Archive for January, 2010
Should You Buy the — System?
I’m constantly running into marketing newbies who ask me if they should buy a particular internet marketing system. Usually, the answer is no, but it’s incredibly hard to convince someone of that. Most of the time, what they’re actually looking for is someone who will look them in the eye and say, “Yes, if you buy that system, you’ll make tons of money and be able to tell your boss to go to you-know-where and then you can be the hero to your wife and kids when you bring home suitcases full of cash.”
I hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t work that way. There are a ton of incredibly good systems out there, but you have to think it through logically before you whip out your credit card. Next time you’re thinking about investing in a marketing system, ask yourself these questions.
- Can I afford it and still have enough money to pay my bills and continue advertising and testing new traffic sources? If not, the system probably isn’t going to do you a lot of good. Why buy an expensive PPC coaching program if you won’t have anything left over to spend on clicks? Instead, look for a more affordable alternative or skip the product entirely and use your money for testing.
- Am I the audience this product was truly meant for? Even though the sales letters will try to convince you that anyone can use their product, you have to see past that. If you’re buying a $2000 tool, you’ll need to be spending and earning thousands of dollars before you ever see a slight return on that investment. Unless you have an extremely large budget, unrelenting discipline, and a solid foundation of marketing knowledge, there’s a good chance that products like that aren’t meant for you.
- Can I return it for a refund if I’m not happy? If not, you should probably steer clear. It’s true that refunds are no fun for the merchant, but you need to know that if the product doesn’t live up to your expectations, you can get your money back.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying that internet marketing systems aren’t helpful. Many successful marketers have started out with systems they purchased from other marketers. Just make sure that you’re shopping in your price range and getting a product that you can actually benefit from. Look beyond the flashy sales letters and you’ll avoid a lot of heartache down the road.
Working with Affiliates
We all recognize that there’s plenty of money to be made on the Internet. It seems that everyday you hear about a new entrepreneur turning a simple, practical idea into a veritable goldmine. But the odds of your coming up with a revolutionary new idea that sets the Internet afire is relatively low. Most startup ventures get ahead by partnering with affiliate sites.
There’s an old saying that you’re undoubtedly familiar with: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Logic dictates that setting up a completely independent online business entity is infinitely more difficult than using a proven money making system. Affiliates do most of the work for you—which is one of the reasons that an affiliate marketing program is so attractive . They provide the inventory and knowledge necessary to make a business plan work. Most of your efforts can then be directed toward marketing.
Twitter Tools for Affiliate Marketers
Twitter can be enormously useful for affiliate marketers, but the downside is that Twitter can also tie up a lot of your time if you don’t have the right internet marketing tools for the job.
Although your specific needs will vary a bit depending on whether you will be pushing endless streams of affiliate links or building a real brand that you can maintain for years, there are a few needs that all Twitter marketers have in common.
The Need to Follow Many Accounts -
It’s not enough to “tweet” cool stuff and hope that people find you. You have to go out and actively search for people related to your niche and then follow them in hopes of getting them to follow you back. There are a couple of great tools for doing just that:
- Twadder Pro
- SocialOomph
The Need to UnFollow Many Accounts -
Unfortunately, Twitter limits the ratio of users followed to users who follow you back. If you are following 2000 people, you won’t be able to follow anyone new until your own follower count nears 2000. If you’re been following a lot of account and you need to quickly unfollow those who aren’t returning the favor, you can use the tools below:
- Twadder Pro
- SocialOomph
- Twitter Karma
The Need to Schedule Tweets -
With any kind of social media marketing, it’s important to be consistent. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always make it easy and it’s not at all difficult to forget about tweeting for a few days here and there. If you schedule a large number of posts ahead of time, though, you not only save time by batching, but you ensure that your messages are delivered consistently.
- SocialOomph.com
By adding a few of these tools to your Twitter marketing arsenal, you’ll be watching the profits pile up in no time.
Networking Ideas for Marketers
Even though internet marketing is a largely faceless and solitary pursuit, the value of networking can still be tremendous. Successful product launches don’t happen without extensive and powerful personal networks, and many marketers have missed out on the hottest, most lucrative short-term trends because they didn’t have personal networks of like-minded individuals to help them stay ahead of the game. With that in mind, I’ve created this list of networking ideas for internet marketers.
- Attend marketing events. This should be a no-brainer. If it’s at all affordable, or if you can convince your employer or a client to pay for it, make an effort to attend internet marketing events. If your budget is tight, keep in mind that ad:Tech is free for the exhibit hall only (if you register well in advance), and Affiliate Summit often gives out free passes through popular marketing forums. Barcamp events are smaller, but they also offer a very affordable alternative to big events. And remember, if you need cheap or free lodging, you may have luck with a site like CouchSurfing.
- Be active on forums in your niche. Chatting with other marketers on forums can be a great way to forge relationships that can later evolve into IM chats and phone conversations. Once you’ve had “real” contact like that, people are far more likely to open up and start sharing what’s really working for them. Remember it works both ways, though. Don’t expect the other person to do all the sharing.
- Use social networking to find other marketers. Lucky for us, marketers are some of the loudest people on the internet. If you can’t find a few friendly souls among the thousands of marketers on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, and other social networking sites, you might just be in the wrong business.
Now get out there and start networking!
3 Internet Marketing Tips You Can’t Afford to Ignore
There are literally thousands of ebooks and blog posts promising get-rich-quick internet marketing tips, but the bulk of what you actually need to know can be summed up in a few very simple tips. Obviously, you need a certain amount of technical know-how and knowledge of how different advertising methods actually work, but if you can get your head around these three things, you’ve won half the battle.
- Internet marketing is hard work. There, I’ve said it. If you work at it long enough, you’re bound to have some “lucky” moments where your profits seem to outpace the effort put in — but don’t expect that to happen overnight. In fact, depending on your determination and skill level, it could take anywhere from several weeks to several years to start earning more than what you might get in a day job.
- There is a ridiculous amount of money to be made online, and you absolutely can be “that guy” who does it. Even though it can be difficult, you absolutely must believe that you are capable of being one of that top 5% — the ones who embrace what they’re doing and actually stick with it until they are able to reap the amazing returns. If you go through your days working hard but not really believing that you could ever get rich, you’re going to miss crucial opportunities and fall into destructive patterns that keep you from being truly successful.
- Don’t bounce from technique to technique. Although it’s certainly possible that you will be flat-out awful at certain methods of promotion (like PPC, or SEO, or PPV, etc.), do your best to distinguish between when you’re quitting something out of mere frustration or boredom vs. quitting out of true inability to make something work.
Even though you absolutely will need more specific information about the advertising platforms and marketing methods you will be using, these three basic tips will serve you well no matter what area of internet marketing you find yourself settling into.
Top 5 Free Affiliate Marketing Tools
For a new affiliate marketer, it’s easy to get caught up in expensive affiliate marketing tools and ebooks. Although there are some great products out there, don’t let yourself be fooled into paying for tools that have perfectly good free alternatives.
Below, I’ve listed 5 of the top free affiliate marketing tools. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should give you a good idea of what you can get when you take a little time to look.
- Google External Keyword Tool - This is easily the best free tool out there for SEO and PPC affiliates. No one has better data about keyword search volume than Google, which makes this a great place to find and research keywords.
- PopShops.com - PopShops is a great tool for affiliates who want to work with datafeeds but don’t know where to start. With their simple (and free at the basic level) tool, you can quickly create SEO-friendly stores full of your affiliate links. You can also use their entirely free Wordpress plugin for quickly creating product blogs with one product per post.
- Quantcast - Quantcast is an outstanding tool for PPV or media buy affiliates who want to get a handle on who they’re targeting. By entering a domain in at Quantcast’s website, you get a wealth of information about who is visiting the site.
- SearchStatus Toolbar - The SearchStatus toolbar gives you easy access to a wide variety of data about the websites you visit. At a glance, you can see Alexa rankings, Compete rankings, and Google Pagerank. With a couple more clicks, you can get demographic data, do a WHOIS search, or check out old versions of the site through Archive.org. This is a great tool for affiliates who do a lot of competitive research or media buys.
- TubeMogul - Tube Mogul is amazing for video affiliate marketers, as it lets you submit your videos to multiple sites at a time. Although there is a paid version, the free version is still a great tool.
So - the next time you’re thinking of buying an expensive affiliate marketing tool, think before you pull out your credit card. There are a lot of tools worth buying, but make sure there isn’t a free alternative that would let you save your hard-earned dollars for something else.
Be Mindful of Competition
Many people these days are striving to be able to work from home online. However, when you are considering doing online work at home, keep in mind that you are also competing with many other people. Online jobs are in high demand and people from all over are giving their best to get them. Though you should be mindful of the high level of competition, you should try not to allow it to get you down. If you are determined, you will be able to find your dream online job. One of the best most prolific opportunities now available is affiliate marketing, and it takes virtually no time to get started.
Perhaps the most important thing you’ll need to be competitive is by knowing the right skills needed and of course, a reliable internet connection. In most cases, you’ll need a high speed internet connection to effectively work online. Make certain that you buy a computer that’s capable to perform the jobs you will need to do. For instance, the computer needs of a graphic designer are very different from those of someone doing simple data entry.
Put Your Thinking Cap On
There is so m
uch competition with online marketing and it’s getting harder to compete these days. The best way to stand out from the crowd is to come up with your own Internet marketing ideas. The majority of online marketers are following the same old patterns and therefore their offers are getting lost in the same swamp as the rest of the offers that are out there. Almost all are using the same old formats for marketing their products and after a while the potential customer becomes numb to these same repetitive techniques of marketing.
To stand out from the crowd you want to come up with your own unique Internet marketing ideas that are totally different from the crowd. If you do have something unique in your marketing tactics this will help you stand out from the masses and enable you to brand yourself easier.This is essential with your Internet marketing business. Competition is good, it will keep you on your toes. The basic idea is to have a completely different approach to the same markets that your competitors are in. This helps you to become a authority in your niche which is your ultimate goal.
Learn New Internet Marketing Tips
All successful online marketers know it’s important to keep informed with all the latest Internet marketing tips. All the important things that are essential to your marketing business can be learned online and off. The easiest way to find information online is with a google search. Internet marketers from all over the world are posting good quality information on blogs, forums and in chat rooms to help you stay updated with the latest information that’s important to your Internet marketing business.
Another place to find good quality content is in the trade magazines for Internet marketing, there are several out now and more are being published everyday. Some of these trade magazines are being contributed to by some of the top gurus in the Internet marketing business. These publications will supply you with some of the latest Internet marketing tips that will help you take you online business to the next level. If you are going to stay competitive make sure you are keeping yourself updated with the latest information that is being provided free of charge!
Start Your Online Business On Autopilot
All successful 
online marketers use affiliate marketing tools to help them implement their marketing strategies successfully.The proper tools can save you time and money in your online marketing business. The first and most important tool that you are going to need in your affiliate marketing business is a auto responder. What the auto responder does is it allows you to capture information from your prospects such as their name, email address, phone number and even their physical address if you so choose. This tool is very affordable usually about $20.00 a month depending on the size of your list.
It is said that “the money is in the list” and the auto responder will enable you to build your list of prospects so you will be able to present to them online products, build a relationship with your subscribers, provide them with free reports, ebooks and continually supply them with valuable information to help keep them on your list. It is known that each subscriber on your list is worth $ 1.00 therefore if you have 5,000 subscribers, how much is that worth each month? Every month you are able to continually send them offers to buy products and services. Affiliate marketing tools are essential to building a profitable affiliate business, if you don’t have the auto responder, get one now.