Archive for March, 2010
The Internet Marketing Program for Dummies
Do you need an internet marketing program for dummies? Are you tired of trying to keep up with endless technology and tracking and coding and ad network rules? You’re in luck, because I’m going to reveal something very valuable. Even if you don’t have a dime of spare cash, and even if you can’t yet afford a good training program you CAN have success in affiliate marketing. You probably won’t be doing $10 million dollar months, but you’ll be doing something, and that’s a start.
There are a few ways you can get started with little to no money or time. Consider these ideas:
- Squidoo lenses with affiliate links
- Blogger.com blogs with affiliate links and/or AdSense
- Article marketing on sites like EZineArticles
- Classifieds postings on sites like Backpage.com
All of these methods are simple, repeatable, and full of built-in traffic. It doesn’t take a genius to use any of these methods, and if you have even the slightest notion of keyword usage and basic writing, you’ll be able to make money relatively quickly.
Now, don’t think it’s going to be easy and automatic. That comes later. When you use these methods, you absolutely must spend a significant amount of time before calling it quits. Don’t write one Squidoo lens and quit. Write 20, or better yet, 50. Then promote them, interlink them as appropriate, and try to get a few inbound links for your lenses. It takes a bit of work, but you’ll almost definitely make a good amount of money and learn even more about how internet marketing works.
Once you’ve made a little money on your own, you can invest in the kinds of valuable courses that you see all the gurus promoting. Until then, keep putting food on the table by focusing on what’s simple and effective.
The Foolproof Internet Marketing System
Everyone is always looking for the foolproof internet marketing system. If you’re like me, you probably get at least half a dozen emails every week from gurus claiming that they have a foolproof internet marketing system. Of course, I’d welcome these emails if I thought that one of them would contain the answer, but the truth is that there is no such thing as a foolproof marketing system.
That’s not to say that there’s no such thing as a system that will teach you to get rich beyond your wildest fantasies – or even just comfortable. The key is in knowing that no single system is right for all of us. We have to ruthlessly acknowledge our weaknesses and strengths and then objectively try to determine which course would be right for us as individuals.
If someone tells you that he has the answer for all students, be skeptical. Remember to ask questions, be a little bit suspicious, and think about whether you have what it takes to follow through with the type of training you’ll be getting.
You should also be extremely cautious about the time estimates. Just because a guru spends just 15 minutes/day on his system, that doesn’t mean you’ll get the same results. In fact, you’ll probably have to put it at least 10-15x as much time and effort when you’re getting started.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can find the foolproof internet marketing system. Not only is it an impossibility, but it’s a great disservice to you. If you spend all your time looking for the perfect system based on what everyone else says, you may very well pass up the training program that would have worked for you.
Marketing Your Business Online
Getting a home-based business off the ground can be frustrating at times, but the eventual benefits are lucrative indeed. If you feel like the fate of your enterprise is beyond your control, work on the aspects that you can directly improve. For instance, you can always work on the marketing aspect of your business. The key to any successful money making system is visibility.
Look to a number of increasingly popular online marketing techniques: social networking sites, online forums, message boards or even comprehensive internet marketing training. These places are veritable havens for potential customers. Once you find a few niche sites that cater to your target demographic, begin spreading the word about your business. If you generate enough interest, you’ll be able to develop a network of reliable clients.
Do You Need Expensive Internet Marketing Tools?
It seems like you can’t go a single day without hearing about the latest and greatest internet marketing tools that will turn your business around overnight. There are even students who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing system after system and tool after tool, only to find that they haven’t really helped them.
All that aside, there are a huge number of internet marketing tools that are actually extremely useful, and which have the potential to help you get extremely wealthy. So why are so many people having trouble with the tools they buy? The top reason is because they buy expensive tools before they’re actually in a position to make money with them.
Suppose you purchased Google Cash Detective during the big launch last spring. It was around $2000, and many of the students who purchased it were not making a profit at all. In fact, after the purchase, some students had less than $500 in their advertising budget for actually using the product.
To be brutally honest, there is no paid tool that you actually need to make a profit online. There are tools to make it easier, and tools to improve the ROI of what you’re doing, but if you can’t make a profit without a tool, there’s a good chance that it’s not going to do what you’re hoping.
What does that mean? It means that you need to get in the trenches and start working hard and making some money before you invest in a tool. Education is different – if you need more knowledge on a particular topic, be smart and invest if you are fairly certain it will give you the knowledge you’re seeking. Hold off on the tools, though, until you have a bit of experience in the area it serves. Anything else is like putting a high-powered chainsaw in the hands of someone who can’t even use a simple handsaw. It’s too expensive and it won’t be used to it’s fullest potential.
5 More Great Sources for Internet Marketing Ideas
When it comes to internet marketing ideas, some of us have more than we could ever use, while others struggle to find one that feels just right. There are pros and cons to each scenario – too many ideas can make it hard to focus on one, while too few can be discouraging. For those who are still trying to figure out a direction for their business, these idea sources might help:
- Trade Magazines – Many can be ordered for free from sites like TradePub.com, and they can be incredibly useful for getting niche ideas. In general, if a niche is big enough for a magazine, it’s big enough to build a business around. Pay especially close attention to the cheaper classifieds ads in back, as those are often run by smaller businesses. Think about each one to see if you could do something similar in an online market, or figure out some way to partner with the businesses you see.
- Teenagers – Most online marketers are adults. That means that they’re not always paying attention to what teenagers are doing. By figuring out what’s cool, you can cash in on under-the-radar topics that could drive huge traffic at lower than normal costs.
- Top Seller Lists – If you promote physical products, check out the “best sellers” lists on the sites you promote. Often, the volume on popular products is large enough to justify building an entire site for the topic. Or, you may find that you become more interested in creating a complementary business.
- Patent Trolling – Browsing the patent archives can be an oddly stimulating activity. You can’t help but get inspired by immersing yourself in the ideas of others. Once your mind is aimed at finding ways to make the world better or easier, you’re bound to come up with a few good ideas.
- Your Own Free Time – What activities do you turn to when you have nothing else to do? Moving in the direction of your passion is a great way to get started.
If you’re already focused on your business, let us know how you found your direction!
3 Internet Marketing Tips You Can Use Today
There are literally hundreds of thousands of pages of internet marketing tips and related material that you could be reading right now – possibly even millions. All the same, sometimes it’s good to cut through the bulk of it and boil things down to a few simple tips that you can use to take action. Time is one of our most important assets, after all. Below, I’ve gathered three that have been extremely helpful for me.
- Less reading, more action. Deep down, I’m sure you know this. A lot of what we do to educate ourselves is really just a way to avoid taking action and potentially failing. Guess what? You’re going to fail at some point. It’s all part of succeeding. Before you leave your computer today, make sure that you take action. Never stand up from a work session without asking yourself, “What real action did I take to advance my business today?”
- No one else can do it for you. Just like anything else, it’s ultimately up to you to do what needs to be done, and to own the success or failure of your business. If you’re not doing the job, who is? Outsourcing is a great way to let you spend more time doing the kinds of tasks you enjoy most – but ultimately, you have to guide everything that’s getting done for your business.
- Focus. If you’ve spent months or years bouncing back and forth between methods, now is the time to stop. Pick one thing you think you have a good shot at succeeding with, then give it your all. If you get to the point where you know you’ve given it a fair chance and you’ve tried your hardest but it’s still not working, only then should you move on. Juggling multiple areas of expertise can work once you’ve mastered each area, but for a newbie, it’s just too much.
I hope that helps some of you – now get out there and make some money! Every day that passes by is another day that you didn’t change your life.
Free Affiliate Marketing Tools for SEO Marketers
When you’re doing affiliate marketing, tools can make the job significantly easier. For SEO affiliates, the best tools are those that let you quickly and easily spy on competitors and locate potential link partners. To help out, we’ve put together a brief list of some of the most useful SEO tools for affiliate marketers.
- Yahoo! Site Explorer - To use it, simply go to Yahoo! and type in “link:www.sitename.com” where “sitename” is equal to the actual domain you want to explore. Here, you can view inbound links to specific pages on the site, or to the domain as a whole. It’s far more comprehensive than the same command on Google.
- SearchStatus Toolbar – This free toolbar consolidates Pagerank, Alexa Ranking, Compete Data, and whois functions into a single toolbar that sits in the lower right-hand corner of your browser.
- Google External Keyword Tool – This free tool lets you research potential keywords and get volume estimates from the largest English-language search engine.
- Aaron Wall’s Rank Checker – This free plugin lets you easily check your current rankings with the most popular search engines.
- Keyword Spy – Although the angle with this site is to get users to pay for the premium version, even the free data can be very telling.
As you can see, it’s actually very possible to accomplish a lot without spending money on expensive tools. What other free SEO tools have you had success with?
A Great Way to Get Free Affiliate Marketing Coaching
A lot of people pay tons of money for affiliate marketing coaching, but there is actually one very easy way to get coaching for free. What a lot of affiliates don’t realize is that a huge number of e-commerce affiliate programs are run by someone who has experience in the marketing department of the company they work for. Even those run by outsourced program managers generally have close ties to the company.
What does that mean for an affiliate? It means that if you join a merchant’s program, you have access to a huge wealth of information about the company’s marketing. Too often, marketing departments just don’t have the time to branch out into every possible marketing avenue. By talking to the progam managers about what has worked, you’re going to get keen insight that few other affiliates will ever have.
Affiliate managers can tell you what the average customer is like, which customers make the largest average orders, and what promotional methods have been most successful for them. They’ll also be able to tell you about areas they want to explore but haven’t had the time or funds to get around to.
A good affiliate is a partner to the merchant. That means that merchants are generally willing to help out their affiliates in any way possible. Don’t be afraid to make the most of that – far too few affiliates realize what a great resource their affiliate managers and merchants can be.
Affiliate Marketing Training: Questions to Ask
Before you buy any kind of affiliate marketing training, there are a number of questions you should ask. Too often, we let ourselves be swayed by a fancy sales letter or a cool promotional video, but with so much at stake, it’s important to be cool and rational. Next time you’re thinking about a big training investment, go through these questions first. You won’t always be able to get precise answers, but the responses you get can also tell you a lot.
- Do you offer a money back guarantee? What do I have to do to get it?
- What is the average affiliate income of your students? What percentage of your students are profitable? They probably won’t have exact answers, but you will learn a lot by how they respond.
- What is your background? How long have you been in the industry?
- What does your course teach? What does it leave out?
- Do students need any tools to follow your strategies? If so, how much do they cost?
Depending on the nature of the product, you may be able to come up with other questions that are relevant. The main thing here is to examine each product with an objective eye. By having a checklist, you encourage yourself to really examine things before jumping in headfirst, full of optimism. Dare to be a little skeptical. Questioning someone else’s product or system doesn’t mean that you’re questioning your own ability to succeed. It’s just good business.
CPA Marketing Tactics for High Payout Offers
A lot of affiliates starting out in CPA marketing like to focus on small payout offers like zip and email submits. Those offers are frequently very easy to convert, but they can also pose a lot of challenges. Because they pay out so little, they are very difficult to pair with paid advertising.
Promoting offers with higher payouts can be very profitable, but few affiliates have what it takes to make them convert. To get started, consider these tips.
- Expensive decisions need trust. Don’t expect to throw up a short, unprofessional landing page and rake in the cash.
- Expensive decisions frequently need time. Make sure the offer you’re promoting has a long enough cookie, or that you have a plan in place for staying in touch with your prospect (such as email capture).
- High payout offers need more testing dollars. In general, 2-3 times the offer payout is a good testing budget. There are exceptions, such as cases where a single keyword or traffic source eats the entire budget – but it’s a good average metric. For that reason, a $100 payout offer needs a much larger testing budget than a $1 email submit offer.
It’s not impossible to promote high payout offers. In fact, it can be a great long-term strategy if you put in the needed time and effort. Just make sure you’re delivering quality and professionalism before you expect to see results.