future clients. Informative email courses can on occasion be sold for profit themselves but if you are patient and see the value of using the courses as marketing material you will more than likely be gifting these courses free of charge in an attempt to lure potential customers to buy your goods or services.

Deciding on the topic of your courses is extremely vital because it can determine the level of success that your marketing campaign can achieve. Consider an online distributor of fishing equipment. This business owner may wish to write a set of email courses on subjects such as fly fishing, sea fishing, bait fishing, fishing venues etc. etc.. Each of these courses may have in it a few segments which offer distinct perspectives on the subject. These types of courses are perfect for this topic because they are subjects which are liable to be of interest to the participant's of the sport. Similarly a legal practise agent may opt to offer email courses on subjects such as understanding the importance of making a will, how valuable legal representation is when appearing in court or when buying or selling real estate.

These are all subjects which are likely to be of interest to the legal practice's list of clients.

The distribution database list for email courses should in the main consist of members of your targeted market. This can be achieved by either giving the course as a download online where just responsive Internet users are more than likely to participate in the course or just limit emailing the course to recipients who have indicated that they show an interest in receiving additional details relating to your products and services and importantly have submitted their personal details for this reason.

When you make a decision on which subject will be used for your email course, search out a proficient writer to write the content for chosen course. This should help to give your transcript a more proficient appearance. The writer can support you by penning copy which is educational and valuable to your readers but is also adequately written, neat, not too long and simple to interpret. If your niche subject is immensely unique you could then supply the writer with product reports as well as fact-finding materials to assure the content is instructive and precise. Furthermore, you have to examine the content when it is completed to certify the information provided is accurate.

When it comes the time for distributing your email course, it is useful to ask for feedback from the users on completion of the course. This is entirely voluntary but when users reply they can provide you with helpful feedback which should be exceptionally useful if you propose to add a similar marketing campaign in the future.

An Autoresponder is the most widely used tool for email distribution and is an absolute must for the serious Internet Marketer.

Internet Marketing

2007-02-08T10:13:00.000+09:00

Internet marketing has gotten a raw deal! Most people just don't understand it. Internet marketing is a complete mystery to them. Here's a quick overview and explanation of Internet marketing that may help clear up the confusion.

Internet marketing is still a complete mystery to a large majority of Internet users. For many net users, online marketing is seen as some foreign area of the web, populated with silly get-rich-quick schemes and unsavory characters ready to rip off the innocent and uninformed consumer at the click of a mouse.
In fact, Internet marketing could not be further removed from this unfaltering picture. In reality, Internet marketing is populated mainly with hard working professionals promoting and selling high quality brand products by many of the world's Top 500 companies.

Worldwide there are now over a billion Internet users, representing one large global consumer base or marketplace. The total amount of goods sold online has been steadily increasing each year as the Internet gains in both popularity and familiarity. Studies have shown people shop online because of lower prices, a wider selection of products, easier comparison shopping, and many just prefer not having to travel to stores to make a purchase.

Handling all this online e-commerce is a whole sector of companies, hosting providers, web designers, advertising agencies... and so on. All this online commerce has also given rise to a relatively new creature - the professional Internet marketer. Someone who makes a lucrative living helping facilitate, in one form or another, all this online activity.

Still Internet marketing has gotten a raw deal.

If you mention to any group of professionals that you're an Internet Marketer and that you work full time on the Internet- you will receive some very skeptical looks and more than one arched eyebrow of disbelief.

Regardless of this lingering skepticism, Internet marketing has become a viable alternative for many disgruntled professionals dissatisfied with their working hours or conditions. It has become a viable alternative for many people from all walks of life, from the college student to the bored housewife to the retired doctor... all are enjoying a part time or full time income from the comfort of their homes.

And since the Internet is now practically available to everyone, anywhere in the world - Internet marketing is a level playing field. Anyone can make a full time or part time income from the web if they truly desire it.

There are many forms of Internet marketing. There are many online business models you can follow. There are countless ways to earn a good honest income from the Internet. Which path you take will be largely determined by your own work habits, your background and what marketing style you're most comfortable with.

Here's a quick rundown of the most popular forms of Internet Marketing:

1. The Brick and Mortar Store OnlineMost major companies and retail stores have created online versions of their brick and mortar businesses. Even if consumers don't buy online, many use these sites for gathering product information before buying in the real world. A factor many savvy businesses are exploiting in their overall marketing strategies.

2. Online ServicesMany service industries have moved online, everything from travel to banking to dating! Again, the Internet can be a profitable extension for any service company.

3. Internet Products/Internet GurusInternet marketing has a whole history of pioneers who have forged the methods and techniques of marketing online - opt-in lists, mini-sites, article marketing, pay-per-click advertising, joint ventures... a brief history populated with such names as John Reese, Marlon Sanders, Ralph Wilson, Yanik Silver, Corey Rudl, Ken Evoy and countless others.

A whole new industry has grown around 'How-to' market online, info products, workshops and web seminars - teaching people how to market on the Internet. A marketer creating his own product can prove very productive - as seen by John Reese's 2004 launch of Traffic Secrets, which earned over a million dollars in one day. (Without a penny of paid advertising!)

4. Online Advertising and PromotionPay-Per-Click advertising such as those offered by Google Adwords and other companies presents another viable marketing route. Keywords (the exact words typed into a search engine) fuel a large portion of the web's activity, keyword marketing has become a major driving force behind most of the economic transactions on the web. This is a very lucrative sector for those Internet marketers who know exactly what they're doing.

Then there is the whole section of SEO experts and consultants who command high prices for positioning companies or products in the top positions on the major search engines. Acquiring organic Top 10 search results (SERPs) will greatly determine the profitability of your online product or company.

5. Affiliate MarketingOne of the least understood, yet one of the most profitable forms of Internet marketing is affiliate marketing. An online marketer can join any affiliate program and promote its products or services on the Internet. You market the products, find customers for the company and receive a cut or commission for each sale you make from your marketing efforts. These commissions can run anywhere from 2% to over 50%. One affiliate click can earn you anywhere from a few cents to several hundreds of dollars.

Major third party affiliate programs or companies such as Commission Junction, LinkShare, Amazon, Shareasale... acts as a brokerage or go-between representing thousands of Top Brand companies such as Sony, Apple, Dell... to online affiliate marketers. Marketers can join a program such as Commission Junction or LinkShare and be able to promote and market hundred of top quality products or services online. They can consolidate their affiliate marketing through these third party programs.

Perhaps the most common business model for the majority of online marketers is the last example, or a combination of advertising and affiliate sales. Many work-from-home professionals have adopted this business model. They have created site or sites on the topic that interests them and of which they have or have gained some expert knowledge.

Once these sites become established and gathering a large amount of targeted web traffic each day, making a nice income can only be a matter of putting the Google Adsense code on their pages and placing a few appropriate affiliate links on their sites.

The more traffic these marketers deliver to their sites, the more income they earn. The more unique content they create, the more income they earn. The more web sites they design, the more income they earn.

What many people outside of the web marketing field fail to realize, the Internet is a 24/7/365 business. The Internet is always on and working for you. It is automatically producing income for you 24 hours of the day, while you're sleeping, while you're enjoying a nice meal with friends, or even while you're on vacation.

Internet marketing can provide you with a lifestyle that is totally liberating - you can live and work anywhere in the world. You can be your own boss, set your own hours and work from the comfort of your own home. Plus your whole online Internet business can be automated so it basically runs itself.

Internet marketing is totally flexible. You can adjust your workload to suit your own work habits. Internet marketing is scalable, once you have learned how to make your first dollar, it is only a simple matter of repeating and scaling up what you did to earn that dollar. Computers and the Internet makes it just as easy to handle a thousand sales as it is to handle one sale.

As Internet marketing becomes better known, it will gradually earn more and more respect. It will become a well recognized profession that many will aspire to and follow as a life long career. Mainly because Internet marketing will give you the freedom rarely seen in any other profession.

It offers you mobility, a high standard of living, and a working environment that can't be beat. It gives you the freedom to follow your own interests and hobbies; all the while turning those interests into viable revenue streams that supports the lifestyle of your own choosing. When it is all said and done, earning a living just doesn't get any better than this.

Internet Marketing Effectiveness

2007-02-07T07:52:00.000+09:00

With most small businesses, money is tight, and spent with the utmost thought and care. As in other areas of our business, marketing can either swallow up hard earned resources with little effect or can propel a business farther than imagined, depending on the execution. Marketing your business on the internet is in many ways simpler and arguably much less expensive than more traditional marketing media, but has its own set of considerations. In a recent article we briefly discussed Search Engine Optimization and Linking. Some of the other more popular ways to market on the internet include: Paid Inclusion, Directory Listing, Affiliate Programs, and Email Campaigns all of which have particular strengths and limitations. The bottom line for marketing of any persuasion is cost effectiveness; and measuring, interpreting and acting on the results most often make the difference between a successful marketing effort and a wasted expenditure or cost overrun.

Fortunately, measuring marketing effectiveness is very easy to tackle in the internet space. Site statistics reports are readily available on-line and virtually real-time, providing information such as: actual number of mouse clicks, unique visitors, and/or repeat visitors, geographic location, time of day, visitor's previous website (referral page), internet service provider, operating system...(you get the idea} all effortlessly collected, compiled and presented so that you can know exactly who/where/when/how often, and even how long your potential customers are visiting each portion of your site. Such site statistics packages are available through your developer or can be found by on-line search and usually a small subscription fee.

Simply increasing the number of visitors to your website is usually not the final objective however. If you have a walk-in store, you probably have a rough idea (at least seat of the pants) as to what percentage of your shoppers actually buys something. If you accept credit cards, you also know what your average ticket is in dollars, and how many transactions you ring up in any given period of time. This information, and more, can be easily gathered from your website and used to track not only how many more people your marketing effort has attracted to visit your website, but the actual increment in sales as well. Understanding both the site visitor demographics and the incremental transaction detail those visitors are bringing you is the holy grail of marketing and too often overlooked due to expense or difficulty of accomplishment with more traditional marketing methods. The ratio of transactions to visitors is commonly called the "conversion rate" and is critical to understanding the results of any marketing initiatives you undergo on the web.

Armed with this information you can make changes to your site, to your product or services offered, or to your marketing focus and immediately see where it is taking you. The entire process of transaction, data collection, and resulting action can take place virtually real-time. One of our clients began receiving orders within hours of launching their site with a Paid Inclusion campaign and could immediately see the who, where and when of the customer transactions as well as other data collected in the ordering process allowing them to adjust their strategies from day one as they saw fit. Internet marketing is relatively simple and can be a highly cost effective way to grow your business.

Internet Marketing: Strategic Alliances

2007-02-06T08:48:00.000+09:00

Great Free Tool for Generating Keywords

2007-02-05T09:08:00.000+09:00

Just a quick post for today, then I have to brave the rush-hour traffic to get home from work. (This should buy me a few minutes.)

This free keyword tool from 5minutesite.com has saved me a huge amount of time in the past, and I’m going to share it now for those unfortunate AdWords advertisers who haven’t yet found it on their own. Here it is: Local PPC AdWords & Keyword List Creator.

You can use this tool to quickly generate hundreds or thousands of extra keywords for your AdWords campaign. I’ve found it especially useful for locally targeted campaigns, as it’s got a feature that adds every city name within a ZIP code to each keyword in your list. Even if you’re not targeting locally, you can use it to quickly add brackets and quotes to each keyword in a list, or combine every word in your list with every word in another list.

I used it in a locally targeted campaign to combine the names of every city in three specific counties with every word in my keyword list, and then add quotes and brackets to all of those. I ended up with more than 30,000 keywords in a matter of minutes, and they were all extremely relevant. I then added those keywords to a new, nationally targeted campaign, which is a good way to cover your bases with Google’s spotty local targeting. Check out my article on dynamic keyword insertion to learn how to have Google instantly generate a relevant headline for the ads you’ll create for these keywords.

D-List Part 1

2007-02-03T14:44:00.000+09:00

These blogs have the ‘no follow’ link disabled from the comments, which means that if you comment on these sites, you will get an actual link. If you would like to be included here, please let me know.

If you find this list useful, please consider linking to it.

This DoFollow Blog list is courtesy of Courtney Tuttle and was created originally by Coleen as the D-List.

RealityWired.com
BrilliantCheers
Achille
OnTheWebEd
JonLee
ChrisHoyt
JulieAnnBonner
LinkItForMe
RamblingThoughtsBlog
BlogThatOutside
Tobsy
NOWG
CatchAFallingStar
SweetAgring
LayerCake
ErikSvend
PajamaProfessional
Hem
MyOpinionsAreImportant
HeckOfIt
RoadLessTravelled
The Fit Shack
Foximus
BetShopBoy
5xMom
Derek
Semmler
Linguistics Zone
Zr5
SmartWealthyRich
How To Split An Atom
The Alternative
Self-Employment Blog
A Politically Incorrect Entrepreneur
CrayonWriter
BlogRaters
TagsKitchen
TradeMacro
Bracing Your Brand
Mother’s Home
Brian Pratt
Best Real Income
1000MileJourney
3DayMom
A Writers Words, An Editors Eye
Aaron Roselo
Advertising for Success
And to Think

To be continued

Easy Internet Marketing

2007-02-02T08:54:00.000+09:00

Don't be fooled by all the misdirected internet advice available today. Marketing on the internet today requires a special blend of many ingredients. This article describes how to be successful marketing on the internet.

Visit hundreds of internet marketing sites these days. They will tell you all the hundreds, if not thousands of ideas and ways they can sell you some product or service to have you making gazzilions of revenues through the internet. Half before lunch, ok, it's tough, so it might take you until after lunch to get the other half of the gazzilion! Yeah, right!What they won't tell you is the cold hard truth. Being successful on the internet takes a special blend of many ingredients. These include time, education, experience, luck, and yes--money.
Every day, I see more and more potential internet marketeers who have obviously cut corners, rushing to market a product hastlily put together, poor marketing techniques, you name it.

Aside from having a lot of money to begin with, experience shows that gaining experience and educationing yourself about internet marketing topics are the Number One areas that anyone wanting to get started needs to focus on. In reality the more one learns about marketing on the internet, the more they realize that you are just touching the surface! And with the continuing advances in technology, it's changing every day!Ok, admit -- internet marketing is NOT EASY! It is not a piece of cake or the proverbial bed of roses. Now that we have admitted that part, what can be done then to advance or more accurately to accelerate the process? Here are a few tips that have helped mylearning curve:

Treat your growth to frequent "library time" on the internet. That is to say, just like going to a traditional library, you need to set aside some "quiet time" to surf the net with the express purpose of reading as much as possible about internet marketing topics. Simple searches on any of the major search engines will give you lots and lots of subjects that your can explore.

From the start, set up specific goals for yourself and your growth efforts. These should be short term, mid-range and longer term goals designed to continuously improve your knowledge. The quicker you become knowledgable and fluent with internet marketing, the sooner you will be having customers anxious to by your latest products and advice.

Obtain as much written literature and information on these topics as possible. Ideally, FREE information whenever possible. One faboulous resource for the full range and breadth of IM topics is Dotcomology. I personally use it on a continuing basis as a reference guide. You can get your copy absolutely free at the InternetMarketingUSA website.

Find and locate programs that include websites (already designed or customized for you) as a part of the program. Getting your own website on a reputable website hosting service is imparative.

Outsource portions of your work to supplement your own knowledge or expertise. Don't be afraid to use the expertise of others to excellerate your website capabilities. This is an ideal way to get your success on a fast track. Keep in mind you must shop around for reputable and low cost providers.

Get your very own newsletters and ezines going as soon as possible. The sooner you begin to share what you have learned, the sooner you will get your name and company "on the internet map". There are a multitude of benefits for this approach. To say the least, this is a great investment of your limited time.

Join internet marketing forums related to your specific area of interest and developing expertise. Start making many contributions to the various topics and postings to keep your self current on issues, build a reputation among your peers, and get your name and company on the search engines as content sources for other websites.

And lastly, stay positive and "have fun" with your efforts and activities. Maintaining an upbeat attitude not only helps you as you "learn the ropes" - it also comes through in your dealings with potential customers.

Internet Marketing

2007-02-01T08:17:00.000+09:00

How to Write a Link Baiting Article

2007-01-31T12:50:00.000+09:00

Even as many webmasters go into all sorts of trouble to accumulate valuable links to their sites, some creative bloggers are using only carefully crafted posts and articles to attract more than enough high traffic and valuable links pointing at their blogs.

Actually they have clearly demonstrated that writing link-baiting articles and posts is a special skill of great value. The good news is that it is nevertheless a skill that can easily be learnt.

You Must First Find A Hook For Your Link Baiting Article

This sort of content or article is really a bait designed so that “the fish” that you are after do not think twice about “biting”. So the first thing that you must do is find a good “hook”.
Current news, especially if it is proving to be controversial, can help create a good hook for a link-baiting article. This is probably one of the easiest link baiting articles anybody can do. Just to give you a recent example. There was an interesting piece of news that was exclusively written by website that requires readers to sign in to read any articles. I badly needed to refer to it in one of my posts and I knew that if I linked to it my readers who were not members of this site would not be able to view the contents of the link. So I used the information to re-write my own version of the same story, linked to it from my article and forgot all about it.

Some weeks later when there was a new development on the story another high traffic blog linked to it and it resulted in a massive injection of extra traffic to my blog. It also ultimately dramatically boosted my rankings with all the search engines.

News, and controversial current news at that, can be quite an effective bait in creating link baiting content at your site

News From The Blogosphere And The Leading Blogger Can Even Be More Effective In Creating Your Link Baiting Content
Every particular industry tends to have its’ own particular “conversation” going on at any given time in the blogosphere and related discussion groups and forums. It could be a planned new law or a controversial development in the industry. It will basically be something that is being talked about a lot. So talked about that the leading and most influential bloggers on the subject will have already said a lot about the subject.
All you do is familiarize yourself as much as possible and then write content that disagrees with what the leading blogger has said. This is very similar to the offline situation where some minor expert comes out of the blue and disagrees with another leading expert on a controversial issue that has been in the news recently. There is a high chance that such a stunt will really stir up things. And that is exactly what a link baiting blogger is looking for.

The attack should not be personal but should be carried out in good taste, and do be sure that you really do have something to say.

When executed well some blog comments of this nature have been known to attract several hundred links within a few short hours.

Do Not Expect To Hit A Home Run With All Your Link-Baiting Articles

It is advisable that you set a timetable for attempting your link baiting articles or content. Once a week is ideal. It is important to remember that nobody really has a 100 per cent record in these things. Meaning that you will not always succeed in attracting links. And even when you are successful, home runs where you attract dozens of links at a time will be rare. What will be more common is content that attracts a handful of links. Still these regular handfuls of links will gradually accumulate and will tend to add up quickly so much so that within a relatively short period of time, there will be a dramatic effect on the ranking of your site. This is naturally the whole objective of the exercise.

In Conclusion
Link baiting content can be a very powerful SEO strategy and technique that can work relatively quickly in getting any blogger a good number of one way links pointed at their site and thus lifting a blog dramatically and quickly upwards in the rankings at search engines.

Internet Marketing - The Answer For Your Business

2007-01-31T08:31:00.000+09:00

Advertising and marketing should be a top priority for any business and with the age of the internet comes the best ever way of marketing and attracting new clients, customers and internet traffic, based on targeted online marketing. Using an internet marketing agency or SEO consultants for your campaign is both cost-effective and fully-measurable via online statistics software so you can track every aspect of your marketing campaign.

Pay per click (PPC) is a popular method of advertising for mostly larger businesses and involves bidding on keywords to attract users to your web site. These "sponsored links" are then displayed at the top positions of search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.
PPC can and does work for many businesses, but unless you have a dedicated, sustainable budget, this is probably not the most cost-effective of routes. Click fraud has been a buzz word for a while now and it needs to be taken seriously before starting any campaign as this could prove costly to your business.

The preferred option of internet marketing for most businesses and for the majority of search engine users, is the "organic" or natural listings which are essentially free, but rely on the algorithms of the search engines to determine which pages and sites appear at the top of the list.

It is not rocket science to get a top ten search engine ranking, but if your business is in a competitive industry, it can be costly and you may have to wait up to three months before results are seen.

To get new business with a top ten ranking on Google, Yahoo and MSN you will need to have an SEO consultancy that takes into account Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and a linking campaign to put a trust factor into your web site.

Once you get a top ten search engine ranking through an internet marketing agency or seo constultancy, you will start to receive enquiries, phone calls and sales only if your site has undergone a usability and an accessibility test, without this all your hard work and investment may be for nothing. You could have a top ten search engine ranking, but if you have a poor website that does not make it easy for visitors to take the action you want them to, you have made a mistake and you will have to edit your website or get your SEO consultants or your internet marketing agency to do it for you.

With a well planned internet marketing strategy, your website will benefit immensely and your web traffic will dramatically increase as a result.

Search engine optimisation is not a mystery, more of a strategic implementation of good search engine policies and practices to ensure your online business fulfils it's potential.

e-Marketing Strategy

2007-01-30T08:37:00.000+09:00

What is e-Marketing?
e-Marketing is still quite a controversial subject to talk about, since no one succeeded to unify the various theories around it; however there is one thing upon which there is no doubt – that e-Marketing first appeared under the form of various techniques deployed by pioneer companies selling their products via the internet in the early 90's.

The frenzy around these new marketing techniques created by e-tailers and supported by the internet rapidly gave birth to a new dimension of what we knew as Marketing: the e-Marketing (electronic Marketing).

There are many definitions to what e-Marketing is, the simplest and shortest one being formulated by Mark Sceats: e-Marketing is Marketing that uses the internet as manifestation media. A working definition is that coming from a group of CISCO specialists: e-Marketing is the sum of all activities a business conducts through the internet with the purpose of finding, attracting, winning and retaining customers.

e-Marketing Strategy

The e-Marketing Strategy is normally based and built upon the principles that govern the traditional, offline Marketing – the well-known 4 P's (Product – Price – Promotion – Positioning) that form the classic Marketing mix. Add the extra 3 P's (People – Processes – Proof) and you got the whole extended Marketing mix.

Until here, there are no much aspects to differentiate e-Marketing from the traditional Marketing performed offline: the extended Marketing mix (4 + 3 P's) is built around the concept of "transactional" and its elements perform transactional functions defined by the exchange paradigm. What gives e-Marketing its uniqueness is a series of specific functions, relational functions, that can be synthesized in the 2P + 2C+ 3S formula: Personalization, Privacy, Customer Service, Community, Site, Security, Sales Promotion.

These 7 functions of the e-Marketing stay at the base of any e-Marketing strategy and they have a moderating character, unlike the classic Marketing mix that comprises situational functions only. Moderating functions of e-Marketing have the quality of moderate, operate upon all situational functions of the mix (the classic 4 P's) and upon each other.

1. Personalization
The fundamental concept of personalization as a part of the e-Marketing mix lies in the need of recognizing, identifying a certain customer in order to establish relations (establishing relations is a fundamental objective of Marketing). It is crucial to be able to identify our customers on individual level and gather all possible information about them, with the purpose of knowing our market and be able to develop customized, personalized products and services.

For example, a cookie strategically placed on the website visitor's computer can let us know vital information concerning the access speed available: in consequence, if we know the visitor is using a slow connection (eg. dial-up) we will offer a low-volume variation of our website, with reduced graphic content and no multimedia or flash applications. This will ease our customer's experience on our website and he will be prevented from leaving the website on the reason that it takes too long to load its pages.

Personalization can be applied to any component of the Marketing mix; therefore, it is a moderating function.

2. Privacy
Privacy is an element of the mix very much connected to the previous one – personalization. When we gather and store information about our customers and potential customers (therefore, when we perform the personalization part of the e-Marketing mix) a crucial issue arises: that of the way this information will be used, and by whom. A major task to do when implementing an e-Marketing strategy is that of creating and developing a policy upon access procedures to the collected information.

This is a duty and a must for any conscious marketer to consider all aspects of privacy, as long as data are collected and stored, data about individual persons.

Privacy is even more important when establishing the e-Marketing mix since there are many regulations and legal aspects to be considered regarding collection and usage of such information.

3. Customer Service
Customer service is one of the necessary and required activities among the support functions needed in transactional situations.

We will connect the apparition of the customer service processes to the inclusion of the "time" parameter in transactions. When switching from a situational perspective to a relational one, and e-Marketing is mostly based on a relational perspective, the marketer saw himself somehow forced into considering support and assistance on a non-temporal level, permanently, over time.

For these reasons, we should consider the Customer Service function (in its fullest and largest definition) as an essential one within the e-Marketing mix.

As we can easily figure out, the service (or assistance if you wish) can be performed upon any element from the classic 4 P's, hence its moderating character.

4. Community
We can all agree that e-Marketing is conditioned by the existence of this impressive network that the internet is. The merely existence of such a network implies that individuals as well as groups will eventually interact. A group of entities that interact for a common purpose is what we call a "community" and we will soon see why it is of absolute importance to participate, to be part of a community.

The Metcalf law (named after Robert Metcalf) states that the value of a network is given by the number of its components, more exactly the value of a network equals the square of the number of components. We can apply this simple law to communities, since they are a network: we will then conclude that the value of a community rises with the number of its members. This is the power of communities; this is why we have to be a part of it.

The customers / clients of a business can be seen as part of a community where they interact (either independent or influenced by the marketer) – therefore developing a community is a task to be performed by any business, even though it is not always seen as essential.

Interactions among members of such a community can address any of the other functions of e-Marketing, so it can be placed next to other moderating functions.

5. Site
We have seen and agreed that e-Marketing interactions take place on a digital media – the internet. But such interactions and relations also need a proper location, to be available at any moment and from any place – a digital location for digital interactions.

Such a location is what we call a "site", which is the most widespread name for it. It is now the time to mention that the "website" is merely a form of a "site" and should not be mistaken or seen as synonyms. The "site" can take other forms too, such as a Palm Pilot or any other handheld device, for example.

This special location, accessible through all sort of digital technologies is moderating all other functions of the e-Marketing – it is then a moderating function.

6. Security
The "security" function emerged as an essential function of e-Marketing once transactions began to be performed through internet channels.

What we need to keep in mind as marketers are the following two issues on security:

- security during transactions performed on our website, where we have to take all possible precautions that third parties will not be able to access any part of a developing transaction;

- security of data collected and stored, about our customers and visitors.

A honest marketer will have to consider these possible causes of further trouble and has to co-operate with the company's IT department in order to be able to formulate convincing (and true, honest!) messages towards the customers that their personal details are protected from unauthorized eyes.

7. Sales Promotion
At least but not last, we have to consider sales promotions when we build an e-Marketing strategy. Sales promotions are widely used in traditional Marketing as well, we all know this, and it is an excellent efficient strategy to achieve immediate sales goals in terms of volume.

This function counts on the marketer's ability to think creatively: a lot of work and inspiration is required in order to find new possibilities and new approaches for developing an efficient promotion plan.

On the other hand, the marketer needs to continuously keep up with the latest internet technologies and applications so that he can fully exploit them.

To conclude, we have seen that e-Marketing implies new dimensions to be considered aside of those inherited from the traditional Marketing. These dimensions revolve around the concept of relational functions and they are a must to be included in any e-Marketing strategy in order for it to be efficient and deliver results.

Internet Marketing Online

2007-01-29T10:56:00.000+09:00

No matter what your business, Internet marketing online is a tempting option. Online Internet marketing used to be a useless pursuit for all but a few businesses. So few people bought things online that there was no point in even trying. Although mass e-mail marketing already had some appeal, it was much better to put your efforts in another direction.

It is strange how quickly things have changed, and how profoundly. Internet marketing online now is crucial, even for local businesses. My business experiences provide a great example of the way that Internet marketing online can turn things around. For the past 5 years or so, I have run a gourmet restaurant. Our regulars loved us, but the word was not getting out. We tried everything. We enlisted the help of a marketing and advertising company which ran us through the whole standard program. We gave out coupons, took out ads in the yellow pages and the local papers, and even tried telephone marketing. No matter what we tried, however, nothing worked. Things were desperate. Then we tried Internet marketing online.

To say that I was amazed would be a serious understatement. I have heard of the successes of Internet marketing for online businesses, but ours is not an online business. I had no idea why Internet marketing online would even work. Why would people look for a gourmet restaurant on the Internet? It wasn't like we delivered our food. Whatever the reason, Internet marketing online seems to have turned things around. Within a month of starting to use online marketing Internet, our business was booming. There was even a lunch crowd! Normally, we only had one busy time of night: the dinner rush. Since starting Internet marketing online, however, we have literally had to turn people away. It just blows my mind!

Of course, Internet marketing online must be handled carefully. You never know who is going to link to your webpage, or what kinds of mentions you are going to get on the Internet. I have never believed that all publicity is good publicity. This may hold true for some businesses, but in the restaurant businesses things are different. If you're going to use Internet marketing online, you must be sure to use a respectable online advertising firm. It is almost impossible to devise an Internet marketing strategy if you have had no experience with the medium, so it is crucial that you find someone you trust to work with.

Small Business Internet Marketing Promotion

2007-01-25T08:40:00.000+09:00

One of the most frequent questions emailed to me throughout last year was related to how to go about internet marketing promotions for small businesses.

It's quite amusing how small businesses consider themselves to be a whole different kettle of fish when it comes to doing business online. The truth is that the online space is the only place where small business can actually compete head to head with big business.

In the offline world big business dominates because they have the financial clout, however the online world things are slightly different.

If you can create enough buzz online, you can outwit big business and beat them at their own game. Small business internet marketing promotions are fundamentally no different to internet marketing promotion for big business; there are a few basic principals that apply:

Get loads of qualified traffic
Convert the traffic to leads
Convert your leads to sales
More traffic means more leads, and more leads means more sales... it really is that simple.

And the great part is that doing business online gives you and equal chance to compete with any other business out there.

To get you started here are some great ideas on how to get your loins share of website visitors with some simple, but often overlooked internet marketing promotion strategies.

Build an email list to encourage repeat visits
Create Viral Marketing Videos
Participate in pay per click (PPC) advertising
Participate in banner exchange programs
Target value keywords in your Search Engine Optimisation strategy
Create Joint Ventures with your competition
Use podcasts to attract new visitors
Exchange links with highly relevant websites
Participate in Co-registration lead building
Do plenty of press releases
Participate in product review exchanges
Post in forums relevant to your industry
Participate in newsgroups relevant to your industry
Participate in traffic exchange programs
If you started at ZERO and got just 10 leads a day from each of the above strategies, that would account for a whopping 4200 new leads per month.

The only thing left to do is TAKE action!

Why Most Internet Marketing Coaching Sucks

2007-01-24T08:51:00.000+09:00

Have you ever wanted someone to call on to help you with internet marketing related questions like web promotion, search engine optimization, blogging, social bookmarking and other important issues related to online business? Maybe you have tried a coaching program and were dissatisfied. Well, if so you are not alone.

The problem with most coaching programs in the first place is that there is no one-on-one consulting available. You get access to a website with a forum and monthly tele-seminars but no real access to the so-called guru you are paying. If you do get access it is usually to some third party outsourced by the guru and probably in another country. In addition a great many of the so-called gurus can only talk to you in the evening because they are still working a regular job!

A big problem I experienced myself when I first started was that no one would give you exact answers. Many of the coaches are the same today. They won’t tell you what you need to change a headline or title tag to, just that you need to change it. I don’t know about you but I was looking for exact advice not suggestions on what to try. You would think that if someone has been doing something for a long time they would know what works. Someone experienced should be able to look at your site for five minutes and show you the things you need to change. Of course evaluating linking, backlinks, keywords, and other issues may take a little longer but 95% of websites have simple things wrong with them that can make a huge difference in their search engine results.

Another issue of course is the price. With most internet marketing coaches charging anywhere from $250 to $800 per month or even several thousand dollars upfront the average person can’t afford it. Yeah, it may be okay for members of large corporations with deep pockets but not for the little guy just trying to learn the ropes or the person who is trying to just get to that point where they can finally say goodbye to their J.O.B. and actually earn a living online. I think coaching needs to be affordable to the people who really need it.

Another issue is that the coach doesn’t really care. All they want to do is take your money and just like the owners of health clubs they don’t really care if you use the program or not. A coach that is really concerned about your success will email you and remind you that you need to talk to them. If you are guaranteed a certain amount of time per month to be able to speak to the coach, he wants you to use it. Do you have a coach like that?

Marketing an Internet Presence

2007-01-23T08:34:00.000+09:00

Internet Marketing Scams

2007-01-22T08:28:00.000+09:00

I am sure that you have already found out, as most people, that there are many strategies on the Internet for making you financially successful. The problem, though, is that the majority of these programs are scams that never worked for the person selling the program and will probably never work for you either.

Besides being a waste of your time and effort, some of these programs can cost thousands of dollars for information freely available in the search engines.

It is a shame that you have to navigate these scams as I believe that doing Internet marketing should be an easy endeavor. If you are willing to do a little reading and put in some time and work, there is no reason why you can not be successful. And not just a little successful but do well enough to do Internet marketing full time.

If you look at what all the scams have in common you will see that the common thread is that they will tell you the money that you can make is easy and requires little to no work. Boy, wouldn't that be nice.

They will tell you if you just do this one simple thing then you will be rolling in money. I have read this over and over again. If this was true, trust me, the secret would be out and we all would be doing it.

But reality is different then the way these scammers would have you believe.

It is simple really. To make money you have to sell a product or service. The product can be physical like a hat, car, lamp, etcetera, or something digital like an ebook or piece of software.

The thing is, though, is that you have to sell something that has value to someone. The age old proverb still holds true today, yet so many people forget it. Give people what they want.

The neat thing about Internet Marketing is that you can choose to either create your own product, like an ebook, or sell someone else's product and get a commission. It is a great system where everyone wins.

You will want to set up a page of your own where people can go to read about the product and your thoughts on it. Then you can direct them to the sales page of the product that you are promoting.

Do not think that you can only have about 10 people come to your site and then you will make a sale. Sometimes you need a hundred visits before you get a sale. Sometimes you need hundreds of visits. But you must keep sending people to your page.

Inexpensive Internet Marketing

2007-01-19T08:17:00.000+09:00

At the present time, the market is literally swamped with all kinds of internet marketing tools that promise to provide you desired results almost instantaneously. However, instead of spending thousands of dollars on these customized tools, a better proposition would be to use some of the following inexpensive, yet effective internet marketing strategies.

Choose Keywords Wisely

Search engines account for approximately 90 percent of the traffic to a website. Hence, keywords should be chosen wisely because it is only through them that net surfers are able to reach the requisite website. Keyword selector software as WordTracker, KeywordElite and GoodKeywords go a long way in providing valuable information about relevant keywords. Use them generously to find appropriate keywords for your internet marketing campaign. Keep in mind that only right keywords can bring in targeted traffic to your website. Therefore, before your kick start your internet marketing campaign devote some time to track down the apposite keywords.

A Magical Domain Name

Domain name is the gateway to your website and so it is essential to select one that is not only easy to remember, but also has some internet marketing potential. A domain name that gives some indication about the contents of your website is the most suitable. However, with respect to internet marketing, keywords are also important. Hence, create a domain name that contains the keywords as well. Another imperative point related to domain name is the uniqueness of IP address. Try to have a dedicated server for your domain name. Different IP addresses will protect you from the damaging consequences of spamming.

Build a Legitimate Email Address List

An authentic email address list is another important element of internet marketing. In a bid to reach target audience effectively, expert internet marketers usually prepare separate email address list for each product. Furthermore, they check the authenticity of the email addresses regularly so as to avoid losing their customers. Personalized emails are considered to be the most efficient internet marketing tools, but their efficacy comes to the fore only when they are used with an email address list where every recipient has given the permission to use his/her email address in that manner.

Internet Marketing - Advantages and Disadvantages

2007-01-18T09:11:00.000+09:00

Everyone seems to be jumping on the internet marketing bandwagon lately. In the race to get their business online, many successful businesses forget to ask themselves some tough questions about what they are doing, what their expectations are and what their plan is to meet those expectations.

The internet can be a powerful tool that can put you on solid footing with bigger companies. On the other hand, the other companies may have more money to pay for advertising. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind as you analyze your internet marketing strategy.

Advantage of Internet Marketing

- your store is open, 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. Further, your customers are worldwide in reach, and can shop anytime that they want to

- the cost of spreading your message is next to nothing. Emailing your subscription base is more oftne cheaper than sending a letter through the mail

- updating your subscribers can be done almost instantly through email. Visitors to your website can get up to the minute information on each visit. If you are having a sale, your customers can start shopping at the discounted prices literally as soon as they open their email

- if you have an information sensitive business, such as a law firm, newspaper or online magazine, you can deliver your products directly to your customers without having to use a courier

Disadvantages of Internet Marketing

- online marketing is not free. The cost of software, hardware, wed site design, maintenance of your site, online distribution costs and of course, time, all must be factored into the cost of providing your service or product.

- slightly over 50% of households shop online. While that number will continue to grow, you are reaching less than two out of three households.

- the internet is still regarded as a source of information gathering for the majority of your customers. Of the number of visitors to your site, the vast majority of visitors who are motivated to buy will do so in person. Many people prefer the live interaction when they buy. If you have a small business with one location, this may deter customers from buying.

- easier to have outdated information on your site, thus timing of updates is critical

- there is no replacement for good old fashioned customer service. The majority of internet marketers lack customer service and inquiry response programs. As a result, many online visitors to your site will already have painted your site as poor service before they have even contacted you. The majority of websites also have poor navigation, which makes it difficult for your visitor to find what they are looking for. Many sites were created with a marketing view, not a customer service point of view.

- is your site secure? Does your customer know this? There are many incorrect stereotypes about the security of the internet out there. As a result, many of your visitors will not want to use their credit card to make a purchase. The fear of having their credit card info stolen is a clear and present danger in the minds of your visitors

- there is a lot of competition for your product already out there. By the time your visitor finds you, they have already been clicking many links. Unless they can find what they are looking for quickly, they are gone.

- many web visitors expect something for free. What do you have to offer them?

There are many other pros and cons of internet marketing. Its important for you to consider each when creating your internet marketing strategy. Each of the disadvantages can be overcome, but only if you view the customer experience from the eyes of your customer, not as an internet marketer.

Internet Marketing Resource Tip

2007-01-17T08:17:00.000+09:00

A good internet marketing resource tip? Yeah, I think I've got one I can let you in on.

Here's one that I highly recommend: instead of hiding behind many of the typical internet marketing curtains, make your presence felt. Put a 'voice' to the name. Your name.

We all know that there is a general fear among us towards people we don't know or trust YET. So put yourself out there and let people see that you're a real person.

How do you do this best? How about setting up a simple question and answer section on your site. A place where people can actually bend your ear and ask their questions. There's a few good reasons to do this. One, you show that you are indeed a real person who wants to help others. And two...YOU GET FREE CONTENT FOR YOUR SITE.

That's right, by simply allowing visitors, you can create a never ending source of free content. All you have to do is take the questions and answers and publish them. Can you say blog? I know that you can.

And guess what the search engines love? Blogs. Yes sir, they still do. Engines love blogs because blogs ARE fresh content...and the engines never get enough fresh content. Ever.

It's interesting how many things you can accomplish by opening up a Q & A section on your site. Someone will invariably ask a question that will start new ways for even you to approach your own business.

It's great. I was first exposed to this internet marketing resource tip by someone who owns and operates a COMPETING website. Like I always say, copy success!

How to Make your Ads Irresistible

2007-01-16T12:56:00.000+09:00

How to make your Ads Irresistible.
Author: Raamakant S. » Visit Website

Do you are wondering why your ads are not get noticed? Well here are the tips to get it noticed. Just read this article to know what the story is.
can earn a positive cash flow each month.

Advertising plays a great role in boosting a business up to the sky. They are the medium for you to climb up without any ropes. Ads give us a reason to buy a single product instead of another. They are the medium by which a particular company highlights it's products benefits in a way that sounds to be interesting.

You often see that ads maker do use of small kids, well known personality to have a look on their ad. Or they may work on laughter approach to get hold on viewers. It's all about our daily life that is our offline life. But now we have to apply this principle in our online work life and it really works.

Most of us might post our messages to classified ads sites, newsgroups, e-mail discussion lists, message boards, or FFA sites etc. We all do it to get ourselves noticed which really propels our online sales. But what if all these methods don't serve their purpose? Is it anything wrong going on which is hindering your online success?

Let's take an example of daily life. You see an ad on TV and you will continue to see it till its end if you find it interesting or of your use. The same goes with an online world. People will usually read the subject line before they read your ad or message. So what important to get your ad noticed is a strong attractive subject line. It's not a tough part of the job to make it a revealing one.

Here are the simple but tricky tips to do so:-

1. Text Formatting:
Make a smart combination of capital letters with lower case letters. Don't put it in an unorganized way but put in a way that is smart to look on. For example: "Completely FREE Offer". Here the word free in upper case surely grabs an attention. Don't use all capital letters in your ads. Use a genuine mix of both case letters.

Using all uppercase may looks hard to read on and it also seems to be unprofessional. You can highlight some words that you want to stress on. You can also format some words with a different color. But don't make your ad copy unprofessional to look on.

2. Use Attention Grabbers:
The other ways to catch hold your viewers eyes are attention grabbing words. You can begin your subject line with words like "STOP!", "LOOK" etc. People will surely read on thinking that it's a distinct thing and they don't leave it unturned.

The most commonly attention grabbing word are "FREE" and "YOU". These words really attract a heavy traffic to your site. You can also add text symbols like *,#, etc in your subject line. For example: Join Today For This *Incredible* Offer.

3. Ask Questions:
Just ask a simple question in your subject line. Remember this question must be connected with their problems or desires. With this point you can ask them a question in their words.

It means ask them in a manner that they are feeling. Ask them if they want something or want to get rid of something. For example: You can question like this "Want to grow your online business?" or "Are you suffering from acne?" You have looked here that these question are simple in their language but they are in the words of your viewers.

4. Emphasize on Facts:
Remember that human possess a brain to think. So don't try to rip them by stating unbelievable claims. Use the right language with right figures.

For example: "Earn $12,000,000 just by filling this survey". No one will ever click on this ad as his brain triggers that it is a wrong fact. Make them believe that what you are telling is the thing you have already done and have succeeded in.

5. Use Real Proofs:
This is the easiest going way to believe that you are stating a true fact. You can include a testimonial, a comment or statistics to prove your product. A testimonial must be one which is stating your products benefits and proving it's uniqueness. You can also put your products statistics showing that you have earned from it and others can also

Internet Marketing Strategy News

2007-01-16T09:53:00.000+09:00

One of the most effective ways to promote a business is to send them an email newsletter. Or you can print, and mail it which is more expensive as you have the printing and postage costs. A newsletter has many advantages as a tool in an overall Internet marketing strategy:

It has more credibility than advertising or other forms of promotion such as a brochure as it is educational not a sales pitch. It falls into the realm of public relations.

The newsletters cost nothing to send as email.

The newsletters can also be printed hard copy as needed to include in sales presentations.

Newsletters can be edited and turned into news releases or articles to be sent to the media to get publicity.

Of course, you need email addresses to send the newsletter. Here are ten ways to increase your subscriber list:

Content, content, content! The content of your newsletter is the key to expanding your list of subscribers. You want to create an "idea virus" that others will be so interested in the content that they can't wait for the next issue and will want to forward it to their friends and associates. Make your content timely and interesting. In our over communicated society your message has to be worthwhile enough to spend time to read. Keep in mind that business owners and managers are most often trying to increase sales and profits. What can you write that will help them do that?

Offer a free subscription to your newsletter on your web site. Have the link to the subscription page on all your web pages--on the top left corner. Make it simple and easy to enroll. The free subscription is the "front end" of your offer. The "back end" is the readers becoming interested in buying your product or service--the real end result of a good internet marketing strategy.

Make it a practice to collect identities in all your business dealings. Collect business cards when you attend lunch or a networking event. Send them an email to confirm your meeting and invite them to subscribe to your newsletter. Provide the link to your web site.

Get free mailing lists, write letters or send personal emails to them and use the newsletter as your offer. E.g. you could contact your trade association, Chamber of Commerce or networking group and get their mailing list. As your budget permits, rent mailing lists but ensure that they target your demographic and are not spam lists which will kill a good internet marketing strategy.

Encourage your subscribers to forward it to others. Use wording something like this: "Please feel free to forward this to your friends and associates by selecting the forward button on your e-mail."

Publishing schedule. Keep a regular schedule of publication. If you are offering a monthly newsletter, then make it monthly.

Add your free subsciption information to your email signature. E.g. "Free newsletter available at www.expansionplus.com"

Offer free reprint rights for your newsletter to others which will get it published in other newsletters or articles. We use this wording "This article may be reprinted in its entirety provided that the following resource box is left intact: ..."

List integrity. Have a privacy policy and enforce it.

Add the published newsletters to your web site which increases the content and will help improve search engine rankings--all part of an integrated internet marketing strategy. With more people coming to your web site, they are good prospects to enroll.

Keep increasing the subscriber list of prospects and of course stay in touch with them through regular newsletters and other mailings. This is not a quick fix to generate fast sales but it will eventually develop good quality prospects.

By the time they call you they will already know you through your writings which is a great start in developing trust with your prospect.

Newsletters are an inexpensive but effective part of an Internet marketing strategy.

Avoiding Website Assumptions that Mask Your Blind Spots

2007-01-15T09:06:00.000+09:00

Every day I work with people who manage their own or others' small to medium business websites. Most make fundamental mistakes that leave money on the table. While owners and webmasters often pay lip service to modern web marketing practices, too often their sites tell a different story. If you really want to know how your organization's site stacks up, take an hour to observing someone new to your site.

If you are an average small to medium business owner or webmaster, it's easy to make these assumptions about people who come to your website, that they:
Know something about what your business is.
Are willing to "work" and dig a little to find out about your business.
Realize that your business is special or unique.
Want to do business with you.
Are interested in your business.
Came as a result of a recommendation or sought you out specifically.
Know what you want visitors to do or "get" from your site.
Understand the unique terminology and nature of your business.
While a few of these might be true -- sometimes -- a small to medium business site will convert far more visitors into customers if the site is built with the following assumptions.

Your business needs your site to:

Explain why your business is special right from the start.
State simply what business you are in -- at first glance, from five feet away!
Provide all the information a user would need to do business with you and, in case need more, offer an extremely simple way to get in touch with someone at your business identified with a name and a picture.
Provide an easy way users can refer the site to a friend, not by just a URL but by directing visitors to a special page (or home page) that explains your business and unique value proposition, that is, what makes your business special. You don't want to unintentionally direct someone to a page within the site which fails to present your business at its best (such as a sign-up page).
Give users a reason to act now.
Eliminate all anxieties by clearly reassuring users that you won't misuse any personal information, that you offer secure transactions, and are trustworthy.
Make sure, by testing new users, that your site works properly, is laid out sensibly, and delivers information in an intelligent way that leads to a lead or a sale.
Only by assuming that your users know nothing about your site will you convert the most visitors. The best part is that people who come to your site already motivated and with some awareness about you, will also find the site easy to navigate and respect your business sense even more.

Internet Marketing Opportunities

2007-01-15T08:20:00.000+09:00

When you first begin looking for a way to make money online, you are bombarded with myriads of ways you can get rich quick. If you look up the phrase ‘internet marketing’ or ‘make money online’ on a search engine, you probably see just as many pie in the sky, illegitimate, business opportunities as you do legitimate opportunities. And the sad thing is, the illegitimate opportunities often look much more attractive because they promise ridiculous amounts of money to you, if you will just buy this, or invest that. Keep this in mind, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Online, long term success is created by creating a solid business, just like in the offline world. You simply have to be selling something that has value, in a system that is duplicatable, meaning that chance is not the primary element of your success, in order to make big money long term online.

Although it may be tempting at first to go with the fly by night, get rich quick opportunities, you will simply get burned. Use this manual to choose a legitimate way of making money online, and then do the work necessary to make it happen.

As you read through the information you find online, you are going to see many different types of products to sell, you are going to see many different types of methods of creating, buying, or borrowing products to sell, and you are going to see many different methods of selling them. You are going to see many different methods of generating traffic, many different methods of converting that traffic to financial gain, and many different ways to leverage your initial traffic and income into long term income streams.

You cannot apply all of the techniques online and become good at all of them. You will naturally have to specialize some. You will have to make some choices.

My advice to you is to choose to do things, choose products or choose methods, that require the least amount of learning curve for you, especially if you are just getting started.

For example, if you are a good writer, then you might consider the writing-oriented options, like creating your own ebook, or writing articles for traffic. But if you do not have writing as a skill, although you can certainly learn to write well over time, you might be better off with a paid advertising method, and using someone else’s product to start with.

An Introduction to Social Media -- Where the Teens Are

2007-01-12T10:59:00.000+09:00

Social media sites have caught fire with teens. Social media are the online tools and platforms such as MySpace (www.myspace.com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com) where users can share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other. For marketers, social media sites are where they must turn to get the attention of these audiences. A recent Pew Internet and American Life study showed that 55% of online teens have created a personal profile online and have used networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. Not only do they create a profile, but they visit the sites daily or even more often. They use the sites to keep in touch with their friends and make their plans. If you want to be part of their plans, you, too, should have a strategy for marketing in social media.

Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. Teens are creating and sharing online content at a startling rate. What is truly astonishing is the creative effort plowed into its more popular forms: blogs, podcasts, and vlogs (video blogs). Every 24 hours, visitors to the popular video search engine YouTube (www.youtube.com) upload over 65,000 new videos, and users view 100 million video clips per day according to a July 2006 survey.

Today, almost anyone can become a content producer, content sharer or content commentator with a ready audience of their friends and their friends' friends. It is easy to understand the rapid spread of information across this heavily interconnected actively sharing universe. What does this mean for marketing professionals? Simply stated, it's where your audience hangs out if you are trying to reach savvy, relationship-rich young people. Check out the social media space and know where you're headed so you can realize its potential.

2007 Internet Marketing Hype

2007-01-12T08:48:00.000+09:00

Many folks have been studying Internet Marketing and what it takes to make money online. But are these people actually doing themselves any favors by building multiple websites to sell stuff? These would-be entrepreneurs of the Information Highway actually believe they are learning about business by studying online marketers, yet in reality they are only learning scam tactics and not much in the way of real business.

One individual, Skip, told me he was studying these businesses so he could also make millions online. So I said; Interesting. So tell me Skip, knower of all things? Why do people fall for this BS? What is it, is it the hopelessness and hopefulness our sucker syndrome that people think that they can trust the "Winning of the Lottery" for their retirement savings plan? Or is it the fact that they only take $45.00 per month from people so that small amount is worth risking?

Most of the people who fall for these online scams cannot afford to waste money, especially if they are running a deficit in their family budget and have three kids, they have no business blowing money on such get-rich-quick schemes. They must get serious about what they are doing in life and online.

It is truly amazing what humans will believe. Some of these victims of the scam artists are actually of the belief that if they send in $45.00 to some website promising to make them millions that they will actually get rich in no time?

You have to wonder if it is even worth chasing down the millions of scam artists on the Internet, or just let the dumb folks lose all their money, because they are stupid enough to believe this garbage? I certainly appreciate you reading all my articles on this subject of Winning. Thanks again and Godspeed. Perhaps this article is of interest to propel thought in 2007?

Theories of Internet Marketing

2007-01-11T08:55:00.000+09:00

Life is been governed by laws, principles, or theories. It follows that every business you do in life must be done in accordance with such relevant, established, and natural laws if you sincerely want to succeed.

In internet marketing, just like any other business, theories abound. The first theory in this context is called the theory of speed. This theory states that you must consider how fast your product or service is produced or delivered in comparison to your competitors’. This theory is very significant in the management of software development. Software programs are often expected to run fast.

As a matter of fact, if the delivery of your goods and services is faster than your competitors’ own in the same niche people will prefer your products and services to your competitors’. So you must, as a matter of necessity, consider the theory of speed when you are involving yourself in any area of internet marketing.

The second theory is known as the theory of cost. Dear Mr. Internet Marketer, the cost-effectiveness of a product or service you render is a very important determining factor in the school of internet marketing. Believe me, people like cheap products no matter how they pretend. So you must try as much as possible to make your goods and services to be “cheaper” than your rivals’ own. I advise you to check out the price of your competitors’ products and services in order to maintain a reasonable price. Strive as much as possible to ensure that you have a better price.

Thirdly, there is the theory of quality. Are you thinking of delivering inferior products to your customer? Then you should as well be thinking of becoming a failure in your chosen niche. If you ask me, your failure rate is 99.9 per cent; it then means that you are most likely to fail for just selling inferior products or rendering inferior services. Your products and services should be of very high quality if you really expect to make very high amount of money – you can only reap what you sow. Only thieves or criminals are known for taking what they do not deserve. Let me warn you before you lose out, even the poorest of all men like high quality goods and services – poverty notwithstanding.

An Historical Perspective - Google Ads

2007-01-10T10:44:00.000+09:00

How did we get here? Let's go back a little closer to the beginning.

In February 2002, Google did something remarkable. They began pricing their text ads next to search results (also known as sponsored links) using a formula, not a straight auction. Google's main competitor at the time, Overture (now Yahoo Search Marketing), operated an auction that placed these types of listings higher on the page strictly based on the bid amount, on a cost-per-click basis. (In fact, Overture showed searchers exactly how much the advertisers were bidding, a level of disclosure which was later dropped.)

Google's new formula folded relevancy into the mix, as measured by how often users clicked on the ads. The formula was: AdRank Score equals Max Bid multiplied by click-through rate. By improving ad relevancy, advertisers were able to rise higher on the page without necessarily increasing their bids. A side effect was that this formula helped Google maximize its revenues from the auction. It also increased user satisfaction with the ad listings.

There were a couple of additional rules intended to maintain ad relevancy. Roughly speaking, keywords in your AdWords account had to maintain an historical click-through rate of at least 0.5%, or they'd be disabled. Later, Google experimented with a variety of cumbersome methods of keeping irrelevant ads out of the auction, such as putting keywords "in trial" or warning you that some were "at risk" of being disabled.

Small Business Internet Marketing Tips

2007-01-10T09:08:00.000+09:00

Have you noticed a substantial increase in internet marketing? Within one hour of surfing the net, you will be sure to find more and smaller business internet marketing products and services cropping up. If you are about to enter this amazing and competitive world of online business, here are some internet marketing tips which can help you attain your goals in 2007.

Join forums geared toward internet marketers and begin to establish a dialogue with them. You can learn a wealth of information by reading their posts, as well as gain invaluable insight into the world of internet marketing. Learn as much as you can about join ventures and, if it appeals to you, ask if anyone would be interested in participating in a joint business with you. Perhaps you have a website promoting a certain product or service; if so, it would be to your advantage to combine forces with another marketer by bartering or offering them a free gift for referring your site to others. Create a free e-book for your website, and give it to other website owners for their use in exchange for referrals as well.

Become involved in affiliate programs which can yield additional income. Access websites within the same niche; promote their products, and write honest endorsements enabling you to profit from each sale. For example: Suppose you have a website which contains articles and products on weight loss. All you need to do is find other websites who are engaged in the same niche and product area, and ask if you can become an affiliate. When a consumer visits your site, clicks on their link and buys the products offered; you’ve just made a sale.

Another key to your website’s success is search engine optimization. This is one area in which small business internet marketing is critical to your ranking status. Ensure you have the proper meta tags for your title, keywords, and description. This can be a determining factor between drawing little traffic to amassing a volume of visitors. Make sure the keywords are utilized on every page of your website. This will enable the search engine to find your site and perhaps increase your page ranking. Utilize tools to determine which keywords are most popular.

A very successful internet marketer stated that in order to reap the rewards in internet marketing, you should not focus on what you think the customer wants, but what they think they want. Think outside of the box; entice them to want to buy the product, and you’ll be successful. His advice is to use headlines that are short, command the attention of the reader, and thus engage them to participate in what you have to offer. Perhaps you have found other ways in which to engage your customer base. The key to becoming successful is to utilize every tool available; online resources are in abundance.

Enhancing your marketing skills takes determination and commitment. Using all of the aforementioned internet marketing tips can help you begin the process. Traffic flow and ranking on search engines are important elements in securing a small business in internet marketing. Research is also important; determine what it is that consumers hunger for and supply it. The competition is heavy; therefore, stay focused, plan, execute and you will realize your goals.

Most Websites Are Designed Backwards -- Seriously!

2007-01-09T10:50:00.000+09:00

Typically site design (and redesign) starts with the home page, laboring over the look and feel. As designers wait for content, the site is built following standard formulas and the goal of selling a product or service often becomes secondary. Deadlines are missed between the unpredictability of the creative process and the struggle for content, and eventually the management command becomes an exasperated: "Get the site up and fix it later!" The all important conversion pages receive minimal attention. Sales are lackluster. Visitors abandon early. This is when conversion experts get involved.

We recommend a path completely opposite to this design model. This model is based upon our usability and conversion experience and places primary design focus on the sale or conversion, regardless of whether you're selling a product or a service. It helps sites launch faster and score higher conversion rates. Here's a basic 10 point review of the model, enough for a great start.

Extensive interviews. Begin the design process with an extensive client interview to understand the business, its goals and the prospective customer groups. Don't start at the home page. Rather focus on identifying the final site objective.

Brainstorm a list of everything a customer would want to know to be comfortable making a purchase. It may not end up on the final site, but if selling a house for example, include everything from school details to landscape plans.

Information groups. Next organize this information into logical groups -- utilities, town, house design, etc. These "information groups" will become pages.

Sales ladders. Look at the sales process, and visualize how customers proceed to the objective. Ask: When is each information group likely to arise? Sequence the information groups in a "ladder" which mimics this. Confirm with either experts or prospects. Now expand the ladder and begin organizing pages from the information groups.

Storyboard. No text yet, just information outlines. Start the page layout as a rough storyboard. Spend no more then 10 to 15 minutes per page and hand draw each page including spots for relevant images. Mark obvious links to other relevant groups. Insure that each page directly relates to the objective.

Review and test. Now review your understanding of the typical prospect. Can you make assumptions about preferred communication style, interests, motivations or focus? Which is more important: the investment value or neighborhood schools? Test your assumptions with some typical buyers or experts. We often end up building multiple sales paths based upon several customer persona groups, but for now build one path using this information. (Multiple paths are a topic for another article but are a key part of Conversion Point Architecture.)

Navigation. With the path architected from beginning to end; we build out the architecture or navigation map with standard site elements that users expect like About Us, FAQs etc.

Hire designers. Designers are called only when content is set and architectural elements are clearly laid out. Discuss the look and feel, content delivery, and explain how to place the graphics to utilize eye tracking to support key messages.

Build the site. Designers deliver best when provided with detailed content and site plans and can focus on visuals. With the right look and feel in place, the "beta" is tested on several prospective clients for navigational confusion, sales blocks, functional problems like browser compatibility, and finally, content problems or unanswered product questions.

Launch, monitor, refine. Launch the site, note your metrics. Continually monitor and refine site elements. Set conversion goals and explore new presentations and elements.

This approach is all about building a site with the objectives in mind and insuring that all sales elements are in place and clearly communicated. Try it on your next business website or redesign.

- Todd Follansbee

Internet Marketing Joy Or Tribulation?

2007-01-09T08:39:00.000+09:00

Internet marketing is imagined by many to be a passport to untold riches and long term financial security. Lured by promises of overnight business success with "testimonies" and screen shots of someone's bulging paypal account many folks are lining themselves up for a heavy fall. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of people out there who do earn a good living through internet marketing but it is not an easy business route to take. In fact for many it is a road to financial disaster and possible ruin.

If you haven't sussed it out already the only people making the money out of those tempting "get rich quick" advertisements are the guys who posted them. What's more is they are getting rich on the money that other folks are giving them in the vain hope of some kind of internet success. So if you want to spend your money as fast as you earn it just carry on buying into their dream and make them rich. Or you could take a deep breath, do some research and tackle the whole business of internet marketing from a completely different angle altogether.

There is a major downside however to this method which will unfortunately put a lot of people off internet marketing and home business before they even start. It seems to be the one thing that instills terror into the hearts of would be home business opportunist the world over. The very mention of it's name (even in an article like this) will cause sheer panic and a rush to find a real job in the real world. Making it easy to give up any crazy notions of working for oneself in the internet marketing industry at all. What on earth could it be that has such a devastating affect on these prospective stay at home business men or women? The answer....HARD WORK!

Whoops sorry, it's that four letter word again causing so much trouble for all those people who were looking for an easy option. A quick fix to get them out of debt or turn their lives around just like those online advertisements always promised they could. The bottom line is that there is no easy way to succeed in internet marketing no matter what you have been told previously. The only path to honest legitimate success is through hard work. Sure there will be the odd occasion when someone strikes it lucky the first time around but this will be the exception rather than the rule.

The secret to internet marketing is that there is no secret at all. All you need is guts and a determination to succeed in one of the most competitive markets in the world. Whilst everyone else is off chasing internet success rainbows and looking for the none existent pot of gold you have your chance. In other words there are plenty of folks out there who haven't clicked that the easy fix doesn't work yet. This means for those who focus the market is in fact still wide open. If you are prepared to be consistent in your approach and take a long term view you have every chance of internet marketing success. So the choice as always is yours. Keep on chasing rainbows or knuckle down to some long term hard word. Be Successful!

Web Analytics: #1 Simple Visitor Counts

2007-01-08T11:55:00.000+09:00

"People commonly use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post -- for support rather than illumination"

- Mark Twain

Mark Twain didn't have Web analytics in mind when he made the above statement -- but he might as well have. Far too often, the purpose of Web analytics is to produce a graph that goes up and to the right. But, good, meaningful Web analytics is a deductive process, not just an effort to produce a chart.

Invest the time to truly explore the data, gain insight into cause and effect, and understand the underlying data points by filtering out the noise.

Mistake #1: Simple Visitor Counts

All visitors are not created equal. Many entities arriving at your web site may appear to be human visitors, but in reality are anything but. Unfortunately this inhuman traffic is counted alongside your human visitor, so you can see why "number of visitors" data can be faulty. A few of the factors that lead to non-human visitors include:

Bad Bots. Bots are robots that visit your site to extract data from its pages. "Good" bots include search engine crawlers like Googlebot and Yahoo! Slurp. You definitely want good bots to visit your site so your pages will show up in search engine results.

Good bots follow protocol, identifying themselves to Web analytics programs so that they aren't mistaken for human activity. But bad bots don't play by the rules. Out to harvest data like email addresses, they don't announce themselves, preferring the cloak of anonymity that masquerading as a human visitor gives them. The bad bots know if they were to identify themselves for what they really are, webmasters would simply block the bots and reduce the shady activities. So they simulate human behavior and end up skewing your statistics.

Fraudulent Clicks. A very real, rapidly growing problem, click fraud occurs when someone (or some computer script) knowingly clicks on your PPC ad with no interest in your products or services. Whether they're trying to fraudulently make money from the traffic being sent to your site or are maliciously attacking your ad budget, one thing is clear: when click fraud occurs, your wallet deflates while your stats inflate.

Monitoring Services. Uptime monitoring services are "good" traffic in that they provide a useful service. By probing your site as if they were human visitors, they alert you to problems human visitors might be experiencing. They will, however, skew your data.

Any of the above examples can cause a spike in a simple visitor count or an upward trend. Getting past this bogus information and to the actual human behavior requires a willingness to examine the data, not just take comfort in the stats. Looking at a variety of stats in conjunction with visitor counts helps give you perspective.

Qualified Visitors

A metric must be defined to bring into focus only "qualified" visitors. Different sites have different methods of defining this, but a fairly universal method is to include only those visitors that spend more than 10 seconds on the site.

This will exclude many bots and instances of click fraud because those entities are likely to visit for a very short time. It's worth noting, however, that the 10-second-or-more label may inadvertently exclude a small number of real human clicks, like those who click through from an ad, don't like what they see on the single landing page, and immediately exit.

Given that the "number of visitors" is a fairly vague metric for defining business success, it doesn't matter too much that we exclude some real human traffic. Especially since we're interested in only the "qualified" visitors. A visitor who clicks in and immediately out of your site isn't even a lukewarm lead.

The practice of exclusion will obviously reduce your metrics, but gives a clearer picture of whether your site is improving.

SEO Overkill in Internet Marketing

2007-01-08T08:10:00.000+09:00

How important is SEO? For some businesses it is crucial, but for not as many as you might think. There are two main reasons this is true: 1) Traffic, clicks, links, content and page rank are overrated by SEO contractors 2) The inferences presented by these SEO statistics are often inaccurate and/or immaterial to the goals of the website.

Like most new industries, SEO, a child of the internet revolution, has been over emphasized, it is in a state of constant change, it is too skewed and stilted for real efficacy, and it has been oversold by the industry practitioners, and finally it has been overreported by the media.

SEO has some features reminiscent of the California Gold Rush of 1849. A few guys discovered gold at Sutter's Mill. A few more guys found out about it. A few guys made some money. A lot of more guys wanted into gold prospecting. Many more businesses sprang up to sell prospecting equipment and supplies. Fake reports, maps, deeds, and contracts became a huge spin-off. Criminals and security industries sprang up. Overspending and bankruptcies were a major result.

What businesses profit most from SEO? Businesses with some or all of these characteristics benefit the most: 1) Sales to national or international markets 2) Selling services or products that are easily stored and shipped so that physical location is not a cost factor versus local competitors 3) Companies who are capitalized well enough to meet short term and long term changes in their industries 4) Companies with internet and SEO expertise that is dominant but flexible, and cost-effective.

What businesses profit least from SEO? Businesses with some or all of these characteristics benefit the least: 1) Sales to local markets 2) Selling services or products with major storage and delivery costs, that have poor shelf life or need constant maintenance 3) Companies who do not have enough capital to follow through in their SEO expenditures when short and long term changes and unexpected problems arise 4) Companies without dominant, flexible and cost-effective internet and SEO expertise.

There are two exceptions to these characteristics that come to mind. Notably, the company that holds a monopoly hardly needs SEO expertise. And a company that deals in a niche area that is so exclusive that no one wants to compete with them.

How is it that clicks, traffic, page rank, links, content are overrated by SEO contractors? First and foremost, they are SELLING their services. Secondly, many clicks and traffic are from NONCUSTOMERS. Many clicks and traffic comes from employees, the website owner and webmaster, technicians, SEO experts, the competitors of your business and your technicians and your experts, fraudulent clicks, spammers, bots, AND all the wannabes of all the above categories.

What about content? Content is also oversold. Search Engines are moving to better indicators in their algorithms. The benefits from paying for redundant content generation are nearly over.

What about links and rank? Links are less important everyday and rank is tied to the other oversold SEO factors. The only trustworthy statistics are based on sales and the factors of internet related revenues.

Bottom Line: If your company doesn't meet the criteria for real benefits from SEO then you are wasting time and money on a no-win situation. You would be better off using a multiple media approach to sales - internet presence mixed with traditional forms of advertising and marketing.

Disclosure Policy

2007-01-01T09:35:00.000+09:00

This policy is valid from 1st January 2007

This blog is a collaborative blog written by a group of individuals.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Disclosure Policys are a great idea, as they let the blogs readership know exactly what is behind the content and resaoning for the blog entries. I feel that this is a way of letting my readers know exactly what they will find on my blog site, the moral code I operate this blogsite by, and why I endorse and select the PayPerPost articles that I choose. I can now say what influences me on choosing these posts, and that the comments applied to these posts are those that are 100% my own. I am not being payed to endorse a product, I will only comment on it based on my personal opinion.

This Policy was created using Disclosure Policy Generator

Why Internet Marketing is a Non-Stop Process

2006-12-24T11:17:00.000+09:00

Creating your first (or 10th) website is always an exciting time! You work hard to ensure your web site is alluring to your potential customers. Your images are up and your content is first rate. Now you ask yourself, "How am I going to get people to notice me? How can I promote my website?"

Marketing is an age-old process. Most likely even the first humans strove to market themselves or their goods to each other. It's a basic human instinct to want to tell others what we have, what we've created.

To effectively market your web site takes persistence, determination, and the ability to do repetitive tasks over and over - daily, weekly, and monthly. The central theme when approaching marketing (versus advertising) is to strive for the flood of potential customers typically found in the search engines. This type of traffic is considered "warm marketing," because those doing the searching already have a basic understanding of what they intend to find.

Even the big players on the net, like Wal-Mart, Amazon, and others actively seek the traffic derived from search engine searches. During the holiday season, a 2006 statistic shows Wal-Mart relying on 12% or more of its own traffic to come from active searches online. You may be thinking, "But I'd just type in their url myself." You would be wrong. Many a looker-turned-buyer start their way to your online business using a search engine.

Getting into the search engines is one thing, however, getting to the front of a search-returned result is the ultimate challenge all business owners face.

Knowing the value of keyword and keyword phrases designed specifically for what you are offering is invaluable. Many business owners make the mistake of going for "broad" terms, words and phrases they have no hope of getting decent search engine placement for. Pick too broad a term and you are going up against the biggies online. Their sites are at the top and at the top for a reason. Don't optimize for a word that is out of your reach.

Be picky. Be specific.

Once you have determined how you are going to go about your battle to the top, you must use a variety of methods to get there. The most difficult task a web site owner faces is sticking to a system. Haphazard marketing results in haphazard sales (if any).

Be diligent. Be wise. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Often outsourcing tasks can be the wisest option for those without the skill level, resources, and time needed to effectively promote a website.

With that in mind, the following are just some methods that have stood the test of time in terms of promoting your web site:

Article Writing

Writing is an extremely effective way to gain search engine recognition. You must be willing to write articles (or have someone write for you) on a weekly basis (at a minimum). Once written, your articles need to be distributed to as many directories as humanly possible - each and every week.

Setting up an onsite article reference area of your own is also a good internet business marketing strategy. But don't stop there... create a blog and/or rss feed and post your articles to them, too.

One Way Backlinking

Search engines love authority sites. To have your web site recognized as an authority means that everyone on the net points to you, without you having to "point back." The greater the number of incoming links, the higher your online business appears to the eyes of search engines and their spiders. Ineffectively done, backlinks can cost a small fortune and take up a huge chunk of your time to create. Gaining backlinks from high-ranking sites (in the eyes of the search engines) is very important. Backlink by linking forward whenever possible.

Reciprocal Linking

Once upon a time the be all and end all of having an online web site meant finding as many other web site owners as possible to link to your own site. Most of the time this meant, "I'll post yours if you'll post mine." Reciprocal linking is still advisable, but in the correct proportion. Your web site needs to have more incoming links than outgoing. In addition, for any reciprocating arrangement, you want to swap with complimentary sites, not competitive ones. Being selective is the name of the game with reciprocal linking.

When it comes to promoting your website, marketing is a non-stop process that must be executed wisely. Internet marketing also must be approached aggressively to rise to the top of the search engines for terms relative to your online business.

Too often when someone thinks, "I will promote my website!" they fail to realize just how non-stop that process really is. Gaining the first foothold and moving to the front for returned results is just the first step. Keeping and holding that position means never letting down your guard. Never give your competition the edge to move right past you.

Internet Marketing – It's in the System

2006-12-21T09:20:00.000+09:00

When I started getting involved with internet marketing, it was a frustrating experience. Having come from an academic background, I was used to learning in a very structured, logical manner. With internet marketing I found out quickly that it was possible to spend several dollars on information products and still only have a portion of the answers for which I was searching. I discovered that the “gurus” out there were very good at promising you “the answer to all your needs” when it comes to building a successful business on the internet, only to be disappointed at what they actually delivered (but, if I just bought their next product, I’d have everything I’d ever need to be successful).

I finally wised up and started looking for systems, not puzzle pieces. There is a very specific system to making money on the internet. You can’t just create a website and expect to make money, regardless of what some might tell you. Even if you find what could be the most sought after product in the history of mankind, if you don’t know how to market it and get your site in front of targeted traffic, you will be the only one who knows just how great your product is and your attempt to create residual income on the internet will fail miserably.

In order to be a successful internet marketer, you need to look for a complete system that will train you in the art of product identification, website creation, marketing, list building, bonus creation, targeting traffic and many other items that go into having a complete system. With a system like I just described, you can literally put your online marketing efforts on auto pilot once you have put in the initial effort to educate yourself as to how the system works. Each piece of the system works interactively with the others, and it takes some time and work on the part of the newbie internet marketer to learn the ropes. Now, don’t be frightened when I say it “takes some work and education” to become successful as an internet marketer, it’s not rocket science, especially if you take the time to search out an information source that takes you step-by-step through each part of the system you need to achieve your goals. The problem is that most of the internet “gurus” want to sell you information one piece at a time (they make more money that way), but complete educational systems are available if you are selective as you get started.

One of the big mistakes that many new to the internet marketing game make is that they get overwhelmed by all the information products out there and get frustrated and quit because they just can’t seem to put it all together. Complete systems for internet marketing are available if you look hard and don’t just settle for information products that are only one small piece of a large puzzle. Look for someone who has done it and offers to help you through the entire process to getting started and profitable on the internet and stay away from those who want to educate you on one small portion of the system you need for success.

Internet Marketing for Beginners

2006-12-19T10:13:00.000+09:00

Internet marketing for beginners is somewhat of an oxymoron. This is because while in theory the concepts behind Internet marketing might be quite simple, executing effective strategies can be extremely difficult. This can even be tough for those who are quite experienced in the world of Internet marketing. With this in mind, this article will attempt to explain the concept of Internet marketing for beginners and will outline some basic strategies which can help a business owner to launch his own Internet marketing campaign. We will cover concepts such as creating a website, placing banner ads, sending out e-newsletters, orchestrating an email marketing campaign and optimizing your website for search engines.

One of the most basic steps for starting an Internet marketing campaign is to create a website. If you don’t have a website or have a poorly designed website you should consider creating or re-designing a website to adequately market your products. If you do not have experience in web design, there are a number of software packages which make it simple for those with no design experience to create a functional website. However, hiring a web designer is worthwhile because he can work to create a website which is attractive, functional and suitable to your products and series. He can also help you include more advanced features on your website.

Banner ads are another popular option for advertising your business on the Internet. Banner ads are advertisements which typically appear along the top of a website but it may also include smaller ads in other locations. Banner ads typically include graphics and text which entice Internet users to click on the advertisement. Once a user clicks on the ad, they are directed to your website. This type of advertising can be very effective when care is taken to place the advertisements on high traffic websites which attract an audience who may have an interest in your products.

Sending out e-newsletters can also be a part of an effective Internet marketing strategy. E-newsletters are essentially emails which may contain a variety of information including informative articles, useful quizzes, relevant advertising or any other information which is deemed worthwhile for the recipients of the e-newsletter. The importance of these newsletters is that they can be used as marketing tools which are not viewed by the recipients as an advertisement. One way to do this is to incorporate links or other soft sale approaches into the copy of the e-newsletters. However, care should be taken to keep these references minimal so the e-newsletter is not viewed as spam.

Email marketing campaigns can be another successful aspect of an Internet marketing campaign. Email marketing essentially involves sending out emails to a group of individuals who may be interested in your products and services. Care should be taken in sending out these emails to avoid sending emails which are unsolicited and will be viewed as spam. One way to do this is to only send out the emails to users who have requested inclusion on an email mailing list. Another way to do this is to provide value in the emails as opposed to just including advertisements. This can be done by offering relevant advice in your emails and other useful information which may be of interest to the recipients of the email.

Finally, optimizing your website for search engines is a critical aspect of an Internet marketing campaign. Search engines rank websites according to quality and relevance for particular search terms. Many Internet users appreciate the effort by search engines and use these search engines to find the best websites on a particular subject. This means the Internet users are likely to only visit websites which rank well with search engines. Therefore if your website is not high ranking, you are not likely to generate a great deal of traffic from Internet users who use search engines to find relevant websites. Top ranking websites are likely to obtain the most traffic from search engines and all websites falling on the first page of the search engine results will likely enjoy some degree of success in improving their traffic.

Home Based Internet Marketing Trends

2006-12-18T08:22:00.000+09:00

The Internet is a changing medium and what was a successful way to market your business last year might not work this year. There is always a time lag between what the experts said worked for them last year and now.

It is important to know what the current trends are. A trend that is going to be around for a long time is very different to a reactive fad that will only last a month.

Blogs have been around for years. The thing that is changing is the perception of a Blog. Business people are now realising a Blog is a necessity. They are now creating them as well as a tradional static website.

Blogs are also used exclusively by more and more marketers, regardless of their niche market.

Why?

There are several reasons for this change:

1) Blogs are natural traffic generators.Search engines like original content that is updated regularly. This is exactly what Blogs are suited to do.

2) Basic Blogs are more easily created than tradional Web sites. There are different platforms that can be used, each has it's own advantages. We prefer WordPress. Obviously the more add ons you use and understand the better.

3) A Blog is a good way to create a relationship with your list of prospects. Using the more informal style of blogging is proving very successful. Prospects will come to your site for the content.

4) Blogging platforms automatically generate RSS (Real Simple Syndication). Once you submit your blog to the various RSS Directories, people who subscribe to the same directory will be sent to your blog if you are in the same niche as they are looking.

5) Once you have set up one Blog, it is easy to duplicate the process. Remember it is a good idea to have various sources of income. One blog giving you $1000.00 a month is good, 10 blogs each giving $1000.00, a total of $10000.00 is obviously better.

6)Blogs can be used with adsense and to advertise affiliate products.

Conversion rates on these sites are much higher.

Take a look at your website and do a critical analysis of it. Is it up to date or is it looking tired and dated?

You decide and take any action that is needed.

Profit From Other People's Lists

2006-12-15T15:24:00.000+09:00

The basic idea of a joint venture is that one party, owning only one part of a possible deal, is trying to set up a relationship with a second (and third) party who has the second (and third) part of the deal. Keyword in a joint venture is relation!

The most used example for a joint venture is one party having a (great) product and the other party having a (great) list that she can endorse the product to. But there are many more examples.

Ok, now you know about joint ventures. As I mentioned before, the keyword in a joint venture is relation and relationship.
Suppose you have a great product and you're ready to make a win-win deal with someone else, who would you send your proposal. If you would send it to someone you don't know, how great a chance would you have?
If a complete stranger would stop you while walking on the street, would you listen to his proposal? Would you step into it? Guess not. Why? Because you don't know him or her, so you're afraid! You experience worry, concern, insecurity.

So what we do before stepping into a deal is this:

We build a list to create a relationship with our readers;
We exchange articles to create a relationship with other publishers;
We visit forums to answer questions to build a relationship with other members;
We join chat rooms to build relationships with other chatters;
We email our peers and ask them questions to build relationships;

While doing this we always try to find out what the other party can mean for us: how big a list do they have, what niche are they targeting, what reputation do they have and yes, ..... how much money are they making.

Are your Web pages Sagging?

2006-12-15T08:39:00.000+09:00

Are your web sales down? Practically non-existing? Do you wonder what it will take to change this? Do you want to take action, but don't know where to start? When you are willing to take on this challenge, you are ready to make other choices.Here's five ways to go for it without spending gobs of money.

Are your web sales down? Practically non-existing? Do you wonder what it will take to change this? Do you want to take action, but don't know where to start? When you are willing to take on this challenge, you are ready to make other choices.
Maybe you resist like I did with my first web site. It only sold $200 a month. But, after one face lift with bookcoaching my web site really improved to sales over $4500 a month. And much more the following years. It's common for businesses who want great sales to revise their web sites three times, even more. So, like me maybe your third time is the charm. Sales are zooming past double now.

Perhaps you think...

This is going to cost too much.

I don't know how to write good sales copy. Where can I find right people and information to carry this task out? While these can be daunting, you simply have to decide and be willing to begin. . Here's five ways to go for it without spending gobs of money.

1. Model your web pages after a successful web site you admire. Like me, you may want to check out a web site that a professional web master has put up. Notice the home page, the web site's purpose, and message of what it wants to sell.

When these are clear you can increase your sales many times.

Adapt your pages so you can too. Like me, you'll want to pay attention to the headlines used on the home page and within the sales letters for each product or service offered at the site.

2. Decide what the number one thing is you want to sell.

Let's hope it's the highest money. Then, what is number two? And so forth. It's best to sell big ticket items, then a few related books or products as low-cost leaders. You need to decide what you want to make from your efforts. Since you will pay about 7% for a credit card provider and incur other web site expenses, mark your prices accordingly. If you don't do this preplanning, your web site will look like a cluttered closet. It needs a focus.

3. Look and listen to who is really profiting.

So many boasts. So many promises. Look deeper beyond the "killer" copy. You want to model your own site after a professional who has been in business a long time-who is solid, and reasonable. Tailor your language to still fit you, but also give your visitors enough sales information to make a decision to buy.

4. Get the mentors you need to get your site right for sales.

Don't call your webmaster until you find a person who can help you write an order-pulling sales letter. For instance, you'd want someone who already has many books out, each one with a sales letter. When you work with a coach, it's less money, because your write the drafts for feedback. Or, you may want to hire a copywriter to write the copy for you. Some will write a sales letter for $300, others charge up to $1000 and more. They will give you a work sheet so your sales message will suit your purposes.

Some choose this method because they don't think they can write, but the coach encourages you to write your own copy to reflect your unique personality and be true to you.

5. Connect with a money-successful internet coach to help you formulate a new message that really suits you, your business, your book and your service. This person should have writing experience in sales letters and all other marketing language. One last option is to do nothing--keeping your client base stagnant and not letting the world know about the wonderful service or products you offer.

Gift Appreciation

2006-12-14T10:10:00.000+09:00

Behind the Scenes

2006-12-14T08:59:00.000+09:00

Definition and Scope

Internet marketing is a component of electronic commerce. Internet marketing can include information management, public relations, customer service, and sales. Electronic commerce and Internet marketing have become popular as Internet access is becoming more widely available and used. Well over one third of consumers who have Internet access in their homes report using the Internet to make purchases. Internet marketing is also useful for companies that wish to expand their "brick-and-mortar" business into an online business.

History

Internet marketing first began in the early 1990s as simple, text-based websites that offered product information. Over time Internet marketing evolved into more than just selling information products, there are people now selling advertising space, software programs, business models and many more exciting products.

Current Culture

At first there was only a small minority of people in the Internet marketing world, but over time many people have seen the benefits of working from home and tried to build an online business. There have been many that have failed in there search for online success, this is because of an explosion of people who have created sites that profess to make people millions, while charging a small amount to do so, these sites have created a sense of disillusion as many people ignore the fact that to make money online as the online world needs to be treated like a real business.

Web Site Viral Marketing

2006-12-14T08:49:00.000+09:00

Inaddition to search engines marketing,email marketing,offline and online marketing, another very good but essential way marketing your web sites is the Viral marketing systems,I recommend viral marketing to webmasters,website owners,publishers,online marketers in general.

The technique is to look for a winner,join it,it may take a little bit of time for it to start working,but the truth is that if you carry out the instructions of the viral marketing well,just make sure you promote and promote your viral maketing,when people join just like you they will help you to bring other people who will help you to drive millions of quality traffic to your web site:

Below are 3 typical examples of viral marketing you can use to promote your web site:

1. http://snurl.com/2nmz

2. http://www.opportunity.com/r/rotimi

3. http://viralclick.com/cgi-bin/run.cgi?r=105

Do you know somebody who can benefit from this article? if yes, forward it to them.

Internet Marketing Strategy Planning

2006-12-13T08:41:00.000+09:00

Before you decide what to sell on the internet. You have to develop an Internet Marketing Strategy that is the essential part of your online success on the Internet.

You have to take into consideration the following:
1. Find a large and easy to reach niche market
2. Find a Product or Service the niche market demands for!
3. Setup your website
4. Have a great sales copy (your 24/7 sales man)
5. Create an opt-in page to collect email address
6. Have a great sales process
7. Make your website scalable and search engine friendly
8. Backend, backend and backend

Each step plays an important to your success in your Internet Marketing Strategy Planning. If even one step is miss out you will not be able to see the results you would like to see as each step is equally important to each other.

1. Find a large and easy to reach niche market

Your first step in your Internet Marketing Strategy planning requires you to do your research and find a large and easy to reach niche market to market your product. What you can do from here is that you go to Free Keywords tools and search for niche keywords that have high click through and low competitions.

Example the keyword “Dog Food For Sale”, when you search that on Google there are actually 5,650,000 which is seriously not a lot of competition but you also have to check is there a demand for it by using tools from www.seobook.com to look at the KEI rate. The higher the KEI rate the better the keyword.

2. Find a Product or Service the niche market demands for!

After you have found 2 or 3 keywords that you would like to target on, you would want to find products that will serve the market that demands for it.

Example like the keyword “Dog Food For Sale”, you would not want to promote Cat Food as it is totally not related to the topic you want to promote about. So find related products like an eBook “where to find great sale for dog food” or dog products that dogs like to eat.

3. Setup your website

After you have decided what product or service you want to sell online, you would want to setup a website to promote your product. The best way to do it is by creating a Blog talking nothing but Dog Food that are for Sale. Because Google and Yahoo search engine loves Blogs so much that you virtually get listed just 24 hours upon updating compared to a normal website, which will take at least a few weeks to be cached into the search engine.

4. Have a great sales copy (your 24/7 sales man)

Do not be mistaken, sales copy is not the sale. A sales copy is a page with descriptions and details to promote your product on your website. When I first heard of this term sales copy I was totally stunted how important it was to have a sales copy.

Depending how good your copy writing skills are, you can get people to write your sales copy or simply teach yourself to write one. If you can try to write it yourself as copy writing is a very good skill to learn especially when you are an Internet Marketer who plans Internet Marketing Strategy.

5. Create an opt-in page to collect email address

This is another important step that many do not have and its the most important. Why? It is because they fail to collect email address from their website. With the email address you can design out your sales process in the next step which I will explain further.

6. Have a great sales process

With your opt-in page in place, you can used the captured email address and name to follow up with people who are interested to know more about what you are promoting in your opt-in page. This way build you list of email list and keep sent them information or promotion products to sell those products again in the future.

7. Make your website scalable and search engine friendly

With all that done, you would now need to read up on Search Engine Optimization. Practicing this will allow search engines like Yahoo and Google to spider your website easily. The good thing about Blogs is that you can ping the search engines to spider your site easily and you can listed very quickly within 24 hours.

8. Backend, backend and backend
Upon completion of all 7 steps, you just need to keep on sent backend information to your list from your opt-in emails that you receive and keep on driving traffic your opt-in page to get more email address to sent out promotion to your customers.

If you constantly follow these 8 steps formula for your Internet Marketing Strategy Plan, you will see great massive results after 3 months upon you have setup. So do the math and start planning your Internet Marketing Strategy today!

Using META tags and Keywords Increase Search Engine Hits

2006-12-12T13:18:00.000+09:00

The description should be a sentence or two describing the content of the webpage, using the main keywords and keyphrases on this page. If you include keywords that aren't used on the webpage, you could hurt yourself. Place the Description META Tag at the top of the webpage, between the tags, in this format: Some search engines include this description below your hyperlinked title.

meta name="DESCRIPTION" CONTENT="Increase visitor hits, attract traffic through submitting URLs, META tags, news releases, banner ads, and reciprocal links

Your maximum number of characters should be about 255; just be aware that only the first 60 or so are visible on Google, though more may be indexed.

When I prepare a webpage, I write the article first, then write a description of the content in that article in a sentence or two, using each of the important keywords and keyphrases included in the article. This goes into the description META tag. Then for the keywords META tag, I strip out the common words, leaving just the meaty words and phrases. The keywords META tag is no longer used for ranking by Google, but it is currently used by Yahoo, so I'm leaving it in. Who knows when more search engines will consider it important again? Every webpage in your site should have a title, and META description tag.

The Costs of Web Marketing

2006-12-12T12:55:00.000+09:00

Television is most obvious medium of advertisement. However, television's effectiveness in attracting customers is questionable. Its effectiveness lies in achieving brand recognition. Yet at this point most businesses are trying to increase traffic to their websites and gain more customers, brand recognition can wait until after the IPO. Television advertising Australia wide is expensive. More than one previously unknown Dot-com spent all of their available resources on a prime time spot. They may or may not have been successful, but nevertheless, they spent millions of dollars for 30 seconds of airtime. Most businesses are more shrewd when it comes to spending their dollars, and they want more than just thirty seconds of exposure.

Billions US$ Media
7 Internet
46 Newspapers
12 Magazines
43 Television
20 Radio

If you thought that targeting an Internet-based audience would be more effective at driving traffic to a website, you would be right. Banner ads and mass-mailings are much less expensive than television. However, they have their limitations as well. While remarkably cheaper than a TV spot, a small banner ad on a major portal website can still cost over six thousand dollars a month. Furthermore, it is generally agreed that banners are not as cost effective a way to bring visitors to a website. Some potential customers see banners as just a nuisance. Mass mailings have a similar drawback. If you opt out of spending money for your own list, you can buy space in someone else's. But you'll be competing for the customers attention with whoever else bought space. Another disadvantage that banner ads and mass-mailings have is that they aren't targeting the people who are most likely to be interested in the content you have to offer. They may reach a wide audience, but most of that audience will recoil in horror, yell "Spam!", and delete your expensive ad before having the opportunity to realize that you are exactly what they're looking for. While both traditional advertising methods can and do work, they require a lot of what most of us don't have: money.

Blogs + Article Marketing = Affiliate Sales

2006-12-12T09:12:00.000+09:00

In case you’re unfamiliar with the term “article marketing,” let me sum it up briefly: You write an article. You submit this article to an article directory, from which webmasters and e-zine publishers can copy your article for their own use as long as they don’t alter it in any way. Your article contains an author bio at the end, often called a “resource box.” This resource box can generally contain up to three self-serving links (links to your own site) and three links to anything else. Your article is damn good, so everyone wants to publish it. Each time someone does this, you get a free backlink to your site, via the resource box, which helps your search engine rankings. Your article is so good, in fact, that a highly reputable site publishes it, giving you a one-way inbound link (the best kind) from an authoritative source.

Now, if you search through any popular article directory (www.ezinearticles.com, for example), you’ll see a lot of sales pitches disguised as articles — these are almost always written by people trying to make commissions as an affiliate. It seems to me, though, that only the dumbest sort of person would fall for an “honest review” article about some $97 Internet marketing product. I mean, you read a rave review of something, and there just happens to be a link where you can buy it. Can’t people put two and two together anymore? Don’t get me wrong: maybe you want to sell to the dumbest sort of person (a fool and his money and all that), but I simply wouldn’t feel right just trying to sell anything to whoever’s dumb enough to buy it. But that doesn’t mean I won’t take a cut if I’m the reason someone bought your e-book.

And that brings me to my first point: first and foremost, make sure your article is valuable. Don’t write about something you know nothing about simply because you can advertise a high-priced item with it. People can see through that. You want to gain people’s trust, and the best way to do that is to actually earn it. Talk about something you have a special knowledge of. If you aren’t well-informed in any profitable niche that you can think of, why not do some reading? Find a niche that interests you, one that also has some earning potential, and start reading up on it. (That’s what I did with this whole Internet marketing thing. I hadn’t heard of it at all before about six months ago, but I found it interesting and just kept reading and reading and learning and, finally, doing — and now I’ve written extensively about it, and it’s made me some cash.) The key is to first look for something you find interesting, and then try to think of some way you can profit by it. (Hint: do a search for [your niche] plus “affiliate program” and see what comes up.)

Now, if you want to use your articles to sell affiliate products and not to generate backlinks (though you can do both at the same time), you’ll have to be clever. You’re already more clever than 90% of affiliates who try this, because you’ve chosen a niche about which you can write knowledgeably. But you can’t just try to sell something and call it an article. Your article has to offer something useful, thus generating trust, thus convincing people to buy something because you recommended it. Here are a few ways I’ve used to do this:

Write a review. I know, I was just saying that that’s what everyone else does, and you shouldn’t do it. Well, you should, but do it right. Write a real review, of something you’ve actually tried. If you want to promote an e-book, first pick one that you can honestly recommend (yes, you’ll have to read it first). If you want to promote a piece of software, you’ll have to install it and use it for a while. And then, even if you really like it, be objective in your review. Don’t say things like, “This is the greatest!” or “I love this!” or “Buy it now, you’ll thank me!” These kinds of statements are worthless. Make real statements based on actual experiences with the product, like, “I liked its ease of use and intuitive interface.” If there was something you didn’t like, include it in your review. Including a few negative comments might put a few people off of buying it, but I’d be willing to bet that most people who aren’t going to buy just aren’t going to buy. If you try to trick them by leaving out all the bad stuff, they’re going to find out if they buy anything, and then they’ll just get a refund. So be honest, review things you actually like, and don’t be afraid to make a negative comment or two.
Write a bad review. That’s right. Totally trash something. Again, be honest and objective, but pick something you hate and would not recommend that anyone ever buy. Write an effective deconstruction, and then recommend something that you do like.
Write a how-to article. In my opinion, these are the best kinds of articles. It’s simple — write a helpful article, and then include an affiliate link for something that further helps with whatever problem your article addresses.
Okay, I’d be lying if I said it were that simple. You’ve got a bit more work cut out for you. You see, most article directories won’t allow you to include affiliate links; they will, however, allow you to include a link to your own site, which can contain as many affiliate links as you want. But you really just want readers to go check out your affiliate links, and if you send them to your site they might get caught up browsing and forget how they ended up there. That’s why blogs are handy.

First off, you can get one for free without having to pay for hosting. (Check out Blogger or WordPress.) Second, they’re easy to build and update, even if you don’t know anything about web design. Just about all the products I’ve ever sold as an affiliate, I’ve sold through a blog post. I do this by combining two of the methods I mentioned above.

First, I write a review on my blog. This way, I can optimize the page for a specific keyword (generally the name of the product I want to sell, plus a few secondary terms), and I don’t have to follow the article directories’ guidelines. I can also come back and edit the review any time I want, and I won’t have to wait for it to be re-evaluated by the directory.

Then, I write a how-to article. For example, I sold a few subscriptions to Wordtracker by writing a tutorial on how to do keyword research. At the end of the article, I have a link to my Wordtracker review. This not only works well for getting people who read your article to read your review and buy the product, but it’ll also help boost the link popularity of your review page. Simply choose the right keywords to use in your anchor text, and then vary them slightly at a few different directories. (I’d recommend including just the URL as anchor text once, to make the linking appear more natural.) This way, you’ve got a good chance of having your review pop up in search engines after you’ve built a few backlinks.

You can do this with a static web site as well, but I like to use blogs because they’re more search-engine friendly, and because it’s easier to build traffic to a blog than to a static site. (Thanks to high-traffic blog directories like Technorati, where it’s easy to get visitors just by updating regularly.)

That’s about it for this technique. I could go more into the ethics of Internet marketing, but I’ll save that for another post. Just please, don’t use this information for evil.

Also, for a really eye-opening read, check out Aaron Wall’s SEO Book, the best search engine optimization guide in existence.